While watching this anime, I realize how devious it can be to compare the anime and manga adaptations to each other. They may have the same story, but the anime and manga of Shingeki no Kyojin are completely different in terms of atmosphere and pacing. The manga moves ridiculously fast. The anime on the other hand takes its time. At the beginning of this series, I made the mistake of expecting the exact same feeling as what I got in the manga. No. That’s impossible to create. The anime just needs to shine in its own way!
And it does, actually. This episode was nearly entirely dedicated to Mikasa and Eren’s past (although the prelude about Armin was also really good). This is the sign that the two of them are very much not normal. Especially Eren: what other kid just straight up murders people by pretending to be innocent? At first he was just your regular bratty kid who wants to fight, but with this, he became more than just that. An extreme version of that trope.
Another big theme here is: people in power are assholes. The question is what this show will do with it. At the moment it feels a bit typical, but this series can really shine by pushing this into the extreme: what if that extreme bigotry of the elite would really get tons and tons of people in trouble and killed? More often than not this trope is used to create cheap drama (because hey, we hate rich people being an ass!), but there is some gold lurking underneath that crap.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
Since both of us manga readers have been spoiled to the events in the next chapter “small blade, struck me as the best drama of the entire series.
Simple formula: Flashback to pivotal life event that brought them to this moment, and then relate to current impending doom. Bonus points for extra eloquence. This is one of the best flashback I have seen in anime since Madoka.
What disappoints me is that for all the current chapters the author will never again give a satisfying flashback story for any of the other major characters. It seems the author intends to make the guro of their horrible deaths provoke our sympathy.
This is particularly frustrating since we know this guy is great at backstory.
I blame the brutal production schedule of action mangas.
It seems a lot of authors try to develop side characters better in omake and true to form Titain has one too. Great anime series like FMA managed to pull these omake back stories into the anime. Hope I see the same here.
Yeah, some violent kids, huh.
Oh yeah, I wonder if anybody could watch last episode, see this one, and conclude that Eren is gone for good. Having not seen the manga, I’m strongly presuming he’s not, but there’s really no reason why he shouldn’t be, other than plot structure and the MC protective halo.
Maybe later I’ll wonder how this could have turned out if they just made Mikasa the real main character.
I’ve had my suspicions every since he got eaten, but at this point I’m more confused than anything and just want to watch.
Though on the subject, actually killing an MC would be pretty powerful and gutsy story telling wise, Mikasa would probably make for an amazing character.
This show is really amazing to the point I almost feel it is a dishonor for me not to read the manga. As far as flashbacks go this really wove things together for me. I didn’t really understand Misaka or Eren’s relationship all that well and this really added a lot of depth for them in my opinion.
As for the killing, he did what he had to do, so I don’t see the issue. Eren is all emotion, but it’s Misaka that gets me. She is able to be so calm and do things perfectly. I have a lot more respect for there characters after this, and I’m looking forward to all the rest Titan has to offer. Even though people have been spoiling a few things all over internet, I can honestly say I still don’t really understand, and look forward to finding out.
I don’t really know what to feel of this episode. On one hand the action is keeping up nicely, but on the other the characters haven’t gotten any appealing. I know this world is supposed to be bleak but 97% of the characters are very stern.
This backstory had some intrigue but I find it loose how Eren went to rescue Mikasa and killed two adults with no problem, even though in the first episode he is being pick on, and he wasn’t very athletic when training.
Is just my opinion but is my main issue with the series. Well to be fair Sasha and a later character have some appeal in this bleak story.
Well, he took the first two by surprise. The third one wasn’t at a disadvantage so he easily beat Eren.
Also, Eren is stated to have exceptional hand to hand combat skills, especially after Annie taught him that move (that scene was cut from the anime but will probably be shown in another flashback later).
Right, just felt like a retcon because it adds certain layers I didn’t see clues at the beginning of the series.
Unless I’m remembering wrong, the anime is actually moving faster than the manga. The reason the anime seems like it’s moving slower is because the anime is taking background story that happens later in the manga and putting it in the beginning, but of course, I could be remembering wrong, but I also don’t remember a lot of the “slowness” being at the beginning of the manga like this.
the anime follows the right order except for episode 3(those r later on in the manga)
But i think the anime feels slower(most likely because i up to date with the manga within a day), since it has pacing
I’m enjoying the anime way more than the manga. It’s so much more powerful and exciting to see the action this way. There is corruption and their are secrets among the rich and powerful in the human enclosure, but there are many more fundamentally important secrets this story has yet to reveal about the nature of this war they’re currently engaged in.
I think he’s just using the ‘evil rich guy’ theme to bait the readers for a bit until we learn more about this world.
i just came here to look if anyone commented on the freakish way the giant was running towards the gate. I’ll be the first then: these producers know to make us feel uneasy; seriously, that’s how anime schoolgirls run… and to pair that motion with naked ugly giants… x.x!!! can’t shake it from my brain now..