Episode 1

"If Only I Had Thorns Like a Thistle" is the 1st episode of the Kill la Kill anime.

Plot
Ryūko Matoi is a delinquent transfer student who has been drifting from school to school searching for clues about her father's murder. This trek has taken her to Honnōji Academy, a high school dominated by its fearsome five member Student Council. Both the members of the Student Council and a portion of the student body wear powerful Goku Uniforms that grant them superhuman abilities.

Shortly after her arrival at the school, Ryuko meets a hyper-active slacker girl named Mako Mankanshoku who reveals to her the basic hierarchy of the academy. Most students, including Mako, are no-stars who aren't permitted to wear Goku Uniforms and are restricted to the city slums while other students are allowed to live in nicer districts. Exemplary students are granted one-star Goku Uniforms, club captains are granted two-stars, and the Elite Four of the Student Council are granted powerful three-stars with Student Council President, Satsuki Kiryuin, standing undisputedly at the very top of the academy's power structure. As soon as the opportunity presents itself Ryūko recklessly confronts Kiryūin stating that she is looking for the owner of the other half of a giant scissor blade she received from her father just before his death. Suspecting that Satsuki knows more than she is letting on, Ryūko lunges at her only to be beaten into the ground by the school's Boxing Club Captain, Takaharu Fukuroda using the power of his two-star Goku Uniform.

Shocked and demoralized by her utter defeat, Ryūko beats a hasty retreat from the school grounds and travels to her father's burnt down home, the place where he died. Without warning, Ryūko is dropped down an underground chute into a strange room and lands on an pile of old clothes. The fall reopens a wound she received from her fight with Fukuroda and some of her blood drips down into the pile of clothes beneath her. As she moves to find her way out she is stunned by a voice desperately asking for more of her blood. A living sailor uniform bursts from beneath the old clothing, pins her to the wall, and envelops her, releasing a surge of unrestrained power.

The next day, Boxing Club Captain Fukuroda threatens to execute the girl Ryūko met the previous day (Mako Mankanshoku) as a means of drawing Ryūko out of hiding. Ryūko promptly intervenes and rescues Mako from her predicament initiating a rematch with Fukuroda. This time, using her Scissor Blade in tandem with her new uniform's powers Ryūko manages to one-sidely defeat him and destroy his Goku Uniform. Ryūko questions Satsuki again about the wielder of the other scissor blade and the episode ends.

Characters

 * Aikuro Mikisugi
 * Ira Gamagōri
 * Satsuki Kiryūin
 * Ryūko Matoi
 * Mataro Mankanshoku
 * Mako Mankanshoku
 * Takaharu Fukuroda
 * Senketsu
 * Uzu Sanageyama
 * Hōka Inumuta
 * Nonon Jakuzure