Mako is designed with a brown bob-bowl cut, brown eyes, and no-star uniform so as to frame her as a cog in the machine that is Honnōji Academy, simply part of the crowd. To a degree, they do stand out in their normality and normal people quirks. Ryuko’s self-proclaimed best friend Mako and her family may not stand out in comparison to the rest of the cast, but that, like Kill la Kill’s fanservice, has a point. Being an orphan, she has little choice but to rely on her own resolve and strength as symbolized by her “armor.” As tough as she is, Ryuko is still a child, a young woman. The fact that Ryuko is forced to fight in heels and nonexistent armor also speaks to both shoujo and shounen (mecha in particular) themes of adolescence and vulnerability. Remember when I mentioned magical girls? Our protagonist’s red streak covers more of her head than normal post-synchronization, shoujo style. Sure, being meta or self-aware doesn’t necessarily excuse a poor aesthetic or make something profound, but when done right, it can communicate theme in an effective way. Sushio is not coy about making characters sexy. While there is a narrative reason as to why this is the case, which is often better than throwing senseless sexiness in viewers’ faces, I think her exposure says quite a bit about fanservice in general. When Ryuko fully transforms for the first time, she takes on a hypersexual, mechanized look, to her own indignation. This transition also does well to hint at her synchronized uniform. The moment she fuses with living kamui Senketsu, her street clothes “shrink” into a midriff-baring shirt and skirt combo, further selling her troublemaker shtick by twisting the one “proper” element of her design. Ryuko strikes a constant balance between chaos and order in a clever deconstruction of magical girls and magical girl transformations. I’ve always seen this discrepancy between her attitude and morals (or at the very least, her regard and understanding of the rules as they stand at the classist Honnōji Academy ) as deliberate, especially when her outfit morphs into its Senketsu version.
Even then, the rest of her ensemble is made up of what appears to be a female school uniform. Ryuko makes an entrance with a red streak in hair and scissor-blade in hand, everything about her screaming delinquent and rebellious teenager. It’s not every day that we get a fiery female protagonist in a “shounen” series, not to mention one who takes charge the way Ryuko does. On the other hand, Sushio has mastered the art of both deconstructing tropes and playing them straight, providing compelling storytelling with each and every oddball hero and villain. While a character’s hairstyle and wardrobe, or there lack of, being integral to design as a whole seems rather obvious, I think we take the basics for granted. Ishikazi’s character designs for Kill la Kill were what ultimately cemented him and his style in the anime world, their dynamism coming through even without movement. Ishikazi got his start working as an animator for Gainax’s Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) and later took on various roles during the production of Gurren Lagann (2007), the latter providing him with an in once Gainax “successor” Studio Trigger came to be. Toshio Ishikazi, better known as Sushio, is an accomplished animator, animation director, and character designer often linked to Studio Trigger (i.e Darling in the Franxx, Kiznaiver, Little Witch Academia, Promare, and SSSS.Gridman ). What opens as a revenge tale typical of shounen steps up to the plate by the end of its first episode with action and well-written wit.Īnd clothes, lots and lots of battle armor and school uniforms.Īnd if clothes are what make a man, then Sushio, the artist behind Kill la Kill, is truly the man. The series, like protagonist Ryuko Matoi’s Kamui-partner Senketsu, has layers. I dare say it changed the way some viewers consume fanservice and original works to this day. Trigger’s sleeper hit Kill la Kill took a lot of anime fans by surprise upon debut in 2013-2014, its outlandish designs and silly premise giving way to an unrelenting rollercoaster of a story.
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