Attack on Titan Review Season 3 Part 2 Episode 5

titan5g

Just wow.

Eren and Armin - Attack on Titan Season 3

Episode 5

Wow! Ouch! Wow again. And let’s throw an ‘ooh’ in there for good measure.

Yep, episode 5 of Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 has rendered me effectively speechless and trying to describe the emotional response to this episode results in onomatopoeia, word salad, and mostly inarticulate phrases. Shock, horror, celebration, stunned silence, horror again, utter depression, minor triumph, followed by the stillness that comes from being so confused about how I feel and yet moved nonetheless.

The Beast Titan
A truly hopeless situation and one where there will be no eleventh hour rescue. Regardless of how contrived, this works emotionally.

It isn’t as though the episode is some model of perfection. There’s sections of animation that aren’t as polished as some of the sequences we were getting in season one, the character points are all very much orchestrated as are the emotional notes. It isn’t in the slightest bit subtle as we see the death and disaster roll out before us and other than a moment of excellent timing there’s nothing overly clever about it.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 Episode 5 - Armin
Ouch!

What makes this episode work is that it is the culmination of the all the events leading up to it. Each character moment, whether it is Levi, Armin, Eren, Jean, Bertholdt, Reiner, or the random scout who apparently survived the suicide charge, fits beautifully as the next step in their journey’s even if that step seems to be the end of the line.

Levi - Attack on Titan Season 3
In this moment I finally understood the Levi fandom.

Affiliate Link
	BRAVE-ACT ATTACK ON TITAN 1/8 SCALE PRE-PAINTED FIGURE: LEVI -VER. 2B-

This is where episodic reviewing is a problem. In terms of spectacle, this episode brought it. Again, it could have been more polished in places, but it looks good enough (significantly better than a lot of anime out there). There’s enough going on to keep the audience hooked and invested with sufficient pauses for the characters to have their moments. However, this episode doesn’t progress plot or the like. It consolidates a sequence of events we’ve been watching and invested in over the last few weeks and as such it nails the perfect emotional climax.

titan5c
The moment of death – approximately two seconds after this image was captured. Again, ouch.

I’m not going to say what happened, you should just watch it. However, new respect for Levi. That was pretty amazing. Eren gets an incredibly bitter-sweet triumph with a heavy dose of the bitter side of it. And Armin… well, as I said, just watch the episode.


Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James


Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 Review Episodes 1 + 2

titan1c

This war is either just getting started – or it’s about to end tragically for everyone.

Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 1

Episode 1

I feel like this is cheating and Attack on Titan should just call it season 4 but whatever, here we are for season 3 part two. As usual the humans are in a terrible situations, titans are terrifying, and every character is walking around like the weight of the world is on their shoulders and every line of dialogue is delivered as if it is the defining moment of the episode. But none of that is new and if you’ve watched Attack on Titan up to this point that isn’t going to make you walk away now.

Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 1

Besides, this episode looks great, the plot seems to be progressing nicely, Eren doesn’t shout, and the hook at the end of the episode to get us to come back for the next episode was pretty spectacular. There’s just very little to complain about as this gives us more of Attack on Titan.

Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 1 - Eren and Armin
Are we just trying to raise a death flag here?

I still have to wonder about the sense of walking past the sleeping titan in the dark and not dealing with it. I just kept thinking as it stared at them creepily in the dark that it could be sending messages or doing anything for all they knew and yet they left an enemy alive behind them. That just seemed to be asking for trouble. Not that it really mattered given they were clearly always going to be walking into trouble.

Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode 1 - Armin

Armin actually got to play an active role for the first time in awhile and I loved his reaction to being put in charge of something. It was a rare amusing moment in Attack on Titan that hit the perfect note and yet didn’t distract from the overall tension of the scene. It’s a shame Mikasa remains pretty much solely Eren’s shadow and seems to still have no personality or life beyond that.

titan1e

However, the coolest moment of the episode goes to Levi who is very much going with a stab first and ask questions never approach to dealing with the enemy. It may not have actually worked but it was still a definitively cool move.

All and all, here we are for another round of Attack on Titan. Here’s hoping it all works out.

Affiliate Link
NENDOROID NO. 1123 ATTACK ON TITAN: HANGE ZOE

Episode 2

While this episode is entirely the first part of this massive battle they seem to have set up, at no point does it feel like Attack on Titan is dragging its feet. From Erwin making his decisions and ordering his troops to seeing Levi in action before cutting to the awaited Eren and Reiner rematch with the other scouts ready to make a move, it all comes together beautifully and even while you are waiting for everything to fall apart and the screaming, shouting and dying to kick off again (come on, this is Attack on Titan), there’s a real pleasure in seeing the humans occasionally look like they might come out on top of something.

Erwin - Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode Two
And we’re shouting again.

There were a few moments visually where the titans movements felt really clunky or large groups of people or titans seemed barely animated, however you can kind of see why when you look at the incredibly fluid motion in the second half of the episode. While it isn’t quite as thrilling as the first time seeing the ODM gear in action, it is still pretty awesome to watch and Eren’s fighting style as a titan has become vastly more polished now that he’s a bit more trained and more self-aware.

Eren fighting Reiner - Attack on Titan Season Three Part Two Episode Two

As an episode, about the only issue is that it directly picks up from the previous one and leaves us hanging still in the midst of battle (and I suspect that’s going to be the MO for this season for awhile because it feels like this battle is going to take a lot to get through). Binge watching it would be awesome but waiting a week in between means very limited progress given I’m wondering if we even saw ten minutes of actual conflict play out. This doesn’t actually make this bad, but it is where seasonal watching is at a distinct disadvantage to those who wait for an anime to be completed.

Mikasa and Armin

Still impressed by Eren’s lack of shouting, fairly happy with how events are unfolding, and certainly keen to see what happens next. Attack on Titan’s third season definitely got me hooked back into the story and part two seems to be setting up a pretty spectacular battle here.


Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James


Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 12: And Now We Wait Until Next Year

Attack on Titan Season Three Episode 12 - Erwin and Levi

Well, once I found out this season was going to be split in two, any hope for an actual resolution of any sort this time around when out the window so I guess I’m not actually disappointed. And despite last week being a bit of a snooze fest and this week just plunging us into a cliff-hanger with a during end-credits tease, season three has still become my favourite Attack on Titan season yet, though I’ll get more into that when I do a whole season (half-season?) review.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 12 - Hange

This week we get the higher ups talking some more and recapping things for us so that we know where we’re going next and why. Other than the over use of brown in this scene it works well enough and at least we’re clearly set on a course of action for now. That’s probably the best thing they did. Even with the gap between now and April next year when part 2 is supposed to come out, this episode gives us a clear direction which is something the end of season one and two lacked.

Attack on Titan Season Three Episode 12 - Eerwin

We get an interesting scene between Erwin and Levi that might have more significance and people who have read the manga probably know what that is but for me I’ll just file that under interesting and wait until the show chooses to maybe get back to it.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 12 - Sasha

However, it was the second part of the episode that really got things going as we saw Sasha at her food craziest yet before Jean and Eren get into a ridiculous fight. It was kind of nice to see a little life in Eren even if he very nearly reverted into shouting idiot Eren. I think they played this nicely with him trying to have a bit of energy but inside he’s still kind of broken. Plus, we then got a Mikasa, Armin and Eren moment that was kind of adorable and brought us back to where these three started (as the OP has been all season) and it was just kind of nice to see this again even if it felt like tragic death flags were being raised all around (or maybe that’s just me because I’m used to this show doing that to us).

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 12 - Jean and Eren

So yes, this episode works and as a mid-season point it is pretty solid. As the last episode we’re going to see this year I just have to shake my head and remind myself it is Attack on Titan. This isn’t the worst thing they’ve ever done to viewers.

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Or use one of my affiliate product links:


ATTACK ON TITAN ANTHOLOGY (ENGLISH) HARDCOVER

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 11: Aw, He’s Special

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 11

Well, we knew we were moving on from the previous arc but this episode felt like yet more transition and catching people up on how things fit together rather than actually moving onto anything. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the three seasons have been spread over a large period of time and we’ve recently been hit with a whole stack of revelations so the characters taking time to process and giving the audience time to process is kind of nice, even if it doesn’t make for exactly compelling viewing.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 11

I am actually starting to like this new and subdued Eren. Honestly, I’m kind of hoping he doesn’t ‘snap out of it’ anytime soon because a thinking Eren who contemplates and actually tries for others rather than going off idiotically and brashly while shouting his ideas is a lot more bearable as a character (again, not quite as interesting given he doesn’t tend to do much, but there are other characters who can fill that void).

This episode gives us a brief look at Historia as a Queen who seems to be taking a very hands on approach to working with the masses which is fine and all but it does leave you wondering who is making the actual big administrative decisions while she’s doing manual labour. It does however at least give us some sort of hope that things might improve inside the walls (which is probably just so they can later dash that hope into small pieces).

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 11

We then transition to a scene with Eren and his crew eating soup very slowly and the other recruits making a bit deal of how much they’ve changed in the months since they became scouts. It took me by surprise to given for me its been years and the change seemed really slow, but I guess in the in story time it isn’t that long. This also leads Eren to figuring out that the training commander guy knew his dad so Levi, Hange, and most everyone who has remained relevant ride out to the training grounds for story time.

If I seem a little flippant about this it is because while it eats a large chunk of the episode time, we essentially don’t get much from this guy. I really quite like Hange’s reaction to his story. While I’m kind of certain that maybe something he said will later become relevant (now there’s a clear sentence), it all just felt like a very drawn out red-herring.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 11

So yeah, I’m not overly sold on this episode even though there are some nice ideas and touches in it. Really it will depend where this goes as to whether this works or not (another case where maybe binging would improve the story – or maybe it wouldn’t, hard to know until later).

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Or use one of my affiliate product links:


Attack on Titan LEVI

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 10: Choices Made

Attack on Titan Episode 10 - Kenny and Levi

Levi talks with Kenny and we see the life Kenny had and the choices he made before they crown Historia. While not a lot actually happens this episode of Attack on Titan it is a nice pause to fill in some gaps and prepare us for what is coming next.

Attack on Titan Episode 10 - Kenny facing Uri

Kenny had a colourful past and seeing his confrontation with the true king before he became his follower was an interesting experience. While it is still hard to really understand what makes Kenny tick, that’s kind of the point because Kenny himself is confused by some of the choices he made along the way. And that makes his hesitation to use the needle make a lot of sense, that and he clearly didn’t want to become a brainless titan but also didn’t want to die.

Attack on Titan Episode 10

Likewise this episode gave us some insight into Levi but there’s still so much to the character that just hasn’t been explained which keeps him interesting enough. He’s a character that has had a fairly big impact on the story but very little is really known about him from watching the anime so these small moments where we see his past are appreciated as they help to flesh out the picture a bit more.

Attack on Titan Episode 10

Historia’s crowning ceremony was what you would expect and really all I wanted to know was why the people are so easily lead around. Last week they were berating the scouts and the military and being belligerent about having to evacuate and now they are singing the praises of Historia because she happened to land one blow on a titan that had already been blown apart by Eren and the other Scout’s efforts. I get what they are going for with the masses but it really is depressing to watch sometimes.

Lastly, we finally catch up with the guys who left the scouts after confessing to being titans and they’ve crossed paths with the beast titan. While a bit of context for this encounter might be nice, they do nicely set up a future obstacle for Eren and the others to face.

Ttian10c

So all and all this episode was pretty satisfying as it wrapped up some story threads, reignited others, and more or less consolidated things that needed it so that we’re ready to move on. The question is, what will we move on to and will it be as satisfying as this last arc was?

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Or use one of my affiliate product links:


Attack on Titan PS4 US

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 9: To Kill A Titan

Attack on TItan Episode 9

Credit where it is due to this episode. Firstly, it reminded me that Attack on Titan is very good at making me really dislike humans. One of the things that really bugged me in season one was the absence of characters I could care about because everyone just seemed to be a truly horrible human being, and that included the huddled masses.

Attack on Titan episode 9

Well, season three gives us this episode where the military are lying to the people about running a training drill and the people get all huffy not because they are being lied to but because the people who are fighting to save their lives are inconveniencing them. Seriously, are the military sure anyone in this world is worth saving? Still, the generally despicable nature of people in this anime is part of what makes it interesting to watch when contrasted with all of those anime of fluffy and happy people who just try to make everyone smile so I’m actually pretty happy that we get this solid reminder that this anime is not about sweetness and light but about a very gritty and sour reality.

Attack on Ttian Episode 9

Secondly, thanks for the reminder that Titans are horrific. I mean, Rod Reiss’ Titan form looming at the wall is one truly disgusting image and one that isn’t going to leave me anytime soon. It has been awhile since there’s been any real repulsion or emotion at all felt toward a titan (curiosity about the still missing in action beast titan isn’t quite the same thing), so the genuinely moment of recoil when we got a look at this thing was fairly welcome.

Attack on Titan Episode 9

Thirdly, Eren. I know I’m normally all for beating up Eren and I really don’t like him as a character but it is like he’s finally turned a corner and grown up just a little bit. Whether he ruins it all by doing something utterly stupid in a couple of episodes remains to be seen but it is almost as if he’s come through the ordeal of the past 7 episodes finally seeing the world just a little bit clearer. It if sticks I might even have to look back at Eren and how that growth happened over the course of all three seasons, though I’ll wait and see if it sticks before I revise my opinion of him as a character.

Attack on Titan Episode 9

And finally, Historia. For a character that had never left much impact on me, even when they spent a lot of the second season trying to find Christa, she’s really stepped up as well this season and with both her and Eren having fairly solid character growth this is pretty much the best I’ve seen from Attack on Titan since its beginning.

Titan9f

So, yeah, credit to a fairly solid episode of great moments. Still want to know why they even bother having the other soldiers standing around firing canons. It never works and the other soldiers seem woefully under-trained which makes sense but is still pretty pathetic. This episode certainly gave us enough spectacle and with the set up at the end for next week things seem to be rolling along nicely for the season so far.

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Or use one of my affiliate product links:


Attack on Titan PS4 US

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 8: They Finally Remembered Eren’s Basement – I’m So Happy Right Now

Attack on Titan Episode 8

I probably shouldn’t be so hung up on the whole Eren’s basement thing but it was the one carrot season one left me with that made me want to keep watching this franchise. And then season two was delayed, multiple times. When we finally got to season two, no basement. It was kind of frustrating, so imagine how happy I was when after a series of pretty great episodes they finally mention getting around to the basement. You know what, that hope alone could probably keep me watching another season without a rewarding pay-off though I hope Attack on Titan isn’t cruel enough to its viewers to do that.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 8

An unbound and ungagged Eren actually manages to really seem small and pathetic this episode until I kind of tried to actually think about his situation. As much as I dislike his particular brand of ‘shout-fest protagonism’ that has been on display since the beginning of this series, Eren’s really been through a lot and his drive to kill the Titans to get out into the world, before that transferred into kill the Titans for revenge, has suddenly become quite hollow even to him. Basically the humans have always had the power to end the titan threat and for 100 years they haven’t and for whatever reason Eren’s father stole that power away from the Reiss’ which left humans completely vulnerable. I kind of actually felt pretty bad for him and really his momentary idea of let’s just let Reiss eat me and then fix things actually doesn’t seem like a truly a terrible plan.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 8

However, we would not be watching this sort of an anime if the rest of his ‘friends’ didn’t rally around and give him a good kick while he is feeling sorry for himself leading to him choosing instead to protect them as the cavern falls down. There’s a lot of plot convenience here in that firstly the right vial fell out of the bag, secondly Eren even in his distressed state and with blood and tears in his eyes read it, and thirdly Eren managed to successfully use the new power in the instant that he gains it, but you know its the kind of spectacle you can dissect or just enjoy so let’s just go with it for now.

Meanwhile, Reiss’ titan form is… interesting? Okay, we’ve had some really disturbing variations on titans over the course of two and a bit seasons but a giant incapable of standing that literally burns everything around it and leaves a path of destruction just by passing through an area is a new one. It also raises the question of how they intend to fight it given you can’t exactly just swing around and chop it in the neck when you would burn before you got near and it is lying on its back (or is it lying on its front, it wasn’t very clear). Either way, not a great plan.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 8

What was nice was seeing Historia taking charge of the discussion as they rode in the wagon and correcting Eren’s false assumptions that somehow having Reiss eat him would be a good idea. Given where the series seems to be pushing her character, this was a nice set up for it.

All and all, this was another pretty solid episode with about the only down side being that Kenny and his group ended up being even less significant than expected. So a lot of build up for very little actual reward before a large number of them got buried in the rubble. It will be interesting to see if any of them come back later but even if they do, they’ve now lost their backer so I doubt they are going to be of much importance (could be wrong on that one but it seems really unlikely).

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 8

But, and here is the most important part, we get a solid reminder of the basement and even the characters make a joke that seems to reference the fact that it has been all but forgotten for a very long time by this story. So happy.

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 7: Two Things I Didn’t Think Possible

Attack on Titan Episode 7 - Mikasa

Season three continues to be a surprising delight though not without some issues, as episode 7 drops yet more information about the walls and the world even while the scouts continue to fight to get to Eren.

Attack on Titan Season 7 - Hange

The fight at the start of this episode is brutal, but over fairly quickly all things considered as the second half of this episode has bigger fish to fry. Seeing some of the scouts in action against other humans is both unsettling and all fairly exhilarating. What amazed me more was how few casualties the scouts seemed to take but they kind of saved all their shock for a single character getting taken down and that is where they were left with the enemy retreating to another chamber. The action in this sequence is good and the smokey visuals plays well into it. The sounds of the ODM are fantastic as are the shots and the sounds of the blades. Where I will criticise it is where it brings in a music soundtrack though that is probably more personal taste because I found it both distracting and fairly uninspired. Still, in terms of follow ups to cliff-hangers this delivered plenty that was worth waiting for.

Attack on Titan - Episode 7 - Kenny

 Still, the greater part of the episode lay with Eren, Historia, Reiss and surprisingly Kenny. I kind of thought they would drag out Kenny’s motive for working with Reiss for longer but apparently not, and apparently, Kenny is the kind of guy that kicks over the sand-castle when he doesn’t get what he wants. Realising his own plan is going to come to nothing, he throws a serious spanner in the works of Reiss’ plan.

Attack on Titan Episode 7 - Historia

Meanwhile, Historia seems to be going along beautifully with Reiss’ plan before she suddenly asks the most sensible question I’ve ever heard come out of an Attack on Titan character’s mouth and I’ll applaud the show for this first moment that I absolutely did not see coming. And this, while we see an Eren who for the first time ever actually made me feel bad for him as a character. This was a serious moment where for the first time ever, I didn’t enjoy seeing Eren restrained, emotionally hurt, and essentially the world’s punching bag.

Attack on Titan Episode 7 - Eren

If I were to make a list of characters I don’t mind seeing get beaten up, Eren would be fairly high on that list (Ichigo from Bleach probably tops it out though because Ichigo getting beat up usually means he’s about to do something awesome). And yet in this episode Eren is at perhaps the most pathetic I’ve ever seen him. He doesn’t shout or yell, but resigns himself to letting things happen because no matter how you want to spin it, a lot of people have died because of his father’s choice. Maybe just as many would have died anyway but we have no way of knowing that.

So two things from Attack on Titan I didn’t think possible, plus Historia’s coolest moment ever, plus a cliffhanger that actually seems like it could be kind of cool and if last week to this week is any indicator, we won’t be left disappointed (hopefully).

By the way, I reserve the right to go back to hating Eren the next time he starts shouting.

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 6: So Many Puzzle Pieces

titan6d

If the second half of season 1 and all of season 2 just kind of made me disenchanted with this show because Attack on Titan didn’t seem interested in exploring its own mysteries, the last few episodes have definitely got me back onside, even if the characters and this world remain as horrible and bleak as ever.

Attack on Titan Episode 6

It is undeniably true that a large part of Attack on Titan’s screen time seems devoted to showing us the very ugliest side of human nature. After weeks of having the ‘good’ guys (or at least those attached to the protagonist), torturing, murdering, and generally being ruthless in order to survive the snares laid by those who were even more inclined to protect their own interests we finally had the coup and a rescue mounted for Eren. And yet, this episode still takes time out from explanations and reveals that literally reshape the audience’s perception of the world in order to have one of the allies from the coup shown to be torturing those taken captive for no other real reason other than he really wants to and is enjoying it. It’s a little disconcerting.

Attack on Titan Episode 6

As for reveals, there are many but none of them seem fully realised yet as we’re still getting pieces from people who either don’t know the full story or aren’t yet ready to share. Still, this one episode packed in more backstory for Eren, Mikasa, and Historia than we’ve gotten in pretty much every episode up to this one combined so I guess we can’t be too critical of it.

Attack on Titan Episode 6

Despite the dense nature of this episode it didn’t feel rushed and it didn’t feel like a continuous information dump. The set up over the last five episodes of this season has naturally led the characters and the audience to this point where finally information has become available and there’s enough chopping and changing going on between scenes of characters discussing events and characters preparing to join the fight to keep things interesting.

And I was wrong about Eren shouting this episode. He’s still gagged though we did hear his thoughts on a number of occasions. I’m thinking he’s just saving his voice for when he’s really going to let loose with some shouting, but in the meantime I’ll enjoy the fact that even though clearly the plot is still focused on Eren his actual presence in the story is still pretty minimal. He may as well be some enchanted ring in a magic cave the Scouts are trying to rescue given he’s done nothing in the last few episodes. Admittedly, unlike an enchanted ring, given even a little leeway he’ll probably attempt to fight his own way out so I guess we’ll see what happens next.

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21

Attack on Titan Season 3 Episode 5: Yourself or Humanity?

titan5a

I’m sure it is pure coincidence that the last three episodes have been among the best Attack on Titan has delivered and Eren being bound and off-screen for the majority of it is not the determining factor. However, I do have to wonder if this should have been the story all along, dealing with the commanders and the politics that have always been behind the scenes, with Eren and the other soldiers simply being the side story. I know which one has been more entertaining so far.

Attack on Titan Episode 5

There was a lot to love about this week and how Erwin’s plan, or at least his hope, came together as the selfish and egocentric natures of those in power was demonstrated in its full glory leading to a coup d’etat. However, in case you are thinking we are done with the self-serving and fragmented rule, those who were at the centre of orchestrating it all admit in their own way that they are only acting on their own self-interest. They don’t know that their actions will actually lead to the survival, or even a better outcome, for humanity. All they do know is that they either opposed those in charge, or in Erwin’s case he had come to the end of his road unless he incited this action.

Titan5b

And while Hange might try to put a more positive spin on it by saying individuals all made small choices that resulted in a positive outcome, the outcome is only briefly positive and only for those characters we’ve been asked to care about. We still have no overall plan or understanding and ultimately there’s no guarantee that anything these characters are doing will work out. For all we as the audience know, the false king and those who ruled him might very well have actually been the ones keeping humanity from extinction and now that they are gone its inevitable that they will lose.

Attack on Titan Episode 5

I think though, what I loved about this episode is that at first it presented Erwin as a martyr, then as someone who would incite a rebellion and a potential future leader, before admitting he was just doing as he pleased because there was something he wanted. Whether or not he’ll be judged as good or bad in the history books of this world will entirely depend on how his gamble plays out and how many lives are lost or saved.

Titan5f

We could try to put the characters on a sliding scale and we’d probably realise that those who were overthrown were significantly worse because they didn’t even try to pretend that other lives mattered, but ultimately, Attack on Titan reminds us once again about the very ugly side of human nature. While the scouts in the forest might cheer at the news that they are no longer wanted criminals, let’s take a moment to remember that they have in fact killed and tortured to get to this point and they’d do it again in a heart beat if they needed to in order to accomplish their goals. These are the heroes this world has given us and while they fit the world entirely, it paints a pretty bleak picture.

Attack on Titan Episode 5

Though, speaking of bleak pictures, things are not looking so great for Eren. If he wasn’t the main character, at the centre of the OP, and if we hadn’t started the season with a vision of him looking much older, I might even be mildly worried for his safety.

Previous Reviews:


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
x click but21