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「初陣 ―トロスト区攻防戦①―」 (uijin ―Torosuto ku Koubousen ①―)
“First Battle ―Defense of Trost (1)―”
We’ve had a pretty good month of Shingeki no Kyojin, haven’t we? Mother-eating titans, genre-savvy soldiers, potato-eating, potato-farting, Bollywood dancing…all that, and we haven’t even gotten to the moment I’ve been waiting this entire month to see; Steampunk Spidermen vesus the Man-Eating Eotens.
Okay, serious face on; Studio WIT is proving to be the animation team to beat this season. I don’t want to go on too much on their excessive use of still shots, because when the moment counts, they can really dish out some truly spectacular sequences. Sequences like the Shadow of the Colossus-esque opening of this episode, as Erens swings, dodges, and climbs to the weak point of the Colossal Titan.
The entire premise seems completely ridiculous at times; humans using grapple ziplines and dual blades to strike at the Titans’ weak point on the back of their necks. The story’s rationale is that they have insane regenerative abilities, which practically negates the use of projectile weaponry; but it doesn’t quite change how absurd the whole premise seems. Even so, the moment-to-moment action is constantly being pulled off with an excess of bravado and assertiveness; so much so that it becomes utterly awe-inspiring to see those small humans go up against the massive titans. Studio WIT has done a marvellous job in capturing that grandiose, merciless nature of the action, and coupled it with the pulse-pounding orchestral score; the result being an absolute roller-coaster of an episode.
There seems to be two key points on the agenda of this episode; the first being an exploration of the Titans’ nature. There’s some really interesting points raised here; they’re single-minded in their consumption of humans, but it’s not a result of the instinct of survival. Titans are perfectly capable of surviving without nutrition, which then begs the question about the reasons behind their action. It’s hard to believe it’s a natural instinct of any sort; this especially so when we consider the bigger mystery of the Colossal Titan, who seems to defy every assumption humanity had of the titans. There’s a couple of prominent traits that makes it stand out from the rest of the goggley-eyed bunch: Its incredible size for sure, but there’s also the fact that it possesses an intelligence not common to standard titans. And remember the ending of last episode where many were confused about how the colossal titan could approach the wall without anyone noticing? Here, we’re also shown how it can apparently appear and disappear at will. No doubt, a bulk of the story will be about piecing together the mysteries of the Titans.
Then we get to the human side of the picture, and their utter powerlessness when faced with the titans. There’s a sharp irony in Eren’s statement to Jean about remembering their 3 years of training; only for him to later be ambushed and subsequently eaten in a shocking turn of events, before he even had any chance of enacting his vengeance. The first 4 episodes largely saw the powerless children pitted against the titans; but even with the 3 years of training that had him graduating among the top of his class, Eren and his squad could barely put up fight here. It’s already a given that Shingeki no Kyojin was going to be a unforgivingly brutal show; but to see Eren’s squad torn to shreds in those few seconds just brings home how utterly merciless this series is going to be. Humanity at its best has now been shown to be tragically weak, and Eren’s utterly pathetic death only seems to cement that notion of their eventual extinction.
There’s some great emotional real estate that can be mined here; The twist of Eren’s seeming death could drastically change up the dynamics of the rest of the cast we’ve been introduced to, when the most driven, shounen-esque character gets put out of the picture. And then there the immediate aftermath of Mikasa and Armin to consider, when the person they’ve been utterly reliant on for emotional support is now lost to them. (and which the next episode seems to be getting into.) Coupled with studio’s WIT incredible production values, I can truly say this has been the moment in Shingeki no Kyojin I’ve been waiting for; when the action –and by extension, the emotions- in the series gets kicked into overdrive.
Full-length images: 18, 19, 24, 31.
Preview
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This episode disturbed me greatly.
Not so much the fact that Eren got eaten, because some manga readers are assholes, but that it happened so early in the series.
What really got to me was the way the whole squad just got wiped out within moments.
I couldn’t believe it was going to happen until I saw Thomas dangling out of the frog-titan’s mouth with tears in his eyes. I doubt I will ever forget the look on his face as he couldn’t believe it, either.
Then finally, we get to see this really cinematic scene from the PV when Eren gave chase after the titan, getting me fired up to see him slice his damn neck and WHAMMM, he gets his leg bitten off.
I was thinking: “Holy crap, this isn’t happening, you can’t just permanently handicap the main character, this isn’t how it works!”. The dismaying way he tumbled across the roofs and then stayed motionless, covered in his own blood just displayed the cruelty of the situation in a way, way out of my comfort zone.
Next up was the brown-haired guy, who just gets smacked out of the air by a supposedly slow titan, who somehow pinpointed the moment when he had to move his hand in the way of a speeding multiaxial figther… That’s like crashing your car into a brick wall on the highway, I was surprised he was still alive to taste the feeling of being eaten.
Only moments later, an “Am I kawaii? Uguu~” titan pulls a string on Videl-chan’s gear and causes her to lose balance, smashing into a building.
The way she’s numbed and can’t do anything against ending up as dinner was likely too accurate for my nerves. As Eren said, I definitely tried to keep my expectations realistic, but this is just too unusual. I can totally understand Armin’s reaction to seeing his comrades, who all trained three whole years for this moment, getting killed in the blink of an eye.
Will the suffering ever end? (Not a real question, don’t spoiler.
That being said, seeing how this episode made me feel, it really justifies my opinion to call this series one of the best I’m following this season.
I know! I was thinking the exact same thing when Eren got his leg eaten off, and then he lost an arm and I was about to say that I had never seen a show where the protagonist looses an arm and a leg in first episodes and then I remember, FULL METAL, and I lol’ed and then I cried.
I don’t know if this is kind of a spoiler but I found this a bit of a dead give away as to what’s going to happen.
Show Spoiler ▼
That kind of shoddy story telling really puts me off on a series :/. Idk if this was done in the manga as well or just the anime trying to squeeze the story into a smaller time frame. Either way will continue to watch.
Guess I ruined it for the average viewer that can’t make a simple connection judging by the number of down votes it got :P.
At this pace, isn’t the anime just blowing through all the source material?
No, this is still chapter 4. They have 40 chapters left for 19~ episodes, in which the ending will probably be open or anime only. They’re taking it slow and doing it well.
^ Actually, they’ve covered more than 4 chapters since the flashbacks are scattered all over the place in the manga. So I’d say we’re about 8-10 chapters through? (Disclaimer: not an accurate estimate!)
I do hope they’d leave the series open for another season though, rather than an anime-original ending.
^
To be more precise they covered:
– chapter 1-4
– chapter 15-17
– 10 pages from chapter 18
In total they have covered 7 chapter and 10 pages in the anime from the currently 44 chapters released.
Man, I totally agree with you.
What you’ve just wrote was what I felt as well. When Eren flew from roof to roof to engage on the titan, I was expecting some amazing moves/fighting scenes to follow up his emotional outburst. Instead, this momentum stops immediately and turned into despair when he loses his leg.
The instant Eren gets eaten, I was confused. I tried to think of ways that Eren could come out of this ordeal alive, but it didn’t seem like anything good will come out of it. Perhaps someone will slice open the titan immediately and take him out? He’s lost an arm and leg, how can he ever fight again? If he were to really die, who becomes the new main character? Armin/Mikasa? Given the amount of time the series put into forming the character Eren, it just seems unreal that he died in such a way…
I’ve followed the Manga for 2 years now (and had a major part spoiled for me : ( ), and I’ll say that this sort of realism is what I love about the story. It’s a bit humbling, very tragic but also full of mystery — wrapped up with great character development. It really is not a “I’ve been outdone, but my will to defeat you will prevail!”
I hope you enjoy the rest of the series : D I can promise you that, so far, you won’t be disappointed.
To note (not you, but some others): Eren wasn’t in pain when is leg was bitten off, as you don’t feel anything but a “tug” when you lose a huge part of your body like that.
Episode 5: Almost everyone is dead…
That’s Shingeki for you.
at least SnK did a better job killing characters than 1st episode of Ga Rei Zero
Probably shouldn’t just casually post spoilers to another show. Not sure how things work around here but it’s better to leave good twists a surprise to potential viewers.
Maybe we need a Games of Thrones-like approach. Everything that’s been aired is considered spoiler free, but please leave the source material out of any adaptation-discussion.
That…. was a curveball.
I mean, I had the sense that things were going to go REAL bad when they’d attack the titans, since the official recon corps frontline were annihilated, and they were “Senior” compared to our cast of hero’s who are just out of training.
Made me suspicious something was wrong. Our trainiees can jump and move at superhuman speed with the 3D motor, the seniors must be three times better. For them to get wiped out…
Then when the team was preparing for the fight and bragging about who could kill the most, that was SUCH a black flag for me. I was like “You’re probably going to work your ass off together to kill JUST one, and consider yourselves lucky for getting that far.”
Show Spoiler ▼
Err… not really… not many of the important characters at the least. I don’t remember Jean or Connie being killed. Nor Sasha, Annie, other girl with that little blonde one from episode 3 who fed Sasha. Not to mention Mikasa. Reiner and Berthold haven’t died yet. Marco hasn’t been shown to die (unless I missed something) Armin is still alive. And Eren has yet to be confirmed dead. So… most (all?) of the main cast is still alive…
Show Spoiler ▼
Spoiler for the episode? I was just making an observation on what happens in the episode. I apologize if we aren’t meant to talk about certain parts of the episode, but I was just merely making a statement into reply of “almost everyone is dead” which so far seems quite frankly false depending on who “everyone” encompasses.
No, I mean for the next episode.
In that case, I apologize for not making my statement explicit enough. It did seem a bit out of context with all the other comments. But I was purely basing my initial statement on observation of episode 5.
“Oh! The main character is your classic shonen male hero??! TOO BAD! EATEN IN THE 5TH EPISODE!! SUCKS TO BE YOU, AUDIENCE!!! NAH NAH!!”
You know that he’s alive right?
Interesting. Tell me, how does Asobi and everyone else in this blog interpret the last moment?
I’d say he’s still alive. Getting out of that situation is not impossible (and frankly most probable) in anime and manga. Not only that but as other people said, it is quite fishy about the presentation of it. Shingeki No Kyojin may be a true shiner even when comparing to most anime, but it would still succumb to some pretty typical outcomes. Not called a Shounen for no reason…
Being a long-time follower of the manga, I feel anything I say will become an implicit spoiler. I choose to abstain.
In reality, willpower won,t save your wannabe heroes ass.
SnK show that a hotblooded character is always the first to die.
Except he didn’t die first, and we still don’t know if he’s dead or not. Not to mention even if he is, he has still made a better impression as a character/human/whatevs than the others who have died have.
l3reezer: He did show that running in all hotblooded and shouneny just gets people slaughtered, though.
You could say that saving his friend costed Eren an ARMIN’d a leg!
…. That was horrible.
Show Spoiler ▼
Love how Shingeki has the guts to kill off its MC >:)
this comment is nothing related to the comment above (almost) but I really wanted to share this, it was like the greatest thing you’ll ever see your whole life. well, HERE YOU GO 😀
Silly mortal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvq0RaaMck8
holy s#!t!! forgive me, for I am a puny human. You may eat me, for you are the one who will save us all from the fear of titans. the one, who will save the world, Snuggle-sama.
I still think the best Shingeki MAD is this Evangelion one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XCZoRI0YFw
I wonder how Eren managed to save Armin when he lost his leg.
How can he even walk, the pain woulda made anyone scream.
The shock numbed him.
Shock, yes, but it is Eren we are talking about… I’m pretty sure seeing his mom get gruesomely devoured is enough shock for a lifetime.
A loss leg is little in comparison I think. He is no stranger to physical pain, and trust me, that military training would have run him dry. I’m not saying that just because he said it was tough, but the conditioning those cadets would have to go through just to use the 3DM gear is inhumanely more than what we could naturally tolerate. Times that by 3 years… you got some inhumanely hardcore training regime right there. On top of just their normal training and sparring drills.
On the more physical side of things, I’m sure you’ve heard the reports that when someone has their leg bitten off by a Shark, they describe the feeling as being, “a small but sharp tug of the leg”. Legs tend to receive much more pain than say your arms, but losing that many nerves at a single time leaves you nothing left to actually receive the pain. Hence why it isn’t necessarily excruciating.
I think Eren somehow used his 3d gear to go to the titan’s mouth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2yOTeFIqNI
In this scene, Mikasa declared that she would protect Eren. Now take this endearing moment and change the delivery.
“I will protect you, Eren…”
Why is this so painful to waiting for the next GODDAMN episode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why? Did you got bit by a titan after this one?
Poor Mina Carolina…really liked her character design. Too bad she got her head chomped off by the Moe-titan.
Not to be a manga fag but at least they didn’t show her actually getting eaten, My heart died when they showed the scene of it 🙁
First I was like, F**k yea Mina in animated form! Then I started this episode and remembered what happened in the manga=/ I hope the creator will at least keep Sasha alive later on in the story..she’s probably my favourite character.
Can Mikasa be the main character now ? I need more official Mikasa art ~
Has anyone seen a jaw lying around? I believe I dropped mine at the end of this episode.
That’s a lot of jaws you’ll have to look through. Lol
I think I saw a big naked guy around 16 meters tall, picked it up and swallowed it. XD
*ending*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! NOOOO!!!!!
Simply a gruesome horror flick, no two ways about it.
But is the MC really gone? Looks like he’s in the preview,
but I can’t tell if it’s all a flashback episode…
But, the thing I don’t quite get is if the Colossus can
appear anywhere, why not appear inside the walled city?
I’ve developed a morbid curiosity of how this will all turn out…
I don’t know if this count as spoiler or not. I will put in the tag anyway.
Show Spoiler ▼
Main focus should be on Mikasa in next episode, her flashback, her (awesome) action, etc.
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite anime’s ever. I knew Attack on Titan would be brutal, watching Eren’s mom getting eaten proved that. But hollllyyy crap. Not many anime’s have the balls to kill off the main character less than HALF WAY THROUGH THE SERIES. Especially in such a brutal and disturbing way. My jaw seriously dropped open and spun around during the whole last 10 minutes.
It’s like the lesson in Shingeki is this:
Neither fear nor bravado will save you from death.
Shit’s deep.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/Tsura/Funny%20GIFS/1239883733_Angry_Video_Game_Nerd.gif
So… did they just pull a Gurren Lagann on this one? That will be kinda cool and kinda not. That last part really caught me off guard, but then again this is a shounen show, so the likelihood of him being alive is very high (“i wouldn’t die even if I were killed” lolz). The problem is he will be missing a leg and an arm, so how can he fight, unless they give him an automail of an arm and a leg xP. The only thing that really bugs me and kinda odd is the “ninja” colossal titan, just appearing and disappearing as hell he pleases. Awesome episode overall.
But… Kamina wasn’t the main MAIN character in that show. …. is Eren really the main character here?? Does this show have a star? By this point, who knows?!
Does this show have a star?
I secretly think it’s the Show Spoiler ▼
Kinda spoilerific thumbnails? I think I’d change some of them if i were you.
What? Why the thumbs down people? I just want to make the experience of watching this show as good as possible for people that are unfamiliar with the manga (●︿●)
Why are the thumbnails spoilers than? They only show what happened this episode and the preview. They don’t show anything after that.
Well, if you have yet to watch the episode I’d consider at least the picture of Eren in the Titan’s mouth spoiler. I get your point, and agree with it. But some people are more sensitive to spoilers than others, was what i meant to get trough.
In the next episode: Mikasa Badass… the best female character or the best character from Shingeki.
(if the staff don’t make any shit)
I enjoy most of the females from Shingeki No Kyojin as characters, but for me, it would have to be Annie Leonhardt. I just love how cold and cynical she is. Plus she is also a competent fighter, albeit not on the same level as Mikasa but nyeah. Really hard to choose between Annie, Mikasa and Sasha. But they compliment each other and complete the cast. We don’t really want a Mary Sue on our hands now would we?
SNK is one of those series where you like characters equally to the point where you can’t really choose.
In a pyramid type graph for my fav female characters Mikasa would obviously be at the top, but she’d have to share that spot with Sasha, Annie, Christa, and Show Spoiler ▼
.
Just because they put lipstick/gloss on Ymir doesn’t confirm anything!
Inoue Marina’s scream will forever be etched within my mind….holy shit….
https://randomc.net/image/Shingeki%20no%20Kyojin/Shingeki%20no%20Kyojin%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
Watch Date A Live then this. The contrast between her characters (Tohka / Armin) is way too much !
2 words : Insanely talented
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/Tsura/Funny%20GIFS/1239883733_Angry_Video_Game_Nerd.gif Yeah this.
I was still trying to stop associating that voice with the baka Minami Kana and then that scream came.. damn, that’s some sharp contrast right there.
Eren was nowhere near as epic as Kamina, so I doubt he could die this early. I’m thinking the effects of one of those hazy flashbacks we saw earlier will come into play soon.
Shingeki no Kyojin’s OST really affected my mood. Damnit! The scene where Eren’s squad was so prepared to take on the Titans had the uplifting OST, and the OST changed just as Thomas got eaten.
I have to say that at the moment when Eren got swallowed, Armin must feel like the worst person on earth right now. Hopefully it makes him into a stronger character.
Ok, as someone who hasn’t read the manga, I can safely say I was utterly surprised seeing Eren, who I, and probably most of us, considered the MC of the show. I wasn’t that much of amazed by seeing the – let’s face it – rookie squad of Eren getting wiped out in seconds without a single frag (CoD reference ftw!); I almost thought that my “comfort zone”, as someone else said it, could even handle Armin getting killed. But Eren was way out of my comfort zone, as it has been defined till now. If Eren can be killed in episode 5, everyone can be killed at ANY time. And that’s something that says “WIN” in my book when judging Shingeki so far.
I don’t even want to imagine Mikasa’s face when she hears the news. I don’t know if she felt protective of Eren simply because of sibling love or because she had feelings for him. Whatever the case, the next episode, alongside the emotional moments that will arise depending on the outcome of the battle, is one of my most anticipated episodes of the season so far.
Show Spoiler ▼
Right…because the Call Of Duty games are the first and only game series to use the term “frags” when referring to kills…
That’s the whole thing you kept from my comment? 😛 I just stated a game. I am more of an Unreal player myself actually..
Not gonna lie, this ending shocked me so much that I rewatched the episode 4 times, before diving into the Manga and COMPLETELY catching up with it.
I am getting a supernatural vibe from this. If Eren isn’t dead after this then they had better have a really good explanation
well… i know how this moves forward but for those who saw Tengen toppa gurren lagann the Main Character (actually one of them, but the most active) dies in the 8th episode (of 27), maybe this is not the case but i think if eren dies here mikasa could take a full lead now on
Me: Man! Eren’s group are gonna kick some titan’s ass!
*Eren’s team arrived*
Me: Let’s do this! *me pumped up*
*17 min mark – dashing across the roof*
Me: Man! This animation! This sequence!
*Le abnormal titan appeared*
Me: WTF!!!
*Thomas hanging in the titan’s mouth*
SHIT JUST HIT THE FAN! O.O
Utterly abusing the word utter.
>The entire premise seems completely ridiculous at times; humans using grapple ziplines and dual blades to strike at the Titan’s weak point on the back of their nape.
Those disposable blades are one of the most cost efficient weapons I can think of to slash the titan’s weak point while not sacrificing the extreme mobility that the whole ordeal requires: It’s because they don’t have weapons big enough that they need to get so close to their weak points. I think the setting it’s pretty solid and well thought for a fantasy shonen.
>I don’t want to go on too much on their excessive use of still shots
I read this argument in many places and I think that the claim is exaggerated. There are stills during minor events but it isn’t as bad as Sword Art Online, that only animated the big fights.
Just to expand on some of the tech they use.
Usually dual wielding is seen as something purely stylish and lacks any real practical value (granted in some situations). But to me, Shingeki No Kyojin is the most practical use I have ever seen of dual wielding. First is that they only have like what? A split moment to attack the nape of a Titan? Someone give me a value at the speed they are moving at, factor in that their blades only have about a little over a metre’s reach? So one could assume they have less than a second window to attack the nape. That is where two swords come in handy. It allows for 2 attacks in rapid succession, allowing a deeper cut into the nape. Not to mention that they are disposable, allowing fresh blades to be used as they would dull quite quickly or break. I would assume either making contact with bone, breaking on obstacles while traveling, or getting lodged into the Titan’s flesh and snapping.
Finally, the other technical issue that Shingeki No Kyojin addresses is the grapple. In most typical depictions, it is a device mounted onto a person’s arm. Now, has anyone tried swinging on a rope using one-hand? It hurts doesn’t it, a very impractical design. While, that is the first issue Shingeki No Kyojin addressed and remedied by affixing the device approximately around our center of gravity. This allows for control of both your upper and lower body, not to mention the added stability. But the most ingenious part of the 3DM gear is the harness. The harness is a full body harness that extends down the legs, wrapping once around the thigh and calves, finally looping under the foot. What this does is simulate the sensation that you are still on the ground despite being airborne. Supposedly all the strain exerted on you from the grapple device will be channeled into your feet. This also allows more control of the body whilst airborne.
What an utterly astute observation. :3
I don’t want to argue the logics of SnK’s mythos. It’s solid and well thought out, but from a creative perspective, the entirety of the action is pretty high up there on my what-the-heck-did-i-just-watch/read list.
That’s okay, there are plenty of questionable – improbable elements in regards to the tech. The dual wielding is perfectly sound in my opinion and the weapons overall, I don’t have much, if any of a gripe there.
In terms of the grapple system though, I would bring into question a few things.
a) Is the amount of gas applied for the action of the grapple sufficient enough to propel the dart end into cobblestone or brick (can’t see them shooting it into anything harder). Then also with another supplement of gas, powerful enough to rappel (pull in) averagely 70kg for several metres? Also to repeat that at least several times to make the device efficient enough in Shingeki No Kyojin’s given situation?
Now, I don’t entirely doubt this, I am not a mechanical engineer. The concept sounds a bit far-fetched but I won’t say impossible. If someone can give me some values as evidence then by all means, pass the notes.
Additional note, on how the propulsion of the grapple and rappel works is I assume gas is exerted in 2 different places in the device. For the propelling of the grapple, gas is exerted into the chamber housing the grapple (present at both sides of the hip) and that is a pretty sound concept, kinda like a potato gun except with a brake cable attached to it. Why do I say brake cable? In episode 4 where Sasha saves Samuel, it is quite evident when their is a close up shot on the cable (someone provide me with a better word). The animator’s detail is quite intricate that I could relate it to a rubber material used in industrial electrical appliances that encases the wiring. So it becomes apparent that there is something similar to a brake cable running through it so that the user can trigger the contraction of the grapple using one of the 2 triggers on their sword. The other trigger is one would assume is used to launch the grapple, and pressing it again would rapple. Having two swords, that I would assume would be one set of triggers for each of the grapples as there are two present.
Now, the second place that gas would be exerted is into the device mounted on the back at the base of the spine. It would be forced onto the blades of an inbuilt fan and I would assume that making those spin is what pulls the cables back in. I can’t really mechanically justify it but judging from the design, I guess that was its intention.
I’ve been mentioning gas and I am not too sure whether the anime has explicitly said that is what they use. But there are quite a few hints that would point to it. First, is that compressed air would not be powerful to rappel someone. Sure, a small pressurized chamber is enough to launch a potato a fair distance and still dent metal. But to pull in 70kg… I doubt it. But the most visually obvious evidence is the excess smoke you see when they are using 3DM gear so I guess both chambers have an injector and an ignition in them which sounds plausible for their time I guess.
b) Probably the element that makes 3DM gear impractical though is the weight. Those are some fairly moderate sized gas canisters they are lugging around on their thighs, not to mention two of them filled with pressurized gas. It goes without say that some dense and thick metal would be needed to make them, then factor in when they are full of compressed gas, times two, then you have quite the heavy cargo. It is taxing enough just to carry two of those full canisters by foot (ever had a barbeque?). Now imagine having to hold those, on your legs, in mid-flight. I guess an overall observation of the entirety of the 3DM gear is that it lacks any aero-dynamics but control is placed elsewhere so that isn’t a problem. But you are probably lugging an additional 20kg+ with all that gear on. Not to mention the 3×2 spare blades in both holsters. So possible, the rappel is carrying weights of nearly 100kg which sounds very improbable to me for such a system to work on a small device with just compressed gas. But if someone can give me some values to prove me wrong, I’ll gladly accept.
c) The final element of the whole 3DM gear would have to be the user themselves. I am not even sure if you could condition someone for effective use of such a piece of equipment. First and most obvious is reflex and reaction time but with appropriate training is easily made possible, just looking at some of the achievements people in real life can make with dedication to the task.
But I guess the main part I would question is the strain on the muscle the harness would have. With all that gear strapped on, plus the force exerted on you when rappelling or swinging, whilst not being on a solid foundation to channel that force, you easily are exerting maybe over 3x+ your body weight. The average person is “capable” of lifting twice their body weight even though assuming they are not conditioned, they will feel the strain/burn and the effort in just performing that once. Effectively, the full body harness spreads that force out on your body so it isn’t exerted on just your hips going as far to exert it on you legs and feet to simulate solid foundation. However, that doesn’t lighten the load as the force is still all on you.
Then finally we have the possible issue and made humorous in episode 3 of balance whilst in mid-flight, whilst carrying an additional 20kg+, whilst having all that rappelling force applied to you. I assume, and maybe someone can support me here (if they have ever been on one of those bungy-sling joyrides) that maintaining your balance is not an easy feet even with minimal gear.
So overall, the 3DM gear has quite a few questionable mechanics and issues regarding the user, but as Asobi said, from a creative design point of view it is very sound. Which I would further emphasize with another compliment to the animators for bringing out all the intricate details to make it appear plausible and enough to actually make mechanical guesses.
My final verdict on plausibility is that I feel, it is plausible enough to try it. I feel the outcome will be failure in both appliance (mostly collateral damage to surroundings) and the rappelling not having enough force to rappel you and the gear. The harness sounds plausible but may require acrobatic level balance which I’m not too sure how enduring some people would be to reach that level and aiming the grapples would take a lot of practice and familiarity with perspective, distance and body coordination. If one were to make the gear, all the necessary internals could be easily bought at a general hardware supplier (preferably automotive). But the casing would have to be custom made. Overall, I think it is impossible for your average person to master such a gear and I would go as far to say that even a “trained” person would not be able to apply all the mechanics practically.
*if anyone can prove any of my statements wrong/right with values or logical explanation I gladly welcome it.
So much over the top this episode & Eren’s yelling gives me a headache..
First the Titans are so fast that they intercept the trainees in flight. Then they are so slow, one legged Eren can jump across a building & down a throat & toss someone out before it swallows!? I realize it is fantasy, but relative realism is big for me 😐 (eg, within the laws of the fantasy universe, actions follow those laws and make sense).
I’m all for Eren getting his comeuppance: he was almost as annoying as in the first 2 episodes … so I won’t miss him & I’ll give Mikasa a shot..
To note: each titan does have it’s own mindless individuality. It -is- a bit strange that a titan just plops Armin in his mouth and waits before swallowing, but the titan with Thomas did the same.
The best way to picture the titans would be to think of them as giant, heavily intoxicated drunkards. The creator of the story said he got the idea of the titans from working at a convenient store, and drunkards would come in. He said it was unnerving that they were irrational, spontaneous, and worst of all, incoherent– That he couldn’t communicate with them.
My God. It’s like Ga-Rei Zero again.
There some characters you grew to love and then “BAM!” they all die.
Eren’s death was horrifying since we all hope he would survive since he’s the MC, he can make it since he did save Armin.
But everything goes down the drain when he dies in front of Armin.
Looks like we might some flashback about Mikasa’s past.
As someone said previously, in manga/anime no body tends to translate as no death, plus he only has lost a leg and an arm. If I recall correctly, he still had is 3DM gear on which has blades still sheathed and as far as fiction goes, cutting your way out of the belly of the beast tends to work well.
And for the lost limbs well… I’m sure the Fullmetal Alchemist scenario shouldn’t be too farfetched. Well… not as farfetched as the Colossal Titan…
All I can say is wth happened.
TITANS TOO STRONK
Again and again, week after another, this show just continues to prove it’s the best of the the season (or even the year?) with it’s twisting story and superb action scenes. Wow. I am just so glad that I did not skip this show.
As for Eren, I don’t think he is really dead. I suppose we will find out in next episode.
Oh man….this episode really felt like a slap to the face….
To this point on….I guess is for the best to go live under a rock…see ya in the next week!
I agree the premise of how to kill a Titan is absurd. If you blow off their head and neck with a cannon, doesn’t that mean the nape is also destroyed? Despite that oddity, close combat with the 3D gear makes the action awesome.
If they don’t do anything to animals, I wonder if they have tried scouting wearing animals skins/scents. …Maybe I’ll just enjoy the series as is instead of thinking about it.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the anime, they have yet to show full on destruction of the head. Sure, the face gets blown off, but not necessarily the nape.
And with animal skin camouflage, Titans aren’t that stupid, they are smart enough that they are not baffled by humans flying around at high speeds and one Titan even pulled on the cable (not really a cable) to down a cadet (?). Plus I guess their sense of smell is trained on humans quite well.
In the episode, the teacher mentioned that even if the head gets blown off, it will regenerate within 1 or 2 minutes. In one of the still images, it does look like the titan’s head is missing. There’s a plume of smoke and remains of the head scattered on its shoulders.
It doesn’t have to be animal skins, but gear that helps them blend with the environment. I could be that their senses are attuned as you stated. We’ll find out sooner or later.
I guess with camouflage, the next question is who would have the gall to try it? Outrunning a Titan is out of the question.
God i’m readin the manga, and i was waiting for this part, god its frustrating !! Since the start Eren is claming that he will not die, he will keep leaving to reach new height with humanity, he kept struggling and clinging to get his revenge and see the outside world and BAAAAMMMM OMG WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING ,WAS THIS ALLTALK?? But I thought, finally, Eren is not the principal char in this anime?! Mikasa?! The goodfornothing (plz not him, but so much shonen like…) Armin? Like in GurenLagan i could not stand the fact that Kamina was dead but if this was true… WTF will happen in Shinkyojin…
Most of the time u can use that theory; no body, in manga, means not really dead, but he lost one leg and one arm…
Really i’m totaly in love with how things are going right now and they really know how to finish their eps in Cliffhanger everytime.
(ps: ANIMATION IS AWSOME INDEED)
another EPIC EPISODE!
too bad i have to wait again another fucking week
🙁 i want mooooaRR TITAN-MOOOOEEEEE
Just a technical I noticed but anyone else noticed that they’ve updated the opening sequence? In terms of the concept, nothing has changed, but they’ve included more frames which is most notable near the start of the opening where the cast is standing on a battlefield. Compare the openings to a previous episode, and you will notice that their hair has a few more frames added to it so it actually looks to be swaying in the wind. Also the part at the very start showing what I think is Wall Maria(?) being destroyed, they’ve changed the color palette and de-saturized the wall into a more monotone color. Those are the most obvious changes I’ve seen, but there is probably more. I guess they are preparing for the creditless release on the Bluray so they’ve decided to update it on the airing episodes as well.
Good eye.
From EP3 to EP4 they upgraded the hair. They animated it in 2s before, now it’s on 1s and with redrawn frames, it looks excellent.
Quite so, Studio WIT really didn’t hold back on the details, going as far to revise the opening. On top of the animation in the anime itself, someone give them an award.
I love this show so much I already bought some merchandise!
Can’t wait to show off to the ladies!
Hmmm……don’t click the first link. It is a potential spoiler.
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I honestly thought they wouldn’t show the moe titan.When I saw that in the manga I felt like I was getting trolled by the translation group.SNK is definitely a spiritual successor to Blue Gender.
It’s too cute >.<
I’m not really buying Eren’s “death”. Can’t say much for the rest of the squad they were definitely killed in horrifying and detailed ways but then again they didn’t have as much screentime as Eren did. Eren though, only lost some limbs and I’ve seen Shounen characters survive worse. Plus he still has his gear so he can still fight his way out the Titan’s mouth.
Also the technology the Scouts use seem to run on some unexplained impossible technology so I’m willing to believe that they can probably graft some artificial limbs if Eren did survive this ordeal. Cyborg Titan Fighting Eren….I like the sound of that.
“unexplained impossible technology”, gas, compressed air maybe? (doubt air, wouldn’t be that powerful to both propel and rapple) Inversely though… that will make those canister insanely heavy… but… lets just say it is through some severely harsh training and conditioning of the cadets.
I have been playing too much of this, that this was the first thing that came to my mind. XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo8jfr85vL0&feature=player_embedded#t=04m57s
“Studio WIT is proving to be the animation team to beat this season. I don’t want to go on too much on their excessive use of still shots”
@OP
Character designer and chief animation director Kyoji Asano recruit animators via twitter: https://twitter.com/asanovic7/status/326219475890356225
“On the battlefield against the Titans, the commander has no need to hold back.” That was the highlight of this episode.
LOL jokes aside, I thought this episode was another jaw dropper. From the looks of it, it’s every glory and realistic as I hope this episode would be. By realistic, I mean they don’t make god like characters. The control of these characters are truly amazing; they have solid personalities when they first appear. Even when they get eaten, you don’t feel too attached to the characters, yet their deaths meant something to the growth of the main protagonist and the story in general.
Animation wise, all I can say is…Am I watching a movie?!?!?!?
What did I just watch… was not how I envisioned this episode beforehand.
[Asobi: Implicit Spoilers]Show Spoiler ▼
I’b betting he’ll be pooped out.
Great to see it animated. This is just the beginning.
https://randomc.net/image/Shingeki%20no%20Kyojin/Shingeki%20no%20Kyojin%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
How lewd.
Damn you! I can’t unsee it now, my eyes >.<!
DAMN YOU! DAMN YOUUUU! CANNOT UNSEE! ^_^;
“Lewd? What’re you talking abo… oh”
Nooooooooooooooo! Why did you do that?!
My eyes!
Err… don’t mean to offend anyone… but isn’t it kinda sad that we are all interpreting the same thing… Don’t worry, I’m no exception.
Wow…they actually did what I thought SHOULD happen, but didn’t really think WOULD happen (on this scale anyway)…Eren’s uncontrolled emotions ended up getting nearly everybody on his team killed, thus making things a lot more realistic (at least within the realm of the series) in that, it didn’t matter how much Eren wanted his vengeance, it wouldn’t just magically allow him to beat the Titans and now he’s paying for it. At least Mikasa wasn’t there.
I was not expecting that.
Though, I did get annoyed at Eren again for hypocritically berating Mikasa for focusing on her “selfish priorities” for wanting to stay by and protect him rather than join the elite (who were conveniently held the furthest back, closest to the center where they’d be the most safe, as brought up by Annie before), only for him to fly off the handle and get nearly everyone killed for the sake of vengeance.
And anyone else get really pissed seeing that fat lard of a “lord” happily relaxing and stuffing his face while this is all going on (the battle and the previous problems like food shortages for the citizens and such), then begging and trying to force the Commander to stay and protect ONLY his territory and just let everyone else die? I’m surprised the Commander didn’t turn around and knock his lights out.
Maybe Studio WIT should change their name to Studio WTF with all that’s going on here x_x lol.
It’s episodes like this that make me glad I decided to read through the whole manga thus far to avoid douchebags spoiling it for me. This is a series so utterly awesome, there are no words to describe how unfair it is that you can’t look up anything about this series without learning about some kind of spoiler, be it about who lives, who dies, or who enacts a massive plot twist.
And now I must ask: how will the anime end? Will the manga be concluding soon so the anime can cover the whole story? Will it cut off partway through, leaving us with the desire for a new season? Or will it just make up its own ending to spare the anime-watchers from the indiscriminate douchebaggery of the manga-readers who would rather anticlimactically tell others what happens next?
Bit of harsh language there?
In anycase, I assume that they will not make an anime original ending because we all know how that song and dance goes. I’m not sure if the manga is going to finish anytime soon, but judging by the quality of animation in the anime, I would assume 2 things: that the series will catch up to a turning point in the manga and leave it there for the time being. Or that the manga will actually be finished by the time the series is which will adapt the entirety of it. I highly doubt the latter though, too good to be true.
Sure Hope that He didnt Loose his Masturbating hand
Now I understand why my friends told me anyone can die in Shingeki no Kyojin.
wow that noob eren rushed off and let his squad get picked apart instead of regrouping and at least trying to tickle a titan tehy didnt even get to try…
I blame it mostly on Eren losing his cool and flying off the handle the way he did. It made him get complete tunnel vision on the one single Titan that killed Thomas among the dozens that were there throughout the village already, making him unable to see the other Titans immediately around him and the squad, resulting in them getting so easily ambushed by Titans that they probably would’ve been able to see and avoid otherwise.
They changed this from the manga. In the manga his squadmates didn’t immediately went after Eren. They only tried to help Eren after he had lost his leg and was laying bloodied on a roof.
http://eu.batoto.net/comics/2011/05/23/s/read4ddacf9e8ce80/175.png
Why are you all talking like Eren’s dead? He didn’t necessarily die, he just lost a leg and an arm. He’ll slice out of that disgusting things belly and save the day in the next episode, just you wait and see!
/Denial
Your comment made me think about the line from Monty Python’s Holy Grail: “It’s just a flesh wound”
This episode was amazing for me, because since i already read the manga i thought “oh i should be able to handle this” but after the episode finished i was like “i know whats gonna happen next but for some reason im still shocked!”, and i was glad that they managed to bring the emotion from the manga into the anime and actually execute it just as well. P.S Don’t read the manga if you have already seen episode 5 it will ruin the suprise
This episode of SnK just hammering the fact that human is fighting a useless struggle against the Titan, even three years of training still get you killed in second.
Another thing that has become clear is that human inside the inner wall is scum of all human, they are selfish bastard who only care about themselves. If this is the behavior of all the inner wall residents, I’m not surprise that only the best trainee allow to enter the MP just to protect the aristocrat in the inner wall.
We also can’t forget that Eren and the others are just cadets; completely green trainees. Even far more experienced Recon Squad members, as we saw in Episode 1, have taken tremendous losses against the Titans, and even when attacking them in greater numbers.
Off topic observation, The image of Shingeki no Kyojin – 05 – Large 22, They look like Viper Pilots from the original Battlestar Galactica.
If you have OCD, ADHD or are just curious as to what actually happened, click below:
Show Spoiler ▼
Actually i want to know what you guys will think happen next (ive already read the manga so i knew about erens death and whats going to happen next)as i am curious on what you guys think and your opinions
This show does a lot of things well, but the action animation really stood out for me this episode. Clearly the show has a large budget and they are spending it wisely IMO. The manga is perfect for anime adaption and the director is making the most of it.
FWIW, I read the manga after the first episode. Of course I’m enjoying the show, but I sort of regret doing so because this episode must have been really amazing to watch if you didn’t know what to expect. No spoilers and I hope people remember to use spoiler tags for those with more self discipline than me XD.
Other than that, what can I say, but the obvious? Consistently excellent each episode and IMO a lock for Anime of the Year nomination (perhaps even the title).
I held out until episode 4…and then I read the manga lol. It’s weird since I usually have more self control and typically wait until the anime is over before continuing on with the manga (assuming the story continues). But with SnK…I just couldn’t.
Anyway, I would have to agree with you about somewhat regretting having gone ahead with the manga. This episode would have had so much more impact had I not known what was coming. Although that is not to say that seeing it animated (and extremely well at that) did not the excitement, tension, and despair – because it did!
I really like the beginning sequence with Eren attempting to solo the Colossal Titan.
Damn…!
I was still half expecting/hoping Armin/Eren to rip out of titan from within … it didn’t happen 🙁
My mind exploded literally
no you obviously meant “My mind exploded ‘figuratively (speaking)’“.
More and more folks seems to be misusing terms literally vs figuratively…
ok so eren dies without even satisfying this thirst, which i mean not even killing a single eoten. hmm He must be alive, must, must, must!!!!!!. Cut out of the eoten belly and show them your a god.
hes just a brat taht wants to die cause mikasa wasnt there to save him! omg he was supposed more of a loser in the manga lol just got himself pwnt and then the squad dies trying to help him…
Enough with the eotena BS, that’s just a stupid translation Commie did.
Call them giants or titans, not eoten. >_>
What did eotens did to you?
So much hot blood that Eren lost a lot of it in the end.
IKR that eoten bit his leg off at 1st, i was wow, just wow, maybe that eoten has mad skills, or it was pure luck.
MUST. RESIST. FROM. READING. MANGA.
If u read the manga, the colossal eoten will come for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jGYAbjIOI
Enough said.
Feels like Ga Rei Zero all over again.
Well, the characters seemed to have survived longer than the cast in Ga Rei Zero. Not that much longer though.
Episode 1 of Ga Rei Zero delayed by 5 weeks =|
Can’t wait for next week!!! Bet anime series to start out since code geass!! Hope it keeps up!! Shame on the assholes/spoilers!!
Eren take the Star Wars Episode V strategy (AT&T) to attack Titans… and fail. I have a little hope than Eren die, and her sister take revenge. Sister FTW!!!
Sister?
The series was great at the start. It had the tension, the background, the characterisation, and the plot. However, this episode truly disappoints. Certainly, this show focuses on the darker themes, but the episodes are so packed with action that there really seem to be no purpose in killing off the characters. This is particularly so for Eren.
Sure, he did save his friend, suffering grave injuries (if not death) in the process, but his sacrifice serves no purpose in the overall plot – it does not tell me anymore about him, about the world, or about his friend for that matter.
If I do fancy seeing characters getting killed off on the creator’s whim, I might as well watch Titus Andronicus.
The animation… the pacing… this adaptation is incredible. And they’ve decided to make it more rather than less gruesome, which I find pleasantly surprising.
PS. Small correction: “back of the nape” would mean “back of the back of the neck”.
Damn, I had that nagging feeling something somewhere was wrong, but couldn’t tell where. Thanks for pointing it out.
As long as you pay close attention to how things develop from here on out, the location and effect of the weakpoint will make a lot more sense.
Man what a shocking episode. Looking forward to watching next weeks’ episode!!!
MY GOD! This series is SO much better animated. The manga is great in itself, but the high speed fast paced fights are pure gold!
AGH! and so much spoilers swimming in my head from watching this episode!!
reason im not gonna bother with the manga not until the anime is done.
i was expecting a more intense review when i came here after watching the episode. lol. man, that was crazy! all that momentum and then wham! this was more intense than when maes hughes died. this has got to belong in at least the top 10 deaths in anime to date.
How did it come to this? So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
WOW!!! Was just watching for fun now I really want Mikasa to kick some ass!
This series is daring. Did I just see the main character get his leg bitten off, then arm, and (what seems to be) completely eaten?!!?!? UHHHHH…
This episode became completely terrifying the moment the first one of the bunch got eaten… Oh man. I really needa start the manga. This was just too much for me to handle… can’t wait for next week!!!!
Wow, this episode feels as though Urobuchi Gen had just walked into the room and finished the rest of the script himself without anyone stopping him.
I still can’t believe Armin didn’t lend Eren a helping hand when he’s one foot into his grave. He just stood there watching .
Well, Armin was completely frozen in fear and shock which is a completely understandable reaction for his situation, and he can’t be blamed for it considering he and the others were still green cadets in their first actual battle against the Titans.
It’s a similar reaction to how, in real life, many green soldiers who have never seen actual combat have and will react when thrown into an actual battlefield, especially if it’s a very intense battlefield. I’m certain many soldiers felt this way on almost every battlefield in WWII, especially ones like D-Day, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and others where the blood and carnage was on unimaginable scales.
But this is a battlefield where you’re seeing giant monsters, that are almost impossible to kill, literally devouring your comrades, some of which you’ve known for weeks/years before, while you and your other comrades can do little to nothing against that monster even after those years of training to fight against it.
couldn’t resist and went for the manga. This show is amazing.
And to think this is only 5 episodes in! Imagine how much sh*t they have to go thru!
What if, the Titans are actually ANGELS from Evangelion and their restorative powers stem from AT field.
Oh god…THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AFTER END OF EVANGELION.
Well, that was quite a turnaround. From graduated cadets to Titan fodder on the same day. Titans were supposed to be slow and methodical – what happened to make them fast, observant, and so varied in appearance?
Here I thought Shingeki no Kyojin was going to be about mankind finally taking it to the Titans en masse, with some plot quirks (spoilers). No, instead we have massacre #5 in the fifth episode. When does the turnaround begin?
And what’s with the multiple Titans arriving at the gate within minutes of the gate being destroyed? You should be able to see these guys hours off, not seconds.
[Asobi: Spoilers] Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
This show is brutal. Absolutely brutal. I need a beer to calm myself down after that episode.
Oh man, this episode… It has me screaming and crying on the inside. I’m so glad I read the manga or I would even be more upset. Man, oh man. I hope the series just keeps doing it’s job and get better and better.
Now to wait another week for the next episode.
God dammit…
Nice, ep, got me thinking and suspecting some things though.
Checked the manga and wikia, suspicions turned out correct. Will still follow this series
Main attraction for me still the animation, the speed of the story and how they bring emotion to it all.
All in all good series, definitely top 2 this season, not sure if it’s no 1 for me though.
So we’re finally to this point. Can’t wait to see reactions from here on out.
I don´t think Eren is dead.
He can´t be…he´s a hero.
In my opinion, he will cut the titan´s throat and jumps out of this miserable situation 😀
Dont worry everybody, Eren will be back next season in the new Fullmetal Alchemist “Double Trouble” series. 😀
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first ERU-ERUFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!
now PEEEEEEEEEEK-SIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
these seiyuus are way in over their heads about name calling….its hilarious though…
I’ve not read the manga and I’ve been (successfully!) avoiding spoilers. That said, I simply can’t seen Eren being dead. Not because he’s the MC but there are just too many mysteries surrounding the boy. What was the surprise his father mentioned in episode one? In episode two something was done to him by his father, otherwise he wouldn’t have that strange key around his neck. What was he injected with? Could that be the literal key to figting back against the Titans? Furthermore, it would be a waste of character development and mystery to simply thrown Eren’s life away so soon. Hell, if he could save Armin surely, he can save himself. His rash behavior/bravery already cost him an arm and a leg. XD
Anyway, no spoilers please! I’d like to see for myself if Eren has a miracle up his remaining sleeve in the next week or two. :3
(Attack on Titan is so very bleak.)
After seeing Eren’s Death,a sudden feeling got to me:”So early?Isn’t he the MC?TCHH,gonna stop watching this then.It was getting pretty interesting until Eren died…such a waste…”
But,as an Otaku and Manga Collector,I’m gonna keep watching…could get interesting,maybe…
PS:That feeling when I saw Eren died,it was like with Elfen Lied,Mirrai Nikki,Guilty Crown,Angel Beats,WitchBlade,Kara no Kyoukai,Shingetsu Tsukihime,and with some Manga made Game such as Wild Arms 4(death of Raquel),Wild Arms 5(Cheerful Avril’s soul vanished),Persona 3 FES(Death of Minato Arisato),persona 4(Nanako’s Death when I choose the wrong path and ended to a Bad End)…*Sigh*…gonna take one whole days before returning to my cheerful self,I guess(hoping it was just a nasty nighmare Eren had…not really sure of that though…pfff…)
“But,as an Otaku and Manga Collector,I’m gonna keep watching…could get interesting,maybe…”
That’s kind of my baseline for enjoying most shows. As long as I’m interested or close to being interested I can usually keep going with a series.
I’m not sure what I could compare the feeling to since I’m still not convinced Eren is dead yet. He just hasn’t had enough realization as a character and too many mysteries surround him. With other deaths in other series the character was mostly realized. So I’d say don’t feel bad quite yet.
“persona 4(Nanako’s Death when I choose the wrong path and ended to a Bad End)…*Sigh*”
Also, I *really* hope you had multiple saves for Persona 4. The moral of that story is to not push people into TVs and to tell your teammates to calm the hell down. Though Megaten in general can be a big mind screw topped with a ball of depression and darkness.
I swear to god with all the shit this episode put me through, Mikasa had better come in next week and slaughter every goddamn one of them.
well…. 🙂
Already this far into the titan arc with a 25 episode series? ok, gonna be interesting to watch this one develop, starting to wonder if it’s going to pull a claymore.
I really liked how the author played the audience and the director just stacked it even higher. When the steam seemed to be straining Eren’s gear (with the director playing it up), you would expect Eren to be flying off or barely hanging on. Instead Eren wheels himself in which really shows his determination more than his many speeches. This part made it seem like they could actually fight the titans since Eren almost hit the weak spot.
Then the next part shows just how far the audience was played. Trying to be gung-ho to suppress their fear, it seemed like the story could actually turn into a standard shonen save the day fight. Instead, the author does a bait and switch and instantly, the titans reassert themselves showing why the recon troops in the first episode failed and failed so badly not to mention why the vanguard defenders were all destroyed.
Hope (last episode on top of the wall) -> fear (colossal titan) -> hope (eren’s seemingly almost victory) -> fear (everyone getting downed) -> despair (eren getting eaten). It really is a rollercoaster and it doesn’t help that the titans are hilarious looking (bearded guy and the twin tails girl eater).
The part of the noble was a anime original from what I hear but the director really got it right. Not because of the noble’s words or pixis’s dialogue but because of the scene where he took several dainty pastries and crammed it into his mouth. With episodes 2, 3 and 4 showing eren and the rest eating nothing but bread (and some stew when they were training) and armin’s grandfather passing his hat to him before being sent to die to relieve the stress on the food supplies, it really shows the vast gulf more than any dialogue they could put in
The “handicap” for the chess game & the cookies were perfect to set the noble’s character.
The whining “Pixis!!!!” could have been toned down a bit though ..
I think the handicap shows Pixis as not being politically dumb. He’s ok with pandering to the nobles as long as it lets him do his job.
Also the voice acting for the vet telling the rookies the plan and reminding them its execution for deserters is great. The uneven voice and eye rings on his face mixes extremely well to portray the feelings of their military.
At this rate, (people being idiots and still continuing to spoil manga materials), I sorta want comments to be completely disabled for this series…
That would defeat the whole purpose of having this article here kinda (no offense RandomC authors). I feel that articles are made of both reviews and discussion.
I’m sure this has been said countless times over the internet but if you don’t want to be spoiled, then don’t take any chances. Just read these articles when the series is over.
That being said, I think that spoilers are not needed even in the case of someone asking. If someone wants to know something, just look it up on the Shingeki No Kyojin Wikia (warning, spoilers everywhere on that wiki).
I do like the animation, but found several instances of CGI badly distracting in this episode in a way I didn’t notice in any previous ones.
Eren’s Death => Heart Attack => WTF???!!!!
Okay, now he even lost an arm due to it getting bitten off by one of the monsters? They can’t really put any more hommage to Berserk into this, can they?! But I like that <3
(Really, the only difference is that Guts was still outside the monster when his arm got chewed off XD)
And so far that is the only thing you can relate to the 2 series? I wouldn’t even call it homage or shouting out to Berserk. They are quite completely different series. The setting isn’t remotely the same, nor are the characters. The tech are completely different.
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No offense… but I think Shingeki No Kyojin and Berserk barely have any similarities out of the norm.
Mikasa became real hot
THIS is one of the shows TO BEAT… this is why i got into anime.
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This is most likely the show of the season. Nothing really comes close to it in terms of genuine quality content.
Cant wait to see what happens in episode 6,
PS 200 comments muahahaa. 😉
I keep wondering who they can replace Erin with as the protagonist, and I simply can’t come up with anything. Unless they do some kind of timeskip, but even then its hard to picture it.
Is there any kind of plot armor that can protect someone from losing an arm and a leg and being eaten by a titan?? I know its impossible, but I can’t imagine a story without Erin. He seems far too important to the story to be a false protagonist.
I haven’t been trolled this hard since I played Muv Luv Alternative.
you’re trolling, right? xD
If you ever read manga “Claymore”,this and that manga used the same plot device for solved situation like this.
This cant be the death of Eren! Maybe a automail lol, or some secret regarding the injection he recieved from his dad might turnout to be regenerative abilities?
Or he becomes part of the titan and takes control of its mind.
Probably the best theory I’ve heard so far…
What lies under the basement of his old house (since he is wearing the key) is also definitely going to be one of the major reveals of the story… the plot armor is way too strong with Eren. The ability to regenerate limbs sounds really cheesy though…
Anyway, I’m fully expecting Eren to cut his way out of the Eotenas in Episode 7 *speculation*.
Much better episode. I’m liking the characters a lot more now. Eren is obviously not dead btw. If this was the case then the flashback with his dead injecting something into him would have virtually no significance whatsoever in the grand scheme of things.
I wonder if this show has anything to do with Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels?
I think I have an idea what’s going to happen, especially considering what kind of man Eren’s father was and (as lagann said) the flashback with his dad injecting SOMETHING into him. I’ll leave it there, because I would’nt want to spoil anything if I turn out to be right. But yeah, it’s highly unlikely that Eren is dead.
that’s it, I’m going to read the manga!!!