Okay, so for clarity: the creators are pulling some of the later build-up chapters right to the beginning. I like that though, because even though I know the storyline, I really got startled there by the sudden appearance of that really big giant again.
Having the build-up chapters scattered through the story, or just having one big build-up arc at the beginning: there is no right way. Both have their merits. The former is more varied and has material to vary with during the heavy scenes, while the latter has a solid character base to start off with. We can only wait and see which is the best for this kind of story. Either way though, this episode did what it was supposed to do: take the characters and add to them. They had to do this with more than 10 characters, and they actually succeeded very well there. I especially like how it highlighted the paradox that the better you become, the less likely it is that you’ll fight the titans.
Also, thank god! Tetsurou Araki got some freedom again, compared to Guilty Crown in which I just couldn’t detect his influence at all. During the heavy scenes you could really see hints of Death Note and Kurozuka. I really encourage anime creators to put something of themselves into their adaptations. It makes them more unique. Especially if it adds something good.
Shingeki no Kyojin has this unique way of shading is characters during the heavy scenes (lots of shadows around the eyes). Strangely this was also played for laughs (Sasha…). It’ll be interesting whether they will keep that up or not.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
Episode 1 was pretty meh but now I’m so enthralled by this promisingly epic show. The humor hits the right spots and there isn’t a whole lot to complain about. Never read the manga but the story in the anime seems to be progressing smoothly.
I honestly think it’s better to build those characters at the beginning. Even if some of them die, you know many of them will survive and have a big impact on the series.
When I read the manga, the oddball format made me completely forget who was who for a while. By introducing them like this early on, it creates a lasting impression for the future episodes. So yeah, I prefer the anime so far.
Wish they’d folded some of this material into the previous episode to balance things out a bit, but at least the faster they move the fewer questions I’m asking. Having more action sequences and less of Eren angsting is good enough for me to go with the flow.
The Guilty Crown reference is pretty funny since that was an anime original project, which means that Tetsuro Araki’s influence was objective higher than in Attack on Titan by default.
You couldn’t detect it, for whatever reason, but then again the director’s own statements are on the record.
Other than that…Attack on Titan is still pretty good. I do give most of the credit to the manga author though, even if Araki is making it all quite stylish to look at.
There are (many) productions where producers change or demand a lot of things that sometimes the director can’t do what he wants to do. This usually happens in big commercial productions. The producers can even influence/change/demand things in the story itself if it’s an anime original production. There is no source material after all. What I’m saying is that Guilty Crown being an anime original production doesn’t have anything to do with the freedom the director has in the production. Guilty Crown probably would’ve been a lot better if the director had a lot of influence in the story.
The added crappiness in Guilty Crown was mainly the scriptwriter’s fault though. Look at his track record. The direction of the scenes individually, or how the scenes are shown, not what happens in the scene or the story, was also very good in my opinion.
Oh, the staff of a production, even more so the director, will rarely say negative things in a production they’re a part of especially in interviews. That’s part of being professional. And if they do, it’s usually a significant amount of time after the project was completed.
@anona:
Honestly, that sounds like a whole lot of white-washing to make sure Tetsuro Araki look like he had his hands tied behind his back…when it was he who apparently wanted Guilty Crown to be his “Ghost in Shell” equivalent.
Especially since Araki has rarely, if ever, handled any other notable original productions. The majority of his directorial experience is with adaptations of other existing stories (Death Note, High School of the Dead, Attack on Titan, Kurozuka, one arc of Aoi Bungaku etc.) that he never created, so it’s not surprising if you put him in charge of an original work the results wouldn’t be too great.
The director isn’t just responsible for handling the individual scenes but also the overall direction of the show. You make it sound like the scriptwriter was putting a knife to the director’s neck, which is incredibly questionable. The stylistic and artistic qualities were fine, but you won’t convince me that Araki had no input on the story flow, not just episodically but as a whole.
Well, I’m just trying to say that Araki wasn’t the biggest reason to Guilty Crown’s failure, but point taken. I still believe the producers and the writer were also largely at fault though, maybe even more than Araki.
As for my thoughts on the scriptwriter, it’s just that there are common problems in almost everything he wrote that I’ve watched, including Guilty Crown. The scriptwriter’s hiring also probably was largely the producers’ decision, unless Araki really is that bad that he thinks that writer is very good and pushed for that writer’s hiring. On the other hand, I really liked the job Araki did in all his adaptations, even though I didn’t like some of them (HsOTD, Deathnote) that much.
I know that, that’s why I specified that it’s just the direction of the individual scenes that was good, because the overall direction wasn’t (which I think must at least be partially blamed to the producers wanting some things included/changed in the story). So maybe he really isn’t that good when he isn’t given source material to adapt. If Guilty Crown was just inferior to his other works, I would believe that it can be mainly his fault. But I think he’s so skilled that I doubt he can make something on Guilty Crown’s level of quality if he’s given a good amount of freedom. I think his arc on Aoi Bungaku’s the biggest testament to his skill. That project’s like a showcase of directors using modern classics. And his and Nakamura’s arcs were my favorites from a direction standpoint.
The giant reappears in chapter 3, they are not rushing things i think
Did that giant just teleported at the end. I can understand they were slacking off, but no one saw the 50 mt. smoke producing behemoth? Maybe they’ll answer that after, but for now it’s eyebrow raising.
It will make sense later but it’s a huge spoiler.
a big big big spoiler 🙂
That is what they think too, in the world: where the f… did that giant come from, how come they didn’t spot him approaching, or leaving? It isn’t a plot hole, it is a mystery 😉
I like how they chose to put the character build up in the beginning. I agree with Nic (HEH! seems like we have the same usrname?!) I love the manga, but I felt how the chapters are placed is a bit confusing – the constant back and forth and breaking up of the story line, you kind of forget where you are sometimes. So I think it was good that they decided to adapt it for TV in this way.
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I can’t wait till they get to all the giant fighting, esp. the parts when Eren learns how to really kick some giant butt. (lol@giant butt) ahem. Won’t say anymore.
I started reading to the manga in order to continue the plot, the cliffhanger was too much for me…
So far I think the adaptation is remarkably accurate, in fact I think they did an excellent job fitting it into a dramatic music/animation style that fits perfectly.
As others said, its some character development/exposition was moved up into the front in order to introduce the characters, but to be honest – this was needed. IN the manga, they kind of airdrop all these characters on you in a sudden fashion and the only way to remember them is to keep referencing the two pages they are mentioned in, pretty foolish choice on the author’s part imo.