Kill la Kill is for my money one of if not the
best-looking TV anime ever made and while the series has gotten a lot of credit for its sense of visual design,
I nonetheless think that it has been unfairly criticized in this regard,
and underappreciated for its strengths.
Reviewers often seem to miss the forest for the trees
when talking about Kill a Kill's liberal use of Stills and limited animation,
without accounting for just how cleverly it utilizes those elements,
or talking about the incredible way that every single moment of animation flows into one another.
What director Hiroyuki Imaishi and his team excel at is high impact visuals.
If you haven't seen the video on Jackie Chan and how to direct action comedy by 'Every Frame a Painting',
Then I highly recommend checking that out. In it, Tony explains how Jackie Chan manipulates a sequence of shots
to make every punch and kick have more of an impact.
These kinds of techniques are why when you watch a great Kung Fu movie,
and someone gets punched you and your friends all yell "OH!".
Whereas, in a more empty, and low impact fight scene, you might not feel much of anything.
But what makes Imaishi's style so compelling, is that he doesn't simply apply the ideas of weight and momentum to the individual animation cuts,
but also applies them to entire scenes.
Imaishi's work is all about a sequence of rapid build ups and payoffs
which flow together beautifully combined with extremely well crafted shot composition remember
how Jackie Chan's style was called action comedy? Well, like action, comedy is also about build up, payoff, and timing.
In other words the key to both action and comedy is the feeling of catharsis
It's the satisfaction that comes from being wound up, and then released, or the impact of something bending until it breaks.
A lot of the action scenes in Kill la Kill, such as the one which I'm about to talk about are also funny
simply by virtue of their cathartic timing. What makes the series so fun to watch is the
satisfying way that all of its animation plays out, and the hilarious and kick-ass moments that constantly result from its use of momentum.
Right off the bat, with Kill la Kill's opening scene, it starts to build tension using super dramatic text cards
that pan towards the screen with a bass-y musical cue behind them. The camera pans back across
what would be a typical classroom scene, except that we can immediately tell that something's off about it
from the metallic look of the walls, the pipes running through the ceiling,
and what looks like the door of a battleship. The high contrast between orange light coming in from the outside
and the dark blue shadows on the walls as well as on the uniforms of the students creates a sense of heightened drama
which contrasts with these silly shots of Mako's sleeping head bobbling around with a giant snot bubble, and with all of the snacks and toys on
The students's desks this contrast puts us in an interesting state of mind as viewers
The scene is set up equally for some kind of dramatic confrontation, as well as for irreverent slapstick comedy.
And the scene which is about to come is exactly all of those things.
After a sudden bang on the door, the camera pans towards it very slowly while the wheel turns with lots of resistance,
causing the tension to rise even more with our expectations
Then BAM!
Giant foot through the door! As the torn off door crashes into the window we hear the classmates react with the same incredulity that we
Do and then there is once again a small build-up between the door hitting the window and it breaking apart to decimate the room.
Because of how the door initially leaves through the left side of the screen,
passes through this shot where and everyone turns their heads to follow it, and then comes in from the right to hit the window,
the impact of that action is felt across all three cuts. The build up after the door hits the wall,
then gives us just enough time to process that impact before it comes crashing back through the right side of the screen and into this next cut.
This way the destruction of the classroom has just as much impact
as the shot at the door getting kicked in with the addition of a big visual payoff
in the way that all of this detail litters the screen. What keeps us grounded in this shot is the placement of the teacher in the center
who is standing still in a strange pose amidst all of this chaos. If not for this, then the cut to the teacher
staring into the gaping doorway would feel jarring after all the stuff going on in the last shot.
But because of this visual through-line, the transition feels natural
In this shot the slow-moving dust and falling papers serve as a resolution to the previous payoff,
which helps to transition into the next tension build-up. We still feel connected to the action
which has just happened, while pensively awaiting the forthcoming drama.
Our anticipation for what might come from the darkness is heightened by the length of this shot,
and by the teachers slow drawl when he talks. Three lights come beaming out of the darkness to signify to us that something is coming.
Sort of like an enemy telegraphing its attack in a video game. Our anticipation reaches its peak at this point, and then his
off big-time with this utterly insane visual of Gamagori flooding the frame with his massive body.
This animation cut itself has an enormous sense of elasticity as Gamagori
stretches his body to fit into the screen, and then slams his foot on the ground and screams
generating tons of impact. If we compare this animation cut to the impact of a shotgun sound, then Gamagori
squeezing through the door would be the cocking of the gun. The slamming of his foot and
screaming would be the sound of the gun going off, and then the appearance of the one star students would be the sound of the gunshot
reverberating through the air. the appearance of these students also draws a clear line leading out of the frame into the opposite direction which is
where the camera then cuts to next. Gamagori's massive presence not only dominates the majority of the frame in this shot,
but the teacher then escapes backwards across the frame until he's tiny,
signifying the immense power of this giant man Gamagori's head even
encroaches further into the frame as the shot continues allowing him to take complete ownership of the scene.
Remember that up until now the teachers presence in the center of the frame was our visual through-line for every shot.
However, Gamagori has come in from the right taking up a ton of the frame, forced the teacher out of the frame, and then
boldly taken over the entire frame with his face and name in the next shot.
Within seconds gamma gory has run the teacher out of his scene and taken possession of it by force.
Gamagori remains centered in the frame as he walks around the classroom forcing even the camera,
which had mostly been stationary up until this point, to follow along with him.
Gamagori is portrayed at his actual size now. Meaning that his size before was more representative of the size of his presence.
manipulates scale like this constantly using its art more to convey the feeling of a scene above its actuality.
It's also worth mentioning how these cuts cleverly utilize the silhouette of a student as a
wipe when transitioning between them. As Gamagori surveys the students,
we are now introduced to the student whom he is obviously looking for,
and whose face conveys a mixture of fear and anger.
Once again we enter a period of build-up as we wonder if this kid is going to make a move.
He stands up and knocks his desk out of the left side of the screen which draws our attention in that direction
before this next shot, which also features right-to-left tension. In this shot, both Gamagori
and this kid are sharing the center of focus.
Gamagori dominates the upper left half of the screen with his massive body, but in spite of his size
the kid's prescence
is bolstered by all of the other students staring at him, and by the fact that Gamagori's face is shadowed while his is lit.
As the kid raises his arm slowly into the air while clutching a smoke bomb, and his voice goes up in pitch the tension escalates
all over again before the kid bursts the bomb and the screen is completely filled with smoke. Now the camera cuts out to the hallway
as smoke blows the door off of several classrooms and suddenly everything starts moving very fast in
contrast with the tension of the previous scene, now we are greeted with pulse-pounding,
explosive action. Our defiant youngster has burst from the classroom and taken off attempting to flee the tension and overwhelming presence of Gamagori.
however only seconds later gamma
Gory shows us that he will not be forgotten so easily
This brilliant multi-layered scene gives us two action sequences at once.
One of this kid who thinks he's getting away hauling ass down a revolving series of staircases,
and one of Gamagori's aerial pursuit as he free falls from the building. Besides being
visually impressive, the action has gotten so frenetic and chaotic in this sequence that the next payoff actually arrives in how it comes to a halt.
In one very rapid sequence - just as this kid has finally gotten the scene all to himself for a moment -
he throws the doors open wide with a bang only for Gamagori
to be right there, towering over him, and then Gamagori grabs him by the collar.
You'll notice that the transition from
Gamagori standing in front of him to having him by the collar is so fast that we don't even see the action taking place.
We only understand it because of a well-placed sound effect, which occurs across both cuts.
It's because of the sequential impact of the doors flying open
and Gamagori grabbing the kid by the collar, that we instantly sense how completely
Gamagori has flattened this kids attempt to escape, and how he immediately takes back control of the scene.
Whereas the previous action sequence had featured both Gamagori
and the kid in contesting positions of power, the next shot after Gamagori throws him is the beginning of a beatdown.
Gamagori has, once again, forcefully expelled someone from the frame.
Only this time, we follow along to see just how much damage the kid is taking.
This high-intensity
Sequence immediately smash cuts into a detailed frame of Gamagori asserting his dominance.
Only this time, it's less about Gamagori and more about the school itself.
Notice that the school dominates most of the screen, along with both Gamagori and his one-star lackeys.
We even have this enormous burst of light, which signifies the supreme power of the school itself.
However, we have yet to see the actual source of this light, meaning that the school and Gamagori are merely a part of the light That the school casts over its students.
Our kid is not done though. While Gamagori is still looking down at him,
he once again finds himself better lit, and attempts to reclaim the scene by unveiling the one star uniform
which he has stolen. The uniform even gets its own on-screen text, which has already been used to establish important or powerful forces.
However, the uniform only gets a text crawl which tacitly implies that it is less important than Gamagori who got an entire screen full of text before.
This slow panning shot once again builds up the tension as we are posed with the question of whether or not this kid can turn
the tables on the opponent who was casting that shadow across his face. Once the kid dons the uniform,
He gets to take center stage and even has his own star burst from behind.
Immediately his presence has increased massively, and as his body transforms, he dominates the screen in his own blinding light.
This is the kind of shot, which would be used to introduce a main character or a superhero in most episodes of most shows.
right away
We understand just how much this uniform has increased his powers as well as his importance in the eyes of the scene now in spite
of Gamagori's
Overwhelming presence the kid is able to hold his own in a longer shot and even pull the camera back to focus on himself.
He slaps away Gamagori's whip, and then takes over as much of the screen as he can
and the wind up to one huge scenery tearing punch and
then BOOM
What should have been this kid's earth-shattering rebuttal to gamma Grey's attack is instead consumed by Gamagori's presence all over again.
Not only do Gamagori, his men, and the light of the school consumed the majority of the screen,
but Gamagori's power radiates out of him with a demonic light. This is the turning point
after which it's apparent that Gamagori is far more powerful than what any of us could have expected.
This kid feels small and feeble all over again.
As Gamagori reclaims the frame for himself once more.
In this shot even though
The kid is centered and alone in the screen,
the actual focus of the shot is of Gamagori's shadow being cast
over him. At this point Gamagori's presence is so all-consuming that he doesn't even have to be in the shot to have possession over it.
Gamagori grows even more gigantic, brilliant, and terrifying as he continues his explanation, before finally jumping into his utter
beatdown of this poor pathetic rebel. In the midst of Gamagori's scenery-chewing
beatdown we are teased by brief cuts of Satsuki waiting in the wings.
We don't know who this is yet,
but the fact that she's important enough to stand over a Gamagori's fight sets us up for the
expectation of her power. By the time Gamagori's beat-down is complete,
The kid has been reduced to nothing but a tiny blob in the midst of this gigantic shot
Which is dominated entirely by gamma gory and the walls of the school once Gamagori has retrieved the uniform
He gives it a pat-down
signifying that he has completed his mission and done away with his opponent.
When gamma gory hands the uniform back to his subordinate, the camera pans to the right which works as a
transition away from the kid, and on to the rest of the school behind them. Just in this one cut we have effectively
ended the relevance of that kids scene and moved into a new sequence as Gamagori rants to the entire student body, we see
panning shots of students looking out of the windows all of which are covered by the school's radiant light filtering in from above. This shows
that while the camera may be focused elsewhere, the scene is still being owned by the school and those who govern it. Then finally as
The teacher and Gamagori glance upwards drawing our attention towards the light source, we finally get our introduction to Satsuki.
Within seconds, and before even emerging onto the scene,
Satsuki Immediately takes complete control of the scene just in this one shot.
in spite of having dominated the entire scene up until this point,
Gamagori is made to look small in the face of this incredible light which consumes
everything. Satsuki doesn't have to force her way into the center of the shot even from a distance her presence owns the frame.
Similar to how Gamagori's shadow had continued to possess the scene even when he wasn't on-screen,
Satsuki's light shines entirely over this cut as Gamagori pays deference to her in the center.
Satsuki's proper introduction with her name card on screen requires a towering panning shot
which places the entirety of the school and its one-star students underneath her radiant light.
It's worth noting that in the consecutive upward pans while Satsuki gives her brief speech,
We can just barely get a glimpse of her other Elite Four members. While we don't know who these shadowy figures are just yet,
we at least know that there are others who are powerful enough to be sharing a screen with Satsuki.
Considering all that we've seen, we can instantly recognize that these are going to be hugely
important characters even though they've been on screen for less than a second and never even been mentioned
verbally. After Satsuki's radiance wipes the screen we then cut to another shot of the school only without the light radiating from the top
Signifying that we've transitioned into a new scene. The next shot is simply one long continuous
pan which once again serves as another huge tension build we see honno-ji academy the school
which we've just been made to in its full form followed by the entirety of the
Gigantic city that the school stands at the summit of. Then finally,
we are introduced to our main character the transfer student, Matoi Ryuko,
who gets her own screen filling shot all to herself.
Matoi Ryuko is then shown at the foot of this city standing off against the overpowering light from high above.
Right away we understand that this girl is going to have to fight her way to the top in opposition of the city in its entirety.
And that's when we get the title card and the big payoff of the theme song
just within the span of this opening scene we have witnessed to the ways that Kill la Kill uses a
constant sequence of tension and payoff to build satisfying high-impact action comedy scenes, as well as how it
utilizes shot composition and color design to communicate the power
relationships between its characters, and the flow of its action, all while introducing us to the setting and most of the important characters.
I hope that this breakdown can help people to appreciate why I regard Kill la Kill as such a visual masterpiece.
Honestly, there are not a lot of TV anime which come anywhere close to putting this level of care and thought into every single frame of animation.
And to criticize Kill la Kill for not always having the most fluid animation seems like totally missing the point to me.
When you can tell that a series has a very satisfying visual element,
even in spite of its limited animation then try and figure out what the series is doing to
compensate for that limited animation.
Personally I think that Kill la Kill's sense a flow and composition makes it far more visually engaging than any other TV anime that I've seen,
regardless of the fluidity of its movement.
Let me know how you feel about it in the comments, and if you enjoyed this video,
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