Shingeki no Kyojin – 08
It’s never fun when your main role in the plan is “Titan bait.”
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I’m baaack~! I had a blast at Anime North and saw quite a few Attack on Titan cosplayers while wandering the grounds. It’s such an intricate outfit that I can’t imagine how much time that took. Props to those cosplayers, who I will probably post pictures of in a con coverage post (coming soon…ish). For now, I’ve got to catch up on what I’ve missed and what better place to start than Attack on Titan? |
Finally, Armin gets to put his brain to use. He’s been praised for having more common sense than Eren (which isn’t hard to do) and being the intellectual one, but he hasn’t actually done much to back that up. Aside from telling Eren to shut up and eat his bread, he’s kinda just been the wheezy kid everyone picks last for their team in gym class.
At this point in the Titan war, planning is crucial. Even the most talented fighters can’t just charge in and hope for the best. Not only are supplies low, but so are their numbers. In this sort of desperate situation, I’m glad Armin was able to provide a useful plan to keep everyone safe. He’s more fragile than the others, but you have to applaud him for putting himself together so soon after he was ready to slit his throat alone on a rooftop. It’s only a few minutes after he gets that blade batted away by Mikasa that he proposes a plan that ultimately saves their lives.
His plans aren’t perfect and they’re not anything too special, but they work. I like that Armin isn’t some secret genius who thinks up intricate plans that no one else could even fathom to save the day. He’s just a regular kid with a good head on his shoulders who isn’t afraid to take risks. Using the abnormal Titan was a big gamble, and even his second plan with the guns didn’t go exactly as he wanted. Armin is really starting to grow me as the underdog of the show. He falls down, but he gets back up. The same sort of thing is said about Jean who is described as being weak, yet a good leader. Or rather, he’s a good leader because he’s weak – not despite it. However, all these white boys look the same to me so it’s hard to feel anything about his development when I forgot he even existed until now.
Mikasa says that Armin saved him and Eren once. Does that refer to a new event or is she still on about Armin telling Eren to just eat his bread and be thankful? Whatever it is, if he can’t even remember the event it’s probably something that saved them in an extremely indirect manner. Something ostensibly trivial like being their friend or something. It’s not like he fought off a pack of wolves with his bare hands to keep them alive or anything.
Anyways, Armin’s plan saves the day and keeps casualties to a bare minimum. For once we have a little bit of positive momentum as everyone restocks on gas. I was worried that they would actually kill off Sasha since they certainly don’t shy away from killing main characters. Thankfully, she survived the entire ordeal of missing her target. Not only is everyone a lot happier once they have supplies, one more miracle happens at the end of the episode that really makes things even more hopeful. That’s right…Eren comes back!
When moe strikes back
I had assumed this abnormal Titan was one that Eren took over, but I figured he’d die once the Titan died. It seems more like Eren kind of…temporarily fused with it. Like piloting a Gundam, except you’re attached to something organic and it combines as a part of your body. That’s the only way I can explain Eren regenerated limbs – he was able to use the Titan’s abilities to grow them back. It’s really weird that he’s all in one piece though and simply pops out as the Titan dissolves. Why didn’t they both die at the same time? How did Eren separate himself from it? This reveal is not only shocking, but it makes me want Mikasa to ask Eren a million questions about what happened. Unfortunately, his answer to all of them is probably “I don’t know.”
Something about Eren made him special enough to take over that Titan. It might be that weird injection, or it might just be his bottomless hatred for the Titans being strong enough to take over a Titan’s mind. And hair. I really wonder about how that Titan suddenly went from balding to being a model in an Herbal Essences commercial. Anyways, Eren somehow took over the Titan for a while and that could be a big game-changer. I wonder if the fact he was found relatively near the nape of the Titan’s neck (their weak spot) has any significance…
Now that Eren’s still alive, I guess he’ll reclaim his role as the main character. It seems like next week is all about everyone freaking out over what happened. The odd thing is that they shun him even though he survived. It’s not like he’s a were-Titan and can transform whenever there’s a full moon and potentially squash everyone. He’s just Eren now! Are they worried he’ll undergo a massive growth spurt and start eating people? Eren could be the key to defeating the Titans, so I hope everyone doesn’t just shoo him away after he went through hell and somehow came back alive. I’ll wait until next week to see how they treat him. At the very least, Mikasa will be glad to have him back.
Preview: Eren is shunned by the military for being an “ex-Titan.”
That certainly doesn’t look like a fun vacation
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, this is one for the books. Good review OC. As for white guys, it’s easy to tell me from them, I’m the best looking one 😉
OK, someone back me up. But just as the Anti-Titan falls over and starts to dissolve/evaporate and that “neck chamber” I guess I’ll call it starts to slough off, does it look like Eren is in a saddle of some sorts? It doesn’t look the slightest bit “organic” or made of giant meat parts at all.
Also, recall, Eren-Titan collapsed and died due to exhaustion and to many wounds to recover from. I guess when you get a human “pilot” something changes with regeneration?
To darn many questions here.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Ahahaha~ Oh skylion, if only you were among their ranks. I’d always be able to spot you from your constant trail of bishie sparkles as you race through the sky!
Not sure if that’s a saddle or just the Titan’s spinal cord. It’s still really weird that Eren ended up in one isolated section and didn’t get burned by the Titan’s high body temperature or digested. It reminds me of a cockpit, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Titans specifically have that section for potential human controllers.
I was wondering about why the Titan died from exhaustion considering that the weakspot was untouched. I’m guessing having a human component changed it as well.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
OC, I transcend the ranks.
OK, I might buy that the “saddle” is the spinal cord bit. Will have to wait until later to verify….if they bother with that sort of thing.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
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bishie Eren is back~ <3 <3 <3
Although it turned out pretty much as everyone expected, I'm still glad. And I don't care that this stunt seems a little ass-pulled. I don't care! And some people tell me that they explain it brilliantly afterwards, so I care even less. At least we've got Eren back. As much as I like Mikasa, I didn't want her to become the main character. Eren is so much fun compared to her.
But where the heck will they go with "Eren is proclaimed as an enemy of mankind" thing. It's so frustrating, goddamnit, I want next sunday to come soon TT^TT
Armin is kinda toughing up, huh? Or is it my hopeful imagination? I think not. I actually like him quite a lot. And I also started liking Jean, too.
Eren’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack~ <3
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
I think Armin is toughing up a bit, now that he’s seen so many people die. And his plans worked pretty well, considering how quickly he put them together. That’s enough to give anyone confidence to toughen up and be even more confident.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I hope he’ll become more and more confident, because he’s a quite nice character with some potential <3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, same, I don’t care if a giant Titan with wings swoops down or if Eren grows another head. There are a lot of surprises, but all of them seem possible in the context of this world. Plus…they’re totally rad.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
yup. as long as it’s fun to watch, I’m pretty much in for anything they pull. well… almost anything.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think I hear Fonzie’s boat approaching…
Armin’s plan wasn’t bad, but it sure was a good thing the Titans all cooperated, and didn’t do something like maybe have the first guy to the elevator reach in and nab himself a couple humans. But of course it worked out.
I’m getting some new eyeball straps for next week, cause I’m sure that whatever explanation they try to pass off for not only Eren surviving and regenerating, but moving from the digestive tract of the Titan to somewhere on his spinal cord fully formed will make my eyes try to roll out of my skull.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Where Shinsekai Yori had explanations for everything and the world was airtight, SnK just does whatever it wants with explanations and doesn’t really worry…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Too much of an info dump in certain shows could be a bad thing. It limits your own theories on what’s happened. I think Shingeki no Kyojin is doing good as it is.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, you can perhaps see why I get a little… edgy… at a show like this (or Valvrave…).
Honestly, to me this show’s like some neighbor kid who rides up on his minibike and does donuts on your lawn while holding up devil horns and screaming “WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” *reeeemeemeeemeemeeemeeeee*
I don’t mind shows that don’t nail things down airtight, especially at the beginning. But that’s a long way from Water-skiing Fonzie like this show feels. Sure there are theories and reasons, but they’re all inconsistent if not outright farcical. That’s what I don’t like about it.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
The explanation for this situation just may be a little better than all of us expect. I think this definitely has something to do with Eren’s father, in more ways than one.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I think it depends what your threshold for suspension of disbelief is. Attack on Titan can get pretty bombastic, so you either raise your eyebrow in response…or throw up the devil horns alongside the kid on his minibike and go nuts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m glad someone got my simile. 🙂
Yeah, I’m going to keep watching, but for most of it, I’m expecting eyebrow raises. This just isn’t the kind of show I can get the flaming crossbows out for.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It was a pretty awesome simile lol. For a second I thought “donuts” was the street name for a drug I hadn’t heard of, which made it even weirder/better.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This was so epic I didn’t notice 24 minutes ever passing by. Was it actually that long? It felt short if you ask me. 🙂
Kudos to Armin for formulating such a well thought out plan. It was a hell of a risk relying on a rogue Titan but the benefits were worth it. He just doesn’t realize yet how valuable he is to everyone.
Face palm moment: Why on earth was Sasha apologizing to a Titan? There’s a time and place to be polite and that for sure wasn’t it. But thank goodness Mikasa saved her. I’d cry a river of tears if she died because her death would have affected me a lot more than Valvrave’s Aina.
The reveal of Eren controlling the Titan was anti-climatic because we all pretty much guessed what was happening but it was still exciting. Argh, typical human nature can really be infuriating. Someone with a hell of an advantage comes along and saves them and they repay him by treating him like a monster. If it weren’t for him, you’d all be resting in a Titan’s stomach in chunks.
PS: That new guy in the preview holding his blades. He’s going to be played by Hiroshi Kamiya. Nice! Just when we thought we couldn’t get anymore badass seiyuus!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
You know, that fact intrigues me to no end – it’s almost as if we were allowed to guess that the big titan is really Eren. And they didn’t even bother making a ‘big moment’ out of it. Sure, it was quite powerful, but in a very different way. So if they didn’t bother giving that scene any special treatment, then it’s almost like the creator is telling us “Pffft. Of course he’s back, you dumbass. Just wait and see what happens next!”
I want the next episode! *~*
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’d prefer them doing an understated reveal that trying really hard to push it in our faces and patronize us. This show is already so dramatic I guess they have to tone it down sometimes so it’s not a giant mess of characters breaking down and sobbing.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
At this point, I don’t know if that would be a possibility, because the titans basically won already. So I think it should very dramatic and desperate. Maybe it IS a bit much, but I don’t mind.
And the characters will grow accustomed to everything that happens and raise their heads slowly, I think. Most of them saw a titan for the first time in their life, so their reaction isn’t surprising at all.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Sasha just does her own thing. That includes being comedic relief 24/7 and always saying dumb things. I’m glad I watched the latest episode of Valvrave before reading your comment lol careful there!
The guy voiced by Kamiyan seems like he’s uber important…but I’m just basing this on the amount of fanart I’ve seen of him. I hope to God no one posts something spoilerish on Tumblr or I’m doomed.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Yay for Armin! As soon as he explained his second plan, I realized it was the one scene in the OP, and I breathed a sigh of relief since it seemed to go well in the OP. Sasha and Connie worried me, but with Mikasa really close by, I was not that worried. Apologizing to a Titan, though, that’s kind of stupid.
As for the Eren ends up being treated like a monster ordeal, I get the feeling that’s what the leadership has been trained to do. Something tells me it isn’t really the first time something like that has happened and so they’re told to treat the instance since something bad happened once… Either that or the people who decided he should be treated horribly are just ignorant/overly cautious.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
If this has happened before, wouldn’t they at least tell the other recruits in Titan School? That seems…kinda important. They must have SOME reason though. Although that reason could just be for safety’s sake.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
Yes, I did love Armin in this episode, his tactical side is coming through. I wish they’d have more of that in the story as it progresses, I like seeing underdogs grow out of their woobieness. Jean, however, blanks out way too much for my comfort. Freckles Dude has a point though – empathy plays a big role in being a leader and Jean seemingly has the ability to use that empathy as another weak person to rally the troops, rather than let them languish.
And yay Eren’s back! I don’t think it’s an asspull at all, seeing as even way back in Ep 2 we were treated to a weird dream-sequence-like scene where Dr Jaeger did something to Eren, which I think was some kind of foreshadowing to what he has become. Well, I suppose we’ll get our explanation next episode if the preview’s any indication. Also, it’s rather interesting that his body came out from the nape, which is a Titan’s weak point. But more than that, the reunion with Mikasa and Armin was lovely and touching. Even I felt like I had a good friend dragged up from abyss to the land of the living.
Well, even if Eren does get shunned by people due to being an ex-Titan (which is understandable – anything related to Titans is terrifying to any Red Shirt in the story), his classmates are bound to back him up (well, maybe not Jean, he always has a bone to pick with Eren anyway), and someone in the government will most likely see this as an advantage to their side. Or whatever. But this episode really just gives me more hope again.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Armin could be an essential team member if he keeps this up! As for Jean, I think they tried to hard to emphasize his struggles as a leader. I swear he just kept thinking the exact same line and standing there in shock. OKAY, WE GET IT. Hopefully Marco’s speech dug him out of that rut and his deer-in-headlights syndrome doesn’t happen quite so often any more. He seems like a good leader, afterall.
Eren coming back and Mikasa getting all emotional was pretty sweet. I can see people being split between fearing Eren and accepting him for who he is. His friends and some more pragmatic higher-ups may support him while the paranoid ones will try and cast him out. It’ll be a interesting next episode for sure. They’ve got a lot of explaining to do!
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
Dannggg I got spoiled by my sister ._.
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By the way, it seems Kamiyan is voicing some badass character named Levi, huhuhu. Actually, I think he showed up for a while a few episodes ago. But badass roles for Kamiyan =v= Gareki, Koyomi, Levi, uhuhuhu
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
That sucks. I’m…staying away from that spoiler tag then.
Kamiyan is one of my all-time faves in the seiyuu business. I think a lot of girls feel the same :3c
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
This was an awesome episode. All the supporting characters shone this episode as they each showed off their strengths. Armin is a great tactician if he trusts in himself. Yes, I have a penchant for the more elaborate strategists like Lelouch, Light, L, L-elf, etc (My my, what’s with all the “L” names for your top anime tacticians, Japan?) but Armin is still quite a good one considering the situation he’s in.
Jean is a good leader if he too believes in himself. I like that he’s growing as a cheractersThe others had their moments so that was really good to see. Also the abnormal Titan fighting the others was awesome as well.
As for the surprise ending…yeah, it wasn’t much of a surprise to me since I had suspected that the Titans were originally people who were eaten for a long time. I though, had thought that the Titans were actually the complete person now made gigantic, monsterous, and mindless, in reality, it’s like their gollums controlled by the real person who controls the being from the base of the neck. I’m guessing that’s why slicing the back of the neck is the only way to kill the Titans since you’d would be killing the actual person controlling it.
And yet, that puts up the issue that the soldiers have been killing their fellow humans this whole time by slicing the neck of the Titan. So, is there a way to stop the Titans without killing the controller? And how does all this work in the first place? Is this going to be something involving an ancient human weapon experiment that went incredibly out of control? Also did Eren not lose his mind because of that injection his father gave him? Did his father know more about the Titans than anyone could have possibly known?
So many questions, but I’m still loving this series. What will happen next? Was Eren aware of everything while in there? This is a huge reveal regarding the Titans, but will the military use it? Or will they be too afraid of Eren as a “supposed “threat” to realize his importance? Only time will tell.
I give this episode a 9.5/10.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
No quotes? D:
I love characters that fight with their wits too. It seems like it’s harder to stumble upon that natural ability than the ability to be good at punching things. :B
I only started to twig in that Titans could be people once the abnormal Titan appeared. Before then I thought they might be robots :/ They’re more like creatures you sit in and control, like a gollum. It makes sense that the Titan would die when the controller does, which seems to explain why Eren was in the weakspot of the Titan.
The way Titans work still confuses me. They have a human pilot…but none of them have any control over the Titan (except Eren). Is it even possible to save them? I think the key Eren was given by his dad could lead him to a place with notes that explain everything. He seems to know a lot more than he should about Titans.
Next episode….hurry up!!!!
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Gosh, I totally forgot this week. 🙂 Was really out of it that day, but I’ll remember next time.
I’m interested to see what goes on next time with the Titans and what Eren’s return will mean to the plot.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Such a thing is forgivable. I don’t it’s easy finding quotes for every episode. I wonder how you managed to keep the pace that you had. Each one would have to fit in with exactly everything that happened in that one episode.