Shingeki no Kyojin Season 2

Attack on Titan's first season never really sat right with me. A series more interested in cinematics (orchestrals, screaming aplenty) than it did in conveying a message or allowing its audience to care for the characters beyond whatever grisly death they inevitably succumb to. It was loud, its presence ever more so, and so I distanced myself from what seemed standard action movie cuisine. After over three years of silence, its second season comes as something a bit more surprising. It trims away its grimy, cacophonous exterior and presents something, somewhat, more refined. The killing has found a purpose. The world the characters inhabit possesses some semblance of depth. There exists a story with a direction, which is exactly why it will disappoint fans who were expecting it to perpetually wander amidst blood and steel. To be sure, Eren and crew killing (and conversely being killed) is a formula that proved moderately entertaining in the first season, if only mindlessly so. But a second season? A third? Would it still be exciting, or would people begin to tire of it? I was in the latter camp, and so I find myself glad the goalposts were changed altogether. That's not to imply that all of AoT's flaws have been erased. The characterisation remains a sore spot for the series, with Eren continuing to scream nonsense at the top of his lungs, incapable of anything but being a hot-blooded child who is somehow the centrepiece of everything in the world. There's nothing to his character except his being angry all the time, which is why I make no intentions of defending his presence. So who is there to defend instead? Mikasa and Armin, the two other primary characters, while less frustrating and less offensive to listen to, don't possess much that wasn't already immediately apparent. They are flat, as are the side characters, so numerous and disposable that I found myself Googling the name of one of the story's new villains because I couldn't for the life of me remember who they even were. Other characters-- Sasha-- are so devoid of character that the only thing they are defined by is the quantity of food they eat. And while the second season gives you marginally more reason to empathise with them throughout their numerous backstory scenes, it still remains difficult to care much about the fates of any of them - a significant issue in a story centred upon war. It is why I never thought much other than "ew, gross" and "wow, that sucks" when any of the characters (of which there were dozens) were chewed, dismembered, and/or squished by abhorrent-looking humanoids. This is why I think the best way to appreciate Attack on Titan is to focus less on the pieces, and more on the board itself. Attack on Titan's setting is genuinely fascinating, and uncovering its secrets is likely to be the greatest delight for viewers unsatisfied with mere violence. While walled-off communities on the verge of extinction isn't entirely new to anime (Space Battleship Yamato went there in 1974, and Macross in 1982), the massive scale of the cities behind the walls creates ample room for an animated (yet ever so bleak) world to exist. Discovering how the world's agriculture functions, its geography, the state of politics within the Castle, the cultists' activities, and the design of the soldiers' Vertical Manoeuvring Equipment is some of the most fun I've had with an anime in this year or last. More Attack on Titan isn't exactly a proposition that gives me thrills and tingles, but books and other media focusing on its world is something I would absolutely be interested in. A rich setting it is, and with the scale of the world now extending far beyond the walls, there is almost limitless potential. Potential, I suppose, which will probably never extend into its largely mediocre story. A mediocre story is still a step up from last season, perhaps. The violence is now more of an accessory to the plot, rather than the inverse, which allows things to follow down a more linear road instead of one winding and circling around ad infinitum. Eren and his allies, as well as his enemies, now have a mission that extends beyond survival. There are antagonists excluding the Titans mindlessly chewing every fleshy thing in sight, which creates a more interesting dynamic, certainly, as the villains are treated as human beings rather than mindless lunatics bent on world destruction, as is seemingly the case in nearly every anime that has ever existed. Some fans may be disappointed that they aren't given a villain to detest, but I've always been of the opinion that a conflict in which no true 'good' and 'bad' side exists is a more compelling tale to tell. The second season's highlight is no doubt its halfway point, a twist so suddenly and casually revealed that it is natural to doubt one's ears, provided you hadn't already guessed one of their blatantly obvious identities well-beforehand. The ensuing fight scene is neat, as it carries a level of emotional weight so lacking in anything that existed previous. But the extent to which some people have been praising the scene, as though it is the craziest and most "epic" thing that has ever appeared in anime, is certainly without much merit. (It also deserves to be mentioned how downright silly some scenes can be, such as when Armin and Mikasa 'emotionally' eat their rations upon the wall. Moments like this make it considerably harder to take everything else seriously.) The production quality of Attack on Titan's second season is a minor downgrade from the first's, a fairly disappointing detail when considering the three-year wait and shorter-than-expected episode count. The aforementioned reveal doesn't hit as hard as it should when one of the villains, who is supposed to be menacing, is suddenly given the cheap CGI treatment. The fight scene fares better, with its eyes moving and monstrous fist pausing in slow-motion, but by that point the damage the first impression has created is irreversible. Mediocre animation for AoT may very well be stellar in contrast to the average seasonal anime, but standards are different here, and the ballpark much larger. If loud orchestrals are your jam, then things have not changed all too much between 2013 and 2017. The music is still loud and climactic, and the opening, while not quite as memorable as the first two, is a solid addition to the series from both a visual and musical standpoint. But if you're a bit like me, and don't exactly enjoy noise constantly pumping into your eardrums, then Attack on Titan can be a great way to receive a headache. And this is coming from someone who listens to The Money Store on occasion. It would be a lie to claim I didn't enjoy my time with Attack on Titan. But I am uncertain how much of that is a result of my fascination with the setting, and what, if any of my enjoyment pertains to the actual anime. To claim Attack on Titan is something of great critical merit isn't something I could do without being disingenuous. Decent? Certainly, and a noticeable step above the turgid Hollywood fare its first season was, with the introduction of new antagonists and an actual, tangible story. But for those who waited years for more Titan slaying, I do start to wonder: were they ever really giving the rest of the medium a look?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 4 years, then you’ll know that Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) has been renewed for a second season. And with that, the show returns in full force. Remember the titans that terrorized humanity when they made their appearance from season one? Or when Eren transformed into a Titan himself and played a pivotal role to help humanity? How about the time when Eren and his friends realized that one of their comrades is also their greatest enemy? Shingeki no Kyojin wastes no time in giving the fans what they want and that’s a sequel to talk about for years to come. Make no mistake. The second season jumps right into the meat of the show like a bullet train. It doesn’t rely on boring narratives to recap dialogues but instead presents them through events. The first few episodes reintroduces the main characters such as Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Reiner, Bertolt, Sasha, Hange, etc. Time hasn’t passed long either since the defeat of the Female Titan. However, we are introduced to new enemies and conflicts. One of the more noticeable fans will notice is perhaps from the trailer – a beast-like Titan covered with fur. Other conflicts in the second season includes the evolving mystery of certain characters. The secrets they hold close gets more and more complicated as the story progresses and we learn their motivations. Furthermore, the second season builds more into the character relationships outside of the main cast. To say the least, Season 2 isn’t just about the war against Titans but how certain characters’ roles can impact the entire world. Snk Season 2 attempts to do a lot of things. At times, it feels like a fantasy war-drama while other times, it feels like a mystery story. When you mix a lot of genres together, the show can be interpreted from many angles. Mystery will no doubt be one of the key factors that keeps the story engaging for the viewers. From this season, we’ll discover revelations about certain characters and what influences them to become what they are. These are often told through flashbacks and is done effectively through insightful storytelling. It shows rather than tell about events. Furthermore, it makes us understand the characters better. Now for some fans, this could be a sign that the show will fall victim to “slow pacing”. It’s slightly true as I do wish some episodes to pick up the pace more. It can hold the show back for fans especially if it’s a character that they don’t care about. However, it’s also important since SnK doesn’t toss away characters in favor of just the main cast. Major supporting characters such as Sasha, Ymir, and Krista gets more characterization that was not seen from the previous season. In addition, the series still spends time to get viewers to understand more about the trio of our main cast – Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. Unfortunately with just 12 episodes, don’t expect the second season to give all the characters their chance to shine. If you’re a fan of Levi, then I’m afraid I got some bad news. Despite the engaging story, season 2’s mystery elements aren’t exactly difficult to decipher. It’s actually quite easy to piece certain pieces together. Every episode builds more and more into the story but some hints will be much more obvious than others. It leaves open to some predictable outcomes. However, I would also argue that season 2 succeeds at building up the suspense regardless how the outcome comes out to be. It injects psychology into the show through effective usage of narrative, dialogues, body language, and character interactions. In some of the later episodes, we can see how certain characters show their true selves in ways that will be very memorable. It’s made even more effective through the timing of certain scenes. Directing a show like Shingeki no Kyojin requires a creative mind to connect the script and I have to say, it did that pretty damn well. Finally, I am satisfied by the faithfulness of the adaptation as it adapts many manga chapters that I had anticipated. In fact, some episodes are actually adapted even better than the manga thanks to the cleverly timings of key events. To sum up the production quality of the show, it’s pretty easy to say that Shingeki no Kyojin Season 2 is a firm example of how dark fantasy should look like. I actually had some complaints regarding the first season’s quality but those are pretty much are nonexistent in this sequel. Every episode looks fluid ranging from the intense action, character expressions, and choreography. To an extent, even the CG is done well and that’s no easy accomplishment for many shows. Character expressions highlight characters personality as it gets the fans more excited about them. Season 2 pulls that off flawlessly with characters such as Eren, Mikasa, Reiner, and Ymir. I can also safely say that the Titans in this season look just as intimidating as fans can remember, if not more. Known for its high level production quality, season 2’s soundtrack doesn’t come far off either. Theme songs sounds familiar compared to the previous season but has more symbolism and scenes poured into showcase its story. Like most fans of the show, expectations for the OST should be high as Hiroyuki Sawano returns with his craft. It lives up to those expectations especially in some of the key moments that will leave you in awe. Finally, character voice mannerism just works wonderfully as the cast fits right into the shoes of their roles especially for characters like Reiner and Ymir. As I mentioned before, there’s a good amount of psychology that season 2 brings and some characters’ voices really brings to a level that’s larger than life. Once again, Shingeki no Kyojin gives what the fan want ever since the first season ended in 2013. It’s been 4 years but upon watching the first few episodes, it felt like yesterday. It does its job at selling its story with its variety of genres mixed in together. With such a colorful cast of characters, it gets the fans excited to see what their roles will be. With a studio like Production IG, it’s safe to say that the quality remains in good hands. Now, I am slightly bothered by the length of the sequel. It’s half of what season 1 turned out to be and after all the waiting, it felt like a slap in the face for fans. Still, I’d say that the wait is worth it as time didn’t do its damage and it deserves a pat on the back.

There are anime that truly leave a monumental impact. Not just on the industry, but for each individual viewer. Shows that are so addicting that you just can’t seem to stop watching them. Shows that combine many pivotal elements of storytelling together to create something that is genuinely incredibly well produced. Anime that make you wholeheartedly pleased to have become a part of the anime community. For me, Attack on Titan is one of these anime. Which essentially means that the four year gap between seasons felt like an EXCRUCIATINGLY long time… However in all seriousness, I perfectly understand why it took so long to produce the second season of Attack on Titan (AOT). A few anime sequels that I’ve seen have felt rushed and poorly put together. The plot lines becomes less cohesive, characters become more dull, and the animation quality either remains the same or dips in quality. These sequels are usually made within a year or two of the original’s initial airing date. Now while I’m sure that AOT fans would have much preferred an earlier release date for their beloved show, I respect the creators for realizing that they would have received far more backlash for releasing a swiftly produced anime that didn’t live up to the hype of its predecessor as opposed to putting a lot of time and effort into a sequel that matches the caliber of the original. In fact, we should all be rejoicing that WIT studio spent time making AOT season 2 as great as it could be instead of releasing a half-assed sequel just to make a quick buck. And you KNOW they would have profited off the sequel no matter how abysmal it might have been. Its Attack on Titan after all, you know, the most popular anime in existence? Since you probably already know the premise of this show, I won’t bother writing a lengthly (and boring) summary of it. AOT season 2 starts out directly after the last episode of season 1 and dives right into the story. While the first season focused on world building and brought about many mysteries, the second season begins unraveling some of them while revealing even bigger twists then the first season. Even though it was only 12 episodes, half the amount of season 1, I felt like the pacing was, for the most part, rather good. Action scenes weren’t too short or too long, and there were enough of them to keep me entertained while leaving enough time to properly develop the story. Flashbacks were used to further develop the characters, though I question the amount used in the anime, since it is only 12 episodes long. I just love the setting of AOT. There really is nothing quite like it. Well, I guess that knock-off show involving trains has a similar setting, but that doesn’t count. The interesting and well thought out setting along with the anime’s precise execution really gets the viewers invested in the story, and I constantly kept wondering things like “What exactly are the titans?” and “What’s in Eren’s basement?” Ok, that last one sounds really lame on paper, but its a legitimate question that I’m sure many viewers are curious about. Luckily the anime answers some of these mysteries (which I can’t talk about because of SPOILERS!), but in explaining things, even more questions are posed that make me want to go to my local bookstore and buy the entire Attack on Titan manga just to find out what the heck is going on. The most mediocre aspect of the first season for me was the characters. None of them really stuck out to me except for Mikasa, who is pretty awesome, but somewhat lacking in the personality department. Eren always felt a bit one dimensional to me and Armin only got a modicum of screen time, so I never really felt a connection with either of them. In the second season, we see even less of the main trio, but I actually agreed with this approach since it allowed for something that the first season desperately needed; developed side characters. Season two dedicates a lot of time in developing the side characters, particularly Reiner, Bertolt, Krista and Ymir. This really helped to flesh out these characters which caused me to start to feel a bit of a connection with them. I respect an anime that takes the time to fully evolve its side characters instead of having a bunch of generic wastes of space that no one cares about whatsoever. This development also provides many new perspectives on the AOT world instead of having us simply see Eren’s somewhat narrow minded “I GOTTA GET STRONG AND KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE DAMN TITANS!” perspective, which was quite refreshing. Linked Horizon returns to preform the opening theme song for Attack on Titan. I initially wasn’t all that impressed with the piece (it needed a bit more YEAGAR!), however as I continued to listen to it, the song really started to grow on me. Behind the anime’s masterful soundtrack is Hiroyuki Sawano. He has consecutively produced many brilliant compositions for other anime, including the first season of AOT, and the quality of his music is no different here. AOT’s soundtrack boasts many powerful orchestral pieces that help to amplify the atmosphere for many situations presented in the anime. The music is so good that I found myself on multiple occasions being captivated by the power and beauty of a few of the compositions present in the show. The sheer emphasis on detail for some of the animated scenes in the anime (primarily when nothing was moving so that it looked like something taken straight out of a manga) is breathtakingly good. The overall visual presentation of the show is, to me, far superior to that of the other spring 2017 seasonal anime. However the animation is not without flaws. Probably the biggest problem that I’ve heard from the anime community regarding the visuals is a general dissatisfaction with the CGI colossal titan. I unfortunately have to concur, since I felt the the CGI was sort of choppy and didn’t fit in with the rest of the animation. My friend was even more disappointed, and he said that the CGI took away from the big armored and colossal titan reveal. Luckily the use of the CGI is very limited in the anime, and it started to look better to me anyway as the show progressed. Where AOT really shines is its entertainment value. This anime is the most exciting thing that I’ve seen in awhile. Part of this is due to the cliffhangers that appear at the end of literally every episode that left me constantly craving more. Whether it was developing the story, presenting a crazy plot twist, or showcasing an epic battle between titans, AOT never failed to keep my attention, a feat that very few things have ever been able to accomplish for me, so for that I give AOT major props. I love Attack on Titan. Even with all of its flaws, it still manages to be an incredible viewing experience. Even if the anime doesn’t quite suit your tastes, I almost guarantee that anyone who watches it will be thrilled by AOT’s exhilarating presentation. Its not one of the most popular anime of all time for no reason you know. If you decide to watch this anime or have already done so, I hope that you are as captivated by it as I am.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the Earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:28-31 The second coming of Christ hath solemnly smiled upon us and I am very passionate about this. The plot thickens, although not really. The series is kicked off with some pretentious monologue by Armin reminding us of what the general outline of the show looked like, probably either because the producers have little to no faith in their audience's mental capacity and just assume everyone has forgotten the plot over the span of 4 years or they just didn't have an episode's worth of material. Titan appears out of nowhere, titan eats human. Good? Good. Annie Leon-who? In case anyone does remember, last's season finale left off with a completely unnecessary cliffhanger that only put even more expectations on this season to deliver. tl;dr IT DOESNNNNNNNNNN'T Among monkeys, loose plot threads and other things, the big focus of this season seems to be on the titan shapeshifters. A mechanic that was first introduced to the series when everyone's second favorite main character got swallowed whole (deadweight Armin at it again), before being resurrected in full, non-CGI titan glory. Fastforward 20 something episodes later, and it is a technique utilized by literally half of the 104th Trainees Squad members. Despite losing its initial charm, the colossal and armored titan have been presented since the very first episode while the series was at its peak and thus still managing to retain a candle of relevancy. Colossal Titan : Begins breach of Shiganshina first episode, catalyst of all destruction, all-around menacing presence Armored Titan : Unstoppable force, mows down the gate of Wall Maria causing impending doom upon thousands, exhales steam Ymir/Ymir Titan : Dyke, ??? What a revelation, seriously. I wholeheartedly wonder if the atrocious lack of screen time and presence of her character during the entirety of the series prior to the reveal are to be attributed to the author wanting her to remain a mysterious figure or downright not giving a shit. But wait, they showed us that 12 minute flashback between her and Historia to showcase just how powerful their relationship was, talk about depth. That's another thing, as soon as there's some groundbreaking reveal it is either cut short by a flashback or even cliffhanger (which are proven to be able to last up to a grand total of 4 years). Both reveals this season start off at an alright pace before being brushed off to the side because of Muh explanations. When half of episode 5 after Ymir's big reveal proves to be a boring flashback that realistically correlates to nothing of substance regarding our current situation apart from some meager hints regarding Historia (this is Ymir's big moment, mind you), SOME VIEWERS MIGHT GET DISENGAGED. WHOOP DE FUCKING DO. Now imagine if the finale of first season's episode 5 were cut short by a cliffhanger, and rather than Eren jumping into a titan's mouth to save Armin the episode was proceeded by a whopping half an episode's worth of some "mandatory" flashback dating back to that one schooltrip they held in 5th grade. Just for brevity's sake, you know? Because who wants non-meandering content anyway. I also love how the meeting to discuss whether Ymir's a titan and where her loyalties lie was essentially the exact same as the one in season one regarding Annie. Eren is always shoved into this role of the dumbass optimist who's like "B-but, muh friends.." while he sits in disbelief as everyone else clobbers him with facts and it's pretty funny, if nothing else. It's really just used as a tool to make certain characters like Hanji stand out as great strategists and/or intellectually-capable, when in reality it just makes Eren seem like a stupid brat who's constantly in denial even when the obvious is made obvious. But Anni--I mean Ymir's a friend, how could she?! After Ymir helps saves the lives of countless soldiers, she is then briefly treated to a life of imprisonment, just before being swallowed whole by the Colossal titan. But it's Ymir, so you don't care. Connie titan when? Obviously, the big selling point of these 12 episodes is supposed to be Eren's grandiose throwdown versus Reiner and Bertholdt, friends who he once looked up to turned enemies, for reasons.. unbeknownst. What carries this plotpoint is the fact that Eren never needed to have a fleshed out relationship with either Reiner or especially Bertholdt for it to work, which he didn't. The mystery behind both the Colossal and Armored titans was present from the first day whilst the Attack on Titan was at its highpoint. I would've walked out a happy man, had, you know, the actual revelation not been so piss poor. The way the reveal was handled holds complete contrast over anything the show's director, Tetsuou Araki is actually good at. The whole subtle and unconventional tone I imagine Isayama was building toward missed its mark entirely and assigning it to a man who's literally built his entire career off of making overblown and adrenaline inducing scenes and series surely isn't a good starting point. So far I have encountered not a single criticism as the people who are proclaiming it to be some nonchalant masterpiece of delivery and storytelling are running rampant. It's mere misjudgment over subtlety, but I digress. First off, the Armored Titan has an uncanny resemblance to Reiner Braun. While this idea seems to have been entirely scrapped in Berthold's case for some reason, they went to insane lengths to mimic Reiner's look to the itty bitty details in correlation to the Armored titan: the minimal contrast between white and blonde, the exact same cleancut hairstyle, a body physique that can hardly be attributed back to anyone in the show but him, and even the trademark glowy yellow eyes shared only with Pixies. The exact same problem plagued the first season in the shape of Annie; the hair length, color and eyes would already have drastically decreased the amount of possible suspects by tenfold, but the genius of Hajime Isayama even bothered drawing in her god damn crooked fucking nose. He clearly has either no faith in his audience's mental capacity or simply doesn't understand that the point of mystery is supposed to be withholding information until a given point rather than violently shoving it down the viewer's windpipe. Okay, fine. They physically resemble each other, what else? Bertholdt. While Reiner actually attempts giving off a faint sense of dread while some eerie music is playing in the background, Bertholdt just completely ruins it. Despite for once not resembling his titan counterpart, when the man is not looking constipated, he is completely sealing off any potential doubts in anyone's mind about any other possibilities about the situation. "Could Reiner possibly have lost his mind..?" Obviously not, because Bertholdt is just fucking screaming in his ear 24/7, "NO REINER DON'T TELL HIM NOOOO". Well, I guess that's cleared up. They're gonna transform now, right? Any minute now. This is kinda dragging on.. OH WAIT IS THAT MIKASA HOLY FUCK 10/10 WHAT A REVELATION. If you thought the "Humanity is at the brink of extinction" storyline is the weak link, think again. The cast of Attack on Titan is so evidently plagued by cliches and dumb action series tropes that you could pretty much associate any major character with a single adjective if you really wanted to. Calling my assessment here redundant would almost be a fair criticism considering that a similar point can be made in regards to arguably any popu…

Anticipation. Blistered, sunburnt skin adorns them, the lumbering thud of footsteps echoes louder with each passing second, their eyes set on a village lying dormant up ahead. Exposed flesh shifting between the woods, no expressed interest for the plant life or animals grazing at their feet. Warped facial expressions, a thousand-yard stare, distorted features, twisted limbs; an ungodly creature, a true force of nature. Deformed giants with one thing in mind. Beady eyes stare back at the impending danger, irises frantically shifting from each other to the threat slowly approaching with each step, the military cradled behind stone walls planning their first strike. In the dead of silence, every sound amplified. Every second longer than the last. A cacophonous mixture of bated breath, the clanking of metal harnesses strapped to their bodies, housing blades and gas canisters that will eventually propel them towards the enemy. Cold sweat rolls down their cheek, hanging off the chin with nervous anticipation. Faces to the left and right, the unspoken acknowledgment made by brothers-in-arms that this will probably be their final resting place. Too late to back down, too late to think about it. The giants draw near, young scouts fall into dead silence, the slightest whimper exposing their position, sweaty palms firmly gripping their weaponry's handles, blades erected waiting for the signal to go. The longest minute of their lives. Action. The signal is given, piston-propelled grappling-hooks pierces its way through a firm surface, a loud unified roar ushering them into battle — "Attack!" — Humanity's final defense catapulting through the sky, wings of freedom crest embroid on their backs, as they stare down the mass collection of imposing figures. The battle begins, blades being embedded into the necks of targets as they fall to their knees. Men carelessly swinging into the jaws of another, blindsided in the fray as the Titan crunches down, blood confetti sprays out, showering the field with the unholy reality of the situation at hand. Human debris piles up next to the simmering sounds of corroding titan flesh. Steam billowing out bloated corpses as it blankets the field, men and Titan alike stuck in the disarray of a free-for-all. Fear and adrenaline push men forward where their bodies refuse to budge, while others cower in defeat, accepting the grim outcome of their faith. An insatiable desire to consume keep Titans swarming where an absence of "self" resides. The fight rages on. There's no chess game at play here. No battle of wits. No war cry to rally any remaining fighting spirit. All that's left in the midst of chaos is an animalistic drive to kill or be killed. Men swinging their blades frantically, bodies jettisoned by wire towards the unknown hidden behind plumes of smoke. Uncaring giants solely driven by a gluttonous appetite, grabbing at any signs of human life, unfazed by the burning ash of their reduced numbers laid to waste by the prey they feast on. All concerns are eclipsed, all formalities discarded, idealism abandoned, time holds still, the nightmare stretches on endlessly... until there's no one left to keep it alive. Aftermath. Scattered limbs litter the ground with no owners to claim them. The earth soaks up the battered dregs of human remains, leaving only remnants to be discovered by those unfortunate enough to stumble upon it. Regurgitated balls of bodily fluids perched on top fallen victims, disfigured men trapped inside, destined to stay nameless. Steam gently ascends to the sky, departing from the mass graveyard positioned below. Men on horseback approach the sorrowful sight, disgusted but desensitized to what's become far too common of an occurrence in their day to day lives. A ghoulish figure hunched over, tearing into the flesh of a nameless scout, unconcerned with the men gathering around it. Quickly being dispatched by them, they see no triumph in their action, only another hopeless notch under humanity's belt. Their time for peace has long departed, leaving it its place a constant dread of the unknown. From the sporadic home invasions of Titans to even the secrets concerning the walls themselves. Things that were once thought of as reassurances now only add to the anxiety pending up with each violent encounter. When your home turf is compromised, where else can you turn? When your overseers keep potentially harmful secrets from you, who can you trust? The mystery compounded, the fights more brutal, and the stakes set higher than ever. This is the kind of world Attack on Titan gives birth to. A place dictated by stonefaced laws of Darwinism in every regard. A place that's adored the world over by the audiences that flock to it. Reception. Attack on Titan left big shoes to fill since its 2013 debut. Almost overnight, it became one of the most popular anime titles of all time, effectively surpassing the glass ceiling set over the medium at large to become a noticeable player in the stratosphere of everyday pop culture. Even if that success was to a lesser degree when compared to the likes of "the big 3" and the Dragon Ball franchise that made its way out as well, its impact was still noticeable, both domestically and overseas. This, alongside works like Sword Art Online, has positioned it as one of the poster-child images of what "anime" is to non-anime fans of the 2010s. Occupying shelf space in your local Hot Topic, being mentioned in passing by those oblivious to the entire culture at large, a conversation starter to introduce others to an active community that bubbles on the surface but never making enough big waves to become acknowledged on a mainstream level. The show's relevance in recent years cannot be understated. It's a new footnote that continues the narrative, helping push the medium and partakers of it a step closer to accessibility in other avenues of a broader mainstream culture. Because of its exposure, for many, Attack on Titan became their initial gateway title into the anime medium. And as such, a milestone entry when searching for that same thrill that it offered up on its initial encounter. For better or for worse, AoT shaped the landscape of future anime entries, many of which seeking to retain the newfound fanbases that sprouted because of it. And while there was a sleuth of cheap knock-offs offered up to keep the flame burning since then, nothing was capable of whetting the appetite in the same way it did. 4-years and many cheap imitations later, AoT has reemerged once again! But the question is, is it 4-years too late? 4-years may not seem like a long time in the grand scheme of things, but for media, it's practically a millennium. A lot could happen in 4-years. New emerging trends develop, talented figures could make their debut appearance, a shift in the landscape in favor of real-world sociopolitical events could occur, and most importantly, the demands of people can evolve as they foster different tastes and interests. You don't have to look far to see these occurrences happening. In the movie industry, more specifically, tentpole blockbusters, superhero films have effectively become the new age westerns, to the point where watching them becomes a ritualistic event shared by a mass majority, making those that don't participate outsiders to watercooler conversations. In music, the new "wave" in the past few years has been trap-inspired production and dancehall-influenced rhythms, a transition that's proven to be so successful that even megastars that dominate the pop charts are flocking to get in on the action. Even in our own backyard, in the world of anime, creating "subversions" or reimaginings of established formulas, from the likes of MMO-inspired premises to superhero stories, is the popular thing to do at the moment, with many recent hits owing their success, to some degree or another, to that directional push. Media is a beast that's constantly shifting in order to …

Season 2 has come and gone and this three month was really enjoyable, but do not fear, season 3 is already announced for 2018! Now on to the review. Story 10/10: Snk season 2 picks up right where season 1 left off, and it give the viewers a bit more insight about the titans in the walls. The thing with snk is that its story is slowly unravelling for both the characters and the viewers, we learn of the ape titan that can speak and that titans obey his orders, we also learn that without a doubt titans are humans, we learn that Ymir who is now known as a titan shifter knows a lot of secrets that she is hiding and that she is over 60 years old. We also got the reveal of the arrmored and the iconic collosal titan which are characters that we saw from the very first season, this really should be the turning point for many persons that this series is not just about humans fighting titans/ It's way more than that and as the story progresses the plot gets more complicated, what really shines for this series is how well it foreshadows or give hints to the viewers of future plot event, and imo the series gets more enjoyable when you learn more things in future plot and then rewatch an earlier season and you will see how the author cleverly hinted at certain things, like for eg, the identity of all three of the titan shifters, if you go and rewatch the first season you will realise all those hints were being drop, overall just rewatch the first season and you will see how well put together the story is, the best way to explain snk story is that it is a like a puzzle that is slowly being put together, and sometimes you the viewers if you pay more attention to it can fill in some of the blanks with the info you got so far, because this series doesn't leave viewers in the dark without giving the readers hints. It also makes you question what is going on or the motive behind the titan shifters, why do they want to kill everyone inside the walls? What is their motive? What we did find out at the end of the episode is that Eren can control titans, and that is the reason why the Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt wanted to capture Eren. I always like series that makes you question yourself and makes ponder about certain things. Art 8/10: I thought the art was solid overall, there is some bad shots that I've seen throughout the series, but I've notice that when it doesn't look good is when the characters are not close up, also the Cgi was not to my liking it puts me off in some scenes, but overall it didn't affect my enjoyment much since most of the cgi was use on horse scenes, which lasted just for a few seconds, but what really annoyed me was the collosal titan cgi, it looks horrible! Though sometimes it doesn't look bad, but overall I will like them to scrap that and make the collosal titan fully hand drawn like the first season. Overall art and animation was solid imo and not much complaint. Sound 9/10: The soundtracks in season 2 is great, and I'm glad that they didn't completely got rid of the old soundtracks, because that would might make us loose the snk feel to it, What Sawano did was smart, he remix some of the old soundtrack and also added new soundtracks in this season, the only disapppointment is that we didn't get enough new soundtrack imo, now the reason could be is that this season is 12 episode instead of 25, so less soundtrack, but overall I was please with the soundtracks in this season. Characters 8/10: Imo, I feel this season really flesh out more of the side characters and give more focus to them, the main cast for this season got little screen time for the entire first half of season 2, but this was actually a good thing, we got a lot of character development and characterization for all these characters in this season, though a flaw that I saw in this season is that there were too many flashback, which is a method also use to develop a character and also the anime staff added fillers in the flashback to extend it a bit more, this is a flaw when it comes to adapting a source material, they want the season to end at a certain point, and so the anime staff pad out the flashback with stuff the viewers already know of and this is really annoying imo, this is a legit critcism that I agree with. Enjoyment 10/10: For me, what really made me enjoy this season is because, me being a manga reader already know what happens in future events, and thus watching season 2 is like rereading the series but instead with soundtrack and animation etc, and as I said before seeing all the foreshadowing and understanding the vague discussion going on between certain characters just makes me appreciate this series more and that is why I really enjoy it so much. This is where the series starts to shift in tone and I can see why some persons may not like this season as much as the first and vice versa, and in the next season it will be taking another shit in the story as well, really interested to see anime only reaction to season 3. Overall 10/10: This series is a masterpiece despite its flaws, a masterpiece doesn't mean it has to be a perfect series, because the truth is, there is no perfect series. This series is very ambitious in where the overall story is going, and I know not everyone will appreciate this series like me, because opinion, but I am very happy a series like this exist, it is what made me become a hardcore anime fan, and I hope when this series is complete persons will appreciate what the author was going for and not what they wanted it to be, 2018 can't come any sooner. Thanks for reading. ;)

Another fantastic anime finished and now we wait for the next season which was confirmed will be in 2018. Yet again, I'm writing this review as an au courant with the manga. I'll try my best to not include spoilers. Hahaha. Anyhoo, here I go. Please bear with me. Story: 10000000/10 This season proved yet again that SNK is not about all the titan action. I noticed that there are a lot of 'salty fans' whining that this season is lacking a lot of action, so they rated it 1-4, or at least 5 because they feel like being nice despite the fact that they don't give a damn about all the important dialogues. Alright.. alright.. I've had enough with them action-tards, I'll just move on. This season lived up to the hype of every SNK fan, especially the manga readers. Remember, fellow readers how anxious we are before the season 2 release because the manga is so great that we're worried that Wit Studio might messed it up and make it like "Tokyo Ghoul season 2"? No worries anymore, lads! They satisfied us. This studio satisfied us. The people behind the adaptation of the manga didn't disappoint us. They made us cry. They made us hurt our hands from clapping throughout the episode. We're all okay. Everyone's okay! Everyone's happy! *hugs you all* Art: 10/10 C'mon. Do I really have to point out that this anime probably has the best ANIMATION EVER? Look at them beautiful characters and the action sequence. Come on now. Oh, you think this season's animation is awful compare to the previous season? Give us a favor and clean your glasses. Sound: 10/10 Honestly, the soundtrack for this season ain't like the 1st season, but no doubt Hiroyuki Sawano proved again why he's THE HANS ZIMMER OF THE EAST! No comments further. Just hands down to our own HANS ZIMMER! Character: 10/10 This is probably the only anime which I can remember all of the characters' names -- which you can tell how well-written and how memorable the characters are. Character developments not just from the MCs, but also the supporting characters? You got it! One of the biggest factors that makes this show so iconic is because of its characters; everyone loves every character in this show. Even the bad ones, you get to like them. Darnit this anime. Enjoyment: 10/10 An anime that will make you cry, hurt your insides, leave you traumatized, and you will be thankful for it? Hell to the yeah! Torture us more, please! Overall: 10000000000/10 Jesus. This anime is just the G.O.A.T. for me! And I loved that this anime is getting everything it deserves like the fans, the hype, the attention, the awards, and etc. Let's be honest, SNK brought a lot of non-anime fans in the anime universe. If you're hating on this season because of the plot holes and the unanswered questions, I suggest start reading the manga? LOVE TO ALL THE SNK HATERS! Keep on hating, you're just making this anime more popular! Now, my fellow SNK-tards, it's time to buy them all SNK merch and the DVD, and of course time to mark your calendars because we're gonna have A SEASON 3! P.S. Thanks for reading my ridiculously long review, but I will always give my best to prove to all the d-bags who keep hating on this show because they thought it didn't deserve the praises it's been getting that this show is one, if not the greatest anime EVER!

My god what a snoozefest. The first season of this show was overrated enough but the fact that this season is almost in the top 100 highest rated anime of all time is hilarious. Eren's whining is as insufferable as ever, the few cool characters like Mikasa and Levi don't get enough screentime and scenes feel severely dragged out. Nevermind that, the show expects you to care about characters that haven't been fleshed out which is the greatest sin of all. I might force myself to watch season 3 since people hype it up so much but man I'm begging AoT fans to watch their 2nd anime.

TL;DR: Does it really matter what I write? You have waited 4 years, endured 2 trashy live action movies and restrained yourself from reading the manga to find out what's in Erin's basement. So go watch the anime to find that answer! But knowing you, you will stick around and read this review. So in short, Game of Thrones meets Inception/Memento and has a forbidden love-child they didn't reveal to the world because they were scared it will not live up to hype and success of their first child. [Story: 5/10 , Characters: 7/10, Art: 9/10, Sound: 8/10, Enjoyment: 8/10] How can an anime as bombastic & overhyped as Shingeki no Kyojin live up to its thrilling sadistic nature? Simple, wait four years, give it to the same director and shove in a billion flashbacks while compressing more manga material than season 1 with 25 episodes into just 12 episodes in season 2 and hope for deus ex machina to save the day. Seriously, this anime was the talk of the town as it took the anime world by storm. The creators milked so much money out of it before releasing the sequel, 4 whole years later, that you would think they will be nice? Of course not. These sadistic people just love to torture everyone, both inside their post-apocalyptic world and outside. However, you should watch it, not because you will but because you have to… if you want to know what's in that god-damn basement. Story wise, the anime picks up literally where it left off in season 1. We see a smooth continuation and no pumping the breaks. Titans don't pump their breaks, why should you? We have a new threat and it's the all powerful Monkey Titan. He is blessed with both brain & braum that likes to fling things with perfect precision like a quarterback trying to score a touchdown. This titan means no monkey business for he is bringing an army to take down humanity. How will our soldiers stand up against him? By focusing completely on other issues besides him in this anime, like why everyone wants Krista as their waifu. Jokes aside, this anime is broken down in two arcs and the second arc is more focused on the secondary characters with a new threat being "now anyone can be a Titan." Seriously, people are just popping out of nowhere revealing they are a Titan and it keeps us on the edge trying to figure out who is and who isn't a titan. Unlike first season, where it was all action & thrill, this season the story moves at a slower pace that builds this mystery horror element and viewers feel the genuine terror of living in this post-apocalyptic world where anything can happen. However, the glaring issue is the amount of flashbacks that are in each episodes. It almost ruins it. We will have an episode where titans have surrounded the characters and they are about to fight only to cue in a flashback of epic unnecessary proportion that really doesn't do much. Just because it works a few time doesn't mean you should always do it. Seriously, Tetsurou Araki, just stop it. Also, the anime is not presented in a linear pattern like in the manga as the director jumps from chapter 30 to chapter 50 back to chapter 40. It was a clusterfudge but it worked… somehow. The twists and turns were there but the best part was the obvious reveal that was brilliantly executed to leave a mark for a long time. Regardless of how bizarre the storytelling was for this season, the character development this season was on point. The studio heard the fans anguish and completely removed Erin from the first half of the anime and focused entirely on the side characters. We not only learn the purpose or goal behind the major side characters but their past history that shaped them to be this way. Their actions actually makes sense. Now we will feel some remorse when they may or may not die in the future unlike in season 1 where viewers just laughed at random characters getting devoured by titans. Mikasa transforms into this full yandere GF that no guys should date and Krista becomes the waifu people will change their sexuality to be with her. Sadly we don't see much of Levi nor gladly we see much of Erin. However, the latter change was better for the anime. Erwin is a complete badass and as the anime goes on, viewers will know why. All I'll say is *SUSUMEEEE* !!! To no one's surprise, the saving grace for this anime is once again their animation and sound. Wit Studio, despite working with a questionable lower budget, manages to deliver phenomenal animation. The manga is really well adapted frame for frame and the hand-drawn animation is vibrant and rich in colour & texture. You have to see it in 1080p or you will be doing yourself injustice. The characters, the titans, the backgrounds, the cinematography and the fighting animations are just on fleek. Anyone who will watch the judo fight between the two titans will get a massive something just watching it. If they weren't pulling breaks with the animation the sound wasn't either. The OP & ED songs were first hard to get accustomed to since no OP songs can live up to its first but it grows on you. The background OST is utterly horrifying as it builds this terror with its sadistic tone. You have to love orchestra based OST. It's truly revolutionizing. Most anime sequels suffer in this department but thankfully SnK 2 did not, and it made their transition fluid. Overall, this show is has its flaws but you can just enjoy it for what it is. It's not a masterpiece but it's highly enjoyable. It is infuriating for a viewer to be edged and edged with endless cliffhanger style episodes but ultimately you finish it anyway because who edges themselves to the point of no return and not finish, right? So, Is attack on titan overrated? Debatable. Is attack on titan overhyped? Unquestionable. Is it still a show you would love to binge? Definitely! Anyways, give it a watch and let me know later how you like it. *SHINZUO SASAGEYO!!!* P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!

The sequel to Attack on Titan or Shingeki no Kyoujin was probably the most awaited anime series of the decade. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that because the first season just made a stupendous impact on the anime industry. Fans waited, and waited, and waited, for a second season to come and after four long years(God knows what the studio was doing for this long), we finally got a second season to one of our favorite, or for some people, one of their most hated anime. And let me tell you, as a huge fan of the first season and the series in general, Attack on Titan Season 2 is a colossal disappointment. The hype that most people had, or at least that I had, was already dissipated when a few days before the anime was to begin, it was announced that this season was going to be one cour. This wasn't just because it was a kick in the backside for those who've patiently waited for four years to only get 12 episodes, but also because those who've read the manga knew that 12 episodes would only let the plot hanging and would move the story nowhere. Unless they skipped lots of details, there was no way we were going to get the action and excitement that we'd longed for after having finished season 1. I put this behind me, like a lot of others, and made up my mind that 12 episodes were better than nothing. The season started in an explosive way and made me remember once again why I loved season 1 so much. The titans, the screams, the expressions of terror on the faces of characters, the fear that one of the characters that I liked might die. All these things along with the amazing battles were the reason why Season 1 had become one of my favorites. And we were thrown into it right away. As the season progressed though, the story began to stagnate and the fears that I held before the season began surfaced. The story just went nowhere. By the time I was at episode 10, I was already not following the series weekly. There were episodes in between that gave me the chills and the feels of the first season and I couldn't help but crave for more when I watched those episodes/scenes. But they were far too little. And I knew that this would be the case for most of the season. The manga content that was adapted for Season 2 was mostly exposition and the action was nowhere near enough to satisfy my thirst. It just had those long minutes of silence, which to be honest isn't what Attack on Titan is, or what made it so successful in the first season. On to the characters, this is an area that was probably the most disappointing for me along with the lack of action. If they could've had character development done well through the course of the 12 episodes, I think that might've made up for the lack of action. For me though, this didn't happen. Our protagonists Eren and Mikasa don't change. They didn't change much throughout Season 1, but you could excuse that. However, the utter lack of character development for anyone, even our protagonists is extremely disappointing. Eren never grows out of his "I'll erase every titan off the face of the earth" shit, and he doesn't really even try to think of reasons why Titans exist. He's just obsessed with killing them and that's all there is to him in the season. Mikasa doesn't get too much screentime but even she's the same "Eren I'll protect you from the world". The only characters that did get somewhere were Krista Lenz and Ymir. I thought they were fleshed out pretty well and had their past revealed a little bit. Having said all that, the animation of Season 2 just went up a notch from Season 1, and Season 1 was done pretty darn well. The art was detailed and the animation fluid. The OST was similar to season 1 with some differences added. They let us get a feel of the events happening extremely well and help up immerse in the world of titans. Both of these get almost a perfect score. Now, I did enjoy certain parts of Attack on Titan Season 2, but overall, it was a real disappointment for a fan. It had its moments when it caught me in the scene and had an effect similar to that of Season 1, however those moments were far too sparse. I'm predicting and hoping that Season 3 will be much more action packed and have our characters develop more. Even if the season was 2 cour, we were always going to have these episodes where the world was explained to us in the first cour, but we wouldn't have to wait another ......so many years to get to the real stuff. Anyway, if you liked the first Season, you must watch this(as you will, haha), because I'm sure whatever they have in store for Season 3 is going to be better than this, at least for me.

Updated version of my previous top review: SnK season 2 has been a rough ride. As a fan of season 1, I really wanted this season to be good. On one hand, the latter half of the season was action packed and full of great development - just what I wanted. On the other, the first half of the season was extremely poorly written. So I'll separate this review into two halves. 1st half (ep 1-6) First of all, don't expect the world to be well built or realistic. After all, there are absolutely no men guarding the wall, as the entire ordeal within the first few episodes revolves around them trying to find a hole in the wall, even though there should be men constantly guarding the wall in case of a surprise titan invasion. If there weren't men guarding the wall, then that would mean that they thought it was impossible for the titans to break through the wall - which would mean their first thoughts shouldn't have been that the titans just broke straight through the wall with a huge hole. In fact, the only men you really get to see this season are those from the recon corps. I, personally, like to believe that everyone else has been wiped out by some sort of plague or meteor shower. The plot progresses so messily this season that it's certainly possible; but I'll cover that later. For the first time we also get to explore the land outside of the enclosed town districts, and it isn't really what you'd expect. Do you remember that food shortage from season 1? Well, rest assured, it makes perfect sense - considering there is absolutely NO farmland present at all; so of course they wouldn't be able to get food. You'd imagine that inside the walls, with such limited space that the humans have, there would be loads of farms and towns - but you're wrong. There are no towns, or cities, and the only places we do see are remote villages for some reason. In addition, the only time farmland is actually addressed is when Sasha's village forest is going to be destroyed and replaced with farmland, because apparently no one can use the wide open fields with absolutely NOTHING on them. Speaking of Sasha, prepare for a bunch of random background character backstories to be thrown in for no reason. I watched the entire second season and I still don't know what the purpose of Sasha's backstory was, and I don't know what an entire episode was dedicated just to focus on her. Actually, to be honest, I don't even know why Sasha exists as a character. The constantly-eating gimmick isn't even funny. I've heard a lot of people talk about how they enjoyed the fact that more of the background characters were focused on this season - mostly because they hate Eren as a protagonist. First of all, to those types, I recommend you abandon the show all together because Eren will never develop as a protagonist. The entire season 2 went by and Eren received no character development as far as I could tell. He's still the same "kill all titans!" kinda guy he was last season. The side characters aren't any better though. If you expect proper character development, suspense, and gradually building up towards climactic scenes full of emotion, then throw your dreams out the window. Character development is done almost exclusively through flashbacks, and those flashbacks happen right during the most important reveals and climactic scenes they could manage. There are quite a few times where entire scenes will be ruined by an disruptive flashback or "12 hours ago" message because the writers seemingly FORGOT to develop the characters or information leading up to the scenes. Reveals lack any subtlety or suspense in this show. They throw information at you in an extremely rushed and disorderly fashion. Also, you end up feeling nothing towards the side characters because the only time they're developed is through very unoriginal events like a FLASHBACK TO TRAINING CAMP WHERE TWO GIRLS GOT LOST IN A BLIZZARD. You DEFINITELY haven't heard of something like that before. Oh, by the way, for all of you who took an interest in Annie - forget about her. They do nothing with her the entire season and just forget about her. So, yeah, for the first six episodes the story is a complete mess. There's a concerning absence of people in the universe and the flow of the story has killed all momentum. Don't expect any of the good aspects of season 1 to be present. Now, as for the rest of the season? Well, it gets a lot better. Suddenly the authors remember how to do unobtrusive flashbacks and character development. The characters are cool and a lot of the nice aspects from season one are able to be seen, along with a new mix of more fleshed out side characters. Plus, the art is WAY upgraded. There has been some great scenes in this show. As for the sound? The opening isn't actually good, though you get used to it after a while. The ED, which I accidentally ended up listening to when I forgot to click onto the next episode, was terrible. The regular OST is cool as usual. So, yeah, season 2 had a really disappointing first half and a decent second half. Nonetheless, the unforgivable start makes me have to leave this on a 6/10.

Attack on Titan has an unfortunate truth surrounding it. Critics and fanboys surmise their opinions, incessantly hurling them at each other in hopes of smothering people into submission. One thing not present enough with this anime is a middle ground. In Season 2 we saw a surprising 12 episodes, a missing producer and a far different plot direction. The question is, did these things work for or against the franchise, and is it still the same old AoT that millions of viewers addictively engulfed several years ago? I feel it’s time to address the elephant in the room and provide a brutally honest review of the anime, and stop populating MAL with reviews embellished with buzzworthy absolutes like “the show is shit” or “arguably the best written series of all time”. DISCLAIMER- This is a very honest review. You’ve been warned. Right off the bat, the viewers are thrown into the second season with one of the worst transitions I can remember. I actually went back and watched the final episode of Season 1 followed by the first of Season 2 and was blown away by how disjointed it flows. So many unanswered questions (the walls, what exactly happened to Annie, how Eren feels about the whole thing) filled the air that I honestly couldn’t keep up with them all. It was a complete trainwreck. Possibly part of the issue is due to some changes in staffing regarding the anime, but it’s evident something went wrong. In this season, the viewers experience some short, but detailed backstory on Connie, Sasha, Ymir and others. Unfortunately, with the evident time pressure, it detracted largely from the story. The pacing is lethargic, often focusing on key battle scenes in order to create the facade that the plot is moving forward. It’s extremely hard to tell how much time is elapsing between various events, and as the final episode concluded, to have waited 4 years for what we got is embarrassing. Possibly the most glaring inadequacy is the truncated 12 episodes this season. In an anime with such a large cast as this, it really isn't enough time to get the job done. For the sake of metaphoric comparisons I could equate Attack on Titan’s short run time to my own high school reunion. In essence you have two hours to talk to about 50 people, and before you know it you've relinquished a bulk of your time catching up with one or two people. This results in a speedy greeting for the remainder, or you possibly not talking to them at all. This is precisely what the writers were forced to do with much of the anime’s cast. Characters like Levi and Armin make mere cameos, and the season spends most of its time progressing a short amount of actual story. The plot also suffers, as events can’t be properly explained within the amount of time 12 episodes allots. WARNING- SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH The one aspect I can’t forgive from a writing perspective is how sloppy the Bertolt and Reiner reveal was. Similar to some complaints I had about Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, it seemed to come so far out of left field that it felt reactionary. I understand the manga already contained this part of the story, but the appearance in the anime seemed sporadic and unexplained. It’s one thing to leave your audience questioning and on suspense, but another to come off as contrived or “simply doing things because the manga had it here in the timeline”. I felt much more surprised at Ymir’s titan introduction since I completely forgot she even existed. She was made to be a one-off character in my eyes, but as she transformed, her relationship with Krista and ghostly appearances all started to click. Bertolt and Reiner just doesn’t make sense to me. Hopefully, this gets cleaned up in Season 3 but it would’ve been a lot more cohesive without as much perceived randomness. OKAY, NO MORE SPOILERS! YOU’RE SAFE NOW! The more Attack on Titan progresses, the bigger issues I develop for Eren. In the anime’s infancy I thought Eren could become more than the trope he seems to currently be fitting. Ah, the revenge-blinded hero that will do anything to stop his foes… I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this before! He’s transforming into an angstier version of Kirito. Instead of just being the best at everything he does, Eren often gets beat, whines about it, recovers and then Leroy Jenkins’ his way back into combat again. There’s no internal dilemmas, no monologues about how he’s feeling (sans one instance in this seasons when everyone’s getting attacked at the end), just a vanilla-scripted MC. At least Mikasa maintains some enigmatic qualities by not continuously shooting her mouth off with an angry case of tourettes. If there is one thing the producer got right, it’s the action. Attack on Titan features some of the best choreographed fight scenes in anime, and Season 2 dials up the gore to 11. The emotions of the characters in battle are raw and realistic, with each spurt of adrenaline properly conveyed to the viewer. However, by saying this I also acknowledge how much the series is lacking in almost every other facet. It’s becoming that flashy toy kids play with for 5 minutes until they realize it only does about one thing. There’s no thinking involved, the foreshadowing is haphazard or non-existent, and it’s really unfortunate to see. With the budget this franchise has, it could easily hold the same uniform public praise as a show like Game of Thrones. The animation, story and characters COULD ALL BE EXCELLENT. But alas, we are left with luke-warm excitement and thoughts of how it could be better. I hope I’m not the only one that noticed the cringeworthy CGI involving the colossal titan during the 5th or 6th episode. Certainly an example of CG done wrong. However, while omitting this error, the anime’s art style seems relatively intact. The color palette still consists of opaque shades of brown, gray and green, with special attention given to character expressions and action scenes. The shots of a parade of Survey Corps members stampeding on horseback, or the ominous backdrop of roaming titans still launches AoT into a league of its own in the art direction category. Action scenes are fluid and suspenseful, and the gore is still as ubiquitous as the first season. I can only hope that as the series continues and media technology advances, the art directors stay true to their roots in this series, because a style that so accurately emulates its subject matter can be hard to come by. The music is epic once again. Linked Horizon returns to delight us with their fanfarish ballad to open the anime. “Sasageyo, sasageyo!” The remaining OST is fitting and seeks to emphasize the emotion present within its corresponding scene. Though, I will admit that I didn’t get the same sense of urgency or fear the background music portrayed during some of the more chaotic instances in Season 1. Nothing extremely offputting, but noticeable nonetheless. AoT’s seiyuus continue to impress with their grit and raw, emotional talent. Yuki Kaji’s resounding screams as Eren are evidence of his talent, and Hiroshi Kamiya is always smug and serious as Levi. I can only imagine how much fun the actors had when making this series, in terms of being able to use their full abilities. With any anime, my level of enjoyment is the most important factor when determining whether or not I’d recommend something. For the bulk of AoT fans, the second season will “partially” fill the void that the last 4 years since the anime’s debut has left. For some of you, possibly the more analytical types, the flaws begin to pile up. An extremely short runtime, half-assed character development and transition issues from the first season all work against AoT in this installment. Personally I enjoy the series, the world it exists in and the action, but Studio Wit is going to have to give the next season a much better effort if it wants to ensure its fans stay hungry for more, and have a more consistent adaptation schedule. Delaying one of the most popular ani…

TLDR Second Season wasn’t as good as the first. It was slow paced, didn’t have nearly as much action, and focused mainly on character development. The opening song goes back to the show’s origins by having a opening track that sound incredibly similar to the first theme. Probably one of this season’s biggest drawbacks is that all of season two basically happened in a single romeo-juliet-styled week (all of Romeo and Juliet took place in about one week). Because of the slowness, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as season one which showcased the mysterious nature of walls getting kicked down by abnormal titans and other titans further destroying a civilization that’s already cornered. In season one, we watched as Eren grew into a soldier, saw Mikasa’s badassery, met Levi who was even more of a badass, and there was so much we didn’t know about the AoT world. Sadly, you don’t really get much of that fast paced intensity this time. Story: 6/10 The entire 12-episode season basically takes place in about a week in the show’s time. Right after season one ends and Annie is locked up somewhere out of sight, Eren is off recovering in bed. Various things happen like flipping titans, and more human transforming titans. This season focuses more on the side characters of the series than the main characters from the original series. Apart from the story only being about a week in length, we only saw flashbacks of the past to build the characters. Personally, I hate flashbacks but some of the flashbacks of certain characters’ pasts were necessary to the story. This season, we only got to see Eren transform like one time the ENTIRE season. Eren was annoying as hell this season and felt like more of a side character than a main character. The only relatively shocking thing was a big reveal that happened suddenly and unexpectedly. If this was a 24 episode season, then it would’ve been fine to have such prolonged character development. However, since it was 12 episodes, it was bit of a let down for me. Going to have to give this category a six. Characters: 8/10 The characters all seemed to have real depth and personalities. Personally, I do not like Eren Jaeger much anymore because he was pretty damn annoying the entire season. However, despite disliking him he still comes across as a realistic character with real flaws. One of this show’s strong points is that all of the characters have a good amount of depth to them. However, it seemed like this season didn’t really make full use of the personalities of more prominent characters like Levi, Hange, Mikasa, Armin and Eren. Art: 9/10 The art seems to be about the same as the first season’s art. There are some times when the titans are noticeably CG. For example, you would probably easily be able spot the difference between the CG and the hand drawn art, and that difference was pretty awkward at times. Other than that the art is still the great art that you remember from season one. The lighting is top quality, the angles are super impressive, action leaves you sitting on the edge of your chair, etc. Sound: 9/10 The in-anime soundtracks are pretty much the same as season one. Sawano Hiroyuki composed the soundtracks so you can expect them to be cinematic, powerful, and punchy. The voice actors/actresses all did a fantastic job this season as well as the first. You really feel the emotions of each character come through in their voices. Sound effects were all top quality as well. Enjoyment: 7/10 I don’t really like how slow it was this season. It ended much too soon, and was kind of a let down in my opinion. All of that fast-paced story buildup in season one, followed by the most epic fight scene at the end… followed abnormally slow character development season two and has an ending buildup that kind of felt like it should’ve been a normal episode, not the climax? I just can’t give this any higher than a 7 for enjoyment. Overall: 8/10 Despite that show having some serious pacing issues and focusing too much on character development, the show was actually pretty good overall, as you would expect from one of the most famous anime series.

Other than the male x male shipping, I am not finding many reasons to like this show anymore. Half of the season is practically a collection of cliche action scenes. People teleport from the sky to save the day, others swing in the sky with spider-man gears, evil people sit on the face of someone just to prove that they indeed evil, Levi declares he is an insane badass by committing an act that distantly resembles the twisting of an arm. So fucked up! I am scared, literally how can man be this insane. Please, no, not the arm. The other half is practically a parody of politics except the narrative itself doesn't recognize this lameness as a parody. People with might and power declare a thing, but another thing happens -- much like with the teleporting nakama in the action side -- other big guys teleport whenever important decisions are supposed to be made. Essentially every part of the politics is so one-dimensional it hurts and serves as an excuse to create more bullshit to fill the story with. These vary from random kidnapping incidents to people thinking one of their nakama dies if they don't hurry up. I am not sure how exactly am I supposed to be fooled by this when it is clear plot-armors in the series are thicker than the walls itself. The best part of this show are the supposedly evil people and "our" enemies. Whenever our main squad gets called subhumen or pseudo-soldiers by them, I agree whole-heartedly. The opposing party did nothing wrong when looking down on our plebeian children at arms. Which this show really is all about. Some kids acting like they matter, fighting against titans or being titans or hiding from titans behind walls made of titans. At least the first season was fun to watch because it was a complete disaster and so overboard idiotic. This isn't even ironically fun anymore. More meaningless events one after another. This season doesn't achieve anything. It's just Eren being chained half the time + farming, characters pondering over some action for half an episode each episode just to see the thing itself never happening. It's all false tension, all words no reward, no payout. Boring substance that is repetition of the same over and over while the fallacy that something might actually happen being there to fool those who are still buying this. Oh no, titan appears for the 700th millionth time, what a shock, I wonder which one of the two things that ever happen when a titan appear, happens this time around. Literally can't wait for the next cour.

Season 2 of Attack on Titan is a mess. I'm tempted to say, "this is where the show jumps the shark", but I have not yet experienced the later seasons. I guess, season 2 is about that point in the story where the creator decided that his story should have some more twists to it. Unfortunately, Attack on Titan seems to only be able to pull off two kinds of twists: Type A) The twists that are painfully obvious. Type B) The twists that end up deflating the weight of the story and almost ruin the wonderful setting of the show. The writing in general seems awfully sloppy here and very much gives off the feel of "just making shit up as I go". Lots of "do you remember that one life defining moment we had? Here's a flashback sequence of it, because we haven't actually established it (aka the writer only just now came up with it)". The lack of patience and proper buildup is astounding. If a thing is set up, it will either pay off immediately during the span of one episode or it will be brushed aside and left unresolved for the rest of the season. I wonder why the story went out of it's way to prevent Annie from acting as the source of our exposition by having her encased in crystal. It basically made the victory at the end of season 1 feel hollow and bitter. But the exposition Annie could have organically delivered gets dumped on us very soon afterwards (in manga release timeframe anyways) by other characters, so her whole cocoon maneuver seems like a net negative for the flow of the story. At the time, I thought the Season 1 ending was bold. "There are no real victories in war" -kinda thing. Now, I think it's painfully obvious that it was just the writer stalling for some more time to scramble together some sort of plan. I am almost certain that Rainer's split personality was an afterthought that had to be worked into the story in order for the character's actions to make any kind of sense in hindsight. Ymir turns her coat so many times in such a short period of time that the coat is basically just flickering on her. I suppose she is supposed to come off as volatile, to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but it just comes across illogical and frustrating instead. Attack on Titan still has a lot of great things going for it. The art style and animation is still gorgeous and the Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack is still A+ quality. The setting, despite season 2's best efforts, is still excellent and the titans are still one of the most horrific monsters I've ever seen in any media. All of this the show still has. But what is actually happening on the screen, in the present, is so tremendously stupid at times that the positive qualities almost don't matter. That is what makes AOT season 2 so frustrating, it completely fumbles with handling the fantastic framework for an epic story that it built for itself during season 1.

[5.0/10] _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ For a series that's all about a plethora of characters yelling loudly, Attack on Titan definitely finds itself whining a lot this season. Even with the aptly titled final episode, "Scream", AoT rarely finds breathing room to develop its scenario or characters past bluntly exposited backstory or nauseatingly boring dialogue. For everything it lacks in subtlety, it thankfully makes up for in bravado, as this season, even in its shorter length, is louder, dumber, and more abrasive than the last. Don't get me wrong, I actually prefer shorter seasons in anime and I was happy to see that we won't be sitting through twenty four episodes of Attack on Titan. Especially if Season 1 is any example, there would most likely be a very tedious air about it all. With a shorter, more compact season, AoT had the opportunity to tell a more impactful story with better animation, presentation, and a tighter narrative. Unfortunately, I can't say that it succeeded. Much like the first season, Attack on Titan feels incredibly inconsistent in presentation and narrative. One episode feels like it is totally inconsequential while another feels like everything is moving by at lightning pace. I rather have the pacing be fast, rather than crawling to the finish line like some abnormal titan, but this constant rubber-banding can become tedious. Season 2's shortened length definitely proves beneficial to the short narrative being told. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Story, character, and resolution] There is a distant focus on our protagonist as the writers adapt a more wide scope of characters onto the screen, trying their best to create sympathetic and morally intriguing humans that pepper this sprawling landscape. I very much enjoyed this change, since our protagonists, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin aren't very interesting or charismatic. There's a squeaky blond kid who shouts a lot, the main protagonist Eren, fueled by revenge, who shouts a lot, and Mikasa, who's soft spoken but also totally insipid as a character. They're a complete bore. Although the first half of the season really struggled to maintain my interest, I still appreciated them trying to develop a vast array of characters. I will unfortunately say that they don't do this too well. A lot of the episodes focused on certain characters, especially our favorite potato-lover, Sasha, feel totally redundant and misplaced. Her conflict or specific idiosyncrasies don't come off as clear or well-thought out and she gets completely sidelined as the season continues. On the other hand, Reiner and Bernholdt get a lot more attention and end up providing much of the shows fast-paced narrative, which is welcome. Although their characters and motivations are left so vague that it often feels stilted, as in, I don't find the way they speak to be realistic of the situation they are in. They purposefully keep things vague which makes it sound like they are hiding from the viewer, rather than the characters. The last group of characters that gets the most focus is Christa and Ymir, who are responsible for probably the most compelling, albeit cheesy story of the season. Spurned lovers and the like. Some of their choices made them seem stupider than what the writers may have wanted, however, in the end, at least there was some emotion there. Comparing that to our protagonist and their motivations, that is a major positive. ... As the season progresses, there is an obvious escalation happening, and Erin is unfortunately at the center of it. While I will say that the latter half of the season is more entertaining from a popcorn fun perspective, it is also where the show becomes completely off the rails as a story. More on that in later sections. There are constant monologues during the fights, which create for tension-less encounters that are often back-ended by meaningless cliffhangers that lead to nothing. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger and each cliffhanger rings less and less true or interesting. It's a crutch that most Shounen action series have. Erin is often praised by the characters, however, I never felt as though he should be. He is painted as completely bullheaded, yet that is a positive. In one scene one character monologues to another about how Erin would charge into a fight against five people all stronger than him and risk his life, but that's a good thing, apparently. To me, it just comes off as stupid. It doesn't make me like this already shallow, revenge-driven character more. Mikasa is virtually just the girl who's a badass during the inconsequential action scenes and then is reserved to just yelling "Erin" really loudly during the parts that yield narrative results. Of course during the climax she gets sidelined because god forbid these characters ever work together. The entire climax felt cheap. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Presentation] I'm getting the boring parts out of the way before I talk about some of the more interesting elements of the series and what comparisons I can draw from it. The presentation here is fine. Much like the rest of the series it is horribly uneven, drifting from impressive animation to some really hokey and pathetic CG filler scenes that pepper most of the series. Every episode we got one or two filler cuts where a bunch of characters ride their horses along a texture wrap, and they're horses look really stiff and lifeless. The entire thing gives me flashbacks to Berserk(2016). It looks awful. On the other hand, when WIT decides to put in some time there are some pretty engaging and fun action scenes, albeit poorly choreographed, as most of the time I really didn't understand the distance between objects. Coming off the heels of Kabaneri, I really was hoping for more in terms of animated fidelity here. Kabaneri, the last, and probably equally mediocre series that WIT worked on had significantly more impressive animation, character design, and set pieces, which made Attack on Titan feel like a pale imitation, which is all the more strange since Kabaneri was the actual imitation. It was really clear that most of the effort was put into the first episode and the last few, since those are the episodes with the most consistent level of animation. As I said, when WIT decides to put that work in, it looks great. There are plenty of spectacularly designed and perhaps unintentionally hilarious Titans that waddle about on screen, and I maintain the notion that the titans are perhaps one of the coolest baddies I've seen. There are some genuinely fun designs here and those are often backed up by funny animation cycles which makes some of these abnormal creatures more memorable than many of the human characters. ... The music is about as solid as ever. The OP is a shadow of season 1's initial opening, but it is still fine. The ED is better, and I appreciate that these openings and ending credits are actually attempting to be relevant, rather than just a super-cut of the characters flying through the air and posing. The musical cues are amazing. From the electric guitar riffs to the awesome distorted violins, each one is memorable and never fails to bring your attention back to what is happening on screen. The shift into the orchestral themes of the series are alright, although I can't say they are as engaging. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Character death and you] Oh man, I remember having an argument with someone on reddit about the character deaths in the series. They, for some absurd reason were set on the notion that Attack on Titan was successful due to its characters being in constant threat of dying. He compared it to the likes of …

When Attack on Titan originally aired, the anime community was thrust into disarray as we experienced something that rarely happens: Everyone was watching. The show had managed to permeate the mainstream, and the hype was nearly immeasurable. Four years later, it's safe to say its sequel isn't garnering nearly as much attention. Thus it may come as a surprise to hear that AoT season 2 addresses nearly all of the flaws of the first season, and in only half the length of its predecessor, managed to entirely outdo itself. The season starts out with a fundamental shift in tone from what we had become accustomed to. Instead of the high octane, action packed nature of the show which had become its primary driving force, season 2 sets the stage by introducing a mysterious new threat into the fray. In addition, it reinstates the primal threat of the titans that the first season started to lose sight of. Titans are terrifying creatures, beasts that indiscriminately dismember and devour humans; it's important that the viewer fears them as well, or else what we're watching is oddly deformed giant humanoids flailing about the walls. Thankfully, It accomplishes this through its delivery of one of the most gruesomely horrific opening scenes I've seen in Attack on Titan's history. And after that, it doesn't shy away from that instilled fear, or back off to give us a break. As I alluded to, this season slows down a lot. But, it's better off for it. AoT S2 explores and expands upon its more mysterious and somewhat overlooked cast of characters, unraveling their underlying motivations, vulnerabilities, desires, conflicts, and secrets in intimate detail. In half the length, S2 manages to develop its cast much more impressively than its prequel. The first season had some issues with balancing high-paced action with substance. These problems have been rectified. Moreover, it capitalizes on this fine writing by granting the characters the opportunity to make significant decisions that affect the plot. Needless to say, the various revelations and developments that occur within this season would not have had nearly the same weight had the characters remained underdeveloped. As far as the story goes, I was pleasantly surprised by its compactness. In my less optimistic moments, I expected the short 12 episode season to be marred by a rushed, incoherent, plot-hole filled mess of a plot. However, the slower-paced and more grounded approach of this season played to the advantages of its single cour run. It is unrealistic to expect real "closure" as there is too much left in the story to be told, so the key takeaway for me was seeing how season 2 could wrap all the ideas it presented into 12 episodes in a satisfactory way. I have to commend the studio for this point. You don't get this level of refinement without a hell of a lot of prep work. One of the most impressive aspects of AoT, for me, is how well crafted the scenes typically are. Sometimes a specific anime, for whatever reason, brings out the absolute best a studio can deliver. We saw it happen with Shaft and the Monogatari series. The same thing seems to be happening here. And season 2 somehow manages to raise the bar on this point as well. As a frame of reference, one scene in particular simply has a group of people riding on the backs of slowly moving horses at night. Initial interpretations of this synopsis would probably read as follows: "Boring." Yet my hands were sweating as I watched. The show seems to be able to craft scenes that hit all of the right notes in all of the right spots, and I believe this largely comes down to the studio's intense passion for this series and a keen attention to detail. Even the most subtle of cues, such as the precise moment of when to play a specific track in the background, or none at all, is not overlooked. As such, it comes as no surprise that AoT S2 presents one of the most beautifully sculpted fight scenes I've had the pleasure of watching (upon viewing I trust you'll be able to tell which scene this is). Attack on Titan was special. It amassed a level of popularity that transcended it atop all other competition in its medium. After four years, I had forgotten much about it. Attack on Titan season 2 reminded me of its quality, and taught me that it is indeed more special than I originally surmised.

Contains spoilers from Season 1 and Season 2 Pls send feedback if you have any So after four years of waiting, we finally get our Season 2 for Attack on Titan. Whoopee Yahoo, we've been waiting for so long for this. Now was it worth the wait? ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh We start the season right after Annie Leonhart is captured and frozen in her Titan crystal, and we see all the rookie scouts sitting in a base away from the cities and towns. After that things get pretty nuts. New Beast Titan, another wall supposedly broken, and people dying left and right. Classic AoT, bringing back everything we loved about it. Now, this is where it start to go downhill, as we soon get hit with various plot twists and drama. Here's the issue. Overexaggeration of situations. It's hard to be invested in anything when it just starts to get too ridiculous. Throwing whatever you can into your anime worked for Keijo, but for something that's supposed to be serious and dark, it just doesn't fit in. All the plot twists are obvious but they still try to make it a massive revealment, and the drama's impact is lessened with annoying dialogue that makes it more amusing the more it tries to be intense. The action and deaths are still great though. Scouts flying around ripping apart Titan napes, Titan flailing about munching on scouts, and a bunch of new Titan shifters going ham on each other. Each and every scene of this bloodfest is such a joy to watch, as the animation is superb when it comes to depicting the ferocity of the whole ordeal. Although every once in a while we get some annoying dialogue or flashback interrupting the action and ruining the flow of the scenes, and the CGI Colossal Titan does need a little getting used to, it's all well and good as AoT does what AoT does best. Some of the supporting cast get some limelight as well, but it still neglects a lot of the rest and leaves them in the background. We get a few new titan shifters, some characters get some backstory of them, and a few meet their family and some other people from their hometown. (Although I don't think Conny was too happy about it) It's all nice and all to see the supporting cast pushed forward, but then we get others that are pushed back to make room. It's just so unbalanced with the way it wants to portray their cast, swapping them back and forth frantically trying to keep them all relevant as we start to lose more and more interest. Now, the thing that irks me the most is the unanswered questions. Annie? Still in the Titan crystal. Secrets of the walls? Barely touched on. Basement? What's that? In fact, instead of answering all our various thoughts on AoT, it provides us with even more questions to ponder. Who or what is the Beast Titan? What's the dark past of Historia? What are the goals of the new Titan shifters? What happened to that one village? Sure it answers some stuff, but we're left with so many untouched plot points that it gets frustrating to continuously catch up to each ep. Attack on Titan was a slight disappointment. I was hoping to get what I wanted from the series, but the 12 eps decided I should wait for next year cause fuck me. If you're a massive fan of AoT, go ahead, watch it to your heart's content. For anyone else, I would proceed with caution as this show is just a mix of exciting action and lacklustre story and characters.

I will keep it short. If you see anyone that gave this show less than 10 of 10 then you should know that he/she didn't watch the show or is under 18 years old or did read the manga and he knows everything already. This show is 10 of 10 in everything The story is perfect and continued that we left first season. The art are one of the best in anime. The soundtracks are so beautiful. Enjoyment: If you read the manga and watched the anime then you will not enjoy it too much because you know what will happen already, but if you are only anime watcher then you will really really enjoy it. Overall best anime of 2017.

What lies, of ending a huge massive, and mindblown series? Exactly We present you This series : Set of Arcs are perfectly well done, and get to see their related past and hidden traits from set of characters which exactly go on forth with the flow and mashed with the perfect improved OST that is nowhere to be less even good. Make it pointed out every plots and why the ending left us a huge set of details? First of all : - Ymir and Christa Taking down from their backgrounds about the depths revealing both secrets attain near mankind is a way huge misunderstanding that leads someone far near death. Crisis involves a huge traits on Ymir as a Dancing Titan, Just like the past set of Titan Shifters through Decades, Ymir's secret desires to make things right, whether it's a right decision to sacrifice oneself apart from each other. - Reiner -Seeing the Death of comrades leads them to astray as making himself fall as soldier or neither as a warrior. Reiner is actually one of the most interesting characters to me due to the way he involuntarily switches between soldier and warrior when he can't bear the weight of his sins… But with his arm, the steam itself might've given it up, but maybe he could've hidden it. Lastly : Eren's Coordinating Ability : -Massive Breakdown, and every flows, Decent and outstanding scenario as Eren Obtained the power of a Founding Titan that lies within his body. Some details shown at the last scenes from my point of view tells about Eren defies humanity taken down the wrong path that leads him being an inferior by his own father crumbling with a screams which apart on a sound bearing with a sense of guilt. Decent Remarks on How they Ended is a Top Well Done.