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Is Kill La Kill opening song a parody like the rest of the show?




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Meexa



Joined: 13 Mar 2016
Posts: 170
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:37 pm Reply with quote
I was wondering is Kill La Kill's opening song (Sirius by Eir Aoi) a parody of other songs like the show is suppose to be a parody of many things?

The reason why I am asking this, when I listen to the song. It has some tid bits that sound similar to other songs.

For example:
Hearts Grow by Yura Yura
Houki Boshi by Younha
Itazura na Kiss by Day After Tomorrow

Any other songs, you think Sirius by Eir Aoi sounds similar too?
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:19 am Reply with quote
I don't know about the OP, but the first ED is an homage to the closing song for the initial season of a famous live-action show, Sukeban Deka. The protagonist is an isolated transfer student who works as an undercover agent for the police and is armed with a special high-tech yoyo. Her uniform bears a strong resemblance to Senketsu. You can find it if you look hard enough, but not at YouTube where everything related to the original Sukeban Deka has been pulled by Toei. The Kill la Kill ED reproduces a number of scenes in the Sukeban Deka ED; here are two that should be familiar.





Last edited by yuna49 on Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:34 am; edited 1 time in total
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Meexa



Joined: 13 Mar 2016
Posts: 170
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:25 am Reply with quote
yuna49 wrote:




I love hearing about trivia knowledge like this!
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yuna49



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PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:35 am Reply with quote
I replaced that image with screenshots from the Sukeban Deka ED.
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Meexa



Joined: 13 Mar 2016
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:47 am Reply with quote
what is she eating?
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:07 am Reply with quote
Ice cream or something similar in a waffle cone I believe.

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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15462
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 6:03 am Reply with quote
This will probably belong more in the general anime section than the series discussion section, or maybe even music section. Also, I think that the thing Ryuko is eating is a crepe, I have seen them commonly eaten with ice cream or other toppings in anime.

How strange, I was actually listening to Kill la Kill music today, I had an exam the great soundtrack of the series is great to pump yourself up and or focus. In general Kill la Kill is a series that I think about quite often because I like it a lot, and first off I think that I will start off with saying that I don't think Kill la Kill can quite be called a "parody of other things". Indeed it does take elements from other things, and it plays around with established tropes, but as I have said before Kill la Kill is most about style. Many of the characters have their own style connected to their character type, and it is from embracing what makes them unique or who they are that they can do something incredible.

I just looked over a translation of the lyrics, and in general I would say that its theme is about kind of fighting against the system and finding your own way. The first lines in the song are:
Quote:
I’ll strip off the ready-made today
that someone else set up without asking
I’ll go run barefooted

So it has our main character rejecting the ready made (a uniform) that is meant to keep her in line and she will go barefoot if she has to. Several of the other lines are about taking "tumbles" but the lessons from these just building who you are "tomorrow". There is mention of trying to fulfil a promise, likely the one she made to find her father's murderer, or in general finding what she was born for. In general the lyrics are a good explanation of Ryuko's journey in the show, at least this first part where she is trying to find the murderer and fighting against the system that Satsuki has created.

Animation wise we have we have a shot of the school above via Trigger's low tech technology style, before the shot runs down the massive length of the school, its structure continuing down a network of students. I would say it is pretty much saying that the uniform students in lines are just as much a structure of the school as the building themselves, all of it bellow the one at the top, which we know is Satsuki. Ryuko seems to burst through like a star, I think stars are repeated a couple times in the song, but with what I am guessing the part with the lyrics is showing Ryuko standing opposed to this system. We also get several shots of Ryuko in different poses that describe her personality, her looking like a punk, eating a lemon, being flustered over wearing Senketsu, and getting in the "face" of the screen, I think this explains her personality at the start of the series.

A red thread stretches across with various figures kind of caught in between them. This red string is often referred to as a red string of fate, and with the people inside of it I think is saying that they are people along her journey. Mako especially makes the thread move, a fact that I think says something about her besty status and an important person to Ryuko. The thread ends at Satsuki, although rather than being tied to her it appears to simply be cut, this removes romantic often associated, and I think says that Satsuki is largely standing in the way of Ryuko achieving her goal. Do note that after Ryuko's fights she often absorbs a red thread as if moving closer. Satsuki has her clothes cut like Ryuko did earlier, which largely seems to be about an odd similarity between them, but rather than Ryuko being shown as red we get her as blue which highlights her differences in personality. Also followed Satsuki also receiving several pictures that describe her personality, her looking like a leader, like a warrior, enjoying a cup of tea, and finishing with her face also right in the camera, although noted that instead note that she is specifically looking down. That lost shot put against the one make Ryuko made earlier describe how they kind of oppose each other, Ryuko wants to get right in her face while Satsuki looks down on her, it is a good cap to establishing their rivalry.

The next shot shows Senketsu with various threads coming from him, rather than just looking cool and showing his life fibre nature, it probably also somewhat shows that he is a useful lead or means for Ryuko to find out the truth. A bright light comes from Senketsu's eye, in which we see is Ryuko, this is showing how it he who can see the potential within Ryuko, several of the lines talk about finding a light. Which is followed up by the Ryuko's transformation sequence, which is probably what it looks like of both Ryuko transforming in the physical sense of the show, but probably also the metaphorical sense of how she is growing.

Following this we get a shot of what appears to be people holding each others hands, and with some added context with the red colouration and thread we get that idea that the web they make it is kind of like a large tapestry, which is a recurring theme of the show. The web is red on black which gives us an ominous feeling as it then covers the sky, the sky often being a symbol of freedom likely means that this ominous system that was created restricts your freedom, in this case Ryuko is standing against it. Next between the lines of uniformed students we get a trail of the various opponents that Ryuko will face, and they all have various striking styles of their own, the last of which are the elite four which are even more excessive of their own styles. This is kind of what I said earlier about this show being all about style, and that these characters gain strength from expressing their style. The very last one is Satsuki, light shining from her like we often see her. The fight the two of them has kind of acts as a promise that these two are going to go head to head, but also note that at the first clash between these two that we the red sky suddenly part, I think indicating that when Ryuko finally gets to fight her head on like this that she feels a hope of actual freedom. But after a few more clashes of blades the sky suddenly rips apart to a brighter red, perhaps indicative that Ryuko is really outmatched earlier in the series, that the freedom is not in reach yet, or maybe even foreshadowing that beyond Satsuki their is an even darker force at play, something that is restricting even her freedom.

But we are told not to worry as we then see a gloved hand of Ryuko reaching out within light, a symbol used several times. And we finish off on two opposing picture of Satsuki and Ryuko, Satsuki's picture is similar to how it was earlier in the video with her looking down, but now Ryuko is more focused. The two parts move so their both steadily moving to where they would be level to each other so that Satsuki would no longer be looking down on Ryuko, with her instead be at eye level, but just before that happens the screen cuts to the title. This level of rivalry is kind of how it goes in this first part.

Although if you wanted to talk about the music itself, like what was actually asked in the post, I am not much of a music expert so I cannot say a lot on it. What I can say is that this style of music is kind of what is portrayed as Ryuko's style, a sort of rocker feel with this strong vocalist. As much is said about the music with the Nonon where an ability to dominate the opponent is literally demonstrated via a control of music, and Ryuko wins by keeping her own tune which sounds not too different from this song, or to Ryuko's signature song, Before my Body is Dry. Funnily enough Mako translates the complicated explanation about what Ryuko was doing as simply meaning that "Ryuko is awesome" which in essence is what the music is kind of meant to mean.
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Meexa



Joined: 13 Mar 2016
Posts: 170
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:28 pm Reply with quote
I'm don't think the entire anime is a parody and of course it has its' own flair, but it does have a lot of satire and parodies to the genre, anime, and other cool little trivia.
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memmon



Joined: 14 Feb 2017
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 12:56 am Reply with quote
True, I think a lot of people wont get the sense of humor.
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