Attack on Titan: Shingeki no Kyojin

[Ryllharu]

I assume they began building the walls as soon as the Titans first appeared, and let the other communities of the world die while they furiously worked on their wall. It may have started out small, since most of the Titans are only a little larger than a two-story house. Over time, they built it larger and larger and larger. They were quite confident that there would never be any 50 meter Titans.

They may have built the inner wall first, started building more walls, eradicated Titans within, and then moved out another layer.

Just because the people are complacent and shitty fighters ready to piss themselves now, doesn't mean they always were. They may have been quite a bit more desperate, and willing to sacrifice a lot more lives for the greater good.

The people seem to look down on the Recon/Scouting Legion these days, but an offensive unit was probably much more important before.

edit:
@Kraco: It's hard to judge their level of technology from the first episode. While Eren and Mikasa are picking up sticks for firewood and live in a medieval looking house, the walls do have artillery canons on them, on railroad tracks no less.

Not to mention the wire grappling machines. I wish we had those.

[MFauli]

so building thousands of kilometers of dozens of meters high walls is a godly accomplishment.

Actually, do we know if they built the walls by themselves? Because I find it unrealistic that those people managed to buy build these walls. You´d need either advanced technology or a near-eternal amount of time to build these mega-structures. Probably even both. I k now, it´s a fantasy-anime, but still ... the matter of transporting all the necessary material in itself seems like an un-overcome-able problem. But I have some idea what it could be.

There´s also that lightning that occurred, leaving the Colossal Titan. I assume that soldiers are watching the outside from the top of the walls, so that monster couldn´t have approached the wall unseen. Even if no guards were on the wall, had that Titan walked there, everybody could have felt the earthquakes resulting from his steps. So I agree with Buff that the Colossal Titan arrived at the wall via that lightning. That might seem like answering it all. But: Why appear outside the wall and not inside?

My personal take on answering that lies in the specific and repeated choice of words in this first episode: Human beings living inside the walls like "livestock".
I haven´t yet thought about it in detail, but in my opinion the mystery to it all lies in aliens. Yes, lol. Maybe that´s me projecting my wishes since I love Gantz, but I´ve got the impression that the whole thing, the way people live and all, is set up by extraterrestrial beings, keeping human beings as exactly that: livestock. There´s also the fact that all those Titans look like slightly defomred humans themselves. So there´s also some kind of connection.
So, if I had to make a guess at this point: Superior alien lifeforms are carrying out a large-scale experiment, involving the obervation of behavior and the genetic manufacturing and altering of alien species (in that case: human beings).

Ok, no ill stop. too much speculation after just one ep

Not to mention the wire grappling machines. I wish we had those.

you´d need years of training, most likely killing yourself in the process from falling from high above. :/

[Ryllharu]

You´d need years of training, most likely killing yourself in the process from falling from high above. :/

Totally worth it. You can probably train from towers or something. The same way the military trains parachuting skills.

[KrayZ33]

Goose bumps

and extremely scary, that grin on its face reminded me of those Beta creatures from that Eclipse-whatever show. It freaks the hell out of me

4) The lightning was purely coincidental

the lightning could have struck there because its a 50m tall figure standing on a flat area... though it'd be weird that noone noticed it comming, unless they don't/can't patrol up there

[MFauli]

is it true that this is not a weekly, but monthly released anime? :/

[David75]

I also have a feeling that when those giants feed on humans, they multiply.
After all, that massive attack happened right after the recon mission when many humans were eaten.

I like the idea that the 50m+ giant was thrown there, maybe through some kind of canon?

I hope all this giant buisiness is not something crafted by the people of the inner walls.

Regarding the size of the walls, well China's is quite large too, and was only there to stop mere barbarians.
I could understand mankind would work their assez off for centuries to build something even bigger against those giants.

[Y]

is it true that this is not a weekly, but monthly released anime? :/

The comic is monthly, not the show.

So I agree with Buff that the Colossal Titan arrived at the wall via that lightning. That might seem like answering it all. But: Why appear outside the wall and not inside?

The Colossal Titan was just there to kick the wall down, he didn't go on and rampage inside the city that we saw so kicking it down from outside or inside makes no real difference.

[Inazuma]

Wow, I was impressed. I am putting this on my list next to Evangelion, GITS and TTGL when it comes to theatrics.

[shinta|hikari]

The best part of the first episode was Mikasa. I loved her face when she was shadowing Eren while they ran towards the bullies.

Like Arch did before, I call dibs.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 02

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Is that glamourous girl in the army ranks Mikasa? If so, damn she didn't look like how I expected her to. Both her younger self and the OP/ED showed someone with lifeless eyes. Eyelashes and glossy lips aside, the girl in the ranks still had pretty sparkly eyes - perhaps that'll change soon enough.

Armin is coming off "weaker" thank I'd like, but I do like him compared to Eren at this moment because he's not batshit insane and worked up. He better be the smartest in the group so he's worth something, since Mikasa has his strengths (and then some) right now.

Biggest question this episode: Colossal Titan.

I'm going to guess he's the same one as before.
His current appearance shows growth over his exterior, which I'm going to say is a healing process. By extension, it means his bare-muscle look last episode was due to injury. An alternative hypothesis is that he is capable of shape-shifting to a degree and morphed some armour to help with his wall-tackle, but he would have no need for hair if that was the case.. so more money on injury repair.

Whatever the case, that guy's smart. Or at the very least has a basic level of intelligence. He's toying with the humans. He shatters 100 years of complacency, and took another wall down just to prove that humans aren't safe (so they can live in fear of anticipating his return). He wasn't shown to be eating at all.


You could argue with the alien theory that the Colossal got burned during atmospheric entry. Or that the lightning bolt just coincidentally zapped him. Or that his skin melted when he got fired out of a cannon. All the explanations work, but doesn't make any of them more likely, so we're back to square one.

[Kraco]

I thought it was a different one. It didn't look nearly as big. Of course similarly to the humongous one, this seemed to possess more wits than the idiotic looking regular giants. It also had the armour-plating to make it further specialised.

[MFauli]

Yeah, I also think it´s a different one. Way smaller. Guess there´s several different types. Also ... what was it with that flame that the tackle-colossus breathed out? Made it look like a robot who´s having a cool down-phase.

What I want to know: Are the more inner walls thicker than the outer walls? Because ... what would keep the other walls save against this tackle-colossus? He´d just ram his way through all walls, no stopping.

Two things I thought were silly:
1.) So the walls were really built by humans. Until we get detailed insight into HOW they did that, I´ll shake my head here. Impossible.
2.) Glamour girl in the army squad. The blonde one. Yes, it´s anime, but I could have done without pretty girls in such life-threatening environments. And even Mikasa appears to be wearing lip gloss. Come on.

Now to see if the anime can keep up my excitement. Seems like we´re in for a "training arc", and I don´t know if that´s as thrilling as a Titan-invasion. Will see.

[Buffalobiian]

@MFauli RE:Titan-breath - I think it's just artistic. It's the titan's way of saying "booyah". They whole thing does look mechanical (exhaust, and the way his jaw armour dropped down), but at this point I think they're 100% organic.

He did give me the impression that it looked smaller, but I thought that was a perception thing due to the inner walls actually being larger. I watched it again, and I think you guys are right. It should be smaller.

It also looked like he (Armoured Titan) could ram the wall because the gate was still open. I fully solid wall may be a whole lot harder - but the Colossal one from ep1 shouldn't have a problem.

Ever since the first episode, I wondered about the morality of enjoying my meat. I don't really thank anybody for the food on my table at every meal, especially not the animal that died in order for it to happen.

I don't eat meat because it is necessary for my survival. I eat it because it tastes awesome. Grinding flesh with my teeth - nom nom nom. Ever played with broccoli as if they're mini trees? Not too different from titans now are we? :S

[KrayZ33]

that second "special" titan was barely larger than a house, the first one was 50 meters tall... how could someone not notice that?

it *could* be the same one, if it has some kind of shapeshifting ability
1. mode = Huge titan, unprotected flesh
2. mode =more sturdy/armored yet smaller titan
etc.


so far I have to say that anime can't get much better than that... I like the MC and the last few seconds of this ep gave me the chills, that music kicked in right when it had to, nice stuff
can't get enough of this already

What I want to know: Are the more inner walls thicker than the outer walls? Because ... what would keep the other walls save against this tackle-colossus? He´d just ram his way through all walls, no stopping.

the gate is always the weak spot and I'm pretty sure that it was just an "inner" wall so to say.
since the town(s?) seem to be fully surrounded by a wall
though, maybe there simply is nothing to keep them save.

edit: after rewatching, it seems like the wall was an extension of Maria, so yeah, they are fucked

2.) Glamour girl in the army squad. The blonde one. Yes, it´s anime, but I could have done without pretty girls in such life-threatening environments. And even Mikasa appears to be wearing lip gloss. Come on.

... ?? for what reason, its neither more realistic to have them all look like shit nor would it add something.
(but why do you even care? it doesn't even have to do with it being an anime, its not like movies are any different)

[MFauli]

@Buff: Regarding your text about eating meat: If you don´t know the Gantz-manga, please read it. It´s got similar themes to Shingeki no Kyojin, which is what makes it awesome.
And I think this analogy between us humans and these Titans will play some role in the anime. Again, the colossals look just too similar to us, there´s gotta be some kind of connection.

... ?? for what reason, its neither more realistic to have them all look like shit nor would it add something.
(but why do you even care? it doesn't even have to do with it being an anime, its not like movies are any different)

Imagine the movie "G.I. Jane" with Charlize Theron instead of Demi Moore. That´s what I mean. No need to go all ugly, but there´s a difference between "girls in the military" and wearing lip gloss and flashy blonde hair styles. If it was any other anime, I wouldn´t mention it, but it kind of contrasts with the serious tone of this one.

[shinta|hikari]

@krayz - Look at his avatar and be enlightened as to the reason.

The big question here is, what the hell was with Eren's dream about his father? It had a strange injection scene and seemed to be post mom death, which is weird because they haven't met again after Eren's mother died.

What I love about the titan designs is that it triggers the uncanny valley effect so deeply. People actually do look like that, but the minor changes, like slimmer arms, larger mouths, and odd proportions make them so disgusting.

[Kraco]

Humans had grown very lax during the 100 years, that's for sure. When you looked at the town before the attack, they seemed to have quite a decent quality of life, even if they now say there's a food shortage. However, it's possible a significant portion of all food produced was from the outer ring, whereas perhaps the middle ring has industry and the inner administration. Considering industry requires more irreplaceable infrastructure, that would be plausible. Yet what is not plausible is the total lack of emergency food supplies. But then again, they were very lax.

If they had 100 years of peace, they should have used that time to build a crazy amount of big artillery, mines, bombs, grenades, and whatnot. But instead they have been taking it easy. I can't say I'd pity any of them, except maybe the children who hadn't yet had a chance to affect the society. But somehow I doubt they would have done anything differently if this attack hasn't happened.

[KrayZ33]

The big question here is, what the hell was with Eren's dream about his father? It had a strange injection scene and seemed to be post mom death, which is weird because they haven't met again after Eren's mother died.

they seem to have met shortly after they escaped, he had the key right after he woke up ... and the father took it with him when he left
it would be the most horrible writing mistake I've seen so far if thats not the case

my guess is that he can't remember it clearly (only in dreams) because of whatever his father did to him..
Mikasa not knowing it either is probably something that has to be explained in the next episodes.

[Buffalobiian]

that second "special" titan was barely larger than a house, the first one was 50 meters tall... how could someone not notice that?

Mainly because he ran past a smaller giant who was only up to his knee.

My own knee is around 27% of my total height, so 27% of 50m is around the 13m mark for the little guy.

[KrayZ33]

the first titan was bigger than the wall, the second one was not even close to a third of it.
you even saw him standing next to the wall in the end.

and we've also seen baby/child-sized-titans in this episode