Shingeki no Kyoujin - 2

"That Day - The Fall of Zhiganshina Pt. 2"

What a weekend lineup!

It's astonishing just how ridiculously good Thursday-Sunday is looking this spring, and I'm having a hell of a time deciding just what to follow, let alone blog. While Shingeki is not my favorite series so far, it's certainly a huge reason for the blockbuster make-up of this lineup, and it's a damned great series to boot. It isn't much in my usual character-driven preference, but it does have a great plot to make up for it, and in this case that's perfectly fine. The bleak atmosphere, the hopelessness Eren, Mikasa, and Armin feel at their situation, the horror of what's happened to humanity; everything comes down to creating a hugely sympathetic opening. We may not have much of ourselves to see in the characters yet, but it's impossible not to care about this terrifying experience that has changed their lives.

As it turns out, this is a disaster of monumental proportions. All of humanity's remains exists within the outer wall of their territory, the Wall Maria, and it's more of a country than it is a city. In fact, Zhiganshina is but a mere town meant to act as bait to lower repair costs on Maria, but unfortunately the appearance of yet another super-Titan turns the city from distraction to gateway. The entire territory is lost and humans are forced to retreat within the second wall, Rose, though not without first losing over ten thousand people to the carnivorous Titans. Of course with human society comes human bigotry, and the original inhabitants of Rose aren't very happy to see these refugees stream in and become more mouths to feed in an already dire situation.

All of this, of course, is happening while Eren and the others watch, traumatized at what they've witnessed. The brutality of the Titans as they easily pick off humans and destroy their whole world is truly a visceral experience, and it's no wonder that all three of the children are affected to their core. Eren swears revenge but has no bite to back up his bark, and his frenzied attack on Armin's survival tactics are met with just retaliation at Mikasa's hands. After all, once you die of starvation, you're unable to fight, and Eren has no strength to speak of yet in the first place. In order to fight, one must survive by any means possible, and stupidly sacrificing oneself does one no good whatsoever. The children must survive, grow up, and become competent individuals if they wish to avenge themselves on their grotesque oppressors, and so far it seems that that journey will secure Shingeki a spot on the list for one of the best anime this season.

N.B.: Thanks To Ivan for all his help capping this week!

ED "Utsukushiki Zankoku na Sekai (美しき残酷な世界)" by Yoko Hikasa