More Kill la Kill shower thoughts. Do you think it's pretty fair to say it's another deconstruction of the Mahou Shojou genre?
Granted the main character is a revenge-driven drifter who's older and edgier and more orphaned than the typical Shojou protagonist, and there's Tarrantino-tier blood spray and a lot more Basically Naked going on, but we still have the main genre tropes being played pretty straight. Through her adventures, Ryūko learns the value of friends and family, accepts her role as a superhuman (anti)hero, learns to listen to her feelings without reacting explosively to them, and grows from a tempermental and self-destructive loner teen into an angry but focused young adult who accepts herself and is comfortable relying on others. Seems to fit pretty well.
Like I said in my last KlK post, I was sorta meh on the Fanservice at first, and I'm still kinda uncomfortable with a few bits; Ryūko and Senketsu's first meeting was kinda rapey, and Sasuki and Ragyō in the bath made me squirm. Same goes for the massive amount of leering dudes, and how that's just considered normal and okay, but that's probably mostly my concern with mainstream Japanese culture and views toward women. On the flip-side, I appreciate how the fellas of Nudist Beach get sexualized too; even if it's mostly played for laughs when the dongles on their mech suits get in people's faces, it's good to see anime being more egalitarian about who wears the skimpy clothes.
I'm still really enjoying the construction of this show. I gather that Trigger sorta picks a motif and a genre, and builds everything around that; Gurren Lagaan had Spirals and Mecha, and Kill la Kill has Fashion/Fascism and Magical Girls. I dig how the show sort of teases at certain typical episodic structures, like having one big fight per episode and a systematic defeat of a series of Baddies leading up to the Big Bad, but then surprises you by changing things up; sometimes a fight lasts two episodes and ends unexpectedly, sometimes there's an early fight with the Big Bad, sometimes baddies forfeit or grow as characters after their defeat and/or become stronger, and even the little fights still move the plot forward and develop the main character so it never felt like filler or a slog. I was worried the Student Council's Four Devas would get shelved after their first big fight, but I love how they stick around like good baddies should. That whole twist with them and the academy was pretty cool too. :3
There's lots of interesting foils going on. There's that whole Peasant/Emperor and Freedom/Control foil between Satsuki and Ryūko, which apart from their color scheme makes them pretty high-contrast rivals (their whole "Life Fiber Synchronize" versus "Life Fiber Override" play into that too). Nui is kind of annoying, but she's a different kind of foil for Ryūko; visually I think they're treating Kawaii and Sexy as foils, and maybe as symbols for their Childish or Mature motives; one fights and kills without purpose beyond her own amusement, while the other does it to get closer to her goals. If Nui is a mad dog on a Kiryūin leash, Ryūko is like one of those shelter dogs with a rough history that finally found a good family. And then there's Mako and Ryūko, who seem to be foiled as friends in an entirely different way I can't really sum up. I love Mako's rants in defense of this or that, and how they stream-of-consciousness and Batman Logic their way into complete adorable nonsense.
That was a bit long-winded, so I'll wrap it up. I can already tell I'm going to miss this show when it's over. Gotta make the remaining episodes last!
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Topic: I like anime, do you like anime? (Read 3142052 times)