First and foremost, I have to say, this was probably some of the most fun I had watching an anime. This show will not challenge you with deep meaning or cerebral commentary (not until you really want it to) but for me it was a jolly good time all around. But the anime itself, you have to know, oddly did not have a huge role in that.
The plot of the first few episodes moved along rather quickly and had a nice pace to it. Animation in those few episodes was also quite impressive and had an interesting style to it, I liked very much. Some gems like episode 4 were particularly impressive and so back then, the hype train was set in motion. And this here, is what I am talking about. The fandom surrounding Kill la Kill, even while vastly depleting now, back then was simply a blast and so much fun to me, while watching the show.
The story itself, at first, was a nice spin on the traditional high-school setting and was used fairly cleverly to kick of usage of rather old tropes, that were used in new and interesting ways. That was helped by archetypical but very likeable characters, like Satsuki and the devas. They were practically mines of endless meme potential and funny in-jokes, making the show even more fun to watch. Like, you just have to look at Nonon for example and see the hours of fun, people had with her on facebook and other social media sites. But therein lies a huge problem in reviewing and watching this show today.
That hypetrain has pretty much stopped and it was awesome while it lasted, but all good things have to come to an end. So, with what does it leave us with?
I'd say, it leaves us with a rather enjoyable show, that would have greatly benefited form being cut in half. What was it? 25 episodes or so. Those are far to much time you have to spend with Kill la Kill and the show knows this as much as you do. The second half of the show was substantially weaker that the first half, even going so far as letting me assume, at some point they just made stuff up, as the went along. The plot with Ryuuko and her wanting to abandon Senketsu was pretty unnecessary, the school trip arc was just mind bogglingly stupid and many other small things here and there really put salt in my tea, there didn't need to be. Overall the second half, excepting a few things and the ending episode, was just far weaker than the opening episodes and hit my overall score quite a bit. On the other hand the show tackled some rather sensitive subjects like molesting and stuff and I am still not quite sure, what to think of it. I may be of the opinion, that you can satirize and make fun of everything, but something, simply leaving a bad taste in your mouth can quickly happen. The story as a whole about clothing and how it affects humans is interesting in its premise but left many things to be desired in execution and to be further elaborated.
One minor detail though, whoever thought of the final form of Senketsu being called “Fashion Week” is literally a genius in my eyes. I don't even know myself, I just find that to be the perfect name for the final form.
Characters were overall quite memorable, like I said. I felt like, they were all justified to be there and no one, except Sanageyama of course. It is the blind one. I even had to look up his name for gods sake.
The musical score was top notch and strong all around. Some character pieces like Nui's theme for example have become some of my favorites and the show spawned a few iconic phrases (Don't you lose that way baby, don't you ever lose it.) So almost no complaints on that front. Maybe some overusage, but never something to severe.
In terms of animation this show feels interesting in the beginning, but outright disappoints in the middle and the end. As a growing studio, you have to know how to spread your budget wisely and not just waste it on a few pretty episodes to let the rest look mediocre to outright unpretty.
In the end, there are quite a few things pissing in my Kill la Kill salad, but also many things I really liked about the show. I would rather think of it as a phenomenon, without really needing to be widely successful or in everybody’s mouth. Something you had to have experienced while it was airing to get the full package. I know, that excludes a lot of people, but that unfortunately is how it is. Without that, it is slightly above average with many problems but also some things to like in return.
