When the creators of Gurren Lagann left Gainax to create their own studio, nobody really knew what to expect. After Kill la Kill's first preview however, the hype train began gaining momentum like a fat kid going down a lubed up slip and slide. So, does Studio Trigger deliver with their first big project? The answer put simply is: yes.
Story - 7.6:
Kill la Kill tells the story of a girl named Ryuko who goes to Honnouji Academy in search of the person who killed her father. Here students are ranked by their uniform which is given a certain amount of stars. The more stars your uniform has, the more powerful you become, and the better off your family will live in the city. Ryuko comes across a powerful talking uniform that her father made named Senketsu, and thus our story begins. For more than the first half of the show, the plot isn't much more than Ryuko plowing through other students while wearing Senketsu in the most fanservicey way possible. It's basically just one fight after another with comedy sprinkled in too. While this is all unquestionably fun to watch, as far as the story goes, there wasn't much there. However, there is a point where the story starts to gain focus and things start to get more interesting beyond just the action scenes. Now, don't go into Kill la Kill thinking everything is going to make sense, and that the plot will move smoothly in a logical fashion. Because it doesn't. The members of Studio Trigger are famous for making shows that are pure mindless fun with a large scale plot that has nonsensical logic, and Kill la Kill is no different. If you can manage to turn your brain off while watching this show, you will have absolutely no problems with the story.
Art - 7.6:
Kill la Kill has a mixed bag when it comes to the art. Starting with the negatives, overall, the animation can often feel like it lacked a sizeable budget. The shading is sub par, and the movements are also often not very fluid or realistic. There is also basically only one design for every single student that isn't significant in the story. HOWEVER, Studio Trigger should be greatly commended for how creatively used their budget. Because although the animation was subpar on the surface, they used many unique techniques in transitions, fight scenes, and even with the lighting that made you often forget any of it's flaws. The creative art style was brilliant and colorful, and the character designs were cool and varied. Also, the use of the giant red words was a very welcome addition to the show. In the end, no matter how bad the animation got, it never really interfered with my immersion in the show, but when the animation shined, it shined BRIGHT (just look at the censorship at nudist beach...) .
Sound - 8.6:
Unquestionably the strongest technical aspect of the show. Kill la Kill's OST was flat out ridiculous. Much like the show itself, the soundtrack had a sense of scale, using loud orchestras, choirs, and even multiple languages. Songs from Kill la Kill soundtrack are often instantly recognizable to the show even more-so than the also great openings and endings. The voice acting was also stellar with a very wide array of talent for a wide array of characters. Each voice actor fit each character perfectly, no matter how odd or obscure the role was. If I had to point out a few negatives it would just be that some songs were probably overused, and many of the non-epic songs were less than stellar. However, the sound aspect of this show deserves absolute praise.
Characters - 6.3:
Easily the weakest part of Kill la Kill was the show's characters. Not to say they weren't good, just that they could have and should have been much better. The cast of characters was large and varying in personalities which is a big plus. Also, each character has some sort of backstory or reasoning for their actions(no matter how obscure Trigger made these backstories). However, none of the characters felt anything more than one-dimensional. All were extremely predictable in their actions, and some were downright annoying after a while (Mako... you were funny at first... but not after the 15th time of using the same gimmick). One can argue that Kill la Kill needed a cast like this, that was just full of stereotypes who were predictable and don't develop. But I dare you to find a show with strong 3 dimensional characters who grew throughout the show that ended up making the show WORSE than if the characters were just cookie cutter stereotypes. All in all though, the characters were enjoyable for the most part, and that's what really matters, so a positive score is well deserved.
Enjoyment - 7.1:
This is the section that should have a higher score... but for me it just didn't quite click as well as it could have. It was an absolute blast of a ride, but where Kill la Kill floundered was in its first half. Each episode up until the plot focuses is basically the same recipe over and over again. While it was always fun to watch the beautifully animated action scenes and the creative moves that would happen, it was in essence no more enjoyable than watching Ash Ketchum battle 10 different trainers throughout 13 episodes. The first 2 or 3 episodes were ridiculously entertaining because of the shear uniqueness of the show, but after repeated gimmicks and formulaic set ups of episodes, things got old. Of course, after the focus shift the show became Gurren Lagann-esque in terms of entertainment value, but that still cant excuse episodes 4-15 from their rather repetitive nature.
Overall - 7.44:
Kill la Kill is without a doubt a wild ride that is a joy to watch. However, it is not the "savior of anime" that many people claim it to be (not that anime even needs saving). Inconsistent would be a great word to describe this show for just about every aspect I can think of. The characters range from great to meh, the story can range from "WTF HOLY MOTHER WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!?!" to meh, and pretty much everything else can be described the same way. However, the highs easily outweigh the lows, and give Kill la Kill a very good score of a 7.44 out of 10 and a recommendation from me to watch it if you are indeed a fan of over the top action shows (and don't mind some.... interesting... fanservice).
The Verdict:
Mindless fun and action, a great debut for Studio Trigger
Pros:
+ Gorgeous, over the top action scenes
+ Unique art style
+ Funny/large scale plot line
+ Pure, thoughtless fun
Cons:
- 1 dimensional characters
- Inconsistencies in story delivery, and animation
- Gimmicks are over-used
If you liked Kill la Kill, watch...
Gurren Lagann
FLCL
7.44/10 - Great
