Well that was a long seven days. Fuck you guys, no preamble. I wanna see this fight!
Episode 9
0:16 – Even the simple linework of this show is so damn distinctive. That sketchy furrowed brow, all the jagged angles, and they’re using something similar to Titan’s thick-line effect to make his more defined features really pop. Plus there’s that scissor effect again, where the sharp diagonals of his face converge to force you into eye contact with him. Great stuff
1:39 – And of course the camera angles are so regularly dynamic. I can’t think of a show that creates more energy with less animation
1:56 – More fucking with scale to create a sense of overwhelming power
2:03 – And then actually portraying him that size relative to their background, making a joke of their own artistic flourish . Something that could only work in anime
4:37 – You’ve waited a week for an epic battle? Time for a Makanshoko comedy routine!
7:09 – Oh shit, they’re actually explaining Satsuki’s magic staircase! They’re fiber-powered, obviously
7:21 – Seriously, so little actual animation. This episode has been so sparse that I’m kind of terrified to see what they’re saving for the second half
8:16 – Great Ryuuko expression
8:33 – Oh god. That can’t be his only trick
8:38 – Another great Ryuuko expression. She gets all the crazed villain looks
8:58 – Hadn’t even crossed my mind
9:07 – Goddamnit. This show. This shot even has the fuckin Kamui – it might be the most Kill la Kill shot possible
9:13 – Damnit Gamagoori stop talking
9:25 – That… actually looks pretty kickass
10:14 – Awesome. I love it when this show just fucks with its own rules. “It’s not working? But I put up the title and everything!”
10:31 – Goddamn nebulous special powers! Every time!
10:33 – Just in case we weren’t absolutely certain Gamagoori was wearing his own interior ball gag
11:01 – They’re really playing up the voyeurism angle this episode. I wonder if they’ll actively address that again some time soon
11:16 – This image is exactly what people who don’t watch anime think anime is. No, I did not expect the show where the girl in the underboob outfit swordfights a tentacle-wielding masochist to be one of my seasonal favorites
13:38 – Jeez, those tiny little feet. Gamagoori must suffer some serious ankle strain
14:12 – Seriously, was middle school Satsuki like fifteen inches tall or something
14:19 – SHE IS THE SUN. This shot is great
15:03 – Or is he twenty feet all, or…? This is pretty adorable, though
15:31 – I kind of agree. Ryuuko has pretty much defined herself either in personal, revenge-focused terms or simply in opposition to Satsuki – this isn’t yet a war of real ideals
16:22 – Fuckin’ peanut gallery! Plans are hard!
17:32 – Goddamnit Gamagoori. Still, his philosophy is certainly consistent
17:58 – This is a goddamn awesome way to portray this sequence. And it looks like we are looping back around to the philosophy of the kamui
18:07 – This would be my response to the show’s writers, actually
18:25 – It’s interesting that he’s trying to force her to conform. That’s not really Satsuki’s wish
19:14 – Really hammering on that “proper appearance” line. It also seems like we’re getting a clear picture of at least one philosophical point where Ryuuko differs from Satsuki – she’s perfectly happy to rely on the strength of others when necessary
19:19 – This is not happening
19:30 – Goddamnit Kill la Kill there are no words
20:43 – She finally gets to use that pose again!
20:56 – Well, that’s pretty sweet
22:11 – And one last great shot
And Done
Well, that fight was satisfyingly weird. That victory pretty much works for what Gamagoori was trying to do – he was trying to make her conform into an obedient shape, and she proved too damn spikey for that to be a good idea. I really liked that series of rapid panelled flashbacks during their uniform debate – that’s yet another trick a show that doesn’t really care about maintaining suspension of disbelief can dabble in. Along with Gamagoori actually shattering Ryuuko’s victory screen, which was brilliant. It’s looking like last week’s promise actually wasn’t a tease – we’re seriously burning through the Elite Four here and now, preparing for the war Satsuki’s apparently got brewing in the second cour. The battle continues!
This is one place where we completely differ Bob. This episode hammered in the opposite idea – It seemed to me that Gamagoori's line actually explained Satsuki's line last episode – She said she will take others' power and make it into her own; to begin with, this means she does recognize others as having power and it being useful.
And then she got to fight Gamagoori and see another take – you can use others’ powers against them, which actually meshes perfectly with Satsuki’s own line from the previous episode – she not only takes for her own the power of those who let her, but subvert others’ power for her own ends, when they fight her.
Isn’t using Ryuko’s power to further her own goals more or less much of what episode 7 and the premise of episode 8 had been?
I’m not saying Satsuki denies others have power at all – as I’ve said before, she clearly wants to create a world where everyone can prove their own power, and she chose the Elite Four specifically because they have each proven their power/resolve to her. I just draw a distinction between Satsuki using the powers of others as her own and Ryuuko actively relying on others. Perhaps that isn’t a meaningful distinction, but I couldn’t imagine Satsuki overtly relying on someone else’s strength/intelligence as Ryuuko does here – Ryuuko essentially lends Senketsu her strength.
I agree. I believe that if Ryuuko had the opportunity to achieve her goals without needing others, she would take that route no matter the cost to her. She has a different understanding of pride than Satsuki. Ryuuko believes she is being intrusive when she relies on others, as was seen when she resisted Mako’s original attempts to take her in. Her goal is to singularly battle Satsuki and learn of her father’s death; ideally without needing the help of others. True power is derived solely from the individual in Ryuuko’s worldview, though this view is challenged in the past few episodes. Satsuki sees the agency of others as as extension of her own, a resource available to her to realize her ideal world. She would never submit her own power in a way that would require her to accept that it is actually a vehicle for someone else to achieve a common goal. I don’t think this is well worded, but the two have very different understandings of how agency is distributed in the world.
Yea I have to agree with Guy. Satsuki dosn’t mind to use the powers of others anything that helps her achieve her goals is fair play.
And yea Satsuki hates conformist without ambitions but if Matoi had conformed she would just have been dismissed has another pig and used has a puppet. If people are too weak minded they just never were worthy of anything. I have to admit it was a futile effort from Gamagoori part but it was a way to confirm his own ideology.
Also pretty excited about shape changing Kamui and how it seems the fights will rely on this aspect from now on. A Satsuki vs Matoi fight would be even more amazing/insane now (if Satsuki also get this hability).