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Attack on Titan: Junior High
Episode 8

by Lauren Orsini,

How would you rate episode 8 of
Attack on Titan: Junior High ?
Community score: 3.4

After a couple of meh weeks on Attack on Titan: Junior High, we get a silly-scary episode with Halloween vibes totally different than anything we've seen so far. Scaring the characters (with nothing at stake) allows us to see a different side to their personalities. From setup to resolution, it's a thoroughly ridiculous episode that parodies Attack on Titan without being as numbly repetitive as previous installments.

In order to settle any bad blood between the first-years and their upperclassmen from last episode's sports festival, Hanji has organized a “test of courage,” where the first-years must visit the school at night and write their names on the blackboard in various rooms. What they don't know is that their upperclassmen have prepared plenty of spooky surprises for them along the way. It's the setup for dozens of anime episodes that take place in school settings; the treat comes from seeing how it brings out new aspects of these familiar characters' behavior. Jean and Eren continue to savagely compete—even though they're both shaking in their boots. Ymir's fight-or-flight response kicks her Christa protection instincts into full gear. Reiner endures it all stoically, refusing to believe his eyes even as Bertholdt observes the situation's increasing bizarreness. Perhaps most hilariously, Mikasa is as deadpan as ever—a fact made even more funny by this episode's particular art style. When terrified, everyone assumes their realistic Attack on Titan look; Mikasa remains super-deformed and nonplussed.

When I reviewed the first few episodes of this series, I said that the jokes fell into two categories: inside jokes and character-based gags, with the latter category being immensely more successful. This episode is a great example of why. Fans of the anime only may find Erwin's role as club advisor absurd, as he parrots back his somber Attack on Titan lines in a brand new trivial context. However, fewer fans will grasp the meaning of the ghost girl who comforts Christa. Without giving anything away, this ghost is a character who has only been introduced in the manga so far. To people who have only seen the anime, her very presence in this episode is a bit of a spoiler. Of course, there were plenty of inside jokes that have already been done to death. Oluo bit his tongue again, if anybody still thinks that's funny, and Sasha was called "potato girl" as usual.

Most of the episode is taken up by the freshmen encountering the upperclassmen's silly scares, which Armin stutteringly calls the “Seven Wonders of Attack on Titan: Junior High.” None of these are very original, taking their origins from Japanese ghost stories, but some are downright funny in this new context—Levi as a short, irritable, and headless basketball player, along with Eren's Titan form as the living biology class dummy, make for great gags. Chaos ensues as the startled freshmen zoom around the building Scooby Doo style, and the result is rather fast-paced and fun. Attack on Titan: Junior High will never be my top recommendation of the season, but episodes like this one indicate that it can still make a half hour zip by.

Rating: B+

Attack on Titan: Junior High is currently streaming on Funimation.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.


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