Kill la Kill #01 — Giant Red Text

October 3rd, 2013

 

Boy, is that obtrusive and does it look awful.

Impressions:

Can’t accuse this episode of dragging. I can’t say that I’m on board with the overall style though, and certainly not the gigantic red block text that they love to cover the screen with. It does have a lot of that childishness and spasticness that I’m a bit wary of. The damsel in distress/exposition machine is probably the biggest abuse that stands out. She’s just kind of… there… to be a very obvious vehicle for gags… and exposition since they couldn’t think of any way to actually weave it in without simply info dumping. That does keep it from being overly serious despite the actual content of the episode, but little of it was genuinely funny either. Thankfully, it doesn’t dwell, blasts right along, and a fair amount is background or incidental, so just kind of serves to fill space.

The fight scenes are also a little lacking, which is sort of weird considering how animated it is for practically everything else. I’ve noted my dislike for the long charge-up and screaming the description of your attack and how you’re going to attack for 10 straight seconds of speedlines or CG thingies bouncing around over actual choregraphy many times though and this is firmly in the former category even though it clearly has the budget and directing talent to fall into the latter. It just makes it all the weirder when it comes time to actually punch something that it usually falls into either all kinds of dramatic windups, shouting, and posing just to cut to a still or maybe worse, one of the two members of the fight standing motionlessly as DBZ-esque spastic attacks bounce off them harmlessly. 

It wasn’t a bad episode by any means though. It moved right along, usually didn’t treat the audience like a moron that needed everything spelled out, and is certainly full of style even if that style is noise, noise, and more noise. I’m not really on board with the slapstick’s execution, but it does at least mesh well with all the yelling into one consistent package instead of only screaming punchlines. And as I said, there’s certainly a lot of talent on display for most of the episode, and I’m sure people who grew up with a love for DBZ or Jump 20 minute grunting power ups will be a lot more able to stomach the long shouting attacks with minimal actual attacking than I. There’s just a lot that makes me wary, especially the superficiality of it all. It seems much better suited as an OVA or movie and I’m not entirely certain how they’re going to stretch it out for three more months.

Next Episode:

 

More shouting.

Posted in Kill la Kill | 15 Comments »

15 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • horsey says:

    3 more months? I believe you meant 6.

  • Anon says:

    I just saw this Episode. Uhh. perhaps i need time to get used to this kind of Style… Drawing and “All Hail, the Leader” thing…

  • V1cious says:

    “It seems much better suited as an OVA or movie and I’m not entirely certain how they’re going to stretch it out for three more months.”

    I’m gonna assume you haven’t seen Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann? If you did, you’d know just how over the top these guys can get. This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.

    • UltimaLuminaire says:

      Really? Really?

      Tengen Toppa’s setting gave a practical and well thought out justification for getting bigger and bigger. Its characters’ growth mirrored the increasing ante. The tension came about from the fact that increasing the ante RELIED on their character arc. I haven’t seen this episode of Kill la Kill, but if all you think is that getting bigger without bounds is all it takes to make a great story, and that’s all Kill la Kill has to offer, then it’s done. Plot without character development is a sport. A series of plays that a viewer can gawk and group-think over. I’ll never a sport passed off as a story.

    • UltimaLuminaire says:

      Blah, 24 hour day. Hello, typos.

    • UltimaLuminaire says:

      Also, the Tengen Toppa movies were weak and added unnecessary fodder (especially in the last movie) that cheapened the development of the characters and the setting. I’m pretty sure a movie or ova would suck about as bad if they continue with their mentality from those movies. I also hated Little Witch Academia for many of the same reasons plus the fact that the writers thought it was a great idea to heap praise upon mediocrity. The MC was carried upon the backs of her peers until the very end. What bullsh**.

  • Anonymous says:

    An anime just had 1 episode yesterday, and someone already compare it to an already finished anime….

    This is why i don’t understand 99% anime fandom…

    • V1cious says:

      I made the comparison, because it’s by the exact team as Gurren Lagann. It’s not hard to believe it will follow the same formula.

      • Anonymous says:

        And it’s also not hard to think that they are currently red-herring you.

        Just saiyan

  • John says:

    Generation of hard to please anime nut

    • Anon says:

      No, its just most anime is mediocre … years ago before subs we barely had a sample to check so we praised everything we had because of how little we had, now we are are in a golden age of subs meaning we have a very large sample and on average most series are mediocre.

      This one is guilty of style over substance, its drowned in style but thats it, no substance … its mistaking the walls for the foundation that is main issue with these “artsy” type of animes, a lot of dressing that doesnt really hide the fact there is nothing under it.

      Simply put we have standards now and not accept everything as good simply because that was it, we can actually PICK instead of just watching because its this or nothing.

  • The Phantom says:

    Dropped the show as soon as the cheap giant red text appeared, looks cheap as well, Anyway Next!