Forum - View topicHouse of 1000 Manga - Attack on Titan
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HeroicRebellion
Posts: 13 |
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alright, you forced me to do this. spoiler[It's true that the Colossal titan returns, but this was after it was revealed that his true identity was none other than Bertholdt Fubar, Eren's former comrade who preferred to be in the background] |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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The twist, although kinda cool, is also really dumb and disappointing. It would be like if in the game Titanfall some of spoiler[the Pilots - nimble and acrobatic soldiers with anti-mecha weaponry - could actually turn into Titans themselves to fight other Titans. That would be really unnecessary and against the game's initial premise, which is that the Pilots are fast but weak and the Titans are strong but slow and each must use their advantages to win a fight to the death. Same goes with Attack on Titan. It was compelling how the out-gunned humans had to fight these horrific beasts, but then some humans got transformations. Not only did that lose the initial tension, but it made the rest of the humans cannon-fodder. Basically, unless you are a titan yourself, or have plot armour like Levi and Mikasa, you might as well not even turn up for battle because you're just gonna get splattered or eaten (or splattered then eaten).]
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3491 Location: Back stateside |
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In terms of the politics of Attack on Titan, I always found it telling that the term the author uses for the military police (who are among the many human villains in the series) clearly comes from the Kempeitai, the military police of the Imperialist Japanese Army. I called that they were corrupt/evil the moment I heard the name.
I'm not a huge fan of the manga, mostly because of the art, and I think this is one of the rare examples of an anime adaptation outstripping its source, since it also shuffles some events around and even adds in good character moments. I'm still reading it, of course, because I'm addicted to the mysteries, and I do like the characters, though I will admit they're not the deepest. I think of them as "bas-relief" characters - not fully rounded, but not completely flat either. (Feel free to steal that term, anyone) ^dtm42, I get your complaint, butspoiler[ the fact that Eren still can't control his powers, to the point that half the time he's a dude in distress, undercuts the idea that his transformation somehow evens the playing field. Indeed, the strategically-thinking soldiers are still the best resource they have. I admit that this may all change in upcoming chapters if Eren does master his transformation, but he won't be up against "mindless" Titans, he'll be up against all the Titans that are just like him -- still in hold of their humanity.] Because... well, HUGE spoiler if you haven't read that far, but spoiler[the implication now is that all Titans were originally human, and were somehow changed. And that what everyone "knows" about how the battle against them began is government lies. Which plays back into the "what is the politics of this manga?" question.] I'm not telling you to like it (everyone has different tastes, I don't like plenty of things people love), but that's why other people do like it, I think. |
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ChocoBar1
Posts: 49 |
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Sure can't wait for your Naruto column as well
Since standards doesn't seem to apply here anymore. |
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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So you missed my columns on those ultra-obscure so-underground unknown hipster manga Dragon Ball and Yu-Gi-Oh, clearly. -_- |
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nargun
Posts: 926 |
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Haven't read the manga, only seen the anime. But!
I'm reminded of one of the Stanislaw Lem Cyberiad stories, about spoiler[the planet where everyone was a spy]. But there's more to it than that: spoiler[the bullied/marginalised child [eren, but also humanity] gets the super powers and it still doesn't fix anything: power lies in numbers leveraged by social organisation rather than the individual.] All ties together: the struggle of the individual within society mirroring the struggle of human society against the titans. A lot more sophisticated than you'd think. ... and all this carried through to the anime adaption, which is the real surprise. |
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Levitz9
 Posts: 1022 Location: Puerto Rico |
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This is just me and my two cents on the matter, but I hate the twist that spoiler[Eren is capable of turning into a Titan]. I've never really been able to get over that.
I mean, heck, AoT is solid--the kind of solid we haven't seen in years (the sheer fan ardor for this series doesn't come from Tumblr alone), but I hate that spoiler[Eren survived being eaten and was revealed to be a Shifter]. I appreciated that the series up to that point was very much a horror series: limited resources, an implacable enemy... and some potentially insane heroes willing to fight those odds. spoiler[Eren being a Titan] is giving humans a bottomless shotgun, I find. spoiler[Also, I don't find that Eren really develops at all after he gains his superpowers. Armin and Mikasa end up overshadowing him, IMO]. The scene where spoiler[Eren got eaten] was so well made, too. The reveal felt so damn cheap... good deaths are hard to find, man. fudge shock value. I keep hearing people tell me that "that's just how the anime is paced, the manga is better", but I hate that excuse. AoT is great, but after that spoiler I dropped, I could tell where the series was going (spoiler[Hoboy, lemme guess, some people wanna rip down the walls because BREAK THE SHACKLES OF CONFORMITY or whatever]), and I just wasn't interested. I will recommend this series in a heartbeat, though. Great column, dude. 
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2870 |
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actually this follwos teh muvluv plotting way of seting up an arc and drop it halfway because something unexpected happens. so I don't think you can really guess where it's going unless you ave already read muvluv.
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Ali07
 Posts: 3333 Location: Victoria, Australia |
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Great column. Kind of got me interested in the manga. Though, I remember the anime, and something with the story just didn't sit right with me. Can't put my finger on it, but something just didn't click.
May just stick to the anime. Maybe, when the mysteries are revealed, it may change my mind and I may get into the manga. Until then...I'll work on finishing the first season of the anime. Eventually.  [/code]
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jr240483
 Posts: 4385 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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well dont take too long cause time wont wait for anyone. and from the looks of the second manga picture of the article, it might have been possible that the titan traitors somehow did manage to capture him considering that all three of them look a lot older now. though that is probably volumes away before that gets released in the US.
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
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Oh, sorry, I thought you were complaining the image was a spoiler. Yeah, I agree, it's one of my favorite scenes! |
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catandmouse
Posts: 213 |
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Haven't read the manga, but I'm slowly getting through with season 1 of the anime, and I gotta say, there are really hardly any likable characters!
Now, that doesn't mean that I am not enjoying the series. Actually, I think (and I haven't seen many war stories with teens) that the characters handle the PTSD somewhat realistically. At least they've touched upon the aftermath of death, like what do you do with all the dead bodies? Usually that is never shown, but at least in the anime they show the funeral pyres, and Jean holding a small bone thinking that he doesn't even know where his friend is anymore, was pretty poignant. |
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Cielito_Lindo
 Posts: 51 |
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Great review. I watched the anime first, remained confused for a while at the origins of the Titans until I managed to look past it and put my picky mind at rest - which is quite difficult and it got even worse when I read the manga.
I still can't get over spoiler[Reinner's casual reveal, because even though I had guessed it was them (their titan forms aren't that hard to identify if you have a brain) I was hoping for something a bit more climatic than "hey, you know what, we're both titans! and we were the ones that broke the wall that time your mum got eaten!" while we were focusing on something else. ] But it was fun and it still is, and I got hooked just as badly as you did and couldn't stop reading. I'm just hoping there's a second season as tremendous as the first, and for the manga to keep going for just a bit longer. |
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GVman
 Posts: 729 |
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You're a cool dude, Mr. Thompson. I suppose this is the difference between talking with an adult who writes for a living vs. angry teens on the internet. My hopes for the series haven't died; I still hope Iseyama can reel me back in. It's not over yet. |
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Jayhosh
 Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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Well guys, I don't think there would really be much of a conflict without the whole titan transforming thing. I didn't spoiler that because who hasn't already seen AoT that's reading this forum right now? But anyway, like it or not, I can't see the humans ever have winning against the titans without that plot element. It's like some of you say, the show had that no-hope kind of tone to it. But that's not going to move a plot forward. I've heard some say that that idea was implemented after the series blew up in popularity to keep it going longer, but that doesn't make any sense because that's what the entire premise rests upon. Although I would have been totally okay with Eren staying dead and the other mains taking center stage. I like them more anyway. Although he did become significantly less of a jerk wad in the second half of the series. Jean is my favorite though, being the huge douche that he is.
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