Friday 31 January 2014

Kill la Kill - Episode 16

Now that the first half of the series is officially over, it's time for a recap!  Fear not though, for this is a recap, Kill la Kill style...

...by which I mean it's all over in a little over a minute.  Thus, the School Raid Trip is over and Satsuki's pitched battle with Matoi comes to an end - it's a battle that's taken more of a toll on Kiryuin than she was letting on too, as she struggles to keep control over the Kamui that threatens to take over her body at any moment.  Meanwhile, it's time for Mikisugi to finally show Ryuko the truth about Senketsu, Life Fibres and the how all of this relates to the death of her father... and Mako comes along for the ride too, naturally.


In fact, both Ryuko and Satsuki are introduced to the progenitor of their Kamui - in fact, this is a literal case of "clothes making the man", as it's revealed that Life Fibres are in fact extra-terrestrial, and came to earth as parasites of sorts whereupon they took it upon themselves to hasten the evolution of homo sapiens before laying dormant.  Now, the Kiryuin family, led by Ragyo, have managed to implant Life Fibres into clothing around the world, and seem all set to unleash their grand plan.  What that plan is we don't know, but it's up to Ryuko and Senketsu - a Kamui created by her father, a former employee of Ragyo, specifically for her to fight against this scheme.  But is Ryuko so easily swayed by this talk of ending the war?

Having satisfied itself by poking fun at the traditional recap episode, I was a little worried that having to spend an episode unraveling back story at this point could deaden the show's energy and pacing, but far from it - I'm now sufficiently invested in the series to revel in the story and ideas revealed here, and the result was entertaining with just enough comedy moments to keep the tone light.  Admittedly it does all add up to a very simplistic concept to focus upon for the rest of the series - it's up to Ryuko to save the world from aliens, to all intents and purposes - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing by any stretch considering the show's strengths.  Onward, then, to the Sports and Culture Festival...

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