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The terribly inappropriate usage of stills in the scene when Eren charges at the murderer with his axe thing made it unintentionally hilarious to the max. Not dramatic and character-defining like it was supposed to be. The production problems are really the biggest problem I have with much of this show and why I'm having trouble taking it seriously. When there's a huge dramatic or brutal moment and I'm more inclined to laugh at the animation errors, it makes me wonder why it exists. It's sad because I'm liking the premise, setting, and characters they've weaved here, but there's not much holding it together too often. Besides that, I have thematic storytelling issues with how Eren is a burning shounen hero murderous psychopath at age 9 or however young he's supposed to be. In addition, how Mikasa suddenly realizes the truth of the world as child and becomes an unstoppable badass warrior forever is very hard to believe. It also implies Mikasa is "special" because she's Asian, which is even weirder. It's also pretty strange when the show was fairly grounded in its characterization before that flashback. But I'll chalk both up to standard shounen anime cliches and make believe they're nothing but thematic analogies, given how the whole flashback is of questionable logic. Cough Drop The Beat fucked around with this message at 15:14 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 14:42
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Killer Queen posted:The terribly inappropriate usage of stills in the scene when Eren charges at the murderer with his axe thing made it unintentionally hilarious to the max. Not dramatic and character-defining like it was supposed to be. I don't think they've done anything with Mikasa being the last half Asian, other than it being the reason for slavers to come and gently caress up her childhood. Satori via suffering seems to be something that anyone could achieve, Eren himself seems to be of some like mind. Unless they're going to do a take on the inverse law of ninjas, with the lightning storm of enlightenment being the moment her mother became all dead and she became the last.
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May 13, 2013 15:16
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Gyges posted:Unless they're going to do a take on the inverse law of ninjas, with the lightning storm of enlightenment being the moment her mother became all dead and she became the last.
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May 13, 2013 16:34
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Just checked Crunchyroll, e: This was definitely a filler episode, but at least we have some back story on Mikasa now. But probably the most interesting part of this episode was the kidnappers talking about Asia. Is this world supposed to be some kind of divergent reality where the titans show up and the whole world is forced to come together to hide? If so, where on earth are they? It also raises questions about the time frame of the world relative to the time line of the history that we know. ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 18:27 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 17:38
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Given the naming conventions, I'm pretty sure the story is meant to be set in Germany.
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May 13, 2013 18:29
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That seems plausible given what we've seen of the region's terrain. I wonder if they will ever explicitly discuss the history of the world pre-titans, but I also think that they probably won't. I would guess that any knowledge of the former world was lost in the wake of the titan attacks since survival, not historical preservation, was their one and only priority. Also, I see a bit of irony in how it took the end of the world for people to stop being racist.
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May 13, 2013 18:41
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ViggyNash posted:That seems plausible given what we've seen of the region's terrain. I wonder if they will ever explicitly discuss the history of the world pre-titans, but I also think that they probably won't. I would guess that any knowledge of the former world was lost in the wake of the titan attacks since survival, not historical preservation, was their one and only priority.
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May 13, 2013 18:47
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ViggyNash posted:Also, I see a bit of irony in how it took the end of the world for people to stop being racist. The implication I got from it is not that people stopped being racist but they largely stopped being races. Though I'd imagine there probably would be settlements in other places, just that the distance in between means that the Titans prevent them from linking up (though it would be interesting to find out how far the scouts managed to get before the events of the series.
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May 13, 2013 18:57
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Segmentation Fault posted:Episode 5 showed us that literature about the outside world exists, though it isn't allowed to be seen by the public. I imagine similar books on pre-Titan history exist but are kept away from the public eye by the church or government. I forgot about that. Maybe the capitol is hoarding the knowledge for some purpose since they've made it illegal to own such books. It could be that the ruling party wants to hold their power by convincing their people that there is nowhere left for them to go. We've already seen examples of the elite and the powerful being egocentric shitbags, so that isn't much of a stretch. So far the show has shown that the farther in you go, the douchier the police are, so it's quite plausible that the power is being concentrated towards the center, and that is convincing many that it is better to be close to the center (joining the Military Police to live a comfy life in the capitol) than it is on the outskirts. I think what it comes down to, based on what we know so far, is that the elite have given up hope for humanity's survival and have stopped giving a gently caress about winning their war against the titans. They want to shore up all of their money and assets so that they can live comfortably when the end comes. Anime_Otaku posted:The implication I got from it is not that people stopped being racist but they largely stopped being races. Though I'd imagine there probably would be settlements in other places, just that the distance in between means that the Titans prevent them from linking up (though it would be interesting to find out how far the scouts managed to get before the events of the series. Well, racism and races do go hand in hand. I guess my point was that it took the end of the world for people to acknowledge that race means nothing at the end of the day, and because they no longer recognize race they no longer can be racist. It would be really interesting if there are other settlements scattered around the world and part of the plot was that the group in the current setting might eventually discover another settlement. That would be a fantastic plot point that would lead to a whole bunch of ways in which the story can continue.
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May 13, 2013 19:18
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ViggyNash posted:I think what it comes down to, based on what we know so far, is that the elite have given up hope for humanity's survival and have stopped giving a gently caress about winning their war against the titans. They want to shore up all of their money and assets so that they can live comfortably when the end comes. I don't agree. The way I see it, the elite want things to stay the way they are now, and prior to the colossal titan they had no reason to think the walls would ever fall so of course humanity would survive. Even after the colossal titan comes along, it's a distant thing that happens to the poor people, and besides they have the Best of the Best Military Police to protect them. They don't think an end will ever come because they have all this power and money, how could the titans ever get past that?
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May 13, 2013 19:21
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AnonSpore posted:Given the naming conventions, I'm pretty sure the story is meant to be set in Germany. Considering the setting it doesn't matter where it is set though.
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May 13, 2013 19:24
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AnonSpore posted:I don't agree. The way I see it, the elite want things to stay the way they are now, and prior to the colossal titan they had no reason to think the walls would ever fall so of course humanity would survive. Even after the colossal titan comes along, it's a distant thing that happens to the poor people, and besides they have the Best of the Best Military Police to protect them. They don't think an end will ever come because they have all this power and money, how could the titans ever get past that? That's partially what I was trying to say, but it seems we've interpreted the situation differently. So far the decisions of the military police so far seem to suggest that they are willing to burn the outer regions if it slows the titans down, but it doesn't seem like anyone has a plan, or even a remote idea, of how to stop the titan advance. The rich rear end in a top hat in this episode referred to the military police as sacrificial, so it doesn't seem like the elite have much hope in the military police. That's why I think that the elite have given up rather than believe that they can't be touched.
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May 13, 2013 19:36
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ViggyNash posted:Just checked Crunchyroll, It is not a filler episode.
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May 13, 2013 19:49
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If it wasn't then it really felt like one. There wasn't that much meat to the episode, but it did provide a few fascinating tidbits of information. I feel like the into with Armin could have been significantly shortened without losing anything. They also went a bit overboard with Misaka's killing scene but that's a different matter I guess. Overall I didn't really enjoy the episode, but it was interesting.
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May 13, 2013 20:07
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Pretty sure the only addition to the anime that wasn't in the manga was Mikasa's full body electrification during her epiphany. Also Eren looked slightly more deranged in the manga. Though that's pretty much due to stylistic differences in the art.
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May 13, 2013 20:33
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So all the wood splintering shenanigans is part of manga too? That's a bit disappointing. The imagery of that scene felt really forced and unnecessary while Eren's imagery from just before that was somewhat underwhelming and gave the impression that Eren was used to killing people instead of being driven to the edge by what he'd seen just before.
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May 13, 2013 20:45
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I literally just realized that the shot of the praying mantis in the OP is a reference to Mikasa's epiphany about killing stuff. I never realized it was eating a moth until after watching this episode. I guess this was obvious to manga readers.
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May 13, 2013 20:46
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To me the equivalent scene in the manga made it sound like he really had gotten lost and only killed the first guy in desperation after he realized what was going on. That might just be me misreading it due to a dodgy translation and less emphasis on the thousand-meter stare as he leaves the room, though.
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May 13, 2013 20:53
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:To me the equivalent scene in the manga made it sound like he really had gotten lost and only killed the first guy in desperation after he realized what was going on. That might just be me misreading it due to a dodgy translation and less emphasis on the thousand-meter stare as he leaves the room, though. No I think it's pretty clear he tracked them. He did only kill them because the cops wouldn't get there in time though, otherwise he probably wouldn't have gone all Rambo on them.
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May 13, 2013 21:02
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ViggyNash posted:If it wasn't then it really felt like one. There wasn't that much meat to the episode, but it did provide a few fascinating tidbits of information. I feel like the into with Armin could have been significantly shortened without losing anything. They also went a bit overboard with Misaka's killing scene but that's a different matter I guess. Overall I didn't really enjoy the episode, but it was interesting. The flashback is a pretty vital moment in both Mikasa and Eren's character development, and in the development of their relationship, I'm kinda horrified at the thought of cutting it. Shortening Armin's scene is tricky; you'd need to find something else to fill the space. Chapter seven, which immediately follows this bit in the manga, is basically just one long scene; there's no good break point in the middle. You might be able to squeeze the whole thing in, but there's a lot of dialogue and a bit of action, none of which is really unnecessary or particularly compressible. I don't think there's any other material in the manga which would have naturally fit in this episode. So basically the staff had to choose between letting these scenes run longer than they might have needed to, or just making up poo poo to pad the running time. I think they made the right choice. Tuxedo Catfish posted:To me the equivalent scene in the manga made it sound like he really had gotten lost and only killed the first guy in desperation after he realized what was going on. That might just be me misreading it due to a dodgy translation and less emphasis on the thousand-meter stare as he leaves the room, though. The fact that he stopped to construct a spear first should maybe have tipped you off, there. 
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May 13, 2013 21:15
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Killer Queen posted:In addition, how Mikasa suddenly realizes the truth of the world as child and becomes an unstoppable badass warrior forever is very hard to believe.
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May 13, 2013 21:35
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Autonomous Monster posted:The flashback is a pretty vital moment in both Mikasa and Eren's character development, and in the development of their relationship, I'm kinda horrified at the thought of cutting it. In light of what you said about the next episode I guess it can't be helped. I still think they could have replaced Armin taking loving forever to get a hold of himself with a slightly shorter version of that and made better used of the time in a different way. Perhaps they could have added a short scene of people continuing to fight the titans and innocents continuing to get killed by them to at least remind us that the titans are still rampant within the city. The only thing they showed to this effect was of the aberrant running for the trapped group of people and Mikasa saving them.
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May 13, 2013 21:47
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So basically Eren is Electrodynamic Induction Batman, he turns vigilante by someone else's parents getting murdered 
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May 13, 2013 22:37
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ViggyNash posted:But probably the most interesting part of this episode was the kidnappers talking about Asia. They did mention the Orient (or, well, 東洋) but I wouldn't definitely say that still necessarily means Asia specifically. I mean, it could be that the setting here is Earth in distant future, but I think it's just as likely it's just some imagined place/planet and they're simply using the word Orient as the closest equivalent translation for whatever they call the land that lies far east of the walls. Miles Vorkosigan posted:
I just had to touch it up a bit. 
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May 14, 2013 00:48
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Going now.
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tiistai posted:They did mention the Orient (or, well, 東洋) but I wouldn't definitely say that still necessarily means Asia specifically. I mean, it could be that the setting here is Earth in distant future, but I think it's just as likely it's just some imagined place/planet and they're simply using the word Orient as the closest equivalent translation for whatever they call the land that lies far east of the walls. I thought that the world of the show branched off from our history. I don't think it is the future because all of the cultural aesthetics remind me more of a modernized medieval setting. I don't think this is some far future world but there has been no indication to when the timeline splits from our history.
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May 14, 2013 01:07
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGDzKZoh1K8 It keeps happening.
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May 14, 2013 01:18
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What is that from?
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May 14, 2013 01:29
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RatHat posted:What is that from? The music video for "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim.
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May 14, 2013 01:31
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Waffleman_ posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGDzKZoh1K8 It's so perfect...
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May 14, 2013 01:59
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ViggyNash posted:That's partially what I was trying to say, but it seems we've interpreted the situation differently. So far the decisions of the military police so far seem to suggest that they are willing to burn the outer regions if it slows the titans down, but it doesn't seem like anyone has a plan, or even a remote idea, of how to stop the titan advance. The rich rear end in a top hat in this episode referred to the military police as sacrificial, so it doesn't seem like the elite have much hope in the military police. That's why I think that the elite have given up rather than believe that they can't be touched.
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May 14, 2013 03:46
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Irony Be My Shield posted:My suggestion would be that Eren's original comment about the people inside the walls being "like cattle" was completely on the mark, and only high ranking people know this. So, let's say the titans attack every hundred years or so but always stop before they wipe out humanity (to make sure they don't permanently lose the food supply). This means all the nobles need to do is make sure they stay on the inner level and feed lots of useless soldiers to the titans until they go away. Holy crap I didn't think of that at all. That also ties in to how the elite treat lower ranking soldiers as sacrificial. Perhaps there is some kind of pact between humanity's leaders and whatever group controls the titans.
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May 14, 2013 04:08
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The Mikasa flashback strikes me as more disturbing than anything else in the manga or anime up to that point. One part of it that nobody's commented on in this thread is Mikasa asking how babies are made. Most obviously it's there to make their plan to sell her as a sex slave more horrifying, and in that sense it's maybe a bit gratuitous. I think there's also room for a ~symbolic~ interpretation, though; she's fully understanding how people die before learning anything about how they're born. Needless to say, that's pretty messed up, and arguably makes her "enlightenment" actually a pretty skewed perspective. Incidentally, I agree with those that consider the lightning thing a bit overdone. Silver2195 fucked around with this message at 04:18 on May 14, 2013 |
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May 14, 2013 04:12
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tiistai posted:I just had to touch it up a bit.  Excellent. Waffleman_ posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGDzKZoh1K8 And to think "Weapon of Choice" is how life decided to introduce me to Christopher Walken.
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May 14, 2013 04:21
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Finally watched the episode, the lightning is not as bad as people here are making it out to be. It's the realization shocking her into action, not magical powers. Attack on Walken was pretty great.
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May 14, 2013 04:23
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We all got the point of it, but it was a bit over the top, especially coupled with the splintering.
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May 14, 2013 04:25
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ViggyNash posted:We all got the point of it, but it was a bit over the top, especially coupled with the splintering. Maybe, but so is spidey-swinging from building to building slashing Titan necks open. It's cool is what it is. 
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May 14, 2013 04:30
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HoneyBoy posted:Maybe, but so is spidey-swinging from building to building slashing Titan necks open.
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May 14, 2013 04:33
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Irony Be My Shield posted:My suggestion would be that Eren's original comment about the people inside the walls being "like cattle" was completely on the mark, and only high ranking people know this. So, let's say the titans attack every hundred years or so but always stop before they wipe out humanity (to make sure they don't permanently lose the food supply). This means all the nobles need to do is make sure they stay on the inner level and feed lots of useless soldiers to the titans until they go away. But the titans don't eat for sustenance. Titans live on their own fine. They eat people because they're compelled to, essentially.
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May 14, 2013 04:40
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Ok, I can't deny that. I just think that the effects were unnecessary and that there plenty of better ways to get the point across. I guess I saw it as a lazy effort
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May 14, 2013 04:40
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ViggyNash posted:That seems plausible given what we've seen of the region's terrain. I wonder if they will ever explicitly discuss the history of the world pre-titans, but I also think that they probably won't. I would guess that any knowledge of the former world was lost in the wake of the titan attacks since survival, not historical preservation, was their one and only priority. There is really no part of kidnapping little Asian girls to sell into sex slavery because they are seen as exotic by rich white men that can in any sense be considered not being racist. Or anything else we saw in that episode, for that matter. As for Mikasa fitting into society anyway, well, the notion of discrete races isn't real and there's actually just a complex but continuous variation down the length of Eurasia from Western Europe through to East Asia, so someone who's half-Japanese half-European might have features that resemble someone from Central Asia or the Near East depending on which genes get expressed, in which case she might seem a little off to most people, but they wouldn't really know how or why. Alternately, she does seem to stun men with her looks, so maybe that's all that's up with that and I'm yet again overthinking animes.
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May 14, 2013 04:46
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