Kill La Kill - Reviews

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THETrashMan's avatar
Aug 9, 2014

A decent enough anime, entertaining enough, but a bit too "forced" for my tastes. It is like it's trying to hard, witch characters that I simply didn't find interesting or multi-dimensional (best example would be Satsuki), a horrible comic relief (Mako), pointless nudity, silly plot and crappy animation.

It does have a few saving graces (mr. Nudeest Beach), but overall I simply cannot rate it any higher.

3/10 story
5/10 animation
8/10 sound
5/10 characters
5/10 overall
Ashiya's avatar
Oct 20, 2014

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

What drew me in to this anime was the crazyness and the fanservice. Some people mentioned that if you loved Panty & Stocking like I did, this had similar elements.

The problem is KLK comes out looking like it takes itself more seriously than that.

I still don't understand how people might have a problem with the nakedness, but then again I don't understand people like that at all. Don't watch an ecchi anime if looking at perfectly-smooth naked cartoon bodies bothers you I guess?

"If society's values shame you it just shows how small-time you are!"
That was the moment I had a feeling I'd end up really liking Satsuki.
I really liked the fanservice and the nudist/clothing/freedom/shame theme and wish it was explored more. There was a lot of creative stuff like that which was either hilarious or kinda subversively indulging. And yes I loved most outfits and designs.
I also really liked most of the art-style and to me that is important, and other points I really enjoyed was its comedy and side characters.

Also hey I gotta give it to an anime that made me ship a person with their set of clothes.

One of the problems with KLK for me however, were the cliches. I can like a cliche just fine if it's well done, but a lot of it was annoying and way too cheezy. There's not any build up in the first episode, not enough to tell you who Ryuuko is or why she does what she does, or any of the characters really, from where their motivation comes from. When there is, it's not really explored or shown, just told. The show doesn't want to take itself seriously to actually give good explanations, but at the same it takes itself seriously enough to throw disney cliched moral lessons (friendship is great u guyse!) and expect you to take it. And to try to explain its craziest parts, but not basic stuff.

Ryuuko is fit for protagonist, like the long lost sister of Yusuke Urameshi, but I wish she was not so featured. The obviousness of "I'M THE BAD ASS" coupled with Satsuki's early depiction as "I'M THE COLD BITCH" was boring. Ryuuko would end up annoying me, making sure to point out way too often just how she "doesn't give a rat's ass to anything cause she's so badass and and she'll not listen to anything you say" while making crazy eyes. She makes Yusuke look like a gentleman.
Thus her best scenes for me were when she showed her vulnerable, tender side, specially in her scenes with Senketsu or just having dinner. Sometimes even her caring, happy side felt a bit cliched/cheesy though ("look I'm actually a good person cause I care about my friends")

Satsuki was revealed as being so much more than the cold bitch. While in the first half or so of the anime I kept wondering why the hell these people worshipped her, when she reveals her true motives she instantly stole Ryuuko's spot as "the hero" for me. For what we know that Ryuuko went through during her life, Satsuki was truly shat on by life, and still managed to be the strongest person. She even saw what she did wrong, even if to me it felt completely justified. Ryuuko couldn't even admit being nice.

The twist that revealed all that though, revealed that all I'd been watching for half of the series wasn't really what was happening at all. It kind of took all it presented, and threw it away in order to deal with the Transformer-like plot. (Which is also a plot I don't like)

There was a lot of Dragonball-like boss fights, where you think someone/thing was beaten only for them to get even more powerfull, and while I love Dragonball, THAT is not something I loved from it at all, it was just annoying as hell. It made the series much longer than it should have been. Which made the songs be repeated way too much (I never even liked the main theme song - apart from 2 songs I liked all other music though).

Talking about annoying villains, Nui Harime almost made we give up watching. Why would you make a character so despisable and cliched and make her near invulnerable? Was it a test for someone like me to endure?

And talking about enduring, I could really have gone without the seriously gross stuff monsterwoman (main villain) did. While I don't think this kind of thing should never be depicted in entertainment, I didn't think this anime was serious enough for it and it just brought down the levels of enjoyment. I would have prefered a villain I could enjoy to hate. Anyone who is sensitive when it comes to depictions of abuse will have a hard time with this. The whole manipulation/brainwashing part also really put a hamper to my enjoyment.

This is another example of the anime not knowing how serious it should be. If it's serious, then it should have developed characters and story properly, but it does not.
The constant "we live in a crazy world that doesn't make sense so whatever" feels like a cop-out when you act as if it does make sense. Make up your damn mind KLK.

I admit I'm biased against the ending because of a character I love. Instead of what happened, which to me felt like the only reason was to be another 5-second cheesy cliche, Ryuuko could have just grown a pair and stop acting like an immature brat.

There were parts with honest emotional moments and I nearly shed a tear. But the show was also sprinkled with cheesy cliched lines about life lessons learned that get instantly forgotten instead of explored or developed, and I don't know why they did this.


I know it sounds like I'm highlighting the bad parts, but I feel there's not too much to explain about the good parts. I love absurdity and fanservice, so if it weren't these issues I'd give it a higher score.

I completely missed the bandwagon of the hype this show had, so I didn't watch it with any expectations. I did watch it in the span of 3-4 days though, so it might have made me a bit tired of it all.
In the end, there was a lot to be enjoyed, more than the things that bothered me, but it was not a complete success in my opinion.

?/10 story
?/10 animation
?/10 sound
?/10 characters
7.7/10 overall
petezc123's avatar
Mar 21, 2021

Warning: This is my first review. (SPOILER FREE)

Kill La Kill is definitely not what I expected. If you are easily offended by or can't deal with characters being 90% nude, 90% of the time, then this anime is not for you. Personally I'm not a huge fan of fanservice anime but this one is very different.

Story

The story was not what I expected. It was way above my expections. Sure there are some ridiculous concepts but hey it's an anime about clothing. That being said, it's crazy that someone was able to make an epic anime about clothing. 

Animation

The animation is top notch. It's uniqueness really caught my eye. Trigger's style gave this anime a real throwback vibe. The fight scenes and transformations are stunning. I love the way they are able to manipulate the animation to give each scene a different vibe, whether it be comedic, serious, saddening, etc. 

Sound

The music is amazing. The OST fits the tone well for every scene and there are some fire tracks in there. The openings and endings are great and very catchy. The first ending song has to be my favorite though. It's such a great song and everytime I hear it I get a little emotional. Probably because they played that ending song in some pretty emotional scenes and I appreciate that they did that. Everytime it plays, I get reminded why I love Kill La Kill.

Characters

CHARACTERS is the reason I could not stop watching. The main characters and even the side characters are just so intriguing that I could not drop this anime. Ryuko and Mako are so funny and unpredictable together. Senketsu is great. Satsuki is so damn cool. All of her subordinates were unique and interesting. The only thing that urked me was this one guy that kept repeating the same damn line over and over again (I still like him). Everytime he said the line, I couldn't help but laugh. The characters, their stories, and their ideals give you some pretty deep messages to think about. Especially Satsuki (my favorite character). One small detail that I somewhat disliked was the lack of unique minor characters in the student body. However, that itself can also be seen as a representation of certain themes in the anime.  

I can't believe it's been like 8 years and I've only just watched Kill La Kill. Definitely the best anime I've seen so far in 2021. For me it's a solid 9.5/10. Wish I could watch it again for the first time.

8/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
10/10 characters
9.5/10 overall
ialex32's avatar
Aug 24, 2022

Kill la Kill is a self-indulgent parody that moves at a breakneck pace: the plot in each episode moves faster than most series have over their entire run. Searching for her father's killer, Ryuuko arrives at Honnouji Academy, an all-powerful student council ruled through superhuman clothing. Clothes grant their wielders unique powers, and their stripperific outfits try to parody the fan service endemic to anime while eating its cake too. Adults leer at children in revealing clothing, try to peep on them naked, and the story culminates in a nudist colony fighting fascist clothing. But for good measure, it also needs gratuitous rape as both fan service and character development: why wouldn't a mother raping her daughter be anything other than sexy fun time? Kill la Kill is a fan favorite and an exhilarating ride that screams red flags of anyone who enjoys it. It is peak anime. It embodies everything wrong with the genre while somehow managing to be entertaining. The fan delusion that Trigger is saving anime and popularity of the series exemplifies the depraved nature of anime culture.

?/10 story
?/10 animation
?/10 sound
?/10 characters
4/10 overall
axelenz's avatar
Apr 14, 2014

"Kill la Kill was produced by Trigger. Vagrant schoolgirl, Ryuko Matoi is on her search for her father's killer, the truth behind her father's death—the "woman with the scissor blade.", which brings her into violent conflict with the extremist student council president of Honnouji Academy, Satsuki Kiryuin. granted superhuman power by their special uniforms called the "Goku uniform." With the power of the uniform, Satsuki rules the students with unquestioned power and fear.

The series is Trigger's first original television anime, directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and written by Kazuki Nakashima, both worked on Gurren Lagann. Kill la Kill aired 24 episodes in Japan between October 3, 2013 and March 27, 2014, Aniplex of America has licensed the anime for a simulcast and a home video release."

8.5/10 story
8/10 animation
9.5/10 sound
9.5/10 characters
9/10 overall