Boon or Bane? Kill la Kill is Part of the Reason Why the Anime Industry Can Never Get Rid of Piracy

SUMMARY

• Kill la Kill anime enjoys considerable popularity from fans all over the world.
• Despite the high demand, the final episode of the series isn't available on the internet to stream legally.
• This is quite common as many popular series are scattered among different platforms, highlighting one key cause behind piracy.

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With growing popularity of anime, most streaming platforms have updated their catalogue with the availability of the latest anime titles. A single show can be found on different websites, which at first seems like a good thing but isn’t really. Especially when you consider that sometimes a show could be scattered across platforms. Kill la Kill was first released in 2013, and to this day, the anime enjoys a dedicated fanbase and substantial popularity across the world.

Ryuko’s first meeting with Satsuki | Credits: Studio Trigger

Despite the demand, it’s nearly impossible to watch the entirety of the show legally. This problem isn’t unique to Kill la Kill but it highlights a key reason behind the persistence of piracy. 

The Charm of Kill la Kill and Its Unavailability Online

Satsuki Kiryuin | Credits: Studio Trigger

Studio Trigger’s first original anime, Kill la Kill is a fun mix of action and amusing bits. A classic shonen with a female character as the protagonist. While that alone is enough to pique the interest of many fans, the anime has a lot to offer. The writing is clever, and the fights are adrenaline-inducing. There’s a good amount of fan service as well, but it contributes to the storyline, which makes it less questionable but problematic nonetheless. With its flaws, Kill la Kill is still a must-watch for shonen fans who just want to have a great time.

The anime is listed with twenty-four episodes and an OVA episode, which is also considered the twenty-fifth episode of the series. The story of the anime wraps up by episode 24, but the OVA serves as the proper epilogue. Kill la Kill is available on Crunchyroll and other platforms, but only up to episode 24. There’s no way to watch the episode legally online, besides the Blu-ray. 

The Vicious Cycle of Piracy 

Ryuko | Credits: Studio Trigger

Kill la Kill shows that even after investing in streaming platforms, fans are unable to watch their favorite shows. For fans, the unavailability of the final episode is off-putting. The episode is impossible to find online, so much so, that some fans aren’t even aware of its existence.

Not a single streaming site got that episode? Damn. 😭

You mean to tell me I never actually finished Kill la Kill in 6 years since my first watch? 💀

i didn’t even know about this, i also wanna bring up just all the stuff aniplex has that is not on any streaming services. (madoka movie, bunny girl senpai movie, saekano movie. there’s prolly more out there and these are crucial parts to the shows they from)

There is also no legal way to finish bakemonogatori all the way through

There's a 25th episode? No shot I just missed that all this time. Definitely gonna yo ho ho that shit

The OVA episode of Kill la Kill never aired officially, which might be the reason behind its unavailability. However, this problem is not limited to Kill la Kill. Many popular anime are scattered across different streaming platforms. As fans mentioned, that the Bakemonogatari series is impossible to find at one single place, even some episodes of One Piece are also missing. For instance, different parts of the Gundam series are available on a variety of platforms. There’s no way to watch the entire series with a single subscription.

There are geographical limitations as well, since many streaming platforms limit the availability of certain titles to specific regions. So the only way to stream anime legally is to subscribe to all the different streaming platforms. This is also the right and the ethical way to do it. And this is not to condone piracy but this pattern of inaccessibility contributes to the vicious cycle. With so many restraints, piracy does seem like the easy, and sometimes the only way out.

Kill la Kill is available to stream on Crunchyroll. 

Written by Laveena Joshi

Articles Published: 62

Laveena holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism with a keen interest in entertainment journalism. Known to defend Naruto with her life, her love for anime has turned into great appreciation for the Japanese Culture. Besides considering herself a veteran weeb, she's also a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur. Better if the perfect brew is paired with a random video essay from YouTube. Blending her love for anime with the know-hows of content writing, she is now an anime content writer at FandomWire.