Recap

A month has passed since the traumatic events that occurred at Honnouji Academy. Nudist Beach is in tatters, Satsuki has been imprisoned by Ragyo, and Ryuko refuses to wake up from her coma. With humanity on its last legs, former enemies team up in their final stand against the Life Fibers.

Gee’s Thoughts

Another infodump episode, though not particularly unsurprising considering the events of the previous episode. We find the country in a rather bad state, with the Covers, the tailored drones of the Life Fibers, having devoured the majority of Japan’s students (including Mako!), and indoctrinated the rest. The former Elite Four and what’s left of Nudist Beach team up in an attempt to save those they can. Overall, not too much goes on this episode, but it does serve the vital purpose of bringing us up to speed, if a little hamfisted in its execution. Still, its Trigger’s excellent direction and execution that maintains the same levels of enjoyment as previous episodes. It’s impressive how the show manages to maintain an even balance between its usual zany levity and the more serious situation our characters find themselves in.

As usual, Kill la Kill keeps up the impressive presentation, the introduction of the Covers and the abduction of their human victims was a very well done bit. From a thematic standpoint, I have to give Trigger credit for maintaining a bleak tone throughout most of the episode. Okay, bleak for Kill la Kill isn’t very bleak considering how much comedy is still going on, but overall, it’s easy to tell there’s a much different tone to the episodes than the earlier ones. Despite the regular lack of fluid animation, I feel like this episode was particularly well directed, and had some really great scene compositions. The distinctive angles and poses keep things fresh and fun, even if there isn’t a lot going on between them. Throw in some truly excellent comedic timing and the regular Trigger dynamism and you have an episode that was still fun to look at.

The episode ends with Mako’s rescue and Ryuko’s revival. This part seems a bit suspect to me, since it was the attacking Covers who woke her up. Seeing as Ragyo is probably cut from the same cloth as Satsuki when it comes to dastardly plans, I can only imagine she did this on purpose. With Ryuko refusing to don Senketsu, going so far as to call him a monster unworthy of being her friend, I can’t help but wonder how things will go from here. Obviously they’ll patching things up in an episode or two, but until then, we can only speculate.

Zigg’s Thoughts

I must admit I was actually caught a little off guard by the time skip that effectively opens this episode. It’s a little disappointing that the show backs off from the incredible climax it ended last episode on, but out of the heat of the moment it’s also pretty understandable given that we’ve still got at least five or six episodes to go and you couldn’t have barreled to the finish at 100% speed. As it is, taking it down and then building back up to an even more epic showdown is a smart call.

With that said, I’m not certain I like the shows attempt to (briefly) turn this into a gritty against-all-odds survival tale. It’s not that KLK can’t be serious, but as over the top as it is, its seriousness only really works in massive operatic settings. It’s just a bit too silly to pull off the ‘underground resistance’ angle they go for here, though that problem is tempered by how brief it is. We’re back to ridiculous super powered battling by the end and that’s probably for the best, although I can imagine this missing month being an interesting breeding ground for side stories and the like.

The episode also suffers a little from being a transition and as a result it throws a lot of things at the screen which stick with varying degrees of success. Things that work include the brilliantly creepy realisation of  COVERS, shrieking shrunken heads and all. With the enemy now an army of crazy space alien vampire clothes it really does feel like the conflict has gone to another level and the showdown at the end feel suitably epic, complete with some great (and very old-school super robot inspired) cinematography. That split screen shot of Shiro and Inamuta, or Gamagoori’s delightfully tongue-in-cheek declaration that ‘In Heaven’s name, I smite clothing!’ strike a goofy, hot-blooded tone that injects a bit of fun into what’s quite a serious episode otherwise.

One other thing that brings a smile to the face is Trigger’s sudden decision to jump fully on board the Mako/Gamagoori train, but it’s also an angle that comes so suddenly it seems a little forced and as a result a little fake. In fact, that’s an issue which crops up a few times here, in the ‘reveal’ of Ryuko’s father’s true identity for example. It’s something that could have been done by implication, or just a single shot or sequence, but instead it has to be spelled out, which wastes time and lessens impact. The worst example of this is Ragyo’s extended I AM SO EVIL molestation of Satsuki, which is both gross and entirely redundant. We already know she’s creepy and unbelievably evil, so what’s the point of this other than for nasty ‘titillation’? I expect better quite frankly.

With that said, the episode ends strongly, with Ryuko’s awakening and subsequent rejection of Senketsu a telegraphed but still dramatic way for the story to turn. The fact that we the audience know the awakening was engineered by Ragyo adds an extra layer of intrigue and it’ll be interesting to see how we begin to build up towards the true finale. Even in an ‘off’ week, there’s plenty of cool and interesting stuff to digest in this episode, and that’s the mark of a great show.