My Week in Anime: Kill la Kill Episode 2

Kill la Kill Episode 2: So Sexy She Might Pass Out!

Watched Episode 1 of Kill la Kill and was craving for more, so here were are again with Episode 2!

Last we left Ryuko, she's retreated to recover from her severe loss of blood. She wakes up to find herself in the home of her self-proclaimed "best friend" Mako, who introduces us not only to her dysfunctional family but also to the taste (both literally and figuratively) of what life is like under the shadow of Honnouji Academy.

It's pretty endearing actually, all that Mako quirkiness. She gets most of my laughs in the series so far, and here we see it's not so easy living in the slums but they make do with what they got. Kill la Kill being what it is, there's this insane amount of hope and happiness for people like Mako to keep going, which is nice.

Unfortunately for Ryuko, another of the queen bee's henchmen has set sights on her: tennis club captain Omiko Hakodate, who's souped up with a 2-star Goku uniform. You'd think after the last beating she dished out, this battle would be easy for Ryuko. But for some reason she doesn't transform into the super-warrior she was last time, and Omiko proceeds to whip Ryuko's sorry butt easily with a barrage of tennis balls and leaves her dead in the water...until she's fished out by one of the academy's teachers, who seems to know a thing or two about how her mysterious uniform works.

The dude is also freaking hilarious, by the way. Won't tell you why. Just watch his segment. Go ahead.

To me, the concept of 'power uniforms' like Ryuko's and the other Goku Uniforms is awesome, and I really like Ryuko's uniform (for obvious reasons. It's both sexy AND cool). We get a little bit of info about why the Student Council of Honnouji Academy has the monopoly on Goku uniforms, and the implications are pretty dire. I'd love to see where they go with this.

Armed with new knowledge and a powered-up Senketsu (her name for the magical school uniform she wears), Ryuko gets her revenge on Omiko on the tennis court and the battle is as insane as you imagine it. Tennis, Gurren Lagann-style, anyone? Probably my favorite part of the episode.

But Omiko is small-fry compared to Student Council President Satsuki Kiryuin, and Ryuko thinks she can take her on now. Big mistake.

I gotta say, it's refreshing to see a hothead character like Ryuko knowing when to back down when the odds are stacked against you. She will live to fight another day, and if today's battle is any indication, calling it a 'fight' is close to an understatement.

Kill la Kill has been crazy amazing so far. It's been a while since I've watched something as outrageous as this, and it's keeping me on my toes so much that I really want to know what happens next episode. This one's a keeper.