Looking at Kill la Kill: Overthinking

Spoilers: This video contains spoilers for the entirety of Kill la Kill.
The first in a series interrogating the ways in which audiences have watched Studio Triggers 2013 anime series, Kill la Kill.
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Citations:
1. This isn’t a direct quote, rather it is an amalgam paraphrasing a number of reviews of the show which can be found in the Review section of Kill la Kill on MAL. Of particular note are reviews by Polim67, Tmxbleweed, NeverKnowsBest26, and _mahoushoujos_.
2. MAL, Oct 3, 2019.
3. Taylor-Harding, 2018. 113.
4. Flowerstorm, 2014.
5. Johnson, 38.
6. To forestall uncharitable critique, here and in note 2, I have repeated the text verbatim to avoid condescending to the author, and focused on this particular review because it exemplifies very clearly this attitude about the series.
7. Chandler, 2017, 178.
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Sources:
Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics 3rd Ed. Routledge, New York, 2017.
Flowerstorm, Kit. “clever names and lecherous uniforms: the puns of kill la kill, round two.” Study of Anime. 9 April 2014.www.studyofanime.com/2014/04/c... (Accessed February 12, 2021)
Johnson, Katelyn. Cinematic Television and Lines of Flight within Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, andThe Grotesque Otaku: Kill La Kill and a Singular Resistance. MA Thesis. Texas Tech University, August 2019.
myanimelist.net/anime/18679/K...
*mahoushoujos
*Mouthpiece
*NeverKnowsBest26
*Polim67
*Tmxbleweed
Taylor-Harding, Rosie. “Caught in couture: Regulating clothing and the body in Kill la Kill.” Law and Justice in Japanese Popular Culture - From Crime Fighting Robots to Duelling Pocket Monsters. Ed. Pearson, A. Giddens, T., & Tranter, K. Routledge, New York, 2018.
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Music:
A State of Despair {93 & 3/4} by Mid-Air Machine is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Sands of Windhoek {110 & 3/4} by Mid-Air Machine is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.

[@meringue3288]

About the title of Kill la Kill, the word "kiru" also means to cut, I also believe that "Kiru" also alludes the name Kiryuin, which is a family name that both the two protagonists and the two antagonists share. Ryuko and Satsuki want to cut Nui and Ragyo (who are clothing), while Nui and Ragyo want to kill Satsuki and Ryuko. Also, one kiryuin in each side have a scissor blade for weapon, so one of them wants to cut the kiryuin while the other one wants to kill the kiryuin ("la" is the feminine of "the" in french). There might be even more complexity to this title that I still don't quite understand if you take into consideration the word "la". In the show, Ragyo often says the phrase "la vie est drôle", which means "life is droll". Now, this may be a little overthinking, but there might be something we can take something away from the huge similarities between the words "droll", "drill", and "kill". You might think the drill as a symbol is exclusive to gurren lagann, but there are some instances of it being used in kill la kill. For instance, during the scene when Ryuko unites the two halfs of the scissor blade, the screw that unites them takes the shape of a drill.

[@StudyofSwords]

Oh, there is a lot of wordplay going on with the title, and the characters. My discussion was quite brief - as a fairly accessible point to illustrate the multifaceted nature of the show was present from it's inception - rather than an exhaustive examination of every instance of word play. The article from Kit Flowerstorm goes into significant detail. That's an interesting point about the screw being a drill, definitely an intertextual reference to TTGL.

[@Hakaru]

I just tend to ignore the "anime is trash and so am I crowd" and enjoy anime on my own terms. But hey, I guess we need people that have the patience to properly address this issue, so thanks for putting in the effort. Can't wait to see more :)

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey glad you liked it. Yeah... I'm not much of a prescriptivist, so while it's not the most robust manner of engaging with media, if people are fine with "turn your brain off" levels of engagement, ehn. that's fine. Just, you know extend the same courtesy to people looking to interrogate the same media you dismiss.

[@Hakaru]

@@StudyofSwords Agreed, why anyone would be so against people "overthinking" anime is beyond me >.

[@SinnoDeSantiago]

"Well rounded, likeable characters" 👀👀👀

[@StudyofSwords]

ayyyy! I guess you saw the thumbnail then? ; D almost all of my humour is visual gags, so I'm glad this landed.

[@Miraihi]

You are spot on as ususal! There are actually not that many anime that really have nothing to say, unless a series got started as a way to put some basic plot over action scenes (Hello, RWBY.). One of my friends once made a 1-sentense long summary of what Kill la Kill is about. The anime asks a simple question: "Who are you actually - A human being or a set of clothing?".

[@StudyofSwords]

Right? And with a property like KlK, there's a lot more than you might think. Your friend gets it. ;)

[@sigmavision6956]

I feel like with this show in particular there's the tendency for people on both sides of the political spectrum to view it solely on a surface level without any care into the subtext. Folks' gut reaction is to judge it solely on its blatant sexuality, but they never think to ask *why* its that way.

[@StudyofSwords]

Right? Exploring this depth is going to be a central element of this series, Thanks for the comment!

[@Stevem]

This is cool, I'm down with the message, it's very limiting to look at art in a binary way since even the term art is more descriptive than anything to do with the quality, which is funny since a series about fascism where people use those the kind of critiques popularised by them, THERE's ART then there's the other which doesn't fall into our category which we shun and gawk at is kind of ironic. I have some technically pointers if you want them for the rest of the series and hey it's good engagement for the video either way -Mako popping into do the DVD menu thing is really cute, although it might feel a little more natural if you appeared from beyond the confines of the screen oppose to popping into existence -The citation corner would be cleaner if you just keep the number in the corner [1] without the extra context, be less work and less messy might need a drop shadow sometimes depending how bright the footage is -I really love the music at 01:11 i saw to tracks credited although it doesn't quite sound the same is it a later part of one track, the music choices in this video are generally great really fit the tone -that rewind sound is a bit loud kinda hits a lot harder than your audio levels 02:18 this is going to be a personal preference but hearing the slightly speed up voice just reminds me of Gaijin Goomba, which is yeah ahahhahaha 02:47 when it comes to quotes like this i'd recommend taking that logo and putting it in the corner bottom lright corner small , the blown up logo looks a bit low poly and over the black text on white its makes it hard to parse the words on screen. 04:43- love this idea with the type the white type might need to be a bit smaller so its not clipping beyond the edges of the red 05:50 try to ease in the text or change the speed it which it comes in to give it more personality Anyway really looking forward to the rest of the series, I would say you probs dont need the part1 , 2 etc in the titles , you could get away just a subtitle like "overthinking" and then a playlist for the videos, just makes them more accessible

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey, yeah no, that's fantastic, critical (and especially technical) feedback is much appreciated. Definitely reconsidering the naming convention. Thank you very much.

[@DeathAlchemist]

I never mind ppl who enjoy things on a casual level, I more get annoyed at ppl who scoff at ppl daring to analyze a piece of art they think of as "trash". Like using that logic of "overthinking" nothing would be analyzed ever. Like yeah some ppl give bad analyses or assume everything about the author, but ts like ppl want to throw the baby out with the bathwater sometimes. Hell, even certain "trash shows" like to scream their themes instead of being subtle about it which as an audience member you kind of have to engage with they shove it in your face.

[@fluffy_tail4365]

wow that MAL comment. It's literally just anti-intellectualism.

[@StudyofSwords]

Alas, it is a pretty common critique about KlK.

[@KaiAfterKai]

An interesting look at the nature of analysis itself and how "meaning" is perceived. And of course, the idea of enjoying media in the way we want to, whether it's simply going along with the ride or going along with a notepad in one hand and a philosophy textbook in the other. Great video. Also, the extremely ominous "LIKE COMMENT SHARE" at the end of on point.

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey glad you liked it. Call to action, sure, but menacingly. >D

[@PIRATEOTR]

Oooo very excited to see KLK content from you. This show has always been interesting to me since I first watched it with friends when I was pretty new to anime, so I had a pretty uninformed perspective on the a lot of the stuff it was playing with. Rewatching it later was definitely an interesting experience, which is something I've found with a lot of shows I watched early on (granted, some are not actually worth rewatching in their entirety lol).

[@StudyofSwords]

It's been a long time favourite of mine, and even on the rewatch for this series, it still holds up. Yeah, one of the reasons I went the direction I did was because even now a lot of the discourse around the show (even from other creators posting mere week ago) remains very mixed. So I'm glad you're excited. I'm trying out a new format with shorter videos, but updating more frequently.

[@PIRATEOTR]

@@StudyofSwords yeah I still loved it on the rewatch. It's wacky and it's so much fun.

[@Afterthoughts]

Wow the breakdown of the show's title alone made me want to watch it xD I have to admit that the character outfits TOTALLY turned me off... maybe I'll give it a shot so I can be in the overthinking club too!

[@meringue3288]

I'm so happy more people are starting to understand that now

[@StudyofSwords]

Through no prescience on my part, there is some rapidly developing discourse among much more significant figures in anitube on the "anime is trash" front so, interesting times to be sure.

[@Isterbollen]

Quality content, hope to see more!

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey thanks!

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey thanks!

[@smithydavis1033]

I came just because of the thumbnail

[@StudyofSwords]

Finally, the click bait has paid off.

[@nickalreadyinuse]

yeah ok sharpie but what do you think about the swords

[@StudyofSwords]

Oh don't worry. While it won't be a full video, the rending scissors and bakuzan will be making an appearance.

[@somerandomrpgenthusiast8451]

I would agree with your criticism of overthinking. I too think that the idea is absurd. Nearly every time I see it used it is just a shorthand by people who don't want you to criticise or have a different opinion of something they enjoyed. I would disagree on some parts of your view of the show's quality (especially the character development and character depth), nonetheless I have enjoyed watching Kill La Kill and trying to analyse it. So, I certainly don't get this ''overthinking'' argument.

[@porky1118]

2:40 Yeah, the meta story made too much sense. Fist everything just seemed absurd. Why is the main weapon a scissor? Why is there a living yarn, that gives super powers to the clothes? Why are the main rebels nudists? Why does wearing the clothes that give you super powers stronger if you show more skin? Why is Ryoko even allowed to visit school when she just fights everyone there? I never expected how this would all make sense in the end, but just be there to make the show more appealing to teens. The setting has joke potential and nudity always sells. I wonder if they planned all this from the beginning.

[@StudyofSwords]

Well, iirc, originally the MCs were going to be guys, but they changed them to girls early in production. But yeah, I think in most cases the production knows what it's doing pretty early on.

[@porky1118]

@@StudyofSwords Not all stories are made this way. A lot of writers don't plan how their book will end, when they start. I've heard even Ghibli movies aren't planned in advance. And I'm pretty sure, most longer mangas also don't plan the ending in advance.

[@StudyofSwords]

@@porky1118 the production of an original TV anime is a bit different than one that's being adapted from an existing property, particularly from an unproven studio like Trigger was in 2012/13.

[@daquandoolie1623]

cool video

[@StudyofSwords]

Thanks.

[@M3rtyville]

It's like Keijo. But cool. While Keijo!!!!! can be badass sometimes.

[@StudyofSwords]

I really liked Keijo, primarily because it leaned so heavily into taking itself seriously as a sports anime, despite being utterly absurd.

[@porky1118]

7:30 Is "thash/art" really such a fundamental categorization?

[@divebombexpert2619]

Didn’t know you could over think (KLK cataloger ) and under think (mouthpiece) something so much like a “cartoon” Probably going to read all the references (Edit) The amount of small and mundane references reminds me of Skull Girls Also how do you have that many references to things even if some are a stretch ?

[@StudyofSwords]

So I'm very much of the "cite your sources" mentality, meaning if the idea isn't my own/general knowledge, then I provide a source to where I got it from, this maintains scholastic transparency and provides additional materials for anyone else who wants to engage with them. The other thing is that this video series was initially going to be a single video, so this sort of served as an intro, if retooled to be self contained, but I think each video builds of the others. There's a couple of texts I cite throughout so they crop up in the other videos as well. [edit] Just occurred to me, the other thing with the MAL/ Blog sources is that when presenting/engaging with criticism, I actually want to do that, rather than have a "conversation" with an imaginary critic, so that necessitates citing as well.

[@divebombexpert2619]

@@StudyofSwords At the end I was referring to the cataloger page , but showing people you actually did research instead of just saying you did is always nice. One channel I watch actually cites all there sources so people know that what they are saying isn't an outright lie and also for transparency and additional context

[@akiradkcn]

Not sure but I believe the Skullgirls dev were somewhat influenced by KlK

[@SoShiBias]

Don't trust those reviews. Those people shower with their clothes on.

[@Halogen511]

This show was really just fetish fuel for the show writers and animators who had humiliation and enf kinks. Judging by the amount of r34, I feel like the argument "Its not just about booba!!!" is lost completely lol

[@StudyofSwords]

I mean if your threshold for "this could only be fetish fuel" is the amount of derivative r34 materials, then I have some bad news about Pokemon. This is the first video of a series, I'd suggest watching the other entries, the depth of the show might surprise you.

[@spidermacho123]

maybe watch kill la kill before criticizing it