John Kowalski
Banned
...no
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Kill la Kill |OT|
- Thread starter Crash Station
- Start date
...no
Mako is the only character that's better than her.
John Kowalski
Banned
no?
Who's the worst? I kinda agree that she's the least interesting thing about her show, especially now that we've learned her motive for wanting to find out who killed her dad.
Ryuuko's character is that she is an honest girl in a world filled with hypocrites; that's what her fights with the Elite Four have all been about. They're filled with dialogue that makes them pretty clearly "allegorical".
If Ryuko's motivation and story were interesting she'd probably be a good character. But right now it's pretty meh.
If this was Stardust Crusaders Ryuko would be Jotaro. Just there to kick ass most of the time. Except Jotaro had some awesome bursts of personality from time to time.
If this was Stardust Crusaders Ryuko would be Jotaro. Just there to kick ass most of the time. Except Jotaro had some awesome bursts of personality from time to time.
Generally agree with this. She's the worst character on the show at this point.
She is there to call other characters on their bullshit and then turn that bullshit on them; she the "straight man" to the entire narrative. Her role is to be the outsider to a world in which everyone is fully engrossed in a self-important manga narrative.
Her "straight man" role may be a bit overplayed, tho; she has like 6 tsukkomi lines per episode.
Ryuko is the worst character not because she is a bad character, but because all the characters are greater. I can't think of a single one I dislike so far. Character ranking time:
Edit: God Tier - http://i.imgur.com/47Vdzi0.png (see if you can guess before you click!)
Top Tier
Sexy-sensei
Mohawk-man
Mako
Mid Tier
Satsuki
Elite Four
Ok Tier
Ryuko / Senkentsu
Mako's Family
Edit: God Tier - http://i.imgur.com/47Vdzi0.png (see if you can guess before you click!)
Top Tier
Sexy-sensei
Mohawk-man
Mako
Mid Tier
Satsuki
Elite Four
Ok Tier
Ryuko / Senkentsu
Mako's Family
John Kowalski
Banned
Ryuko's character is such that her most interesting points will always be when she achieves some sort of life changing epiphany, like her first transformation scene for example. She's fairly naive of the world around her and quick to lose her head, which is proper for the imparting of certain themes. Of course these moments of stagnation will always hurt her pacing, but the last few episodes have quite clearly shifted the focus from her to the side characters. And to be fair, no one character really is handled very well, with perhaps the exception of Satsuki.
The intent behind her characterization is pretty obvious, but it's been dragged out for the whole season now. Like, it's not that I don't like her, it's that she's just kind of there. The contrast between her and Satsuki is obvious, too, but that doesn't make her a good character. She's a foil, and has been nothing but a foil, since episode one.
Yeah, but they've managed to give her more than one single emotion or state so she doesn't feel one-dimensional or unsympathetic. She isn't just "hot-blooded" or "boyish" or "rebellious"; they've even made her relatively contemplative and self-aware (of her own faults, not just as a straight man).
Episode 7 was actually more about Ryuuko than about Mako. I actually think the inevitable big realization is something that has already happened but Ryuuko just hasn't expressed out loud. If the Trigger newsletter wasn't lying about the lyrics to the title songs being relevant to the episode, it should actually happen next week.
John Kowalski
Banned
I really don't see that being the case. If nothing else, Ryuko is a contrasting point for all the antagonists so far, not just Satsuki, and at one point even Mako. Arguably the whole school, even, because she is the one character that has been afforded the power to exist outside of its class system, thus being the show's agent of subversion. Which has been demonstrated and applied quite frequently, if you're adamant about your opinion of her as somehow inert.
Is your point that she is just not good?
I think the big traumatic event that will explode on Ryuuko's face and change everything for her is going to be
Senketsu getting "killed". Considering the way in which he is being portrayed, the idea that he can ever harm Ryuuko feels completely farfetched. Right when everyone expects him to betray Ryuuko, he will sacrifice himself for her instead; I doubt they will remove him of the show for good, but she should be unable to wear him for a few episodes.
Mako is perfectly safe by the way; people thinking that she may die have just taken a joke too far.
Mako is perfectly safe by the way; people thinking that she may die have just taken a joke too far.
She's been posed as an agent of change, but all change has come from Satsuki, not her. She's a heroine without agency, hence the lack of inertia. There's no subversion, only submission. Ryuko displays all the trappings of delinquency, but she's so obedient that she follows every whim and rule of the school. Outside of the first episode where she arrives at the school, every battle has been reactive. She's attacked, not attacking. Even the fight club and all the conflict derived from it is driven by Mako, not her.
Foils exist to serve as a contrast to others, and that's fine for side characters, but she's the protagonist. The other characters should be serving as her foils. The student council battles should be revealing things about her, not them. Her rivalry with Satsuki should be just that, rivalry, yet it's clear in the narrative that she's nothing more than a measuring stick. That's like, disappointing, you know? Because I like the show. But Ryuko has been a foil for so long, and it's only now that this is changing. A whole season has gone by without change.
She's definitely been reactive rather than proactive. I mean look at her investigation into her dad. What has she done other than wait for somebody else to tell her who did it? She hasn't tried investigating on her own at all.
That said, the 2nd half should shake things up a bit so we'll see how she develops.
Oldschoolgamer
The physical form of blasphemy
I mean...not saying that I disagree, but whom exactly is she supposed to find information about her father's death from? There is nobody aside from nudist beach (who handled her in the beginning) and Satsuki. She doesn't have a choice but to play the game. There is no other evidence of his existence anywhere.
So is Sanageyama's transformation in Ep 6 going to even lead to anything at this point? Considering that a rematch would be boring due to Ryuko's surge in power and the fact that he was jokingly discarded I don't really think there is a need or desire for it to happen. Only unfortunate thing is that they built him up as the strongest of the Elite 4 only to toss him aside.
Regardless, I'm pretty happy that the show is finally getting interesting again after the last few episodes were a bit underwhelming.
Regardless, I'm pretty happy that the show is finally getting interesting again after the last few episodes were a bit underwhelming.
Eh, I don't think that's much of a problem. All she knows is that Satsuki knows something, and that's the end of any investigation she could attempt. I guess the problem is that it ended there. She should be chopping that tower down like a Christmas tree instead of going along with every bullshit game and rule they toss at her.
You have to make some pretty serious jumps to say that the Fight Club wasn't a conflict started and resolved by Ryuuko; she literally started HUNTING Satsuki's minions herself. She didn't wait to be challenged, she chomped down those clubs by herself.
And the story was clearly building up to the whole "get outside of the role they've set up for you"; now that Ryuuko is starting to play outside of everyone's rules, even Nudist Beach wants her out of the scene. They even specifically say that she is trying "too hard" for them.
You're putting a neutral as a negative; I'm not sure how the story structure counts as as a flaw, both for the show and the character. Revolutionary Girl Utena was a show that promises a "revolutionary" lead but Utena herself was a mostly reactionary character that was challenged to battle (but never challenged herself) and most of the duels were not about Utena but rather about the Student Council and their own personal problems. In Gurren-Lagann, Simon was just humbly following Kamina's bravado around for at least 10 episodes. Through Evangelion, Shinji's actions were just a response to the Angel's attacks.
I can agree that Ryuko is boring as hell, besides playing the straight man to all of the antics and characters, the only other thing that I ever notice about her is that the moment she gets cocky, things generally tends to go badly for her. While she's not the worst character by any means, she's definitely the most boring.
Sensei has to be the worst. He's okay with baring at all and almost going nude in every scene, but has a problem with saying anything, just anything to Ryuko; it's really annoying. The only redeeming thing about him for me is that he has Tsumugu at his beck and call.
Sensei has to be the worst. He's okay with baring at all and almost going nude in every scene, but has a problem with saying anything, just anything to Ryuko; it's really annoying. The only redeeming thing about him for me is that he has Tsumugu at his beck and call.
Otakumegane
Member
Man that hype building music in the end.
DUUNNN
DUUNNN
She hasn't tried breaking into the school's record files or Satsuki's house, asking around if people knew her dad, or trying to force something out of Satsuki or Aikuro instead of playing along. She didn't even go back to the house until eight episodes in.
I'm sure she asked around; I mean, she even asked around for Tsumugu and found his connection to Aikurou. You don't need to put her "hitting dead ends" on the show to know it happened.
Well to be fair, it looks like her house is kind of far away (she only went when she had a free week, and on the first day) so she'd need spare time to do that.
That said, I agree that she hasn't been proactive enough. I mean for a character out for revenge, the only episode so far where she's been the aggressor and has driven the plot forward is Fight Club episode, and even then, that was mainly for Mako rather than herself.
Part of the issue though is that she didn't have a strong connection to her dad at all. There doesn't seem to be any drive to that part of the show other than some obligatory "I wanna know who did it and I want revenge". It's like she's going through the motions and so I wouldn't be surprised if she actually didn't do any investigative work because she doesn't care.
Testicular Sound Express
Member
Really great episode. As cool as the show is, it was getting a bit monotonous. Looking forward to the next episode.
Oldschoolgamer
The physical form of blasphemy
She really can't investigate any further though. There are three factions at play and all of them out-man, out-gun, are smarter, and until this episode, were stronger than she is (might still be the case lol). She's a pawn at the moment.
I really want to see her step out too, but I don't think it's necessary for them to try and have her breaking an entering and whatnot, especially when they showed why it would end horribly for her. lol
I think the sensei is the worst character, by far.
I really want to see her step out too, but I don't think it's necessary for them to try and have her breaking an entering and whatnot, especially when they showed why it would end horribly for her. lol
I think the sensei is the worst character, by far.
Well she seemingly didn't know Honnouji or Satsuki was involved at the beginning of the show. She only figured out Satsuki was involved when Satsuki reacted to Ryuuko pulling the scissors out and she says a line when she entered town which was, "Something tells me I'll find some leads here". She stumbled onto a lead more than anything else.
Anyway the show has pointed out how she doesn't have a strong drive so hopefully something is done in the back half with it.
So driven that she sits down and fills out paperwork before tossing that to Mako. So subversive that she follows the rules, and whims, of both Gamagori and Mako. Even the conclusion of the fight is with her receiving Mako's beating. I don't even remember where she got the idea to start this. But it quickly becomes about her fulfilling the wishes of others, and the episode as a whole is about how this act twists upon itself.
Of course, but the problem is that it's late.
Dunno man, in the context of this show, it holds, because Utena isn't Ryuko and Ryuko isn't Simon, and so on and so forth. In the former the reactionary behavior is set within the structure of the setting she moves in, whereas for Ryuko, the very act of arriving is a provocation. The structure of the episodes, the rituals, makes sense for Utena, but it doesn't for Ryuko - the things they subvert aren't the same, and their intent is pretty far apart. One emulates and subverts patriarchy, the other is (supposedly) an active disruption of the present order. One dreams of a princely ideal, the other is a delinquent. So the things you expect out of Utena are distant from Matoi, but even there, the very act of winning and being with Anthy is more forceful than anything Ryuko does. There's growth in reactive behavior for the former, but for the latter, even her character development is externalized to such a point that it isn't her that grows with the passing of these episodes.
I haven't finished the show but Utena is a bit of a hypocrite. She denounces the fights but goes along with them.
Actually I thought the first half was better than the last half. The "overly cute, overly powerful girl" is a dumb trope and that reveal was disappointing.
The one good part was when Satsuki panicked, pretty much showing that this whole thing was basically to build Ryuko and the Elite Four up.
The one good part was when Satsuki panicked, pretty much showing that this whole thing was basically to build Ryuko and the Elite Four up.
Just posting a bunch of cool stuff I've seen
Also it seems the Japanese Kill la Kill website gets updated with character art
They've also got a seperate section for all of the past Club Leaders. What's interesting me the most though is that Maiko gets her own section instead of being with the other Club Leaders. I mean, yeah she was only the Head of Trap Development so maybe she doesn't technically count as one, but maybe they're planning on doing something else with her. I hope.
Also it seems the Japanese Kill la Kill website gets updated with character art
They've also got a seperate section for all of the past Club Leaders. What's interesting me the most though is that Maiko gets her own section instead of being with the other Club Leaders. I mean, yeah she was only the Head of Trap Development so maybe she doesn't technically count as one, but maybe they're planning on doing something else with her. I hope.
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