Kill la Kill

About

Kill la Kill is an action comedy manga and anime series that follows vagrant schoolgirl Ryuko Matoi on a search for her father’s killer. Since its premiere in October 2013, the series has gained immense popularity online for its over-the-top take on the magical girl anime sub-genre.

Premise

The story is set in Honnouji Academy, a fictional high school in Japan dominated by student council led by Satsuki Kiryuin. Ryuko Matoi, a transfer student, is in search of the owner of the other half of the scissor blade, the person who killed her father. Ryuko comes across a sentient sailor uniform she names Senketsu. Using Senketsu’s special abilities, Ryuko rises against Satsuki and her henchmen to liberate Honnouji Academy and find out the truth behind her father’s murder.

History

Kill la Kill first started out as an anime series directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, who is also known for his work directing popular anime series such as Gurren Lagann and Panty & Stocking. The series also marks the first original anime series from Studio Trigger, a company co-founded by Hiroyuki Imaishi. As well as an anime series, the show also spawned a manga adaptation, which began serialization in Young Ace magazine on October 4, 2013.

Reception

Upon its release, Kill la Kill was met by critical acclaims from the review circles, with the IGN^[12] describing the anime series as a “magical girl anime on speed” and the Anime News Network^[13] calling it “a nonstop feast of berserk cartoon imagination.” Gawker’s video game news site Kotaku^[14] also gave a positive review for the first half of the pilot series, describing it as an anime “doing everything it can to exemplify the term over-the-top.”

Online Presence

In North America, Kill la Kill is licensed by Aniplex of America and available for streaming on Daisuki.net,^[10] Crunchyroll, and Hulu. The show has gained a large online following on many sites, including on Tumblr^[1], Reddit^[2], 4chan’s /a/ (Anime and Manga) board^[3], Fanpop^[4], My Anime List^[5], and DeviantART^[6]. There are numerous sites that provide episodic information about the series, such as the Kill la Kill Wiki^[7], TV Tropes^[8] and Anime News Network^[9]. In addition, the Kill la Kill Facebook page also has over 17,000 likes^[10].

Fandom

Kill la Kill has inspired a large volume of fan art illustration and fan-fictions on the web. On the Japanese fan art community Pixiv^[15], there are nearly 20,000 unique illustrations tagged under “キルラキ” and the Japanese video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga^[16] hosts more than 1,300 videos that are associated with the series. On Fanfiction.net^[17], there are nearly 150 short stories centered around on the series and on DeviantART^[18], there are more than 11,000 user-submitted artworks tagged under “Kill La Kill.” On Tumblr, there are more than a dozen of fan art blogs dedicated to the series, including Honnouji-Gakuen^[19], Fuck Yeah Ryuko Matoi^[20], KIK Fan Art^[21], Kill la Kill Confessions^[21], Little Ryumako Things^[22], Kill la Kill Fun Facts^[23] and Kill la Kill Theorie^[24], among many others.

Related Memes

Don’t Lose Your Way

Don’t Lose Your Way is a phrase which garnered popularity within the Kill la Kill fandom, due to the over the top delivery of the line. The line comes from a background song from the show, titled “Before My Body Is Dry”, which features in most episodes. The popularity of the line led to a number of different parodies, in a similar fashion to Gurren Lagann’s Row Row Fight The Power.

Ryuko Matoi Bikini Edit

Ryuko Matoi Bikini Edit is a meme revolving around a piece of fanart, showing the main protagonist, Ryuko Matoi, in a bikinin while at the beach with her kamui senketsu. The fanart garnered a lot of popularity among fans, spawning derivatives featuring characters from other fandoms and shows.

Kaneo Takarada

Kaneo Takarada is the name of a one of the supporting cast of the show, the student council president of a school in Osaka, who uses money of his own creation (named ‘Zeni’) in order to gain support from the residents of the city. After a parody of Harry Enfield’s Loadsamoney was posted to YouTube on 28 January, 2014^[11], the character recieved a significant fan following, mainly due to the over the top nature and personality of the character.