In 2013, Studio Trigger announced the new television anime "Kill la Kill."I think it's French, translating to "kill the kill." This was one of Trigger's first shows, being newly founded by former Gainax employees. Gainax was known for legendary hallmarks of anime, including (but not limited to) "Gunbuster," "Neon Genesis Evangelion," "FLCL" and "Gurren Lagann." Furthermore, the director of "Kill la Kill" is the same director of 2007's cult hit "Gurren Lagann." Nothing as important has really come about in the anime industry, claimed the fans: "Kill la Kill" would save anime!... except anime never really needed saving. We had "Fate/Zero" in 2011. We had "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" in 2011. Yes, perhaps the overall trend was towards "cute girls with big eyes and round faces doing funny things" (aka "moe"), and perhaps there was a bit of a small slump before 2011, but there were still great shows to be found, including genre-defining stories that STILL get talked about a decade later. And after "Kill la Kill" was released, shows that followed didn't really change from the trendline. Even Trigger's followup shows mimicked common strategies rather than continuing to push any boundries. The term "saving anime" became an Internet meme forever associated with "Kill la Kill," sarcastically due to all of these reasons.But my God, "Kill la Kill" is a blast. I can't remember a show quite as bombastic or energetic. Much like its characters, it bares itself raw in a manner that feels refreshing. It's story starts off well enough as a story of revenge. In some alternate past/present/future version of Japan, Honnouji Academy exists as an elite high school, run with an iron fist by its student council, headed by Satsuki Kiryuin (her mother owns the school, so the staff don't dare to stop any of her ambition). The student body is turned into a hierarchy defined by uniforms, bearing stars to show a student's level: 0-star students are at the bottom, and 3-star students serve directly under Satsuki, enjoying all the privileges and conveniences it comes with (including supernatural-level strength and power the high-level suits come with). Things get disrupted when Ryuko Matoi walks in as a new transfer student. Sporting a sports-jacket and a single meter-length scissor-blade, she demands answers from Satsuki: Ryuko's scientist father was murdered, and clues have led her to the student president.Ryuko gets beaten quickly, but later discovers a "Kamui" uniform in old ruins nearby. The uniform is alive, with a voice and a name: "Senketsu." After practically forcing itself onto Ryuko, they discover it requires blood as nurishment, and receiving it gives it the abiltiy to transform into a revealing short skitrt ans suspenders, hightening Ryuko's strength (at the expense of a bit of embarrassment). Now armed, she returns to fight again, beating a series of students defending their leader, each with a more ridiculous costume. And yes, beating someone typically ends with their clothes exploding, in the buff for everyone to see.If "Gurren Lagann" was a show for men, filled with metaphors to cater to the viewer's psyche, then "Kill la Kill" is a show for women. Not to say that men won't fully enjoy the show, but that many of its obvious metaphors are catered to ideas that women might relate to. Clothing is at the root of the story: starting with revenge, the plot scales to a global war against clothing. Clothes give power. Characters become more powerful when they fully accept their bodies and ignore any sense of embarrassment for showing a bit of skin. Also, parental issues. The two rival leads (Ryuko and Satsuki) are role models in their own way, representing either how girls feel, or who they want to be. This is all subjective, of course: it was directed and written by men, and I am a man, so I really can't say if this succeeds in being relatable in that sense.Regardless of intended audience, I was surprised by how much sheer fun the show is to watch, or even to marathon in a day. The plot moves forward at a brisk pace, with stakes and plot twists that get ever larger, until a aforementioned war across the world and a battle between characters in space. There are a few anime that do this (many of which either Trigger or Gainax are responsible for), so the scale doesn't really surprise me, but adds to the entertainment factor. The writing won't win any awards, and most of the battles boil down to sheer strength and "the power of friendship," but the show carries through with the emotions to make me attached and interested as each plot twist showed up. And I have to mention Ryuko's best friend and student, Mako: an anime stereotype of the annoying and useless best friend of a powerful protagonist. she owns and subverts the role, taking a moment (with a spotlight) in nearly every episode to try to give a moving but clumsy speech, and ultimately becomes an important factor in later episodes.But what of the nudity? The character design of costumes the female characters wear would make one assume this is a fanservice-heavy anime, like "Highschool DxD" or "To Love Ru." And sure enough, when a war on clothes in involved, it makes sense that most of the cast is buck-naked for the entire last third of the series. But it's so cartoonish and exaggerated, that I didn't feel it was ever trying to pander to a perverted audience. No nipples are ever shown (although boobs certainly are, just drawn without them). The closest one gets to sexual visuals is with Mako's younger brother, Mataro (being a young boy, there's nothing wrong with briefly glimpsing his pee-pee) and with teacher Aikuro, who secretly serves as a leader to the underground movement "Nudist Beach," taking every opportuntiy to slowly strip off his shirt and pants on screen, revealing glowing nipples and (conveniently) crotch. The only other example comes from Ragyo, Satsuki's mother and true antagonist of the series: multiple times, her love of clothing and the bodies they belong to are represented with her trailing her hand across naked bodies, either her own or her daughter's. One scene has Satsuki nude and tied up as her mother slaps her bare buttcheek. Ragyo is the only element that makes the series' consistent nudity ever uncomfortable, her actions akin to rape. But being the show's big baddie, it works to make one loathe her, even if it is a bit manipulative. 
The animation is an impressive feat, at least in the first several episodes. Action scenes are full of great dynamic camera shots and sword-play, full of adrenaline, with great use of 3D backgrounds (and occasionally, reasonable use of 3D character models when necessary). These scenes make up a bit less than half of the content in these early episodes, and the rest uses incredibly cheap limited animation, sometimes relying on simply moving the position or rotation of a static character image. While the best animation the show has to offer is cranked to 11, that quality gets lost after those first several episodes, and the remaining two-thirds of the show has below-quality average animation throughout, only barely peaking again during the last couple of episodes (and a bit moreso in the final epilogue OVA, even though its story is only an excuse for one more fight scene).That's not to say the entire animation production is a mess. While the extremely-limited moments are meant for comedy, most of the show makes use of some of the best limited-animation tricks so often associated with anime. Tricks including zooming in faces or extreme lighting effects, or transitions to dramatic painting etches, all to intensify the drama and anger on screen. These types of tricks make the show feel about two decades older than it really is, and therefore, with a bit more character. The visual design of the towns and characters are iconic, and in different ways, pretty fantastic (the clouds in particular look outstanding). The music varies a bit: the opening and ending themes feel like j-pop songs typical from the 90's and 00's, and the show features multiple vocal insert songs that vary in quality. "Before My Body Is Dry" is the most memorable song, but is used too often as the battle-transition theme, and frankly, I didn't like it early on. But many other non-vocal tracks are great, and the variety makes this a show with a pretty impressive soundtrack list.I watched the entire show with the English dub. Some characters are voiced better than others (Ryuko herself sounds a bit awkward in her loud and uncultured personality), but I was impressed with the actors' ability to maintain a high level of energy in their delivery, making the show feel lacking without their performance. The only major sticking point is the English-actors' refusal to pronounce 'u''s. In Japanese, it's common to find names of people or things that end in 'u,' and it's become a common stereotype due to the dialect: even prouncing certain English words with an extra 'u' at the end supposedly makes it easier for Japanese to understand. Think "pants-u" or "wife-u." This might be a rude stereotype, don't actually talk like that in Japan... anyway, the English dub actively avoids this. Ryuko's unfirom is called "Senketsu," but is pronounced "Senkets." Her friend "Mako Mankanshoku" is pronounced "Mako Mankanshok." Subtitles occur often for on-screen Japanese kanji, so viewers will no doubt be confused. And being the only English dub I've heard to try this, I can't say there's any reason for it. Although it does make the entire atmoshpere seem slightly more... Soviet-Union-esque, which feels oddly appropriate."Kill la Kill" was never going to save or transform the art form we know as anime. It didn't really need to. But after watching it, I've realized anime has changed a lot from how it was decades ago, and we've lost some great ideas in that time. At yet, I think there are elements in "Kill la Kill" that also came from more recent shows. Whatever the case, it's simply one-of-a-kind and a blast to watch, wherever those threads came from.