Kill la Kill

"What's the greatest anime you've ever seen?"

"I won't tell you that, but I will tell you the best anime to involve evil clothing and nudists... the most awesome nudists."

I tried to open this review with one of those must read type of opening sentences. I guess I'm no Peter Straub (and I'm honestly curious as to whether or not any of you know what I mean by that), but I do like to think I can start off a review in style. 

I suppose that if there has been one glaring omission made (among many, I suppose) by my anime watching habits it is that I had for so long denied Kill La Kill. I didn't do it purposefully or anything like that. It's just that one guy can only watch so much anime and certain others have to get sacrificed. Kill La Kill was an unfortunate sacrifice. 

Honestly, what first piqued my interest in this crazy-ass anime was a shirt referencing Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movie. I love Quentin Tarantino and anime and Kill Bill so it just seem that this shirt was made strictly for me. The shirt was magic. I had to buy it. 

But I held off on watching the anime even though I had a shirt representing it. I know that seems like a "poseur" attitude, but I knew in my gut I would enjoy this anime no matter what. I just needed time to get to it. 

Any anime that references Tarantino cannot be bad. In fact, the characters from Pulp Fiction make brief cameos in this anime. How brief? Like blink and you'll miss it kind of brief, but they are there nonetheless. If you don't pause at the right moment they'll be gone. No joke. 

Kill La Kill is a love letter to anime. It is a love letter to fans of Gurren Lagann. It is a kind of fanservice for fans that bleed (from their noses, more than likely) for their favorite anime. This is what it is all about for me. 

School settings in anime are always ripe for depiction, but this time it is a bit different. At these schools the "Goku" uniforms carry enough lethal power to put even the great Unicron out of commision. 

But even then all articles of clothing are not made equal. 

There are powerful clothes and then there are the Kamui made from pure life fibers. 

Matoi Ryuko is a girl seeking vengeance for her father's death, but it seems like she'll never get it if she doesn't get stronger. The one responsible, Kiryuin Satsuki, is the leader of the Honnouji Academy. Judging by her “Fear is freedom! Subjugation is liberation! Contradiction is truth! Those are the facts of this world! And you will all surrender to them, you pigs in human clothing!” speech, I think you can tell what kind of person she is. She is absolutely ruthless and you will hate her. I certainly wouldn't want her in charge of my school. 

Ryuko suspects Satsuki of being responsible for her father's death, but she can't touch Satsuki.

But one day she discovers Senketsu, a living girl's sailor outfit that drinks blood in order to transform into an exhibitionist's suit of armor and things start changing for all parties involved. 

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention what is probably the greatest underground militant group in the history of anime. I'm talking about "Nudist Beach."

The Nudists understand that the Goku uniforms and the life fibers are a danger to human beings everywhere. The only way to achieve peace is to break free from the life fibers and go on a full commando rebellion, baby. It's Nudists vs. articles of clothing like you've never seen before. It will blow your mind. 

So, yeah, this anime is pretty damn awesome. Of course, ya'll knew that already. I'm the last schmuck on the planet to get around to watching Kill La Kill in all of its subtitled glory. 

But if you haven't watched it then there is no time like the present. Yes, the ghosts of Gurren Lagann will linger over this anime and comparisons will be made until doomsday, but this Kill La Kill doesn't believe in Gurren Lagann. Instead this is the anime that believes in the Kill La Kill that believes in itself.

Or something like that. 

Thanks for the ride, Studio Trigger.