Kill la Kill

After the murder of her father, Ryuuko Matoi has been wandering the land in search of his killer. Following her only lead—the missing half of his invention, the Scissor Blade—she arrives at the prestigious Honnouji Academy, a high school unlike any other. The academy is ruled by the imposing and cold-hearted student council president Satsuki Kiryuuin alongside her powerful underlings, the Elite Four. In the school's brutally competitive hierarchy, Satsuki bestows upon those at the top special clothes called "Goku Uniforms," which grant the wearer unique superhuman abilities.

Thoroughly beaten in a fight against one of the students in uniform, Ryuuko retreats to her razed home where she stumbles across Senketsu, a rare and sentient "Kamui," or God Clothes. After coming into contact with Ryuuko's blood, Senketsu awakens, latching onto her and providing her with immense power. Now, armed with Senketsu and the Scissor Blade, Ryuuko makes a stand against the Elite Four, hoping to reach Satsuki and uncover the culprit behind her father's murder once and for all.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Matoi, Ryuuko Main

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Kiryuuin, Satsuki Main

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Mankanshoku, Mako Main

Suzaki, Aya Japanese

Senketsu Main

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Jakuzure, Nonon Supporting

Shintani, Mayumi Japanese

Harime, Nui Supporting

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Gamagoori, Ira Supporting

Inada, Tetsu Japanese

Mikisugi, Aikurou Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Sanageyama, Uzu Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Kiryuuin, Ragyou Supporting

Park, Romi Japanese

Ootsuka, Masahiko Producer, Episode Director

Kamagata, Eiichi Producer

Toba, Yousuke Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Reviews

Mar 15, 2025

SpartanJarJar

Recommended

Disguised as a provocative and perverted show, this anime actually delivers a deeper message and critiques those who make a big deal about the human body, specifically the female body. It explores the good and the bad of how one's insecurities, others' lust, and the ambition for freedom can bring either pain or power. I believe this work treats its message with a lot of respect. Although I was skeptical at first, I was happy to be proven wrong while also enjoying an intriguing plot with characters I slowly grew to love. Not to mention the music and animation, which are of absolute top-tier quality. ...

If all the tropes of modern action anime were built into one show, it would be this one, but this piece of work is making fun of the rest while showing how it's really done. It's not for everyone, but it’s a show I personally really enjoyed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 13, 2025

Mythhead

Mixed Feelings

Went in expecting an over the top ecchi packed action anime, and left having watched an over the top ecchi packed action anime. Hooray for un-false advertising! From the title alone, there is a lack of a “la Kill” character, so going about killing this “la Kill” would be pretty difficult. Okay, okay, “la Kill” is the action, not the person. Speaking of action, a genre typically defined by its masculinity, this series gets a slight edge over other action media because the main character is a girl. It’s genius because the fan service or “the hero’s reward” doesn’t have to be reserved for a ... side character now. Unfortunately, that’s where most of the series’ praise ends. Kill la Kill is a cliché parody, also known as a “satire.”

Kill la Kill is a series that prioritizes style over substance. This doesn’t necessarily make a series like it an instant deal breaker, since a genre as substance-less as action never made it a priority in the first place. Therefore, a lot of the series can enjoyable simply because of how raunchy it can get, which gets highlighted by many of the, ahem, camera angles (queue the bloody noses). However, this wouldn’t be a spectacle if it weren’t for a magical piece of clothing, known as kamui. Yes, magical clothing, this alone should indicate that this series doesn’t take itself seriously. Most of the time, the series pushes the limits on their large emphasis on clothing, but it’s mostly in the form of a dare to see how much skin the series can get away with showing. In that case, the more lewd transformative scenes would be their best bet. What was once a flashy scene meant to change from a dress-coded school outfit into a frilly dress has now become a change to make a skimpier outfit even skimpier. It’s ostentatious, it’s flashy (even in the literal sense), and it’s not afraid to show some skin here and there. It’s a far cry from the display of cuteness it parodies. Many of the other tropes Kill la Kill parodies merely point out the generic nature of them. This leads to the conclusion that it is not a satire. Since, satires typically criticize a societal issue or person, usually to point of flaws. Kill la Kill is self aware manner with both the comedy and its themes, as both are primarily just for show. Parodies can be satirical, but if it was supposed to be a satire in almost its entirety, it is communicated rather poorly.

The premise of the plot focuses on a vengeful, scissor-wielding Ryuuko who hopes to seek the wielder of the other scissor pair and the killer of her father. She enrolls in a generic militaristic academy notable by its conformity in an attempt to find the killer. The academy is brutally run by a strict Satsuki and her lackies the Elite Four. Ryuuko, being the angsty rebel she is, challenges Satsuki to a fight (queue the fighting) but fails miserably. However, her second attempt at fighting Satsuki wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for her aforementioned sailor uniform (queue the bloody noses again) which she named Senketsu. Most of the plot from here on out concentrates on this revenge story between Ryuuko and Satsuki. However, this revenge plot is very weak since most of it heavily relies on being formulaic with the additional plot devices. While not at all predictable since Kill la Kill throws plot twists out of nowhere, it’s nonetheless impact-less. All of the plot twists trend towards spoiler territory (obviously), so I’m unable to provide an example. However, there’s no buildup to them, so again, it’s not predictable in any way whatsoever. Not to suggest that the unknown is bad, but the manner in which these plot points are introduced aren't revealed in a satisfying way. Therefore, much of the plot that involves the unsatisfying use of cliche plot devices, mostly used as a cheap "wow" moment, makes the story feel less immersive. All in all, minus the action, notable parts of the plot’s execution are a notable flaw of the series.

Kill la Kill is primarily plot driven, which sucks because the plot and its execution sucks. However, the plot itself isn’t entirely stupid since it offers character development, more or less towards Ryuuko and Satsuki. Kill la Kill’s themes mostly home in on social dynamics. Starting with Ryuuko, she is a teenager, and teenagers notably the most susceptible to social dynamics since the state’s role is to mold them into cogs as to prepare them for the working world. Whereas some may say social dynamics, it is culture itself. Culture is the egoistic process in which children have their thoughts modified by adults as to transmit their ideas onto their offspring. Clothing is cultural, as it can manifest as an aspect of identity that can replicate cultural values and status. Social dynamics also deem both the lack of clothing (try being a nudist in public) and certain types of clothing to be unacceptable. On the other hand, hormones tend to take a different approach on the matter. It would be practically impossible to not tie in the hormonal and more raunchy aspects when it comes to the themes of Kill la Kill. Again, the plot is generic, Ryuuko’s story begins as an angsty teenager’s tale of revenge. Typically, teenagers form their own identities and gleefully wait for their independence to be bestowed upon them. Sometimes, girls do not do this, and forego the identity aspect to be a body instead. Kill la Kill takes the literal approach of “putting yourself out there,” but in a less shameful manner, or that shame should be diminished. The academy represents the authoritarian or parental figure in this instance. The over exaggerated nature of the series plays into the theme of the series a bit.

Minus Ryuuko, two other notable characters represent archetypes. Mako is definitively the most archetypal of the bunch, so it’ll be best to start with her. Mako is “The Jester,” which is basically a fancy word for the “comedy relief character.” Indeed, she is prone to a few visual gags. The most notable of these gags involve pointing out how great Ryuuko is, while she rubs a red hair tuft. In addition, her dialogue can also be pretty witty at times. A couple of the episodes offer a break from this in a few scenes, but this is not without initiation from another character.

Satsuki is the main antagonist that runs Honnouji Acamedy. She’s interesting because she undergoes more character development than Ryuuko. While Ryuuko is practically similar in terms of personality in every single episode, Satsuki’s character development is more defined. She’s tough, so most of her character development is essentially “lighten up and don’t be a stick in the mud.” She is also edgier than Ryuuko, because she occasionally has a few edgy monologues here and there. They mostly pertain to characterizing humans as pigs and suggesting that they ought to be treated like livestock. Good job on outclassing the shadow the hedgehog colored girl (though, coldsteel is edgier, psssh...nothin personnel… kid...) when it comes to edge.

The audiovisual aspects of the show, as stated numerous times, are unsurprisingly over-the-top. It’s the first aspect of the show that comes to mind when the show’s exaggerated parts of it are brought up. The animation quality itself is decent with a few dips in quality, but a lot of the raunchiness of the series carrying the rest. Minus the gratuitous amount of fanservice, there’s the cartoonish depiction of violence that offers a quick break from it. Much of the fighting relies on flashing colors and speed lines, but it works. The sound is also quite decent and fits with the art well. The only downside to the art in particular is that a lot of the scenes are repeated. Notably, the transformation scenes, since (as I remember) they’re all practically the same. After a while, some aspects of the art lost it charm a little bit. The art itself works for what Kill la Kill was going for.

In summary, Kill la Kill is hard to judge. As a series that prioritizes style, Kill la Kill mostly serves as mindless entertainment. The ridiculous nature of the series, which includes the appropriate amount of fanservice definitely helped with that. The genres the series parodies don’t have any useful commentary on them, as they’re primarily just for show. Although there’s some fun to be had, the plot’s execution wasn’t good enough to the point where I’d recommend it. The themes it portrays are present, and the characters tie into them, but it’s not really emphasized as much as the action is. Even the action bits got a bit boring after a while. However, Kill la Kill is more enjoyable than some of the “critics best pick” action films, so I’ll give it that.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 10, 2024

Tory_Keykira

Not Recommended

What a waster, what a fucking waster ©
Idk how people find this anime entertaining. Does it comment on something like a good satire? Nope. Is it funny in dialogue or visual comedy like a good parody? Nope. Does the over-the-top action provide enough entertainment? Nah, it's repetitive. I don't want to call a stupid show stupid and write a whole essay ranting about it. Being a stupid, cheesy, wild-ride cringe show is fine. It can be delicious. But it's not a KLK case. It's just a boring waste.
Let me, a professional cringe enthusiast, tell you how to make a good cringe. It's simple - once ... you set a "trash bar," you can't lower it at any cost. Like in the Riki-Oh, where the level of insanity never drops. A grotesque gore killing evolves into an even more pathos-laden silly mass murder scene and action, the viewer never gets a chance to catch their breath. What about KLK? When a silly villain is beaten, all the tasty bits of young female flesh are shown and all the arguments are shouted, nothing happens. It just goes on and on in the same groove. Same jokes, same nudity, same action. And of course, the same expositional drama, as if anyone would care about a cheap clichéd revenge arc in the trash that was made for fun. So for me watching KLK was like chewing cheap gum - repetitive motion with the taste that wears off pretty fast.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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