10 Second Anime - Kill la Kill - Episode 18

Kill la Kill - Episode 18

The true fight against Ragyo Kiryuin begins. Satsuki has done much to prepare her battle against her mother, but she is found lacking. Ragyo discovers who Ryuko really is.

So much was revealed in this episode, but the main revelation is what a monster Ragyo Kiryuin really is. Satsuki thought she had made the proper preparations to free the captured crowd, fight Ragyo and her minions with her Inner Council's new suits, and even neutralize the original Life Fiber back at the mansion, but she did not have enough information, and she did not prepare for Ragyo being in charge of Life Fibers for much longer than she has been plotting. Satsuki accounted for regular life fibers and freed the crowd, using Nudist Beach type weaponry.

We see the Mankanshoukus have their priorities straight. And Satsuki thought the coagulant she used to release Junketsu's transformation could be used against the Big Ball of Yarn, but she was wrong. She was also wrong that her army could handle Ragyo's assistant and tailor, because she didn't count on Revocs developing different kinds of original life fiber. Ragyo didn't need an army when she could just take her daughter's by binding their brains, and even co-opting Ryuko, who hadn't even transformed Senketsu yet. Ryuko breaks free of the Mind Stitching by cutting it with the red lock of hair on her forehead. Ragyo senses something familiar about how Ryuko did that, perhaps similar to how she feels with Life Fibers integrated fully inside her body.

Satsuki had explained to her mother that it was her father who told her what Revocs was doing, and how she had been born only as a test subject to integrate Life Fibers, which was a failure. They tried again with her newborn sister, thinking that the earlier the child integrates the Life Fiber, the less chance of rejection, but the child died, and was thrown away. Soichiro Kiryuin explained all this to a 5 year old Satsuki, which is when she began her own plans to oppose her mother. We still don't know what happened to Soichiro, but that might be the next big reveal. The reveal at the end of this episode was big enough, though.

With Ryuko free from the Mind Stitching, Harime challenges her to take back her father's other scissor half, while Satsuki takes up the one-on-one fight with her mother. This time, there is no berserker mode for Ryuko, and her synchronization with Senketsu is complete. It is at this time that Ragyo remarks to herself that life is amusing. She knows who Ryuko is.

Harime's face is looking more worried here than when she fought Dr. Matoi. The fight shifts focus to Satsuki and Ragyo, and Satsuki thinks she's won when she beheads her mother. But again, she slightly miscalculated. One single thread is still attached to Ragyo's head, and it's enough for her to regenerate completely. This set of circumstances was very similar to when Ryuko was in berserker mode when she first met Harime. With her body unnaturally contorted and stretched, there was no way a normal person could survive that. Unless, unless... there is a different explanation.

Satsuki loses, and Ragyo shows her where the actual off-switch for Junketsu is located.

Calling Junketsu her wedding dress was meant to be more than a token of her maturity at a later date. It was literally meant that she could not take it off in its transformed state unless she is sexually aroused. Her special baths with her mother showed how those sexual sensations helped ease her fatigue and pain from wearing Junketsu. Perhaps there is a clue here to the eventual defeat of the original life fibers, which Nudist Beach had an inkling of, but not a full understanding.

While Ryuko had achieved Life Fiber Synchronization with Senketsu, Ragyo puts on Junketsu herself, and immediately activates Life Fiber Override. Override versus Synchronization, demonstrating the opposition Dr. Matoi had created with Senketsu. Ragyo suddenly stabs Ryuko through the chest, and pulls out her heart, which is entirely wrapped in life fibers, keeping her alive, just as they did for Ragyo when she was crucified. Ragyo knows that Ryuko is the baby daughter she had discarded many years ago!

Things look out of control for the good guys. The life fibers and the Covers have escaped the vault and look poised to begin the final harvest, Satsuki has been defeated and her sword broken, and Ragyo literally holds Ryuko's life in her hand. The time for champions is over. Next episode, humanity itself takes up the struggle.