This contains spoilers for Kill La Kill, presently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Kill La Kill is really a 2013 anime series that continues to be debated today. Ground-breaking and questionable, its importance in the realm of anime can’t be denied. Like it or hate it, Kill La Kill isn’t easily overlooked.
The series deconstructs an excellent variety of anime stereotypes, breaks gender norms, uses appropriation of sexualization to empower women, addresses fashion and fascism (even having fun with the language in Japanese of these two), makes nods to George Orwell’s books 1984 and Animal Farm, and clearly has aspects of magical girl anime in abundance.
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Deconstructing Magical Girl Anime Elements
Though Kill La Kill isn’t marketed like a magical girl anime, not really once it’s stated there’s magic in the world, and everything was described by science by its finish, but on the other hand, based on the meaning of magical women, they don’t even have to be magical! It’s indisputable it contains lots of elements and tropes of magical girl anime. By aspects of magical girl anime and subverting them within its context of storytelling, this excellent anime seems to be very relevant almost ten years after it was initially aired (2013).
So, even when Kill La Kill isn’t overtly an enchanting girl anime in the nature, some magical tropes are integrated into the narrative to produce room for character development and world-building, together with the critique this anime series gives viewers.
Probably The Most Apparent Element: The Transformation
When we check out the tropes and elements present in magical girl anime, the only real common indicate be decided on that’s shared by all magical women in anime is the fact that they transform to unlock their forces.
Obviously, the transformation in Kill La Kill can be used whenever Ryuuko or Satsuki equip their “sentient sailor man uniforms”, Senketsu and Junketsu, correspondingly, in an exceedingly Sailor man Moon-like, although Kill La Kill unique, sequence. When Ryuuko finally bonds using the uniform supplies a sequence that’s both sexy and effective.
Checking All Of The Magical Girl Boxes
Most magical women are action women, and Ryuuko without a doubt suits this category since she is undoubtedly a female badass and incredibly tough, that also makes her squeeze into the trope badass adorable, which initially she isn’t, but, following a trope, she winds up becoming. Satsuki is definitely an action girl too.
Befriending the enemy is a type of tactic utilized by magical women, which ends up up happening, and friendship winds up being real really because Kill La Kill also subverts the antagonist/villain trope. And knowning that comes a different one: the dark magical girl redemption arc, with Satsuki joining forces with Ryuuko to defeat the large bad and save the planet. Then, we are able to tick from the whole fighting-against-evil trope too. (The dark magical girl may be the primary character’s rival with a dark and troubled past.)
It’s a coming-of-age story, and it is OVA even shows Ryuuko graduating. Both Magical Women in Kill La Kill get older and mature during the period of the storyline. They settle the troubles and also the traumas using their pasts, save the planet and be better people. Unquestionable truth.
Since Kill La Kill deconstructs and subverts tropes and genres, it’s worth mentioning it also suits the “Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction” category, that is rarely targeted at little women, being usually subverted and targeted at men. Within the situation of Kill La Kill, teenage boys, as it is shonen.
The “Mini Dress Of Power” trope is performed towards the extreme as an origin of critique by itself, using the very skimpy outfits they put on within their transformations being minimal.
The “Power Of Friendship” trope can there be too, mainly with Ryuuko’s friend, Mako, and Mako’s mother, since Ryuuko is definitely an orphan and it has a really nice maternal relationship together with her, and, afterwards, the friendship established together with her sister, Satsuki.
Also, the “Wake Up, Visit School, Save The World” trope is taken literally, because the story itself involves a college and everything it fights for and against and just what it represents. Kill La Kill wouldn’t be the very first shonen anime to walk into the magical girl territory. Cutey Honey, that is an anime classic in the 1970s, with many different remakes and tributes, began as shonen in Weekly Shonen Champion but was intended to be a shojo magical girl manga series for Ribon magazine.
“Hey, maybe you have think it is embarrassing to leap around in this short skirt?”
– Fish Eye to Usagi Tsukino, Sailor man Moon SuperS, episode 140
So, What Is The Verdict?
Magical Girl anime in structure. Shonen in census, with shonen-like battles entwined using the magical girl transformations. A parable against fascism, a shonen with adult content and theme, a battle for freedom in most senses. Kill La Kill is much more than shonen. Greater than a magical girl anime.
It is going beyond definitions. It encompasses several genre to spread several of their effective messages. Certainly, an excellent good article which has continued to be very relevant, watchable, and rewatchable almost ten years after its creation, surely passing the ages.
