This week has had me eating a balanced diet of my own words pretty much every day. Virtually every show I was on the fence about rallied heroically, many of the major complaints I had about everything I was watching were directly addressed, and this season is now actually looking pretty good. Way to make me look dumb, anime! Friggin’ jerks.
Running it down…
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.
This week kinda restored my faith in this season. It’s still not great (mainly because its strength is in its comedies, and I’m not a comedy fan), but the three top new shows all had their best episodes yet, so I’m feeling optimistic. Running down the list…
I am goddamn excited you guys. After a long, continuously baiting first season, a defiantly resolution-lacking finale, and two more episodes of buildup, I am ready for this universe to fucking explode. I already know they’re going big this episode, and I couldn’t be happier to hear it. Let Ryuuko find her own philosophy, let Satsuki’s master plan be revealed, let the entire narrative erupt into an impromptu musical number – just do something crazy. Something I haven’t seen before. If this is following in the Gurren Lagann model, then this episode should herald the end of Kill la Kill Part One, and I’m ready to see it go out in a blaze of glory.
Welp, I guess we’re well and truly into the season now, which means it’s high time to start getting jaded and pissy about shows not living up to expectations. Hurray for fandom!
This week was almost identical to the last couple quality-wise, which spells good things for the carryovers and less good things for the new pickups. Let’s run them down…
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.
Management: As you may have noticed, I’m rolling these “first impressions” into my standard Week in Review posts. Hope nobody finds that unforgivable.
And with this week, we have our full set of premiers. And what a set it is!
Well, not really. Pretty mediocre set, to be frank. Having checked out the first episodes of close to everything that sounded interesting, I’m beginning to think this will actually be a great season to dig into the ol’ backlog.
Not to say there’s nothing I’m enjoying. Running it down…
TIME FOR KILL LA KILL YOU SHITHEADS. Aw man, it has been a while. Maybe it’s actually out of kindness that Trigger left us not with a cliffhanger, but with a kind of underwhelming plot-resolver – that certainly made the vacation break somewhat more bearable. Then again, my permanent neural link to twitter has informed me this episode has some serious holy shit moments in store, so I guess I shouldn’t be taking anything for granted.
Anyway. Hope you all enjoyed your new year/holidays/satanic gatherings, and it’s good to see your cold, anonymous handles again. Let’s ring in the new year with some KILL LA KILL.
Somewhat busy with family time at the moment (I got nice things!), but not so busy I can’t run down a tumultuous week in anime! Shows ending, shows immolating, some satisfying finales and some dramatic lead-ins to second cours. Presents for everyone this holiday season.
Oh shit you guys it’s happening. The battle’s been set and the stakes have been raised – time for Trigger to kill everybody.
Or not. Who knows!? The old rules don’t apply anymore – Honnouji Academy has in one character reveal switched from antagonist to uneasy rival (OR POSSIBLY ALLY?????), and Kill la Kill will never be the same. Personally, hey, I’m ready for some blood. As long as it’s not Mako’s.
Never Mako’s.
