 |
 |
 |
At long last, he picked up the damn boulder.
If I were a more cynical person, I might ask questions like the following about Armin and Pixis’ master plan:
- If Eren, as a titan, can pick up a rock heavy enough to block the entrance, why can’t another titan push it out of the way?
- If the wall was breached by the colossal titan once, why wouldn’t he just come back and breach it again?
But you know, that would be somewhat unsporting to do right at the moment, because after weeks of inertia (admittedly very loud inertia) we finally have an episode where something happened. Mind you it came after a three-minute recap, but at least it happened. And that’s definitely a step in the right direction. Hopefully this means that we’ve run in place long enough to start the story moving forward again, this time for good.
I don’t mean it to sound ungrateful, but I don’t think I can discuss this episode without pointing out that it could easily have come at least 4 episodes back, with nothing lost in the change. It doesn’t seem as if anything has been advanced in the larger plot or any meaningful character development has happened since then. We knew exactly what was happening with Eren and with Trost, and as soon as we did it was pretty mich inevitable that the crisis would end pretty much how it did. As such, I’m skeptical that this is a return to form rather than an aberration, and next week (well not next week as that’s a recap episode – and how the heck do you recap episodes that were a mix of recap and time-wasting?) we go back to the same glacial pacing. The fact that this was a season-ending ep episode make me all the more suspicious that this is a sea-change rather than a one-time deal.
Be that as it may, this was a really good episode of Attack on Titan – and it’s nice to be able to say that. Everything that happened finally felt like it meant something – there was real suspense, actual consequences for characters that mattered (dammit, Marco was one of the few that really seemed interesting) and in the end, the story was freed up to finally move to the next phase. Tied in with that of course is the re-introduction of the Recon Corps, which on paper at least seems to hold the possibility of spicing up the character side of the story at a time when it really needs it. Plus, that “hairball” of undigested human bodies was a brilliantly gross and hilarious conceit – further solidifying my opinion that Isayama is writing this story with tongue very much in-cheek.
It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes next (it’s nice to be able to say that, too). It seems as if Eren’s dream of joining the Recon Corps is finally going to be realized, though Levi is apparently going to take it on himself to make sure Eren knows what a scum he is. Will Armin and Mikasa be following along? It’s hard to imagine the three of them separated at this stage. With the goal seemingly to retake Eren’s old village and thus be able to find the truth in the basement, there seems the hope of real progress – though my gut tells me that it’s going to take a long damn time to reach that basement, or that it’s not going to hold nearly as many answers as we’ve been led to believe.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
frubam
June 30, 2013 at 5:29 amTo answer your first two Qs, I'd say that, thus far, the 15-meter class titans are few-and-far between. Also, titan Eren has a more muscular build than every other titan, which seem to be pretty lunky if anything, so I'd imagine strength-wise, he is far superior. As far as the Colossal, and Armored Titan breaking the wall again, I'd imagine that they need a significant amount of time to rejuvenate themselves(I'd randomly assume due to its intelligence to attack the walls weak points, that they were actually human-turned-titans), else, they wouldn't do a dash-and-vanish, and the walls would have fallen in one fell swoop.
frubam
June 30, 2013 at 5:48 amI thought this was another overdramatized episode, but at least the pacing was alot better. I was annoyed by the 3 min prologue too =02. At least this arc is over. I agree it should have been shorter(I dunno about 4 episodes shorter though (>.>) ); it would have kept the plot moving at a decent pace and wouldn't have felt they were being to melodramatic with the deaths. How the people were killed by the titans was shocking at first, but now I feel that they play that angle a bit too much =0. Either way, I hope this 'basement' arc coming up plays out a lot shorter.
On a minor note, I can't say I like this Levi guy too much right now. Of course, he seems like a composed badass and whatnot, but I tend to not like people stringing along the MC like a puppet, which is the impression he gave me as to how he plans to treat Eren like.
Luxorcism
June 30, 2013 at 9:23 amI'll repost the important bit that ISN'T a spoiler for things to come:
I actually thought the "retake Trost" arc could've done by with 3 eps instead of the 5 that we have (though the anime grouped the "losing Trost" part with this, even though it's in the previous story arc in the manga).
Riliane
June 30, 2013 at 6:16 amI would have to disagree about the point that Isayama wrote this with the intention of it being funny because the source material as a far different tone then the anime. I have read a lot of different opinions from both those who like it and those who hate it, but I have yet to meet anybody who only read the manga describe it as 'hilarious' or 'funny'.
No, I think the only reason this comes over more like a satire when a drama is because of the voiceactors performance and Arakis direction style.
Rui Costa
June 30, 2013 at 6:32 amQuite frankly from the reviews I have read only GE seems to find SnK "hilarious".
Luxorcism
June 30, 2013 at 7:23 amRui Costa: That's what I see too, that he's taking the "over-the-top" stuff as funny while everyone else takes it seriously. But as hipster as it is, can't a man have his own opinion?
justinnm
June 30, 2013 at 8:01 amI'm not watching this show. I just came here to say that was a hilarious first sentence.
litho
June 30, 2013 at 10:51 amIt's a perfectly fitting, unbiased one, though.
You have to admit it's clever tactic. They knew this series was going to be popular, so might as well stretch it out and milk it for all it's worth.
Rui Costa
June 30, 2013 at 8:04 amOf course he can. Like I say in another post I enjoy reading his reviews alot, because he is probably one of the best writers in the anime reviews community, the fact that he raises good points n his reviews and also he doesn't ignore the smaller series where there could be real gems (tsuritama was also my favorite show of 2012).
My only problem with GE reviews it's that there is a certain bias in some series and when that bias reaches a certain point I just stop reading the reviews of the series in question.
The only reason I read this review was because it was the climax of this arc and I wanted to read GE reaction. I came away dissapoint, because it's seems to me that is writing here is more weak that in other series reviews.
Luxorcism
June 30, 2013 at 8:09 amIf he isn't giving Shingeki its fair share of thought and insight, there are many other excellent blogs (but yes, LiA is great and objective when the bias ain't there).
I was kinda disappointed myself, but the insights he has so far aren't really anything new for a manga reader, so I'm more reading for the complaints. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's valid… but you're absolutely right, it wasn't Enzo's best post.
admin
June 30, 2013 at 8:41 amThis happens every time I don't gush over whatever the hot series of the moment is. It happened with SAO too, for example. I'm used to it. I don't see AoT going down the same road as SAO, mind you, but I'm not going to call silly profound just to try and hang with the in-crowd.
Rui Costa
June 30, 2013 at 9:06 amCome on Enzo don't be like that, I really like LiA and I don't want to stop coming here because of something like this.
This as nothing to do about the hot series, I actually was also very disappointed in SAO and that anime (and some others "hype animes") are the reason I don´t spend much time in the anime community of my country and have tried to take the rust of my english.
Let me give you a example of one of your bias. You always say that Urobuchi never gives answers to the questions he raises in his series and that is a negative point in your opinion, but Shinsekai Yori the anime that's it's probably the front runner to AOTY in LiA in 2013 (mine too) ends with a ending that also didn't give an answer to the question that it raised.
admin
June 30, 2013 at 9:34 amI spent 25 posts explaining, in effect, why those two situations are not analogous (and in fact I think I may have even addressed the Gen comparison in the last SSY post, though I'm too lazy to check).
Let's be blunt – a "bias", to most people, means any opinion that disagrees with theirs. Which is fine – it's human nature. But when you're talking about a massively popular series, any opinion that's anything except a rave is going to find a lot more people to accuse it of being the product of bias.
Luxorcism
June 30, 2013 at 9:38 amWhoa there, Rui. SSY might've been vague on Saki's future, but it sure as hell didn't withhold its own conclusion at the end. It isn't comparable to the disappointment that was Urobutcher's PPass, even if the questions raised were similar.
Enzo: I guess I'm not like most people, since I think a "bias" is a tendency toward something.
Other than that, I'm going to step out of the crossfire here.
Rui Costa
June 30, 2013 at 9:53 amMaybe bias is not the best word, what I am trying to say is for example that in certain series where you really like the characters (Enzo you prefer character driven storys, this you cannot deny :D) you have a more leeway in terms of critique.
But back on point my problem it your SnK reviews (yes I went and read every review) is that at some point your reviews of the serie became sloppy(again not sure if best word). It's just doesn't have that saucy (stealing this word from you) and you stop asking those really good questions that you usually do.
Of course the slowing down of the latest episodes doesn't help, but now your reviews of SnK are basically always this: a lot of noise and I laugh at scenes where I wasn't supose to laugh.
Come on give me that Enzo insight that I always enjoy reading 😀
Rui Costa
June 30, 2013 at 10:01 amLuxorcism I think you misunderstood me, I as talking about all the series of the Butcher, not only PP (that series never deliver in the end, I still think after episode 16 that the plot should have been different).
admin
June 30, 2013 at 10:55 amListen, when nothing of any consequence happens for five episodes, don't blame the blogger for not having much to write about.
Eternia
June 30, 2013 at 11:57 amHah. By accusing Enzo of being bias, it shows that you guys are being bias yourself. Just admit it, this is just another Bleach and Dragon Ball. The slow pacing, over the top characters, over the top speeches / conversations, yet really popular / renown somehow.
sonicsenryaku
June 30, 2013 at 12:43 pmI find this talk about bias and unbias to be quite funny considering that since biases often influence our opinions of things whether we like it or not; there is no opinion that is entire objective, hence why its an opinion. When watching or reading some form of entertainment, there is always going to be some sort of bias that influence our enjoyment of the material; but isnt that what makes talking about shows or novels fun? discussing among others what you like or dont like about the material, what things appeal to you from the story, and if a person does not like the material, to try and convince them why they should. Not everyone has the same taste, I think that's something that goes without saying, but in my opinion it is virtually impossible to give a 100% unbiased opinion about a show. The best we can do is be as objective as humanly possible about what we see. The solution to this should be to have fun, thoughtful discussions with one another without animosity..but it seems that as well by human nature is virtually impossible.
Awet M
June 30, 2013 at 2:29 pmThe slow pacing encouraged me to read the manga ahead of the anime, up to chapter 33.
The manga, while limited by substandard art and hokey dialogue, does promise decent plotting, and I hope the anime refrains from going down the Space Brothers route and abuse its budget or amount of episodes in telling the story.
Zeta Zero
July 1, 2013 at 4:05 amEach to their own. I thought the manga art was fine.
Tsunoh
June 30, 2013 at 4:27 pmThis is one long journey if the first dungeon takes this long to clear!
Kidding aside, since the agonizing crawl through the Trost incident is over, things should be picking up- but I can't guarantee you won't have anymore unintentionally hilarious moments. The Recon people are more fun, partly because they don't gape in wonder when Eren says something.
tops blooby
June 30, 2013 at 5:03 pm^this
tops blooby
June 30, 2013 at 5:20 pmfound this blog looking for a review for AoT. I've read only the last few reviews for this, but thought the latest was actually a lot more forgiving than it could have been. too many things happening that didn't make sense, as usual.
I laughed a little while Jean was trying to grab the other harness, and another guy flew out from behind the titan to distract the titan. you wonder why he didn't just try to slash the neck, like his training dictated. even if he missed or didn't cut deep enough, that would be a distraction. though the rest of the ep was littered with random distraction "tactics". no wonder mankind is losing. (I know I know, I'm applying logic here).
one last thing I will mention is they do too much telling and not showing, ie. the voiceover showing the titans being taken out by the cannon fire (unless you count the still frames they show during the v/o). I see why they do it, but it kills their pacing, along with their awful pacing. (and seriously, why don't they just light the titans on fire from atop the walls (you know, real world tactics)? that's always bewildered me (among many other things in this show) from ep 1.)
at any rate, def done watching this (just wanted to reach the season end point).
a42
July 1, 2013 at 1:53 amYeah, it's things like the distraction tactics that are making this show really tough to take seriously. Just can't understand what's the point of training with the flying gear if you don't actually use them to attack the titans. It's not even like it was their first fight and they were in shock/scared, that already happened. Hard to empathize when the characters aren't acting in accordance with the show's internal logic and just run around like headless chickens.
Luxorcism
July 1, 2013 at 6:58 am(Just want to point out this ain't a spoiler, Enzo >.<)
It was pretty strange, that part where Connie comes in and just crashes/flips into the titan's head. But since it's filler, the animation team probably wanted to make it funnier, because the manga sure as hell had NOTHING like this.
As for the distraction tactics (and both your complaints), it works if you remember that the open ground near the hole/gate has no tall structures. The 3D gear can still work, but the odds of a normal takedown are so drastically reduced that this method works fairly well in this situation. I presume the idea is to distract a titan with one soldier while another cuts it down, but obviously it's more difficult with the dozen or so titans concentrated there. There was nothing about this in the manga, so this is all new to me, too.
As for killing titans with fire, we've already seen since episode 1 that titans are linked with fire: Colossal/Eren appear in firey explosions, the Armored titan is smoking from his mouth, Eren feels the heat when he attacks the Colossal, etc. Fire is probably one of the conventional methods that are nigh useless against titans, just like small arms and cannon fire. (granted, those two at least work on smaller titans).
In other words, there are rules at play that preclude many "logical" real-world solutions. Understand them like you would any sport and I wouldn't have to keep explaining things. D:
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 5:45 am(there really should be an edit button or I should proof read better)
if fire is indeed useless, I wish they would just make a small mention about it, since it seems like a tactically sound idea, though with all the heat related characteristics of the titans I could understand why it wouldn't work (well sort of). Sometimes small mentions like this help round out the mythology of the show without seeming like they're being ignored. that's just depth.
and there are many other tactics that could be implemented that aren't that make me think the creator just didn't think about this too deeply which is problematic. like why don't they line the streets with wires or ropes or steel bars in areas so titans can't move so freely so they could get tangled and killed more easily in them? or try tripping them like the walkers in Starwars? these are very basic tactics to use against larger opponents, but no you have people swinging around like Spiderman w/o the webbing, so their actual movement in the harnesses doesn't make sense physically either. I know I know, you need to buy into this conceit otherwise it'll drive you crazy, but for a show like this, the viewer shouldn't be thinking this hard about any of this.
and rules are one thing, but the titans' reflexes and powers are so inconsistent, that you can't make any assumptions about the rules their world is based on. Sports are one thing, since rules are written and can be referred to, but here, these rules seem dictated by the plot and are amorphous depending on where the plot needs to go. like something so big shouldn't be so fast to catch someone flying around, but they do, but also there are times they don't because it's plot driven and that's just bad. I can deal with one or the other, but not both if done this way.
litho
June 30, 2013 at 7:17 pmC'mon Enzo, saying that nothing of any consequence happened is a bit harsh.
We all learned that Eren looks (and sounds) way better as a Titan. I mean, who would you rather have on your side if the going got tough; this fine gentleman, or this annoying nincompoop?
Either way, at least Levi's here now. Finally. Can't wait to see what he does with nincompoop in the next ep. =)
Kentaiyoshimi
June 30, 2013 at 9:46 pmI can see where Enzo is coming from.
Every single episode beyond ep1 contained Armin monologuing about the Wall Maria/Rose or explaining what happened last episode. Each of these takes around 1-2 mins. Add them up over the season and you have an entire episode's worth of airtime needlessly wasted. And the pacing of the recent arc was slow enough that doing mini recaps each ep was already somewhat questionable.
Then they go ahead and add a recap episode.
One can't help but ask "Why?"
Suri B
July 1, 2013 at 1:08 amMethinks this is what happens when a show is popular. You get a lot of people chiming in with either positive or negative views. I do miss Enzo's in-depth review as usual but can understand why there's not much to say about this show at the pace it's going.
What I don't get is why there are a lot of viewers saying it's budget issue to explain the stills and scenes like that upside down kyojin's face up close to Jean but didn't really show what happened except the steam coming up to show that Anne was able to kill it, maybe. I just hope the coming episodes will explain some more of what has been happening in the background, like Marco's death and Anne's tearful apology…
I like this anime. I like the manga as well but have stopped reading so as not to spoil myself anymore. I still will look forward to Enzo's posts and hoping against hope to get more in-depth analysis like RDG…
admin
July 1, 2013 at 2:16 amI never thought it was a budget issue. I think it's a lack of material issue – wanting to stall to give themselves a good stopping point, and use as little manga material as possible so they can do a second season that much sooner.
heatth
July 2, 2013 at 4:11 pmI am not sure this is the case. The best possible stopping point now is chapter 34. With this episode, we just closed volume 4, meaning 18,5 chapters. This mean the next cour will probable be devoted to 16 chapters (plus one extra, maybe).
Given they are able to stretch a chapter for a whole episode when they want to, there shouldn't be need for stalling. I am not sure the reason for the low pace of the last few episodes, but I don't think lack of material is the reason.
a42
July 1, 2013 at 2:12 amSo, an actual question about the episode (off topic, I know), but was Eren's little monologue about wanting to be free supposed to justify his crazy rage/serial killer/holier than thou attitude? Not asking for specific spoilers, but that can't possibly be the extent of explaining his backstory/personality can it?
Luxorcism
July 1, 2013 at 7:17 am(Just want to point out this ain't a spoiler, Enzo >.<)
This is the biggest thing I don't understand from anime-only viewers. He may have killed some kidnappers in self defense as a youngster, but I don't see his "holier than thou" attitude as much as I do Levi's.
Eren's supposed to be an idealistic, revengeful, hotheaded teen… I honestly have no idea where you are coming from with Eren's "ego," but I suspect if he had a different VA he'd be getting less flak (let's be honest guys, some of us hate Yuki Kaji a little too much to be trusted on this topic).
I do note that Eren can be considered too reckless early on when he didn't know about his titan abilities, but that's already far behind us when we know he can regenerate his freaking limbs like a freaking gecko (to be blunt: Eren. no. die D:). As far as I know, that recklessness is mistranslated for some of us as a hotheaded teen who thinks himself overly capable (ego, yo). That's an easy conclusion to draw, especially this early on, but talking about spoilers is a no-go without spoiler tags, so let's leave it at that.
a42
July 3, 2013 at 1:40 amIt comes from his various tirades and speeches that are just drowned in condescension without every truly giving a reason for why Eren himself is so great to start with. If you need more detail than that I can't honestly give it to you because I've forgotten the details of what was said in those spectacles. Even accepting that he's just a brat (a defense I've seen from others), there still hasn't been development that explains why he's on such a high horse yet.
And yeah my bad, I phrased things poorly about the spoilers. I was more just asking for a simple yes/no on whether there's more later on that explains why Eren became the type of person he is.
Kurama Hitsugaya
July 1, 2013 at 4:21 amWhat do you think about them managing to capture two titans alive?
That was the most fascinating part of the episode to me.
tops blooby
July 1, 2013 at 4:28 amyeah, it seems the parts of the story that would be the most fascinating are not focused on. though maybe they'll have more on them later, but that might be too much to hope for. I would have assumed finding out Eren is a Titan would have been that moment where everyone felt like now they had a fighting chance, but no, they went trope city with it and said, "MUST KILL HIM!"
Luxorcism
July 1, 2013 at 7:23 amBe glad everyone's not instantly accepting him. Now that's trope city… this is leagues better than any second rate shonen like Bleach or Narulol. On the other hand, if you think everyone suddenly having hope is great, I will direct you to those aforementioned shoddy series.
And as much as I'd like to reassure/refute your worries, the first rule of Enzo-club: you do not talk about spoilers and pseudo-spoilers, as wrong as they may be.
tops blooby
July 1, 2013 at 9:51 ammeh, I read some spoilers for this show, and really, big whoop. it's not anything that anyone could conclude based on what they've seen; it's like pulling crap out of your ass and saying it's a big reveal.
and either route we mentioned would be trope city (though it'd be nice to have it somewhere in the middle), I just wouldn't expect this show to do it any other way.
and stuff like Bleach and Naruto are so long (not that I've seen them – at most/worse I was a One Piece viewer, also currently a HxH viewer) that you expect them to go to that well, but this is a show 13 episodes deep, so that well shouldn't be dry by now!
Luxorcism
July 1, 2013 at 9:59 amOne Piece and HxH are great, I'm glad you know what's good. As for the asspull stuff, it's all intricately planned out. I'll release some detailed notes on the foreshadowing and plot development when the first season is done, so all the haters can chew on that before posting some random crap about things being unplanned.
Maxulous
July 1, 2013 at 11:21 amOP has been dragging its ass since the timeskip and hasn't quite gotten back on its feet (I'm not caught up on Dressrosa yet). Not a shade on the earnest and affecting chapters Oda penned earlier in his career. His art has also lost some of its charm and freedom from convention. I think it has a lot to do career exhaustion, and possibly expectation. He's been going non-stop for 17 years now. Hopefully he gets a second wind and stops cramming each new arc with convoluted scenarios and empty characters.
Luxorcism
July 1, 2013 at 12:19 pmI respectfully disagree with most of that.
1) It's been getting pretty good after Punk Hazard, which was one of his least creative arcs. Dressrosa is Oda's return to Jump's top after a semi-transition arc in Punk Hazard.
2) His art's been great the whole time.
3) Each arc is great with the complicated split stories and I wouldn't have it any other way.
4) The characters are fuller and more creative than any other shonen I know and he makes them memorable beyond belief. There are 600-700 canon characters, and Oda somehow keeps track of most of them and brings them back with some of the most consistent writing over 17 years I have ever seen. Sure, some shows can keep it up for 12 episodes, like Tsuritama, but OP is still going strong.
As for his work load, he said in an interview that he sleeps 3 hours a day and works the rest of the time on story and art. Apparently his daughter loves Pretty Cure so his drive is to make OP so good she'll like it more. You can go find the interview if you're interested.
Maxulous
July 1, 2013 at 1:21 pmI suppose your perspective ultimately depends what you stood out to you in the first few years of One Piece.
As I said I haven't caught up on Dressrosa.
But Fishman Island was abhorrent. Messy writing, contrived messages and pretty empty and forgettable side characters. Shirahoshi was especially terrible. Sanji's nosebleed gag becoming a plot device was ridiculous and really aiming low. Hody and his crew were trivial, unoriginal and really reduced the large racism story revisited from earlier stories. The arc only needed to demonstrate the SH's new strength but became overblown and monotonous.
Oda's art certainly isn't bad (technically it's gotten much better)but in regards to style, certain characters have adopted more generic shounen traits and major facial redesigns (i.e Robin and serious Shanks). Sometimes male characters look like they belong in Bleach. Every new luscious female character is relegated a template supermodel body since Nico Robin was introduced too it seems. It's nothing disastrous, but the style definitely lacks the volume of unique whimsy and variety from earlier on (not to say his creations aren't still crazy). In all likelihood he probably matured his designs to catch up with the serious shift in tone of the War arc. But I still think he could have pulled it off with his previous efforts.
His side characters used to have very affecting backstory and drive to exist within the greater themes of the story. The more recent additions feel less earnest and ill planned in general.
I'm hoping things look creatively less bleak in the Dressrosa arc, but since we obviously don't share a similar perspective on the state of Oda's work, your endorsement doesn't do much to inspire confidence. We'll see.
Maxulous
July 1, 2013 at 1:26 pm"As for his work load, he said in an interview that he sleeps 3 hours a day and works the rest of the time on story and art."
Poor dude, that can't be healthy.
Luxorcism
July 1, 2013 at 8:57 pmYes, perspective changes all that. But I generally agree with the Arlong Park guys, so I'm gonna take the simple route and just leave you to your opinion.
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 3:29 amPretty much what Maxulous said is why I stopped watching One Piece. that and the arcs just drag out for what seems like forever now and the fights are way too long – though that's always been an issue. I had fair warning when that Don Krieg arc from 4 lifetimes ago seemed like it lasted 5 episodes, boy did I have that wrong.
I guess I enjoyed the show up until the Thriller Bark arc, but what really killed me was that excruciating Marine Ford arc where Luffy's running towards Ace took like 3 episodes for him to move 100 yards, and then he'd somehow end up back where he started in the courtyard. I can't believe I watched that.
Sanji's nosebleed gag was tolerable up until it started to drive the plot and then it became unacceptable, which is where I stopped at ep 541, and I don't think I'll ever return. I've taken hiatuses from this show before just to let episodes collect, but now it just seems like more work than it's worth.
Also as was mentioned, the character's new designs (imo) ruined them by giving specifically the women pornstar bodies. what happened to that Nami at the beginning who also could beat people up? ah, too bad Oda went in this direction.
Maxulous
July 2, 2013 at 4:32 amMost of the issues you brought up (which I completely agree with) have more to do with the current team/direction at Toei. Oda does have the propesnity to get carried away though. Skypiea and Thriller Bark are clear examples.
Specifically Hiroaki Miyamoto's appointment as director (2008-Present) makes the weaker material from Oda seem even worse. The post war and Fishman arcs were just so. There were certain parts to the Marienford Arc which I think could have been dealt with better, but the manga was really decent. It was the anime's piecemeal pacing that exhausted that turning point of a story by doing what SnK is currently doing: 1 chapter per episode (sometimes half that). All to keep from running out of material. That's what halfbaked filler or haitus' are for…
Ever since Thriller Bark the anime's treatment has gone down hill and even the art is less consistent like it was when the great Konosuke Uda was in charge. Oda's evolving style is reflected in that change also. Even the specials/fillers are now just shameless movie promotion. The canon feels more and more like fodder for the money making movies, which is probably on the money.
I take a bit of issue with Oda's semi-sexist portrayal of women in his later arcs. Every new design also shares some kind of exposed midriff. The SH girls rarely get much in the way of significant action/fighting to do these days too.
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 6:48 amthat's good to know it's not completely Oda's fault. wasn't sure how much influence he has on the show these days.
Maxulous
July 2, 2013 at 7:00 amHe apparently has more influence on the movies, which doesn't sit that well with me. I didn't think very highly of Strong World.
Also Oda doesn't get off that easy! I still think his talent lacks focus right now due to abundant expectation in topping himself, and that shows in his muddled and needlessly convoluted plotting. As a big fan of his earlier days I'm rooting for him to get back to what made One Piece such a desirably fun and emotive shounen.
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 7:57 amStrong World was kinda awful. I hear his new one is pretty good. I may give it watch some time this week.
If Oda can get back to what he did earlier in One Piece, I'd gladly watch again (maybe), but as of now, I think I'm done. And Hordy Jones and Vander Decken are just so god awful I don't want to go back and have to watch more of that.
though tbh, after watching Hunter X Hunter and seeing how lean and efficient it is compared to One Piece, not to mention how much better the writing is, I doubt I could go back and watch One Piece.
Luxorcism
July 2, 2013 at 8:26 amOh you were talking about the anime. Well… what can I say that you haven't? The anime stalls and pads EVERYTHING so I only read the manga where pacing is pretty much as slow as necessary, and fast-paced when it can be. As for Hordy and Decken… I've already mostly forgotten about them in favor of Doflamingo's excellent arc.
And can I just say that the last two chapters in Dressrosa (712-713) are two of the best chapters since the timeskip? He still has the usual split-perspective arcs that he used since entering the Grand Line, which I think makes the story so much bigger and detailed (that's good imo)
The new movie is pretty good, go watch it. (Admittedly the new Narulol movie is pretty good too, so maybe we're having a good year).
And sorry for talking about OP in your Shingeki post, Enzo, but you'd best excuse us when none of the important things in Shingeki have happened yet in the anime. In other good news, an IRC-er convinced me to pick HxH back up (manga, not anime of course).
admin
July 2, 2013 at 10:02 amThat's 11 O/T One Piece posts. Let's cut it off there, please.
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 11:14 pmsorry about that, got carried away!
tops blooby
July 1, 2013 at 4:24 am(sorry, just made some minor grammar edits).
everything Kentaiyoshimi wrote is right on, though I'll add to it.
Every ep since Eren was eaten and was revealed to be a Titan has contained too many internal monologues and flashbacks, not just those beginning recaps:
Armin having internal monologues about how scared and incompetent he thinks he is. And it'll show him looking terrified too. great, we get it. throw in some flashbacks with him and Eren and we've wasted plenty of time.
but the internal monologues don't stop there:
there's Jean's internal monologues about how awful it is that everyone is dying, and his questioning of his leadership ability.
Mikasa had that internal monologe before segueing into a flashback about her childhood, yes it added character depth, but the timing was so inopportune. she had fallen, was wondering what to do, then boom, monologe and flashback. it also raises many consistency questions about Eren's character. I thought he was incompetent?
then there was Eren and his internal monologue and flashback after he defended Armin and Mikasa during his inquisition by turning into a Titan. again, just unwarranted.
now what's wrong with the way this is done is it takes the viewer out of the scene, and it stops the pacing by killing any momentum it started to build up. but it's just not monologues and flashbacks that contribute to this.
there was that ep that introduced, randomly at the time, that special recon team w. Levi and whomever (I initially thought it was a flashback-though it did include one!). at the time it wasn't really established why they were important, and honestly, they could have done without it. maybe put it as a flashback in this next episode? anyhow I mentioned it because it was shown in the middle of the "action", so it killed the story pacing once again by taking you out of the action and the viewer is left saying what the hell is this and do we care who they are?
it really seems like the creator is trying to infuse Lost style flashbacks with this – I don't know if the manga predates Lost, but it doesn't matter. Where Lost was successful at this, AoT at times is just recycling old material as flashbacks which is terrible.
what's left to round out these episodes isn't much to keep the viewer engrossed.
There are scenes of the recon teams thinking or talking about wanting to mutiny every ep as well before someone rouses them to stay and fight. it's really tiresome to have to watch this every episode, we get it, people are scared and want to go home, but we don't need to see this in more than 1-2 episodes. (Though one wonders how the humans managed to survive for 100 years if this was how easily people descended into despair).
also when it takes 1-2 episodes just to show teams moving across several buildings we know we have a problem.
All of that adds to making each episode agonizing to watch from a story perspective, as what's left is very little to move the story along and very little present material to work with. what's even worse is this show is no longer entertaining, if it ever had been.
the funny part is, these are just plot mechanic issues, as we haven't even touched on other ridiculous aspects of the show.
Like I mentioned in a comment below, I'm done watching this.
airi3s
July 1, 2013 at 2:20 pmBless, thankyou for most this as I too am done with this shit.
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 3:11 amto be fair, I get why they're doing it. as many have already mentioned, it's to stretch the episode out so that more episodes can be fit into the season before they have to use new material (and a lot of other shoes do this). it makes sense from a logistical stand point, but as a viewer it's a maddening approach.
Lately, I've been someone who points to M.Night Shyamalan as an example of how not to write or direct a movie, but I can point to this show now as an example of what not to do when structuring a series.
tops blooby
July 2, 2013 at 5:40 amshows* not shoes!