Episode 01 – “If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle

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A tale of revenge

Kill La Kill Episode 1 opens with a dramatic showdown between Ira Gamagori and student Suzuki. The main theme of Kill la Kill is simple, revenge. Ryuko Matoi is the main protagonist. She is a young girl who travels in search of the person that killed her father. Armed with a single red scissor blade she arrives at the Honnoji Academy. She believes her father’s murderer is in possession of the other half of the scissors. Honnoji Academy is a high school that’s ruled by a five-person student council, led by a President, Satsuki Kiryuin.

When Ryuko sees Satsuki she instantly instigates a fight. Her revenge is halted when Takaharu Fukuroda (Boxing Club Captain) interferes. After being thoroughly defeated by him she flees. While sulking in the rain she decries her defeat to her dead father. Ryuko (aided by homeroom teacher Aikurō Mikisugi) comes across a living school uniform named Senketsu, who forces itself onto Ryuko. Now with Senketsu, Ryuko returns to the school to stand up against Satsuki. She defeats Fukuroda, destroying his uniform in the process. She questions Satsuki again about the wielder of the other scissor blade.

A reason for fanservice

The character design of Kill la Kill is pretty simple. The school uses powerful uniforms known as Goku Uniforms. At first, they seem like standard Japanese school uniforms we’ve all seen before. However, the leaders of the Honnoji Academy student council seem to have more unique qualities. Ryuko’s Senketsu Unifrom clearly is designed with fan service in mind. A combination of metal and fabric ( what little it has ) is different from other uniforms in this series so far. The concept of the Goku Uniforms (instantly thought of Dragon Ball Z) isn’t the most unique but interesting.

Basically, there are four levels of uniforms identified by the number of stars. They range from no stars to three stars (only one to three have superpowers). Ryuko is armed with half of a scissor (obviously much cooler in anime than real life). Senketsu doesn’t appear to have any stars but we could assume it’s at least stronger than a two-star. After Ryuko defeats Fukuroda his uniform disappears as her sword destroys it and her uniform absorbs a strain from it. I’m guessing she’ll gain power from each student she defeats (and maybe more fabric).

Kill La Kill is the sucessor of Gurren Lagann

Trigger has my confidence when it comes to animation. As shown with Gurren Lagann, Imashi, and Nakashima clearly have the talent to create great animation and it shows. The same fluid quality animation that was used in Gurren Lagann is apparent here. The camera angles are dramatic and there’s a combination of moving animation with detailed stills. The abilities of some of the characters are interesting particularly Fukuroda (in this episode anyway). I’m hoping that this is a precursor to more unique abilities that add to what seems to be a promising anime.

Overall, Kill La Kill is entertaining, funny, violet, and a little sexy. The series has a rapid pace that can be too much to take in at first, causing confusion. However, once you re-watch the episode a few times it will make more sense. If this episode is any indication this series has a lot of potentials. It’s clear that Kill La Kill is inspired by Gurren Lagann‘s visual aesthetic (Ryuko and Simon are almost identical) this can only be a good thing. Hopefully, it lives up to my expectations and the excitement Kill La Kill Episode 1 created.