I genuinely do not comprehend how Ryuko calmed down that quickly when her friends were being attacked.

I suppose that it shouldn’t be a surprise that a guy who used to be married to Ragyo is capable of doing some horrible things. Still though, this has to be the absolute worst thing possible for Mako to find out.

Well, if Gamagoori’s death is just the prelude to stuff starting to go down, then I can only imagine what the ensuing carnage is going to be like. Everyone stands a much lesser chance of making it out of this situation alive while Ryuko and Satsuki are at the Kiriyuin Manor. Honestly, Mako is really everyone’s best bet at this point, but I doubt that’s going to be enough to do anything to Ragyo.

Junketsu was a lot more eloquent than I expected to be. Still, it was a good fight between Ryuko and Satsuki!

Hooray, update! I will admit, I had to re-read the whole story because of how long it's been, but it was worth doing. This story has been lots of fun. Here's hoping the remaining chapters have fewer years between them.

Guess who’s back
Back again

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLELUJAH

Good to see you again~

Now I want to rewatch Kill La Kill...

Okay, it's 1 AM here, but I still have three exams to go through (6 down, though!), so if I don't do this now, it may take me far too long to do it. It took 5 months to get to this... and it was worth every second of that wait. I'm not sure how much I have to say, because so little happens in this, I feel. Why? Not because you didn't write well in this chapter - rather, because you wrote it too well. The way I see it, this chapter is a coda to everything that has happened before, telling us where all our characters are, mentally, emotionally, etc... and then throwing them straight into the final battle.

To start with, I love Satsuki's speech. You make her so inspirational, every time anew, and it's not just through her words - it's also through the way the characters react to her words. It feels so real, so compelling, that it's truly like I'm part of a crowd listening to this live speech, and being swept together in its power.
I love that you actually spoke about that, actually - about Satsuki's power of speech, how she always knows how and what to say to achieve the maximum effect. And I also love her explanation for it - that she is human, and so she is part of humanity, and humanity is part of her, and so if she finds the words to convince herself, she will have the words to convince the world.

I liked Senketsu's and Ryuko's conversation and Mako's thoughts, though I don't have much to say about it. Liked the reference to the canon show as well. As I wrote above, there's not much to say here - it feels like the natural conclusion to everything we've seen them go through - a few moments of peace before the battle, of calm before the storm, where they gather their resolve, remember why and what they're fighting, and prepare for battle.

As for Ryuko and Satsuki's conversation about Isshin/Soichiro... I'm reminded of a line from a fanfic I once read, where a character had discovered her dad had just died, and was being comforted by another character, and I'll quote it, if you don't mind:

“I gave up everything for him, just to please him. Just to make him proud. I would have spent the rest of my life hounding Jarod, and I would have been been glad to do it, if just once he'd said he was proud of me.”
“You're not the only person who's ever said that,” Willow told her.
“I just don't understand.”
“Buffy's dad stopped coming to visit after her junior year of high school, stopped taking her for visits. He moved to Spain her senior year and didn't even come back when her mom died,” Willow said, the tone of her voice not changing. “Xander's dad is – or was, we haven't had word since Sunnydale – an abusive alcoholic who acted like having a son was the worst thing that could have happened to him. Except Xander has saved my life and Buffy's more times than either of us can count and saved the world. Giles' father trained him to be a Watcher even though he knew Giles might have to kill the Slayer he trained if the Council required it.”
“And what about you?” Katherine asked.
Willow looked down, calm and sad. “My dad read to me every night before bed until he could recite 'Hop on Pop' from memory. He refused to let me watch The Charlie Brown Christmas Special in his house, and he never let me get a puppy. He paid all my college bills. When I brought Tara to visit, he treated her like a daughter, and then, he and my mom moved away. I write them every month. Mom sends me a card for my birthday and Chanukah,and she signs for Dad. I haven't actually talked to him in two years.”
“I don't understand,” Katherine repeated. Her eyes hadn't left those of the portrait in front of her.
“We think there are rules,” Willow said. “That Dads are species with certain markings or habitats or predictable behaviors, and they're not. They're just people, and they're about as random as everyone else. Some people luck out, I guess. Jarod's dad is supposed to be decent. Riley's talked about his dad, and he sounds nice. Giles has pretty much taken over Dad duties for the rest of us. You just weren't as lucky.”
“I don't understand what I'm supposed to do,” Katherine said, staring at the man that had been her father.
Willow took her hand. “Right now, you don't have to do anything. At some point, you'll wake up, and you'll know what you're supposed to do, and you'll do it.”

That was too long, perhaps, but I think it perfectly encapsulates Satsuki and Ryuko's attitude towards what their father has left them. We don't always know what to do with the legacies of our fathers, or how to treat them, especially in such an abnormal situation. I felt Isshin's words immediately following that conversation also summed it up perfectly - where Soichiro and Ragyo made them and destroyed them, Satsuki and Ryuko built themselves up again, in their own unique way. And now, they are together, they have case off their parents past, and they know what to do, because they have each other. Yes, their paths are deeply affected by what their parents did; but they are their own persons, each knowing who she is, what she is, and where she is going. And a large portion of that knowledge comes from having each other, and I love that, and so I loved how they hugged.

Loved seeing a bit more of Nui's absolutely twisted mentality. I'd say she's further gone, but she's really not - she's always been this way. All she's learned is that she can be hurt, that she can suffer, but not what that means beyond 'be stronger'. I feel that can be contrasted to Uzu, who ponders what he learned, who realizes how his suffering came from his weakness, and is trying to atone for it and succeed despite it all. Of course, he doesn't, but that isn't failure - it's life, where you can't always win.

So, Nui launched a devastating peremptory strike. Seeing Nonon in its aftermath was very interesting - I loved seeing how badly even the strongest could be affected, how much damage Nui caused - and how dangerous she really is. It really drove home that this is the final boos, the climax of it all, that they'e all in against the strongest opponents they'll ever face... and that they may very well be outmatched. Loved the dawning moment of horror (later mirrored with Ragyo) when Nonon realizes what Nui is connected to and what that means.

Not much more to say about Satsuki, Ryuko and Mako. I laughed at Nui's note to Mako, and Satsuki's explanation of it. The rest... well, it's a trap, and much like in Lord of the Rings, they have no choice but to spring it. I really enjoyed the rising tension, and how it was tied in and helped by Ryuko and Senketsu's feeling of unease, then discomfort, and then the realization, seeing how far Ragyo has gone, how much of her humanity she's lost.

That's really all I have to say. I'm sorry; I feel like there might be more to say, and that I should have more to say, after waiting so long to read and review. But it's 2 AM and my eyes are growing very heavy, with my typing becoming atrocious. I hope this review finds you in good health and doing well, I can't wait for your reply, and if I think of anything else I want to say I'll send it on. Thank you so much for such a great chapter and all your patience and concern, all the best, your friend, Meneldur.

Great, great, chapter! Bring us home, we're in the final stretch!

For what it’s worth, I thought this was a good chapter. You’ve taken us on such a ride, and while sometimes plans go right, it’s more likely that something unexpected will happen, forcing you to adapt. I am glad to see more of this story, because you write so well and it’s a compelling tale. I really love how you write Nonon, because I can see it lining up with her character so well. Often people alter characters to the point that they’re no longer recognizable as their original selves, but you’ve done really well to keep their cores intact so to speak. Thank you again for another great chapter!

Goddamnit Sanageyama will you ever manage to actually do something?

I am very worried for Jakuzure now. And Nui is such a passive aggressive brat.

Good work. Hope you manage to finish the story within the year.

OH FOR GOD SAKE! its just getting worst by ever chapter. sigh, im being honest here when i say that i have enjoy most of the story but up until ryuko started to act cocky thinking like she beat nui by herself when she didn't and as a result it got tsugumu killed. However this chapter is getting me to the point where im justing thinking about dropping out of this. First, i was extremely disappointed with how well mako controlled herself and at this point i doubt she well ever lose control. But the part that really takes the cake was satsuki talking to isshin's dead body. One of the things i had hoped in this story when i first started reading it was the failed assassination of isshin matoi not because of the interaction he will have with ryuko, (FUCK RYUKO!) but the interactions i had hoped he would've had with satsuki and i knew from the moment ragyo told rei that she was going to the matoi mansion that shit was not going to end well. You could have at least kept isshin alive long enough to have a few fucking words with the daughter he abandoned to her rapist mother but you didn't even do that. You killed him off before she even had a chance to even speak to him as father and daughter. the last bit of the chapter with satsuki, nowhere near the amount of impact it could of had. the only reason im going to continue on is mako's fight with nui and im praying to god that no one ESPECIALLY FUCKING RYUKO is not going to interrupt it. Again im extremely disappointed with how the story is going.

Okay now im seriously upset that mako wasn't the one who snapped. it makes less sense and an even lesser impact if it was ryuko. MAKO JUST FUCKING LEARNED THAT HER FUCKING FAMILY WAS USED AS A SCAPEGOAT FOR ISSHIN TO HIDE BEHIND! WHEN THE FUCK IS SHE GOING TO SNAP AND LAY WASTE TO EVERYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE KIRYUIN FAMILY! MAKO SHOULD BE KICKING NUI, ISSHIN, RAGYO, SATSUKI, AND RYUKO'S ASSES RIGHT NOW AND ANYONE THAT GOT IN HER WAY! Im very disappointed with how this story is going so far. ever since nui went and brutally slaughtered mako family, i was expecting mako to slowly go more and more insane and bloodthirsty and IT DID go that route in some chapters like when she brutally beat nonon and when she started to hate ryuko at one point and i was just waiting for the trigger to her psychotic rampage then this chapter happened only for me to get trolled hard as fuck. FUCK RYUKO, WHERE THE FUCK IS MAKO!?

okay seriously, ryuko was way too cocky for her own good. why did ryuko get cocky over her "win" against nui. she couldn't do jack shit against nui until mako jumped in and held nui off a completely RECKED ryuko WITHOUT A FREAKING GOKU UNIFORM, so why the hell is ryuko so damn cocky? she's getting so annoying.

im really curious as to what the heck is mako.