Kyousogiga / Capital Craze- Families are Cycles Without End

Kyousougiga is a very interesting show; it’s interesting to watch, and to discuss. Not only that, but I consider it to be excellent, enough that I’ve given it the title of “Best Anime of 2013“. Kyousougiga is a family drama, at its heart, but it does very interesting things with the structure of the show, and it also ties them to the theme of the show, to its heart, which is what I will discuss in this write-up (the structure of which is also giving me a hard time, as every single thing relies on the others).

(This is a Things I Like post, it’s not a review, but more a discussion of the show and of ideas that have risen in my mind as I’ve watched it. There will be spoilers of many major plot-points. I will also include some spoilers for Uchouten Kazoku (The Eccentric Family), but mostly discussing what is the premise of that show.)

I think that before discussing the themes, it might be best to discuss the overall structure of the show.
Episode o0 – is a remake of the original ONA/OVA content, but better animated, for the most part. It explodes with energy and colour, and is hard to follow, or make a lot of sense of. If you don’t like it, still proceed to episode 1, where the tempo is quite different.
Episodes 1-2 – We get to view the family, and we get to see Koto’s background. The energy here is still more or less boundless, but here we get to see this is truly a story about family, here we get some structure, and some poignant moments.
Episodes 3-5, and half of episode 6 – These are the siblings’ stories. This is getting to meet the world through its principal characters, this is meeting the family.
Episodes 5-7 (Yes, there is overlap)- This to me is the true heart of the show, we get to see what this story is about, we’re bombarded with richly symbolic moments that show us the true undercurrent of the show, we get to have some resolution, and we have build-up for the final confrontations.
Episodes 8-10 – The end-game. The mask is dropped, and all the players in this little play are exposed for what and who they are. “Mythic” doesn’t begin to describe the scale of what happens. But in the end, all the themes are laid out explicitly, and the family-drama nature is shown to have been the crux of the world, of the story, all along.

Kill la Kill Episode 13 Notes – Clothes Are Original Sin – A Light to Blind, And Covers to Bind

(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but 0-2 episodes per week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)

So, the mask is partly off, Ryuko knows Satsuki plans on conquering everyone and had used her to advance her goals, Satsuki knows her mother knows of her schemes, and we know Satsuki is actually not as antagonistic and uninterested in Ryuko’s well-being as it might appear on the very superficial surface. Let us see where they take it from here – I mean, aside from on a school trip ;-)

Thoughts and Notes:

1) The School Goes to War:

1) Yup, this looks like a military encampment, or a national parade.

2) “There is no shame in your defeat, it is merely a rite of passage.” – Ah, this is almost Newspeak and Doublethink – you might be ousted for defeat, or it is only something to make you stronger, all according to the whims of the supreme ruler. As she says, now she is looking forward to their maturation as commanders, but just now we’ve covered that maturation requires defeat, but will you tolerate defeat, Satsuki? And as always, defeat is only worthwhile if you come out of it tempered, not if you are so brittle as to be shattered by it.

3) More military, the leader surveying the troops, with a proper march at the background.