Recap: Ryuko is attacked by a mysterious assailant with no known ties to Satsuki or the school.

Gee’s Thoughts: After last week’s comedic breather, we’re getting back into the swing of things this week. Ryuko is attacked by Tsumugu Kinagase (voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi of Gurren Lagann fame), a member of a mysterious organization known as Nudist Beach, who seem to have a vendetta against life fibers and the Kamui uniforms. Ryuko is easily defeated, and it’s only through the attempted selfless sacrifice of Senketsu and a well-timed interruption from Mako that our heroes live to see another day. While the whole lesson about Ryuko and Senketsu needing to work together and acknowledging each other as friends is a pretty well worn plot development, I couldn’t help but shed some manly tears for Senketsu’s attempt to save his friend’s life.

Clearly not villainous, Tsumugu is definitely a man with a mission and his connections help flesh out the world of KLK. Not only have we learned that there are others that seek to bring down Satsuki and Honnouji Academy, but that their methods and ideology may also come into conflict with Ryuko’s. His connection to sketchy-teacher-extraordinaire Aikuro also sheds some light on the mysterious developments going on behind the scenes. His introduction as a character serves as a perfect example of how to flesh out a universe without too much exposition.

In addition, we finally get to see one of the other Devas in action, if only briefly, this time in the form of Nonon, the head of the culture clubs. Her dialogue about her closeness to Satsuki as well as her obvious orchestra conductor’s theme have me believing that she may end up being the Guame to Satsuki’s Lordgenome; A character who doesn’t appear to do much, but may in fact by the most loyal of all the big bad’s lieutenants. As much as I love Gamagoori’s boisterous loyalty, Nonon looks to be shaping up to be an equally interesting member of Satsuki’s four elites.

This episode also happened to prove that the…distinctive animation of episode 4 was merely a result of their attempts to save their budget for episodes like this one. Not only was it well animated (as well animated as Trigger could afford anyway), it boasted some of the best cinematography I’ve seen all season. The above head bathroom scene, Tsumugu’s walk towards Honnouji, his fight with the gardening club, the entire fight in the last half of the episode, there are so many moments I could point out. Seriously, this episode has some amazingly well composed shots. And I’m not just talking about how pretty they are, but also the angles and ways Trigger framed the scenes. If you doubted that this was a studio staffed by some of the most talented veterans in the industry, this episode blows those doubts out of the water.

KLK looks like it’s heading back in the action direction and time will tell if the plot is going to be something actually worth talking about or if it’s just dressing for the crazy cool fights in the near future.