Kill La Kill was a breath of fresh air insanity when it kicked off, I see no reason why it shouldn’t end the same way. This series stuck to its nonsensical guns from beginning to end and saved some of the most crowd pleasing moments for last. Considering many of the people who worked on this show also worked on Gurren Lagann, I’m not surprised things got taken to a whole new level of epicness, to the point where everyone was a giant fighting for the fate of the world. In a nutshell, even if you couldn’t buy into the ever evolving and crazy premise…Kill La Kill was a whole lot of fun right until the end.
Before any final battle could be fought, there was an arguably more important one that needed to come first: The fight for Ryuko’s soul. It should feel weird watching Satsuki fighting so hard to save Ryuko but it doesn’t. Not only do we know about their sibling origins but we also saw Satsuki be the bigger person and admit she had secretly been pushing Ryuko to see if she could be a powerful ally in the upcoming battle against her/their mother. Sure, she didn’t know Ryuko was her sister but Satsuki still felt bad being so cruel to Ryuko, especially when it came to using the grief of loss over their father as fuel for Ryuko’s flames. Satsuki’s show of heart was only one key factor to restoring Ryuko. The rest came from the other two people crazy enough to never let a girl as stubborn as Ryuko out of their sights: Mako and Senketsu. Ryuko’s friendships with these two have been the beating heart of Kill La Kill and both were given proper payoffs in this finale. It’s a little jarring to hear Mako wanting to take Ryuko on a date…but it’s Mako, you can take it however you want even if it’s not in the romantic sense. And…oh Senketsu. As much as I’d wished for a happy ending for Ryuko, I wondered if it would come at a cost. But I couldn’t think of a better way for the best piece of sentient clothing to go out, making sure Ryuko made it back to her every growing family on Earth after they stopped Ragyo…dammit I’m not crying…ok I was tearing up but I did so more when Ryuko quietly called Satsuki “sis” when she returned home safely.
Once Ryuko was reminded of all the good she had in her life, it was time for payback. In the end, Nui never got the satisfying demise I’d hoped for after all the trouble and chaos she’d caused. But she did finally lose it when Ryuko cut off both of her arms. Seeing the normally psychotically happy Nui become rabid and furious to the point of insanity had its perks and it was just the start of several ass kickings she received in the final episodes, mostly from Ryuko cause no one else deserved to beat the crap out of her more. When it came to Ragyo, she always seemed to have one more villainous edge after another, from immortality to Plan C-G. I was worried that she was going to make it to the end and somehow kill herself believing her plan for Earth and the Life Fibers was full proof. But Ryuko challenged her worldview tac for tac. In a way, all of Ryuko’s verbal sparring with Satsuki helped her reach this point. At the end of the day, it was Ryuko and Satsuki’s faith in the dysfunctional families they’d made for themselves in the Mankanshou’s and the Elite Four respectively that won out over Ragyo’s beliefs that humanity deserves to be enslaved by the clothes they wear. In the end, seeing Ragyo defiantly rip her own heart out and crush it, refusing to live in a world as happy as the one Ryuko wished for was a fitting end to such a powerhouse diva of a villain.
The scale of Kill La Kills finale more than matched its penchant for crazy and over the top schenanigans. To be honest I’m surprised Nudist Beach still had a battleship to use in the final fight after Ryuko and Satsuki were finished with their epic duel. But everyone got a moment to show off their stuff from Mako to every member of the Elite Four to Mikisugi and Tsumugu. My man Gamagoori still gets high marks for taking a near fatal blow to protect Mako. Man I hope that Mako isn’t into Ryuko romantically (that’s a lie and that montage of the two of them enjoying hanging out with Satsuki was adorable) cause if Mako ever got her own spin off tale, I’d love to see how she’d do in a relationship with Satsuki’s ever loveable impenetrable shield. And it was also a bonus to see Mako dawn her fight club president uniform one more time to aid in the battle against the Life Fibers. Indeed, this finale was all about pay off and from the abundance of nudity and fan service to the excellent fights, Kill La Kill delivered on every front.
The story was mind boggling and it felt like certain twists and revelations came from the same random energy that fueled this show. But Kill La Kill is a hellva Anime experience from a studio made up of guys who had a ton of fun making Anime in the past. The fights were creative and electrifying. The characters were memorable for their own reasons and all fed off each others crazy quirks just fine. The animation was solid across the board, even the use of Manga still to emphasize the sheer magnitude of Ryuko and Ragyo’s final battle. Yes, I took some issue with Ryuko getting pummeled more often than not but the girls undying spirit and continuous ways to outtalk and outsmart every opponent always kept me rooting for her. And we all need a Mako Mankanshou in our lives: someone to step in with the craziest rants that make no sense and yet perfect sense all at once, someone who will always be in your corner and your heart no matter what. Kill La Kill is a very special show that was made by people who love making Anime and pushing the kind of story it can tell. Hell, they made a premise that descended into humanity in the war against clothes and it was still entertaining as hell. It’s bizarre, it’s insane, it’s barely clothed girls with hot bods duking it out with swords and scissor blades…aka one of the best rides you’ll ever take watching any Anime.
Kill La Kill gets a 9/10.
And speaking of Studio Trigger masterworks, we’re goin right from one into another. Check back Next Monday as the Summer of TRIGGER continues with Little Witch Academia: The Series right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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