"Attack on Titan" Series Talkback

[Sunnydee]

When I skimmed through the one of the volumes at the store I noticed that there was a scene not included in the TV series where Pixis is playing chess with a noble before going to meet Eren. Did I miss that or was it just not included in the TV series?

I think you missed it, it was included in the TV series. The first time we meet Pixis he was playing chess with a noble, he hears about the invasion and goes up to the front lines and stops Eren and friends from being executed. The noble begs him not to leave and everything.

EDIT: Beat to it by Sketch!

I thought it was a good scene that showed where Pixis loyalties lie (rushing to the aid of his soldiers), but he's still smart enough to play the politics game on the side (by losing to the noble).

Just saw episode 18. I liked the confusion about going through the forest and everyone questioning Erwin's orders is understandable since they're terrified. I'll agree with GingaDaiuchuu that Erwin is up to something, but I'm not sure that Levi knows anything. He seems to be improvising as much as the next guy.

This is also the first time we see Levi in action I think and it was kinda crazy to see him do absolutely nothing while his squad is mentally falling apart. I can't imagine that he wants Eren to save the day (I'm not even sure he could). That female titan looks pretty unstoppable to me and is in far more control than Eren when we last saw him. Maybe its time Levi shows us how good at this he really is.

 

[Ben]

I think you missed it, it was included in the TV series. The first time we meet Pixis he was playing chess with a noble, he hears about the invasion and goes up to the front lines and stops Eren and friends from being executed. The noble begs him not to leave and everything.

Yes, Jacob has it the other way around: The scene with the noble was in the anime but not the manga.

This is also the first time we see Levi in action I think and it was kinda crazy to see him do absolutely nothing while his squad is mentally falling apart. I can't imagine that he wants Eren to save the day (I'm not even sure he could). That female titan looks pretty unstoppable to me and is in far more control than Eren when we last saw him. Maybe its time Levi shows us how good at this he really is.

In the manga, there is a side story that shows the readers how amazing Levi is before he even shows up in the main story. I'm kind of bummed they didn't have the time/resources to animate it.

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Episode 20

This sure knows how to plan its cliffhangers.

So as expected, Erwin and Levi knew there was a person inside this Titan and did everything to try to find out who it was. The Female Titan can harden her skin like the Armored Titan to prevent them from pulling the human out, and screams to attract all the regular Titans to eat her body. And just like Erwin had expected, she had Maneuver Gear ready to escape and disguise herself as one of the Survey Corps. There's now absolutely no doubt that she was 100% in control and she's out for blood, as she starts killing soldiers while she's in human form.

So unless it's somehow not Annie, I guess she really is a spy for the Military Police or someone connected to that side of things, infiltrating the Survey Corps and doing whatever she has to in order to complete her mission. I wasn't quite expecting Annie to be so much of a villain, but I'm sure there are still many more layers that we don't know about yet. Hell, we still haven't even seen if it's her, although with her now not only in human form but also taking the initiative to attack the soldiers while in that form, it seems like it can't go much longer without revealing that. With her apparently knowing everything about her Titan transformation and being in complete control, I'm interested in learning exactly what the drawback of employing this power is. After all, if she could just transform without any repercussion, surely she'd just do so again rather than attacking an army while alone and in a weak human form. Still, it seems like she has to transform again if she wants any chance of making it out of there, especially with everyone knowing what her deal is, having ways to stop her and almost pull her out themselves, and Eren, who she's set to face off against next, having the same power and a tiny bit of control.

Is it next week next?

God this show is so good.

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

Episode #20

I expected the Female Titan would escape or at the very least ditch her Titan body, but I didn't expect that she would call for other Titans to eat her! That was some great sound editing, too. I also love the cliffhanger, hopefully the suspense doesn't last too long.

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

Another TV broadcast and Blu-ray comparison picture. Some odd changes.

Spoiler

Copy and pasting from the Mania sales thread:

Shingeki v2 sells 28876/14217, total 43,093. Down 24.1% from v1wk1. Down 39.9% from v1 total, but v1 has very massive wk2+ sales so that's expected. 24% isn't too bad for a show like this, though the final drop will almost surely be >30% . I still think v2 will hit 50k in the end, though needing almost 7k is a little steep. Still, just look at v1's tail. It's added almost 15k after wk1, so v2 only needs half that. I think it can do it.
v1 adds 1531/1118, total 71,660. Yeah, bit of a v2 bump there.

Luckily volumes #3-9 are more expensive so they should make up for the loss of units.

 

[firefoxprime]

This show is friggin epic and I'll plaster it right up there with Gurren Lagann. Oh yeah!

Question: A while back(couple months ago) I read about the mindbogglingness of the Animation production for this series. I was hoping you guys could really give me an in depth explination as to why the production of Attack on Titan is so Amazing/Horrible??? I know WIT studio is involved for starters.....

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

I've littered the production updates throughout this thread, so be sure to check those out. Basically, Wit Studio is a small studio trying to do the job of a big studio...on a poorly managed schedule. Episodes are still being worked on up to the day they air. The animation is shipped out to many sub-contracting studios to prevent missing an airdate, which they did earlier on in production. Episode Director Tachikawa Yuzuru had only one month to produce episode #7 in. From scratch. Twenty-two studios worked on the animation alone for episode #8: three episode directors, three animation supervisors, twenty-four key animation, three key animation companies, fourteen 2nd key animation companies with an unknown number of people. Episode #11 had fourteen animation supervisors, more than the credited number of key animators if I remember correctly.

As Tachikawa Yuzuru put it at his Otakon panel the productin has a lack of animators and a poor schedule. That's really all there is to it.

 

[Ben]

Episode #11 had fourteen animation supervisors, more than the credited number of key animators if I remember correctly.

HOLY SHARKWEEK. Fourteen?

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

HOLY SHARKWEEK. Fourteen?

According to Animator's Corner it had six Animation Supervisors, five Animation Supervisor Assistants, Asano Kyouji as Chief Animation Supervisor and Ebara Yasuyuki as Action Animation Supervisor. Looks like the old post I was referencing was wrong. It was copied off of Twitter right after the broadcast, so that tends to happen.

 

[ToDandy]

I'm not a huge anime fan. I find the japanese movies far more appealing. The shows tend to be overdrawn and under animated for my taste.

However, there are exceptions and this one is a HUGE ONE! I absolutely have been loving this show. It's most likely my favorite animated show of the year. It has well rounded characters, sharp animation, and character designs that don't go annoyingly overboard.

But most of all it's the unique story and how well it builds tension that makes it great. Similar to Game of Thrones, it makes a point to show that ANY character can (and possibly will) be killed at any time. Hell even characters bite the dust offscreen. That's what makes it more gripping.

Also major points are given for being able to make giants scary and cool again. In almost every other media, they've just become silly.

 

[ToDandy]

I expected the Female Titan would escape or at the very least ditch her Titan body, but I didn't expect that she would call for other Titans to eat her! That was some great sound editing, too. I also love the cliffhanger, hopefully the suspense doesn't last too long.

Yeah, I didn't see that coming either. But why would you want the suspense to end? That's what makes the series great!

 

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Episode 21

HOW DO YOU LEAVE US LIKE THIS EVERY WEEK, ATTACK ON TITAN?!

This show is so unbelievably amazing.

So it seems that transforming into a Titan doesn't really have its drawbacks for the Female Titan, as she does so very quickly, before anyone can see her face. I'm still not sure why she didn't do it slightly earlier, but I guess she wanted to do a little disguising and needed to kill Gunther immediately, rather than transform right at that point.

And because of Eren's choice, the rest don't take long to follow, no matter how amazingly well they seemed to be fighting her. There basically wasn't a moment to breathe throughout this entire incredibly gripping episode, and from when Eren sees the results of his choices, that becomes truer than ever. His transformation, the epic battle between intelligent and skilled Titans, his emotional intensity manifesting through physical rage... all so perfect. But the trend of the Female Titan seeming beaten only to prove how horribly wrong that assumption is continues, and Eren gets eaten once again, just in time for Mikasa to see it. Now it's time for the two most badass humans to take it on...

Yeah. This show.

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

Episode #21

Sasuga, Female Titan. This lass sure knows how to take a beatin' and keep on lickin'! Seeing two Titans that are not fodder duking it out was a lot of fun. This episode probably killed Wit, though. Luckily we had Tanaka Hironori and Hamaguchi Akira to do key animation on this episode. I hope this isn't the last big battle for the series!

 

[adyniz]

Attack On Titan season finale to be screened in Japanese theaters.
It'll be aired on TV on its regular timing. However, the theatrical screening will begin a few hours before the tv premiere.

Last Attack on Titan Episode to Screen in Japanese Theaters - News - Anime News Network

 

[RandomMe]

Attack On Titan season finale to be screened in Japanese theaters.
It'll be aired on TV on its regular timing. However, the theatrical screening will begin a few hours before the tv premiere.

Last Attack on Titan Episode to Screen in Japanese Theaters - News - Anime News Network

I'm 100% sure that half of the audience consists of people who stay up well past 1am.

 

[Sunnydee]

Episode 20

I'm a week behind, so I just caught Episode 20. This show really is incredible. I loved that moment after the person in the titan escaped and we get this sense of disappointment and defeat from everyone who is with Erwin and Levi, leading to a retreat. Then we cut to Eren with Levi's group and they have the opposite feeling of relief, camaraderie, joy, and relaxation. It's interesting because I'm thinking that these guys have no idea how bad it is and that there's clearly going to be fallout from all of this when they get back.

Then the show turns around and shows how bad the situation truly is and how this person in the Titan is still out to kill Eren no matter what. It was just an insane few moments that felt perfect to me. The cliff hanger at the end was amazing, I can't wait for the next episode.

I'm curious to see how good the person who was in titan is at fighting the best of the best titan slayers. They've already managed to take out one person.

Also, Erwin is clearly just miles ahead of everyone else mentally. He sees everything coming.

I've littered the production updates throughout this thread, so be sure to check those out. Basically, Wit Studio is a small studio trying to do the job of a big studio...on a poorly managed schedule. Episodes are still being worked on up to the day they air. The animation is shipped out to many sub-contracting studios to prevent missing an airdate, which they did earlier on in production. Episode Director Tachikawa Yuzuru had only one month to produce episode #7 in. From scratch. Twenty-two studios worked on the animation alone for episode #8: three episode directors, three animation supervisors, twenty-four key animation, three key animation companies, fourteen 2nd key animation companies with an unknown number of people. Episode #11 had fourteen animation supervisors, more than the credited number of key animators if I remember correctly.

As Tachikawa Yuzuru put it at his Otakon panel the productin has a lack of animators and a poor schedule. That's really all there is to it.

Thanks for the information! Is there any reason why they decided to go with Wit Studio or is that normally just a financial decision?

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

I'm 100% sure that half of the audience consists of people who stay up well past 1am.

Yeah, considering the series airs at 1:58AM it's pretty much guaranteed that only Otaku are hitting up this premier. Or at least the high number of Otaku likely to show up will scare off any casual people.

Thanks for the information! Is there any reason why they decided to go with Wit Studio or is that normally just a financial decision?

Not a clue. The production is being done in association with Production I.G. so perhaps it was I.G. who wanted to try to get Wit off to a good start. The problem being, of course, the schedule being entirely mishandled and causing the entire industry to get sucked into a frantic race against time.

 

[RandomMe]

Just because it's about time...
I decided to phonetically translate the theme song into Korean and I also translated the result in English:
shrib.com/koreanshingekinokyojin

 

[Ben]

We watched the most recent two episodes this last weekend. The highlight was definitely the punch through the tree and Eren's face. SPAKOW! Really well executed. The low point was definitely Sasha's line about the cry of a cornered animal. There were, like, four frames they reused over and over for that line, and they did not animate smoothly.

These episodes tracked the manga almost exactly, though I was disappointed that they felt the need to put a huge glaring spotlight behind Gunther's mostly-severed neck. It made it hard to see what had happened (which I'm sure was the point). The manga showed the carnage much more clearly.

 

[ToDandy]

Is this only going to be one season and end in late september? Or are they planning for it to go multiple season with large breaks (similar to Magi and Legend of Korra)? Does anyone know?

I mean it doesn't seem even close to wrapping up in the next three episodes.....unless everyone just dies...