Kill la Kill-Volume 1 (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	More…-Textless opening and closing songs
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	97:50 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Akira Amemiya Hiroyuki Imaishi Alex Von David Kazuki Nakashima
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Ryoka Yuzuki Carie Keranen Ami Koshimizu Erica Mendez Shinichiro Miki Matthew Spencer Tetsu Inada Patrick Seitz Aya Suzaki Christine Marie Cabanos
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Hiroyuki Sawano

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 English DTS HD Master Audio 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Honnouji Academy is modelled on Nazi German lines. The Leader and Student Club President is Satsuki Kiryuin (voiced by Ryoka Yuzuki/ Carie Keranen) whose absolute rule is enforced by elite students wearing Goku uniforms which, rated from one star to three stars, give the wearer superhuman powers. The suits, of course, are bestowed only by Satsuki, who refers to the no-star students, and indeed most of the population of Honnouji, as “pigs in human clothing”. Dissent and infractions of Satsuki’s rules is ruthless punished by members of the Elite Four, such as the three star Disciplinary Committee Chair Ira Gamagoori (Tetsu Inada / Patrick Seitz).

     The balance at the Academy is upset when transfer student Ryuko Matoi (Ami Koshimizu / Erica Mendez) arrives. She carries a large weapon that looks like half of a pair scissors and has come to the Academy looking for clues to the identity of the person who murdered her father. Defeated in an early fight by a student wearing a Goku, in the cellars under her father’s destroyed house Ryuko discovers another kind of fighting suit called a Kamui; a very scanty outfit which can talk and, despite her protests, attaches itself to her body and sucks her blood! Ryuko names the suit Senketsu (Toshihiko Seki / David Vincent ), and finds out that it was created by her father especially for her. With the aid of Senketsu, and the mysterious teacher Aikuro Mikisugi (Shinichiro Miki / Matthew Spencer), Ryuko returns to the Academy bent on challenging Satsuki and finding out who killed her father. But Satsuki has a Kamui suit of her own.

     Kill la Kill is a strange, different anime that is essentially an exuberant action / comedy. The premise is absurdist and everything is quite unreal including the deep, vibrant colours (none of your watercolour pastel backgrounds here), the wider than usual black lines in the drawing, the frenetic editing and the breakneck speed at which the anime flies along, pausing only to put up on the screen huge red captions which identify the name of a character and their position, or a location. One can hardly draw breath, even in episode three when the series finally decides to put in a bit of exposition about the suits. Little is serious: Ryuko has one friend in the class, Mako (Aya Suzaki / Christine Marie Cabanos), whose father is a backstreet surgeon who comments that the dead cannot sue, a dog called Guts, the academy has both a athletic club and a non-athletic club, the Kamui are very revealing and the puns in the dialogue are sexual, juvenile, in poor taste and frequently very funny!

     Season 1 of Kill La Kill aired on Japanese TV from October 2013 and ran to 24 episodes, with an unaired 25th episode. However, like in other regions this Blu-ray Kill La Kill – Volume 1 contains only Episodes 1-4, so just as you are starting to get sucked in, that is all there is.

Video

     Kill la Kill is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     As noted in the review, the images are strongly drawn with wide black lines while the colours, especially blues and reds, are deep and vibrant. Blacks are rock solid, shadow detail fine.

     I noticed occasional shimmer with some movement.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate in either audio track.

     The English subtitles are in a clear white font. Unlike some anime releases the subtitles can be enabled with the English dub and removed from the Japanese using the remote. I did not notice any spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese or English DTS-HD MA 2.0, although the Blu-ray cover indicates both audio tracks are LPCM 2.0.

     Both are surround encoded with mostly music plus some crashes and effects in the rears. The English dub was OK, but seemed to be recorded at a slightly lower level than the Japanese so occasionally the dialogue got a bit lost in the music and effects. It was OK, but I still think the Japanese voice acting had more drive.

     The score by Hiroyuki Sawano helped speed the action along.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Clean Opening (1:31)

     The opening song without the credits.

Clean Closing (1:31)

     The closing song without the credits.

     The Region A US Blu-ray of Kill la Kill – Volume 1 also contains only the first four episodes. The US limited edition adds a CD of the music, Spanish subtitles and Web Version Previews. The Japanese Blu-ray is not English friendly.

     Kill la Kill is a wild, exuberant thrill ride with a breakneck pace, colourful fights, breast revealing fighting suits, bad puns and juvenile humour. It is a blast, but only episodes 1-4 are on this Blu-ray.

     The video is colourful and vibrant and the audio is good. Extras are minimal.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall