KILL la KILL- 10 (How to use classical music as an "assault" weapon!)

キルラキル ep. 10
KILL la KILL episode 10 SPOILER Review

Synopsis:

Just before the next battle starts, Houka recalls the event five years earlier where he hacked into a maximum security company owned by the Kiryuuin family. Although he initially succeeded in crashing the company's stock, he's immediately caught and given a chance by Satsuki to be something more. In the present, Houka transforms his 3-star Goku uniform to continue gathering information on Ryuuko as Ira sits with Mako in the stands for no-star students. Houka is surprised by Ryuuko's not following predicted patterns as she gets in the first hit. However, he uses his uniforms cloaking ability to become invisible, where he attacks Ryuuko at will. Ryuuko and Senketsu come up with a way to find Houka, but before she can land the finishing blow, Houka gives up to save his precious data before joining Ira and Mako in the stands.

Nonon is up next, but she's not happy with Uzu assuming she'll lose. As drum major, she leads her marching band down before transforming in her 3-star Goku uniform to a flying stereo system with massive speakers. She uses "Light Cavalry Overture" as her opening attack music on Ryuuko, cranking it up for the charge portion of the song. Ryuuko is frustrated by Nonon flying outside the battle ring as Nonon thinks back to when she and "Satsuki-chan" were in kindergarten. Senketsu anchors himself to the platform's surface as Ryuuko snares Nonon. However, Nonon starts shattering the ring's surface with the "William Tell Overture", causing Senketsu to lose grip. However, at Ryuuko's request, he develops the ability to fly. This irritates Nonon and causes concern to Mikisugi-sensei, who contacts Tsumugu to say Senketsu is evolving too fast.

Thoughts/Review:

I am thinking back through my years of anime watching in order to discover if I can recall a moment where classical musical tunes were used as offensive weapons. At the moment, I cannot recall any such incident. More on that in a bit.

For Ryuuko's second fight, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Houka only lasting half an episode. Again, Trigger does things to try to avoid being too cliched as they parody the Yu Yu Hakusho type battle tournament setting (and whatever countless other titles have done it, including Negima!).  As such, it was refreshingly surprising to see Houka give up, but with an actual, legitimate reason to give up -- protecting the data he'd gathered on Senketsu.

Houka's flashback to meeting Satsuki didn't have the weight that Ira's or Uzu's had, but it does show how Satsuki constantly set out to find the best of the best for when she founded Honnouji Gakuen.

Nonon starts the third fight with what I considered an awesome entrance since I was in a marching band back in high school. ^_^  Indeed, one year, we played the "Charge of the Light Cavalry" portion of "Light Calvary Overture" as our opening march, so hearing that really brought a smile to my face. I've also played the "William Tell Overture" in symphonic band, so that brought an added element of awesomeness to Nonon's entire fighting style.

Nonon's flashback to having gone to school with Satsuki since kindergarten (explaining why she's the only one to address Satsuki as "Satsuki-chan" rather than "Satsuki-sama") was OK, but it didn't explain what made Nonon an elite. Nonon was shown back then to be an ojousama type in how she got others to do her bidding for in order to please her best friend. I understand Nonon wanting to support Satsuki all the way, but I would have liked to have seen that element that makes Nonon so powerful.

Satsuki's apparently displeasure at seeing how Ryuuko had worked with Senketsu to evolve the uniform so radically in such a short time does make me wonder if she's just jealous of Ryuuko, because Satsuki hasn't gotten to those kind of levels with Junketsu.  With Ryuuko having dispatched two of Elites (three if you consider that she's already defeated Uzu once, but lost once as well), I also wonder if Satsuki is becoming worried.

I still say that Satsuki and Ryuuko will end up being allies. I do think that Satsuki will acknowledge the characteristics in Ryuuko that she respects.

I can't help but wonder if  Mikisugi-sensei &Tsumugu will end up being the ultimate villains of this series. Right now, it is easy to argue that they are worried about Senketsu going out of control, but thus far, we've seen no reason to think it would run amok. That may come later, but I think it would be interesting if Satsuki and Ryuuko end up fighting Mikisugi-sensei's Nudist Beach group.

Finally, I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of Ira deciding to sit with Mako and her reaction to that, followed by Houka's decision to join them and her reaction to that. While those scenes were done primarily for comedic purposes, it also adds to my thinking that this is a type of foreshadowing, implying that Satsuki and her Elite Four will join forces with Ryuuko and Mako.

I've said this before, but KILL la KILL continues to be a pleasantly surprising series for me. I really look forward to watching it each week.

UQ Holder Chapter 15 SPOILER Images (Update #1)

Here is the first SPOILER image from the upcoming UQ Holder chapter 15, courtesy of the VERY gracious Southrop.

**********UQ HOLDER CHAPTER 15 SPOILERS**********

The sweetness begins.

.
Bwah!ha!ha!ha! Karin laying the smack-down on Touta. As far as I'm concerned, she can keep bringing it on. ^_^

That's it for the moment. If there are more, I'll make an update. ^_^

Update #1: More UQ Holder 15 goodness. ^_^

Southrop has some interesting notes for chapter 15, which are of course spoilerific as well. ^_^  Thanks again to Southrop for the shares. ^_^

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 14 Review (Give a girl a mallet, a sword, and a hard heeled shoe to kick butt with.)

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 14 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

Touta is impressed with how Karin dispatched Wrecking Ball, then frets about her cutting him in half. She assures Touta the man isn't dead, and sure enough, Wrecking Ball reveals he's a cyborg, firing a laser beam from his eye. Karin is unharmed, so Wrecking Ball assumes she's using magic apps, specifically a barrier app. He uses a barrier nullifying kick app as his bottom and top halves attack. Wrecking Ball then uses a weapon storage app, where he has nine High Frequency Green Dragon Crescent Blades summoned from, which launch at her.

Karin appears to be pierced and Wrecking Ball is starting to gloat, but he's shocked when he discovers that all he did was destroy Karin's clothing. Showing no shame, Karin moves in slowly, then quickly takes out the cyborg's bottom half before dropping a foot down on the back of his head, taking out Wrecking Ball's top half.

Touta is impressed again as Kuroumaru gives Karin her jacket to cover up with. The kids begin to emerge from the church, as do people from the slums, all clapping for the trio. Karin is given a hat, which she gives to an impressed little girl. Karin explains to Touta and Kuroumaru that her immortality is different from theirs, in that she she cannot be harmed, much less die. The little girl, seeing Karin's face, tells her to not be sad since everyone is happy. Karin smiles, which Touta notices and remarks on, leading to his punishment.

In the city, a werewolf (?) and a man are getting a briefing on the situation from a worried person on a monitor. The two aren't worried about immortals defending the church since the two of them hunt immortals.

Thoughts/Review:

Another good chapter with Karin getting the spotlight. Oh, no spotlight on Touta. Well, no wonder it was good. ^_~

At this point, Karin is like Setsuna at the start of the Kyoto arc. She's pretty much all business.  She doesn't waste time, nor does she worry if she gets stripped.  If she has an opponent that needs to be dispatched, then nothing is going to stop her from dispatching said opponent.

Karin's immortality is rather interesting. Assuming she went through the UQ Holder initiation rites, then her time underground wouldn't have been much of a problem, other than killing the monsters. After all, there's apparently no way any of them can harm her.

That does beg the question though -- if Karin's immortality is that she can't be harmed nor killed, then why did she bother with a barrier?

Other unanswered questions -- why would Eva get angry if Karin literally shredded Wrecking Ball? Why would an apparent government organization want to move in on the slums (PMSC)?

Wrecking Ball's sword summoning looked a lot like something Archer would do from Fate/Zero as well as Fate/stay night.  Just saying. ^_~

Thinking about Karin again, she's got a sword, and for some reason, what I jokingly refer to as a croquet mallet. I keep wondering about the mallet.  When I saw all of the swords from Wrecking Ball, I couldn't help but have a flash thought about the pactio system from Negima! and how that would probably carry over into UQ Holder. With Karin being as attached to Eva as she is, I wonder if Eva has made a pactio with Karin.  That would be something interesting.

So far, this "slum arc" (for lack of a better name) is turning out to be pretty interesting, mainly because Karin is getting more face time while Touta takes a back seat.  I really hope Akamatsu-sensei can work on improving his character.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 432 (Pondering what might have been.)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 432 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ayumu invites Nagi to join the rest of the girls on the balcony to observe the fireworks, but she politely declines, citing being tired.

On the streets below, Hayate looks at Ruka's note and wonders whether he made the right decision or not in turning her down. Hayate becomes annoyed when he notices all the romantic couples around. Naturally, one really lovey-dovey couple wants him to snap a picture of them, which he does, capturing the two kissing.

Hayate returns home to find no one else there. Checking his phone, he sees the texts from Ayumu, stating where the group is watching the fireworks. Since Hayate missed it, he looks at Ruka's note, feels depressed, and starts to think about what might have been with Ruka again when Nagi shows up, wearing a mask, and calling herself Life Ender-chan. Nagi makes a failed attempt to cheer Hayate up, then she gives him a present -- a sketch of himself, signed by her.

Hayate remarks on this messy doodle, leading to a retort by her. She takes off her mask and says that it is the first thing she's signed, but while it is worthless at the moment, one day it will be very valuable in ten years. Her earnest attitude actually causes Hayate to feel better and he accepts her gift.

Hayate asks how the doujinshi sales went, to which Nagi says assuredly that she naturally sold out. After acknowledging the help she'd received, Hayate praises her for her hard work in such a short time. This causes Nagi to blush, after which she tells Hayate they need to go to the beach.

Thoughts/Review:

And so the doujinshi arc has now concluded. In some ways I'm glad, but in others I'm kinda sad. I'm glad because there are lots of other plot threads that need to be picked back up, so it will be nice to advance those stories. It is sad because I did like Ruka.

I know some didn't like this, but I liked Hayate's pondering about whether he should have gone ahead and hooked up with Ruka or not because it is realistic. I can't imagine that people haven't made a major decision in their lives, then after the decision wonder, "Well what might have been if I'd made a different choice?"  Let's look at Hayate's position for a moment.

From Hayate's perspective, at the moment, Hayate's in love with Athena, based on his remarks to Hina during the Golden Week trip to Greece. However, Athena is currently an unknown quantity. At the moment, Athena has lost some of her memories and she's in child form. But, assuming that she returns to her young adult form (which I think it is safe to say will happen), there's no guarantee that she would get into a relationship with Hayate, even if he confessed his feelings to her.  There could be any number of reasons for her declining to be with Hayate romantically.  Therefore, Hayate's love for Athena may be unrequited.

With Ruka, there is no uncertainty about where Hayate stands with her. He knows Ruka loves him deeply.  Ruka is a hot, popular idol.  She's witty and intelligent to boot.  So, if Hayate had decided to be with her, even if she wasn't number one in his heart, he'd at least have a beautiful someone he cared about and who truly cared for him. However, if he did go this route, it wouldn't be fair to Ruka because Athena would always be number one in his heart. I think Hayate was very much aware of this.

As such, when Hayate sees the romantic couples, he gets annoyed because he has no one. Naturally, he begins thinking, "well, maybe I should have just taken Ruka up on her offer, then I could be among these happy couples." That's his mindset when he returns to Yukari-chan House, and thinking he's alone again, starts pondering about what might have been as he thinks about Ruka. It was all very realistic to me, and made for a good way to end the Ruka element of the arc.

(As I said before, I think Ruka will get the occasional cameo or name drop, but I don't think she and Hayate will ever speak again, at least not for the foreseeable future.)

Nagi being at the house didn't surprise me since she'd made her excuse of being tired earlier.  For Nagi, she'd not only won the doujinshi contest and accomplished the near impossible, proving she could do things she set her mind to, but she had allowed for Ruka and Hayate to have time together. For her, there's no doubt that this was pretty difficult considering how the initial drive for her to defeat Ruka was to prevent Hayate from going off with her. However, it is moments like this that make me think that when the manga is ending, Nagi would be able, even though it would pain her to do so, to allow Hayate to go with the girl of his choice if it isn't her.

Nagi has grown, and that growth shows in this chapter. Nagi is still Nagi, so she gets a little agitated at her portrait of Hayate being called a scribble, but then she concedes that in fact it is a worthless scribble, but she plans to make it worth something in ten years. I like seeing that her drive to continue moving forward is still there. 

Speaking of Nagi, I did like the little nod to Sailor Moon that she did. I couldn't get into that manga myself, but I liked the nod just the same.

So yeah, I do like this chapter a lot for the closure it brings to the arc, and the realistic reflections on Hayate's decision to not be with Ruka.

As to what's coming up, I suspect gag chapters, but Hata-sensei can often be full of surprises. I'd love it if he actually pressed forward with things. I think last year around this time, he teased the main plot again, so he might go that route this year as well.

Fairy Tail Manga Volume 30 Review

フェアリーテイル
Fairy Tail Volume 30 Review

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--> Purchase from Yes Asia! (Japanese tankoubon) 

***SPOILERS***

Highlights for Fairy Tail volume 30 start with the aftermath of Grimoire Heart's attack on Tenrou Island. Master Markov has final words with Master Hades before sending him off. Zeref shows up on Grimoire Heart's airship, pronouncing punishment on the surviving members for causing Acnologia to arrive. Cana reveals to Gildarts that she's his daughter, leading to a moment between the two. Acnologia, the most powerful of dragons, attacks the island. Master Markov orders a retreat, ready to sacrifice himself to save his guild, but Fairy Tail rally to attack the dragon. The dragon is too powerful, so they band together to create a barrier, prayed for by the spirit of the first guild master, Mavis, as Acnologia attacks, destroying the entire island as Zeref watches.

Seven years later, Fairy Tail is a shadow of its former self, bullied by a new guild named Twilight Ogre. Macao, the current and fourth guild master, tries to deal with things peaceably, but has no success. A delegation from Blue Pegasus, led by Ichiya, tells Fairy Tail that Tenrou Island is still there. A sortie is dispatched, where the Fairy Tail members find Mavis standing on the sea. The island emerges, and the members of Fairy Tail who'd been on the island are found alive. They return home in time to put an end to Twilight Ogre's bullying. A group from Lamia Scale come by to pay their respects, whereupon Lyon falls for Juvia. Lucy learns her father has died while she and the others were sealed away, but she also learns that he sent presents every year, wrote letters, and even paid to have her apartment maintained.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Well, Mashima-sensei is know for his plot twists, but man, I didn't expect him to pull some stunt so that the main Fairy Tail members are effectively sealed away for seven years while life goes on everywhere else.  I have to say that it was pretty interesting, as are Mashima-sensei's remarks about how in the seven years, everyone has grown stronger while the core Fairy Tail members on Tenrou Island were sealed away. I get the impression that he's going to give a reason for Fairy Tail to have to claw their way back to primo status. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I love that Bisca and Alzack are married and have a daughter (Asuka). Since the are B-team members of Fairy Tail, they don't get a lot of face time. After the arc where Laxus tries to take over Fairy Tail, that was pretty much the last we saw of them. Mashima-sensei had said that they had feelings for each other, but never confessed, which meant that they'd be like other romantic pairings in Fairy Tail -- going nowhere fast. Now, they've confessed, gotten married, and multiplied. I hope that Mashima-sensei finds a way to explore their family life in the guild, but that would be hoping for too much in a shounen series.

The changes to the B-team members of Fairy Tail was actually pretty funny. Droy having packed on the pounds while Reedus lost all his weight made me laugh. I also laughed at Lyon falling for Juvia. I guess he doesn't have to worry about Sherry any more, even though she was with him when Lamia Scale paid their respects.

I did feel sorry for Wendy when she saw Reedus's artwork of her, depicting what he thought she'd look like as a young adult. It must have been hard for Mashima-sensei not to draw her as a big breasted woman, as he usually does for all his women. ^_^;;;

I liked that after being talked about for so long, we got to see Master Mavis, even if she was a spirit. There's just something about her that's just sweet. Too bad she's tied to Tenrou Island.

As to Zeref, I still have a hard time accepting that this guy claiming to be Zeref is in fact Zeref, but Mashima-sensei keeps pushing it pretty hard. He may well be the real deal and not the latest head fake on Mashima-sensei's part.

I'm glad that Cana got to tell Gildarts the truth of their relationship. That's one less plot thread left dangling. It does appear that Mashima-sensei might start doing a running gag about the over-doting father and the daughter who might regret getting what she wished for. ^_^

Finally, although Lucy never got to square things away with her dad personally, I'm glad to see that in the fine Mashima-sensei tradition of character redemption, Lucy's father did try to do the right thing, even if too little too late. That takes care of another little plot thread as Lucy starts moving on with her life.

On the Del Rey side of things, there's the usual hybrid honorific usage (more noticeable with Romero, but that has always been the case from the start of the English adaptation of the manga), he notes from Mashima-sensei, the fan art, the Lucy and Mira Q&A, a couple of translator notes, and an extended preview of the next volume.

With Zeref hanging around, and the dragon Acnologia's attack on Fairy Tail, I had no clue that Mashima-sensei would decide to just time skip seven years and force the core Fairy Tail members to deal with the changes losing seven years can bring. It was an interesting twist to be sure and I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes.

Fairy Tail Manga Volume 29 Review

フェアリーテイル
Fairy Tail Volume 29 Review

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--> Purchase from RIGHTSTUF!
--> Purchase from Yes Asia! (Japanese tankoubon) 

***SPOILERS***

Highlights of this volume continue the Tenryo arc, starting with Gray battling Ultear, where Ultear gets a revelation about her mother Ur. Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Erza, and Lucy battle Master Hades. Laxus returns to enter the fray, but ends up transferring his remaining power to Natsu to try to finish Master Hades off. Master Hades gets serious. Master Hades incapacitates the other Fairy Tail magically, though they still fight physically. The cats destroy the source of Hades's magic, restoring power to Fairy Tail as Tenrou Tree is restored, allowing them to take out Hades.

Since I had four volumes of Fairy Tail stacked up on my desk, I figured I'd have to put aside my extreme distaste for the "awesomely awesome" hybrid adaptation and just read. Yeah, every time Capricorn calls Lucy "Lady Lucy" ('cause she's nobility...oh wait, she's not nobility, just a rich merchant's daughter), I do want to claw my eyeballs out since I know Capricorn addresses everyone with the "-sama" honorific. But I digress...

Story-wise, there's not that much special to write about. We have the usual Fairy Tail members at the end to face the boss villain and take him down, so that's pretty much by the numbers, including Master Hades "getting serious" to make things as bleak as possible for Fairy Tail before they rise again. It wasn't boring or anything, but just nothing special.

In the fashion that Mashima-sensei has come to follow, it appears Ultear gets her redemption moment after being defeated by Gray, landing in the water, and making a connection with her deceased mother, who had turned herself into ice to seal one of Zeref's monsters, only to have her ice melted and apparently sent to the sea. It was a way of giving Ultear some backstory and to potentially have her fighting alongside Fairy Tail in the future.

Speaking of redemption, Laxus actually did make a return. I had thought he'd show up, but then Gildarts, Freed, and Bickslow showed up, so I forgot about Laxus. No doubt, this was Mashima-sensei's plan all along. Unfortunately, Laxus makes an impressive appearance (with a weak excuse to do so, but that's part of his redemption path), doesn't do much, then hands the ball to Natsu, under the excuse of not being in the guild (that wasn't expressly stated, but that's the implication I took).

Speaking of Zeref earlier, assuming this dude is Zeref, Mashima-sensei is playing him oddly. He insta-killed Zancrow, so that's supposed to give this latest iteration of Zeref more street credit. Knowing Mashima, this will be yet another smeghead who was caught up in another nutty scheme to make him believe he's Zeref, only so that the real Zeref can be revived. We'll see though.

On the Kodansha Comics side, while I appreciate translator notes, even if limited ones, the page number citations for two of the three notes were incorrect. The last one was for page 194. I decided I didn't want to bother looking up the middle one.

As for other extras, they are very limited. We got the two notes from Mashima-sensei (always appreciated), and some fan art was scattered within the manga. A preview for the next volume was also there. Not sure if anything was cut out (I don't have the tankoubon volume) because normally, there's more to the extras.

OK, I'm going to make a push to catch up on these volumes, so I'll try to do the next volume tomorrow.

KILL la KILL- 09 (Time to defeat an unyeilding shield.)

キルラキル ep. 09
KILL la KILL SPOILER Review

Synopsis:

Satsuki reveals the order of Ryuuko's opponents, based on the number of fights they've won. Ima, with the fewest fights, since he only fights in defense, is first, followed by Houka, Nonon, and then a rematch with Uzu. Ryuuko is ready to start, but Ima tells her she has to wait until 1pm, which is hours from now. Ryuuko has lunch with Mako, during which Mikisugi-sensei shows up and temporarily incapacitates Mako. He advises Ryuuko not to go through with these fights, but since he won't give her the information she wants, her only choice is to fight to get to Satsuki.

When the battle starts, Ryuuko refuses to attack, knowing Ira simply absorbs them to transform. So, he attacks himself, transforms, then starts whipping her as discipline. Ryuuko's finishing move doesn't work when he transforms down because his seimeiseni threads are protected. Ira recalls how as a senior in high school, he opposed Satsuki, vowing to never kneel to her. Though she ultimately defeated him, his resolve ensured that he in fact never kneeled to her, earning her respect and her offer to have him be her shield. After hearing her plans, he agrees to wait for her.

Back in the present, Senketsu has a plan, which causes Ryuuko to be caught in Ira's Goku uniform. However, Senketsu sprouts blades, frees them, allowing Ryuuko to do her finishing move as his seimeiseni threads are exposed, and defeat Ira. The other three in the Elite Four are astonished by this. Ira is about to commit suicide for his shameful loss, but Satsuki stops him, telling him it is too early to kneel in defeat.  Satsuki offers Ryuuko a chance to rest, but Ryuuko rejects that, wanting to defeat the remaining three and get to Satsuki as soon as possible. As such, Houka descends to be her next opponent.

Thoughts/Review:

I like how the anime continues to work in backstory to flesh out the characters. As I mentioned in the previous episode, Ira does honorable things. Indeed, it would appear he is following the Bushido code of justice (as head of the school's discipline committee), courage (as witnessed in how he takes on opponents, no matter how powerful), mercy (in how he saved a boys life), politeness (in how he treated Ryuuko, who is an opponent of his Satsuki-sama), honesty (he tells it how it is in all situations), honor (shown repeatedly, right down to his foiled attempt at seppuku), loyalty (Satsuki-sama), and self-control (he doesn't battle people just because he can, only when there are no other options).

Seeing Satsuki's offer to allow Ryuuko to rest before her next fight, combined with the second flashback of Satsuki and Ira, makes me think again that Satsuki isn't the ultimate opponent here. I could be wrong, but Satsuki sees a world gone wrong. Based on the flashbacks we've seen thus far, the world seems a very jacked up place. So her notion of creating an army to accomplish her goal by using Honnouji Academy as a proving ground makes a lot of sense.

For Uzu and Ira, we see that Satsuki has not just sought out strong people, but people with true resolve, courage, a drive to become better than they already are, and ultimately, people who would be loyal to her. These traits could be used for good or evil, but at the moment, I'm leaning toward good, especially after seeing Ira's complete flashback sequence. After Uzu's defeat, she gave him a second chance because she saw him display these traits after he had his eyes sealed shut. For Ira, he showed those traits from the start of his fight with Ryuuko, and she's not going to allow him to kill himself and waste a valuable resource in whatever's to come.

Ultimately, I think that everything Satsuki is doing is a test for Ryuuko, to see if she's worthy to stand at Satsuki's side when the war begins. With a Kamui Robe, Ryuuko has a massive advantage, thus for her, the bar would have to be set very high.  So, how truly resolved is Ryuuko to get what she wants? How courageous is Ryuuko in the face of such opposition as the Elite Four? Does Ryuuko truly want to rise above and continue to be better than she was before? Would Ryuuko, upon learning the truth (and here's where I assume Satsuki had nothing to do with Ryuuko's father's death), be loyal and help Satsuki defeat whatever the true enemy is?  I guess we'll find out eventually.

As to Ryuuko's fight with Ira, she had an advantage in that she'd seen him fight and knew of two of his transformations. I liked the tactical thinking on Senketsu's part, playing into Ira's one mistake, which is all it takes sometimes to defeat an opponent.

Ryuuko's fight with Houka will be different in that his fighting style is completely unknown.  I look forward to seeing how she overcomes him, and Satsuki's reaction to that.

KILL la KILL, despite the ecchi elements, is proving to be a pleasant, interesting, and entertaining surprise. So far, I'm glad I decided to pick this one up.