And here we are again. Senketsu in pieces, Mako shipped off to war, Ryuuko filled with conviction only to be slammed immediately back down by Rusemaster Nui. Back at the end of the first half, I was somewhat frustrated the show hadn’t kicked into changing-the-paradigm gear yet – last week certainly did work on that front, but we’re not there yet. At this point, with the episodes ahead outnumbered by those behind, it’s time for Kill la Kill to put up or shut up – with no more time left to dick around either narratively or thematically, if it wants to continue sleeping on the couch, it’s gonna have to get to work.
You hear that, Kill la Kill? Get off the fuckin’ couch, Kill la Kill. Go out and get a fuckin’ job!
Ahem. Anyway. Let’s go to war.
Episode 14
0:28 – Another one of those nice, angular, full-frame compositions. They make good use of this guy’s office for framing shots
1:08 – Ryuuko definitely does seem more comfortable in her underwear around this guy now. Whether that’s something to be encouraged…
1:50 – Goddamn fetch quests
1:58 – Satsuki once again playing Ryuuko for a fool. She can’t make Ryuuko go to war, but she can throw a stick in that direction and yell ‘fetch’
2:06 – Kickass. I like how the tracksuits are just apparently the go-to “uniform destroyed” mourning apparel. Speaking of tracksuits, it looks like our team has found their Red Ranger
2:30 – His entire wardrobe is tearaway stripper outfits
2:41 – Ahaha this show
7:01 – Goddamnit Gamagoori.
7:20 – Well here’s some manservice. What’s with the gundam in the corner?
7:30 – He’s seriously gonna burst a blood vessel
7:50 – The scale has changed. The switch to their tracksuits has pretty much formally turned the Elite Four into secondary protagonists, I guess
8:35 – A full episode of weird-ass character designs
9:22 – Yeah sure we’ll go with that. I guess the main thing this episode is actually doing is getting us use used to these chuckleheads as POV characters. Or something
9:31 – This is a very silly show
10:12 – I’m with Nonon on this one
11:47 – First, this shot is great. Second, oh hey, maybe they’re actually going somewhere with this!
12:22 – This is a very silly show
12:40 – Why don’t more currencies feature faces like this. This is brilliant
13:26 – And of course he leans out of the projector screen to get a better view
13:57 – Mako thirsts for battle
14:36 – Now I remember what this show’s about
14:43 – Mako faces all day
15:28 – First of all, that’s a goddamn tank covered in steak. Secondly, now I get the concept of this episode. All three of these schools are reliant on outer (and thus false) power – these guys (Kobe beef lol) with their foreign connections, Nonon’s opponents with their empty mysticism, and Sanageyama’s with money. They’re all going to fall to Satsuki’s naked ideals and naked strength. Cute.
16:13 – Straight from the Inferno Cop school of How Bullets Work
16:48 – Okay, that’s pretty cool
17:05 – Yep, pretty damn cool. And Senketsu actually looks pretty sweet as a billowing scarf. Maybe she’ll get to sew him back together in the style of her choosing… but that might be asking too much
18:00 – Goddamn does this show know how to frame a shot. We’re also seeing a very cool-headed Ryuuko here – she’s not driven by anger, she’s got a greater purpose than that
21:00 – Another nice shot. For some reason, this episode has felt a lot higher-budget than many of them. Maybe it’s just there’s so much dynamic stuff happening, but they’re definitely lingering on shots less than they usually do. Plus that sequence with Ryuuko interrupting Nonon’s victory was actually some damn good continuous animation
21:40 – Wise Mako knows all
22:26 – Oh man, this episode really is pushing her forward. Ryuuko don’t need to rely on no clothes!
22:41 – One more great shot
And Done
Nice! Ryuuko’s finally got a legitimate goal, even if it is just immediate one – it may not be an actual philosophy, but it’s certainly an improvement over FAAAATHERRRR DESTRRROOOOYYY. And that was just a busy-as-fuck episode – they basically fast-forwarded through the grand takedown as quickly as humanly possible, giving us all the silly battle highlights along the way. The arc looks all set to resolve within the next episode or two, which is apparently when we’re supposed to be hitting the Grand Turn (and, hopefully, a new OP). I am very ready for this arc’s flashy finale!
I’m in full agreement on Kill la Kill needing to stop dicking around. I still like the show a lot granted, but I just think it could have been so much more if it was either smarter or faster paced/more intense.
I also think a Senkentsu armor change may be possible, that could be reason why they’re delaying the OP change for so long, because he looks different now. I could be entirely wrong and Trigger could go back to the old design, but I’d like something new to represent a change in Ryuuko.
While I think it definitely could’ve been smarter about themes and such, but I don’t really think you could turn up the pacing or intensity dial up more without it turning into a summer blockbuster-esque shit-stream of continuous action that has no time for these things called “characters”. KLK has pretty good pacing. Things need to time to stew, and audience emotions need to return to baseline, otherwise the figurative “11” becomes the new baseline.
Back to the first note:
Maybe this second half will clear up some of the batshit insane “philosophy”? Looks like it could be heading there this episode. So much of the tone of the message depends on the finale, so I’m reserving judgement on the whole “fanservice/male gaze/clothing” shtick until it’s all done. I mean Evangelion doesn’t make a lot of sense 14 episodes in either, it’s a lot of just Shinji going “WTF DO I DO?!!!!!!” (this is a gross over simplification, but you get the point)..
I really do hope that the second half does expand on or at least try to provide a little bit of closure toward their philosophies and messages or whatever. It seems like a lot of themes have been brought up briefly and then kind of abandoned, like the fanservice thing. I’m not exactly expecting Kill la Kill to be deep and complex, I’m mainly here for Trigger being Trigger, but I’d like something to take away. But oh well, Kill la Kill will always have Mako, and that’s certainly something worth celebrating.
The two things that need to happen in this show to close up some of the bat-shit-insanity:
Satsuki needs to have her bullshit literally smacked out of her and some sense smacked back into her i.e. she needs to lose, hard, and have some thinking time. (It’s about time she got some actual development)
Some appropriate Senketsu redesign (though I doubt any redesign is going to be sensible). Would make sense thematically though (actually controlling your appearance, rather it being dictated to you).
On a more fun note, things I’m looking forward to that are probably (hopefully) going to happen:
1. Scissor blade dual wield. (Hard to say that without sounding derpy)
2. Anything Nudist Beach.
3. Ragyo actually fighting.
4. More Mako.
5. More Mako.
Yeah, trying to offer a full explanation of a work that’s only halfway through is certainly going to paint an incomplete picture, and at this point I’m hopeful the next couple episodes will really prove that.
As far as turning up the pacing goes, I think Cobrah (and I know I personally) was referring more to the overall narrative pacing, not the in-episode pacing. While every episode is extremely busy, many episodes move the overall plot and players in the conflict forward very little – like the first season finale, which had a big battle and lots of explosions, but didn’t actually move the story forward much at all. Contrast that with episode 13, which was slower-paced as a single episode but moved the story forward a great deal.
A Senketsu armor change would just be the best thing, and would do so, so much work to pull the show’s ideas together. The original explanation for Senketsu’s appearance was just “her dad is a perv” – at this point, if Ryuuko (now that she has her own conviction) was able to choose her own representation, I’d actually be totally on board with the show’s message.
“This is the form in wich a kamui is the strongest” -Satsuki Really not sure the sure that the outfit will be any more decent.
2:06-You know I was wondering why they had another tracksuit lying around in a different color but oh shit you’re right, it’s sentai coloring all over again! (heck, Senketsu’s scarf really reminds me of something sentai as well, still wondering if the red bike is an Akira reference or if it’s red because Ryuko is red). Also, at this point Ryuko accused her teacher of mimicing Senketsu’s voice yeah? HAS he actually heard Senketsu talk before? Since he didn’t seem phased by it but I thought the show established that only Ryuko, not even Satsuki or Nui, could hear him….
I’m pretty sure the only time anyone else has heard Senketsu talk is when he tried to defend Ryuuko from the other member of Nudist Beach. Other than that, scenes with Mako and other characters seem to have established people normally can’t hear Senketsu.
Super pumped up for the next major story arc – especially if Senketsu gets a make-over. That’d be hella sweet, and probably not too unrealistic a hope either. In fact, it would strike me as a little odd if this show didn’t take advantage of that opportunity.
I have got so many fingers crossed for that costume change. It would pull this show’s ideas together so well.
http://sweeperstuff.tumblr.com/post/73607858521/they-do-this-a-lot-in-evangelion-while-going-down
Hah, cute. Maybe even meaningful, too – a trip to Terminal Dogma pretty much always means a cathartic turn for Shinji, and it seems like this particular fight may be the turning point for Kill la Kill. The character development elevator.
Speaking of this particular fight, it could be quite a turning point, indeed.
http://31.media.tumblr.com/50a6f108cf3cdcfb387a7be38ba02b62/tumblr_mzii0hV7bU1toar68o1_1280.png