Kill La Kill - "The Elite Four" Discussion Thread

[immblueversion]

The purpose of this thread is to discuss the Elite Four who are immediately under Satsuki's command. The Elite Four consists of the following members in particular order:

Ira Gamagōri: He leads the disciplinary committee at the Academy.

Uzu Sanageyama: He is in charge of the athletic clubs at the Academy.

Hōka Inumuta: He leads the information and strategy committee at the Academy.

Jakuzure Nonon: She is in charge of the non-athletic clubs at the Academy.



Enjoy!

[Gravitas Free Zone]

We learn from Episode 6 that...

Sanageyama was the last of the Elite Four to join up with Satsuki. (Presumably the really big guy is Gamagoori with more delinquent hair.) There's plenty of time in the series for origin stories for the other three; I'd be curious to know how they got there and what order the rest of them joined in. (I see now the comment that Jakuzure joined first.) It's also interesting to show this non-chronologically.

[VirgilTheart]

We learn from Episode 6 that...

Sanageyama was the last of the Elite Four to join up with Satsuki. (Presumably the really big guy is Gamagoori with more delinquent hair.) There's plenty of time in the series for origin stories for the other three; I'd be curious to know how they got there and what order the rest of them joined in. (I see now the comment that Jakuzure joined first.) It's also interesting to show this non-chronologically.

The long haired dude is definitely Gamagoori. Looks and sounds like him. While it's not confirmed, I'd say that the flashback sequence indicates that Gamagoori joined second after Jakuzure and that Inumuta joined third, based on his skepticism of Satsuki being capable of defeating five hundred opponents on her own, while Gamagoori and Jakuzure were both completely confident in her ability to do so.

[SilverSyko]

I'd like to believe this most recent episode showed there's some actual, even if faint, bonds of friendship between our antagonist group, rather than just "Satsuki and her most loyal subordinates". It was shown they've all known each other for at least three years after all, which is even before Satsuki started crafting her fascist empire once entering high school.

It's very interesting seeing a group of antagonists with chemistry like this once in a while.~

[Seitsuki]

Am I the only one who finds Nonon weirdly super attractive? Snarky, sadistic, only DFC in a world of useless meat, shame there isn't more art of her..

[v1cious]

Am I the only one who finds Nonon weirdly super attractive? Snarky, sadistic, only DFC in a world of useless meat, shame there isn't more art of her..

I'm actually starting to think Nonon's a guy. We know basically nothing about her, even though she's been next to Satsuki the longest. That voice is also suspicious, why would a seiyuu use such a strange voice for a little girl, unless she's possibly hiding something? Keep in mind, this is the girl who played Haruka from FLCL, so she knows how to do a girl voice. She also seems way too ladylike for this particular world. Every woman in this show has been exposed to some kind of fanservice, even Mako's mother, yet for some reason we hardly ever see Nonon.

[Breimoon]

I'm actually starting to think Nonon's a guy. We know basically nothing about her, even though she's been next to Satsuki the longest. That voice is also suspicious, why would a seiyuu use such a strange voice for a little girl, unless she's possibly hiding something? Keep in mind, this is the girl who played Haruka from FLCL, so she knows how to do a girl voice. She also seems way too ladylike for this particular world. Every woman in this show has been exposed to some kind of fanservice, even Mako's mother, yet for some reason we hardly ever see Nonon.

i'm just waiting for her transformation to comment on that

[Seitsuki]

It's obviously because Nonon is a pure girl!

After a long agonising internal debate I have decided that a Satsuki/Ryuuko/Nonon threesome is now OTP er OTT.

[quigonkenny]

I've noticed that each of the elites has the kanji for an animal in their name.

Gamagoori - toad
Inumuta - dog
Jakuzure - snake
Sanageyama - monkey

Any idea what the significance of that might be? I was thinking Chinese Zodiac, but there is no toad/frog in that.

[serenade_beta]

Nonon's voice is like this... Kuroko EX. BBA voice, but strangely cute/addicting.
Weird. Not in a bad meaning.
ﾍﾟﾛﾍﾟﾛ(^ω^)

[ZabiLegacy]

I've noticed that each of the elites has the kanji for an animal in their name.

Gamagoori - toad
Inumuta - dog
Jakuzure - snake
Sanageyama - monkey

Any idea what the significance of that might be? I was thinking Chinese Zodiac, but there is no toad/frog in that.

Well they've referenced it explicitly within the series. Nonon refers to the other three as Toad, Monkey, and Dog. I think it has something to do with the inherent symbolism of those animals. Also if you look at their designs you can clearly see elements of each animal in their designs.

[immblueversion]

I'm actually starting to think Nonon's a guy. We know basically nothing about her, even though she's been next to Satsuki the longest. That voice is also suspicious, why would a seiyuu use such a strange voice for a little girl, unless she's possibly hiding something? Keep in mind, this is the girl who played Haruka from FLCL, so she knows how to do a girl voice. She also seems way too ladylike for this particular world. Every woman in this show has been exposed to some kind of fanservice, even Mako's mother, yet for some reason we hardly ever see Nonon.

We know nothing about Jakuzure? What about Inumuta? We're already at the part where Ryuko fights the Elite Four, and all we know about him is that he wears glasses, has a funny collar, and is fascinated by the weirdness going on around him. At least we know Jakuzure was friends with Satsuki long before the Elite Four were formed, to they point where she knows how Satsuki thinks. Sanageyama and Gamagoori even had full-blown flashbacks. I'll admit there's still a lot of stuff we don't know about Jakuzure, and that she may be worth keeping an eye on, but for me, she only comes second to this guy in terms of what's-the-deal-with-this-one-ness. And now, thanks to the speculation page, I'm starting to wonder if we'll be getting as much focus on Inumuta in the next episode as we first thought we would...

[Tyabann]

Jakuzure is going to kill him or something of that nature. Calling it now.
Then the reveal of his real identity will play a big part in the second cour, just watch.

[NinjaRealist]

Nonon's Transformation sequence is awesome.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/b6a47eb89c0478ea8c233b28e05290e3/tumblr_mxcu74ynV71s0ifhgo1_500.gif

[FlavoryFantasy]

My body was not ready for all the Nonon this episode. She is pure love.

I do hope that Inumuta does get more screen time in the second half of the show for more development though...

[orangejuicetang]

What I found interesting was the way Nonon's relationship with Satsuki actually is different from the other three elites (I think she even calls her Satsuki-chan at one point). Going further, from what we've seen so far, the other three elites were all originally hostile who converted to Satsuki after being 'defeated', more or less while Nonon seems to have been best friends from Satsuki from the very beginning, or at least since kindergarten.

And I think the moment when Nonon smacked the sand out of Satsuki's hand before grasping it is the first time Satsuki seemed genuinely surprised

[immblueversion]

What I found interesting was the way Nonon's relationship with Satsuki actually is different from the other three elites (I think she even calls her Satsuki-chan at one point). Going further, from what we've seen so far, the other three elites were all originally hostile who converted to Satsuki after being 'defeated', more or less while Nonon seems to have been best friends from Satsuki from the very beginning, or at least since kindergarten.

And I think the moment when Nonon smacked the sand out of Satsuki's hand before grasping it is the first time Satsuki seemed genuinely surprised

This also raises another point. Satsuki chose the other three elites for clear purposes: Sanageyama for his perception, Gamagoori for his resolution, and Inumuta for his intelligence. Each of these three have demonstrated these characteristics in their respective episodes and flashbacks, and had these characteristics tested. But what about Jakuzure? What does her moment in the spotlight show?

I doubt Satsuki picked her merely because they were friends, yet that seems to be the reason why Jakuzure agreed to join her in the first place. She appears to have put both Satsuki and herself on a pedestal--a "tower in her mind", if you will--and she's been trying to keep hers as tall as Satsuki's. Now, thanks to her ability to fly that none of the others have, she has the power to build that tower as high as she wants. It's been built so high, in fact, she's literally looking down on Satsuki.

I've brought this up at least once on the other forums, but I get this feeling that when Jakuzure loses, Satsuki won't be quite so forgiving as she was with the other three. When the other three lost, they clearly still showed loyalty and subservience to Satsuki, did everything in their power to remold themselves in her image, and were forgiven. That's what I think Jakuzure is being tested on: her subservience. It's her attachment to Satsuki, yet also her ability to sumbit to her. And from the looks of things, Satsuki's world doesn't have room for two towers.

[SilverSyko]

Some interesting info on the families and early years of the Elite Four which I believe is straight from Trigger themselves, only translated and compiled into this picture by a fan:

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/695/946/48b.png

[Gravitas Free Zone]

I hadn't given any thought at all to Ira Gamagoori's name, background, or blondness, so his origins do make some sense. The absent American serviceman father thing is a little overdone, perhaps, but at least reminds us that there's a rest of the world (which really hasn't figured into the show at all, besides Rei and Ragyo's discussion of current events in episode 17).

[SilverSyko]

I think the most plot-relevant thing to take from that though is the part in Nonon's list where it says Satsuki was a very well-behaved and happy girl in her early years of kindergarden, yet suddenly changed around the same time to become the cynical and stoic person she is now.

Which likely means there's something about Satsuki's past that's still lurking in the dark and may possibly also be a contributing factor to the show's current events. That's speculation for another thread though.

[Frontier]

Possibly the loss of her father? Her scenes with him are the only time, as a child at least, that she seems genuinely happy.

Inumuta framing his father to stop the police from investigating REVOCS, and creating a system so he doesn't have to deal with his mothers messages, is pretty darn cold :uhoh:.

Nonon's dad works for REVOCS? I guess that adds some new context to Ragyo's words to her, and some fire to the idea of her betraying Satsuki.

Sanageyama seems to have the most "normal" family life, and it's nice to hear that he still gives money to his old gang :).

Poor Gamgori. And poor Gamagoi's mom :(.

[dniv]

Some interesting info on the families and early years of the Elite Four which I believe is straight from Trigger themselves, only translated and compiled into this picture by a fan:

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/695/946/48b.png

That's some pretty nice background to see. Though I can't believe Inumata framed his dad... I wonder if that was out of love so that he wouldn't get in trouble if he kept on pursuing them or if he was just betraying him... I don't think he's bad, but I can't really tell.

And what a boss, hacking his identity in the city records. :heh:

[quigonkenny]

Though I can't believe Inumata framed his dad...
The only thing surprising about it to me was that his dad would be in a position where the younger Inumuta had a reason to frame him. Of all the Honnouji council members, Satsuki included, he's always struck me as the most overtly "evil". This kind of thing seems right up his alley.

[Akiyoshi]

Gamagoori is a big and tough Teddy Bear xD!

[Death Usagi]

Is it just me, or ever since Nonon in her Nudist Beach outfit was revealed, her popularity skyrocketed?

[Seitsuki]

Nonon has always been the most popular character! No one can resist smug nanisore!

[Death Usagi]

Nonon has always been the most popular character! No one can resist smug nanisore!

But it seems it increased more than that!

[SeijiSensei]

Nonon's voice actress, Shintani Mayumi, has a rather short list of appearances (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1454), most of them dating back to the time when she voiced Haruka in FLCL. It looks like Trigger made another brilliant casting decision by pulling her out of retirement. I love her snarky voice.

[Death Usagi]

Hope this pushes her for more roles in other anime series ^^;

[SeijiSensei]

I hope Yuzuki Ryoka gets more work after voicing Satsuki, too. Much as I like Koshimizu's performance, I think Yuzuki has stolen the show. She has some live-action "credits" on her resume that I suspect she'd prefer to see disappear now that she's forty. Of course, everything follows you through life in the Internet age.

[AntonKutovoi]

Among female members of the cast, the one, who steals all perfomance, IMO, is Romi Park (Ragyou). But Shintani and Yuzuki comes closely after. Among males, for me, the best voice actor is Tetsu Inada (Gamagori)

[angrylolita]

After reading through this thread and seeing more on the E4'S backgrounds, I love Gamagoori even more because he really is a big cute teddy bear. But have to agree with the Nonon love too, she's definitely my favorite and very attractive <3 Her voice actress is also very remarkable and it makes her character all the more appealing.

Also, I have a crush on Sanageyama. He's just a loyal cutie with an attractive voice that makes me melt.