Attack on Titan - Episode 5 Discussion / Poll

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Or just starting.

From now on, it's all Mikasa, all the time.

She needs to do something about her expression department if she is going to be the lead.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by amaterasu4

She needs to do something about her expression department if she is going to be the lead.

But Mikasa's whole deal is that she's a broken, expressionless and cold character (to anyone but Eren) D:

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Haak

To be fair, his hot-bloodedness did at least put Jean into a better frame of thought and managed to make him help Armin up until the end. He may have fallen far short of his goals but at least he went out helping his friend which is at least admirable.

It may be argued that he was the reason Armin was on the verge of getting killed in the first place. Rushing in alone was completely irresponsible. I don't disagree that side of his personality can be a valuable quality, but as we saw this week, it can also be a deadly flaw. If he hadn't been so reckless then perhaps he and the rest of his squad wouldn't have become titan food.

Mikasa, who knew him better than everybody else feared he would get killed if she wasn't around to protect him. She was right. And here he thought he didn't need her anymore...

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Or just starting.

From now on, it's all Mikasa, all the time.

...I can live with this.

[ookamigirl]

First battle indeed!
It was awesome watching that fight.
Eren was very impressive with all the cool moves.
This was like a re-run of the first attack.
Their worst nightmares have come true... again!
Looks like their training was not good enough to prepare them for this.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Kanon

It may be argued that he was the reason Armin was on the verge of getting killed in the first place. Rushing in alone was completely irresponsible. I don't disagree that side of his personality can be a valuable quality, but as we saw this week, it can also be a deadly flaw. If he hadn't been so reckless then perhaps he and the rest of his squad wouldn't have become titan food.

Also agree it was incredibly irresponsible and I'm glad the story made that clear (hot bloodedness is usually rewarded in shonen) but at the same time I felt it was tragic more than anything else. I kinda felt that's the kind of rookie mistake a young new recruit like him makes. It makes me feel like he had potential and it's shame circumstances weren't kinder to him to allow him to grow (Well, he probably will anyway. Nobody here is 100% convinced he's dead after all. ). But I guess that's the thing too. The story is also making it clear that potential and hard work doesn't necessarily get you anywhere either. Not a lot of shonen go that way either for obvious reasons.

[Randrak42]

Originally Posted by ookamigirl

First battle indeed!
It was awesome watching that fight.
Eren was very impressive with all the cool moves.
This was like a re-run of the first attack.
Their worst nightmares have come true... again!
Looks like their training was not good enough to prepare them for this.

To be fair...is there any kind of training that can truly prepare people for THOSE things?

[SagaraSouske]

I wonder why they don't train archers with specialized explosive arrows and aim for the neck.

[zRichard]

Originally Posted by SagaraSouske

I wonder why they don't train archers with specialized explosive arrows and aim for the neck.

Because they need mobility, and explosives+mobility don't mix too well in this kind of setting. Also, I don't know if they have the chemical knowledge to develop a portable explosive strong enough to do considerable damage.

Can't remember if the anime showed a guard carrying one around, but there are firearms in the setting, there are old rifles and pistols. But they are not damaging enough to blow a hole in a Titan's neck. Also, the reload times must be really bad, and not to mention the higher costs compared to a disposable blade.

[ArmisaelXVIII]

I guess it's too much to expect that Eren can grow his arms* again, or else we are going to have another fullmetal-whatever. xD Maybe what he was injected is titan-serum.

Either way, a surprising episode.

* I mean his arm and leg.

[MartianMage]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

You guys do know that he might actually have some sort of Plot Armor that is activated by Titan digestive enzymes right?

Well due to the experiment flashback on the previous episodes there's a high chance that Eren will have some plot hacks to escape death...

But TBH killing him off and having Mikasa takeover can work too you know.

[SagaraSouske]

Originally Posted by zRichard

Because they need mobility, and explosives+mobility don't mix too well in this kind of setting. Also, I don't know if they have the chemical knowledge to develop a portable explosive strong enough to do considerable damage.

Can't remember if the anime showed a guard carrying one around, but there are firearms in the setting, there are old rifles and pistols. But they are not damaging enough to blow a hole in a Titan's neck. Also, the reload times must be really bad, and not to mention the higher costs compared to a disposable blade.

You can make up for that with volley of arrow fire. Even if 90% miss, 10% hit should be enough. If there isn't good enough explosives, arrow heads with proper design should penetrate a lot easier then swinging a blade, even with the momentum from 3D gear. It also has the much more important benefit of putting the soldiers out of harm's way and launch their assault from distance - where they won't get ambushed like what Eren's squad just suffered through.

The only thing that is needed for archers are a way to get around and behind the giants. They can use 3D gear for that or horses. Cavalry archers have existed in history. Or they can use crossbow if they want to engage at a closer range. Massive rapid firing crossbow with metal bolts would be better then blade.

[aohige]

You have to be pretty advanced in explosives technology for something strong enough to do any significant damage to those titans that can be mounted on a flying arrow.

These things do regenerate very, very fast, even a canon blowing off its entire head takes a minute or two to heal.

I don't see an explosive-tipped arrows being an option at all.
These guys don't even have electricity, not sure they even have steam power tbh.
The technology level of humanity is pre-Industrial Revolution era.

Hell, even a stick of dynamite may not be powerful enough to incapacitate a giant, and even that's too big to mount on an arrow.

[SagaraSouske]

I talking about shooting the neck here. That's their weak spot. Arrows would do similar or if not more dmg then cutting the neck at melee range.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by SagaraSouske

I talking about shooting the neck here. That's their weak spot. Arrows would do similar or if not more dmg then cutting the neck at melee range.

These things regenerate very fast. Arrows will not work even on the weak spot.
The spot has to be completely destroyed, not just "damaged with pointy thingies"
(notice they use two blades to remove a chunk out)
A large ballista taking a chunk of meat out may work. Good luck landing that on a moving target though.

[Gundamx]

Originally Posted by SagaraSouske

I talking about shooting the neck here. That's their weak spot. Arrows would do similar or if not more dmg then cutting the neck at melee range.

arrow = circle // sword = Rectangle
you need to slash whole neck not just "dot" damage on it

[aohige]

Honestly though, if they did have explosives as options, I'd focus on using them to take the feet out, making them fall to the ground, then focus effort on taking the neck out.

That's pretty much what the trenches and holes were for, too bad it didn't work as well as they intended.

[JamJackEvo]

Originally Posted by SagaraSouske

I talking about shooting the neck here. That's their weak spot. Arrows would do similar or if not more dmg then cutting the neck at melee range.

An arrow wouldn't be enough. The damage has to be deep and long, like a sword slash. An arrow would just pierce.

Whatever it is that makes that part the kyojin's weak point (I have an idea, but not telling due to spoilers), it needs a wide area for an effective kill, because there is no telling just how big is the weak point's area of effectiveness. Is it as wide as the diagrams shown in this episode or is it as small as a dot? Is it at the center of the nape? A little to the left, A little to the top? 2 feet to the left of the center, 1 inch down, and 3 inches deep? Why do you think the soldiers concentrated on getting deeper gashes on the training logs?

Thus, melee better than arrows at this point.

[SagaraSouske]

Originally Posted by aohige

These things regenerate very fast. Arrows will not work even on the weak spot.
The spot has to be completely destroyed, not just "damaged with pointy thingies"
(notice they use two blades to remove a chunk out)
A large ballista taking a chunk of meat out may. Good luck landing that on a moving target.

Hmm, if the area is hit by 10 arrows that penetrate deep, it would be less dmg then a cut from two blades taking a chunk out? What about 100 arrows then? I mean this isn't their other spots where they can be blasted off by cannon fire and still regenerate back, this is their weak spot after all. If blades work, arrows should. It's a big target and relatively slow motion when they are walking around. It's like shooting a cow that is walking, how really hard is that? Size of neck on larger giants prob give you just as much area exposed as target.

They can also easily make arrows with fuses and explosive attached to it, light the fuse then shoot, same concept as fireworks. With the tech shown that they have cannon fire, this much at least is possible.

[Terrestrial Dream]

The problem is the Titans are not that slow and rather numerous. Also that many archers will make you less mobile making you vulnerable to Titans. Against the Titan the best thing you can have is mobility.