Attack on Titan season 2, episode 1 begins with a quick recap of the world of Attack on Titan and the events of season 1, beginning with people getting munched on by Titans and ending with people as Titans munching on other people as Titans. Did you forget how gory Attack on Titan is? Don’t worry: watch season 2 episode 1 and you’ll have no trouble remembering.
The new opening theme isn’t bad, but it’s no GERMAN GERMAN JAEGER bonanza. It has the feeling of some kind of national or military anthem anyway, which quite suits the series. The opening animation sees the Beast Titan leading a whole bunch of beasties towards their enemy, yellow lights within showing that each beastly form is somehow “piloted” in the same way as Eren and Annie. (Who is the cool bastard who gets the dinosaur Titan?!)
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Immediately, episode 1 of season 2 throws you into the consequences of Annie’s attack. Her crystal-shrouded figure is taken away as a ruined wall betrays a Titan inside. Pastor Nick, a particularly unlikeable character we’ve seen ranting and raving before, gasps that they must not let the Titan see sunlight.
But if there is one thing Pastor Nick’s unbearable freakishness informs us of, it’s how monstrously intransigent the humans can be. Of course the Titans are the “real” monsters; we’ve seen enough of them munching on innocent humans that sympathizing with them, ever, is going to be an incredibly tough call. Attack on Titan ’s alternate solution of making the humans unbearable and barely worth saving is another one. No manga spoilers here, but between deaths and the human side of the plot, sympathy will be an increasingly hard sell.
SPOILER ALERT:
We see Miche’s last stand, Connie and Sasha with Reiner and Bertholdt as they are tasked with alerting the neighboring villages of a Titan incursion, and a brief, quiet interlude between Eren and Mikasa as Eren awakes. It’s all pretty standard Attack on Titan panic mode with all the sense of sucking despair you’ve missed in the three year hiatus. The introduction of the Beast Titan is more than enough for season 2 episode 1 to hang its hat on: everything else just kind of blurs (but in the most fluidly animated kind of way).
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Scattered notes:
Reiner somehow looks hotter than ever, damnit
I’m glad they managed to cram Levi into this episode, for me
Loved the urgent music once the swarm of nine Titans starts sprinting
When Miche zipped around, it reminded me of playing the Attack on Titan game
Nice to see that Sasha’s getting her shining moment next episode
I hated the horse’s death more than Miche’s
The episode closes, by the way, with Miche’s extremely terrible death, which is so over-the-top, cruel and disgusting that if you’ve forgotten how much blood ‘n guts Attack on Titan is founded on, you’ll, uh, remember. It is a stomach-churning way to end the episode. It is perfectly in keeping with Attack on Titan ’s grounding in despair against horrific odds. Poor Miche. (Poor horse.)
You can watch Attack on Titan season 2, episode 1 here on Crunchyroll. Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
