Attack on Titan - Episode 5 Discussion / Poll

[Anh_Minh]

Before thinking of tactics to deal with titans, remember that dealing with one titan is generally rather easy, unless he's some kind of freak (they mentioned the super fast one that grabbed Thomas was abnormal) or he gets the drop on you (like the one that got Eren's leg). Well, maybe "easy" isn't the right word, but that's not what you have to worry about.

The problem is dealing with dozens of titans at the same time.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Totally agreed. I was excited to see what people will discuss with the episode and decided to participate. A mistake, since soon after, someone spoiled the biggest suspense the series had so far, and not in spoiler tags either. The post was eventually deleted, but it was too late for me and many others. The excitement is gone. Not much more can be discussed on it.

I feel that it is probably best to avoid these threads since spoilers abound, even if they eventually get deleted (too late for some). In recent trends, these threads eventually begin to turn into complain comparisons with the manga (compliments are few and far apart), since anime-only viewers either start to avoid the threads or get spoiled and can't continue the discussion.

I saw that one and that was a unique case of a stupid kid with malicious intent. Most manga readers have no intention of posting spoilers and some even enjoy being in anime-only discussions without spoiling anyone.

We can't control those that deliberately want to spoil others/want to make themselves look smart with epic predictions other than reporting and deleting them as quickly as possible. But these people should not be grouped with other manga readers that come in here with no intention to spoil the anime-viewers.

And as for comparison discussions...there have actually been few in this series and most weren't even complaints. There has been more talk about people making comparisons than there have been comparisons themselves >_>

[CJ_Walker]

Originally Posted by zRichard

using arrows. . . .

Arrows wont work against the titans like you think.

[zRichard]

Malicious intent should be unforgivable imo.

Originally Posted by CJ_Walker

Arrows wont work against the titans like you think.

I know, that's what I'm arguing against. Read the rest of my post at the relevant thread.

[CJ_Walker]

Originally Posted by zRichard

Malicious intent should be unforgivable imo.



I know, that's what I'm arguing against. Read the rest of my post at the relevant thread.

I read it, it's wrong. . . PM me, its getting a bit off topic in this thread.


edit: whoops, I was quoting the wrong guy. . .nvm.

[Claym0re]

Well I was sorta disappointed of this episode. After all the incredible buildup the squad got wiped out by three random titans in like 10 seconds.

Don't get me wrong, I like anime where they actually kill of the characters, but after years of training I expected more.

And wtf with the titans? Up until now they were slow and stupid, now they are like super fast and have unbelievable eye/hand coordination.

[Libros]

Originally Posted by Claym0re

Well I was sorta disappointed of this episode. After all the incredible buildup the squad got wiped out by three random titans in like 10 seconds.

Don't get me wrong, I like anime where they actually kill of the characters, but after years of training I expected more.

And wtf with the titans? Up until now they were slow and stupid, now they are like super fast and have unbelievable eye/hand coordination.

I'm pretty sure they always had that. It's just that before, everyone instead of fighting them head on was running away(understandable) so they didn't get to see the Titans do much of anything but pick up a human and munch down. Except for the armored one and the colossal one, he/she/it bum rushed that wall and the colossal one just kicked the gate down while looking at the humans behind the wall menacingly.

[Tyabann]

So, uh, what's the point of this series?
I have to ask, because as it is I can just see all the humans dying off and the story ending in a couple of episodes, since the titans are basically invincible and all.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by Claym0re

Well I was sorta disappointed of this episode. After all the incredible buildup the squad got wiped out by three random titans in like 10 seconds.

Don't get me wrong, I like anime where they actually kill of the characters, but after years of training I expected more.

And wtf with the titans? Up until now they were slow and stupid, now they are like super fast and have unbelievable eye/hand coordination.

Well, look at it this way:

- They were teenagers and still trainees who have never even faced titans before (Eren was likely the only one that has even seen one personally);
- They were ambushed;
- The vanguard (made out of more experienced soldiers) was annihilated before they even got there;
- They weren't taken out by JUST 3 random titans, they were surrounded by several titans, some that came out of nowhere AND 1 of those titans was a Deviant/Abnormal which seem to be much dangerous than normal titans.

The odds were against them right off the gate, it's hardly a surprise they got killed so quickly.

[Gundamx]

Eren will return with metal hand and leg and start learning alchemy to get his revenge...
Oh wait wrong anime...

[Claym0re]

Originally Posted by Libros

I'm pretty sure they always had that. It's just that before, everyone instead of fighting them head on was running away(understandable) so they didn't get to see the Titans do much of anything but pick up a human and munch down. Except for the armored one and the colossal one, he/she/it bum rushed that wall and the colossal one just kicked the gate down while looking at the humans behind the wall menacingly.

For me what just happened is bad writing and slapping the audience in the face.

The titans being this dangerous and fast should have been established. I am sorry but the way a generic titan chopped off Eren's leg was mind-boggling. And right after this comes a titan which veeeeeeeery slooooooooowly picks up Armin.

So one time they are super fast and accurate, but at the same time they are like mindless frankenstein-zombies. Guess whatever the plot conveniently needs them to be.

[Haak]

^ Well Eren did say that the one that leapt at them super fast and got Thomas was an abnormal and we already know there can be major distinctive features and sizes between Titans so it's not all that hard to imagine their abilities will also vary.

[zRyuu]

I don't understand why you'd think ALL titans have to be the same (either slow or fast). There is nothing wrong with one titan being fast and other titans being slow. There is no reason for their abilities to be the same. The show already has special titans such as the colossal and armored one.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Claym0re

For me what just happened is bad writing and slapping the audience in the face.

The titans being this dangerous and fast should have been established. I am sorry but the way a generic titan chopped off Eren's leg was mind-boggling. And right after this comes a titan which veeeeeeeery slooooooooowly picks up Armin.

So one time they are super fast and accurate, but at the same time they are like mindless frankenstein-zombies. Guess whatever the plot conveniently needs them to be.

The way that I heard them described before was as sadistic. They seem unintelligent but are also child-like, in many ways. Consider how Eren's mother died: the Titan picked her up, let her struggle for a bit before slowly killing her (crushing her head? Ripping her head off? I'm still not sure exactly what happened there), and then took its time with putting her body into its mouth and biting down, as if it were playing with its food. There's no reason that they need to be either super fast or super slow with everything that they do.

It's still early in the series, and there's a lot more to learn about the Titans. It would be pretty boring if we already knew all that there was to know about them, including their behaviors and combat capabilities.

That the characters suffer one defeat after another at the hands of the Titans is wonderful, I think. It feels pretty hopeless and makes you feel pretty badly about the entire thing, but compare it to most anime series that go for a "cheap fix" scenario where the characters kick butt, suffer a setback, kick some more butt, suffer another setback, and so on. This is a bit more unique, and I cherish that. It will probably make the victories (assuming they happen) more rewarding. If the ending turns out to be a hopeless loss scenario, then there would be something philosophically rewarding about that, too.

[Archon_Wing]

So these things eat humans not out of necessity, but because they can. Considering how they like the sadism too, I wonder if they're some kind of weapon designed to wipe out humanity, sorta like MD Geist.

[Libros]

Originally Posted by Claym0re

For me what just happened is bad writing and slapping the audience in the face.

The titans being this dangerous and fast should have been established. I am sorry but the way a generic titan chopped off Eren's leg was mind-boggling. And right after this comes a titan which veeeeeeeery slooooooooowly picks up Armin.

So one time they are super fast and accurate, but at the same time they are like mindless frankenstein-zombies. Guess whatever the plot conveniently needs them to be.

So you say "The titans being this dangerous and fast should have been established", then let me ask you a question: When? The first time we saw Titans, Eren & Mikasa were either running for their lives or trying to save their mother. They didn't have any desire to see if they could match wits with a Titan just to see if it could move quickly or not.

From there, we reach the training arc, they fought dummies, enough said.

Then, we arrive at where we are now, the introduction of the abnormal Titans to the audience.

Eren jumped in to kill the titan that ate Thomas but got surprised by a Titan that jumped up from the street and got his leg eaten off. How could he have seen that coming let alone do anything about it?

Finally, as zRyuu said, it's not as if they all have the same abilities, some jump, one of them is 50+ meters tall and can kick the gates down, another can bum rush concrete(or was the wall steel?)walls down, so is it that hard to believe that some giants are just basically slow moving, mindless zombies?

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

That the characters suffer one defeat after another at the hands of the Titans is wonderful, I think.

Not if they never win, which is looking likely.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

The way that I heard them described before was as sadistic. They seem unintelligent but are also child-like, in many ways. Consider how Eren's mother died: the Titan picked her up, let her struggle for a bit before slowly killing her (crushing her head? Ripping her head off? I'm still not sure exactly what happened there)

The titan actually snapped her in half before eating her. Funny thing about Titans, some seem to want to gobble their prey whole, some seem take their time chomping on them, some seem to kill them before actually eating them...and so on.

I've seen people use the zombie comparison...but while normal titans seem to have very reduced intellect, they behave entirely differently than the regular zombies you find in movies and books.

Originally Posted by Libros

My memory isn't perfect so sorry if I remember this scene incorrectly but, when Eren lost his leg wasn't he trying to save Armin and during one of his jumps to get to him, didn't an abnormal jump behind him(Eren) and take his leg? How could he have seen that coming let alone do anything about it?

Eren jumped in to kill the titan that ate Thomas but got ambushed by a Titan that jumped up from the street and chomped his leg off.

[Libros]

Originally Posted by Randrak42

Eren jumped in to kill the titan that ate Thomas but got ambushed by a Titan that jumped up from the street and chomped his leg off.

Thank you.

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by Libros

My memory isn't perfect so sorry if I remember this scene incorrectly but, when Eren lost his leg wasn't he trying to save Armin and during one of his jumps to get to him, didn't an abnormal jump behind him(Eren) and take his leg? How could he have seen that coming let alone do anything about it?

He lost his leg when he tried to save Thomas and he lost him arm when he tried to save Armin.