I have to give props to the soundtrack guy: Hiroyuki Sawano. It’s the guy who also did the soundtrack for Ao no Exorcist and Sengoku Basara, but I think that he really delivered his best work so far with Shingeki no Kyojin. Especially this episode showed how powerful the soundtrack in this series can be: it’s epic, yet unique. The big danger with those epic coundtracks is to just throw in lots of bombast and choirs. It sounds great, but all those soundtracks start to sound the same! Here it’s not the case though.
This episode contained such a fine piece of atmosphere building. I mean, Shingeki no Kyojin is all about despair: screwing over humanity as much as possible, while not turning it into a one-sided slaughter by providing pieces of hope. Eren may have turned into that giant, but this entire episode just kept reminding us that things would’t be so easy. Heck, Eren was out-cold for the entire thing, leaving everything to the side-characters to clean things up for him. This makes him quite a unique main character: yes, he has the power fitting of a main character, but this is more and more turning into Mikasa and Armin’s story.
Seriously, a character like Armin… in normal stories he’d perhaps get one crowning moment of awesome. Here, he just keeps struggling! And that’s the beauty of this series: everyone is fighting for their lives in a way that hasn’t been done for a very long while. I’m getting flashbacks to Blue Gender, only with much better production-values and much more bombast. This season may be small, but the series that stand out really stand out here!
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)
OST is going to be released in like 4 or 3 days.
For me the pacing for this arc seems a bit off, too drawn out compared to the previous arcs and the transition from short arcs to one really really long one has been jarring.
I’m with you. The pacing of this arc has just been too slow. It has been bad enough where it really hurt my enjoyment of the show.
Hi Psgels,
Could you please explain what the guy in your bottom-rigth image is doing ?
Hahaha oh God. Was that intentional Psgels?
Oh god, you and your dirty mind. That was not intentional!
Darn it, you made me think of that too! Why did I think of that!?
I have no complaints. This anime is everything an anime should be, and for me, brings me back to the excitement I first had when first getting into anime.
5 6/8 (Awesome)s in a row
Yeah Hiroyuki Sawano! He did the epic soundtracks for Gundam UC…and umm Guilty Crown. I really love the soundtracks added in when the soldiers are zipping across the city with the 3D Maneuver Gear.
Though I’m not really pleased with the pacing of the current arc, from what I’ve heard the manga itself tends to drag on some parts, and the anime is barely adapting 1 chapter per episode. Guess they have to drag it out abit for 2-cour so as not to overtake the manga.
well, chapter 12 of the anime = chapter 13 of the manga so…
they’ll get to around chapter 28-30 of the manga by the time the anime finishes (it’ll be 26 chapter long if i’m not mistaken) so yeah, not sure if that’s the reason.
I wish Eren had stayed dead.
I was excited and frightened, because I thought anyone could get eaten. I really felt humanity’s helpless despair. I cried when Eren sacrificed himself to save Armin. I was looking forward to Mikasa becoming the main protagonist, and I was looking forward to seeing how Eren’s death would change her and motivate her. But when Eren and Mikasa were reunited, I just felt cold. It felt too easy. I no longer felt the fear and despair of the earlier episodes.
I thought this was going to be the Game of Thrones of shonen, where genre expectations were reversed and nobody was safe, but instead we have “OUR HERO HAS SPECIAL POWERS! HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE!” like in every other shonen anime. I was looking forward to seeing ordinary humans overcome the titan threat, but now we have Eren piloting Unit-01 from Evangelion.
If I was fourteen again, and this was my first shonen, I would declare this the best anime ever. But I’m no longer on the edge of my seat. I really am jaded, but I am truly happy for all the people who are seeing this show with fresh eyes. It’s good to see people this excited for a show like this. It’s good for the industry.
I find the art, lighting, architecture, and design of the titans to be absolutely wonderful. This is a gorgeous show, with a great atmosphere, and I will watch it to its completion.
Yeah tonal shift definitely. I don’t think the decision was bad but I think they used this card too soon, it kinda dumbs down the 3D maneuver combat they are using.
Have you seen the trailer for Titan Fall? Even with both sides having Titans, the 3d maneuver gear is still necesary.
http://youtu.be/2JavkQvJyaY?t=49s
Huh!? They have a hard time with normal giants, what we’ll happen with more intelligent ones? It now stands more like defensive/evasive maneuver than an offensive one.
I too wish Eren stayed dead. I felt like this was going to be my favorite anime of all times after Eren got eaten. I loved the despair, clever twists, and hopelessness. Now we got a kid that can just poof up a Titan out of thin air.
Was really looking forward to a focus on Mikasa.
Oh well, still a good show. But ever since Eren returned the episodes have just gotten long and drawn out. The characters will sit around for like 10-15 mins and ponder their current situation (like when Eren took forever to answer was he Human a few episodes back)
oh lol u think this is drawn out? w8 till they reach the final arc for the anime 😀 which is still ongoing in manga and dragging on like hell [ example latest chapter 46 – just 4 people talking for 46 pages and u know what we still have no idea about titan origins yay 😐 ]
We don’t know the titan origins? I think it’s pretty clear what they are, even only going by what the anime has shown so far.
The manga REALLY avoids telling it explicitly though (maybe because then the plot will have to move forward!).
origins as in what is their “home” “he” kept talking about? why all this happened? and whats in the basement for crying out loud 🙁
I quit when I figured out he was still alive. I already didn’t like it much, but the death of the main character could’ve redeemed it for me. Oh well.
Seemingly doomed character coming back as hardened badasses, is a common trick of horror fiction, watch the Walking Dead (or Army of Darkness) if you don´t believe me.
The same goes for Armin finding his place in the group, and the slow but intense pace, with lots of cliffhangers.
If you’re jaded by shonen, Hunter x Hunter is perfect for you.
I guess the day Eren picks the boulder will be a 9/8 (To Infinity and Beyond).
Because the message box buried my message too quickly: Psgels, are you going to review the last 3 OVAs of Otona Joshi no Anime Time?
If I have the time, yes. I’ve been looking forward to it.
Looks like 14 is going to be a recap episode.