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Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) |OT| MMA Ultra(spider)man (NO MANGA SPOILERS)

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Branduil

Member
No depth or nuance to any of the characters. Angsty emo boy lead, emotionless badass protector girl, "I'll try my best lol!" blonde kid. There is nothing beyond the single notes of these characterizations. Protag boy continues to alternate between shaky-eyed outburst and running away crying...every...episode.

There are personality attributes and then there is not actually acting in any way like a human being.

The character writing's awful, the world building doesn't have a whole lot going on beyond the initial premise and the same concepts keep getting repeated (military police inner area safety; not enough food; titans are a threat) over and over without adding any additional layers to the picture.

All it has is the hook. Titans, last stand of humanity, awesome grapple things.

Well, it's true that the character writing isn't subtle, and it being an Araki adaptation makes it even less so. I do feel like it's fairly reasonable to draw the characters in broad strokes when you have such a large cast and you want to get them all introduced, though. There is more character development and nuance as the plot advances, but I still wouldn't ever call the story particularly subtle in its themes.
 

Arksy

Member
No depth or nuance to any of the characters. Angsty emo boy lead, emotionless badass protector girl, "I'll try my best lol!" blonde kid. There is nothing beyond the single notes of these characterizations. Protag boy continues to alternate between shaky-eyed outburst and running away crying...every...episode.

There are personality attributes and then there is not actually acting in any way like a human being.

The character writing's awful, the world building doesn't have a whole lot going on beyond the initial premise and the same concepts keep getting repeated (military police inner area safety; not enough food; titans are a threat) over and over without adding any additional layers to the picture.

All it has is the hook. Titans, last stand of humanity, awesome grapple things.

Pretty much. I'm starting to come to terms with anime as a genre. I don't really agree with it a whole lot, but it hasn't stopped me enjoying it.
 
How the HELL did that huge Titan at the end appear out of no where?

I mean isn't there guards on the walls?
How could they not see or hear it coming?
 

Branduil

Member
Pretty much. I'm starting to come to terms with anime as a genre. I don't really agree with it a whole lot, but it hasn't stopped me enjoying it.

I wish all of you people who don't like the writing in this had watched From the New World when it came out. :(

How the HELL did that huge Titan at the end appear out of no where?

I mean isn't there guards on the walls?
How could they not see or hear it coming?

I think the lightning had something to do with it.

The anime implying he teleport with lightning

Spoiler tags, please use them.
 
Episode 4 :
Why not just teleport inside the walls then? Seems strange they can just appear whenever they like and choose to do so outside these massive walls
 

vareon

Member
Episode 4 :
Why not just teleport inside the walls then? Seems strange they can just appear whenever they like and choose to do so outside these massive walls

Presumably only the big one is able to teleport, and he's there to open the gates for other Titan.
 

Velti

Neo Member
Pretty much. I'm starting to come to terms with anime as a genre. I don't really agree with it a whole lot, but it hasn't stopped me enjoying it.

Sounds like you need to find some better series. ;) I'm sure if you go to the right thread, like someone suggested to me a page back, you'll find something better! (Personal recommendations, if you haven't seen them: Mushi-shi, Moribitou, FLCL, Paranoia Agent, Blue Sub No. 6... lots!)
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
thetrin said:
I think the manga's art is pretty awful, and that's a major wall for me.
The art is fine later on - it's the writting that craters very quickly (to the point of being intolerably boring, using cheap psychological hooks to try to string the reader along and failing at it too).

Evillore said:
All it has is the hook. Titans, last stand of humanity, awesome grapple things.
Don't forget the ultimate hook of everytime a plot-development is hinted it switches to 3 chapters of pointless filler (preferably in flashbacks).
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Pretty much. I'm starting to come to terms with anime as a genre. I don't really agree with it a whole lot, but it hasn't stopped me enjoying it.

Read manga.

Probably has the same good:shit ratio as anime, but the pool is waaaaay wider, so that you can find more of the good stuff.
 

Arksy

Member
Read manga.

Probably has the same good:shit ratio as anime, but the pool is waaaaay wider, so that you can find more of the good stuff.

Could you recommend anything with grown up characters who don't get embarassed by the mere possibility of any romance? Who deal with mature themes that are usually hinted at in anime's but never actually explored?

I feel like this show isn't really fulfilling it's potential. It could be so much more. I'd love to see how the live action movie pans out.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Could you recommend anything with grown up characters who don't get embarassed by the mere possibility of any romance? Who deal with mature themes that are usually hinted at in anime's but never actually explored?

I feel like this show isn't really fulfilling it's potential. It could be so much more. I'd love to see how the live action movie pans out.

You might not be able to identify with the themes or characters, but solanin fits in pretty well. I find it incredibly relatable in a really scary way.

Same author, but read goodnight Pun pun for something more... Harrowing. Also waaaaay weirder.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
All it has is the hook. Titans, last stand of humanity, awesome grapple things.

That's pretty much all I need.

How the HELL did that huge Titan at the end appear out of no where?

I mean isn't there guards on the walls?
How could they not see or hear it coming?

I assumed he warped in via the lightning. I can't be the only person that assumed that.
 
I wish all of you people who don't like the writing in this had watched From the New World when it came out. :(

I did :(

Damn the ending to that show floored me

I should have participated in your OT

EDIT: Slightly OT, but could you recommend anything remotely like From The New World? Y'know, shows with a pervasive feeling of both unease and mystery that don't talk down to the viewer? I know most in the OT agreed something like that show wouldn't be attempted for quite some time, but if there was stuff from the past you could point me to that'd be awesome.
 

Ezalc

Member
Could you recommend anything with grown up characters who don't get embarassed by the mere possibility of any romance? Who deal with mature themes that are usually hinted at in anime's but never actually explored?

I feel like this show isn't really fulfilling it's potential. It could be so much more. I'd love to see how the live action movie pans out.

Bambino! has some pretty good characters who are all mature. They're all either in college or older. Pretty believable relationships I'd say.
 

Branduil

Member
I did :(

Damn the ending to that show floored me

I should have participated in your OT

EDIT: Slightly OT, but could you recommend anything remotely like From The New World? Y'know, shows with a pervasive feeling of both unease and mystery that don't talk down to the viewer? I know most in the OT agreed something like that show wouldn't be attempted for quite some time, but if there was stuff from the past you could point me to that'd be awesome.

Well, it's hard to find a lot of stuff like that because anime just doesn't seem to do horror/suspense well in general. Monster is good if you want that feeling of tension/horror, there's also Serial Experiments Lain for mystery/unease. Kino's Journey is pretty good if you want more social commentary(not so much horror or mystery). And Paranoia Agent has some similar elements as well.
 
EDIT: Slightly OT, but could you recommend anything remotely like From The New World? Y'know, shows with a pervasive feeling of both unease and mystery that don't talk down to the viewer? I know most in the OT agreed something like that show wouldn't be attempted for quite some time, but if there was stuff from the past you could point me to that'd be awesome.

The following are not entirely similar to each other or From the New World, but they all excel at creating an uneasy atmosphere and have writing which is not dumbed down.

Angel's Egg
Boogiepop Phantom
Gankutsuou
Ghost in the Shell (Oshii film)
Mononoke
Mushishi
Serial Experiments Lain
Flowers of Evil
 
Not too sure what people were expecting after reading a few complaints.

I don't think it's too good of an idea to be making judgments on characters when we're only 4 episodes in. This show doesn't really focus on "deep" character development. You're probably better off looking at a show that does focus on that or at least advertises that as one of its strengths. It's pretty clear from SnK's advertisements on what its main focus is.

I put deep in quotations since from what I've seen what one person considers deep/developed another considers to be shallow/undeveloped.

This becomes apparent when you have people making absolute statements with no substantiating arguments followed by another person disagreeing with them while also making statements with no substantiation.

My personal opinion is that Eren will do his job pretty well as a primary instigator of interaction with the titans (well he is the main character so that makes sense) as well as a channeling point for the audience's vicarious rage toward the titans. It's a standard for stories with revenge themes to have a character the audience sympathizes with and roots for so they can actually take their revenge.

I thought it was interesting in the last few episodes that they showed a contrast between Eren who's entire motivation was
created through personal/emotional trauma to eliminate the titans versus the trainees who didn't have any experience with the titans and merely wanted to live in relative safety in the inner walls, even if it means that the titans will get to them one day in addition to being fine with other people sacrificing themselves if it meant they could live in relative luxury.
This feeding into the fear/despair aspect I think constitutes some amount of "depth".

Some may disagree and that's fine I guess. At the end of the day I'm going to enjoy the show as much as I did before.

My brain just ran out of juice so I'm going to end this post here. :p
 

Kiryu

Member
So I think I maybe did notice something important. I don't know if it's massive spoiler or leading to it. I honestly think what I say won't be huge spoiler.

I remember first episode that Eren and Mikasa came to see the talented Recon soldiers return to the city. Colossal Titan appeared for first time. 5 years later... You see Eren and Mikasa (as RECON guards) came to see those talented Recon soldiers return to the city. Colossal Titan reappeared. I am sure that does something with those talented Recon did something to trigger the colossal titan? I only can think of Recon soldiers attempt to kill those titans is only way to get Colossal Titan piss off and attack the city again.

I don't want to hear any "spoiler" reply to this but I want to know if I am right on something...!
(I never read Manga before)
 
So I think I maybe did notice something important. I don't know if it's massive spoiler or leading to it. I honestly think what I say won't be huge spoiler.

I remember first episode that Eren and Mikasa came to see the talented Recon soldiers return to the city. Colossal Titan appeared for first time. 5 years later... You see Eren and Mikasa (as RECON guards) came to see those talented Recon soldiers return to the city. Colossal Titan reappeared. I am sure that does something with those talented Recon did something to trigger the colossal titan? I only can think of Recon soldiers attempt to kill those titans is only way to get Colossal Titan piss off and attack the city again.

I don't want to hear any "spoiler" reply to this but I want to know if I am right on something...!
(I never read Manga before)

You're heading in the right direction if a bit misguided.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Episode 4:
I dig how the characters look, love the 3D movement gear (aka double wires spiderman equipment), and from the end of this ep the sense of how screwed up everything is.
I don't mind the obvious budget scenes as it works well (and hopefully gives them room to blow it on action episodes). Enjoying it week by week and the discussion about it. Excited for hopefully a lot of mysteries. I'm here to be entertained.
Bit sad reading it'll be more standard anime on the character / tropes side, but hey at least those weekly cliffhangers are awesome.

So far it's been Golgo 13. 20 minutes of setting and 2 minutes of action.
 

Soriku

Junior Member
1352468455851.jpg


NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- /vader

Sonfoa... HNGGGGGG!! I just... I just want a GOOD new show that takes pride in itself... is that so much to ask?! UGGGGGGH. I guess I'll keep watching but... COME ON. Maybe I'll watch Steins Gate. That's supposed to be good, right?

I guess I've just been too spoiled by Tron: Uprising. (Tightest writing I've seen in a long time. With the exception of eps II and III, but even then they still contribute to plot and character development.)

Steins;Gate is amazing, though it has a slow start. Well worth watching though.

Anyway, what may not click for one person clicks for another.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Thing is people have a manga to base their opinion off, and that's what most of the dissenters are doing. Though I guess it's the same as steins;gate with the VN.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Oh that.

Nah, that wasn't that shocking. :p Thought you were talking about something else, which definitely will cause some people to drop it.
 
I'm watching this and ... I think it would be awesome if
Erens died in this current attack from the HUGE titan and left the rest to carry on his will.

I mean, it just feels like he's only there as a means to slap sense into and motivate the others into doing something more meaningful with their lives than living the comfy life. His death here could be yet another push for all these people and really show just how fragile life can be in that world. Plus, that ending seems like it's trying to say he's gone ...

Just saying ... cause with the training voice over it seems like things will be group heavy and Erens goal seems nonsensical and too big for one man in their world to achieve (unless he channels his rage into becoming a biologist and making a "Rabies for Titans", something that spreads from titan to titan by making them attack other titans in fits of rage and it kills them after a decent amount of time. Now THAT would be more effective than flashy spidey chop-chops!)
 
Gaaah the manga spoilers are so tempting... the manga localization feels so slooow I hate being behind but at the same time buying it instead of reading spoilers makes it feel so much more special. Got the first 3. i think 4 is out and 5 comes out soon.
 
I'm watching this and ... I think it would be awesome if
Erens died in this current attack from the HUGE titan and left the rest to carry on his will.

I mean, it just feels like he's only there as a means to slap sense into and motivate the others into doing something more meaningful with their lives than living the comfy life. His death here could be yet another push for all these people and really show just how fragile life can be in that world. Plus, that ending seems like it's trying to say he's gone ...

Just saying ... cause with the training voice over it seems like things will be group heavy and Erens goal seems nonsensical and too big for one man in their world to achieve (unless he channels his rage into becoming a biologist and making a "Rabies for Titans", something that spreads from titan to titan by making them attack other titans in fits of rage and it kills them after a decent amount of time. Now THAT would be more effective than flashy spidey chop-chops!)

I like how AOT's mystery angle instigates out-of-the-box speculation like this. For this theory to work I'd think we'd need another strong character to substitute but I don't see any candidates.
 

Ikael

Member
You basically described the manga, and the reasons why it's a huge phenomenon in Japan. It has a great hook, it seems unique, and it attracts the attention of people from the start - then it uses the same shounen tropes and character development to drive itself. The writing is pretty awful in the manga too, and it only gets worse. It's a mystery-hook sort of shounen series, so people keep reading because OMG THERE ARE MYSTERIES UNRESOLVED! Just like Lost. Well, at least it's entertaining. Lol. :p

Oh God, that is exactly my fear. I mean, I think that some of the critics are overdone; critisizing lack of character evolution with only 4 episodes aired seems premature, to say the least, and honestly, I would like to see a manga focused onto purely militaristic sheanigans and "the big picture" with characterization taking a backseat.

That being said, I hate to see other shows taking the Lost approach at creating series for suckers: create a mistery and never answer it in order to get a captive audience. Lindelof and his acolites in other mediums should eat a shit and die already. It is a pity that the manga is taking that route, because I have enjoyed these first 4 episodes quite a lot and think that its premise it showed quite a lot of promise :(
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
I don't think it's holding back on revealing the mystery as much as it just feeds it piecemeal. Already the nature of the titans are pretty apparent in the manga, we just need to find the source, which is the driving force behind the plot.
 

Kurita

Member
It is a pity that the manga is taking that route, because I have enjoyed these first 4 episodes quite a lot and think that its premise it showed quite a lot of promise :(

It doesn't mean the manga sucks though.

And yeah, as Antiwhippy said, there are not many mysteries left.
 
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