Manga: Attack on Titan Ch 50: Shout

For the love of God spoilers!

Considering that a month ago the anime was still rolling along, I almost forgot in the rush that the next chapter coming would be just as emotionally shocking probably as the end of the first season of Attack on Titan anime.

As the above title nicely sums up, the very Titan that 5 years ago shattered their world personally for Eren and Mikasa, has suddenly come back into their lives.  They are surrounded by chaos as Erwin gambled and lead a horde of Titans down on Reiner and Bertholdt.

The Recon Corps is being shredded but the Armored Titan is also not doing well.  Mikasa has recovered Eren but now faces the nightmare that started it all for them.

Almost poetically, Hans intervenes yet again to save Eren and Mikasa from the same Titan.  He shows his training has given him far more nerve than before, but as is always true away from the Walls or the giant trees, the 3D Gear is not as powerful against them.

Eren is begging Mikasa to untie him so he can save Hans and stop the monster he most personally wants to wipe from this earth.

Meanwhile, Christa (aka Historia) makes her choice about Ymir despite Connie's warning.  Instead of choosing sides between Titans and humanity, she simply chooses to fight beside Ymir.  Given all that has gone on between them and the harrowing journey thus far, I can see where she is coming from even if it seems foolish to her comrades.

Ymir herself questions her motives and chances, but then the horror of the chaos begins to emerge.  Erwin watches in pain and horror at the loss of his arm as his people are being ripped asunder.  The Armored Titan is weathering the storm and making his way back to Eren.

Eren and Mikasa once again watch as the Titan rips Hans in two, almost the reverse of the move it did to Eren's mother so long ago.  Feeling powerless and helpless, Eren rages at his unpredictable power as a Titan.

Mikasa sees how things will unfold and tells Eren a truth she never told him before it would seem.  She softens her eyes and thanks him from the bottom of her heart for wrapping her in his scarf those years ago and being by her side since.

A final wall falls in Eren's heart as he cries tears but instead of giving in, he does what we know Eren to do, rise to fight!  He will not let Mikasa go, even as Armin and Jean fight for their lives, Eren faces the Titan alone and as a human.

Suddenly, as he strikes what would normally be a pathetic blow, energy sparks in Ymir, Reiner, and Bertholdt as Eren seems to suddenly have a partial transformation around his face.  The Titans all around them suddenly converge and rip apart the one Eren faced.

Reiner rails against what has been revealed to the Recon Corps, but while Ymir confirms the frantic need to capture Eren is this new skill, it is not explained exactly what he did.  However Reiner implies that it was once in the possession of his group by his choice of words.

As all the Titans fight the enemy Eren selected, the rest of the humans are suddenly free and alive.  Even as Reiner turns as the Armored Titan, Eren threatens them and again the spark occurs and all the Titans turn as one horde at his command.

Erwin pulls his tattered forces together and with Eren they begin a retreat.  However, despite wanting to be with Christa, Ymir turns back as her own Titan form to save Bertholdt from being eaten and we are left with a deeper mystery.  What is Eren exactly?  He is more than just a human that can become a Titan and Reiner and the other Titan-humans know what it is and once possessed it.

First however is a glance at a young trio of Armin, Mikasa, and Eren play fighting with an intoxicated Hans from before Wall Maria fell.  Now that all the Titans we know of are revealed with one enemy left to learn about, what will next issue bring us?

As always this series is just amazing and even when you think it is all starting to come together, it reveals another layer!

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 25 Season Finale: Raid on Stohess (3)

For the love of God there are spoilers and Manga comparison so if you have not read it but seen the show...not too bad.

Ok, so I am a bit late but with reason because I was fairly certain I was right but wanted to confirm.  As I suspected I knew where this was going to end for the season but I was surprised on many levels and will go with it now.

As we saw in the last episode, Eren found his reason to transform not in a new purpose, but his original one.  To kill all Titans in this world, to wipe them out until none remained.  The pure rage of that day 5 years ago saves him from bleeding to death and to transform into the 15 meter he is most familiar with.

The MPs watch on in shock as yet another Titan barrels through their area but attacks the Female Titan dead on, right into the growing church of the Wall.  The interrupted service is wiped out save the main priest we have seen before.

He at first is shocked by Titans at all than in almost fear he pleas for the Female Titan to stay away from the Wall, a departure from the almost fanatical defense they have used against the military or others talking about the Walls at all.

Meanwhile Commander Erwin is being held at gunpoint and being accused of being a traitor to the crown.  The above photo is an explicit example of what happens as Eren fights Annie and the devastation the wreak upon the defenseless humans.

Erwin's words are ignored up until he tells the MPs they are welcome to follow protocol so long as they take command of the situation and outlines the lines of communication.  His matter of fact appraisal and offer to accept death like this convinces the MPs at last.

Erwin is arrested but they finally deploy to save who they can.

Back to Eren and Annie, she is desperately fighting him, because now he is almost a possessed creature.  Despite massive damage and wounds, Eren keeps going.  He keeps pushing his Titan body far beyond limits it reached before.

The above image is after Annie smashed Eren into a wall as she tries to escape to Wall Sina and he rises yet again.  The whole battle Annie is flashing back to her younger self and an emotionally broken father begging her to endure and saying he does not deserve forgiveness for what he has done to her.  Presumably we can accept she has become like Eren at that point in her life and already learning to transform into a Titan.

What else he refers to seems again apparent, the operation of the Colossal, Armored, and Female Titans in destroying Wall Maria 5 years ago certainly makes them hated and enemies of humanity, but we still have no clue as to why.

Eren, now seeming exactly as monstrous as any Titan we have seen, savages the Female Titan by crushing her skull and inflicting serious wounds to the shock of the Scouting Legion.  Mikasa is held back by Hanji for fear that Eren is no longer himself.

We however get in inkling that Eren is still there, but now he seems just out of control and drunk on his Titan form.  Annie however is not done and finally gets free enough to begin climbing the wall.

Despite the loss of a leg to Eren, she seems about to escape until Mikasa slices her fingers apart and almost gently pushes her to fall.

Just when things seem to go their way, we see again flashbacks of Annie and her crying father begging her to not forgive him, but to do one thing....live, survive, and return.  Eren seems much more like the Titans that threaten all humanity as he rips aside the nape to expose the human Annie crying within as Eren declares he is free.

This crying girl seems to snap Eren out of his possessed state and Annie takes advantage one last time by initiating assimilation of Eren's Titan for something while Levi suddenly appears and cuts Eren out of his own Titan, chastising him for nearly eating Annie.

When all can look again, Annie is now encased in some kind of crystal that no sword can pierce, as Jean tries to do.  Eren is completely out of it as both Titan bodies evaporate behind them.

Erwin faces a private trial for his actions and his reasons behind it.  He defends the desperate and devastating actions with the simple truth that they revealed a Titan was already near them and that they need to find the rest of them.  They have the answers they seek and the survival of humanity has taken a step forward.

Eren awakes recovered far more than he believes he should be with Jean, Armin, and Mikasa.  They discuss that Eren's pause once again let Annie slip away but it is cut short for Armin and Jean to give their reports to the higher ups.

Eren admits a disturbing feeling of joy as the Titan this time even as he was injured but he no longer feels that way and Mikasa openly tells him she is happy he came back this time.  This reveals a possible reason more that Annie was after Eren, a danger that Eren could become lost in his Titan transformation and with how powerful he is he has to be taught how to avoid those dangers.

Armin and Jean discuss the former's point about giving up humanity to defend it.  Armin admits it is but one of many ways to defend them but for now it is the path to follow.  As they walk in the dusk of the day they glance to the ravaged Wall Sina and a VO begins with disturbing inclinations.

We see the remaining 104th Cadet Corps riding in plain clothes away from a country estate in fear as Armin's voice indicates difficult battles and truths to face before Humanity learns the Truth of what they are hiding from.

If you roll to the end of the credits you see the final revelation I was waiting for below.

Yea...that is a Colossal type Titan inside the Wall.  Meaning the Walls, all 3 of them, are chock full of them at unknown intervals.  That is where we are left for the first season of Attack on Titan.  Now I refer to the image below for my final bit.

As you can see it is a similar moment but very different.  Mikasa has still cut Annie down and she still transformed into a crystal, but the Colossal Titan is revealed to everyone at that moment.

Some interesting divergence I have yet to see in the manga I am curious if the creator is trying to let us see in the anime.  Eren does not seem to go out of control at all during the battle, plenty angry and similar mental conversation, but no sign of nearly Titan level of attack as they do to humans.

The injuries however are very similar and thus we might be seeing a reason for his faster recovery in the anime.  I have to stop the comparison here save to say the sequence of events has been changed a bit in regards to the trial and the Colossal within the Wall, but still on schedule overall.

I am curious how a few things that thus far have been dead even between the two will be resolved with these changes but the mysteries remain and at least another full 25 episodes can be taken out of released manga content.  Until next season, I will happily count down the days.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 24: Mercy: Raid on Stohess District (2)

Great God above yes!  Finally I can talk about this part!  For those that have read the manga and been just as riveted by seeing the story unfold here in the anime, we have been waiting for this part.

Annie was revealed as the Female Titan, and she declares all of her intention to gamble against Armin and Commander Erwin with a ring that allowed her to injure herself and transform into her Titan body.

Eren is shocked, not wanting to believe it as it happens and we get a flashback of how this plan came about.

So to be clear, Eren and Erwin really were summoned, but they used the opportunity for one last gamble after Armin revealed the identity of the Female Titan.  Marco's gear had been the first clue, but her actions as the Titan also gave a lot for Armin to use.

Mikasa confronts Eren's denial at that meeting asking if anything comes to mind.  We see a moment of the last instant during Titan vs Titan in the woods, where the Female Titan assumes the EXACT stance and actions of Annie we know she did with Eren before.

If you go back and watch that episode you do see Eren freeze suddenly right before something chops his head off.  None of it was shown to us then, but in Mikasa's question, we see Eren watching the Female Titan and it is now overlaid with Annie as she does the actions he knows so well from 3 years of training.

Back in the present things are going a bit worse than projections.  Annie has killed more of the Recon Corp in her transformation and is basically smashing the tunnels to get at Eren.  She is desperate and it shows.

Eren thinks to protect Mikasa and Armin as he did once before and now with a clear goal attempts to transform....nothing happens.  Despite profuse biting, Eren can't get it to work once again and his healing is clearly not working as well.  So little is known about this ability but the healing goes hand in hand with transforming it seems no matter what.  It is not as simple as once activated it works forever.

Mikasa seems able to read Eren far better than Levi or Armin could at this moment.  She again confronts him if feelings are holding him back from transforming and reminds Eren he has just watched Annie slaughter for certain the teams attempting to capture her.

Despite this, Eren still can't transform and chaos is starting to spread beyond the battle.  Erwin orders the MPs to deploy all they have for the likely battle in the city and Jean reveals the ruse to all present to comply with that order to go.

Despite clear orders, though a bit understandably, the MPs turn on Erwin and accuse them all of treason rather than trying to go and fight a Titan.  Citizen are panicking closer to the battle while most of the MPs present just stare in shock at a Titan tearing up inside the walls.

Armin finds Eren partially buried by one of Annie's attacks, completely unconscious now, while Mikasa once again takes on the Female Titan.  This time she does far better with a cooler head, but both she and the rest of the Recon Corps once again see that an intelligent Titan can negate the 3D gear and any attack.

Jean comes upon Armin and is furious that Eren did not transform.  Both he and Armin scream to wake Eren up as more of the city crumbles around them.  The final thing Armin yells at Eren is that to change anything he must be willing to give up his humanity to fight the monsters of this world.

After that he is forced to pull Annie away by taunting her with Jean guiding him to the next attempt.

Once again, Hanji proves her ingenuity, and sheer insanity, by having a similar trap to the giant forest.  However this time they do not have the Female Titan as off guard as they liked, even so it was very impressive.

Hanji threatens to "devour" the Female Titan this time referring to the call to the regular Titans back in the woods, but Annie is not down yet.  She lashed out with her legs and smashing the buildings being used as anchors, which unlike the trees, do not have as solid a foundation to hold a Titan.

All of this seems so pointless, Annie could kill them all it seems even being outnumbered, but Eren is fighting back to being awake and Armin's with Mikasa's words to him are repeating in his head.  He accepts that the morality of what must be done has to be let go or all he holds dear will die in front of him.  He accepts that the world will not change if he does not give up something to move it forward.

Bleeding and raging, Eren remembers all that has come before, and all the Titan's have taken not only from him, but from all the people trapped behind the 2 remaining Walls.

The world freezes everywhere in Wall Sina as lighting crashes once again and thunder shakes its streets.  A roar calls out and Annie turns to face her opponent.

Eren slams her down and stands firm before all the Recon Corps at last and the battle to capture the Female Titan or kill her resumes once more, but now there is no where for her to hide and no ambush to spring on them again.

This time Annie will be captured or she will die, either way Eren will prove his worth to the fools of the central government because her identity as an MP placed her right next to the king and all they thought safe from Titan's reach.

This is what makes your heart race and your mind just boggle in this series.  For all the action going on, with quick fire lines and emotions flying high all over, we still get the impact of the characters.  Annie definitely shows shock at Armin's taunting, while Jean shows remarkable change from wanting to be the MP to putting his frustration with Eren aside to fight Annie away from him.

The cracks in the military are showing a breaking point, so that even if everything resolves the way Erwin and the Corps wish, there will still be backlash I am sure to deal with.  The line that says it best though, that really brings home the series before the end of the season next week is this:

"Stop expecting a happy ending in a horror story...."

That just about gave me chills and then some, because for that line to be in this kind of series makes me wonder who, if any, of our characters will actually see a day of hope or a day of extinction when all is said and done.

One more episode...then I need to go get some decaf and possibly a therapist...on and a hangout to just talk about this series non-stop ASAP after the season finale.  NEXT WEEK:  EREN JAEGER VS ANNIE LEONHARDT!

RWBY: Ep 10: The Badge and the Burden part 2

Two apologies, missed a week due to nefarious schemes of distracting me over the weekend and I seem to be unable to get stills tonight.  Sigh.

To sum up however, mostly in episode 9 we see the girls get uniforms (although Ruby still has her hood) and an actual class get into motion where Weiss seems to be on slow uptick to exploding.

This episode picks up after Weiss has volunteered to help Prof Port demonstrate potential Huntress skills against a Grimm.  It looks a great deal like a wild boar with 4 eyes and a serious attitude problem but unlike the last few we have seen it is almost completely armored.

Monty and crew do a good job of here of showing that while Weiss has some skill, her agitated state shows in lack luster precision and often twitches and head bobs as Ruby attempts to cheer her on.  Yang and Blake make the obligatory actual cheerleader joke but this episode actually addresses a nice character point.

Weiss snaps at Ruby as the battle goes against her because of her distractions, while Port heartily cheers the whole thing on, even when it is going badly!  Finally Weiss gets her stride and uses her Dust skills to smash the Grimm in the belly with her rapier.

Time is up and while even Jaune thinks something is up with Weiss and Ruby, it is a surprising twist that is used this time around.  Weiss, as expected with her character thus far, feels Ruby has been given her role as leader unfairly.

She of course expects someone with the work and studying behind them to have been leader, meaning Weiss herself of course.  Ruby does gets crestfallen but both girls appeal the situation to higher authorities.

Weiss finds Port on a balcony and compliments the class and experience she had.  The teacher notices she is a little off kilter and asks her to unload.  When she declares she should have been team lead instead of Ruby, Port almost promptly says "Absolutely not!"

This surprised me as I could see them going with a teacher's pet route, but instead things take a rather deeper turn.

At the same time Ruby is timidly confronting Ozbin if he has made a mistake in putting her in charge.  The head of Beacon does not deny at all that is a fallible man and with a long history of mistakes behind him, but does not count making Ruby a leader one as yet.

I have to give credit to Miles and Kerry with Monty no doubt as well here.  Ozbin makes a very eloquent explanation of what a leader can become and what is expected of one in Ruby's situation.  It actually is something I would love to see quoted more often in reality as well to be honest.

Meanwhile, Weiss is shocked at the flat denial from Port who explains that Ozbin has never lead him wrong and he trusts the headmaster implicitly.  He also offers the clear opinion that Weiss, while good in combat, is far too used to getting her own way no matter what.  He counters her expectations with the idea that rather than lament what is reality, to become the best she can with what is reality.

What started as a team difficulty seems to have become 2 challenges to half our MC title characters.  Ruby has to learn to become a leader that others will follow because of what she can offer a team, and Weiss needs to learn to accept the challenges of a life where she will most definitely not always get her way.

I give full compliments that the flow of character dynamic was well done this time around, episode 9 felt a bit rushed and more showy to me than anything else, but as a build up to this episode it does a nice contrast.

I promise next time I will track down photos guys.  Been a rough week of personal time on my end.

Anime: Certain Scientific Railgun S Ep 22: Study

Using an old photo for the whole group here, but good lord what an episode!

I did not see Therestina coming back at all into Railgun or anywhere, but as we saw last episode, that is who Misaka went to confront after talking to their doctor.

Here we see a very unrepentant woman, one who thinks of Academy City as her personal arena of guinea pigs.  She notes that Misaka is no longer as naive in her face as she once was.  Her experiences with the Sisters no doubt left a mark and Therestina seems all too aware of what happened to the clones before Misaka came along with Toma to save them.

We see Misaka is quite desperate with the short 3 days she has to work with to save Febrie from the loss of her lolipops.  We also see how deep the darkness can go in Therestina on one end and these STUDY people on the other.

Oh we have a name for them now, but they are still pricks to me!  We learn that the Reach Assembly is also not only their big debut for Janie (I assume this is the big sister Febrie referred to) but that the regular award winners and attendees are all absent this year from previous years.

It seems like the vibe of dislike was dead on with these guys as while they are geniuses, they are still outshone in the spotlight by the likes of Accelerator and Railgun.  We see a return of ITEM as well, seemingly at random they give us a vital clue about the power of Janie and Febrie.

The hairs are some kind of receiver that while it is not something Misaka can detect, is detectable to one of ITEMs members.  More than that however, we know that in this lab is the neutralizing agent formula the girls are so desperate to find!

We have a reunion of sorts between Misaka and Nunotaba in the control room.  Both have been looking for the formula, and it was Nunotaba that gave Febrie Misaka's name to begin with.  As with the Sisters, Nunotaba sees Febrie as a person to be saved, not discarded as STUDY intends to do.  (Seriously, these guys need a swift kick in many painful places)

However just when Febrie seems saved, Aritomi - king of Pricks - pops in and continues to increase a strong desire to have even me have a dream of decking him.  He tells them the information is fake and threatens both with the real info to get his way.

He has Nunotaba, at Misaka's own insistence, inject her with a drug to stop the Railgun from interfering.  Both look on in shock as he gets his way and then smashes the data.  He does not care about Febrie at all and only sees her death as a necessary discarding of faulty product.

We are left with the hopes of saving Febrie dashed and a glimpse of a tube with the name JANIE engraved over it.  I am on pins and needles after I expected action, I was surprised at the twists we do have.  The group knows where Misaka is, but unless Kuroko is on the way I do not think anyone else is coming yet.

We shall see next week if Misaka can save Febrie and maybe get an answer as to who exactly the Gekota doctor is, because he seems to have FAR more power than a simple doctor.

American Anime: Legend of Korra: Book 2, Spirits: Ep 1 & 2

So while this is American in origin, the style is most definitely closer to Anime.  Now I LOVE the original Last Airbender series (I think you would be hard pressed to find many that do not enjoy it), but I will admit Legend of Korra had a very hard act to follow.

It is always the case that beyond expectation success can leave a far too high bar to surpass or equal for anything that follows (or worse the evil minions of greed want it faster than quality will allow!).  Even so, Book 1:  Air did a nice job of taking us back into the world of Avatars and benders.  I think of it more as an introduction and extrapolation of the world Aang and his group sucked us all into and the results of it.  This however deals with the return of Korra in her new season.

Where Book 1 was a lot of plot subtext and introduction, Book 2 hops right into the nitty gritty.

Episode 1:  Rebel Spirit

They start off stating that 6 months have passed, we assume a bit here that Korra fixed up the benders Amon ripped their abilities from and that peace has been more or less restored.  Tenzin is no longer on the Council as this has been replaced by a non-bender elected President in Republic City.

While that leaves a lot of material to come back to we are curious about, we move forward into some odd occurrences of a boat in the dark.  An old seaman has some fun with a rookie, up until a monster that looks a lot like energy attacks and rips the boat into the sea (suggested but not seen).

We then flash back to Republic City, where Bolin is still doing the Bending Tournaments, but with 2 new members who seem...less than competent.  Mako is now an policeman with some interesting moves combining his fire bending with stopping some crime, and a well delivered line at the end to boot.  

Korra is still at the Air Temple, but in typical fashion she is racing Tenzin's kids in air bending race, which she wins by using the Avatar State.  This last bit displeases Tenzin greatly, but he thinks that a planned trip to all the air temples will help her learn not only better air bending, but a deeper connection to her spiritual side as well.

While this is the future, the immediate trip to the southern pole is more warmly welcomed for the fun it is known for.  The Spiritual holiday is a time of fun and relaxation for the Southern Water Tribe.  Korra of course beings all her friends, one of whom is trying to get her own life back together.  Asami comes not just for the invitation, but the chance to get her company, once used by Amon, back on its feet.

Here we get to meet the rest of Korra's family more formally, as well as a better look at Aang's kids aside from Tenzin, Boomy seems bent on seeing the vacation version of his brother.

We also meet Unalaq, Chief of the Northern Water tribe and Korra's uncle it would seem.  He does not give off good vibes and Korra's father does not seem overly pleased with him either.  The man does not say a word of praise about anything in the south and even seems to want to turn Korra against her own tribe.

Admittedly he seems to have one legitimate complaint, the negligence of the spiritual side of their lives seems to be having dire consequences.  The spirits seem angry and Unalaq offers to train Korra on her spiritual journey, something both her father and Tenzin seem very against.

It is also revealed that the isolation of her training was their idea, not Aang or the White Lotus.  This particular revelation has Korra in a very bad mood understandably.

However, an almost convenient attack (my opinion) forces Korra to face the fact that her uncle may have a better grasp of the situation than anyone else right now.

Strangely the angry spirit does not attack a single soul, but goes straight for Korra.  It is only when others fight that it attacks back.  Only Unalaq is able to some how bind and seemingly dismiss the spirit in a sparkle of golden light.

Korra decides after heated arguments to learn from her uncle and ignore both her father and Tenzin's advice.  Tenzin leaves for the air temples with his family, and siblings in tow.

Episode 2:  The Southern Lights

Very nicely we are not left hanging until next week to see the next step.  Korra, her father, Mako, Bolin, Unalaq, and his twins all head for the Southern Pole, where a Spirit Gate appears to have been sealed long ago.

Unalaq believes that Korra needs to open the get before the solstice, when the barrier between the physical and spiritual world are closest together to restore spiritual balance to the southern pole.  As they journey, the past continues to unfold.

Korra learns her father did not just leave the Northern Tribe, but was banished.  He was doing what he thought was right, but destroyed an ancient forest where spirits were believed to dwell.  We see a flashback of Unalaq employing the same technique to sent those spirits back to the wood then as well.

We also see a different side of Tenzin's family as they arrive at the Southern Air Temple.  The monks there treat air benders with near reverence, and a good deal of overbearing attitude as well.  We once more see the room of statues where all the Avatars are carved and placed.  Aang now has pride of place where he once stood looking at Avatar Roku for answers.

Now his young granddaughter, Jinora, is looking at his statue when something seems to compel her to turn around.

Flash back to Korra and gang, and we seem them get attacked rather oddly by spirits.  Rather than attack directly, the spirits seem bent on only stopping them and making them turn back.  Unlike the previous attack only Bolin gets in serious danger from the malfunction in his engine.

Korra sends her father back and moves forward with the rest to the pole.  There they find find a nearly frozen over grove much like the one in the flashback we saw.  Korra has to go alone from here, just as Aang had to go alone on many of his spiritual journeys. 

As before the spirits, though looking very malevolent, only seem interested in stopping Korra, not harming her.  They seem very desperate as she finally reached the closed gate.  As Korra battles to open it, Jinora returns late in the night to Aang's statue.  

This time a much older statue draws her eye, one that seems surrounded by elements as well.  We are left wondering who this Avatar is, but then Korra reaches the Avatar State and opens the gate in the Southern Pole.

As the gate dispels the Everstorm and reignites the Southern Lights, the statue glows at the same moment.  All celebrate the success of Korra in the forest and Unalaq tells her she has done well for a first step.

Just when it all seems to be going well...things of course take a turn.

Unalaq's northern forces are landing enmasse as they return.  He calmly states that fixing the spiritual balance was but the first step to getting the Southern Tribe on the "right" path.  As it seems obvious to all that this would have happened regardless.  Given the title of the next two episodes are "Civil Wars," I assume we can expect a lot of conflict.

For a return after a LONG absence, I am enjoying the direction while not losing the usual feeling of the Avatar series.  The serious is balanced by the silly and the emotional gut punches can come from unexpected sources.  I am more than curious to see where this Book will go and I am more than happy it is longer than the first.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 23: Smile: Raid on Stohess District (1)

I know I will tag this but I will say it one more time here:

MASSIVE SPOILERS - DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW STUFF!



That being said.....FINALLY!  Oh my God I have been salivating as this episode approached and while I knew it was coming from reading ahead, it was EVERYTHING I hoped for and more!

Before I get into that, the rundown:

This is where AoT does things very well in building a world based on reality.  Commander Erwin had gambled he could prove Eren and his Titan powers worth keeping as a living soldier with the 57th Expedition, but instead he was handed a defeat at the cost of nearly 60% of his soldiers.

Politically speaking things could not be worse for the Recon Corps right now but that is not where this episode starts with us.

Instead we start with Annie, who we have not really seen since the selection ceremony where she left for the MPs.  She appears to be having a dream/memory of something she told us about earlier, that her father trained her in the fighting style she used to flip Eren and Reiner.

The MP rookies are gathered and Annie is her usual stoic self even as their commander informs them of their mission to escort the disgraced Recon Commander and Eren to HQ.  We also get a clear vision of what is horribly wrong with the MPs and why Eren did not seem too keen on the final military branch.

The leader seems disinterested and annoyed to have actual work to do and passes off the detail to one of the men in line to actually do it.  Then says the leaders will all be "busy" as he enters a room where a game of cards seems to be going on!

While the other rookies seem annoyed by actual work as well, the dark haired lad given the work makes a declaration much like Eren did to the cadets, only to the effect of changing the MP branch.  Annie breaks the silence with a commentary that the ideals to change the MPs might actually spell the end of humanity if such a person got that power.

However we are quickly given a contrast to this point when the rookies spot two seniors apparently selling military gear on the black market!  I doubt there could be a more effective demonstration of how corrupt the MP branch is from its two sister branches.

The Wall Guard at least takes its job somewhat seriously since 5 years ago, and the Recon Corps found a purpose beyond just trying to go beyond the walls as well.  The MPs seem to be denying the reality that the Titans are coming but that is only my opinion.  The rookie who spouted his ideals actually tries to implement them, only to have the reality of his situation spelled out to him.

Almost brutally beaten down by his seniors, he finds his weapon in front of him on the ground and Annie actually says she will back him up if he makes the move to "fix" the problem.  The rookie backs down and asks if the "idiot" Annie mentioned earlier would have done it.

She answers honestly that he might have, and given what we have seen of Eren I could believe he would follow through.  The boy went INTO a Titan's mouth to save Armin with one of his legs GONE!

In any event we have been painted a clear picture of the MP branch and why even idealistic youths lose their ideals rather quickly.

That is when Armin walks into the story.  He is cloaked and calls out to Annie as she passes his alley.  He outlines what sounds like the last ditch effort to save Eren, and in his eyes, humanity.  Annie at first wants details, but when Armin refuses to elaborate his reasoning about why delaying handing Eren over would work, she confronts him to define her as a "good person."

Armin makes a rather eloquent dismissal of the term.  Instead he outlines the counter argument that by definition, if she declines to help, would that make her a "bad" person?  For reasons of her own she decides to help him.

Mikasa, Armin, and Eren follow Annie to the escape route, while poor Jean does his best Eren impression in the coach.  Just when it seems like all will be well, Annie does not want to follow into an underground passage.

Eren, bluntly, asks if she is afraid of the dark or cramped spaces.  Almost comically Annie says he would not understand a weak woman like her!  Eren dismisses it as well and demands for her to follow.  Instead she refuses and things begin to get heated.  As Mikasa tries to keep it quiet, Annie accuses them that it is conveniently empty all around them.

Here we see tension mount as Annie confronts Armin lying to her and why he was looking at her like an enemy.  The revelations unfold now!  Armin demands to know why Annie had Marco's 3D gear when they all got it inspected.  She continues to evade and Eren demands that she can still prove something by coming into the tunnel with them.

Mikasa however, has had enough.  She flings aside her cloak to pull forth her swords and threatens Annie that she will cut her up once again.  After all, Annie is:

Yea...Female Titan.  This is where the anime can bring to life a moment that is hard to pull off in the manga.  I would also recommend that if you did not pay attention to her words at this moment...go burn them in your mind!

She breaks character as if all the burdens and tensions are gone.  Indeed all the secrets are out for Annie and it must be tumultuous moment for her.  She attempts to bite her finger, but the here to for hiding Recon Corps forces respond quickly to stop her.

Mikasa though sees that Annie came prepared, she yanks Armin and Eren down into the tunnel as Annie reveals a ring with a needle in it to scratch one finger against the other!

We are left with the surge of lightning that signals a human turning into a Titan blinding all and causing all in Wall Sina to turn towards it in fear.

IS IT NEXT WEEK YET?!

The preview leaves no illusion about some of what is coming, the Female Titan inside the Walls and Eren having to find the motivation to transform when confronted with a contradiction in his desires.  If this season is 25 episodes I know EXACTLY where this will be going, but next time we will see a resuming of Recon Corp and Eren VS Female Titan...now known as Annie Leonhardt.