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 for the fifth episode.
1. Vibrating Eyes and CGI Bells
Let’s talk about animation. As an infrequent anime watcher, I’m sure I’m missing some of the common conventions. I watch a lot of western style cartoons, including ones that borrow some anime techniques (Avatar: the Last Airbender) but there are still a few things that strike me in Attack on Titan. The first is what I’ve been thinking of as the vibrating eye effect. It happens a lot in this episode. It sort of freaks me out, but it’s incredibly emotive, especially when trying to express intensity, which this episode has in droves.
The next is the contrast between obvious computer generated and drawn elements, especially noticeable with the recurring bell. It looks sort of… cheap? It reminds me of Disney in the early 90s, like the chandelier in Beauty and the Beast. On the other hand, it’s clear there are a lot of CG effects in the beautiful mobility gear scenes, which are among the best on the show. For a second, you can forget the high stakes of a battle because flying around with those things looks so fun… until an abnormal titan leaps up and swallows you whole of course.
2. Dot Pixis!
In my head, there was only one appropriate voice acting choice to dub Dot Pixis, and that’s J.K. Simmons. R. Bruce Elliott is fine, but there’s something missing. That being said, Dot Pixis is one of the coolest characters in this entire world. Up until now, we haven’t really met someone who carries themselves like a hero, but Dot Pixis for all his flaws does. He’s a roguish cowboy, beloved by his men because he’s just so competent. It figures that Americans love him. We meet him playing chess with a member of the nobility- the first time we’ve seen one of those. The nobleman is a broad pastiche of a spoiled rich guy, and mostly exists so Pixis can steal his wine and look like a total badass. Meeting another coward is nothing notable, but Dot Pixis is the first lovable adult character on this entire show. Plus I love saying his name.
3. Captain Am-Eren-Ca
This episode also introduces us to Eren’s superpower- that is to say, inspiring speeches. There are a number of moments in this episode when people (Armin, Jean, the other recruits) are on the edge of despair, but Eren shoots them a vibrating eye and tells them that today is not the day that they die. What I like about this is that despite backing his patriotic intensity up with all his fervor, Eren does not lead everyone into victory. His whole squad gets annihilated by titans in seconds. He also see the development of the Jean and Eren rivalry. What’s cool is, Eren doesn’t take the bait, instead inspiring Jean by promising he’ll get to enlist in the Military Police tomorrow, despite the fact that Eren thinks that’s a despicable goal. Eren has some genuine leadership ability hidden under his childishness, and he’s matured a lot in just a few episodes.
4. The specificity of Titan physiology
We get a flashback to Eren, Armin and Mikasa in school this episode, and learn a bit more about the titans. They can regenerate like Wolverine, don’t have sexual characteristics (or buttholes, more on this in a later episode), they only eat humans, and they don’t need to eat to survive, which the characters find horrifying. We also learn about their weakness: their regeneration can be shut off if you chop up the backs of their necks. This sort of specificity is why I love this show.
First of all that’s all so weird! Second, the characters all ask the questions I would ask and react appropriately to how weird that is. In a lesser show, a wise character would look at the screen and shrug and say “because vampires, OK?” Here, the characters are filled with the same curiosity as the audience, and the show is willing to provide answers to every upsetting question.
5. Holy shit Eren! Holy shit Armin! HOLY SHIT EREN!
The final moments of this episode are absolutely insane. Eren’s squad gets torn apart, and Eren himself get’s his friggin’ leg gnawed off. Then Armin has an entirely reasonable panic attack and is swallowed by a titan. All seems lost, but then one-legged Eren dives into the titan’s mouth, hurls Armin to safety and, bleeding and battered assures his friend… right up until his strength gives out and the titan bites off his arm and swallows him down. Everything happens so fast that I hardly had time to feel my feelings until it was too late, and then I felt them all at once. It feels super unlikely that a show would kill off the main character this early in, but there you have it. Another massive surprise in a show that’s filled with them. Good thing I don’t have to wait a week to watch the next episode.
