Attack On Titan Part 2 – Epic or Not

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The following article is an review of Attack On Titan Part 2. This is an amazing series and should be seen from the beginning … so watch the trailer for Part 2 before reading the review, and if you like what you see, I strongly recommend you STOP … and go watch the series from the very beginning, thats exactly what I’ll be doing.

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by enclosing themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind. Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers) Attack On Titan was a show that came into a lot of hype when it was originally aired in Japan with a lot of hubbub about what a unique anime it was at the time of airing. With the first half of the series done, it did a good job in setting the characters and showcasing how violent and twisted this world has become, but I did mention that it felt surprisingly similar to various other series outside of that, and whilst a good show, was still unsure why it was so popular. The second half I thought may showcase those reasons…especially with Levis’ introduction and some interesting twists so does it actually now deserve the hype in my opinion? We left last time with Eren in the case of Levi, as he is sent for trail as the demographic of the common vs. the elite is again discussed as they wonder if Eren is societys saviour or monster. This episode I will admit certainly gave me smiles as it really showcased what a badass Levi is. Considering most people’s favourite character, Levi is a no nonsense guy who seems cold-hearted but has his quirks, and it seems with the best interest of his crew whilst also having a great mind for planning and tactition. Here, he interrupts the trial by brutally beating down Eren, showcasing he can control him if he needs be if they are concerned about him going rogue in Titan form. With this, he is put in a squad with true elites the Special Operational Squad, with one of them being very memorable named Hange…who has a bit of a Titan fetish shall we say? Despite the darkness and seriousness of the show, it was actually amusing seeing someone so excited about studying the Titans to the point of chatting to Eren all night and even naming some of the species…even as she gets too close and they want to kill her. However, something happens and to her (and others) shock, the two Titans they had in terms of examination get killed, and they suspect someone in their ranks – which leads to the main conflict and suspicion through the arc – both the best and worst things about this set. The next part is sadly the only real chance we see the rest of the quirky cast in action (to an extent) as the main focus as from here on the story is mainly on Eren and Levi – we do get some hints that there is something wrong with one of the characters as a potential traitor (which becomes much clearer after a rewatch) but for the time being, Armin, Mikasa and the others are deciding which team to join. With Recon Corps commander Erwin basically telling them straight out how dangerous it is to join, pretty much most of the team bar one interesting exception do join them to make sure they are reunited with Eren. Jean in particular is pretty touching in his movement as a reference to his old friend Marco, but I do feel it was a bit overdone as Marco was only in it a little bit without too much relevance to the plot and made it feel like he was a really important character, when in reality he wasn’t. This is why I feel that what I mentioned before as protagonist syndrome and the anyone can die scenario, it doesn’t seem that well developed as I hoped it would be. That said, the emotion is there and seeing Eren reunite with everyone is a pleasant surprise, albeit this is pretty much the most to see out of everyone that isn’t Eren now for the rest of the arc. The Recon Corps now take full stage as they head out on a Titan expedition and the big plot comes into play. With a strategy in play and the team spread out, they begin tracking Titans, killing some and display signals so everyone knows what is going on. Unfortunately, there is a new spanner in the works. A previously unseen female Titan is now around…and she is definitely different. She seems to showcase surprising intelligence and able to block, defend or avoid the death strikes to the neck, and in turn, is squashing officers left, right and centre. It becomes pretty obvious that she is in fact, similar to Eren and a human who can become a Titan, but even more obvious she is one of the members we’ve seen before when she spares Arwins’ life. And lets just say it is painstakingly obvious who it is, yet it takes to the end of the series for them to work it out – which doesn’t really add for dramatic effect or a major twist when it comes to that so it comes off as seeing most of the crew being a bit dumb (granted – it appears Arwin knew quite quickly and had a meeting later but when I first watched it, I felt like facepalming). It leads to a great moment when Eren wants to fight the Titan but Levi is calm and cool and refuses him to do so, even when the female Titan is killing others. This showcases his experience, intelligence and all out badass as he manages to trap the intelligent Titan ready to be escorted back… …like it was going to be that easy. With a mole apparently in the squad, it leads to the team now figuring out who the female Titan is. Granted, it was pretty obvious if you paid attention (and figured it out by the look of the Titan, there were only two female characters with that hair colour/style, and one of them was in the squad, the lovely Krista, who delivered horses to Arwins’ crew when they were spared) but at the same time, the reveal and indeed the lead up to the reveal was actually quite touching, especially that the character in question was quite quiet for most of the show yet it shows she did have feelings for her crew, and almost has a similar belief to Eren in one respect…but does it for her methods. In fact, there are a lot of strong heartfelt moments, whether it is members of the Corps wanting to bring back the dead whilst the more heartless want them remain in MIA, seeing Levi making sure not to break character when one of his squads’ father talks to him about his daughter who idolises Levi…unware that she died on the field. It leads to a final battle between Eren and the female Titan who, after a failed battle in the grounds, Eren returns with a vegence despite nearly dying when he, Mikasa and Arwin form a plan to trap her, as the decision of civilian deaths around vs. the greater good of killing the Titan comes to a close. To say it sets up for an inevitable and hopeful sequel is an understatement, and with a continuing manga and this being a very popular series, I will be very surprised if there isn’t a sequel … Read more of this excellent review from: The Fandom Post

Article and Image Source: The Fandom Post