What Went Down
Levi and the troops continue to keep house while Eren develops his titan abilities. Conspiracies tighten as they escape, while trying to protect Eren and Historia from unknown enemies. And while the group seems to conduct an operation successfully, Levi finds that someone dangerous from his past is one step ahead.
Musings
You would never know it by how often Crunchroll went down when new episodes of Attack on Titan season two aired, but by and large, that season was disappointing—the engaging tone of the original episodes was gone and despite a lot of action, the season dragged forward. It felt almost as if there wasn’t enough time to plan out those episodes, despite years between seasons one and two airing.
Fortunately, it seems like season three may avoid some of these issues. Even though episode one lacked much in the way of action, taking the story into what I think is the most worrisome part of the narrative (I seriously felt like falling asleep while reading much of this section in the manga), the episode was well planned: events move forward quickly, the animation was crisp, the opening was GRADE A, and tone of paranoia is well-established. In fact, this episode quickly demonstrated how few people could be trusted: there are divisions within the army, a separation between the monarchy and our main characters, and serious trust issues between Levi and one who helped raise him.
When dire situations arise, trust, indeed, becomes a problem. Who is it that we can believe in when things go awry? For Eren, Historia, and the rest, the answer could mean life or death—our stakes may not be so high, but they sometimes feel that way. When life gets difficult, when challenges come our way, the people in our lives can help relieve worries and help us through, or they can compound difficulties as we realize that the people who “love us” only love us so much.
It’s in the latter case where bitterness can build, and if we’re not careful, those feelings can change us. The “nobody cares anyway” kind of feeling sounds ridiculous when spoken by someone else, but it makes sense when we whisper it to ourselves. And the feeling that this could be true is as terrifying as the possibility of a titan sneaking around the corner of our house.
Questions and Thoughts?
- Attack on Titan confuses me—I don’t think I’m alone in this. I don’t know (or can’t remember) what it is exactly that the group is trying to do with Eren at this point. Does anyone know what the plan is?
- I think that new character that was with Levi was anime-only and was basically made just for one scene in this episode. Am I right? I would like to see more of her, though I figured early on we wouldn’t get more than an episode.
- I like Historia and Eren interaction. Good stuff.
- Same for Jean and Eren. 😀
- New favorite opening. Just like last season, it seems to continue the theme of teasing later parts of the series—so, too, did that quick opening scene.
- No ED yet!
I can’t wait to see this new season :). The tone is very different, and what I just don’t like about the manga is how many different directions it takes. Not spoiling, but the beginning was about survival, then its the monarchy thing, then its about the island, then something else happens that changes the story and viewpoint completely, etc etc. Its hard to keep up. Its the only manga I have had to either re read chapters or find a wikipedia to help understand what is going on and who is who and why they are important -_-
It is very complicated—and in fact, I’m glad the anime has returned, because its helping to revisit all this past stuff.