Why does this get so weak in it's second half? Did the

>>155301925
Don't be ridiculous. The entire studio never cared about it at all. It's a junk so bad it's good

>>155302120
But it's not even funny past the whole school trip thing.

It's pretty clear it isn't taking itself seriously at first, but there at the end I almost felt like it was, kind of.

Its good up to the point of the school battle royale or whatever, then its shit up to the point where Satsuki kills her mom, then it gets good again.

They wimped out on killing certain characters, which overinflated the cast and caused pacing issues.

>>155302372
I think it never recovers past that.

It just degenerates into generic japanese autism and it doesn't even feel like it's aware of it, unlike the early parts of the show where all the japanese autismo is played for laughs.

Either that or it just fails miserably in doing anything funny or interesting with it.

>>155302415
True.

>>155302482
I remember it getting pretty intense after the episode where Ragyo rips out Ryuuko's heart and Ryuuko wearing Juunketsu.

I watched it with /a/ while it was airing and it was amazing, so I guess I'm biased.

>>155302562
Fights are pretty good, they do get more intense I guess.

But everything else falls flat pretty badly IMO, it seems like it's trying to do the "half serious, half not serious" thing, but it doesn't pull it off pretty well. I feel like the jokes just aren't funny anymore after that point, and it references itself too much, which is kind of cringy.

>>155301925
>Why does this get so weak in it's second half?
It doesn't.
>>155302299
The first half is more serious than the second, episodes 1, 5 and 8 are the most dramatic of the show.
>>155302415
No character was supposed to die, I don't think you even understood what show you were watching.
>>155302482
>It just degenerates into generic japanese autism and it doesn't even feel like it's aware of it, unlike the early parts of the show where all the japanese autismo is played for laughs.
>Either that or it just fails miserably in doing anything funny or interesting with it.
I'm sorry you didn't understand it.
If you were under the impression of seeing a dumb show, you were the dumb one to begin with.

For one, the Student Council members are referred to as the four devas, ie the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhism, who are said to be protectors of Lord Sakra, living atop "Mount Sumeru" (the center of the Buddhist universe) which you'll find looks similar to the design of the strange mountain that Honnoji Gakuen sits atop. Mount Sumeru is said to be populated with terraces where different levels of Sakra's followers reside, similar to the star system in the series.
Honnoji Academy is a reference to the Honnoji Incident in 1582, where Nobunaga was betrayed by his general Akechi Mitsuhide at the Honnoji Buddhist temple in Kyoto. This is alluded to when student council member Sanageyama directly quotes Mitsuhide's famous "The enemy awaits at Honnō-ji!" speech. Ragyo = Nobunaga, the daimyo trying to unify Japan (Ragyo trying to take over the world), and Satsuki = Akechi Mitsuhide, the general that betrays her at Honnoji (the same place that Satsuki betrays her mother in the series). This also fits with the idea of the temple sitting atop Mount Sumeru, since Buddhist temples are often architecturally designed to invoke the imagery of Sumeru (you will also find images online that show Honnoji Gakuen, when seen from afar, is designed to look like a Kamui uniform with it's arms in a round circle, relating to the Buddhist meditation position where practitioners bring their hands in a circle in front of them and imagine themselves as Mount Sumeru).

>>155303349
The light seen emanating from Satsuki and Ragyo is a reference to the "rainbow body" phenomen, a state of spiritual realization in Tibetan Buddhism, wherein light is said to emanate from practitioners as they reach higher levels of understanding. In the most advanced state, where one is said to have attained complete knowledge, rainbow colors are seen. Not only does light emanate from Satsuki and Ragyo, but Ragyo also exhibits rainbow colors, and at one point even specifically refers to herself as "one who knows all the truths in this world." You'll also note that during the bath scene with Satsuki (which Ragyo refers to as a "ritual") at the climax of the scene Satsuki's chakra (specific energy points on the body) are very clearly shown as being opened.
The story of Kill la Kill may be a reference to an ancient Tibetan apocalypse mythology, that predicts a war in which foreign invaders will be defeated by a king from a distant land that joins forces with the gods of Mount Sumeru to bring peace and understanding to the world (something to that effect), which is possibly a reference to Ryuko joining forces with Satsuki to defeat the aliens. More generally speaking though, the story I think focuses on Ryuko's personal "path to enlightenment" (i.e., the Way she's not supposed to Lose), and how she's helped by her Kamui (god clothing) to come to an ultimate understanding (or Nirvana) about herself and the nature of her existence, and to be at peace with it. This is most notable in that Ryuko defeats Ragyo at the end of the series, not by destroying her, but by "Absorbing" her with Senketsu. "Absorption" is a state known as jhana (meditative absorption) and is the last of the eightfold paths in Buddhist practice needed for attaining Nirvana.

>>155303377
There are many other possible references, including what looks like a lotus blossom (very important Buddhist symbol) during the Absorption, Senketsu possibly being a Boddhisatva, and a visual nod to Nirvana (snuffing of the flame) in Senketsu's death scene.
The story revolves around Ryuko, who's deeply upset about her father's death, and later about the realization of her true nature/existence as being both clothing and human. But at the end of the series she accepts the nature of her existence and doesn't let it affect her anymore. As a thematic central message, that sort of character progression seems to resonate with Buddhist belief, that the world is filled with suffering born from a lack of understanding/acceptance of the nature of reality and one's self (dukkha), and that peace is achieved from coming to understand and accept that nature, and not allow it to affect one's self (nirvana). While Ryuko at the beginning of the series is confused and angry by the death of her father, at the end of the series she can think back to Senketsu (who also had passed away) and smile knowingly (the fact that her father and Senketsu both share an eyepatch seems to make the parallel all the stronger). Ryuko's "way" was the path to her coming to accept the nature of life and of herself, which is why the Buddhist imagery seems an appropriate a thematic umbrella.

>>155303405
Will you please stop posting this shitty copy pasta?

>>155303719
No.

>>155303266
>>155303349
>>155303377
>>155303405
References don't make a show clever.

>If you were under the impression of seeing a dumb show

I wasn't, in fact I think it was a very clever and funny show during the first few episodes, comedy often requires more brains to pull off than 2dip4u references to some ancient chink chong tale, something that's very cliche at this point for media coming from...Well, really everywhere.

Besides this show isn't very good at being a tragedy, the plot is ridiculous, which is ok when in the context of a comedy, but after the school trip thingie, they start throwing too much drama and too little comedy, and the comedy they do throw in is not very good. They start repeating themselves too much with Mako and her family being the go-to "hey look at how CUUUTE and quircky they are amirite?!", and they're start acknowledging too much that "this is all suppossed to be crazy and nonsensical" which just feels wrong, like breaking the 4th wall in the wrong way.
You can have tragedy and seriousness in between the comedy, and japs are usually very good at this, and this show does it pretty well, like you said, the most dramatic episodes are early in the show, but the balance has to be done very well to get people to take a ridiculous plot seriously.

File: 1490365536109.jpg (48KB, 361x437px) Image search: [Google]

48KB, 361x437px

>>155303719
Oh no, I fell for the memes.

>>155303936
>References don't make a show clever.
Parallels with Shinto, Buddhism and Japanese Meiji era history are not mere references, they are a fundamental part of the show narratively and thematically.
>Besides this show isn't very good at being a tragedy
I don't think you know what a tragedy is. This is why people should start with the Greeks.
The rest is just you contradicting yourself, you acknowledge that it starts more dramatic but then you said that 2/3 in there is too much drama.
And the "we're utterly incomprehensible" catchphrase is in no way 4th wall breaking.