Tuesday, April 9, 2013

New Anime Series! Shingeki no Kyojin episode 1!

Hello there my lovely readers! I tried to have a busy today folks, catching up on animes. A lot of the new shows I plan to watch all came out on the same day. But that just means that Monday-Wednesdays will have lots to blog about and I can leave my work days alone. Sorta works out you know?
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The first 5 seconds are kind of a downer.
So up first on the list of maybe shows is the lovely and not violent show Shingeki no Kyojin. Spoilers for this show being full of flowers and people living in peace and not being eaten by Titans.
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I thought that line was supposed to come later....still gives you idea that some people are crazy.
Episode Summary: Everyone looks on in fear as the biggest Titan ever peers over the 50 meter wall that was supposed to be protecting them and their city. Humanity seems doomed. A few hours before a young boy named Eren was resting under a tree. Or at least he was resting until he has what appears to be a bad dream about Titans attacking and eating people. A young girl named Mikasa wakes him up and asks why he was crying. He brushes her off and instead complains about how they have to live behind these walls and he wants to see the outside world. Mikasa tells him not to talk like that or they will get in trouble. As they walk back into town they run across Hannes and the other Stationary Guard in town. They are drunk which upsets Eren as they need to be alert in case a Titan comes. Hannes is like hello there is a wall to protect us and it is our job to waste resources so people can be upset about that and not worry about the horrors outside. Eren is not happy with that answer and goes on and on how they aren't helping anyone. Mikasa and Eren continue to walk home until they hear a horn that signals the return of the Scouting Legion, the only humans that go outside the walls to reclaim more land for humans. Eren looks on excited at his heroes but sees that there aren't many of them left and the ones who are beat up. An old woman approaches the Scouting Legion and asks where her son is. She is handed his arm as that is all they could find of him. Everyone grows quiet as the woman is obviously upset. She then gets a crazy look on her face, saying at least her son died a hero right? That the human race has been helped out because of him yes? The man she was speaking to starts to say yes but then says no, no one who has died has died for a good cause as they are not any closer to giving humans more reclaimed land.
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Um I am drinking always?
The crowd gets upset and Eren is upset they are picking on the Scouting Legion. Eren and Mikasa return home to learn Eren's Dad is leaving that day to see someone in the inner city on an important matter. Mikasa informs the parents that Eren wants to join the Scouting Legion. Mom is upset and Dad wants to learn more on why Eren wants to do this. He promises to show Eren what he keeps in the basement when he returns and off he goes. Mom is upset at this I want to die nonsense and Eren runs off. Mikasa goes after him which is good because their friend Armin was getting his ass kicked by some bullies. They go to help him but Armin wants to keep some of his dignity. He explains that he was talking about how one day the humans will have to leave the walls and the bullies didn't like it. Eren is tired of people picking on them just because they aren't complacent with their lives. Before Mikasa can remind them walls are good a weird noise is heard. They go to see what everyone is looking at...and it is the giant Titan. One bigger than the wall. One whose foot is about to kick a hole in the wall. Everyone can only look on as a massive hole is made and debris is spread out everywhere. Normal size Titans start entering the city. Everyone starts running but Eren and Mikasa run the other way, back to their home. They see Mom under some of the debris and try to free her. Mom urges the kids to go before they are all eaten. Hannes shows up and says he will protect them all despite Mom saying to save the kids. He goes to attack but gets scared and rescues the kids instead. Mom cries thank you as she realizes she is about to die. Eren looks on as his mom is picked up and eaten by a Titan. And that is the day humans were reminded that they live in constant fear and terror. THE END!
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WEEEE how many of you will be dead soon?!
X____X This is weird for me. I am trying to remember the last time I knew what was going to happen in anime before it happened. Usually I watch the animes and then pick up the mangas. I know I read Tsubasa before watching the anime but that really didn't help with all the fillers and them making things up ALL THE TIME. So yeah this is a weird experience for me. Not uncommon but it has been a while.
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I think they did an okay job showing off the equipment used and how....flyable everyone becomes.
I guess I can say...that things are pretty accurate? I am not sure how this show can only be so few episodes given they barely got anything done in this episode. 25 episodes....that sounds like a lot but given that in the manga the reason for EVERYTHING happening has not been explained yet...this show will either be two seasons or a very original ending. Because the fighting will probably take up a great deal of the episodes. Not Naruto or Dragon Ball Z style but really...a lot of fighting. So yeah everything seems accurate so far and the things they added made it flow well. What a weird feeling.
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Is that adventure I hear?! p
Our main character Eren is a bit brooding. I think they expanded his dialogue a bit but he really, really doesn't like living in the walls. Now I can't speak about that situation myself but I can see why most of the people in the city are okay with this. Have maybe forgotten about the horrors beyond the wall. When life could be so much worse it is easy to be okay with life being okay, not great. Most people don't see the walls as a loss of freedom but protection. But not Eren. He wants to go out there and experience whatever it is he thinks he is missing. Well at this point he is missing getting his head bitten off by a giant Titan so you know...
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The glass is always half full, be prepared for war always!
Eren's conversation with Hannes and the other Stationary Guards were all a set up to show you how humans have been dealing with the situation behind the walls. Hannes and the others are supposed to guard the walls and be ready in case of an attack. But since there hasn't been a major incident in over a 100 years they have become glorified wall fixers. Is that understandable? Yes we all get caught up in things being the same and that it will always be that way. Perhaps those nasty Titans seem dangerous back in the history books but we got a wall now. Hannes and the others are sorta like airport security. Everyone hates them and think that they couldn't save people if their depended on it. Yet having them there makes people feel a bit better, just in case.
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Well then...that might not get you many new recruits.
Eren might hate Hannes but he thinks the world of the Scouting Legion. Probably because they are the only humans that get to go outside. Only no one else seems to be okay with them. No results and tons of resources would make anyone unhappy yes? These people are trying to get more land for humans so they can have a future. Yet even they themselves are upset with how they come back with only body parts of their friends and nothing to show for it. Poor Eren and his heroes.
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That seemed a bit forced...
Needless to say upon the news of more failure it is understandable that Eren's parents were not down for him joining the Scouting Legion. His mother was more upset than the dad. He was like oh tell me why you think that...and now I am going to leave town. There was a little bit of foreshadowing with Dad in this episode. Hannes mentioned that Eren's Dad had saved the town at one point, that he is a doctor. Which is fine on it's own but why did Dad leave town so soon? Shouldn't he stay home and discipline his kid? If he is such a fine doctor why does he live on the outside? Why would someone from the inner walls call him in?
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I would have been like BITCH thanks a lot.
Whatever the case may be Dad left and Mom was pissed. This gives Eren the chance to leave the house and rescue Armin. Okay maybe it was Mikasa that saved the kid. Seems like out of the three Armin is the smart one, Eren is the one with lofty dreams, and Mikasa is the muscle. All of them have varying degrees of wanting to leave the walls. Mikasa may want to leave but knows it is safer this way, Armin thinks about it in a practical way, and Eren wants to go on adventure, see a new world. None of them are regarded highly in their society for their different thinking.
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50 meter Titan didn't attack anyone. Just kicked the wall and left. Not as bloody as I expected.
Now what are Titans? This episode didn't get into it much but the word should be well known to most. A huge giant humonoid creature. I don't think it was mentioned in this episode but the reason why everything was so shocking is that most Titans are 15 meters and shorter. There are different kinds of Titans but that seems to be the tallest height. Thus when everyone could see a Titan over the 50 meter wall....that was something no one had ever seen and were not prepared for. It doesn't have anything to do with the humans being “lazy” this time. They really had no idea this was possible.
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See, this is real!
The result of this 50 meter Titan was...a giant hole in the wall. I am sure it could have torn the entire thing down. So why didn't it? Why didn't it tear the entire thing down and enter the city? A very good question. The hole was big enough for the other normal sized Titans which I guess would cause enough damage. The debris alone caused many people to die and become trapped, like Eren's mom. I liked how that scene played out. Well not LIKED but it felt real. I don't think the mother had her legs totally crushed but she had to lie to get the kids away. She tells Hannes to save the kids and leave her. But when the kids were actually leaving she started crying, telling them not to go. She did the right thing but that doesn't mean it didn't scare her or that she really wanted to be left behind. I like that she didn't smile to the very end, that she was upset and crying for her life. Way too many anime characters put on a brave face in the light of death. I want to see some real fear and tears folks!
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Good job Mr. Soldier.
The episode ends with Hannes rescuing the kids and running away from the Titan. If I were Eren I would be pissed. Eren sees Hannes' job as protecting people from Titans and Hannes ran away from a basic one that wasn't that big. But Hannes has probably not ever fought a Titan. He just did the training and never had any experience. Me thinks that will be the case for many of the soldiers in town and that everyone will have to be protected by the Scouting Legion. And since they just got beat up....I am thinking that this episode had a higher death count than we saw.
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I see lots of dead people.
Overall this episode was okay. Not the rating that it is getting on MAL fabulous but okay. Faithful to the manga and even including pieces of the art in the opening song. I thought the song started off way too happy but then it sorta went with the mood of the story. It wasn't as bloody as I thought it was going to be but I am sure that will change once the episodes progress and that is probably why it got such a high rating. I mean...people getting munched on seems to rank high with people. I do enjoy watching The Walking Dead so maybe this show won't hurt my eyes too much. But the battles might get too long and drawn out for my taste. Will have to wait and see how this show will handle the fact that the manga hasn't ended yet and most of the mysteries not explains. That could mean....24 episodes of blood and guts. X___X

3 comments:

eternia said...

Oh, have you read the manga, christina? That's a surprise. I thought you hated the art style? I have finished reading all the available chapters last night, myself.

The low IQ of MAL users should be no surprise already, huh. Rating something as 10/10 even thought they have only watched the tip of the iceberg.

The main problem that the anime adaptation will encounter is of course, how will they end it. Because the manga hasn't gotten anywhere, really. It has too many actions and eating scenes, while the plot is very minimal. So few answers are given, yet there are ton of questions.

How will they end this anime? An anime original ending? A temporary stop in order to wait for the manga, just like the case with Bleach? We will see...

Anonymous said...

I bet the titans followed those (retreated) solders back home... Fail move.

Christina said...

Eternia- I do hate the manga style. XD I love myself some pretty art and at times things get downright ugly. I am okay with horror most of the time (The Walking Dead, how can I wait until October!!!) but at times it was hard to tell people apart as if they were scrambling to get through the dialogue scenes so they could get through the munchin.

It will be interesting to see how this ends. You are right, nothing has been explained at all. Mostly one person has turned into a punching bag and a long line of dead soldiers line the pages. The motives and reason behind everything has not been touched upon and only the tiniest hints have been given. So.....if it not a two season anime we are going to get an ending pulled out thin air.

Anonymous- Most of the titans don't seem that intelligent but it is suspect that the attack happened the day the soldier returned. Hopefully there is a reason anyway.