Shingeki no Kyojin – 25 [END]
That day, humanity received a grim reminder that their favourite anime had ended…
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Gatcha~! Oh wait, wrong show. I need to stop doing that. Despite that slip of the tongue, I’ll have you know I’m in full Attack on Titan mode. The booming popularity has spread far and wide to attract many otaku to the despair-laden, action-packed, giant red manbaby-filled show that is Attack on Titan. I’m hoping that popularity means this is “see you next time” instead of a permanent goodbye. But just in case, I wanna kick off this finale right by having Min join me. |
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Many thanks to OC for letting me crash her series of posts for the finale (once again). Attack on Titan has certainly been nothing if not memorable with its unique setting of humans struggling for survival against the mysterious titans. It could have been the jumping off point for a fun story in a fascinating world, but major issues in its world building left it as a largely nonsensical but occasionally pretty and exhilerating action show. |
The Finale
Overcooled // The bombastic nature of Attack on Titan really makes it a satisfying piece of entertainment that never fails to get you internally (or even externally) screaming in excitement and anticipation. It’s just so much fun to watch soliders fly around on wires like they weigh as much as a loaf of bread. The final battle was no exception, and I found myself getting all riled up as Eren somehow went berserk while already in berserk mode. The added surprise of his level 2 crazy mode and the inexplicable, molten lava aura surrounding him as he beat down Annie was wonderful. After all the careful planning and pussyfooting to try and weed out Annie, we got a completely barbaric head to head match. There were no tactics involved, just a lot of heavy blows and raw fury. I can’t think of a better way for a show like this to end than an entire episode filled with grunting, animalistic screams, and lots of punching.
The payback was great, but it began to fizzle out towards the end. All of that “YEAH, BEAT HER UP, MAN!” energy quickly transitioned to something more bitter once we started getting some flashbacks of Annie’s past. While I don’t fully sympathize with her, it was still rather humanizing to see where she was coming from. She didn’t ask for any of this, it was simply thrust upon her. Furthermore, after all of her effort she dies at the hands of her old friends. It makes it harder to hate her, but it doesn’t tread the line of trying to hard to wrestle you into completely forgiving her. There’s no doubt that in my mind that Annie did the wrong thing, but seeing her cry was enough to make the victory not quite so sweet.
In fact, the whole “plan” Erwin set up went a bit sour. After all of this time was spent trying to capture the Female Titan…it’s finally happened, and yet I can’t feel good about it. There’s a kind of masochistic pleasure in witnessing how Attack on Titan refuses to let any character be happy ever. Every victory is laced with so much defeat that the Titans remain as nearly invinicble – even 25 episodes into the series after seeing so many of them slain. The situation is still drab for humanity, despite all their triumphs. At least, that’s how it’s framed. Killing Annie is actually a huge step to weeding out the rest of the Titans and getting a particularly troublesome foe out of their hair.
The fact that she’s still in a crystal means she’s just a horrific accident waiting to happen, but hey, the sacrifice it took to freeze her for a bit might have been worth it. The show ends on that note – stating the lows and highs of their current situation and setting us up for more Titan-killing shenanigans. It’s a poor ending if a season 2 doesn’t follow, but a decent lead-in if we do get more of the series. I’m blindly hoping for more, so I’ll make do with the sudden cut off.
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Series Review
There are plenty of depressing worlds in the fantasy genre, and Attack on Titan introduced us to one of the darkest ones yet, in which humanity was facing extinction from a mysterious and nigh invulnerable force. In stories like this, humans usually also get a magical boost as a counter, but in this one, they were limited basically to 18th century technology with some modern concessions thrown in to let everyone swing around like Spider Man. But such hopelessness leaves a vacuum for heroes to fill, a grand opportunity to show humans at their best facing impossible odds. Those are my favorite kinds of stories. Unfortunately, Attack on Titan wasn’t that.
I’m not even going to go into how uninteresting the characters were, most of all the hero Eren, or how the story went pretty much nowhere over the course of 25 episodes. No, the problem was more basic, in the very setting itself. Instead of using the despair as a launching point for an exciting story, the writers decided to run with it, to the extent that it made Forrest Gump‘s run look like a casual jog.
The most significant problem that pervaded the work from start to finish was the complete shutdown of mental faculties that happened any time a soldier encountered a titan. A titan is a truly horrific beast, of course. It’s a monster that the average human isn’t psychologically equipped to handle. The military should be well aware of this fact, and yet they couldn’t be arsed to include desensitization in their training to prepare their soldiers to fight them. Militaries in the real world consider this an essential part of basic training for grunts; this is the only way they can get humans to consistently do such unnatural things as put their lives in grave danger for their allies. And they’re only facing down other humans, not heartless man-eating giants.
Remember that legendary first opening sequence (well, it was more famous for its parodies, but still)? The one that featured the badass shots of soldiers leaping in the air, with lyrics about facing their oppressors and fighting for freedom? Here, go remind yourself again if you forgot. What happened to that? 95% of encounters resulted in soldiers specifically trained to fight titans locking up in fear and probably getting eaten. Or just fleeing with their tails between their legs and probably getting eaten.
I remember an early episode in which one soldier modified his 3D gear to blast a metal rod through his brain. Really? What kind of training regimen results in soldiers who would rather commit suicide than die fighting? There’s the excuse that most of these soldiers were just there for the perks, but this barely let up into the 2nd half with the recon team, which was supposed to be made up of people crazy enough to go out to fight titans. There was Armin freezing up when approached by Annie, something which ironically ended up saving his life. Then there was the retreat sequence when some soldiers risked the entire squad in a futile effort to bring back a friend’s body. Do you think soldiers on June 6, 1944 were going back into machine gun fire on the beaches of France to save the lifeless corpses of their fallen comrades? They’re bodies, something soldiers are very accustomed to seeing and acknowledging as the non-humans they are. I don’t know if the sight of a teary-eyed soldier reluctantly following Levi’s orders to let loose corpses from their carts was supposed to be comedic, but it was surely one of the funniest moments in the season.
Then there was just plain idiocy, best exemplified in episode 10 when our trio of protagonists Eren, Mikasa, and Armin had to survive a stand off against a squad of troops. Considering every titan up to this point had shown no signs of intelligence (except perhaps the colossal one and the armored one) and no indication of transforming to or from humans, it made no sense to suspect Eren of being in league with titans. Furthermore, everyone had seen Eren as a titan, only attacking other titans, which was consistent with Eren’s own statements that he was a human who hated titans. And all this was going on after their wall had been breached and titans were inside the city wreaking havoc. Yes, they decided to waste valuable manpower and weapons for a pointless stand off against humans they had no reason to suspect as threats.
Actually, it was even worse. As demonstrated in the following episode, Eren wasn’t just a non-threat – he was a uniquely valuable asset that had already proven himself by killing a bunch of regular titans in plain view of others. The trial made a bit more sense since they at least wanted to use his body for research, but considering he secured the only ever victory of humans over titans and was the main reason that humanity didn’t have to retreat even further behind the walls, the vitriol against him stretched my suspension of disbelief. The flashback in episode 19 showing members of the recon squad questioning Eren’s allegiance when they already knew him and were aware of his abilities was just stupid.
There are good, believable ways to use despair as a major theme in a setting. Elfen Lied did it, Gunslinger Girl did it, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann did it, Magical Girl Madoka Magica did it. Attack on Titan didn’t. It was a half-assed world that wasn’t confident enough in the terror of its basic premise. As I mentioned above, humans were already facing impossible odds in a situation far more bleak than most fantasy settings. Even if they were all courageous and extremely smart, they would have had plenty of difficulties to face. But the writers had to go in the opposite direction, making the majority of the characters unrealistically cowardly, incompetent, and idiotic, just to drum up artificial and unneeded drama that ultimately only stretched out an already thin story.
Talk about a wasted opportunity. At least some of the action scenes were good.
We’ve come a long way since that first episode where we saw the very first Titan peeking over the wall. That first episode was such an excellent beginning to introducing the horrors of Titans and the inadequacy of mankind. From there, the same message has basically been pounded into us again and again – yet the delivery is always different enough to keep you invested. It’s basically a cycle of Titans attacking, a ton of people dying and going nuts, and then a skin-of-the-teeth victory followed by copious amount of sulking. The message here is that Titans are absolutely horrifying and they will always find new ways to screw you over. The way they always change their level of intelligence and strategy makes them unpredictable. Oh, and the way they run is still as unnerving as hell. No matter how small or stupid the Titan seems, I’m still wary. It’s not just because the Titans have maintained the reputation as being powerhouses, but because characters can and will die without warning.
I really liked how there was no hesitation to just off entire units of soldiers in the carnage. Attack on Titan always had to try and outdo itself with more dazzling twists and more sudden deaths in a constant attempt to either get you excited or just pull you into despair. It’s a constant cycle of building you up with satisfying action scenes and then slamming you down with outrageous death counts. This show was not shy in pulling out all the stops to be as entertaining as possible. Did it make perfect sense all the time? About as much as a rambling schizophrenic discussing how the government is controlling their brain, I’d say. In other words, it really just kind of went with the flow and did whatever it thought was cool. But boy…was it ever cool.
“Hot Titan on Titan action!” “Calm down, Hanji…”
The high points were the jaw-dropping fights, but I was rather impressed by a few episodes that didn’t revolve around slashing Titans. In particular, the episode about Hanji’s experiments with the Titans was one of my favourites. Hanji was one of the best characters in the show, as she displayed such a strong personality and views that contrasted starkly with just about everyone on the entire planet (which isn’t a lot of people at this point, but whatever). Her systematic yet crude experiments on Sawney and Bean gave us a voyeuristic look at something else other than just the Titans. After all this time we know hardly anything about the Titans. Only people like Hanji are actually trying to find out more and study them. The Titans could be so much more interesting if their physical and mental properties were studied and revealed more to us, the viewer.
I also enjoyed the flashback episode that focused on Eren saving Mikasa, because it showed how humanity had declined into crime and utter selfishness. It was a reminder that humans can be the worst enemy to living a happy life. I really wish we got more moments like these, because I have to agree with lvlln that the world is sorely underdeveloped. Not only does it feel bleak and featureless, but I can’t say I like any of the characters I’ve seen other than Hanji…and sometimes Levi or Armin. They’re more like people who happen to do cool things than actual people I can attach a personality too. There are some moments of development, but a lot of it is done through long-winded dialogues that go over the same point multiple times. Technically, this show kinda flops around and just ignores all the major bases in favour of doing stuff that’s fun. But that’s part of what makes Attack on Titan so riveting. It doesn’t waste time on the little things – it just provides you with non-stop action and insanity. That doesn’t always work out, but for me, this show was an absolute blast and I had a lot of fun blogging it – even if all I said some weeks were “gosh, that episode was purdy.”
In return for watching, this guy will watch you back o_o
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
“I remember an early episode in which one soldier modified his 3D gear to blast a metal rod through his brain.”
…that was a gun. I really don’t know where on earth you got your idea from.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Ahhh… Please… please don’t put any salt in the wound. It’s unbearable knowing this awesome anime has reached its end and hard to believe six months have passed since it began.
The fight and destruction in the process was a sight to behold. Eren was boss doing his thing but most of my attention went to Annie’s flashback. It’s a shame things ended here because I wanted know more about what her father was telling her. Jean’s dilemma over using monsters to attain victory gnaws deep into the mind as much as the cost of lives in the operation to reclaim Trost. It comes down to one ominous question: Is it all worth it? A more pressing concern is how Annie was able to transform in the first place. If there is even one then like Erwin suspects, there could be more and that means humanity is now being squeezed on both sides.
One is certain: Attack on Titan was one hell of a ride with hardly any dull moments. There wasn’t even much time to complain about any possible flaws because you’re already thrown into the next situation. The constant asset to the series was making the characters and the viewers feel nothing but despair and helplessness and the wound cuts deep when a likeable character dies right in front of you. A very lasting effect. Also, each character got awesome individual development in situations where they discover their true. I disliked Jean at first but got a second opinion when he changed as Trost was being invaded.
Badass lead and hothead: Eren Jaeger
Sexiest female: Mikasa Ackerman
Best strategist: Armin Arlert
Badass supporting character: Levi
It’s inevitable that another season is coming, even the staff and cast want to continue because they’re invested themselves but right now, there is just not enough material to do so. From what I’ve read, the entire 25 episodes animated 33 out of 49 chapters of the manga. So for now, I’d give it a year or maybe two years before we hear any further news. In the meantime, I’m eager to see how Funimation will handle the English dub for the series.
My rating for this series is a perfect 10/10. Enough said!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I suppose it will be a looooong time before we know the secret about these super-Titans. Sigh. There are too many secrets for someone as impatient as me.
This show really knows how to entertain. I didn’t have any time to really feel let down by anything. I only got antsy when they dragged certain scenes out.
If they don’t make another season, then I’d really despair…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Not too be too much of a wet blanket, but I’m kinda glad to see that I’m not the only one who felt that the execution of this anime, as well as the source material, took an interesting idea and turned it into an advanced workout class on eye-rolling.
I suppose it’s all about what you let yourself believe about a show, and for this show for me it just left too many things out there in the unbelievable category in favor of bombastic occurrences, 1 or 2-Dimensional characters, and OMG SO COOL! trickery (with requisite “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” Wizard warnings).
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
Attack on Titan was hella rad, yo! Honestly, I didn’t go into this show seriously, but it managed to worm it’s way into my heart and take over my entire life.
One complaint I hear often from people is about the characters, but they were the high point of the show for me. Like, at first I wasn’t crazy about them because they all just seems like those typical shounen archetypes, but as the show progressed their other qualities emerged and they received some development.
Also, whoa! What about that action though??!! Normally, I find action incredibly boring, but SnK managed to get me pumped. I feel like the music has a lot to do with it; which, by the way, the soundtrack is amazing.
So yeah, I really loved SnK and I cannot wait for the second season. It’s not perfect, but it sure does know how to pull you in,get you excited, and make you emotionally invested.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, I guess it’s time I wrote a review for this last episode of Shingeki no Kyojin aka Attack on Titan.
Wow, what can I say? The first season is finally over, and what a grand journey it was. I wasn’t sure when I started it, since I had literally not heard anything about it until reading the spring anime catalogues. However, I’m really glad and watched it and I can’t wait until the next season.
Now as for this episode, I think I will get the bad out of the way first so I can gush about the good. This episode wasn’t perfect, it had a few problems and wasn’t as good as I had anticipated. There were superior episodes such as Episode 21, however, this one was really able to stand on it’s own and was, if not a perfect episode, a very good one.
As for what was a bit of a let down, was how much wasn’t really accomplished by the end. Annie still got away in her own way, Eren’s found his ability, but I fear that he’s a long way from controlling it, but that only comes from practice. I found the whole down time section to be a little dragging as they kind of went over the same stuff over again regarding the status of humanity and how one must become a monster in order to stop monsters. And yet, what will it cost you, to give up your humanity? (However, that last point seems a little forced now that I know that Eren was not nearly as rabid and out of control in the manga as he was in the anime. Nor, did he say anything about “destroying the world”, which kind of throws the whole “he’s going insane” angle out the window.) Yet, I did like the scene where they subtly throw a shot back to the beginning with the flying geese over the wall, and the bread Eren is presented with. However, how he’s changed as a person is shown by him eating the bread immediately rather than denying it.
The character of Annie is quite a conundrum, and I’m guessing we’re not going to get anymore from her for a while. We see that she has quite a few memories of her father, which is interesting since Eren’s memories are also about his father. I’m wondering if there’s a link there somewhere between Dr. Jaeger and Mr. Leonhardt? I’m wondering if it’s a league of men who are going this, but using their kids as their weapons. Eren’s father may have been in on it, but maybe decided to back out? He doesn’t appear to have been using Eren or manipulating him. (Annie’s father had the stink of psychological manipulation all over him.) He seemed quite distraught over trying to find out what happened to his family after the Titan attack, and he looked as if he used the serum on Eren as a last resort to protect him and to give his son a clue in where to look for answers. Whatever he knew, made him a target, and Dr. Jaeger knew he couldn’t be around his son or adopted daughter anymore for their own safety.
My last con about the episode was the flash to the Titan in the wall, it kind of more raised my eyebrow then it did make me gasp. I guess part of it was that I was spoiled early on that the walls were made of Titans (however, I didn’t understand or believe it at the time), But I think also the way it was presented with only a tiny clip without giving time for it to sink in, kind of took away from the blow, and made it more of a “what was that?” moment.
Now…to get to the good stuff! The animation, fight scene choreography, everything, was just awesome. The music wasn’t as great as it normally was and didn’t grab me, but it still good. Eren and Annie’s second fight was awesome, and I love Eren’s new fire ability and look. His body has this look to it that reminds me of magma, with the skin nearly black, but the inside is bright white orange and you can see it through the cracks, and when his arms and legs are taken off you don’t see blood and bone by bright orange that’s like molten rock or metal. I know this wasn’t in the manga, but since the mangaka has suggested and/or approved of all the additions to the show, I can probably guess that this was probably a peak into what Eren’s special ability is, even before it’s revealed in the source material. To know that we anime-only viewers got something that the manga readers haven’t gotten yet, actually makes me feel a little special. 😛
I had actually guessed it a while ago, since the Titan-hybrid’s powers are sort of highlighted in their personality and psyche. Annie was as cold as ice, but as hard as diamond, and her mental thoughts are always in blue. Eren’s memories are largely in reds, yellows, and oranges, his thought process has been accented by flames several times, and they have stated how hot his Titan form is without skin, so I thought a while ago that his power would have to do with fire.
I actually cracked up when I saw all the people Annie killed by sitting on them in the building that Eren punched her into. I remember last episode and there were a few bloggers commenting that they hoped nobody was in that building. And low an behold, the writer must have heard them and decided to not only put a bunch of people in the building, but also make it a church! LOL, how much obvious symbolism and imagery can you put in an episode? I mean, first the church, then the little blood covered girl in shock, the Victorian dressed women complete with parasols getting crushed by rocks? There is only so many civilians you can kill before it just becomes hilarious. I know I shouldn’t be so cold, but I was a little glad all this chaos and death happened. The rich and privileged people of Sina need to be reminded what it is they face, that they may be in a gilded cage, but it’s a cage nonetheless.
In this fight you can see how the desperation and fear of being the hunted is getting to Annie. She is no longer the careful tactician, the flawless fighter, the cold-blooded predator that she once was. The shoe is now on the other foot, and she has become the prey. She soon finds herself cornered and that Eren’s indomitable will and savage techniques are quickly overcoming her own. That scene of her screaming in anger and frustration, really shows how much she’s been shaken, as unlike ErenTitan who growls and roars all the time, she is usually absolutely silent, even during the first fight.
As for the supporting characters most of them do what they usually do. Mikasa and Levi act like badasses, Hanji get’s her specimen, Armin gives advice, narration, and exposition, with Jean as his tag team partner. Erwin actually has some pretty good scenes here, as you can see how devoted this guy is to the cause. He is willing to kill thousands and destroy a whole city if it will give them a leg up in the war against the Titans. The scene where the idiot MP captain threatens to shoot him and Erwin is perfectly okay with that and then proceeds to tell the captain everything he has to do since HE decided to take on the responsibility, was hilarious. Of course, as inept as the Military Police are, (Seriously, they were just NOW getting their maneuver gear on? And how many times was there a scene of them and all they were doing was gaping with their mouths wide open and asking, “what’s going on?” or “are there really Titans here?” ? Were these really all the top tier best fighters from the training camp?
In the end, Annie crystallizes herself, Eren retains his humanity despite his Titan ferocity, not much was accomplished, but then again Erwin is right in that they know far more now then they did when this started. And even though we now see that we have only barely scratched the surface of what the Titans are, it’s really the mystery that keeps this show going. With all this new information about the wall, the miner who went missing, the Titans, and everything, I’m beginning to think that there might just be a supernatural angle to all this and a lot that we are missing. I mean, what’s with the walls being just as deep as they are tall? Why?
I really want a second season soon, but even then I don’t know how much information we’ll actually get.
If any show needed an exposition dump it’s this one.
I’m going to miss it, but I will wait diligently for the second season that will be sure to come.
I wasn’t sure about this series as first, but I’ve come to love everything about it. It’s been a wild ride and I am excited for what will come next.
I give the finale a 8.9/10, and the series a 9.97/10. I will finish this with an awesome and appropriate rendition of Guren no Yumiya. Till we meet again. Ciao. 😉
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Thank you so much for the link. Such a wonderful version of Guren no Yamiya. I think I’m listening this song already the 5th time xD
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Glad you liked it. I thought it was so awesome, a haunting and chilling version compared to the already awesome original. Looking at a lot of the covers and renditions from the soundtrack done by fans you tend to find some very unique and awesome stuff. I’ve found a music box version, a picnic SoL version, and there are several rock versions. Surprisingly, I never realized that some of the songs such as Vogel im Käfig and Bauklötze were completely in German (the Japanese singers make it sound so indistinct, that I thought it was some mix of Japanese and German, or even Latin) until I heard some German fans actually make covers for them.
The second soundtrack comes out in about two weeks so that’s going to be awesome! 😀
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
That picnic ver. was so hilarious, I liked the idea of putting the characters into “our time/normal life”. I’ve listened to the original and the fanmade Bauklötze by constantly switching between them, I see what you mean, about how the original doesnt really sound completely German (thought I don’t know the language). I think I like the covered one even more than the original, even the voice suits the music more, to me. You can feel so much strengh and despair(I don’t know if that makes sense thought, can’t really explain it), in her voice. Really beautiful.
A few weeks ago I realized that the OP’s from Attack on Titan are like the most transcribed songs on youtube, you can find so many of them. And not only them, I really love this transcribed OST by Animenzzz, so amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69lx6TvQTFg (You should check out his channel, if you have time. Some of his covers are just fantastic).
Thanks for the links, I enjoyed listening every one of them.
“Enjoyed” huh, or more like, I now have a huge passion for that Bauklötze cover… I.cant.stop.listening.to.it.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
The picnic one is cute yet kind of sad too as you think about how all these guys are really just kids and you wonder what kind of life they would have lived if they were in modern times and not in this land where death is around every corner and you have to learn how to fight and win to survive. A interesting SoL where the biggest problem they faced was whether Mikasa noticed that Jean liked her, or if Eren would get to school on time. 🙂
Many of the comments I’ve seen from German fans is that the songs in the language don’t have the right stresses on the right syllables and therefore the sound doesn’t get that distinctive German sound. I’m used to the Japanese butchering other languages though, even though Engrish is more of a problem with correct grammar then it is with pronunciation (though that’s a problem too). However, it’s nice to hear either a really good English song done (and example is Gravity from Wolf’s Rain or I’m Alive from Kuroshitsuji), and German songs the same way.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Nooo! Spammy ate my comment!
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
One of the shows this season that I had to watch by missing 2-3 episodes all the time because of me being so busy. -____-
I must say, that when I watched the first episode, I couldn’t have thought that this would be one of my most favorite anime’s by the end, and the best, in my opinion, of the 2013.
Can’t believe that it ended. Guess I’ll have to stick to the manga from here, thought I really hope a green light will be given for a 2nd season.
Kaji Yuuki did an amazing job, as always ^^
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
You couldn’t? 😀 I watched the first ep. at, like, 2 AM or something, and started jumping around the room, trying not to squeal in delight. I couldn’t imagine, how terribly could the staff mess up to ruin that first impression. The setting, graphics and music were already near perfection. And to me, that’s enough to love a show.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I can’t believe it’s over.
I wonder, how much will we have to wait ’till the 2nd season? I hope it won’t be like Kuroko no Basket and air a year later o-o That would be too cruel.
Overall, this was a good show. With it’s flaws, but I think those flaws weren’t as terrible as some other shows’. And I enjoyed the hell outta this show!
Yuuki Kaji did such an amazing job, I couldn’t imagine him as a main character of a show like this.
Add Diabolik Lovers now, tooHe’s very talented. Just see for yourself 😀So, in the end, I wouldn’t say that this anime failed to meet our expectations. If you ask me, it definitely lived up to the hype.
Ah, at least one spoiler off my shoulders. Finally~! But I got spoiled again -_- by my best friend -_- Just…. AARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH~ ><"
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Well, almost everyone who was part of the anime hopes that it will have another season. We’ll see what happens *fingers crossed*
I don’t really think I’ve seen any “flaws” in this show. I think. But I cant remember any, even if there were some, so that’s a good sign.
Hehe, I told you Kaji Yuuki-san is amazing, didn’t I? 🙂 I’m glad that I now have someone to talk about his amazing work. ^^
my dumb friends watch anime with dubs, like WTH are they even thinking? Seiyuu’s are like one of most talented people in the world!Best anime everrrr.
I am so getting a Mikasa figure, and hopefully an Eren too.POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I don’t think they will leave it at that, because this is such a popular anime. I’m almost certain that it will have another season, and I don’t really see reasons why it can’t or shouldn’t.
Well, to be honest, there are some shows I prefer watching dubbed, like FMA, Code Geass, Soul eater or Ouran. It really depends on the quality of the dub and how the two parties portray the characters. In my opinion, Johnny Bosch suited Lelouch much more than Jun Fukuyama. I love him, but his Lelouch didn’t seem right to me.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I guess it all depends on taste. I like some shows in dub more than sub and it usually depends on the content and on the voice actors. I will watch any of the dubs of any Gundam series over their subbed version. I have to watch Baccano and FMA in dubbed form, not just because the accents done by the Baccano staff really makes them more authentic as American characters, but they did a really, really good job. Shows like FMA, Digimon, Inuyasha, and Yugioh were all my gateway anime, so of course I watched them in dub and that’s the way I will probably always watch them.
However, there are some that I cannot stand in dubbed form, like Bleach, Ouran, Code Geass, and Death Note. (I’m not a fan of Bosch 😛 ) and so will purposefully only see them in subbed form. Some shows like Naruto, Full Metal Panic, or Shiki I could take either way.
Right now, I watch mostly subs, but I can understand those who watch dubs instead, especially if they’re just starting off in anime.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
How can you hate CG or Ouran dubs, they’re great! 😀
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Now, remember I watched both of these shows in subbed form first and so that was their definitive form for me. And when I did see the dubs, neither of them impressed me. I thought the humor and emotion was way better expressed in the original version of Ouran than in the dub, and while it had some of my favorite VAs in there like Travis Willingham and Vic Mignogna, it just didn’t do it for me.
As for Code Geass, Jun Fukuyama is the definitive Lelouch/Zero for me. I enjoyed the way he changed his voice to show the different identities of Lelouch and Zero and the way he could pull off both smart, arrogant, with a touch of nobility, and also show the hidden human weakness of the character.
Bosch never varied for me, and didn’t have the deepness of voice and air of command that I expected from Zero. Nor, like many English VAs could he express the depth of emotion that the character also carried. I have the same problem with his Lelouch as I do with his Ichigo: the guy doesn’t show enough variances in emotion to carry the different aspects of his characters.
I wasn’t impressed by the translation or the performances of the other VAs in the series either. So, yeah, I deliberately got a subbed only version of the DVD set for CG, though I do have both complete version of Ouran.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
On the subject of dubs, Johnny Yong Bosch plays the english voice of Izaya Orihara from Durarara!! Who do you think is better suited to play the character: Him or Hiroshi Kamiya? I heard the japanese version once and thought it wasn’t bad but I was more used to the english version on Cartoon Network.
Speaking of Bosch, I found out he’ll be the voice for the english version of Saruhiko Fushimi in [K].
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’ve only watched a few shows dubbed, and since going to subs, I haven’t seen anything dubbed (except for one episode of Mouretsu Pirates which was terrible script-wise). Comparing when I did watch dubs, it just always seemed like the mixing wasn’t right, and the voices were truly ‘voiceover’, just laid on top of the show, not ‘in’ the show.
About the only thing I’ve seen both subs and dubs of is Sekirei, and I greatly prefer the subs (because Inoue Marina’s Tsukiumi is just unmatchable).
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Fushimi? o-o eeh.
They’re both doing a great job, so I can’t really choose between the two. Even though I was quite skeptical about Bosch voicins Izaya, I was surprised, because he did great.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
it was a good show, but like overcooled said it could have been much better, a lot of elements could have been used in a different way and admittedly,
if there isn’t a second season of it it’s a poor ending,
for a good series…
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I don’t think it will end like that. This show is so popular, plus there’s quite a bit of material left. There’s no reason to restrict SHingeki no Kyojin to just one season, when it can make quite a lot of money.