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Sunday, 26 October 2014

Unboxing [UK]: Kill la Kill - Box #1: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray)

Arriving early for MCM Comic Con London (October) 2014, I managed to get a copy of the first part of Kill la Kill! Here's a look at what the Collector's Edition has to offer.


Kill la Kill is an original 24 episode TV series animated by Studio Trigger, a new studio with former members who worked at Gainax for classic shows such as Gurren Lagann and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. It's a strange blend of action, comedy and bits of magical girl and ecchi in-between, and most notably one of the best shows aired during the 2013 season.

This version I have for the show is the UK Collector's Edition set from Anime Limited. The first box set contains episodes one to nine, a chipboard box and Key Art Illustrations/Storyboards from the Japanese Blu-ray volumes. Contents for Box #2 and Box #3 are to be determined.

A lot of you are probably wondering why this set only provides the first nine episodes of the series, well there are quite a few reasons why this has happened - Aniplex managed to get the show out earlier than usual but in order to avoid reverse importation they had to increase the amount of parts the show must have. Therefore instead of waiting 18 months after first episode went on air for 2 part sets, they waited 9 months. Not to mention the Japanese Blu-ray volumes have yet to be completed! To make up for the amount of parts, each set came with special content exclusive to the Limited Edition. Over in the UK, Anime Limited acknowledged that releasing a show in 5 parts was unacceptable due to the nature of how the UK industry works, and they somehow managed to convince Aniplex to release the show in 3 parts - on the condition that it's collectible first and standard later.


For obvious reasons, the UK Blu-ray release of Kill la Kill is region locked to Region B players only. Subtitles are locked during playback baring in mind the on-screen text is hard-subbed (if you think about it, it's pretty useful since there's a lot of on-screen text in this show).

A few things to point with this set, there are some minor issues that should be addressed (and the people behind Anime Limited are currently sorting it out):
- The numbers labelled on each disc is incorrect: Disc 1 contains episodes 1-4 not 1-5, Disc 2 contains 5-9 not 6-9. This is because Aniplex laid out their discs like this and such Anime Limited have done the same, it's pretty easy to make a mistake on the labelling as most anime sets have either balanced numbers or Disc 1 having more than Disc 2.
- The Japanese audio for Episode 1 is quieter than the English audio, cause is unknown but it's likely to be the encoder during production. Should be fixed for standard edition and if possible disc replacements.
- The English audio is slightly out of sync on Episode 4, cause is unknown but should be fixed in for standard edition and if possible disc replacements.

Blu-ray Specs:
Languages: Japanese, English
Audio: LPCM 2.0 [Japanese], DTS MA 5.1 [English]
Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9
Region: B
Subtitles: English [On-Screen/Lyrics]
Subtitles Locked: Yes
Discs: 2

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):
Honnouji Academy - where the school is ruled by students clad in special outfits called Goku Uniforms. Deriding the student body as "pigs in human clothing", Student Council President Satsuki Kiryuin, along with her loyal underlings, the Elite Four, has the academy under their absolute control.

One day, a vagrant schoolgirl named Ryuko Matoi appears and tries to get Satsuki, who recognizes her Scissor Blade, to talk. Was their encounter a mere coincidence or fate? The clash between the two will soon consume the whole academy!

Extra Content:
Chipboard Collector's Artbox
Clean Opening & Closing Songs
Web Previews
188 page book of Storyboard and Key Art Illustrations - straight from the Japanese volumes


Kill la Kill Box Set #1 will be available as Blu-ray and DVD Collector's Editions starting November 4th 2014 for the UK. USA and Australia's releases will vary across their five part sets from Aniplex USA and Madman respectively.

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