Okay apparently it was time for another of my patented 3-month breaks. Not sure that I'm back to full speed, but I finished this series so here we are.
Kill La Kill is the first full-length series by Studio Trigger, formed by a number of Gainax employees who apparently felt that their former company's direction wasn't awesome enough. Most notably its writer did Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt and its director did Gurren Lagann.
It's a show about clothes. It is the most actiony, explosive show about clothes that you could ever possibly imagine. The title is built off the pun that 'kill' in japanese is pronounced 'kiru', which is homophonic with the verb 'to wear'.
For how good a show it is, I find myself wanting to criticize it a lot, mostly because I reflexively compare it to Gurren Lagann, which I will go ahead and say I feel is the best-crafted anime of all time. And while Kill La Kill is very good, it has some modest pacing and commitment issues, there are numerous episodes that, while they don't exactly accomplish nothing, don't advance the plot as much as they could, and places in the series where it could have been written for greater impact. Perhaps my biggest complaint is that the series never delivers on a concise message about what clothing should represent or be used for, a failure to commit to a message.
All that said, it is well-animated, funny and full of over-the-top action while having a varied cast of flavorful, interesting characters. The use of revealing costuming and nudity is quite deliberate (rather than just kind of being there for the ride), and in my opinion doesn't feel like fan service, especially since characters of both sexes are extensively naked.
If Gurren Lagann's slightly underclothed, slightly confused (but still very clever and fun and exciting) little sister sounds like a show you would like, Kill La Kill delivers that same kind of 'what the really' action and laughter, with music that makes you feel like you should go out and cut a truck in half. If seeing a girl wear something that would wedge the hell out of any person with nerves on their lower body will break your suspension of disbelief, or if you really want a show that uses animation to discuss the difficult topics that it might bring to mind in a mature audience, Kill La Kill will feel inappropriate.
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