A manga adaptation by Ryō Akizuki began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine from October 2013 to March 2015.

Honnouji Academy (本能字学園, Honnōji Gakuen) is a fictional high school situated in Tokyo Bay, Japan, on the island of Honnō City.

The students wear Goku Uniforms (極制服, Gokuseifuku)[c] which give their wearers superhuman abilities because they are constructed with a special material known as Life Fibers (生命戦維, Seimei Sen'i, lit.

Honnouji Academy and Honnō City feature a stratified class structure, in which higher-ranked students are allowed to obtain more powerful Goku Uniforms.

Following a failed attempt to challenge Satsuki on her first day, Ryuko stumbled across a sentient sailor uniform beneath the ruins of her father's home.

She names the outfit "Senketsu", which is a pure Life Fiber clothing called a Kamui (神衣, lit.

After the raid, Ryuko learns that her father founded Nudist Beach and created Senketsu to fight the Life Fibers, who were revealed to be parasitic aliens that played a factor in humanity's evolution to later feed.

Ryuko and Nudist Beach storm the Honnouji Academy festival held in Ragyo's honor before she awakens the Life Fibers, only to witness Satsuki attacking her mother while revealing her true goal has been to destroy the Life Fibers to avenge her father, along with her younger sister who presumably died from being experimented on by Ragyo.

Ryuko discovers that she is Satsuki's presumed-dead younger sister and Ragyo's daughter after her ex-husband, Sōichirō Kiryuin, turned against her under the guise of Isshin.

The heroes destroy the transmitter and extract Rei from Shinra-Kōketsu, only for Ragyo to restore its power by absorbing Harime and the Primordial Life Fiber.

Despite being victorious, Senketsu begins breaking down from absorbing Shinra-Kōketsu and sacrifices himself to ensure Ryuko safely returns to Earth.

But the clones are defeated while Satsuki convinces Rei to abandon her struggle as Ryuko uses the Scissor Blades to finish off Honnouji Academy.

[8] According to director Imaishi, much of the plot is based on his observation that the Japanese manner of pronouncing "fascism" (ファッショ, fassho) is nearly the same as the word "fashion" (ファッション, fasshon), his observation that the pronunciation of the Japanese words "school uniform" (制服, seifuku) and "conquest" (征服, seifuku) are identical, and that the titular kiru may mean "kill" (キル), "to cut" (切る), or "to wear" (着る).

[18] In Italy, the streaming rights of the series were acquired by Dynit, which announced the acquisition, with reservation, at its conference at Lucca Comics 2017.

[25] At Anime Expo 2014 held in Los Angeles, Aniplex premiered the first English dub episode, and hosted a performance by theme song singer Eir Aoi, and a panel with script writer Kazuki Nakashima, director Sushio, producer Yosuke Toba, and voice actresses Ami Koshimizu and Ryoka Yuzuki.

[26] The series is licensed in the United Kingdom and France by Anime Limited, and was simulcast on Wakanim, later receiving a digital release on Netflix.

[56] It was released on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC in Japan on July 25, 2019, and in North America and Europe the next day.

"[59] Kat Bailey of IGN, describing the series as "magical girl anime on speed", noted that its over-the-top absurdity was part of its charm.

[2] Joseph Luster of Otaku USA described the series's concept as "mostly straightforward setup for revenge and shonen-style 'stronger!

[64] Michael Logarta of GMA News Online likewise noted the "superb pacing", to-the-point storytelling and well-realized characters in the series's "whirlwind of gorgeous visuals, story, and unfettered insanity".