I’m kinda planning on dropping this show from weekly posts, but I feel oddly guilty about doing that, so I’m keeping a document open for any stray thoughts anyway. Let’s go adventuring.
Category Archives: Episode Writeup
Kill la Kill – Episode 19
Alright Ryuuko and Satsuki are sisters and that’s cool but you need to shut the fuck up because apparently this episode is hella Mako/Gamagoori and they are the best so im gonna stop talking let’s kill la gamako.
Sekai Seifuku – Episode 6
Alright Sekai Seifuku. You disappointed me last week, but that episode was apparently not written by the series composer/principal writer, so that’s okay. Your premise is still great and you’re still really funny, so one episode where the only takeaway is “Zvezda’s enemies are the opposite of a family” is perfectly fine. Let’s see what you’ve got this week.
Kill la Kill – Episode 18
SO! It finally happened – Satsuki declared her independence from her mother, and literally crucified her on her own stage. That must have felt good – Satsuki hates being subservient, and being a pawn of both her mother and clothes? Yeah, that’s gotta sting. So the show’s over, then, I guess? Conflict averted, clothing defeated, Satsuki and Ryuuko now realize they’re not so different after all?
Alright, let’s see what horribleness Kill la Kill is planning.
Hunter x Hunter – Episode 116
Apparently this is a fantastic episode of Hunter x Hunter, and someone asked if I could do a formal writeup for it, so here I am. The show certainly deserves it – it’s the best thing I’m currently watching, both the writing and technical execution are incredibly impressive, and this recent span of episodes in particular has basically been a continuous feast of gorgeously shot, incredibly tense highlights. And we’ve arrived at the key moment right here, too. Should I talk a little about that? I guess I should talk a little about that.
Sekai Seifuku – Episode 5
Well Sekai Seifuku, I hope you’re proud of yourself. You are simultaneously the smartest, most fun, and most emotionally engaging show I’m currently watching. Any two of those, yeah, sure. But all three? That’s just kind of dickish, to be frank. Leave the other shows some room!
Anyway. Episode 3 was brutal/hilarious and episode 4 was silly/endearing, so who knows what 5 will bring. Let’s get to it.
Kill la Kill – Episode 17
Hey everybody. The plot finally started happening last week, and it apparently continues today in earnest. I certainly wasn’t expecting Clothes Is Aliens, but hey, wherever this show wants to take it is fine by me as long as it actually goes there. No time for nonsense, let’s get right down to Kill la Kill!
Sekai Seifuku – Episode 4
Well, let’s get to it. Last week’s episode was easily the best episode of the season to date, but everything else has really stepped it up this week – Kill la Kill, Samurai Flamenco, and Space Dandy all hit very surprising, very encouraging high notes. Will Sekai Seifuku stay ahead of the pack? Stay tuned.
Alright, that’s a kind of crap introduction. In all seriousness, last week’s episode demonstrated some very specific, very important strengths. What were they?
First, that the show’s sense of humor isn’t limited to sitting on a silly premise and some gags – it actually used the premise for satirical ends far sharper and far funnier than anything we’ve seen yet. It wasn’t content to coast on its premise, it actually explored it in a smart, interesting way.
Second, that the show really, really knows how to use the episodic format well. The episode had a theme and story of all of its own, but it also understood the importance of its place in a larger narrative – it provided a great deal of relevant backstory regarding Yasu, Gorou, and Kate even as it went about illustrating its own standalone fable.
And finally, that this show is actually about things. The first two episodes were enjoyable on their own and demonstrated the potential for interesting ideas – number three saw that potential fully, smartly realized. It was a story about the dangers of extremism and the importance of empathizing with even those you disagree with, and its final verdict was we are not very good at doing that. This show’s got bite, and its ostensibly silly premise is ripe for more such angry statements. I’m eager to see what it says next.
There we go. Alright, let’s get to this.
Kill la Kill – Episode 16
Alright, secrets time? Can we have some secrets time now? Because I could really use a little narrative/thematic momentum here. Last week promised us shocking revelations, and delivered… well, a boilerplate shounen “I fight for my friends” speech. Which, as several have pointed out, is honestly all I probably should have been expecting – Ryuuko’s always been simpleminded and belligerent, I really shouldn’t have been expecting some nuanced philosophy to counter Satsuki’s craziness. Her most cogent argument was basically “the ends don’t justify the means” – whatever your aim is, you shouldn’t go trampling cities over it. Which doesn’t really mean anything, in the abstract – we need to know what Satsuki’s aims actually are before we can discuss whether her actions are justified. If I want a pizza and am willing to pay for one, the ends justify the means – if Satsuki’s pizza is “saving the world” and her method of payment is “beat up some rival schools,” then yeah, I’m all for it. But so far her philosophy is too questionable and goals too vaguely defined to justify anything, so hopefully this episode will directly address that.
Alright, enough rambling. Let’s Kill la Kill.
Sekai Seifuku – Episode 3
I’m actually kind of surprised at how much I’ve been looking forward to this episode. This show is just a lot of fun – it’s witty, colorful, and endearing, and has a great sense of humor that isn’t tied to any single gag. Basically, the world itself is funny – a world where the Great Ruler Kate actually makes sense, a world where those meddling do-gooders can be fooled by flipping the sign on your secret base, a world where you decide to conquer the world just because you want a bigger family. When your world is inherently funny, you don’t have to stretch too far for jokes, which is good – trying too hard is the easiest way to kill almost any joke.
Not that making jokes look natural and effortless is easy, either. They have to emerge naturally while still being witty – the fact that the base world plays with your viewer’s expectations in a way conducive to humor doesn’t mean you get to slack off.
And trying too little is also death – even when you’re going for simple jokes, that just puts that much more weight on every tool you do use. You can’t just have a character make a funny face – first the audience has to buy into that character, then the audience has to buy why that face would be funny relative to that character, then you have to perfect your pacing and direction, and even then the face better friggin’ convey what you’re trying to convey, since so much of the humor in funny faces is based in “wow, that expression makes complete yet ridiculous sense,” not just the face being silly.
Basically, humor sucks. I don’t know why anyone would try to be funny, it’s too much work and no-one appreciates it. As far as art forms go, it may be the one that gets the least credit relative to the work involved.