Kill la Kill was one of 2013’s most popular anime–and for good reason. With the creators of Gurrenn Lagaan behind it, Kill la Kill did for magical girl anime what Gurrenn Lagaan did for mecha anime: took the inherent absurdities in the genre, mixed them up with some Japanese puns, and dialed everything up to 11. The result was nothing short of glorious.
New game Kill la Kill – IF takes the story of the anime, changes one little detail, and explores the new way that the story unfolds.
Image source: TVアニメ「キルラキル」公式 on Twitter
Both the anime and game follow schoolgirl Ryoko Matoi who is hunting for the person who killed her father. The trail leads her to a high school run by student council president Satsuki Kiryuin–the young woman that Ryoko has come to believe is guilty of the crime. To aid her in her revenge, Ryoko dons a sentient school uniform that turns her into a (scantily clad) magical girl. But Satsuki has a magical girl outfit all her own–and an entire student body with similar uniforms at her command. To learn the truth about her father, Ryoko will have to fight through them all.
The game itself begins in medias res at episode eight of the series. Following the student council election, Ryoko has only to defeat Satsuki’s champions, the Elite Four, to get her shot at beating the truth about her father’s murder out of Satsuki herself. The story continues more or less in tandem with the anime: Ryuko tears her way through, Gamagori, Inumuta, and Jakuzure.
It’s not until Ruko faces off against Sanageyama, her last opponent before Satsuki, that the game and anime timelines diverge.
Image source: TVアニメ「キルラキル」公式 on Twitter
In the anime (episode 11 for those interested), Ryuko and Sanageyama’s duel is interrupted before it can even begin by Nui, the enigmatic, eccentric, right-hand of Satsuki’s mother. Nui easily dispatches Sanageyama and then offhandedly reveals the truth: she was the one who killed Ryuko’s father, not Satsuki. This revelation causes Ryuko to go berserk–transforming her into an eldritch monster of wanton destruction, battling both Nui and Satsuki before Ryuko’s best friend is able to calm her down.
In the game, however, Ryuko’s duel with Sanageyama is not interrupted. The fight ends with Ryoko standing victorious, ready to finally take her shot at Satsuki. But it’s then that Nui finally appears–but she’s not alone. The last boss of the story, Satsuki’s mother, Ragyo, stands beside her.
With her mother watching, it is not Nui that fights Ryuko but Satsuki–forcing Ryuko to retreat when it becomes obvious she can’t win. However, because Nui is not involved in the fight, she doesn’t reveal that she killed Ryuko’s father nor does Ryuko become a monster. And at the same time, Ragyo learns of Ryoko’s existence nearly six episodes early. These are already some major changes with lasting implications–and things only change more drastically from there.
This whole game is basically the Butterfly Effect in action. It all stems from a single choice: Ragyo deciding to come with Nui to view the student council election. And even as certain events happen in tandem with the anime, the effects of this one minor choice continues to warp everything that is to come in creative ways.
**Major end game spoilers begin**
But that’s not the end of it. The back half of the game, Ryuko’s story, is entirely centered on how the game’s timeline came to be. To put it simply, this world is a delusion–a dream–made real. The perfect storm of Satsuki’s drive, her connection with Junketsu, and proximity to the Primordial Life Fiber reshaped the world (much as the world was briefly reshaped by Ragyo in the climax of the series).
Now as for why Satsuki’s dream world is so similar to the timeline of the anime–and is filled with events and revelations she couldn’t possibly have known of beforehand–that’s actually a cool little paradox.
This world is Satsuki’s delusion brought about by her drive to save humanity from her mother. As it is her dream, she can’t actually lose in the end. However, the Primordial Life Fiber, on the other hand, doesn’t want to be destroyed, so in the climax to the game, it reaches out to draw life fibers from parallel worlds–their pasts and futures–to make itself unkillable.
And while this sets up an “unstoppable force versus immovable object” situation, it also has the side effect of connecting Satsuki’s delusions to other realities. This is why her dream world is so close to reality–it’s built from a mixture of her desires and the parallel worlds connected to the Primordial Life Fiber.
**Major end game spoilers end**
All in all, the game really is a lot of fun and, in practice, is much more enjoyable than simply playing the anime’s story in game form. So if you ever wanted to see a different way Kill la Kill could have unfolded, Kill la Kill – IF delivers that with all the great voice acting and over-the-top action you’ve come to expect.
…And don’t feel ashamed for dropping the difficulty to “No Stars” if you’re playing just for the plot. It can get a bit rough even on the normal difficulty.
Kill la Kill – IF is available on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam).
Top image: © ARC SYSTEM WORKS / ©TRIGGER,Kazuki Nakashima/Kill la Kill Partnership.
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