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[Branduil]

MANGA READERS, PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE OF FIRST-TIME WATCHERS AND DO NOT POST ANY MANGA SPOILERS CLEARLY. PLEASE DO NOT HINT OPENLY AT FUTURE PLOT DEVELOPMENTS. You may use this thread for unmarked manga spoilers.

If you try and post fake speculation that is in fact spoilers, then it's a ban. Those who have read the manga... let's try and stop goading the anime watchers as well - this includes the typical "wink, wink, nudge nudge" mentality that has been running rampant. Really, let's all be nice in here.

- Mark all spoilers for the latest episode and avoid using gifs/images/etc which have any plot elements in them for impression posts
- Episodes older than the most recent episode can be discussed without spoiler tags to avoid clutter and to allow people to know what they should avoid more easily

What is it?

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for pleasure rather than for sustenance. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in an area protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans.

Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a titan in over 100 years. Teenaged protagonist Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as one of the city walls is damaged by a 60-meter-tall titan causing a breach in the wall. This begins a chain of events which leads to them joining the military to fight against the titans.

The manga won the 35th Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shounen Manga.

Why should I care?

One of the most popular currently-running Japanese manga gets a 25-episode anime adaptation. The manga is widely appreciated for its unique, acrobatic action, large ensemble cast of characters, frightening titan art, a pervasive sense of despair, and its subversion of many typical shounen tropes.

TL;DR just watch the preview.



Who is making it?

Studio WIT, an offshoot of Production I.G., is handling the animation. Tetsuro Araki, known for his dramatic, over-the-top style, is handling the direction. The staff includes:

Director- Tetsuro Araki (Death Note, Highschool of the Dead, Guilty Crown)

Series Composition- Yasuko Kobayashi (Casshern Sins, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Music- Hiroyuki Sawano (Blue Exorcist, Guilty Crown)

Original Creator- Hajime Isayama

Director of Photography- Kazuhiro Yamada (Death Note, Ergo Proxy, House of Five Leaves, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Sound Director- Masafumi Mima (Fullmetal Alchemist, Macross Plus, Paprika, Paranoia Agent)



Where can I watch it?

The series is being streamed by both Funimation and Crunchyroll.

http://www.funimation.com/rojas/blo...or-funimation-elite-video-subscribers/7611482

http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-799349/new-spring-titles-attack-on-titan

In France:

http://www.wakanim.tv/library/animes-TI4J/1Q/lattaque-des-titans/ShowEpisodes

More on airing times as news develops.



Characters

Eren Jaeger
Voiced by: Yuki Kaji

The protagonist of the series. Idealistic, violent, and impulsive, Eren seeks to annihilate the Titans and explore the outside world. As a child, he

Spoiler

killed two of the kidnappers that murdered Mikasa's family and convinced Mikasa to fight and kill the third one after he and his father came looking for her

. He was ranked 5th in his trainee class. He has no particular talent aside from his excellent close combat skills, but has been slowly but steadily improving his grades through outstanding effort and a strong sense of purpose.

Mikasa Ackerman
Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa

Adopted Sister of the Jaeger Family. As a child, she was

Spoiler

saved by Eren from a group of kidnappers who murdered her family

. Due to this incident, she is protective of Eren, and will follow him no matter the circumstances. She was ranked 1st in her graduating class, and always maintains her composure no matter the situation. She is considered an unprecedented genius, a prodigy who excels in the most difficult courses. She is often teased about her attachment to her foster brother.

Armin Arlelt
Voiced by: Marina Inoue

Eren's best friend, he is physically and emotionally weak. Though his strategic intution has saved Eren and Mikasa several times, he continues to believe himself completely incompetent and hates himself for having to rely on them. Sub-par physical aptitude by soldiers' standards but an alleged genius when it comes to theoretical courses.

Jean Kirschtein
Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama

Ranked 6th of the trainee class. Extremely pessimistic about the War with the Titans. Highly competent at the three dimensional maneuver and highly efficient in using it. He's good at asserting his situation at any given time, but is far too quick to unsheathe his sword. He is also prone to sparking conflict.

Annie Leonhardt
Voiced by: Yu Shimamura

Ranked 4th of the trainee class. A stoic girl whose father trained her in hand to hand combat. She strikes with a perfect penetration angle. She is a solitary type, and solidarity does not come to her easily.

Sasha Browse
Voiced by: Yū Kobayashi

Ranked 9th of the trainee class. A thief from the mountain Daupa District, she joined in order to find tasty things to eat. She's lightning fast, with an uncanny intuition, but her eccentricity makes her unfit for group operations. Also known as Potato Girl.

Christa Renz
Voiced by: Shiori Mikami

Ranked 10th of the trainee class. A kind girl who puts herself out for others.

Conny Springer
Voiced by: Hiro Shimono

Ranked 8th of the trainee class, an upbeat and naive personality. Aims to apply to the scouting legion because he was motivated by Eren. He has good balance, and is specially good at making tight turns. He is slow to the uptake, though, and his grasp of strategy is often less than perfect.

Marco Bodt
Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka

Ranked 7th of the trainee class. He joined to be part of the Police force because he wants to work for the King.

Reiner Braun
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya

Ranked 2nd of the trainee class, is considered strong-willed with a solid constitution and most adept at gaining the trust of his comrades.

Bertholt Fubar
Voiced by: Tomohisa Hashizume

Ranked 3rd of the trainee class. Highly proficient in various hand to hand combat styles. He seems to have great potential but lacks in self-confidence and has a tendency to leave it to others whenever it comes to showing assertiveness.

Ymir
Voiced by: Saki Fujita

A member of the 104th graduating class and a close friend to Christa.

Character profiles courtesy of Wikipedia, which you shouldn't read unless you like massive unmarked spoilers.



Official Website(Japanese): http://shingeki.tv/

Preview trailers: 1 2

Opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMXgHfHxKVM

Full Staff List: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14950

Air date for new episodes in Japan: Sundays at 1:58 AM on MBS

 

[Branduil]

Appendix: Some helpful information about the world of Attack on Titan

Concerning the Titans:

Concerning the Walls:

Concerning the Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Gear:

 

[Branduil]

First Episode Impressions

Attack on Titan 1

Well, goodness, that was dramatic. There was a lot of screaming (particularly from the male seiyuu), dramatic wind whipping about, and general hysteria.

It was also pretty damn awesome. Sure, it's very overblown, but it completely suits the drama of the events of the first episode - this is, after all, life and death we're talking about.

Clearly very little expense has been spared on this first episode, at least. The action animation is superlative (given the unorthodox movement of both the Titans and the army members), and the visuals are striking and well produced - the thick lines on the character art are particularly distinctive, and the Titans are genuinely creepy.

While I could probably do without all the shouting (Mikasa's comparatively dry characterisation compared to everyone around her makes her immediately endearing) I really, really enjoyed the first episode. I will definitely be watching the next one!

Attack on Titan - Episode 1

That was pretty good. It's basically a straight adaptation of the first one and a half chapters of the manga, pretty literally. Araki's direction has some solid layouts and really attractive high speed action. The "dramatic" moments are pretty over-dramatized as expected, but it kinda fits the tone they're going for with the show. I think they've succeeded in making it feel very period, which is also something the manga strives for. But here they have the extra benefit of leveraging on cinematic techniques as well. The thick character outlines, the way things are colored and shaded, and the direction in general, invokes a feeling of an older era of Japanese films where things were always larger than life and the canvas feels a lot wider.

The opening animation also invokes this style really well, even though I'm not a big fan of the song. It's not really to my taste, but the animation is stylistic and feels like a Showa era movie trailer with large captions, heavy film gain, and lots of in-your-face stuff. Definitely feels like a cross between a monster movie and a war movie, which is exactly the sort of story this is.

Hopefully they can keep up the production values, because it feels like they're going in for the long haul. It's unlikely this is a 12 episode series, especially with the adaptation pace. There are already a rather larger number of scenes in the first episode using stills though, so maybe they're getting prepared!

Shingeki no Kyojin 1-

Yea I'm not wild about this. There were a lot of quick cuts in the intro that are not really handled that well, a ton of still shots with just wind being animated, the composition is kinda funky at times, the voice acting is just overblown at moments such as the kitchen scene(Eren is annoying as shit although he's annoying in the manga, it's worse when he's voiced by a guy yelling half the time), and they somewhat skipped out on the more gruesome scenes.

That said, there are definitely some beautiful shots in the show especially when it comes to the Move Gear. The black outlines for the characters really make them pop out and the characters in general have some really great facial reactions. The background art for the most part is handled really well except for some obvious bad use of CGI.

The soundtrack seemingly is going to put a big emphasis on vocals which does work to escalate certain scenes. I thought Sawano actually did a decent job.

It's not the second coming of Christ but it's not bad either.

Attack on Titan

Hype delivered, good stuff. I like that they're using the eyecatches to put all the information from the volumes, some interesting stuff that helps flesh everything out.

Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin 1

Excellent. Magi 2.0 this is not. If it was, we would already have seen (semi-big manga spoilers)

Spoiler

Eren's titan form.

Instead, we get properly paced buildup, good atmosphere, a fitting soundtrack, and an appropriate presentation that is rarely over the top for the worse. Right now, the true might of the titans and futility of fighting them has not been totally conveyed, but this is a VERY promising start, and if they can get that right, I will be completely satisfied with this adaptation.

Shingeki no Kyojin ep 1

Beginning started out slow but it was tense then shit hits the fan at the end. Fuck, this is good. Maybe this isn't Magi 2.0

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) 1

I think its off to an interesting and perhaps alright start. A few things ought to have been explained or at least hinted at, for example the walls and how they got there as it seems like a key feature of the series. Though the details provided during the break in the episode was slightly fulfilling. Otherwise solid and interesting concept that makes it worth following. I still have tons of dislike for the Titan designs and having them smile makes me dislike them even more, they just come across as being really creepy and scary.

Eren is phenomenal protagonist. So many good expressions, if he could only smile more in the future, but that resolve and wanting to go against everyone else and live life outside of the cage. I hope he is successful in his endeavours and Armin too. Mikasa came across as really annoying and kind of bland in personality. Need more personalities introduced fast.

The OP song was alright visuals were kind of dull and lacking.

Plot

Spoiler

Did get way sad as it went on, I was actually hoping the whole thing was a dream sequence as it seemed so odd for Armin to be saying all the stuff then little details happening like the clouds shifting the wind, then the lightning strike, and well how the walls just fell based on their discussion.

shingeki no kyojin / attack on titan - 01

LOL

Best comedy this season.

The show looks wonderful; everyone talks about the thick lines and it's well justified! It's not some uniform outline that shades everyone, the lines waver with the curve of each face and pose and provide a nice definition to the designs. The production itself is quite nice--some really lovely art, bg or otherwise--and there's a good number of stills, but you know what? Animating crowds is hard.

Araki's talent for presenting a spectacle--no matter how tasteless--paid off near the end, at least. But his knack for transforming moments of drama or tragedy into comedy is going to bite this show in the ass. Terrible fit for this series, and what happens when the budget runs out, the aerial acrobatics get toned down, and you're left with the stills that were so ubiquitous even in this opening episode?

Not expecting much going forward. Will watch for action and humor.

Attack of titans - 01

Incredible.

For me it's the best first episode of this new season no doubt

Attack on Titan 1

Get. Hype. Motherfucker!

It'll probably bite me in the ass but I don't care, shit was awesome.

Shingeki no Kyojin Episode 01

It might be because I've tempered my expectations preparing for the worst with this adaption but I really enjoyed this episode. From the character designs, to the overwhelmingly creepy titans, to the background designs I really liked how the art is translated here from the manga. I honestly disliked the bold outlines used in the character designs in Sakamichi no Apollon but I find that they work really well here for some reason. It all feels very defined which is an interesting contrast to the art in the manga.

The music (which is excellent) and voice acting certainly elevated a lot of the action scenes to a much higher point than the manga did, imo. Probably my main... issue? I guess would be some of the dramatic scenes. Certain scenes (specifically the

Spoiler

WE HAVEN'T LEARNED A THING ABOUT THEM

scene) reminded me of the over-exaggerated dialogue from the JoJo anime. Didn't exactly hate those scenes but they were still comical in a way. I'm hoping they're able to keep up the quality as the show continues because the intro sequence really got me excited to see more Three Dimensional Manuever Gears in action.

[Attack on Titan] 01

Very good. I know nothing of the manga, but this was some great television all around. High production values and a great sense of foreboding all around. The scene with the

Spoiler

Recon Corps leader screaming about the futility of their work

is the only low point I can see regarding the script. It was very hammy, comical even. Reading the impressions here I fear this is gonna be an issue going forward, but I remain optimistic.

This is gonna sound super petty, but I do have to complain about the CGI backgrounds in the action scenes. I understand why they are done that way since it would be fucking expensive to draw all of that by hand while keeping the vertigo, but I cannot not notice them every time there are acrobatics at play. They ended up distracting me from the actual character animation, which was indeed pretty superb. Hopefully I'll get used to the effect soon.

Attack on Titan 01

Haha, this show was pretty awesome. Way too many still shots, but I'm okay as long as it's entertaining. My favorite part was when

Spoiler

the town guard charged the titan and then was like "Nope." and grabbed the kids and ran :lol

Attack on Titan 1

Better than I had hoped for. Make no mistake, it's very clearly an Araki show, but it seems to be the good Araki. It should also be noted that this is no Magi- so far it's an extremely faithful adaptation, and the few additions that have been made were very appropriate and blended in seamlessly.

One thing that's obvious in this episode is the extremely high production value. The backgrounds are sumptuous, the action choreography is exciting and well-animated, the CGI is used quite well as a necessary complement to the traditional animation, and the sound design is really well thought-out. I really hope they can stay consistent with this level of technical excellence, because the story deserves it and anime has seen it's share of disappointments lately in terms of inconsistent and troubled productions. I'll remain cautiously optimistic and take the fact that they had a lot of animation for the first few episodes done months ago as a positive sign. It's true that this episode did have a number of still frames, but I think they were used appropriately- they were going to have to cut corners somewhere, and I'll take good-looking stills with solid sound design over shoddy rushed animation or bad CGI any day.

As I said, this is a very faithful adaptation so far. And I think what that does, for those of use who have read it, is show how much good animation and sound can add to the story. I really like the art direction they've chosen for this, I think the thick-outlined characters look great and add visual punch to the characters, and the backgrounds are rich in detail and color. It looks very different from the manga, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One thing I haven't seen people talking about as much is the sound design, which I felt was phenomenal. In particular the scene where

Spoiler

the Colossal Titan appears

, watch it again and note how the elements of the audio all work together to produce the sensation of both majesty and terror. Another excellent example is that scene with Hannes. The sudden shift in the audio and visuals works so well, I was shocked they captured the feeling of that page of the manga so effectively.

For this week at least, TeamHype is victorious.

Fighting those Giants 1
You know, this show would be so much more interesting if it wasn't a shounen series and laden with the boring "boy needs to save the world" JRPG plot that seems to be so endemic to the genre. I know having a girl be the protagonist is anathema to male readers, but what about an adult male character?

Funny enough, it's so much like FF13. Hannes = Snow, Eren = Hope, Mom = Tough Mom. I'm sure we'll get some Eren yelling at Hannes because of what happened at the end of episode 1, because that's just what these characters are predestined to do.

As for the show itself, I don't really know how I feel about it. At the very least, the world seems kind of interesting and I don't entirely hate the characters. But I am also not as invested in fantasy as I am in syfy, so I don't really have any intellectual or emotional stakes in this particular game of media consumption. Although, I'd be happy if there was some random sexposition. It works for Geimu.

Shingeki no Kyojin 1 AKA Attack on Titan - Well..... goddamn this anime is really something.

 

[Branduil]

First Episode Impressions part Deux

giants fuck you up 1


why aren't people ever crushed the other way around in media? Like wizard of oz style.


So yeah... bad day?

Fun enough show... wait this isn't fun. kinda hilarious lol.

Attack on Titan - 01

Amazing first episode. I have yet to read the manga to determine its faithfulness to it but by going from the impressions made by others it seems they managed to do that with the pilot at the very least. The visuals were gorgeous and the direction was solid. What really got to me was near the end when

Spoiler

Eren's mom realized she would never see her son again and meekly calls out pleading for him not to leave her alone.

In my opinion the lack of focus on

Spoiler

her getting broken and eaten by the giant and more so on Eren watching the scene as they made their retreat made the scene all the more powerful.

Looking forward to next week!

Facing the Giants 1

That was fantastic.

The scene with

Spoiler

the mom calling out to her son one last time

really got to me. It's usually something that comes across as really cliche in other works but they really managed to sell it here spectacularly, imo.

Consider me fucking hyped.

Titan 1

I really like how that ended. Avoiding the most obvious outcomes,

Spoiler

the guy bailed the fuck out instead lol

. It seems to me that the best way to take these things out is to tie up the legs ATAT style, or are the titans actually intelligent enough to avoid that?

The character outlines remind me a lot of Kaiji character art, its a good look.

Attack on Titan 01

Great first episode.

Spoiler

The ending part with his mom ;_;

Attack on Titan Episode 1



Well, that was great.

I'm unfamiliar with the source material (and won't acquaint myself with it until this show runs its' course), so I can't speak for it as an actual adaptation, but this was a very, very strong introduction, I thought. I had some pretty high expectations, given the promotional material, and I'm pretty happy that they've been met. At least, thus far. The production quality is pretty outstanding, I have to say. It just looks really good. I really like the bold outlines to the character art - there's something about how defined each character is against the scene that's quite appealing. Speaking of, the backgrounds are incredibly gorgeous stuff. Characters animate well and the action is fluid and well-directed.

If I had anything to complain about, it's territory that people have already well trodden on, and it's that Araki's nature as a director is something of a double edged sword. I think that other edge didn't really show its' colours in this episode, but subtlety is not a word that exists in his world. He's a person who deals in loud emotions. Nothing can make that fact plainer than the Recon Unit's return to the city. The comparisons to Jojo that were made, I feel, seem incredibly appropriate, as it seemed to evoke just that. It served to deflate what I can only assume was meant to be a moment of gravity in the episode - if they wanted the viewer to fully understand the hopelessness of the situation, I can't rightly say that they succeeded. Ultimately, though, it was a mere speed bump in the overall level of quality in the episode and the last five minutes more than made up for any failing in that scene to illustrate the immense terror that the Titans clearly represent.

Spoiler

A special shout-out to the blonde guy, who I was certain was going to die heroically in defense of the kids and the mother. I certainly didn't expect that outcome, haha. The scene in general was well done, I thought - even if the whiplash caught me off guard. As an aside, I should probably work on names sooner rather than later.

And while I haven't seen much of it yet, I have to say that watching characters maneuver via their grapple harnesses is honestly incredibly thrilling. I love it. I love the sense of speed, dynamism and frenetic physicality in how they soar around through the grapple lines. Perhaps just as much, I really love how punchy it sounds when the wires burst out. It gives everything about how they move a great deal of weight, and really lends a sense of authenticity to it. Honestly, as strong as the animation here was, it's the sound design that really sold me. The promise of these sequences is probably what gets me the most excited for the show. I thought it did a really good job utilizing both traditional and CG techniques to get the effect intended. I also think this is where the thick outlines in the art benefited the production by making certain your eyes are following the actual characters, where the CG backdrops could (and would) threaten to fail to hold up to a discerning eye.

There were a few shortcomings in the production, to be sure. I think everyone else already pointed out the still frames, but I think I'll prefer to see it not as cutting corners as a result of rushed production, but more that they're trying not to blow their load, so to speak, and trading consistency for short term spectacle. I'll gladly suffer a few tastefully executed stills sprinkled throughout for the sake of a stronger whole.

As an aside, I'm not sure I necessarily follow the complaints with regards to the opening. I wouldn't say it's outstanding, but it's not inappropriate, and certainly very enthusiastic about the material, which is fairly characteristic of productions that Araki's responsible for, it would seem. The song, too, was more than appropriate to the tone.

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)

Episode 1

"Sou da, kono seikai wa...zankoku nan da."

I liked this first episode. A good start I think. I read the first couple chapters or so of the manga around just before New Years and I can't remember exactly but it seemed more or less a 1:1 transition and the first episode covered roughly about what I thought it would.

I personally liked the shows opening overall and also liked the song.

It's an interesting premise so it will something to see how the story evolves. Reading some comments on that it seems like some don't like the way it's currently going in the manga.

The visuals in this first episode were really nice, some really great backgrounds on display. The part where

Spoiler

the soldiers return to inside the walls

seemed more just taken right out of the manga though. The art was nice and the expressions captured the emotion but there was really no animation or just the moving lines along the periphery type style. That or just a panning shot with sound effects playing.

With that, it will be interesting to see how the visuals and animation stand up in subsequent episodes as the first or first few episodes usually have more work put into them and look better.

It's just a quick shot, but one I personally liked, was how Eren's fathers eyes were closed, then you see the reflection on his glasses as he stands and then his eye's are open.

Spoiler

The really big giant I think looks kind of cool but a lot of the rest certainly capture that unsettling nature to them.

Regarding near the end...

Spoiler

I recall that as being a bit gory and wondered how it would be handled in the show. I felt really bad for the kids and the mother and even Hannes. That whole scene I think is quite powerful. The way Hannes is all set for battle and ready to pay back the father but then fear gets the better of him. The transition between his face and the giants...Then the way the mother wanted the children to get to safety but then reaching out didn't want to leave them either. The children being forced away but looking back and seeing what happens.

All pretty effectively done I thought.

I'm not really a big Yuuki Kaji fan as he's sort of hit and miss with me. Maybe some of it is the characters themselves he's voicing but the guy can certainly let out a good scream with that "Yamero!".

Now to go back and read everyone else's comments on the show(as I'm catching up with the thread in general anyway) as I might have forgotten to mention something.

Very impressed with Attack on Titan. This has potential to be the best one out of this season along with Gargantia. I hope they keep up the production quality as episodes goes on.

 

[Dmax3901]

Is the anime thread in off-topic community now? That would explain why I haven't watched any anime since Tsuritama...

 

[Branduil]

Is the anime thread in off-topic community now? That would explain why I haven't watched any anime since Tsuritama...

Yep, it's been there for quite a while now LOL.

 

[Ratrat]

I'm quite liking the manga so I'll check this out. Art looks pretty nice. I wonder if they fixed some of the idiotic/creepy looking kyojin.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Looks pretty cool. First time ever heard of it.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Good thread. Hopefully will get some activity when more people are awake.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Brilliant first episode. I really like that there´s no censorship.

One of the most popular currently-running Japanese manga gets a two-cour anime adaptation.

What does this mean? How many episodes will this show have.

 

[flawfuls]

Brilliant first episode. I really like that there´s no censorship.



What does this mean? How many episodes will this show have.

26ish.

 

[curlyfriski]

Brilliant first episode. I really like that there´s no censorship.



What does this mean? How many episodes will this show have.

Around 25, I think.

 

[GCX]

Looks and sounds intriguing, haven't watched any anime in a long while so maybe this will fix that.

 

[Moonlight]

Great job on the OT. I'm definitely pretty interested in seeing where Attack on Titan goes after such a strong pilot.

What does this mean? How many episodes will this show have.

One cour is 12 or 13 episodes. So, this would mean roughly 26 episodes.

 

[Dennis]

Looking forward to seeing the first episode.

My favorite shounen in recent years has been FMA: Brotherhood and I am excited if it will finally be topped.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

26ish.

Around 25, I think.

Great job on the OT. I'm definitely pretty interested in seeing where Attack on Titan goes after such a strong pilot.


One cour is 12 or 13 episodes. So, this would mean roughly 26 episodes.

Thanks

 

[Acid08]

This sounds pretty interesting.

 

[jgminto]

One of the shows I'm really looking forward to this season.

 

[Kurita]

(Cross post)
Attack On Titan 1

Delivered.
Fitting soundtrack, good animation and design, it's great.
It seems less depressing than the manga though.

Hopefully the whole show will be as good as the first episode. I want to believe! Please be a good adaptation!

 

[Dennis]

Sasha Browse
Voiced by: Yū Kobayashi

Ranked 9th of the trainee class. A thief from the mountain Daupa District, she joined in order to find tasty things to eat. She's lightning fast, with an uncanny intuition, but her eccentricity makes her unfit for group operations. Also known as Potato Girl.

This is so Japan.

 

[Branduil]

This is so Japan.

 

[Passive Assassin]

Pack it up. Thread is over.

 

[Instro]

What does this mean? How many episodes will this show have.

2 cour is 2 seasons. So you are looking at 24-26 episodes. Edit: looks like it was already answered.

With regards to the show, Araki is certainly a wildcard, but this is an adaption and the opening episode was strong so hopefully we won't be looking at another Guilty Crown. Comparatively that show had a pretty sketchy first episode and he was working with Okada, so Shingeki certainly seems much more promising going forward. I'm not particularly concerned with drops in production quality as it seemed like they were budgeting accordingly with stills be used where appropriate, while pretty animation was used where necessary. The character and background art are really big factors in the visuals for this show though from what I've seen so far, giving it both a unique and detailed look even when there is not much happening on screen so even still shots looked like time had been put into them with nice touches of lighting and so on.

I definitely like how the zip line action looked, although we only got a brief taste of it during the beginning of the episode, it was definitely very stylish and interesting to watch. Seems to lend itself well to the directing style of Araki as well, very over the top combat that can be combined with variety in the camera work to really get the audience into the scene. It's also wide open for wild animation, and of course we saw that with the spinning and so on, since you are getting both action on the ground and through the air with lots of momentum and speed.

I'm not the biggest fan of Sawano being the composer for the show, but he acquitted himself pretty well here with a lot less of his usual muddy pieces, although you'll recognize his musical tricks immediately. The good thing is though I noticed a number of the pieces really matched the atmosphere of what was happening on screen pretty well. I quite liked the "weight", so to speak, of the piece that was playing during the attack of the titans, it matches up very well with how they plodded forward smashing everything in their path. In general I feel like Sawano is a guy who can get the right emotions for the scenes he is composing, even if his compositions are not all that great. One thing that I also think is helping with the sound and music, is how well done the sound effects are. A industry veteran is working the sound design, so I imagine this is largely his effort. Even with all the shit happening in the later scenes of the episode, the various sound effects never become unclear and have a lot of impact to match the action on screen. The scene where the mega titan blasts through the wall is really cool because there is a lot of clarity between all the various pieces of rubble landing everywhere, people's voices, etc even though so much is happening in that one shot. Love that steam sound coming of the titan too, like a damn freight train. A lot of neat stuff going on in this regard really.

 

[Soriku]

Oh shit. This was one of the best first episodes of anime I've ever seen. Really painted the worldview, the futility, and the drama/loss well.

Now that I've gotten a first taste I pretty much have to continue watching but this seems like a show that would be better to marathon, I think.

I don't think the manga will be ending anytime soon? Hope they can adapt as much as possible.

 

[trejo]

Strong contender for show of the season for me based on the first episode. Hopefully the quality keeps up!

 

[Branduil]

Oh shit. This was one of the best first episodes of anime I've ever seen. Really painted the worldview, the futility, and the drama/loss well.

Now that I've gotten a first taste I pretty much have to continue watching but this seems like a show that would be better to marathon, I think.

I don't think the manga will be ending anytime soon? Hope they can adapt as much as possible.

They're not likely to get to the latest manga chapter in just 26 episodes, so it will either end on a cliffhanger or an original ending.

 

[Fury Sense]

Thread title scared the crap outta me. Looks like a cool story, will check it out later

 

[Soriku]

They're not likely to get to the latest manga chapter in just 26 episodes, so it will either end on a cliffhanger or an original ending.

Please no :/ Would much rather have a cliffhanger.

 

[Tomat]

On second thought, this post sorta breaks a thread rule I guess.

 

[Instro]

They're not likely to get to the latest manga chapter in just 26 episodes, so it will either end on a cliffhanger or an original ending.

You can almost feel the trapdoor opening beneath your feet.

Please no :/ Would much rather have a cliffhanger.

I don't think it would need to be a cliffhanger, as with many other good adaptions they just need to find an appropriate spot to close on.

 

[Dresden]

Original ending now, fifty-episode Attack on Titan: Brotherhood in 2015.

 

[Kurita]

Original ending now, fifty-episode Attack on Titan: Brotherhood in 2015.

Dunno if the manga will be over in 2 years though.

 

[Lulubop]

Oh wow, there's an anime now? I really been out of the loop. Might check it out, I needa catch up as well.

 

[Defuser]

Good job making the OP branduil. Seriously enjoy those acrobatic ziplining. Can't wait for the second episode.

 

[curlyfriski]

Dunno if the manga will be over in 2 years though.

I really doubt it. Although I suppose they could just have the titans eat everybody and call it a day.

 

[sonicmj1]

Shingeki no Kyoujin 1

Pretty good start.

This was a very literal adaptation of the manga, but that's probably for the best. The manga is great, after all. This episode hits every emotional note that the manga hits, and does that effectively. What more do you need?

I remember expressing some concern around this announcement about how well the director would translate this to the big screen. I was worried that a literal adaptation might seem more obnoxiously heavy-handed than the source. I'm less worried about that now. The exaggerated, dramatic direction is great for the feeling of overwhelming dread that we often see when titans appear. This is a work that takes itself seriously and doesn't traffic much in subtlety, and the adaptation so far serves that tone well.

I also liked the first episode of High School of the Dead, but that manga was always ridiculous. Shingeki's source material is a lot stronger, so as long as Araki stays the course, this'll be a fun ride until it runs out of episodes.

 

[sohois]

Hmm, it seems interesting but the last time an anime OT title promised a fusion of 3 cool topics into once sweet package I was rewarded with fucking Psycho Pass.

 

[Kurita]

Hmm, it seems interesting but the last time an anime OT title promised a fusion of 3 cool topics into once sweet package I was rewarded with fucking Psycho Pass.

Yeah but Psycho-Pass was an original anime so we didn't know how it would be.
In this case, many viewers know the source material which is pretty good.

 

[Qvoth]

can't wait when you guys caught up with the latest mind blown shits

 

[curlyfriski]

Shingeki no Kyojin 1

The score at the end killed it for me. Too heavy-handed, too much bombast, too much of a "let's shout the emotion that's meant to be conveyed from the rooftops" kind of feel. Descended into parody.

 

[shawnlreed]

Great OP
About once a year, there is one anime title that stands above all the others, that I look forward to watching every week as soon as it comes out.
This is that anime for 2013.
I know nothing of the manga, and will try to avoid spoilers.
What I've seen of the world and story so far has got it's hooks in me.
Can't wait to see where the story goes.

 

[abstract alien]

The nice OP makes me want to watch this. Trailer was pretty sweet too, so I'll give it a shot.

 

[Lord Panda]

Is there an abundance of teenage angst in this anime? Trying to find a decent anime to watch and this looks pretty interesting.

 

[The Return of]

Awesome first episode, I have been hyped for this for awhile now

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Nice ep impressions there. Lots of really small details I hope the anime answers soon, like the titan size differences, wall creation etc. The characters seemed rather clueless about it in ep1.

 

[dark_inferno]

Im a bit dissapointed by not showing the cruel stuff. The pace was a bit too slow. Overall im excited about Episode 2.

 

[Slayven]

How is this like Spiderman?

 

[Dram]

Liked the first episode, surprised they didn't skip any of the manga.

Hmm, it seems interesting but the last time an anime OT title promised a fusion of 3 cool topics into once sweet package I was rewarded with fucking Psycho Pass.

Psycho Pass is terrible?

 

[Wiktor]

How is this like Spiderman?

webslinging would be my guess

 

[dramatis]

How is this like Spiderman?

Jetpacks + grapplehooks.