Spoiler Level: Mild
Hello readers! This is my first review so I figured I'd start it off big and flashy and it doesn't get much more flashy than Kill la Kill! Kill la Kill is a adrenaline pumped, beautifully animated, absurd ride from start to finish and it has taken the anime world by storm, largely renewing flagging hopes in the industry. For those of you just hearing about this anime for the first time, whether by sheer cruel coincidence, your choice of habitation beneath a rock, or because you have just recently emerged bleary-eyed from your bunker after delusions of worldwide nuclear holocaust, Kill la Kill is already in position to contend for top anime of 2014. The good news, though, for readers just finding out is that you've saved yourself the heart-ache of waiting for new episodes to come out. Kill la Kill started in Fall of 2013 and just concluded as recently as March of 2014.
If you can't tell already Kill la Kill has captured a special place in my heart. Written and directed by the same people who worked on Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, you can definitely see the influences right from the start in the artwork and writing style. From the onset, Kill la Kill seemingly blends FLCL, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Soul Eater into one unique package that still manages to stand on its own without borrowing too heavily from any single source. Like FLCL you get a cast of 'quirky' and over-the-top characters that all have a surprising depth to them, as well as the frenetic and utterly insane fight scenes. Gurren Lagann has the most sway by far, which isn't surprising considering it was the director's last big project. You can notice the lingering influences in a little bit of everything from, again, the artwork and writing, to details like character design, cast size, animation choices, and pacing. Much like Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill suffers from a beginning that feels a little rushed, however the pacing soon irons itself out into a comfortable sprint that keeps you wanting more each episode. My only major complaint by way of similarities lies in character design. Many of the characters in Kill la Kill almost feel like parallel world versions of Gurren Lagann characters like Simon, Kamina, and Lord Genome's big four. I will provide my own counter to that though, and admit that less than halfway through the show the characters were well established enough that they all had their own identities independent of Gurren Lagann.