So I’ve finally caught up on this show, and I’ve actually been really enjoying it lately. I think this second season has been much faster-paced and more full of interesting developments than the first half, and has been basically doing everything I could have hoped for – broadening the character focus, introducing multiple concurrent conflicts (the traitor, the original squad’s troubles, Eren’s own issues), and consistently adding new ideas. And I’ve got the goddamn words to prove it – if you’re interested, you can see writeups on 16 and 17 here[1] and here[2] . But screw that, I’m up to date. Let’s watch some Titan.

Episode 18

2:47 – That shot of Mikasa acting all stoic and badass always makes me wonder what she would have done if Eren had decided to be a banker or something. Would she just be running the surviving human economy at this point? I guess maybe she could do her own thing if Eren weren’t so goddamn intent on getting himself killed

2:56 – Titan is Serious Business[3]   Sorry, sorry. Sorry.

4:07 – I really think the show needs a balance between Titans as immediate obstacles and Titans as source of constant, invisible threat[4]  . I think this setup provides for a much more even horror/action mix than Trost did

4:16 – Man, Jean can get down on himself about anything[5]  , huh?

4:53 – Another war story staple.[6]   “We survived the battle, what justice is there in cold/starvation/lack of medical treatment killing us?” I’m not knocking it – knowing what sources to draw on is a key part of storytelling, and this is a good call for this kind of story

6:56 – Though this war has taken all else, moe must not die[7]  

7:17 – Moe was saved. The sun shines upon this day[8]  

7:26 – This show really is pretty funny[9]  . I think I actually love stupid jokes as long as they’re incredibly inappropriate to the tone and really stupid

9:31 – I like this.[10]   After all the chaos of the last episode, just letting us see it from Eren’s incredibly limited, claustrophobic perspective

10:09 – A nice demonstration of how much better[11]   the recon team is than the rookies we’ve seen so far. That gear is quite the superpower

12:33 – Recon team: not the best at naming things[12]  

14:09 – One of these days, Armin is gonna figure these things out[13]  

17:03 – Half-off sale at Macys you guys[14]  

17:27 – Awesome.[15]   Not only is this much more practical “intelligence” than most allegedly intelligent characters, it’s also my first rule of worthwhile criticism – assume the people making decisions aren’t complete idiots, and make deductions from there

18:24 – “Lol 2deep4u shit… wait… oh my god[16]  ”

Man, I’m being a dick tonight, huh? Apologies, I hit the bottle a little early

18:50 – And then the show provides its own counter-meme[17]  

19:44 – These titans[18]  . Reiner is not amused

I do like this strategy, though. They can use the trees to basically create a fence of titan-bait with the outlying soldiers, and reduce the fight to the best soldiers versus the female titan in the most fortuitous possible environment. I approve

And Done

Oh man, those fuckers. They dragged out that last moment there, but the female titan’s reentry was top-notch action drama. I think this episode was a bit of a step down from the previous one, but it was still exciting and propulsive – no true standout moments like the female titan’s introduction, but a lot of fun action and back-and-forth between the members of the various squads. They’ve probably got another couple episodes of sweet drama to draw from this female titan, as long as they keep shifting up the variables (like this episode’s wider squad focus and introduction of the forest, as compared to last episode’s more personal focus and introduction of the female titan). I’m still having a lot of fun with this second half. Here’s hoping they keep it up

Episode 17

3:04 – This show does have some lovely backgrounds

3:48 – Solid stuff. This show is always at its best when it’s riding on action momentum

4:46 – “Don’t pee your pants!” “You too!” Goddamnit Armin he was making… never mind. Forget it. It’s just Jean being tsun again

4:59 – Okay, this is exactly the kind of shit I was hoping this show would be about

6:26 – “Thus the column can proceed without encountering titans.” Interesting. I guess the commander uses the trails to gauge where specifically the first signal came from, in case he doesn’t catch the original trail? That would make the “if you see a flare, fire as well” make sense – I assume there are more specifics to this system they’re just not explaining, otherwise I assume everyone would fire a flare as a domino effect any time a titan is sighted

7:02 – Fuckin’ sweet sequence. Titans are much scarier when it’s one horrible creature chasing a person you know, and not a wave of monsters killing a wave of faceless victims. Plus, the fact that we’ve had some breathing room helps greatly – Trost resulted in massive titan fatigue for me, with any single threat just becoming meaningless by the end

8:10 – It was an interesting choice, making the abnormals seem souncomfortable with their bodies. Definitely heightens how “wrong” they’re supposed to seem

8:49 – Wow, this job sucks. No wonder they lose so many goddamn recon troups

9:40 – This sequence is excellent, and honestly one of the first examples of truly good direction I’ve seen in this series. The whole sequence builds that “wait, something’s not right here” feeling in the best possible way – Armin’s expression, the slow pan as the sergeant gets back on his horse into the Titan in the distance, the soldiers grimly but stoically resolving to kill this one as well. All the momentum up till now has been cut out, as this scene is neither an extended Titan fight nor a series of jump-cuts as before – the very fact that they’re lingering this long on the introduction of one more titan implies something horrible is about to happen. Really, really nice

11:23 – Didn’t really want to pause for screencaps, because that whole sequence was fantastic. Great introduction, the music perfectly nailed that kind of off-kilter horror film vibe, and Armin is far more compelling to watch now that he has some confidence and resolve. It was also an action setpiece that efficiently pushed the narrative forward – the scene was visually compelling, but Armin took the time to push the dots from “Eren can become a titan and act intelligently -> that makes it likely that the other unique titans are similar -> that means they are humans as well -> what do they want,” which is ahuge progression in narrative for a show that’s so far been so miserly in its plot progression. This show is looking up!

12:20 – I mean, it looks like Annie, right? Am I supposed to think that?

12:24 – Okay, that was obviously titan-perspective, so it apparently recognized him specifically and then decided not to splat him

16:10 – Jean’s toughened up quite a bit. Not much else to say here. This exposition is fine, since it’s actually conveying necessary information, and this feels like the first time Armin’s actually demonstrated real intelligence, and not just “shounen smart one”-level intelligence. It’s not graceful, but it’s fine

16:37 – Yeah seriously though

16:47 – Okay, getting a little on-the-nose here. Goddamn is this show bad at character development

17:43 – Holy shit Armin realized Jean was insulting him

18:51 – And the show straight-up admits those two are OP as fuck

21:16 – Holy shit Reiner’s dead! Well, fuck! Two down, eight left…

21:26 – Nevermind Reiner’s fine fuck you Titan

And Done

That was an excellent episode. Some fun tactical stuff, some nice bits of direction, and several good action setpieces. I had my complaints too, but I always have some complaints with this show, and as long as it keeps up momentum in both narrative and individual scenes, any issues I have with characterization or storytelling are minimized. Those things have never been what this show does well, and when it doesfocus on what it does well (and especially when the direction gets careful), it is a damn entertaining spectacle. Definitely one of the best episodes of the series

Yep, picking this up again, again. What I’ve seen/heard about this recent arc seems far more interesting and dynamic than Trost, and this show just works better when you watch at least a couple episodes at a time. It doesn’t make its’ flaws go away, but it does make the show more enjoyable in spite of them. But enough negativity – new arc, new characters, and this time we’re working with actual professional Titan-killers, so it should be much less “let’s all die as slowly as possible so Eren can get shit done” than I was worried about. Let’s fighting!

Episode 16

2:17 – “Whoever did it must have really hated the Titans.” You never were the smart one, Connie…

And then of course Armin agrees with him, proving no-one in this show is actually the smart one.

3:30 – These quiet moments with the team are generally my favorites of the series (which might betray the fact that I’m probably not the right person to be critiquing Titan, of all things)

4:06 – “Not everyone can be like you.” Don’t knock your lack of shounen protagonism, Jean. It makes you the best character in the series

4:49 – That expression. Courage isn’t a lack of fear, it’s acting in spite of it

5:54 – “There’s a time and place where people are morally obligated to lay down their lives.” Not that humanity here has really been portrayed as a race worth protecting

6:45 – And there’s the murder-mystery angle. I’ve been liking this second half significantly more than the first so far – the characters actually have a little grounding now, there’s more going on, and each plot thread is moving forward in a way that changes the variables of the world and characters. But again, I find stuff like Levi’s guitar-solo-Titan-slaying introduction actively tedious, so that might just be me

6:59 – “I wonder if there’s anyone crazy enough to join us.” “Hey Eren! You’re crazy, wadda you think?”

8:23 – It’s like that scene in Starship Troopers where the protagonist is now the grizzled sergeant talking to the new recruits, except this isn’t a subversive indictment of jingoistic war fetishism and that comparison doesn’t make any sense

8:30 – “Unlike some dumbfucks, I ain’t got no death drive.” For this show, I actually appreciate Commie’s bullshit

10:26 – “We have the key to discovering the Titans’ true nature.”Don’t listen that dumbfuck Armin, I actually love it when this show’s leaders use a little propaganda or mob-riling for the greater good

12:13 – “Most of you who join will die. Likely slowly, almost certainly horribly. Those who survive will watch the first group as they are dying. Most of this second group will then die.” Man, he really knows how to sell ‘em

13:31 – Man, I was wondering if they’d actually switched directors for a couple episodes there. Nope!

15:15 – I actually find this show’s goofy, bipolar sense of humorpretty endearing

15:58 – “Strangely, Eren’s position was nowhere to be found.” Adding the possibility of some kind of traitor really does make this more interesting

16:40 – “This mission may have a secret objective…” You don’t say! This should be fun

17:28 – Commie contain yourselves.

17:36 – Okay this is getting out of hand. Switching back to subs written by adults after this…

And Done

Fine episode. It was a board-arranger, but it arranged the board pretty effectively, and there was plenty of Jean. I’m honestly not sure what I’m supposed to believe convinced the recruits to join the death squad – it made it clear they were all scared out of their wits, but the only motivation I’m really seeing beyond Marco’s effect on Jean and Mikasa’s motivation is “somebody’s gotta do it!” I guess that’s the best you can do in an action show with an ensemble cast, but it’s not all that satisfying. But this episode still moved well and drew the players together for the next act, so overall it was a serviceable if unremarkable episode

Confession time: I actually haven’t watched this show since episode 13 three weeks ago. I thought that episode was reasonable, but at that point the show’s issues had basically lost me as a committed viewer, and I didn’t think doing writeups would accomplish anything but annoy people.

However. What I’ve seen from episode 14 reviews is that it at least moves forward, regardless of whether I will like the direction it moves in or not. Currently I’ve got some free time and I’m not particularly interested in working on my backlog, which is shameful but what can you do. I kinda want to catch up on this show, but my thoughts from here on out are going to be fairly honest.

Second confession time: I haven’t thought this is a good show in a long time. I thought it started as a bleak, melodramatic shounen in a fairly compelling world, and the only thing more episodes have added to that assessment is “has horrific, glacial pacing.” I’ve gone kind of easy on it in my writeups because people like it a lot and pissing people off through attitude alone means they won’t read or consider anything I have to say. But unless this show immediately shapes up, these writeups might start becoming just a little Crime Edgey.

Alright. As long as we’re clear. As always, nothing I say is a personal attack on anyone, it’s just my feelings towards the media I am watching. 3-2-1 let’s jam.

Episode 14

0:14 – I have always liked this show’s visual aesthetic. Good to see it again.

0:32 – Goddamnit Levi. Well, I guess if you design a character specifically to be a fan-favorite badass, he’s gonna be a fan-favorite badass

0:42 – “I’ll make this piggy squeal. Nobody except me is up for the job.” That’s right, Eren. HE’LL LEARN YA

1:28 – God these Guns ‘n Roses video OPs. Love it

2:19 – Vague hints at a female Titan scattering that OP. Also loved how the song did that exact same “crazy repetitive progression solo-key change-even more furious progression solo” trick the first one did. Makes me want to go play some goddamn guitar

2:28 – I like that shot. Says a decent amount about their society and current situation without saying a word

2:56 – “But then there might be another food shortage…” Holy shit, a larger context for their conflict? Count me in

3:28 – That’s also some pretty efficient conflict-characterization there. The aristocracy only think of an unknown variable like a sympathetic Titan in terms of how it might upset the current balance of power, whereas the proles see it as an almost religious figure. This episode is doing a lot of work to make me like it in very short order

4:44 – A trial to remove him as a threat to the current societal order? Well, it’s not subtle, but it’s certainly about something

5:40 – “Unfortunately, all I can do is argue my case against the police.” I also like how they’re actually making a clean distinction between the executive calls Pixis can make in the heat of battle and his influence during peacetime. Man, if I’d known this episode was gonna be good I wouldn’t have prefaced it with all those dire caveats

6:50 – The trial’s this afternoon? Fantastic. Granted, the last afternoon we witnessed took about seven or eight episodes to get through, but I have a feeling they know that’s not a trick they can get away with often

8:10 – “I won’t have to live my whole life like this, right?” And here’s an internal monologue I can actually get behind. He’s frankly accounting the various weights on his mental state – this is a far cry from the “what am I doing? what’s going on? why are people yelling at me?” Titan-daze of the post-Titanification monologues

9:04 – “Hiiiiiii! I’m Zoe and this is Mike. He smells people, don’t worry about it.” So I guess all the Recons are weirdos

9:33 – And he’s on the trial floor? Man, what happened to the Titan that would spend an entire episode debating whether to say you’re a human or not? Not that I’m complaining

10:06 – They don’t really care about the dignity of the accused, huh?

12:22 – “He’s from the church of the walls… of course their superstitious jibber-jabber would set itself as an obstacle against human enlightenment.” I know when I’m being pandered to, Titan. Casting religion as a malevolent farce will not buy you my love

14:24 – “You look upon the greatness of the Walls, which defies human understanding…” Okay, that’s just such a beautiful articulation of this bullshit that I have to applaud. “Just look at this feat of human engineering which is slightly beyond my ability to grasp! Surely you must see the glory of God!” Adorable

17:08 – “He straight-up murdered those dudes at nine years old. Can we really entrust him with the future of mankind?” Playing on people’s silly emotional vulnerabilities to cloud the actual issues. I like it!

21:00 – “I can easily kill him.” “I’ve made my decision.” Oh man, so awesome. The Recon corps prove themselves just as capable of playing on people’s emotional weaknesses to sway this charade of a court – kick the shit out of Eren to generate sympathy for him as a human, then switch to an all-or-nothing proposal from a position of shock and strength. Great stuff

And Done

Wow! I really enjoyed that one! It’s honestly been a while since I could say that about Titan – it was fast-paced and introduced a lot of new ideas and actually put all that “manipulating public sentiment for the greater good” stuff that had been vaguely hinted at before front and center. I love how the Recon forces’ legitimate argument was obviously stronger than the Police’s, but they still had to resort to cheap disorienting tricks to win the trial, since that’s just how the game is played. And now Eren and Levi are off on an adventure? Hopefully next episode maintains this pacing, and doesn’t linger on incredibly dragged-out goodbyes or anything – either way, this was a very good episode.

Alright, finally got some time for Titan. It’s definitely earned a fair shake this week – Pixis’ focused and theme-outlining speeches from last episode definitely helped renew my interest in this show, and partially made up for the pretty terrible pacing and lack of meaningful action that have recently brought momentum to a standstill. It’s also just nice to see someone displaying actual competence in this universe – getting down on humanity for their panic and weakness is great and all, but it’s kind of an empty message if your portrayal of humanity is all babbling strawmen like the bearded officer. Pixis displayed actual charisma, got straight to the point when necessary, and used a handy dash of psychological warfare to rally troops in the face of terrifying odds. We know a recap episode is coming soon, so hopefully this episode will ride the current momentum into a fast-paced and eventful conclusion.

Episode 12

4:08 – “We must win this battle.” It still seems crazy to me that they’re betting both Eren’s power and the entirety of this fighting force on Eren’s powers maybe working the way they hope they do. Sure, losing the buffer wall puts them in serious danger, but potentially losing both these resources seems far more risky.

I think I’d be more accepting of this as a necessity to keep the story moving quickly if the story actually weremoving quickly in general, or if this show didn’t place such an emphasis on plans and tactics. As is, it’s a little harder to suspend my disbelief

4:58 – Mikasa versus the Titan. That’s a great image and a great moment

8:05 – “Unlike us, he’s an irreplaceable resource.” Thank you.

8:29 – It’s Jean! SAVE US, JEAN!

9:07 – “Minimizing losses is the correct tactical choice. The bosses are in the right!” Jean always best character – I love seeing his strong understanding of strategy and absolutely terrible understanding of people slam against each other. Nice pep talk, Coach!

11:08 – Is this the screencap you fuckers wanted? [1] Pretty adorable, admittedly

12:07 – Well, we’re halfway through the episode, and so far Eren has successfully hit himself in the face and fallen down. Not exactly what I was hoping for

12:15 – “During training, instructors will sometimes intentionally cut trainees’ cables to gauge their reactions.” That’s pretty brutal! I’d say a mean little detail like that is worth a dozen terrified reaction faces

16:02 – “Back then, Eren emerged from their weak point. I’m sure that’s a clue about what they really are.” And clearly that’s a clue about where this story is heading

17:05 – “Eren, get out of there!” Eh. This is the exact same dramatic trick they pulled when Eren was basically comatose in front of the firing squad – and it wasn’t very satisfying then, either. It’s not about accomplishing some heroic task, with specific, defined obstacles (the way their raid on the gas supplies was, which is in my mind the only really successful action setpiece so far) – it’s about them dragging out moments while we wait for Eren to wake up again. Maybe this works in manga format, but here each “panel” is several seconds of the camera zooming while the show attempts to build tension around a binary conflict (will he wake up, yes or no) we’ve seen before and pretty much can guess the ending of

I think that’s all pretty obvious, so for the sake of making this writeup interesting, let me at least think about how I’d handle a moment like this. Well, first of all, I probably wouldn’t be here – I don’t think “everyone slowly gets themselves killed while Eren, the one truly relevant factor, either succeeds or doesn’t succeed” is a very good use of this show’s resources, so I’d probably have spent an episode integrating Eren’s abilities in some dynamic way and then set up a mission where both his part and the part of the regular squad were meaningful and interesting in their own right. If I were in this particular moment, I’d say we need something to add relevant tension to the conflict. I’m guessing the best way to do that would be to run with that little flashback Eren had, and have a thematically relevant flashback to accompany Eren’s awakened resolve – his inability to accept the complacency of the other humans has always been pretty key to his character, and maybe remembering that could also be the key to his ability to master the Titan. This would also make for a nice symmetry with Mikasa and Armin’s own resolve-discovering flashbacks this arc

17:37 – Oh look, they’re doing that. That’s good

21:11 – “Deserts and oceans and massive tracts of land!” I’d make a Holy Grail reference, but I’m pretty sure “massive tracts of land” is just Commie being Commie

And Done

So it’s looking like only incredibly strong primal emotions (“I can’t die here!” “I have to protect them!” “I was born into this world!”) can actually guide the Titan? I guess that works.

Otherwise, pretty meh episode. I liked the stuff with our main trio’s squadmates, but I pretty much always like their brief relationship-building exchanges. Otherwise, more redundant we’re-all-gonna-die stuff from the peanut gallery, and the conflict with Eren was pretty much an exact copy of the second time he became a Titan. I’m assuming next episode will finally bring an end to this conflict – hopefully the next arc won’t drag its story out to the degree this one has been doing.

Well, this fucker’s taking a while to, uh, be legally purchased, so I might as well lay out the score.

I think this show’s been kinda struggling lately. My initial thoughts were: cool concept, the animation of the action scenes is great, the dramatic scenes come off as unfortunately melodramatic. My thoughts in the middle stretch, through the training and the gas raid, were: alright, cool, it’s pretty superficial, but it’s a fun action show and I like the idea of a sort of chessboardy squad-based tactical drama.

Recently?

Man, these last two episodes really didn’t do it for me. The pacing has slowed to something well below a crawl – we’ve spent 40 minutes of screentime watching Eren, Armin, and Mikasa have a brief argument with a lunatic. There have been a lot of flashbacks, a lot of gaping, horrified expressions, and a lot of frantic repeated arguments.

I have not been impressed.

Fortunately, Pixis is apparently a huge plot-progressing badass, and he has successfully shoved us towards our next daring action gambit. This show occasionally pulls out some really superb moments that push character/plot development while also working as frenetic entertainment – I’m thinking of stuff like Mikasa’s resolution to live just before Ereoten (yeah, I’m rolling Commie) appeared, or Eren’s transformation sequence into Ereoten at the end of 9. But I think the show is most consistent when it’s using the ensemble cast for daring heroism – and this attempt to re-secure the wall makes me hope we’re getting more of that. Either way, more Pixis for me.

Episode 11

3:06 – “That plan I came up with is ridiculous, and we’re just running with it?” “I was thinking the same thing.” Yeah Armin, turns out Eren just wanted to make you feel included last episode. Congrats on your character development, though!

3:57 – “The Titans aren’t our only enemies.” Well, first of all, I was running Commie regardless, but I am very thankful they’ve decided to back down on that incredibly self-satisfied translation. But more importantly, this hopefully means we’re gonna get into the psychology of war stuff – either through needing to give the people hope, or through needing to make a terrified populace accept something like Eren’s power

4:22 – Man makes horrified expression and grabs own head. Commanding officer turns back, wearing horrified expression. Horrified expression count: 2.

4:37: 4

4:44: 5

4:55: 9

5:01: 11

5:30 – Okay, mocking this show’s one expression is fun and all, but that sequence actually did go into the fraying mental state of the soldiers, which will hopefully lead to the importance of symbols or something (omg Eren is Batman), which is a good place for this show to be going

5:48 – “If a powerful external threat were to appear, mankind would cease its squabbles and unite.” Alan Moore nods approvingly

6:30 – I like Eren’s “head in the game, scrub ” expression

7:10 – And Eren can’t hold his liquor. I swear, this show has the weirdest sense of humor. On that note, brb whiskey

8:16 – Pixis just keeps going up. Awesome that he’s immediately framing Eren’s trump card as a known top-secret project, so it’s just another encouraging, reliable piece of their military apparatus, and not a crazy what-the-fuck-is-that nobody knows anything about

10:33 – “There’s a limit to how much one can be motivated by terror.” Interesting choice of words, considering it seems Pixis’ speech is designed to keep the troops level-headed and removed from their fear. Is this getting back to the complacency of the first episode, where the lack of an immediate threat weakened the military into indolence? Not sure what else they’re referring to

11:26 – “Traitors? I’LL CUT YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND!” Oh man! Weirdy beardy might be a terrible leader and strategist, but he’s got Pixis’s back! In his own, poorly-thought-through, likely-to-cause-a-riot kind of way

11:40 – Hold the phone, isn’t that the lady of Pixis’s dreams? 

12:17 – YES! Rally the FUCK out of those troops, Pixis! God, it is so good to see a goddamn general doing his actual goddamn job, and doing it well – I get pretty tired of all authority figures being incompetent buffoons

13:44 – This speech is fantastic. Maybe the best moment of the series so far. No complaints

13:45 – “I don’t know if I can move that boulder, but I do know my dick is diamonds after that motherfucking speech.”

14:07 – “I must become a symbol of hope for everyone.” What was that, Eren? I’m not sure I heard you – were you ratifying my suspicions about the entire point of this episode or something?

14:36 – Sweet, weirdy beardy’s glasses-pusher assistant will be joining us. I do love a good glasses-pusher

15:53 – Pixis knows the plan is a massive gamble, so he attacks the logical elites through their pride, not their intellect. He is taking this show the fuck over, and I could not be more cool with that

16:42 – Judging a man by the caliber of his drinking. C’mon Titan, I know when I’m being pandered to

17:30 – “I’m neither your little brother nor your kid.” It’s nice to see Eren directly address Mikasa’s very specific relationship with him. I think a lot of this show’s overwhelming commercial success lies in its avoidance of overt anime-isms, and “they have a weird super-personal relationship and nobody talks about it” is one anime-ism I am very happy to see die in a fire

19:25 – Excellent, excellent little piece of episode-specific storytelling there. That would-be deserter was given a full narrative arc: from urging others to justify his desertion, to leading the exodus himself, to being drawn back by his desire to protect his family, to acting as one of the most stalwart believers in the necessity of their plan. And he wasn’t even given a name. Fantastic storytelling

21:20 – Jesus christ, does this show burn 98% of its budget on these flying sequences? Not actually complaining

And Done

Damn! Not sure specifically what that ending implies, but it reeks of a cheap cliffhanger that will be resolved in the first ten seconds of the next episode, so I ain’t worried.

But fuck that noise. That episode was awesome! I think it was pretty easily my favorite of the series so far. My hopes for Pixis couldn’t have been better-placed – he kept the plot moving at an extremely satisfying clip, was full of entertaining one-liners and casually tossed off a ridiculously inspired and thematically relevant speech. Speaking of thematics, holy shit, this episode actually had some real ideas! For the first time, I felt this show moved beyond being entirely about narrative points moving to other narrative points, and dabbled in greater ideas of how our mentality and psychology can dictate our potential. It was pretty much the classic Batman stuff (the people need a symbol), but I’m not complaining. It also advanced several characters in a much less beating-you-on-the-nose way than Armin’s turn last week, outlined the greater significance of this conflict, and refused to wallow in tedious despair. Pixis, you’re a pretty cool guy. Keep on slapping this show into fighting shape

Yeah, that’s right, Eren’s a superhero now. The fuck you gonna do about it?

Episode 10

2:30 – Jeez, I forgot this battle’s been going on for six damn episodes. I guess the constant flashbacks will do that…

2:50: Speak of the flashback…

3:42 – “My tummy hurts!” This show has such a weird sense of humor. At this point, the number of despair faces and despair speeches we’ve run through in the past few episodes has definitely tipped into the realm of self-parody, but you’re actually supposed to take most of them seriously, and then there’s a joke like this that basically acknowledges how wide-eyed despair has become almost every character’s default expression. But aside from the silly gag, it doesn’t actually separate itself from the serious despair scenes in any tonal way. For a show that puts so much stock in maintaining its grim atmosphere, it seems weirdly flippant about how easily it can be perceived as comedy

4:30: Carpenters and stonemasons must make a killing in this world, what with all the constant holes in walls and roofs from the soldiers flinging themselves around

5:32 – Great, so when Eren claims to not be a titan, the captain opens fire – but when he actually morphs into one, he orders everyone to hold position

6:18 – “I heard the cannons fire…” For this episode, the role of flashback will be played by Armin’s narration

6:30 – Flowers? Hm. Odd bit of foreshadowing there – no idea what it could mean yet

7:04 – “We can’t negotiate with the garrison.” Isn’t there a single person in the chain of command who isn’t a goddamn idiot with no ability to process new information? I mean, I get that taking the risk of trying to negotiate with people who just cannon’d you is probably a bad call, but this captain is just such an openly incompetent and antagonistic character that it’s frustrating having the plot be dictated by his insane ramblings

7:56 – “Eren, we’ve got other matters to attend to.” Thank you Mikasa. Freakin’ Eren monologuing himself into another cannon barrage…

8:17 – “Hold your fire! I’m getting dust in my eyes!”

8:55 – “That explains the lack of durability and functions.” So his power basically manifests titanism designed to fulfill his current base desire? That works. Still monologuing with cannons pointed at him, though

11:03 – Yesss, develop Armin. He’s been static for too long, and these other two desperately need a competent person who thinks before they act

11:18 – That said, the flashback meter is going crazy right now

12:09 – “Using these powers strategically, as part of the military…” YES. PLEASE.

14:01 – That’s right, Armin. Believe in the Eren and Mikasa who believe in you!

14:27 – “I’ll use my brain even while I’m talking!” Is that… not what he usually does?

17:25 – Legitimately nice speech by Armin there – appealing to their camaraderie as soldiers was a good call. I wonder who’s gonna appear at the last moment to stop this idiot captain?

17:41 – PIXIS?!?!

17:59 – “You go take command of the reinforcements.” Why is anyone letting this man take command of ANYTHING?He couldn’t fucking strategize his way through a ham sandwich

Also, I accidentally paused to type this at the most perfect moment [RES ignored duplicate image][1] . Armin, you are beautiful

19:07 – Man, I get the feeling Pixis and I are gonna get along just fine

20:38 – “It was just something I came up with to give people hope Eren’s power could get us out of this.” Wow. This one sentence hopefully puts all those despair faces into perspective. If this is actually a thematically meaningful statement, it also explains the focus on the irrationality of the soldiers when dealing with Eren earlier – this show might actually be interested in the irrational nature of human optimism, pessimism, and morality, and have characters actively manipulating either their subordinates or the general populace for the greater good. That’s a really compelling idea, and one I hope the show continues to pursue

Also, if it is true, it basically means Eren is this world’s Batman – “the people need a symbol” and all that

21:46 – “Will you give it a shot, or not?” I understand how drama-wise we need to keep up the momentum, but this seriously doesn’t seem like how an intelligent commander would take the news of a trump card as critical as Eren’s powers. His abilities seem very literally to be the difference between survival and extinction – they should test the goddamn things, and devise exactly how they can be best employed. Sure, it’ll mean more titans enter Trost – but Trost doesn’t seem strategically significant anyway. This is not something you throw away in a gamble

And Done

Whew! That one finished strong, though once again it started pretty slowly. That seems to be the pattern with this show – every episode starts with a pile of slower exposition and character-checking-in, and then moves to a dramatic finale that pushes the plot forward a bit. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of this format; at least this episode, it felt like the scene with our dynamic trio concealed by dust went on far too long, even if it resulted in some long-overdue character development for Armin. Ten episodes in, I still feel like we’re setting up the pieces for the game to come – establishing the various interactions between the characters, giving each squad member a base level of conviction and a specific strength to contribute, exploring Eren’s power. And I’m not actually against that in any way – I just think the pacing seems slow for scenes that essentially amount to worldbuilding and exposition.

Still, I’m certainly enjoying the show – I like the world they’ve created, I like the idea of a show based on the human side of military strategy, and the direction is pretty endearingly melodramatic. But I can’t help feeling I’m still waiting for it all to kick into high gear.

Fortunately, this shit is 2-cour. My body is ready.

So! Lotta questions this week. Eren’s back, and was either controlling or actually became the fabulous-haired Titan. He’s apparently regenerated, as well. Where are they going with this?

Well, we certainly have clues – in particular, the foreshadowing from the first couple episodes is looking to finally become relevant. That shot of the syringe, his father talking about showing Eren whatever craziness goes on in their basement… obviously they didn’t include those moments for shits and giggles. Some crazy science has been done to Eren, and I’m guessing in the semi-near future that will likely be investigated. I can’t remember if we know what happened to Eren’s father, either – as I recall, he was last reported missing, right? So that and the basement itself are two valid threads to follow, and the idea of our squad performing a stealth investigative mission deep into Titan-controlled territory sounds pretty awesome.

But first our heroes should probably deal with all those fucking Titans wobbling around. Let’s get to it!

Episode 9

2:57 – Another flashback? Jeez.

It must be tough figuring out how to balance a show with this much exposition – one full episode of backstory, Titan attack. Two full episodes of training and character-introducing, Titan attack. Etc. I’m not sure this show (or manga, I guess, depending on how loyal they’re being to the source) has quite gotten the balance right yet – I’d like to see more of the information we receive portrayed in a more organic way, and not through direct monologues or flashbacks

3:14 – I guess we’ve found Sasha’s big sister?

4:26 – Haha, damn, this guy gets his own theme song? Looks like we got a badass here

6:00 – Man, this episode’s like an AMV of itself

7:15 – Damn! I mean, doing spinning flips and killing titans to J-rock is cool and all, but that was an actually nice little “you did good, soldier” speech he whipped out! I might actually like this character

8:25 – Now here’s the flashback we’ve been waiting for…

8:48 – That’s pretty brutal – any soldier who gets swallowed whole gets to die in digestive fluids, surrounded by dead friends serving as reminders of how hopeless their fight is. Cheery!

9:19 – The mystical flashback within a flashback. We need to go deeper

10:06 – “I’ll kill them with my own hands!” With your own hand, Eren. Let’s not lose sight of the important things, like dismemberment

11:35 – So it seems like he is pretty berserky in Titan mode. Probably for the best, story-wise

Also, is it just me, or is this Armin’s default expression?  Your face is gonna get stuck like that, Armin

12:49 – Again, that exposition pacing… I like how the end of the flashback immediately jumps to the next relevant moment in the story, but, I mean, how valuable was that Eren flashback in the first place? We learned Eren became a titan. Which we already knew. I guess we learned that he still kinda consciously controls it? That doesn’t seem worth a full flashback for, though. Most of the flashback was dedicated to Eren’s despair in the titan – maybe that’s key because him becoming a titan is dependent on an incredibly desperate emotional state, or something? I guess that could justify it…

14:50 – I guess I might also be misinterpreting the pacing of this episode because I assumed the last episode wasn’t actually the all-clear sign for the battle of Trost… but yeah, actually, the only conflict propelling the last couple episodes was the need for fuel to retreat to safety, so I guess they figured this cooldown phase is the best time to both introduce characters and get flashbacks/exposition out of the way. It still feels kinda uneven to me

15:12 – Man, you don’t have to tell us the balance between Mikasa, Eren, and Armin. Give the audience a littlecredit here

16:08 – “Don’t understand the question? That’s just what a titan would say!” Fuckin’ bureaucracy man

17:58 – It’s nice that someone actually acknowledges picking fights with Mikasa probably won’t end well for humanity in general

19:18 – “ARE YOU AN EOTEN.” Come on, Eren, you KNOW this one!

20:17 – Bam, there we go. Basement mission established

And Done

Whew! What a finale! Man, that whole episode I was pretty lukewarm on the pacing and heavy exposition, and then that last scene combines a high-tension action scene with a critical flashback that furthers the central mystery of the show and the journey of the main character at once, as if to prove to me the show just didn’t feel like being fast-paced earlier.

Eren displayed some pretty crazy control over his titanification at the end there, basically making just enough of a titan to be a shield for Armin/Mikasa. Once again, I’ll be interested to see how well they can maintain stakes now that Eren essentially has a superpower, and what limits they might impose to keep up the tension. Next week should be pretty interesting.

Last episode was pretty damn great. I thought Mikasa’s “regaining her resolve” scene was probably the best paced and best directed scene of the show so far, and the appearance of this sexy-haired titan definitely complicates their world in a possibly interesting way. I could see this turning the show in a more shonen and less tactical squad-based combat direction, which would make me unhappy, but we just don’t know enough to make a call like that this early. So let’s find out.

Episode 8

1:01 – It looks like they might be helping to manage the budget demands of a show like this by replacing cold opens with little recaps prior to the OP. I honestly didn’t think there were super-visible slips in quality earlier on, but I’m the story guy, so I’d probably be ignorant to this stuff even if it were fairly obvious. Either way, I don’t have much of a problem with this choice either – if they think it will better maintain the quality of the show, that’s a fine stance to take

3:04 – Okay, maybe recapping and then actually playing the last minute of the previous episode straight through is a little excessive. But I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do

3:55 – Aw yeah, Armin using that big strategic brain of his. Good to see any of the characters exhibiting their individual strengths. That post-OP replay also kinda makes sense in retrospect, since it led directly into the pacing of the first new scene

6:02 – Also great to see Jean figuring his shit out – he’s one of the few characters that have really defined themselves outside of a single trait or two at this point, and the one I most want to see get more development going forward. They seem to be setting him up as another leader with a very separate style from the one Eren used, which I’m a fan of – blandly positive and hotheaded leaders are less interesting than caustic ones fighting through their own doubts and own personality to pull people together

Yeah, now that I think about it, Jean’s easily my favorite character in this show

6:33 – Goddamn is that titan’s hair ever lustrous

8:20 – “How many casualties did I cause… defending it is your goddamn job!” See, this shit is great. He’s an inherently antagonistic person, and he’s never had anything close to this level of responsibility, so he keeps veering between competent leader and the worst kind of team-breaking troublemaker

9:04 – We’re so proud of you son 

14:09 – The gang’s first tactical operation! Good, they’re doing this the way I’d hoped – no Mikasa-style crazy groundless showboating, and instead a specific plan using the squad in the best way they can think of. They even fit in a little time for banter between all the main squadmates. I’ll be interested in seeing how they concurrently develop the… what is it, nine or ten core characters of their squad?

Well, I guess they could always just kill a bunch of them off…

15:43 – KAWAIITAN LIVES

17:36 – Man, this show is just doing every single thing I wanted it to. I like how Freckles assumed squad leadership and stayed strong for the less capable squadmates during the operation, and I like him helping Jean through his doubts as well – it’s furthering Jean’s character arc while simultaneously establishing his own personality and role in the squad. Excellent

21:17 – Another well-directed scene here, with that slowly building song doing a lot of work

And Done

Nice, I like ending on such a quiet tone for once.

But more importantly, yeah, Eren’s back. We’re finally up the point I’d read to, so I can finally stop acting like a genre-blind idiot in these writeups and say, yeah, that was definitely happening. The huge Mikasa flashback kind of gave it away – placing a flashback like that directly after killing one of the two characters it develops just doesn’t happen, and with both Mikasa and Jean they directly combined that sense of general hope and purpose Eren instills in people with appearances by the shiny-haired titan.

How do I actually feel about this development?

Conflicted. I don’t know if this story really needed Eren, and the idea of a shonen where the standard “we can do it guys!” protagonist gets himself killed within the first arc is a pretty compelling one, and also pretty damn appropriate for this show. Having a story where everyone just has to pick up the pieces in his absence would be fairly interesting… but not all the characters were that invested in Eren in the first place, and as we saw this episode, they can pick up the pieces pretty damn well, so maybe there’s less to mine there than I figured. I do like how his presence means we have three very different styles of leadership between him, Jean, and Freckles, though I’m kind of worried about this becoming-a-titan development. Clearly that syringe from before is going to come into play… if Eren can actually control what he just did, it will be hard for them to maintain really harrowing stakes going forward – squad combat is a lot more interesting and fraught with peril than titan boxing. And of course, calling takebacks on a protagonist death always comes with the inherent risk of devaluing all the stakes of your story, so hopefully this isn’t a bad sign in that direction either

That said, I really liked this episode! It finally pulled the whole team together and started developing them as a unit and diverse set of internal relationships, and pushed forward a bunch of the individual characters. I find that stuff really compelling and one of the best ways to add some substance to action shows, so hopefully the focus stays on that going forward, and having Eren back doesn’t center the perspective too much around him.