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[Dedication Through Light]

Thanks to Crunchyroll's new time I could actually watch and rewatch on the day that everyone else was...

Episode 8 – Hearing the Heartbeat - The Battle for Trost (4)

For the second main character, Jean is pretty amazing. I think the course of this arc has really worked well for him, developing him and making him rather relatable for us and what not. Marco talking with him and getting him to realize his own strength and weaknesses and also to inspire some confidence in him was a rather effective character in helping round him out for me. Marco is easily likeable and I do want him to also stick around. I think Jean is a mighty fine leader and one that I and others in the anime ought to back and support.

The animation or rather lack thereof was rather baffling. Why do several picture dramas at this episode eight and have full conversations of just panning a still image of characters on some scene when we still dont really know the full cast or can put voices to a face. Even worse there were also peripheral cast members there who are unnamed. Additionally, is it really that difficult to actually animate characters on steps, or etc? And on animation and music, at the 12min mark was another song that sounded like it was taken right out of Guilty Crown.

Spoiler

I was confused on the ending, or rather linking the episode title to what was shown. Does Eren not have a heartbeat or something? Mikasa was there and panicked, but then Armin grabbed his arm but wouldn't he have reacted different if there was no heartbeat? Whatever the reason, Im just glad Eren is finally back to us and completely healed, great looking leg/foot there and hopefully no more scenes of watching that arm fly off. Am hopeful that Rivaille will save Eren from whatever the higher ups may have him go through or something assuming that is why he was in the one brief clip. Though it seems odd that the folks would do that, it doesnt seem like its an ability he could actually even use, I just cant imagine him having to be swallowed or engulfed by some Titan whenever he would want to fight with that powerup. Too risky/painful

 

[Soriku]

Spoiler

I was confused on the ending, or rather linking the episode title to what was shown. Does Eren not have a heartbeat or something? Mikasa was there and panicked, but then Armin grabbed his arm but wouldn't he have reacted different if there was no heartbeat?

Spoiler

Mikasa was listening for his heartbeat and she found it.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Great episode.

Spoiler

Always impresses me just how far Eren's rage takes him. Taking out a group of Titans with no arms and just his mouth. Wow.

 

[Permanently A]

Great everything except animation this episode.

The tension of the

Spoiler

elevator scene

was really gripping, in a way the manga couldn't portray but the anime did, and very well at that.

The action this episode was great, and pretty well animated.

Unfortunately, the stills are now becoming grating. I didn't mind them when they were used in scenes that didn't really require movement, but now they're being used in scenes where there should clearly be movement. (characters running, walking down stairs, all while talking to each other) Its too bad there doesn't seem to be any way for WIT to get its shit together.

And of course, THAT happened. I'm kind of surprised at the lack of reactions. I still expect some people to drop the show after this episode.

 

[demented]

Would you guys recommend watching this anime and waiting for episodes or just catching up with manga?
I haven't watched anime in years because time needed mostly and I just stopped caring but I've been reading manga weekly. Not sure what's better in this case, is anime better than manga, will it cover everything, will it continue following manga's progress etc etc?

Feels so much easier to read 45 chapters quickly than watch 9 episodes and then wait and wait

 

[Soma]

Pretty good follow up to last week.

Was expecting the still usage to be much worse based on the first impressions for this episode. Really only bothered me in about 2-3 scenes where... yeah it's definitely a bit jarring especially when a conversation is taking place. The action scenes sprinkled through out were pretty decent and if they can continue to portray a good sense of weight to these Titan fights, then I'm pretty excited for some future scenes that are to come (assuming the production crew aren't dead by then lol).

I imagine this may or may not be the jumping off point for some people after the twist presented in this episode.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Spoiler

Mikasa was listening for his heartbeat and she found it.

Spoiler

They could have had the sound effect for it, well for enhanced and powerful effect and meaning to enhance this already emotional scene

 

[Soriku]

And of course, THAT happened. I'm kind of surprised at the lack of reactions. I still expect some people to drop the show after this episode.

Meh this is hardly the craziest twist ever or anything. You must have extremely low tolerance for everything if this would've made you drop the show...

Spoiler

They could have had the sound effect for it, well for enhanced and powerful effect and meaning to enhance this already emotional scene

I'm pretty sure they did?

 

[Permanently A]

Spoiler

They could have had the sound effect for it, well for enhanced and powerful effect and meaning to enhance this already emotional scene

They did.

 

[Silent_Ocarina]

Spoiler

They could have had the sound effect for it, well for enhanced and powerful effect and meaning to enhance this already emotional scene

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure I heard it.

I liked this episode, but I was unfortunately spoiled a couple of weeks ago, so I feel that my enjoyment was diminished. I don't notice the number of stills in the episode. I know that's really absurd, but I just don't notice it at all. I'm sure, if I look for it, I'll see it. But for the most part, I'm completely oblivious to it.

 

[Ultratech]

Episode 8

I guess my thoughts are like most everyone else's.

Nice animation, but more use of stills... :\

Good episode though in all.

Next episode should be interesting.

Great episode.

Spoiler

Always impresses me just how far Eren's rage takes him. Taking out a group of Titans with no arms and just his mouth. Wow.

Yeah, that was very impressive.

 

[Permanently A]

Would you guys recommend watching this anime and waiting for episodes or just catching up with manga?
I haven't watched anime in years because time needed mostly and I just stopped caring but I've been reading manga weekly. Not sure what's better in this case, is anime better than manga, will it cover everything, will it continue following manga's progress etc etc?

Feels so much easier to read 45 chapters quickly than watch 9 episodes and then wait and wait

Anime is only 20 something episodes so it will not cover the (still ongoing) manga. Its likely it will just end at a good stopping point until they figure out what to do next.

If you read the manga its monthly so you will just end up waiting again, and I think the anime is better than the manga. So I'd just watch the anime, unless you really don't have the time for it.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I'm pretty sure they did?

Yeah I guess they did, went back to rewatch the scene, somehow thought it was the music the first time around.

 

[SonicX_Zero]

Really entertaining episode the lift scene was just great and scary at the same time, on the other hand Jean has grown on me and I like how his character turned out in this arc than way back in the academy. The stills were disappointing but at least the action was decent and I'm going to wait on how the show explains the twist, but I dont think it would be enough to make me drop the show.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

The stills are unfortunate, but expected.

As long as the action is good I'll keep on watching.

 

[Dram]

Was the titan that got close to the elevator the same one that killed Eren's mom?

 

[SonicX_Zero]

Was the titan that got close to the elevator the same one that killed Eren's mom?

I think no, the one that got Eren's mom was taller and had a different hair.

 

[Kickz]

It was so obvious from the get go when that "abnormal" Titan appeared, but still a great episode.

 

[victreeb3l]

man, that lift scene was exceptional. really tense and scary.

 

[LogicStep]

Man how can you guys complain about stills when everything is so fucking amazing? This episode was intense as hell.

 

[demented]

Anime is only 20 something episodes so it will not cover the (still ongoing) manga. Its likely it will just end at a good stopping point until they figure out what to do next.

If you read the manga its monthly so you will just end up waiting again, and I think the anime is better than the manga. So I'd just watch the anime, unless you really don't have the time for it.

Thanks, I'll give it a try. Does it faithfully follow the manga so I can jump in later and is the anime weekly?

 

[Roubjon]

Thought it was a great episode overall. I'm fine with the stills as long as the animation there is really good, which was the deal with this episode.

 

[Xamdou]

Another great episode, this anime delivers!

 

[Unbounded]

Awesome episode.

But... Prediction/Speculation time!

Spoiler

So we saw that Eren was stuck inside the Titan. Where exactly? RIGHT AT THAT WEAK SPOT IN THE NECK. I see no reason why exactly this Titan should be so special compared to the others in terms of its basic anatomy. This could potentially mean that EVERY Titan has some human power-supply/controller/whatever the heck Eren was doing in the back of its neck, and that whenever they slice the crap out of the weak point they're actually killing a human that resides there.

Another thing:

Spoiler

We saw that Eren's Titan CLEARLY regenerated when it pimp-slapped the head off of that one Titan. So why the heck did it suddenly decide to stop working? Was that just supposed to be something that happens when he "de-Titans" himself?

Finally,

Spoiler

Where exactly DID he get that Titan from, and why did it match his characteristics? I can't imagine it having formed out of thin air, and even if it did I don't expect it to basically carry out his will with his knowledge. I'm betting that Eren, when he was swallowed, managed to somehow "overcome" the will of the hobotitan, forcing it to take his form and to carry out his desires.

Those are all just my thoughts though. I'd love to see what anyone else has to say.

 

[Soriku]

Awesome episode.

But... Prediction/Speculation time!

Spoiler

So we saw that Eren was stuck inside the Titan. Where exactly? RIGHT AT THAT WEAK SPOT IN THE NECK. I see no reason why exactly this Titan should be so special compared to the others in terms of its basic anatomy. This could potentially mean that EVERY Titan has some human power-supply/controller/whatever the heck Eren was doing in the back of its neck, and that whenever they slice the crap out of the weak point they're actually killing a human that resides there.

Another thing:

Spoiler

We saw that Eren's Titan CLEARLY regenerated when it pimp-slapped the head off of that one Titan. So why the heck did it suddenly decide to stop working? Was that just supposed to be something that happens when he "de-Titans" himself?

Finally,

Spoiler

Where exactly DID he get that Titan from, and why did it match his characteristics? I can't imagine it having formed out of thin air, and even if it did I don't expect it to basically carry out his will with his knowledge. I'm betting that Eren, when he was swallowed, managed to somehow "overcome" the will of the hobotitan, forcing it to take his form and to carry out his desires.

Those are all just my thoughts though. I'd love to see what anyone else has to say.

1. That might be the case and I had the same thought. Edit: Though if that's the case,

Spoiler

what happens to the human corpses?

2.

Spoiler

Either returning to human form makes that happen or he was just losing energy and couldn't regenerate anymore.

3.

Spoiler

Eren definitely got the ability to transform into a Titan from the injection he got from his father so I don't think it has anything to do with the Hobotitan. The weird thing is that even when transforming into a Titan, his original body stays intact and he's controlling the Titan like a mecha or something, lol. Instead of his original body itself getting bigger and becoming a Titan. But despite that you can see he's still physically connected to it. So the Titan from is still part of his body, though more like an extension than anything. How convenient that he can just shed off and melt his Titan form once he's done lol. But anyway he'll definitely be transforming more in the future.

 

[manfestival]

I really enjoyed the episode but the amount of stills and the overuse of them really stuck out to me for once

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

So, I guess it took 8 episodes for this show

Spoiler

to reach that equilibrium point after the initial culling of characters, where we have established who is the main cast and who is cannon fodder, and from now on the only main cast deaths are going to be major plot points? I guess things could go right back to every character possibly dying at any moment, but after every character with a personality making it through this episode unscathed it feels like the show backed off a bit.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Man how can you guys complain about stills when everything is so fucking amazing? This episode was intense as hell.

I believe it is a fair trade if I ever saw one. Who needs to see people going downstairs anyway, unless there's a plot point while they are on them?

So, I guess it took 8 episodes for this show

Spoiler

to reach that equilibrium point after the initial culling of characters, where we have established who is the main cast and who is cannon fodder, and from now on the only main cast deaths are going to be major plot points? I guess things could go right back to every character possibly dying at any moment, but after every character with a personality making it through this episode unscathed it feels like the show backed off a bit.

yep, this too is also I agree with.

Spoiler

I actually mistakenly thought that Marco(?) died there in the middle of the scene when they were running on the rooftops, and I found myself disappointed when I saw him alive 4 minutes later

. and that's not the first time that it happens.

 

[BIGWORM]

I'm glad someone bumped this thread. Just watched Ep. 1.

...wow.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Soooooo. I caught episode 8 last night. And while I enjoyed the episode, it reminded me a great deal of a Masters of the Universe VHS I had as a kid that consisted of stories being told over panning still images.

 

[sohois]

I always wondered why there the opening featured a scene of a bunch of characters shooting at stuff given that guns didn't seem to feature much in the show, guess that explains it. Speaking of which (Episode 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

What exactly was the point of the guns in Armin's plan? I get that the lift guys were acting as bait to draw the titans, but they could have done that without the guns. It didn't seem like blinding them had any effect on being able to kill them easily either, all of the neck stabbers were behind them anyway. Was it just to make things easier if one of the attackers failed? But that doesn't make sense either, since the Moe Titan that didn't die still had its eyes anyway. Guess I'm just nitpicking really

 

[MoonLightWave]

I always wondered why there the opening featured a scene of a bunch of characters shooting at stuff given that guns didn't seem to feature much in the show, guess that explains it. Speaking of which (Episode 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

What exactly was the point of the guns in Armin's plan? I get that the lift guys were acting as bait to draw the titans, but they could have done that without the guns. It didn't seem like blinding them had any effect on being able to kill them easily either, all of the neck stabbers were behind them anyway. Was it just to make things easier if one of the attackers failed? But that doesn't make sense either, since the Moe Titan that didn't die still had its eyes anyway. Guess I'm just nitpicking really

Spoiler

It was to blind them, in theory it could be effective. Obviously they didn't know better. It's a good distraction none the less, I mean some of the titans before this scene had twitch like reflexes

 

[Defuser]

I always wondered why there the opening featured a scene of a bunch of characters shooting at stuff given that guns didn't seem to feature much in the show, guess that explains it. Speaking of which (Episode 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

What exactly was the point of the guns in Armin's plan? I get that the lift guys were acting as bait to draw the titans, but they could have done that without the guns. It didn't seem like blinding them had any effect on being able to kill them easily either, all of the neck stabbers were behind them anyway. Was it just to make things easier if one of the attackers failed? But that doesn't make sense either, since the Moe Titan that didn't die still had its eyes anyway. Guess I'm just nitpicking really

Spoiler

Don't forget, Titans can regenerate so they want to blind and take all of them down at the same time before they can recover.

 

[sohois]

Spoiler

Don't forget, Titans can regenerate so they want to blind and take all of them down at the same time before they can recover.

Yes I know that, but

Spoiler

they didn't need to blind them at all for the plan to work. They could have just lured them in and killed them without bothering with the guns.

 

[Winterfang]

I have to say, I saw the episode and didn't notice the stills or lack of animation. Probably because I'm acostumed to read manga xD.

Edit:

Yes I know that, but

Spoiler

they didn't need to blind them at all for the plan to work. They could have just lured them in and killed them without bothering with the guns.

Most times someone is going for a Titan's nape with a group of Titans in there. Some random one always comes out and grabs him, they are very perceptive.

 

[Kagami]

Episode 8

Spoiler

I thought there were only three giant robot anime running this season!

 

[Ultratech]

I always wondered why there the opening featured a scene of a bunch of characters shooting at stuff given that guns didn't seem to feature much in the show, guess that explains it. Speaking of which (Episode 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

What exactly was the point of the guns in Armin's plan? I get that the lift guys were acting as bait to draw the titans, but they could have done that without the guns. It didn't seem like blinding them had any effect on being able to kill them easily either, all of the neck stabbers were behind them anyway. Was it just to make things easier if one of the attackers failed? But that doesn't make sense either, since the Moe Titan that didn't die still had its eyes anyway. Guess I'm just nitpicking really

Spoiler

I take it you glossed over their plan?

The idea was to lure them in close so they could use the guns to shoot their eyes and blind them.
While they were distracted/blinded, the guys from above would come down and kill them, ideally killing all seven in one stroke. (Which obviously failed, since two were still up.)

And yeah, some of them have mad reflexes, thus the need for distraction.

 

[kiyomi]

Finished Episode 8. Pretty raucous action episode. Yeah, the stills are a little grating, especially the one

Spoiler

where they're heading downstairs before the plan to surprise the titans.

I liked that scene as a whole ; just the still preceeding it was a tad disappointing. I really like Jean as the second strong male character, much more so than Armin, whose general insecurity I find intolerable. Still love my Mikasa. :3

Spoiler

Eren definitely got the ability to transform into a Titan from the injection he got from his father so I don't think it has anything to do with the Hobotitan.

I must've missed that. D:

Can you tell me which episode that happened in? I literally have no recollection of that happening.

Speculation super twist :

Spoiler

Eren's mother is somehow a Titan. At some point, they find out that they killed their own mother.

 

[Gintoki313]

Just saw episode 8 and here's my thoughts on it

Spoiler

It seems like Armin is taking small little steps to starting to redeem himself. I still think he's useless against a titan by himself but I guess his planning is at least worthwhile. I'm also glad that potato girl didn't die because she looked like she was about to. Also the leader of the small group (forgot his name) is starting to warm up to me. He was never really a problem or an annoyance to me because I actually liked him throughout the story, but this at least made him more likeable. I never read the manga but it was kinda obvious as heck that the titan killing all the other titans was Eren since he couldn't just die like that and it looked like him as well.

The next episode make me curious because that head cheese powerful guy who Eren admired makes an appearance. Not sure what he's going to do but it makes me curious.

Btw I'm not sure who designs these titans for this anime but whoever does I'd say its hard to make them without laughing to yourself. Some of their designs are funny to look at like the girl one in the supply depot. Her eyes did not match with the overall shows appearance and made me laugh when i saw her lol.

 

[Winterfang]

Am I the only one who though the 15 meter Titan duo, look like Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton?

 

[Soriku]

I must've missed that. D:

Can you tell me which episode that happened in? I literally have no recollection of that happening.

Speculation super twist :

Spoiler

Eren's mother is somehow a Titan. At some point, they find out that they killed their own mother.

Hmm...ep 3? It was before they joined the Corp and Eren had a dream.

Also,

Spoiler

his mom got eaten. People turning into Titans should just be a special case, whether they received an injection or something.

 

[Chrono Helix]

I always wondered why there the opening featured a scene of a bunch of characters shooting at stuff given that guns didn't seem to feature much in the show, guess that explains it.

I too was wondering about that, and had no idea it would be related to such an awesome scene!

 

[Cloudy]

Ep 8 was great. Glad to finally see my boy showing up in the Ep 9 preview. What a gangsta

 

[Cloudy]

So, I guess it took 8 episodes for this show

Spoiler

to reach that equilibrium point after the initial culling of characters, where we have established who is the main cast and who is cannon fodder, and from now on the only main cast deaths are going to be major plot points? I guess things could go right back to every character possibly dying at any moment, but after every character with a personality making it through this episode unscathed it feels like the show backed off a bit.

Nope. No one is safe...

 

[Cloudy]

I have to say the anime is doing a good job of fleshing out some of the subtle hints in the manga.

I never picked up some of the obvious signs in ep 8 from the manga. Then again, maybe it's because I know how the story goes

 

[Dahbomb]

Great episodes but the stills are now becoming over the top. The elevator scene was great as was the Berserker Titan going ham. At this point the final scene wasn't much of a twist, most people figured it out when that Titan made his debut in the previous episode.

 

[EvilKatarn]

Was ready to get all pissy again over the recycled animation/stills but I just can't when everything else about it is so amazing.

The ending got me. And I still can't wait for the soundtrack.

 

[Tony Redgrave]

So the twist was revealed at last. I don't care about the stills so much, as a matter of fact they didn't bother me until I read this thread, only noticed the one when they were going down the stairs.

Anyaway, can't wait. Seeing

Spoiler

Eren'sTitan form animated was so good.

 

[Nocebo]

Can't get enough of this intro song.

 

[ASSauLTxMasTER]

Ah, got 1 gif that I did, any requests?

Gonna work on the filesizes.