KILL la KILL- 04 (She don't need no stinking powerful uniform to win.)

キルラキル ep. 04
KILL la KILL SPOILER Review

Synopsis:

It is 4AM when a loud siren goes off, waking Ryuuko and Mako. Ryuuko discovers Mako's mother washing Senketsu, which she promises will be delivered to Ryuuko later. For now, they have to leave because all no-star students have to get through a huge number of traps and pass 1000 checkpoints to get to school on time this day, thanks to the Honnouji Discipline Committee, led by Ira, who gleefully wonders if Ryuuko can make it without her Kamui. Adding to their burden is injured classmate Maiko, whom Ryuuko and Mako help. After repeated failed attempts of Mako's family to deliver Senketsu to her, Ryuuko and company make it most of the way up to school without Senketsu. They hijack an armored, 1-star bus, which manages to get them to school despite being under massive attack the whole time and ending up in pieces.

Guts comes running in with Senketsu riding him when Maiko again causes Ryuuko's panties to be exposed, causing Guts to end like Mako's father and brother. She now has Senketsu and reveals herself to actually be the Head of Trap Development for the Discipline Committee. Her goal is to dethrone Satsuki and become empress. She easily dons Senketsu, but Senketsu refuses to let her attack Ryuuko. Ryuuko gets Senketsu back, but discovers the old cartoon trick as they are actually not in the school courtyard, but on a giant, wheeled platform with sides painted to look like the school courtyard, which Maiko calls the Return to the Start trap and bails on them. Ryuuko dons Senketsu with five minutes left and hijacks an express, elevated cable car to the school. Ira expels Maiko for her failure as Ryuuko and Mako crash the cable car into their homeroom with seconds to spare before being tardy.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode was a lot more fun, giving tribute to other titles that have done the "traps at school" element like Urusei Yatsura did a few years ago.

The main thrust of the episode was to have Ryuuko do things without the use off Senketsu, which was conveniently being laundered.

Naturally, Mako's father, brother, and dog would fail to get Senketsu to Ryuuko because they'd see her panties, courtesy of Maiko.

As for Maiko, I had figured she was just shamming in order to use Ryuuko to keep from being expelled. I didn't expect her to be an opponent, so nice one on the part of Trigger there.

I loved how Mako fearlessly dresses down Ira for sleeping in the nude and not taking care of his health. That was pretty funny.

As to the ending, very cartoonish throughout, but in a good way. I pretty much knew what was going to happen from the moment they got into the elevated cable car, but it was still humorous to me just the same.

Otherwise, not much to speak of. The episode was funny and enjoyable, which is pretty much what I want from this series.