Ryuko and Senketsu continue their aerial battle with Jakuzure. They appear to have the advantage, and manage to destroy Jakuzure’s Symphony Regalia Grave. However, she reveals a new form, the Symphony Regalia Da Capo, and once agains gains the upper hand. But thanks to Ryuko’s force of will, she manages to overcome the Deva and prepares to take on Sanageyama. However, their fight is short-lived, as a woman named Nui Harime, sent by Satsuki’s mother Ragyo, interrupts the fight and sweetly asks to fight Ryuko. Ryuko is initially reluctant, but this quickly changes when Nui is revealed to hold the other half of Ryuko’s Scissor Blade, revealing her as the killer of Ryuko’s father.
DAMN THIS EPISODE WAS FANTASTIC. I thought last week was good, but this episode reached new heights. The drama and action were on a whole new level, and the plot became much more engaging. The reveal of Nui Harime as the murderer of Ryuko’s father was huge, and the presence of Ragyo Kiryuin is quite foreboding. Kill la KIll is creating a deeply engrossing narrative, and managing to balance it out with humour and action.
The conclusion to Ryuko and Jakuzure’s fight was pretty spectacular; the aerial battle was exhilarating, and demonstrated the bond which exists both between Jakuzure and Satsuki (when Jakuzure rams Ryuko) and Ryuko and Senketsu (how they manage to defeat Jakuzure). I think that both these relationships will have a major impact on the rest of the series. I also enjoyed Jakuzure’s Da Capo form, simply because of the name (da capo is a musical term meaning “from the top” and is literally “from the head” in Italian).
Post fight, though, Jakuzure joins the other Devas sitting with Mako, and we get to see more of the dynamic between them and Mako, which is quite endearing. It’s little things like Inumuta being possessive over his laptop, and Gamagoori’s respect for Mako’s sincerity which really add depth to them and sets them up as characters we’re going to root for later in the series. They’re all really quite endearing.
We also see further evidence of how much Satsuki cares for the Devas, as well as how everything about the Naturals Election has been part of her overall plan. Satsuki has used Ryuko to help her improve the Devas uniforms; she had no plans of discarding them. Not only that, but she screams at Sanageyama to get the hell away from Nui Harime when she appears.
SPEAING OF NUI HARIME, WOW WOW WOW. How cute! How dangerous. And what about the OST track when she appears between Ryuko and Sanageyama? Everything about this girl spells danger for Ryuko. I mean, she dismantled a Three Star uniform with a finger. Not only that, but she’s apparently the woman responsible for the death of Ryuko’s father, and can fight without the aid of an Ultima Uniform. Her appearance even flusters Satsuki, of all people. The revelation of Banshi Fibres and Nui’s apparent knowledge of them harks back to something Jakuzure said to Satsuki last episode which piqued my interest. She referred to her uniform as, “This power you got your hands on.” This indicates Satsuki either stole or modified previous technology, which possibly comes from the Revocs corporation. This theory gains evidence in that Ragyo addresses her clothing as if it is alive (like Senketsu), and her clothing appears to move as well.
Ragyo’s introduction this episode is just as powerful as her introduction in episode 6, and has just as much impact. A significant thing to note with her appearance are the scars on her back, which have the same shape as Ultima Uniform stars, and there are seven of them. Is Ragyo the woman Tsumugu referenced in episode 5? Or are those scars from something else? I don’t think they’re just there for show.
So what exactly is Ragyo after? She is currently indulging Satsuki’s schemes, but is she at odds with her daughter? Obviously the significance of her appearance is still unknown, but you can bet Mama Kiryuin is a gamechanger, as is the entire Revocs Corporation. Their motives remain unknown, but it would seem they oppose or compete with Satsuki’s dreams for Honnouji. This is evidenced by Satsuki’s clear concern over Nui and her mother’s involvement in the Naturals Election, and Satsuki’s hope that Ryuko will defeat Nui. Could this be the start of an alliance?
Once again, Kill la Kill managed to completely blindsided me this week. I don’t even know whether it’s worth trying to predict what’s going to happen next, because even if you’re correct, the scale on which the events come to pass still manage to shock you. I’m anticipating Ryuko will agree to help Satsuki defeat her mother to get revenge after the events of the Naturals Election, which would be fantastic. However, she’ll have to best Nui Harime first. Kill la Kill continues to entertain and excite me, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Been reading in many forums how people are annoyed that the battle of Ryuko and Sanageyama got interrupted.
I, for one, like how they used Sanageyama as a barometer (I’ll explain myself).
He’s the first of the Elite to fight Ryuko, gets beaten, gets an upgrade, and wipes the floor with her. We know he’s going to be a challenge for Matoi to beat, although she has clearly gotten stronger. Then he’s the last to fight her, this way we get to see the other 3 of the Elite fight. When the moment comes, the fight is interrupted and Sanageyama doesn’t last a minute. We shouldn’t feel bad for not getting to see the fight since they already fought, Sanageyama even gets a chance to use his finishing move on Niu.
All of this so they can establish how strong Nui is and skip an Elite-4 fight so they can advance the plot. This justifies how out of control, I hope, Matoi will get next episode, since Nui is really strong and without all of this, the fight will easily be one-sided. That’s smart writing right there.
And a side-note… Satsuki got some serious character development this episode. Loved it.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that too, and was confused because like you, I saw it as a means to demonstrate Nui’s power? And again, as you said, we’d already witnessed a fight between him and Ryuko. Why should we be annoyed when instead we get to see Ryuko let loose against the ridiculously strong Nui?
And agreed, Satsuki is becoming even more interesting. What’s interesting to note is that she may have a mother complex, which I’ve found to be quite rare in anime? Normally, it’s either a father complex, or a male character with a mother complex, so it will be nice to see how KLK handles this.