Thursday, December 19, 2013

Kill la Kill: Deeper than its skin, but not its clothes


Last Seen: Episode 10

My initial impression of the show was that it would play out as a action-centric hyper comedy show, with either half fighting for dominance. I was sort of right...Minus the third contender from way out of the park: The story and characters. With the entrance of the Soldier with a Mission a few episodes ago, and his summary exit that same day as is the shows style, the plot got a lot deeper, although not in any way that wasn't completely obvious well before it happened.
[Aside]Why does everyone assume that just because something leeks obvious from every pore, it's immediately bad? I've run into this way of thinking way too much lately. Just because you can accurately predict the outcome, doesn't mean the ride there won't be the greatest thing you've ever experienced, it just means it won't take you by surprise. For instance, Gurren Lagann had an obvious ending, the good guys were going to win. That was obvious. It was still one of the wildest rides to ever grace the industry. Obvious is not immediately bad; It is just a potential sign of bad craftsmanship.
[End Aside]
The significant part is how much deeper it got. I mean, we're not about to hit china over here with this show, taking a step back and looking at the big picture, we're still in the shallow end of the pool, but compared to what I thought was going to be this shows story and plot depth, (which was Zero), it's impressive. If only to me.

One part that continually impresses me is the shows own limiter, that it always lives up to. It loves introducing someone/something huge, and then wrapping it up before the end of the episode, if not before the end of half the episode, and yet it still makes it great fun to watch. I don't just mean cathartic mindless fun either, but some solid: 'oh, that's an awesome way to do that', moments.

Short Version: If you passed this show up because you thought it was just too over the top, if you thought it was just going to wallow in shallow 'strip them with sparkling special effects' shock value, stop, about-face, and start watching it again. The MAGNIFICENT FLASHY STRIPPING TRANSFORMATIONS don't ever stop or even slow down, but compared to where things have been before, they're keeping it under control. What you get at face value on day one, episode one, never goes away, the flash, the grandeur, it's all here for the long run. But! There is also depth here too. Usually when you see this simple magnitude of flash, it's because someones trying to compensate for something, and cover it up or distract you from it. Kill la Kill does not need its flash to distract you from anything, its flash is just spice to make what it has at heart taste better.