It’s the Multiversity Summer TV Binge! Although I’ve never been deeply into anime, I’m totally in love with Attack on Titan. Having already watched the first season with subtitles, I thought it would be cool to return to the dubbed version of the series. Be warned, here be spoilers!
1. Attack On Titan levels up
I’m obviously a big fan of this show, and it has been steadily getting better and better, but episode 8 truly takes Attack On Titan to greatness. From Armin’s early gambit, to the 104th having to work together as a squad, to the tearful ending with its disturbing implications, this episode covers a broader range of tone than any episode yet. More than that, it manages those tones better than much more seasoned shows. Connie telling Jean that the “big beautiful SOB is our ticket out of here” made me laugh out loud. Mikasa’s tears at the end had me honestly choked up. Attack On Titan proves that it works best as an old school war serial. The closest modern equivalent may weirdly be Band of Brothers, which also managed to juggle to horrors of war with funnier quiet moments of camaraderie. And this is a show about jetpack teens fighting giants who don’t have buttholes.
2. Is Jean Kirschtein a good leader?
Lots of characters had shining moments, but this was Jean’s episode. We pick up where we left him- doubting his abilities. The plot of this episode has to do with his squad getting supplies to refuel their ODM gear, from a depot that’s been overrun. He loses a few comrades in the approach, and promptly loses his cool, beating the crap out of a fellow soldier who failed to deliver supplies, necessitating this entire operation.
Last episode had some good flying, but Jean leading his squad is the best fight scene yet. It clearly cost a good portion of the animation budget, but it looks gorgeous. Seeing the whole 104th (or what’s left of them) work together as a squad is just too cool.
Ultimately, it’s wonderful unicorn of a boy Marco who answers the episode’s main question. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” he tells Jean at the end, “You’re a good leader because you’re weak.” Jean is an emotional flawed young man, but he’s got a ton of empathy. People look to him because they know he understands what they’re going through and trust that he’s not throwing their lives away. They respect how much he has to overcome his fear, and despite the fact that he’s sort of an abrasive tool, they trust him.
I think I love Jean now.
3. Old muskets
The other character who goes through a big change is Armin. This is the first time people have trusted him enough to let him plan tactics, and it turns out he’s pretty good at it. His plan to retake the supply room is risky, but the squad learns to trust his keen mind, and follow him into battle.
The plan necessitates the seven best titan killers flawlessly kill their targets, while everyone else acts as bait in a tiny elevator. Since they’re all out of fuel, the bait kids need to use dusty old muskets to hopefully blind the titans long enough to let the older kids hit them in their weak spots.
It’s a good plan, and leads to the most arresting image in the show yet (the kids firing their muskets in the dark) but I like that it doesn’t get pulled off flawlessly. Sasha and Connie are good kids, but they miss their targets, and need to rescued by professional badasses Mikasa and Annie. The failure, different levels of ability, and battlefield understanding all reinforces that war serial feeling.
4. What remains of the 104th
Speaking of our favorite squad, let’s check in with some of the members. Jean and Armin get the most screentime, but they’re not the only ones given time to shine.
Mikasa really surprises me. From my original viewing, I remember Mikasa being a near-unhinged murder machine, but she’s far more heroic than that. She has a lot of compassion, and even through her stoicism, she goes out of her way to reassure her friends. Connie’s unflappable energy reminds me of Junior Juniper from the original “Howling Commandos” comics of the 60s. He’s the kid of the group, way too young and immature to be here, but loved by his comrades.
Continued belowMarco too is a lovable ray of sunshine. Beside reassuring Jean is a fanfic-worthy moment, he gets the rest of the team confident that their plan will succeed- it has to succeed. Reiner and Bert are sort of interchangeable at this point, but I loved the moment they suggest shoving a sword up a titan’s ass. When the younger soldiers ask if they missed a day in training, Bert grumbles “Knock it off Reiner, you want your final words to be an ass joke?”
Finally, there’s Sasha, who you know is my favorite. Sasha really messes up in this episode, failing to off her designated titan. Her knee jerk reaction is to apologize, not to her friends but to the monster she’s failed to kill. It says a lot about Sasha that in a moment of panic, she defers. Sasha knows she’s younger than the squad, and clearly looks up to all of them.
5. Eren Jaeger Lives!
Finally, there’s the huge reveal at the end. I’ve seen this episode before, so I knew what was coming, but it’s still such a good shocking moment. Killing off Eren a couple of episodes ago was a bold move. Then the show left him dead just long enough for you to cope. If they were going to bring him back, yanking the rug out from under our feet by making him a monster is a great twist. It raises all sorts of questions. Are other titans people also? What happened to him? What will happen now?
Armin is already asking the good questions, but it’s Mikasa’s reaction that wrecked me. We’ve spent a lot of time with our favorite killer of man and monster, but her sobs, especially in the English dub, are devastating. They let out all the sorrow she’s been holding in, they express the relief she feels at having her greatest love given back to her, but there’s something underneath it all. There’s the unhinged terror of the WTF of it all. Mikasa is having a moment of cosmic horror, where the simplest things she knew about the universe have been undermined.
Holy shit this was a great one.
