"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!
This is the best show of the year.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think Shinsekai Yori is the best show of the year so far, with Zetsuen no Tempest right on its heels, which goes to show how much individual opinions differ. It's much too early for me to call this the best of the year, but I can certainly see it ranking very highly. At the moment, however, my favorite this season is Suisei no Gargantia.
DeleteI really liked this episode and I can't begin to tell you how much potential I see here. If the characters develop in the way that I hope they would, I think this may be the best anime for me this season, and maybe even this year. But ..the big but..it needs to really latch on to what it was achieve so far and combine that with more layered characterization, which I hope we'll begin to see starting next week. The cinematography is powerful and on a blockbuster scale, I can almost taste fear.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to start lauding best anime awards to any series yet, because sometimes really great things can go to hell really fast, but I do think this has been pretty amazing so far. I'm afraid to assure myself that good characterization will follow for any shows after what happened to me on Amnesia, but it's probably much safer to say so here. For me though, this is still a tiny bit less enjoyable than Gargantia has been so far; something about that clicks with my personal preference a bit more haha. I know what you mean though, this is some really visceral work and it shows through in the production.
DeleteYeah, for sure...frankly I doubt this will go down exactly like I want and we are only at 2/25 episodes. Haha, I like the impact of Kyoujin, but Gargantia has a more likeable cast that makes it easier to enjoy (not to mention the crew reminds me of a lesser version of Gekko and Zanbani). I appreciate them for different things.
DeleteWell, it might turn out to be just as epic as we're hoping! And Suisei might end up failing horribly. It's way to early to be sure of anything. All I know is that I'm overwhelmed by just how much awesomeness there is so far this season haha.
DeleteAs a season, it's actually turning out a lot better than I anticipated ..>.<..I was in such a pessimistic mood when I did the preview.
DeleteYeah, me too, haha. I was complaining all winter about how SSY going down was horrible indication of the state of the industry... and then it came back and kicked me in the face with awesomeness. xD
DeleteTo be honest, I still think the industry is in a precarious position, a great Spring Season (rightly so, because it's season that's been traditionally strong) doesn't change the fact shows like SSY is under-appreciated. But....as long as there are people still willing to take risks, then I see hope. xD
DeleteWell, yes, I don't mean it's not in a bad place, but it's much nicer to know that there are still quality series being produced despite that. If this is what Spring looks like, I want to know what happens this Fall.
DeleteHaha, we can expect a Bones series this fall, I'm almost 100% sure. They are working on two projects right now and apparently they'll be announced soon. *excited*
DeleteOoooh, where you get your info I don't even know. Share with a girl when you find out. ;3
Deletehah, silly girl, Kawamoto said it during an interview at Sakura-Con that they are preparing two projects. As for the airing time....I've been stalking some animators on the S.D project and they've already started animating, which means the script and storyboard are most likely completed.
DeleteI'm just terrible at looking stuff up haha. My sister is the one who has me updated on music and stuff. xD
DeleteAh well then I'm excited! :3 Tis a good year when you get Bones, Zelda, and Rune Factory all together.