Thursday 9 January 2014

Kill la Kill - Episode 13

A school trip is a staple part of any anime series... but not many school trips involve the invasion and conquest of academies elsewhere in Japan.

This, however, is exactly the kind of field trip Satsuki has in mind, outfitting the students which mass-produced Goku uniforms to create a mammoth army seemingly capable of taking down any foe.  In the face of this, you'd normally expect Ryuko to be at her belligerent best to try and stop this grab for power, but the reality is very different - having been turned into a monster by her raw anger in the previous episode, Ryuko really doesn't want to wear Senketsu and fight ever again, no matter what.


One boy seems determined to change this, however - Shinjiro Nagita is a former member of the Newspaper Club who has been banned from the school grounds on account of his desire to speak the truth about Satsuki's invasion plans, and he wants Ryuko's help to fight for justice.  For her part, Matoi has no interest in fighting for others right now, although once Mako's family find themselves involved in the bullying of student council members her tune soon changes.  It seems that this is exactly what Nagita desired - but not for the reasons initially expressed, leaving our heroine looking even more vulnerable than ever.

After a couple of weeks away from the show over the festive period, it's certainly good to be back in the Kill la Kill groove, although this particular instalment felt one which was necessarily less high octane and blood-pumping that usual.  Aside from its delicious final twists, this episode was really all about examining Ryuko's mental state after the events of the previous outing and placing characters where they need to be moving forward - not the kind of stuff that makes for a fantastic episode in a series packed with memorable moments in spite of some good moments, but hopefully a mere re-calibration before the series marches on in its more typically bombastic style.

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