#aot review

[rivangel]

EPIUSODE 83 FREOIFJE

AHHHHH I NEEDED TO TALK ABT THIS ONE IM

it sent me into a levi induced paralysis all of today + i was avoiding social media like the plague so i needed a sec ejhrfir

HOLY SHIT. levi. levi le vi hange levi. let me just

he looks so so sad... or sorry, even, in the last one :(( i imagine he feels so guilty for not taking out zeke and getting injured in the process. UGh😭 GOD BU OKSY LOOK

whoever drew and animated the forest scene needs their dick sucked or their pussy ate fr. im simply reeling. GOD HES SO PRETTY AND I LOVE HIM AND HANGE 😭

ok enough of me being hornie. the fact levi heard them talking also means they heard them settle on the fact that it was 'their turn'. thats all im gonna say but it re-contextualizes some things for me.

tumblr doesnt like it when there are more than 10 images in a post so imma post the sweet lovely stunning screencaps i saved from hange+levi talking with magath and pieck seperately. but. i rly have no complaints at all. Hiroshi Kamiya did a fucking incredible job voice acting for levi.

idc a man like levi admitting that he cant dodge a bullet but also appealed to the 'enemy' in "this sad state" spoke volumes to me. levi hange precious and mappa fed us well

CAN I ALSO HAVE A MOMENT TO HARP ON ERWIN??? THE CRUMBS I ACTUALLY SQUEAKED IT WAS A JUMPSCARE BC I THOUGHT MAPPA WOULD JUST REUSE ASSETS FROM WIT BUT OMMGGGGG

tFUCK HE LOOKS SO GOOD!!!!!

ok actual commentary. when i read the manga for the first time and got to connie's subplot with feeding falco?? i thought isayama really retconned his character ngl - granted i never liked connie as much as everyone else😭 sorry.

then again, connie rly lost his whole entire family - but how would connie's mother have even used the jaw titan to fight back? if he was resigned to the fact that eren was destroying the world other than Eldia, i suppose it'd make sense + connie was very blinded by grief with sasha, and having to see his mother in this state for years. jean made his own mistake by joining up with a jeagerists, resigning to the fact that he couldnt fight back.

i used to think connie was immature and dumb here, but i understand his actions (especially seeing how he doesnt know falco beyond the fact that hes a marleyan + was with gabi, who killed sasha).

that image of connie smiling when he told falco to brush his mother's teeth tho?? cursed. Cursed.

armin's inferiority complex :(((( that he cant size up to erwin :(( poor baby. armin was so brave too - he was genuinely willing to sacrifice his life (and his titan) to save connie's mother so it wouldnt be falco.

tho: even tho falco being just a kid caught up in a bunch of shit has a part in it, i think armin genuinely believed he would be more useful by dying considering all the chaos. fuck

i feel rly bad for mikasa too - imagine loving this person who saved ur life and spent the vast majority of ur life growing up beside... only to hear that he hates you?? and is set on destroying the world?? and that he wanted to throw the gift u have held close to ur heart (literally) for years?? ALL IN ONE DAY?? AND UR OTHER COMRADE IS APPARENTLY JOINING UP WITH THE JAEGERISTS? AND U DONT KNOW WHERE UR LEADERS (levi and hange) ARE IN ALL THIS??

plus manga spoilers in a flashback, but i wont get into that here.

jeez😭 in other news i cant help but rly rly dislike the girl who idolized mikasa sm. i know she saved her in season 1... she rly wanted to follow in her footsteps, but there's such a thing as idolizing someone too much. it's like she was left with no other goal in life but to be mikasa - she wasnt even her own person anymore. it's tragic.

i laughed so hard when onyakopon called the jaygerists 'xenophobic shits' LMAO - even when jean held a gun to his head. and then, when JEAN STOOD UP FOR ONYAKOPON! i forgot a few things from the manga evidently - that part fucking shook me.

also: jean pushing floch out of the way of the Cart - obviously, it was all a part of the escape plan. but floch couldnt know that right after the fact - which makes how 😐😒 he was right after especially shitty. for all he knew jean sacrificed his life - fucking asshole.

this mention of marco made me scream😭ok i couldnt control myself - not even for ship reasons as much as what marco must represent to jean. i fucking love jean's character, the fact that he's grown so so much since being a hotheaded pompous asshole who wanted in with the MP... the fact that he still thinks abt marco just fucking destroys me. i love him.

i couldnt help myself. this part was so funny, but i unironically felt super sad for hitch when annie up and left to join up with the others. idk i took that personally :( im glad annie is becoming more redeemed in this part of the season though - she killed a shit ton of scouts, but just like almost everyone else in aot, her morals are so grey that i love her anyway.

the terror on reiner's face when he saw the 104th😭these people who he felt guilt abt for years and stewed in so much regret mustve been a horrible wake up call lol. but gabi and falco are there!!

when ch126 came out (the one where that panel is from) it was shit on a lot, especially on reddit but i cant remember why✋ so stupid. i love this panel - it's one of those iconic ones - and it rly represents how everyone, enemies and friends, are coming together and resolving to stop the Rumbling, as little power as they may hold.

ive hit my picture limit on this post. HOWEVER - i fucking loved this episode. the pacing was immaculate, and the intro+outro hit so hard, as always. it was a great choice to adapt both 125 and 126 in this episode.

THE TO BE CONTINUED !! i cant wait - ch127 sticks in my mind for a lot of reasons but i wont get into it for spoiler reasons. AHHH IM JUST PSYCHED!

anyway 9.5/10 (.5 for how juicy mappa made levi eeek).

[onlytrueinparadise]

I bingewatched AOT

And I guess I need to read the Manga now because this Anime was a piece of work and I’m still screaming

I’m going to be pretty spoiler free and just say that all though I found this Anime really compelling and absolutely excellent from story to music to artwork I’m reALLY DISSAPOINTED THAT WE GET NO ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!!!

*********Spoilers beyond this point**********

WHAT’S IN THE BASEMENT? WHY IS EREN THIS SO CALLED CONNECTION? WHERE DID THE TITANS COME FROM? CAN EREN STILL CHANGE INTO A TITAN? WHO OR WHAT IS THE BEAST TITAN? WHY IS EREN’S FATHER WITH THE BEAST AND WHY DID HE GIVE EREN THAT CONNECTION POWER OR WHATEVER? WHY HAS IT BEEN TWO SEASONS AND WE STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN BACK TO THE BASEMENT!?!?!?! WHY ARE REINER, BERTHOLDT, AND YMIR DIFFERENT FROM OTHER TITANS? WHY CAN SOME TITANS MOVE AT NIGHT? WHY DID ONLY SOME TITANS RESPOND TO EREN? WHAT IS LIFE LIKE BEYOND THE WALL? WHY ARE THERE TITANS IN THE WALL? WHY IS THE “CHURCH” SO STUFFY AND REFUSES TO TALK? WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT SO CORRUPT? WHO IS THE KING WE STILL HAVE NO CLUE WHO HE IS OR WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE? WHERE DID THIS UNDERGROUND CITY COME FROM? WHY DON’T THEY ALL JUST LIVE UNDERGROUND AND HAVE ONLY FARMERS AND PROTECTIVE TROOPS INSIDE THE WALLS? WHY WAS YMIR BURIED IN DIRT? WHY WAS SHE CLAIMING TO HAVE KINGS BLOOD? TOO MANY QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS IT MAKES ME WONDER IF I MISSED SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[the-dd-disease]

Episode 4 of Attack On Titan Season 2 was hands down the best episode of this series so far. It was action-packed, and provided new information that left the viewer with questions such as, “Who is Christa? What does Bertolt mean when he says Reiner used to be a warrior?” and most importantly, “What else is Ymir hiding?”

I’m glad to see things are finally picking up after those first few episodes, and can’t wait to see what else is coming up.

[rivangel]

I PHYSICALLY CANNOT HANDLE THIS NEW EPISODE

// spoilers for aot’s latest episode and a tiny manga spoiler

I LOVE the opening. it’s so reminiscent of death note’s second opening, and in the first place i absolutely love the metal genre already; also considering the whole turn this season is taking, it fits so well. incredible.

especially eren’s animation at the end?? so damn good.

ALSO LEVI IS IN THE OPENING

i replayed the frame a couple of times because i thought this was mikasa?? but oh my god my poor baby. the panel also might just be open-ended enough to refer to both ackermans too.

i love the opening in conclusion. the outro was so good too - its title is ‘a child of evil’ - and with eren talking the center of said outro…

i was kind of disappointed this panel from the manga wasn’t included:

but i think it will be in the next episode😈

also, connie getting enraged for once after all of these betrayals was super refreshing. he was almost always written off as the comedy relief character, so to see him get angry and demand answers rly shows how serious things are becoming, besides armin trying to defend eren's actions and the utter silence following, which shows that no one is buying it.

the gore of all the jaegerists/eldians too?? god it was a bloodbath. i don't remember it being so impactful in the manga.

im so excited for the next episode.

just for shits and giggles.. LEVI'S BLOWN-OFF FINGERS WERE THE FIRST FRAME OF THE EPISODE. talk about morbid😭 there are also multiple frames of zeke's entire ass right after and while normally i would endorse that i couldnt when these frames were lingering in the background:

PLEASE OH MY GOD - i physically cannot look at these too long, it makes me so upset. hange must've been so, so terrified that he was dead.

tbh i'd rate this episode like an 9/10, but i am also on the aot hype train w/ the whole series as a hyperfixation of mine. i am so excited for what's coming next.

as a p.s., here's the ending card for the episode:

[rivangel]

EPISODE 80 REVIEW (BC I AM LOSING MY MIND)

spoilers for the newest episode of aot (obviously)

as a manga reader i rly dont think this chapter couldve been adapted any better - the music, the darker, rustic art style, the voice acting and animation?? all so so incredible, top-tier. i think this is the high point of P2 so far.

ymir fritz has been one of my fav characters since i read the manga😭 you know you've written a great character if she has no speaking lines and yet her story still conveys itself so powerful - ymir's entire premise is that she was a slave. she suffered senseless violence and lived a life as a concubine for 13 years after having her tongue cut out.

aot draws many parallels b/n historia and f.ymir's characters, obviously. in one of the screencaps, f.ymir was holding her pregnant belly in the exact way historia was - and tho i don't rly understand why isayama (creator of aot) ever took historia in this direction in season 4, it's a very tragic turn of events for the girl who 104th ymir commanded to live for herself. im not sure, we'll see.

there were so many moments where the visual storytelling, the silence really said it all. i had chills throughout ymir's entire backstory - especially when she was blamed for releasing a pig (a conflict so senseless which is conveyed by the fact that it wasn't showed on screen) and fritz told her she was 'free' - to be hunted. not unlike faya, grisha's sister, when he took her beyond the internment zone for the first time when they were kids.

it rly rounds out aot's themes. from the very beginning, it has always been a conflict between being slaughtered by the titans and 'becoming free' by killing them, when in reality, the titans were eldians too - those subject to a long nightmare (as 104th ymir put it in S2).

it rly puts into perspective how senseless it was for her to be revered. she never seeked out the power of the titans as much as it was (seemingly) a parasite that sensed her desperation and latched onto her. without knowing any other way to live, ymir continued serving fritz bc she desperately wanted to be loved (as shown by this screencap)

so, when she sacrificed herself for fritz, perhaps to ymir the greatest act of love, and he told her nothing more than to get up - despite her powers she didn't want to go on anymore. she chose to escape to a place free from suffering, but free from love as well: Paths. she's always been a slave.

when i first saw the manga panel revealing Sina, Rose and Maria?? god what a shock. naturally, the anime rly cut down on the gore in this panel (warning for that)

when eren talked ymir into rebelling against zeke (and by extension, her existence as a slave) - showing her eyes for the first time... god it was so powerful to me. as someone who could never show her agony before, not once, who could never bare her soul - it's just incredible.

it rly felt like this episode was 5 min long. thats a testament to how good it was for me😭

also, armin and mikasa were so funny✋ im sorry. armin still choosing to believe that eren had good intentions even when the wall titans started walking is insane to me - it shows just how much trust armin put in him. it's honestly tragic.

on the bright side, zeke stans rly ate in this episode (as usual bc zeke doesn't like to wear clothes, apparently). god he looks so good.

a final note: eren's speech at the end, holy fuck it's so intimidating/awesome?? he's objectively a horrible person about to do monstrous things, but i got so many chills. the fact Mappa decided to adapt one of the most iconic panels from this arc just as it was felt so good:

Just - 10/10 episode. there's not much else to say. incredible.

MANGA SPOILERS BELOW

ALSO: i realize that the anime is skipping around, a lot. most of the episode adapted 122, only for the end, with M+A and everyone in Paths to be from the end of 123 - aka the flashback to the scouts' first expedition to marley aka levi in a suit so-

as well as the flashback of eren asking mikasa what he is to her and them all getting drunk :((

jhgjirtg

[rivangel]

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS

DFIJGRJ

//spoilers for new aot episode

sorry if i ramble, im on cold medicine. HOWEVER-

the OP and OT still fire me up and render me to tears (respectively) so so so much. when the title card came up and drums were already banging i was so HYPE-

Reiner coming close to sacrificing himself and giving in so many times is tragic by itself, and now porco (who bless his heart finally got some closure from his brother's death :((() sacrifices himself for Reiner, just like Marcel did😭. Reiner can truly never catch a break for all his mistakes.

@ mappa whoever added his smirk..... thank you

arguably.. porco was a better man to the end - reiner was going to 'save the world' no matter what it took, even when he knew Marcel lied to get him there and it cost both Marcel's life and countless behind the walls. When Porco ran out of strength, he did his duty and gave up the power to Falco - i def see why porco feels that way bc tbf if my brother lied so i couldnt become a warrior, to protect me, and ended up dying for the guy who took my place? - i'd be angry too. IM GONNA MISS HIM.

COLT'S DEATH WAS SO SAD AND THE WAY HE WAS JUST BURNT AND GABI BROKE DOWN AT THE SIGHT OF HIS CORPSE.. fucking hell.

on the topic of brotherly love, u could tell it tore zeke up to go ahead and turn everyone into titans, if only bc it would mean sacrificing falco and most certainly the lives of ppl he's fought alongside for years. i think zeke suspected that eren didnt totally have his side after the scene where he dropped the baseball (which on the surface is fucking hilarious, btw) - but he definitely wanted to believe he did. i think zeke came to care for eren a ton, in his own twisted way, but it wasn't reciporcated in the end :(.

The music when Zeke screamed and everyone transformed??? i was thrown right back to season 1 . it was so so damn good. it tore me up somehow, watching Nile and so many in the MP+Garrison die😭😭. especially Pyxis for some reason; just watching his eyes go totally dazed when he became a titan was fucked.

LEVI IN EREN'S MEMORIES

and i have sm to say abt the memory sequnce in general!! in the manga, it looks like this:

which is so interesting bc many of these panels i didn't see (but then again i only watched once). in general, the way mappa adapted it was trippy as fuck, and so fun to watch. i enjoyed it a lot, but i noticed??

mappa included the high school au from the manga in eren's founder memories??? nerd armin was there too but i didn't catch a screenshot of it. that is rly rly interesting bc while it is a joke story in the manga, the fact that it's here in the anime would confirm parallel universes, contradicting the theory that aot only has one, determined timeline.

isayama has said before that the high school au would be more important to canon than he lets on, especially when it comes to eren's character, but i didn't think it would actually happen??

i cant remember right now if panels from the au are in the canon manga, but if they aren't then mappa might be doing something different with the anime ending (scared).

anyway! the cover from the sauna scene is also there for some reason

but you won't catch me complaining about a shirtless levi teaser when zeke's nipples were at the forefront in paths.. i still like him, even after all he's done and no matter how ugly his beard is.

i do miss levi though.

in general, zeke n eren fucking served this episode. god bro. sjifdjfdfj. as did mikasa - it hurt so much to see the 104th still helping eren reach zeke after Sasha (and knowing what's gonna happen).

hhh

i probably need at least 4 business days to collect my thoughts. this episode was trippy and incredible - mappa outdid itself imo with how it adapted this part of the manga. 9.5/10.

[tekitourants]

進撃の巨人// AoT Review:

Yes, took me awhile to finally dive into this cult fav. Finally did and I just have a lot to say so here’s a critical review that no one asked for.

“過去に囚われ、未来に誘導され”

ようこそ、残酷な希望なき世界へ。

Shingeki no Kyojin isn't afraid to get dark. It’s a brutal world where the lines between good and evil are constantly blurred. That's why I have to give credit to Hajime-sensei for tackling such mature themes. The exploration of the sins of the past and their impact on the present is undeniably powerful. The concept of self-punishment and generational burden in an enclosed world setting, while perhaps under-developed, draws a critical parallel to real-world historical cycles of violence.

But here's where the narrative falters for me: AoT focus on Eren narrows the scope of the story. We never truly see the world through other characters' eyes. The series elevates Titans to a near-mythological status solely based on bloodlines, neglecting the potential for a more nuanced exploration of political conflict. Imagine delving into the motivations and societal structures of Marley, or witnessing a more potent internal struggles for power within Paradis' government. It had potential but focusing on Eren essentially shuts this exploration.

What truly frustrates me is Eren's character development.

Eren Yeager's descent into villainy, while undeniably dramatic, felt like a missed opportunity. His motivations as an "angsty teen with future memories" lacked nuance, and his solution – the Rumbling – was a self-justified descent into violence. The world of AoT is meticulously crafted, rife with complex political machinations. Surely, with the power of the Founding Titan, Eren could have explored more strategic, (and to stick with dark fantasy theme) anti-heroic options. Negotiations, leveraging Paradis' hidden tech, or even the ethically dubious path of Zeke's euthanasia plan – all presented potentially more interesting narratives than the world-ending Rumbling. Perhaps, I was just… frustrated by the narrowness of everyone’s mind, each one a slave to their own problems.

Eren's journey, while tragic, felt like a downer ending to a series brimming with potential. The story does an excellent job of making you uncomfortable and angry, which is a testament to Isayama's storytelling. The setting, the world-making, and the themes are all incredible. But for me, the series falters by failing to break the cycle of violence through its protagonist. Letting the fans think is great, but with Eren's arc, there's a lingering sense of hopelessness that just doesn't resonate with me personally. Accepting the extreme choices that Eren made, that the Yaegerists fell into, and all the darkness and misery feels like a validation I refuse to give to real-life bad decisions made under the pressure of やむを得ない//“there’s no better way”.

Eren's character arc feels like a self-directed (自作自演) tragedy. His motivations are heavily influenced by his own premonitions, which limits his agency and makes him a pawn of his own fate. This deterministic approach to character development, while thought-provoking, ultimately feels unsatisfying.

Anyways, my opinion is my own and I admit that AoT successfully made me a critical fan and I appreciate the experience but as an avid, veteran anime-watcher, I just find it hard to fall in love with the series because I just can’t vibe with the characters 🥴🔫

[anime-chi-blog]

Attack On Titan - Full Review

I did really enjoy this anime. It starts out strong, as well as pretty brutally shocking both in a visual horror sense, and emotionally with the characters. The plot is good, and fueled with a purpose. You can feel the characters, their anger, frustrations, and struggles, along with how much they truly love, and care for each other on a family level, and as comrades.

Season one is very strong and powerful both on a plot intense level, visually shocking level, and one that gets inside you, and makes you think about what it takes to find the power deep inside to do what you need to do in order to carry on. Season one is beautiful on a powerfully emotional level, that makes you really think about life, and what one life is worth for the sake of many. Season one will haunt me forever in that last battle in the forest, and the decisions Levi had to make, and what that meant to him, in order to retreat, and save the few remaining. It will honestly haunt me.

Season two did not carry the emotionally haunting shock value power that season one held. It felt more superficial and more repetitive political fighting without the attachment to the character’s driving force we felt in season one. Season two, we are hoisted into the point of view of mainly new characters, instead of focusing on the one’s we grew to love in the first season - although, they are still there as a backdrop ploy for the new character’s stories to emerge. 

Although, Mikasa is badass in season 2. She comes into her own as a fighter and leader. I did like that, but it was mostly visual, not something you saw or felt through her point of view.

We barely see Levi, and he basically has no point in season two, but a few cameos for no real reason but to satisfy, I’m sure, viewers. Eren for most of season two is non-existent to the storyline, until he’s kidnapped around episode 10. Then, he is really only a ploy for the other new character’s storylines to fully come to fruition. He’s still sort of a backdrop for the plot.

The plot did pick up drastically around episode 10 of season 2, because the storyline finally was focused on a set group of people, where we could start to really connect and feel for these individuals and their histories. I did love the relationship between the two girls. It was sweet, and real, and I felt that. But I will say what I truly got out of season two was just that plot line of the two girls relationship. That seemed to be the sole backdrop of season 2 - their relationship. That’s not an entirely bad thing on it’s own merit, but it’s pretty veered off from the main characters and point of the entire plot we had started on and had come to love. 

It’s not until the very end that we get slammed with a stunning, powerful moment, where a new idea and spin on things emerge. Now we have plot, again, and Eren, Armin, and Makisa are back as the main focus, and we are seeing things from their point of view.

Now, I want to see season 3. I still liked season 2, but in hindsight, overlooking the entire series, it feels like a filler season to the real plots of season one and hopefully season 3.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars