February 2nd, 2014 
AstroNerdBoy キルラキル ep. 16 SPOILER Review
KILL la KILL episode 16
Synopsis:
Junketsu is starting to go out of control, forcing Satsuki’s butler (Soroi?) and sewing club honcho Iori to subdue Junketsu to get Satsuki out of her Kamui uniform. Nui reveals herself to be the pilot of Satsuki’s Chinook with orders to get Satsuki to her mother, Ragyou, for first hand report. Satsuki has Iori warn the Elite Four to be on guard until the reach Honnouji. Reaching the family estate, Satsuki is shown to the elaborate bath, where she gets in painfully. Ragyou joins her daughter, saying that this bath will help Satsuki better bond with the Seimeiseni within Junketsu. After doing the unthinkable with her daughter, Ragyou says it is time for Satsuki to learn the truth behind COVERS and the seimeseni, leading her to a secret room in the mansion.
Meanwhile, Mikisugi allows Mako to accompany him, Tsumugu, and Ryuuko underwater to the hidden part of the Nudist Beach base that Nonon did not destroy. There, Mikisugi tells an unbelievable tale of how Seimeiseni are aliens that chose mankind, which is why humans wear clothing — to feed the Seimeiseni. Revoks clothing all contain Seimeiseni within them, though in a dormant stage. He also states that Ryuuko’s father founded Nudist Beach after researching Seimeiseni for the Kiryuuin family. Meanwhile, Ragyou shows the original Seimeiseni ball of thread that came to Earth and the truth behind the COVERS project.
Senketsu freaks out about the idea of being an alien parasite on Ryuuko. Meanwhile, Satsuki assures her mother that the schools in Japan have been conquered and Nudist Beach has been squashed. With the Ragyou Stadium built at Honnouji Gakuin, Ragyou is ready for the final phase of COVERS, thus wants the Great Culture and Sports Festival to begin. Satsuki appears shocked by this, but recovers and acknowledges. Ragyou says she’s looking forward to seeing what Satsuki’s school is made of. After she leaves, Satsuki says they’ll be ready for her. Back with Ryuuko, she strips off Senketsu because she refuses to accept he was created to be a weapon, forcing Tsumugu to turn on her.
Thoughts/Review:
Heh!heh!heh! I give one to Trigger for initially fooling me into thinking we were going to have a tedious, recap episode. Instead, the recap was less than two minutes, so kudos to you, Trigger. ^_^
After watching this episode, I think there is another reason Satsuki was so angry in her fight with Ryuuko. Ryuuko may have lost control of Senketsu at one point, but has now surpassed Satsuki in terms of how she has bonded with her Kamui garment. Junketsu does not commune with Satsuki like Senketsu does with Ryuuko. It takes everything Satsuki has to stay in control of Junketsu while Ryuuko has no such issues.
Speaking of Junketsu, now that we know the Seimeiseni are in fact parasite alien life forms, the whole notion of Satsuki’s mother and father referring to it as Satsuki’s wedding dress now takes on a far more ugly and dark connotation. If Satsuki’s the bride, who’s the groom? Junketsu? The original Seimeiseni ball that landed on Earth?
With weddings comes sex, and I could have done without the scene of Ragyou engaged in lesbian sexual activities with Satsuki, implying that Satsuki was being brought to the land of the Big O, courtesy of her mother. *_* That was creepy and ugly enough, but in light of how the moment was supposed to help prepare Satsuki for bonding with the Seimeiseni, it is even uglier.
I can’t imagine any sane mother sexually assaulting her daughter. I started thinking that maybe Ragyou is actually a personification of the Seimeiseni, but then the scars on Ragyou’s back along with her red eyes may mean that Ragyou has Seimeiseni within her, controlling her. Yes, Seimeiseni normally cannot be within the body of a living being, but just as Ryuuko is an exception to the rule with Senketsu, Ragyou may be an exception to the rule with Seimeiseni. We’ll see.
Either way, this Great Culture and Sports Festival announced by Ragyou shocked Satsuki for a bit. Ragyou seemed to be challenging Satsuki with her remark about seeing just how good Honnouji Gakuin actually is. Satsuki’s waiting until her mother was gone to say that they’d be ready for Ragyou came off to me as Satsuki knowing her confrontation with her mother is nearly at hand. We’ll about this as well.
I don’t find it surprising that Ryuuko’s father founded Nudist Beach. I also wasn’t surprised that Senketsu was created as a weapon. I was surprised by Tsumugu’s response to Ryuuko refusing to go along with the notion of using Senketsu simply as a weapon by stripping to her underwear. I look forward to seeing how that comes out.
Nui pretty much showed that she’s not afraid of Satsuki with her remarks in the helicopter. I’ve always felt that her use of the term “Satsuki-sama” as well as Nui’s obeying Satsuki’s orders only because Satsuki is Ragyou’s daughter. In terms of them fighting, I think Nui would own Satsuki much as she owns Ryuuko.
Finally, there’s Mako, who keeps things from going off the deep end and into dark, terrible waters. Hurray for Mako-chan! ^_^
In the end, a good, interesting episode.
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Over on Spacebattles, a debates been going on whether Ragyou has earned the prestigious title of “Worst Parent in Anime” award. All agree she’s joined the “Worst Fictional Parents” club, a great honour.
Anyway, yeah, looks like Satsuki is up against her mother. Might just be a red herring, though, but everything is suggesting that.
In more personal news, Nui continues to freak me out. Ragyou has now joined her, though not as badly.
Yeah, I keep looking for the red herring since I’ve long felt that Satsuki would eventually oppose Ragyou.
I noticed in the helicopter that for a moment, Nui dropped her sugary-sweet persona for a moment when she imitated Satsuki. In that moment, it was as if Nui was saying, “Don’t mess with me because you won’t live to regret it.” Nui is certainly bad news, which is why I think it would take Satsuki and Ryuuko combined to overcome her.
Little detail about Mako, in one scene she can be seen practising Nudist Beach Salute. Is it foreshadowing for when she’ll become a Splendid Naked Officer herself, that would be one-hit-kill for Ira :-3 The high-point of Mako and Ryuuko interaction was the scene where Ryuuko pretty much read Mako’s mind and didn’t seem happy about it because it implied that she is getting as crazy as Mako. It was sweet though.
As for Ragyo and Satsuki, holy hell that was indeed a very creepy moment and I think the same, Ragyo wants to feed her daughter to either Junketsu or the Primodial Life Fiber. Several things start to make horrifying kind of sense after this episode. Satsuki’s aloofness and coldness, her speech about “building a skyscrapper in her mind” it all makes sense if we see it through the perspective of her protecting herself from her mother’s abuse.
This episode made me question Ryuuko and Senketsu even more. For one thing I always thought that Senketsu was unique even among Kamui. He made no attempt at devouring Maiko when she took him and is very protective of Ryuuko. When compared to the predatory and animalistic Junketsu it feels almost like Senketsu is actually the only sentient and intelligent life fiber outfit out there. First Life Fiber might be sentient but the outfits might just be wild animals that follow their instincts.
Then again what if the true difference is Ryuuko? Mikisugi mentioned that she is very resistant to life fibers which made me consider the idea that Ryuuko herself might be some sort of Human/Life Fiber hybrid. If Ragyo can have fibers in her then why not Ryuuko? Would explain her resistance and ease with which she communicates with Senketsu. Satsuki never showed any indication that she can even communicate with Junketsu.
Either way we have to wait to find out…
Also one thing about Satsuki’s probable rebellion. I think it will collapse all around her if she tries to use her Life Fiber outfitted army. I’m almost certain that Ragyo as the mouthpiece of Covers can shut all those outfits down with a snap of her fingers.
Sorry for the longish post
*lol* That would be funny if it came to pass. ^_^
Absolutely. This episode took quite a sinister turn when it came to Ragyou and the power behind her empire. After witnessing what Ragyou did to Satsuki in the bath, it does seem that Satsuki was abused and has been building defenses to end said abuse. For now, she has to still bide her time.
That reminds me, I was going to make a remark about the Xenomorph alien wearing the schoolgirl uniform. Blast it to smithereens! ^_^;;;
I’m trying to remember what was said about Ryuuko’s mother. If your theory is correct, then just as Senketsu was created to be a weapon, then Ryuuko was as well.
True. I also wonder if part of the problem with Satsuki is in attitude, where she sees Junketsu as a (dangerous) weapon to use while Ryuuko sees Senketsu as a companion and friend. I have the feeling that Satsuki doesn’t believe that Ryuuko can have that deep a level of bonding with Senketsu.
Excellent point there. I hadn’t even considered that, but if the Seimeisen are a collective intelligence, then Satsuki’s army is vulnerable.
Not a problem. Good stuff there. ^_^
That was no ordinary Xenomorph, that was Mako Xenomorphed XD She even had a croquet in her mouth! It actually makes me wonder if Trigger won’t get in Copyright troubles for using it…
So far as I know Ryuko’s mother is mentioned only once in episode 8 where she visits her old house with Mako. It’s only said that she died soon after Ryuko’s birth.
It’s a pretty outlandish theory but… what if Ryuko was created as an artificial human back when Isshin was still working for Ragyo. Then he defected and ran away with his “daughter”.
Satsuki’s attitude is probably a problem but we won’t know until we actually hear Junketsu talk, assuming it Can even talk.
*lol* Mako as a fearsome Xenomorph. ^_^
As to the copyright thing, parody stuff should be allowed under copyright law. I’ve seen Xenomorph’s (and other things) used in parody form in anime before. So I don’t think there’s a copyright problem.
I am struck by how much of an impact that franchise had on the Japanese.
It is outlandish, but it is an interesting theory. Plus, those thinking that Ryuuko is Satsuki’s sister may have something there with this theory if Ragyou was involved in Ryuuko’s creation.
True enough. ^_^
Wow, just…wow. So, SO many things to list!
1- The recap joke was super funny! I got really tricked for a moment there!
2- The opening was as great as it was foreshadowing: One-Star students attacking BOTH Ryuuko and Satsuki! The “Kill la Kill” logo getting red from their blood was a REALLY awesome touch!
3- Mikisugi and Mako super funny as usual! I specially like the scene when all the galaxies appear!
4- And speaking of Mako… did you catch all the references?
4.1. Mako as rice in a food container: that’s how they sealed the alien Picollo in Dragon Ball!
4.2. Grey alien being held by 2 men: that image really rang a bell, and sure enough, it was easy to track: http://alien-ufo-research.com/alien_pictures/
4.3. And, of course, the Xenomorf… even more fearsome with a sailor uniform LOL
5- Now, for the fearsome “afrodisiac bath” scene: if the product Ragyou was applying increases sincronism to Life Fibers, and if Life Fibers feed on neural impulses… it indeed had afrodisiac effects! However, thinking of child abuse is way too far fetched as of now. At most, the mother was “appreciating” her daughter’s beauty in a twisted way.
5.1. The only thing that remains without explanation is this: if they feed on neural impulses, why do the Kamui need blood?
Sorry for the long post, only wanted to point everything out.
I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I usually skip the OP/ED sequences. I’ll have to remember to look at that now. ^_^;
I kept laughing at Mako staring at the purple light hiding Mikisugi’s naughty bits while making noises, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. *lol*
Not all since I’ve not watched Dragon Ball (I read a few chapters of the manga way back when), and I didn’t know the other reference you cite.
If Satsuki has been prepared for the Seimeisen from birth, then in my mind, it is child abuse. But that’s just me. ^_^;;;
That is a good question. Then again, the Kamui are artificially constructed from 100% Seimeisen threads (at least, that’s my recollection). My mind goes back to Senketsu absorbing Seimeisen threads from defeated opponents. So maybe their construction is the difference. Hopefully, we’ll get an answer on that question though. ^_^
Not a problem. ^_^
Sorry for double post!
P.S. Only 1 thing I REALLY didn’t like: Festival > Last Stage of Plan > Ending of anime…noooooo…!!!
*lol* Yeah, I thought about that too.
Isn’t this for episode 16, not 17?
D’OH! How the smeg did I mess that up? ^_^;;;;; Thanks for the notification. I’ll have to get that corrected.