Things About: Ryuko Matoi
✄ For a newspaper ad, Kill la Kill scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima wrote a short introduction for Ryuko from Ryuko’s perspective. In the introduction, Ryuko reveals that she’s been alone for as long as she can remember and “only [she] could protect [herself].” She then talks about Senketsu, noting that it’s strange that she’s wearing him (perhaps especially because she’s been alone so long and has never particularly trusted anyone else?), but finishes by saying that how Senketsu makes her look doesn’t matter so long as she comes out a winner: “That’s the spirit of Ryuko Matoi.”
✄ Ryuko is very much depicted as a Japanese delinquent (and she describes herself accordingly in episode 8). Her initial outfit and Senketsu are clearly modeled after sukeban, “girl boss,” a term used to describe the culture of the rebellious schoolgirl gangs that began appearing in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. These all-girl groups would modify their school uniforms, wearing Converse sneakers, cutting their blouses short, and so on. Interestingly, even prior to Kill la Kill, when Ryuko more resembles a “typical” high school girl, she still wears different-colored socks than the other girls, much like sukeban would.
✄ Ryuko’s appearance also takes some cues from Sukeban Deka, a series from which Kill la Kill draws a ton of inspiration from (perhaps most obviously, the first ending sequence of the series is a straight-up homage to a Sukeban Deka ending sequence). Particularly, take note of the red glove.
✄ Ryuko’s initial jacket, too, is associated with rebellion and delinquency. The jacket is known as a sukajan, which was initially a specially-embroidered “souvenir jacket” that American soldiers brought home from Japan after World War II. However, in the 1960s, the sukajan became a symbol of defiance, representing a rebellion against the growing popularity of the American “preppy” styles in Japan. Sukajan were then connected with gangs and criminals.
✄ Even Ryuko’s speech is indicative of her delinquency and rebellious attitude. Ryuko (I believe) uses ヤンキー語文法 (yankii (yankee) speech), a crude, disrespectful manner of speaking (which the English dub tries to convey with Ryuko’s considerable potty mouth, her tendency to cut the “g’s” off her verbs, her usage of words like “ain’t,” etc.) Here is an excellent discussion of yankii speech (and its similarities/differences to yakuza speech), which also references this blog post here that delves further into yankii speech.
✄ However, Ryuko is also depicted rather sweetly even at the start. In the first episode, she steals a delivery bike to make an escape, which is fitting of a delinquent. Later in the episode, though, she returns the bike back to where she’d taken it with a note reading, “My deepest apologies for borrowing without permission.”
✄ The “JK2″ sticker on Ryuko’s guitar case is meant to say that she’s in her second year of high school. As Japanese high schools begin at the tenth grade, Ryuko is then an eleventh grader (an American junior), and she still has one year of high school left. As revealed in the OVA, Ryuko (and Mako) will attend Rinne-Dou High School in Kanagawa for that last year. (Interestingly, Gamagoori attended Rinne-Dou Junior High before transferring to Honnouji Academy.)
✄ The other sticker on Ryuko’s guitar case is of Kuri-chan, the main character of a classic, 4-panel manga series of the same name. Kuri-chan is apparently Ryuko’s favorite mascot character.
✄ At the Complete Script Book Event in 2014, it’s revealed that Ryuko doesn’t go to university after graduating from high school, getting a job immediately upon graduation instead. It’s said that “it’d suit [Ryuko] to be a babysitter or something like that” because she “probably can’t do jobs that force her to work with customers, but she is good with kids.”
✄ In episode 7, when Ryuko throws her bath bucket at the Mankanshokus, you can see that she uses Timotei shampoo (and rinse).
✄ In episode 6, Ryuko is shown brushing her teeth with a bunny toothbrush. The Kill la Kill artbook SUSHIO CLUB LOVE LOVE KLKL has a page dedicated to the “Toothbrushes of the Mankanshoku Family” that includes illustrations of Ryuko, Mako, and Mataro’s toothbrushes. (Ryuko’s is the bunny, Mataro’s is the eyepatch cat, and Mako’s is the bear (?))
✄ By episode 5, Ryuko is shown using a personalized bowl with her name on it while eating dinner at the Mankanshokus.
✄ At Anime Expo 2014′s Kill la Kill panel (6th post from the top), it’s revealed that from what Ryuko saw of her father’s killer, she deduced that the killer had to be a high school student of around 17. As such, Ryuko spent six months going from high school to high school before finally getting to Honnouji Academy.
✄ The series suggests that Ryuko becomes so convinced that Satsuki killed her father that she reworks her memories to change the Nui-like silhouette she remembers to a figure that more resembles Satsuki instead.
✄ As a series that loves wordplay and puns, Ryuko’s name is surely filled with meaning. Folks who know much more than me have written about this, so I’ll point to this post and this post that discuss some Ryuko name meanings. I will say, though, that one of the most prominent meanings I see behind Ryuko’s name is “abandoned child” (which no doubt refers to how Ragyo literally threw Ryuko away), since the 流 (ryuu) of Ryuko’s name is a kanji that represents ideas of “washing away” and “forfeiting.” (And the 子 (ko) represents “child.”) That said, though, it was explained at the Connichi Kill la Kill panel in 2014 that “Before my body is dry” is Ryuko’s theme because the kanji 流 (ryuu) represents “fluid” and 子 (ko) represents “child” and Ryuko “is a child who is easily influenced by others and thus loses her way quickly.”
✄ Though Ryuko is widely understood as a big lemon eater, she’s actually only depicted with lemons three times within the series and in official, non-concept art (as far as I’m aware): as a part of her introduction in episode 1, in the first opening sequence, and on CD art for the first volume.
✄ In contrast, Ryuko is shown eating/with croquettes many, many times throughout the series (episodes 2, 5, 7, 22), and the disc art for the final volume (9) even depicts her holding up a croquette.
✄ In fact, as revealed at the Complete Script Book Event in 2014, Ryuko’s favorite food is actually gameni, a dish of chicken and vegetables.
✄ That same event also revealed that Ryuko’s least favorite food is konnyaku, “because it reminds her of Uzu,” whose family owns a konnyaku business (and who is kind of obsessed with konnyaku himself). Funnily enough, though, Ryuko seems to enjoy eating konnyaku in the second Drama CD.
✄ In the first Drama CD, Ryuko claims that she’s excellent at cramming, but when it comes to cramming for a big group exam coming up at Honnouji Academy, she ends up sleeping for nearly a week in the library instead of studying. Listen to her dramatic apology to her teammates from about 3:47 - 4:00 here.
✄ The first Drama CD also features Ryuko “correctly” understanding that Satsuki’s eyebrows aren’t truly thick.
✄ In Track 3 of the second Drama CD, Ryuko and Senketsu make a daring escape through Guts’s butt.
✄ The third Drama CD features a bizarre plot where a sentient Life Fiber bug, Minomushi, creates a white T-shirt body for himself that Mako finds. Minomushi then drains Mako’s energy, transferring her consciousness into his T-shirt body (which Mako can then control). (I think.) (Yes, Kill la Kill is batshit.) The Mako/Minomushi T-shirt proceeds to attach itself to the Elite Four, resulting in a bunch more batshit scenarios where Mako speaks through the Elite’s voices. When Mako speaks through Uzu, Ryuko gets super creeped out when “Uzu” tries to treat her like Mako would, dodging “Uzu’s” hug and telling “Uzu” to not call her “Ryuko-chan.”
✄ In the fourth Drama CD, which takes place immediately after Ryuko learns of her Life Fibers and her relation to Ragyo, she falls unconscious desperately trying to convince herself that she’s human.
✄ The lyrics for many of Kill la Kill’s vocal pieces suggest that they are about Ryuko. Though nothing has been officially confirmed (as far as I am aware), it seems clear that “Before my body is dry” is a duet between Ryuko and Senketsu, “Till I Die” and “Suck your blood” are songs from Senketsu to Ryuko, “I want to know” is from Isshin to Ryuko, and “New World Symphony” and “Light your heart up” are from Mako to Ryuko. I’ve also heard conflicting information that “Ambiguous,” the show’s second opening, is either entirely from Satsuki to Ryuko or half Ryuko to Senketsu and half Satsuki to Ryuko, and I’d make a case that “Sirius,” the first opening song, is one from Ryuko to Senketsu. The first ending song, “Sorry, I Can’t be a Good Child,” I would also argue to be from Ryuko’s perspective.
✄ On the disc art for volume 8, Mako is shown pushing Ryuko and Satsuki together (perhaps because Ryuko is shy and needs a little help to be sisterly with Satsuki?)
✄ Akira Amemiya’s illustration of Ryuko and Senketsu having fun at the beach (which first appeared in the 49th issue of Nyantype magazine in late 2013) later became two official cards for the Kill la Kill card game and a figurine, which might maybe imply that “Senketsu’s Date with Ryuko” is a canon event.
✄ Similarly, there is a plethora of animator art featuring Ryuko that isn’t officially canon to her character but is still fun to consider. For instance, character designer/animator Sushio draws quite a bit of post-series Ryuko/Mako, animator Kengo Saito once created a comic in which Ryuko works part-time at a clothing store, and something that never fails to get my heart aching is Sushio’s depiction of little Ryuko celebrating a happy Christmas with her father.
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