Kill la Kill Volume Three marks the half-way point of this dramatic action comedy about Ryuko, a young adult who is after her father's killer and it aided by a crew that includes her best friend named Mako, a magical talking sailor uniform called a Kamui, and one giant scissor blade (technically that's a weapon).  In this volume we get to see Ryuko take on the rest of the Elite Four in the finals of the Naturals Election, a free-for-all battle royal tournament that has all of the students fighting to be top dog.  The battles are going to get even more difficult and intense for Ryuko although she seems very confident that she can win this thing and take out Satsuki (the student council leader) and get the dirt on who killed her daddy.  That is not all as there is someone big on their way to mess with Ryuko and this something big is actually a petite girl with blond hair, a pink gothic-lolita skirt, an eye-patch, and something that is so huge to where I'm not even going to dare to say what it is in this review.  One thing I will say is that Ryuko's questions will finally be answered in this instalment of Kill la Kill.  Will Ryuko regret asking her questions? (Click "Read More" to read the full review).


The story in this volume is very exciting and intense as this is the point where we get a lot of questions answered and that will change how you think of the show.  The story progression was very good as all of the build up paid off and you will be begging to see what happens with the show with each episode.  This volume is also the roughest when it comes to story as this is the point where one story-arc ends and another begins and the transition between arcs is the reason for the roughness.  The second half of the show kicks in very suddenly and you might not be ready for what will happen in the show.  This feeling of confusion will not last for very long, you will know what to feel about the start of the second arc pretty quickly.  The best way to avoid this feeling of confusion is by taking a little breather when first story arc is done (not hard to figure out when the story-arc ends).

The drama in this show is very intense and is the most serious that this show has been up to this point.  The drama in this volume is also one of the reasons why this show is very addictive to watch as it works well with the story.  The other reasons why this is an addictive and great watch is also because of the action and the characters.  The action is very crazy and over the top but it is also very well done as the battles were very imaginative and exciting to where it is some of the most unique action that I have seen.  The action makes me feel like that I am rediscovering anime all over again and thus it will make you feel nostalgic about the old anime that you grew up on.  The action in this show does also have a comedy element mixed into it.  Do not worry about comedic elements being in every battle as the comedy wasn't thrown into the action for no reason and this volume does have a good deal of battles that are all serious.


Characters in this show were very interesting, very likable, and very charming to where you'll fall in love with them instantly and that's even including the villains.  The heroes were actually heroes that you want to support due to them not feeling generic and having a cause that you can agree with.  The villains in this show can be a bit goofy but they are also very serious and threatening at the same time to where you'll doubt that Ryuko can put a stop to them.  This volume does introduce another villain and this new baddie is very menacing and even downright terrifying and this does help to continue make the show interesting.  The new villain actually makes this show even more interesting than what the show already is as it adds another layer of depth to the show.

We are past the half way point of this show and I am very surprised to see that there are still no bad episodes to be found in this show.  There was an episode that was weaker than the rest but it was still a decent episode overall.  This is one of the ultra rare anime that has a consistent string of having good episodes and that's saying a lot as it is an anime cliché to have some very piss poor episodes during the middle of the show.  Heck, even Cowboy Bebop (1998) had a below-average episode here and there and that show is legendary good.  I sure hope a lot of anime (mainly the shorter series as it's understandable to have a cruddy episode if you have a 50+ episode show) follow this example of not taking the lazy route when it comes to putting effort in a show.


Artwork in this volume looks really good but the quality in the art for this bunch of episodes have dropped a little but it isn't anything that will make you angry by any sense of the matter.  Character design is pretty brilliant and quite imaginative and very charming to where the designs are incredibly memorable.  This show does also show a lot of skin and if you are sensitive to that, you won't like some of the shots in this show.  Backgrounds in this volume are very crazy looking but are also very good looking and they become even more so with all of the chaos that goes on.  The backgrounds and locations also help add-on to the story as they really mix in well with everything that goes on in the show and really helps adds atmosphere to all of the scenes.  Animation in this volume is pretty good in some battle scenes but other than that, it was alright during the rest of the scenes but there wasn't anything that wowed me overall.

The Japanese dub in this show is really good as all the voices match up with the characters really well, the sound of the characters are also very memorable and the acting is also very good.  A bunch of characters were introduced in this volume and I was very surprised to hear that none of them had an awkward sound to where the actor isn't sure how to do the characters in the most comfortable way yet and that was really nice to hear.  This show does also have an English dub if you don't want to watch the show with the Japanese dub and English subtitles on.  Soundtrack in this show is decent and sounds nice but it isn't anywhere near as memorable as the other elements of this show and is a little forgettable.


Special features in this set includes text-less versions of the opening and closing sequences and the web versions of the episode previews.  The opening and closing sequences looked good and have nice music but they are also the same versions found on volume one and so you aren't getting anything new here.  I also didn't really care for the episode previews as I didn't find them interesting at all.  The web version of the episode previews also had the English dub over them and I wasn't a fan of it as it sounded very bland.  No, I am not calling the entire English dub "bland" as I can't really can't speak for that as I have not seen any of the show (excluding the present special feature) with the English dub on.

Overall this was a very good volume and it progressed the story very well and breaks a lot of the anime clichés.  I am looking forward to seeing what else this show has to offer and am surprised to see that there is yet to be a dud episode.  Will all that change with the next volume?  I really don't want to think about that as I don't want my standards for this show to be too high to where I find the next volume to be disappointing.  This volume is worth adding to your collection.  Great stuff.

Title: Kill la Kill Volume 3
Animation/Production Studio: Trigger
Genre: Animation/Anime, Action, Comedy, Drama, Avant-garde, New Wave
Running Time: 125 minutes (5 Episodes)
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Rating: MA15+ (Strong animated violence)
Price: $34.95
Recommended: Yes