Kill la Kill - Episode 21

From heroine to villain in a flash, Ryuko is ow seemingly under the complete control of Ragyo and, perhaps more importantly, Junketsu, as she continues her rivalry with Satsuki with their roles now reversed.

For her part, Satsuki is now clad in Senketsu and seems adept in all of the powers at his disposal... or is she?  As his long-standing wearer, it quickly becomes clear to Ryuko that Satsuki's bond with her Kamui is but one of temporary convenience, and she wastes no time in exploiting this fact to give Satsuki a pasting.

What Ryuko hasn't accounted for however is the fact that Satsuki still has powerful friends, and thanks to the combined efforts of the Elite Four it seems as if they've maneuvered her into a position to take Junketsu from her by force.  If only things were so simply... given the bond between them, Nui claims this is impossible as she interferes in the battle, and for once it seems that even Mako's appearance won't sooth Ryuko's agitated mental state.  If her words won't change things however, perhaps her actions will, and once an opening presents itself it seems that the tables are ready to be turned once again.

After a needless pre-credits opening sequence, thankfully this was another intense episode of Kill la Kill with break-neck pacing even by this show's standards - it's amazing how much the series manages to convey at times with such incredibly limited animation for the most part, and there was so much going on throughout that the end of the episode was almost a relief, if only to allow the viewer to catch their breath and shake off the tension of the past twenty minutes.  You could argue that Ryuko is too easily (and conveniently) swayed to conform to the requirements of the show's plot, and that would certainly be a valid argument, but when it delivers so much edge of your seat action while still managing to squeeze some poignant character interactions into its midst, it's hard to be too critical of it.