First Impressions / Shingeki no Kyojin

「南西へ」 (Nansei e)
“To the Southwest”

Well then, that was a game changer in more ways than one wasn’t it?

Granted, the suspicion’s been there since the first episode of the season, but given the inability of the Scouts to find a breach, one starts wondering not only if there was a breach in the first place, but whether that could actually bode worse for our cast more than anything. I mean, it’s great that Titans won’t be flying through like crazy if that were true, but between the nightmare-inducing “welcome home” Connie receives and the segment of the Beast Titan casually climbing over a wall, doesn’t that mean that the current threat is not only something that’s already within the walls, but capable of spreading/moving around regardless of the wall’s presence? At least with the regular Titans you knew what to expect. Now it’s a Pandora’s Box of potential problems, and this certainly looks like a case of the devil you know being better than the devil you don’t.

On the bright side, it’s not all gloom and doom, as the realization that the walls are made of Titans also brings with it the potential of repairing any damage done to them. Of course, it’s a measure that’s not without risk—Eren’s never fixed a wall in this way, hasn’t perfected his ability to transform, and they’re going on the assumption that Titans aren’t active at night—but hey, a future worth fighting for ain’t something you’d expect to come cheap. Thankfully, it’s a risk that could be lowered if the Priest’s revelation pans out the way we expect it to, and the key to everything may actually lie within the smallest of the new Scouts for the time being. It’s just too bad she’s stuck in a castle surrounded by Titans ain’t it? I knew that darn thing looked too good to be true, especially with the moon shining coincidentally on it just when they wanted some extra light.

With that in mind, there’s a lot going on in the background aside from the continued build up of questions, and perhaps one of the more underrated aspects of the season is how they’re not only emphasizing individual cast members, but using them, their pasts, and their respective hometowns to add in an extra layer of drama. The pacing’s likely slower than what some would prefer, but it’s given the series a moment to give its characters a vital fleshing out they’ve been lacking for the most part, while emphasizing the importance of what it means to be a member of the Survey Corps and a soldier in general. As our Scouts have found out the hard way, there comes a time where you just gotta do what you gotta do, and that’s regardless of whether you’re properly equipped or just signing up to be Titan fodder to give others a fighting chance. Through it all, there’s a whole “fighting for a greater cause” versus “doing what’s best for yourself” aspect going on here, and it’s certainly made for some interesting reactions so far.

Looking forward, I don’t have a doubt that Eren and his crew’ll reach Krista before she ends up being devoured, but one wonders at the potential cost—Ymir looks highly likely to bite the dust at this point—and whether or not her rescue would even yield any worthwhile answers until the Beast Titan’s dealt with. Guess we’ll have to see, though at the same time, is it just me or there’s something really strange about how Reiner’s been reacting lately? That whole bit where he adamantly denies hearing anything despite being next to Connie really makes you tilt your head a bit, though it could be red herring more than anything. Ah well, I suppose I’ll just have to be satisfied with a Sasha Potato moment for the time being.

Full-Length Images: 29.

Author’s Note: Once again, please refrain from spoilers of the source material past what’s been covered so far. Use spoiler tags if you absolutely need to mention something that wasn’t explicitly shown/covered, as there is a zero tolerance policy in effect and comments with spoilers will be immediately deleted and bans handed out where necessary.

 

Preview

18 Comments

  1. I want to urge anyone who hasn’t seen the first OVA for Attack on Titan – “Ilse’s Notebook: Record of a Fallen Soldier” to do so now. Unlike the second and third OVAs it’s based on a chapter in the manga and has some relevance to what’s going on at the moment in the second season. Also, technically, the anime counts it as episode 3.5, so no one should be afraid of it somehow being a spoiler for the second season.

    oranges
    Reply

  2. So I rewatched all of season 1 last weekend because I forgot too much… and then I got impatient so I just started reading the manga… >_> I read like 30 chapters in a day, holy sheez I feel so sluggish. Plus this way, I don’t get upset everytime I read spoilers =X
    I think the next few episodes are going to be super exciting! Can’t wait =D

    Cherrie
    Reply

  3. Well, knowing the Secret of these Titans, will not end the Story. I mean, perhaps in the end they find out how they where born and still born into this world. But there are so many Titans out there to hunt… They could fill many Mangas with this…

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

      1. Without delving into spoilers, the main reason why those Titans are able to move despite the lack of daylight is that they are abnormal (or the Beast Titan may be controlling them). Regular Titans cannot do that (or perhaps there is no incentive for them to do so, as they lack any hints of intelligence).

        Argyre
        Reply

    1. @RedRocket: Agree. On thing this show does well is make the titan’s very creepy and appropriate. The BGM helps with that as well. Next episode should be a good one!

      daikama
      Reply

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