HOLY SHITTING FUCK THERE’S A TITAN AT THE GATES WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO NOW.

Episode 5

3:57 – Wow, they did an awesome job conveying a sense of momentum, scale, and speed in that encounter. I think they were going for something like how we must appear to flies, and it certainly worked – the slow but unimaginable power of the titan, the constant whiplash of the three dimensional cords… good stuff

5:07 – The lone doll in the street, pretty much the required marker of an abandoned town. We lose more dolls that way…

5:48 – Nooo Franz and Hannah, don’t let the camera catch you solemnly swearing to protect each other! Noooo…

6:45 – Goddamnit Armin. Wait in the fucking car if you have to.

9:42 – This scene is pretty vintage samurai fare, right down to the holding back in order to let your lord maintain his ego. But it’s executed well enough, which I guess is kind of the point of all of this – it’s taking some classic shounen ideas, some classic war film ideas, some classic samurai film ideas, etc etc, and just making a well-executed riff on them with a fun core concept. Nothing wrong with that

10:30 – It seems like this whole army really likes the idea of keeping their most useful soldiers in the least useful/dangerous locations. I guess according to traditional warfare, this makes sense, since highly valued skills are generally about a soldier’s use as a tactical/strategic thinker or leader, and you’d rather have your grunts kill their grunts than your best be mowed down in a melee. But here the “best soldiers” are just the best fighters, plus the titans have no hierarchy, do not know to focus on targets of opportunity, etc… you’d think it’d be better to use the best soldiers wisely throughout the battlefield, not just have them guard the rear.

Although, considering that scene with the lord and Pixis, this could very well become a plot point, where our brave and talented recruits lead to some structural changes in their “lose as slowly as possible” focused military

12:21 – I like that this whole episode is just Eren walking around and Kamina-ing people into shape

13:05 – Holy shit he even headbutted her.

13:45 – “I couldn’t die even if I were killed here.” Well, I’m not above saying it. Hate to tell you, Eren – people die if they are killed

15:00 – Eren just sitting politely in class, mouth agape in his silent horror face.

The pacing of this episode is pretty weird – a minute of frenetic action, titans start attacking the city, and now we’ve found time to introduce some new characters, run through three separate pep talks, and have a biology class flashback. Not sure about it

15:16 – Why did historic guards wear wizard hats? Wait, fuck that, why don’t current guards wear wizard hats?

16:08 – Ah, I get it. I’d already read past this point, so I’d forgotten we hadn’t fully established how their battles work yet. That’s certainly something the show needed to do before we got into the action

16:45 – And now with this fourth pep talk, along with thinking about the skill analysis from last episode, I’m actually pretty content with the work here – they’re not just hitting classic scenes or buffing our impression of the leader, they’re clearly indicating “leadership potential.” Which hopefully means this show will get pretty damn tactical about the various roles our heroes play within the squad, which I am all for

17:15 – Yesss, these close cam shots are awesome. I love the sense of speed they’re creating here

And Done

WELL SHIT. Squad crushed, main character devoured, mankind is doomed. I think I’m gonna go sit down for a while.

Last episode displayed a couple new strengths that both surprised me and gave me a good deal of hope for the show going forward – an ability to pull off great jokes using melodramatic direction tricks, and a genre savviness towards classic war films that led to great, evocative story-sharing and character-building scenes between the recruits. It was definitely my favorite episode yet, and has raised my expectations for this show kinda considerably. Now we just need to see how these new tricks hold up when the Titans come knocking.

Episode 4

0:15 – Categorizing them as the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan instantly made me think of Shadow of the Colossus. This is a good thing

0:52 – Where have I seen this OP before? Oh right, on everything

4:04 – I think I’m just a total sucker for these strategic assessment styles of battle-anime, but I’m loving this stuff

5:25 – Yeah, this stuff just kills it for me. I love character analysis, and when that’s actually put to narrative purpose by having some mastermind character critically assess the usefulness of a core cast… well, let’s just say I had a really fun time with Code Geass

8:15 – “Sometimes a soldier can’t back down… like right now!” -faceplant-

Were there this many jokes in the manga? I really like how the show is balancing drama and release at the moment, but it’s a very different rhythm from the first act – I guess those first two episodes were basically supposed to act as a prologue of the level of tension we’ll eventually build back up to.

9:47 – I’m really liking this stuff. They established her personality and worldview in no time during a pretty exciting sparring match that also furthered Eren’s own thinking. Very tidy storytelling

12:30 – Yeah, this show’s JoJo as fuck. Applying the exact same level of dramatic action-line pans and close-ups to this whole “’Safe living is a farce!’ ‘Fuck you buddy!’ ‘Cool it idiots.’ ‘…okay Mikasa.’ ‘Goddamnit I’m so jealous!’” scene pretty much proves to me that this show is utterly in control of its own seriousness level, and is happily riding the “we love this scenario and are utterly committed to it, but fuck you if we don’t get to have some fun with it too” line

13:05 – Oh Sasha, you beautiful bastard you

14:10 – Once again, this show uses the “we’ll be right back” screens (what’s the actual word for them?) to impart some actually interesting, specific information. A good trick. Also, I extend my deepest sympathies towards the few members of that top ten who haven’t already received a few scenes’ worth of characterization. Your sacrifice will not be in vain

15:07 – I paused here just to actually check the manga and make sure I hadn’t somehow skipped chapters, but… yeah, unless there are huge flashbacks beyond the point I read to, pretty much all this training stuff was just added for the anime. Awesome. So happy to see an adaptation actually get ambitious and try to think how to best serve the core concept, not just how to directly translate the original text. All of this training stuff has been great, and has served so well to establish a diverse set of characters that I already have some attachment to. Excellent, excellent work

16:36 – “I don’t care if I die so long as I can be useful.” Well maybe using that big analytical brain of yours instead of feeding it directly to a Titan would actually serve that purpose kinda well, Armin

18:07 – No side characters stop being happy that means you gonna diiiiieeeee

19:30 – YES! POTATO LIVES!

I don’t why I ever doubted her. Good to have you with us, Potato

AND DONE

JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS EPIC. Oh man was that ending ever fucking amazing. Timing on the Colossal Titan appearance: amazing. Potato’s epic heroism in saving Samuel: amazing. Eren’s totally badass taking control of the situation as the music crescendo’d: amazing.

I had my doubts before, but this episode was so fucking good. I loved the end of the training, I loved the ways they established a core set of recon troupes that I already know and care about, I loved the mix of self-aware humor, JoJo-esque winking drama, and legitimately effective badass drama, the visual style is still really solid…

Okay, this show has entirely proven itself to me. That was sweet. Can’t wait for the next one.

ATTACK! On TITAN!

Pointless intro paragraph deleted. There’s no time for that, there’s Titans at the gates! Let’s do this.

Episode 3

2:55 – Already liking this episode. Getting its Full Metal Jacket on all over these pigshits from shit city.

5:35 – Wow, the reports of Potato Girl’s fantasticness were not exaggerated. I think the last expression was a little more absurd and hilarious in the manga, but using this anime’s super-dramatic pans and close-ups to heighten the tension of Potato Girl’s Last Stand was pretty amazing

7:00 – And here’s another scene I like – the cadets all crowding around to ask for scenes from the war front, since it’s still just a far-removed adventure to them. I really enjoy when this show just re-contextualizes classic war film tropes into the Titan world – they’re familiar, but they’re well-written, help to ground this world in something tangible, and help to round out the personalities of our suddenly formidable cast of characters

9:00 – Maybe it’s just the highlighted lips, but I feel they’ve made Mikasa more classically anime-beautiful than she was in the manga, which I don’t really like

10:40 – “Is this… BREAD?!” I’m so happy this show’s aware of the way drama can turn to silliness with these melodramatic close-ups, and is actually using it that way. If you understand the effect of your own shots well enough to use them for comedy, you’ll probably be fine when it comes to actual drama as well

12:12 – Eren what are you doing that is not how you belt-fly.

Wow, the last thing I expected was an episode full of actually pretty solid jokes. I also appreciate that they’re using the 25 episode runtime to dedicate serious minutes just to establishing their system of training and combat, so when shit goes down, it’s not just “woo, crazy action, woo,” you actually understand the stakes and powers of our protagonists, so you’ll know when something is impressive, dangerous, or foolish in the terms of their world. As I’ve said before, action scenes are just noise if you can’t tell who’s winning or losing

14:51 – Damn, Potato Girl is getting a dramatic workout this episode.

I don’t even know what to say about the drama to comedy tonal shifts going on here – because the humor is mainly created through setting these scenes with the same dramatic tricks the allegedly tragic scenes of the first two episodes used, it seems like the show is kinda making fun of itself. Which is a weird place to be

17:30 – I really like this guy’s speech. I really like a lot of things about this episode, actually; it might be the first one that’s really sold me on this show as its own thing with its own tone and ideas, and not just this season’s action spectacle

18:15 – This show keeps hammering in that theme of not being truly human if you don’t have the strength to choose your own destiny. Very interested in seeing where they go with that – this show is too dark and has too many long, character-focused conversations for an idea as simplistically optimistic as that to go unchallenged for long

21:35 – Okay, now I’m starting to see the JoJo argument as it applies to this show – it goes crazy with its dramatic angles and reaction shots, but it’s still honestly committed to those scenes, and understands it’s kind of going overboard. The contrast between those scenes, the comedy scenes where it actually makes fun of that kind of trick, and the actually very traditionally effective quiet drama scenes, is a little jarring, but I’m not against it – the show is doing its own thing, and I always appreciate that

And Done

Fun stuff! I had some misgivings about the way the comedy and drama bounced off each other, but by the end I think I just had a better grasp on what this show is actually about, and so all that stuff kind of fit into place. Overall I very much enjoyed this episode, and it gave me a great deal of confidence in the show going forward. I’m interested to see if they maintain this seemingly self-aware tone (well, the comedy makes it obviously self-aware, at least) going into more dramatic stretches, or if this was just to build a false sense of security – I honestly hope it does, cause I think I personally will enjoy the show more if it tries to have a little fun with its storytelling, and doesn’t try to make us feel the weight of all this tragedy all the time.

Attack on Titan! So.

I’m probably gonna be cutting down my posts on this one, because frankly I suck at describing why action works or doesn’t work, since I’m more a story/character guy. Plus, this show is basically all about pure, visceral entertainment, and where’s the fun in picking that apart? But I’ll keep it together for this episode, just to see how it goes.

I thought the first episode was entertaining, but this director’s tendency towards melodrama basically turned any moments that should have been tragic or harrowing (the mother learning her son is dead, the other mother becoming titanfood) accidentally hilarious. I don’t think he’s going to get better at that, but I do think the show might just start being more about action and less about drama, and so I hope the nature of this story downplays this director’s weaknesses as a storyteller. Let’s see!

Episode 2

0:32 – They’re making it extremely overt in this prologue, but I feel like, in general, the contrast between the vivid backgrounds and the very sharply defined, stylized characters results in the characters looking almost noticeably two-dimensional within their own world. I actually really like this effect – I don’t know if it does anything for the story or mood, but it certainly looks pretty cool

2:13 – Man, this OP is so much fun. Someone in one of the other threads mentioned it reminded them of old 90s action OPs, and I agree completely. More JoJo-esque OPs plz

2:54 – The Titans have that exact same creeping dread that zombies provoke. They’re slow, and they’re not smart… but they never stop coming. Wherever you run, wherever you hide… they will get you.

3:49 – Maybe I underestimated this director. This whole sequence of flight was much more effectively handled than the SUPER BRUTAL scenes from last episode – maybe he really can add some tact and pathos to these totally metal proceedings

8:37 – Not wanting to let them breach a second gate and devour at least a third of all remaining humans? Yeah, personally, I’d argue that’s a perfectly reasonable excuse for letting people die right before your eyes

13:38 – Man, the drama is being handled so much better in this episode. Fewer epic screams with frantic action lines, fewer hysterical musical accompaniments, a lot more enraged brooding. This episode is proving better than the first one in the way I least expected but can most appreciate

14:45 – Wow, that flashback was intense. Not only was that really well-done as a single scene, but I think it also shows an improvement in the storytelling over the manga. Foreshadowing this stuff only improves the overall structure, and makes some plot twists later on less “where the fuck did that come from?” than “oh, that’s what they were doing!”

18:20 – Thank you, Mikasa, for setting this fool of a Took straight

And Done

Damn! At least for me personally, that was a huge improvement over the first episode. I thought the pacing was solid throughout, the visuals and action stuff still compelling as ever, and, critically, this episode added both a great deal more practical world and scenario-building (mainly through framing the Titan attack from the perspective of refugees), as well as some well-directed drama. There was much less of the “Oh my god this is so intense RAAAH!” melodramatic sound/visual/voice-acting problems that undercut last episode’s drama for me – this was much more understated and much more personal, and the one major universal dramatic setpiece (that first series of shots as the Titans attacked and that preacher rambled) was given a feeling of inevitable, pointless tragedy, not RAAAH THIS IS SO TRAGIC RAAAH.

I really liked this episode, and it definitely improved my hopes for the show in general. If it keeps up like this, this show is going to be pretty damn good.

Shingeki no Kyojin! Very excited for this one – this director can handle action scenes fine, all the problems of Guilty Crown were in the writing/characters. And what I’ve read of the source is very fun, intelligently crafted stuff. Let’s do this.

Episode 1

0:25 – Wow, I already love how strictly they’re adopting the weird visual style of the manga. Those incredibly heavy lines separating characters from the background, those deep, ever-present shadows, the very distinctive and kind of off-putting facial designs… nice.

3:36 – I didn’t want to pause because the transition into the OP was so well-done, but that first scene pretty much confirms they’re willing to shift the adaptation around to better fit the anime medium – within one scene, they established as much about the “stakes” and “rules” of the action to come as the manga did across several conversations. I mentioned this in one of my Maoyuu posts, but I think one of the most important thing an action scene can do is always present clear stakes and rules – you need to know what powers each side has and what their objectives are before you can clearly empathize with the conflict, or understand why some particular action is impressive, dangerous, or awesome.

By the way, it’s occurred to me that it might be kind of hard to do the play-by-plays without murdering the pacing in a show like this, so my comments might just come when the show gives me a moment to breathe.

5:04 – Love the colors, vivid line work, and backgrounds. They’re using their budget well.

11:20 – It’s weird seeing cartoon characters overact this badly. At least the director’s into it

11:34 – “Well, that was heavy.” Yeah, that was metal as fuck, dude

12:35 – That’s a really graceful way to fit in this supplemental, world-building material. I can’t remember another show that used its ad break screens (what’s the actual world for them?) in such a useful way

Also, unrelated, but for some reason I really like Mikasa’s character. We haven’t gotten into her backstory at all here, but she just completely makes sense as a person – I never have to question her motives, or disbelieve her reasons for having them

14:20 – Eren’s dad has a pimp suit.

14:40 – Goddamn do I love this town’s visual design

15:19 – “You’re beating me up because you know I’m right and you can’t prove me wrong.” Wow, what a succinct explanation for downvotes

15:34 – “Enough with your crappy explanations!” raises downvote

21:19 – Difference between this dramatic scene and the last one? Everything. Stakes established, characters established, sympathies established, tension already in place – this is effective drama.

And Done

Welp, my expectations were met in a couple ways, and exceeded in a couple others, and only one of my actual hopes was disappointed. First, it was definitely smartly paced, and made slight changes while adopting the essence of the source – I feel that overall, this will be a Good Adaptation. Second, the visuals were just great in general. I really love how much they kept of the actual character designs and line work while working to make their world more lush and evocative. Finally, it seems this director might just love his melodrama a little too much – the only real offender here was that “here’s your son!” scene, but man did that scene ever come off as ridiculous to me. Hopefully that doesn’t crop up again.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I like a good story told well, and I think the source for this one is strong – I really like the dynamic between the main three, as well. If the director can keep his indulgence in check, this will be a fun, consistent ride.