Ultimately Off-Topic

Episode 3 was another really good episode. The cast expanded significantly and I really like the new characters.

And I must strongly state, the Japanese voice acting is utterly sublime at all times. This is the anime epic I've always wanted to follow.

Youths as young as twelve are becoming cadets, regimented and conditioned in military warfare.

Mikasa got some really good scenes, a little more insight behind her 'I'm so hot and mysterious' mannerisms. New girl Sasha is another interesting and likeable female character, but she's very different to Mikasa, the series vixen. Sasha is more innocent and impulsive in her behaviour. Everything about this series has been 10/10 so far and I'm already emotionally invested in all of the teenage characters and most of the adults too.

Time is moving at a fast pace between episodes. Already on Episode 4, many years have passed since the Titans returned with their colossal leader. And it's graduation day for the recruits who are to become the next line of soldiers.

The beginning of this episode was pretty awesome seeing all the new young soldiers in training. Their drill sergeant goes through the character profiles and bios, going through each of their talents as an intriguingly epic way to kick off the episode, seeing these once troubled characters become skilled, aggressive fighters. There are more new characters introduced too, like Annie, the badass blonde who's unmatched in hand to hand combat.

By the end of the episode, the recruits have graduated. They're now all young adults with exceptional fighting skills. The walls have been rebuilt and the city's mounted cannons have been improved. There's a wonderful sense of optimism to this new generation of humanity's defences. But then suddenly... the Titans come back. And the violence and bloodshed begins once more. The young heroes are thrown unexpectedly into a battle with the Colossal Titan. It's triumphantly epic. The dialogue, action, animation, sound and colourful art along with the determination of Eren and other characters within the onslaught is breathtaking to experience.

The battle rages on in episode 5. Eren swings round the Colossal Titan with talented poise and quick speed. Then all the other Titans enter the outer wall and all hell breaks loose. Eren thinks back to his class education on the Titans, revealing their seemingly unstoppable regenerative abilities, and as the canons fire upon them, they just regenerate their flesh, limbs and decapitated bodies and press onward into the city. The people of the nearby city districts escape via ferries and boats to the more protected districts. The humans are more prepared this time around, but the Titans seem far too unstoppable with their regenerate abilities. The canons can only slow them down.

Then the Advanced Team of humanity's warriors are wiped out, and suddenly it's all up to the new recruits to take on the massive onslaught of Titans that are destroying the city of Throst. As Eren thinks back to his training, we see more flashbacks into how he and his fellow soldiers were taught to kill Titans. There's a weak spot on the back of their necks. A precise downward stab into the back of their necks will kill them instantly and they won't be able to regenerate from it. Which is great, because I had been very curious as to how the humans could possibly take out a single Titan with their swords as their only lethality. I was thinking there might be an enchanted sword that can cut through Titan bone, but this explanation is much better because it's focused on sheer skill and not magic, so it's not a cliché advantage sprung when it's convenient.

There's so much emotion in the battles taking place. Eren and his team are brave and valiant as they attempt to take out their colossal threats. But each of the Titans are so supremely more powerful and devastating than anyone imagined. There's so many of them and they keep coming. There's a breed of Titans called the Abnormals. The Abnormals are like retarded berserker Titans that run at high speeds. A lot of the characters are killed off. It's really brutal.

Eren's team are being massacred. Armin's in trouble. It seemed like he got killed by one of the Titans. Eren, fatally wounded, looks on as he's about to see his best friend get swallowed whole, reminiscing about their plan to see the outer-world together some day, he jumps into the Titan's mouth and saves him. He pulls him out. And then Armin gets up from where he's thrown to and looks on as Eren - THE MAIN CHARACTER! - is eaten! Armin knew he had to save Eren, but he couldn't. He was too scared. He was scared stiff as he watched his best friend die. And I can't believe Eren, the mighty, determined protagonist just got killed off like that! What are the humans supposed to do now? IT'S LIKE KILLING OFF LUKE SKYWALKER HALF WAY THROUGH THE STAR WARS TRILOGY!.

Episode 6 sees Mikasa fighting the Titans. And she's AMAZING. As the series badass, her skill is impeccable. She takes on a Titan. And she defeats it! As the first Titan falls, she looks on at the vast number of Titans destroying the city around them. The Titans are flooding in at full force.

Mikasa hears of the massacre of Eren's scout team. Fearful that her adopted brother might not have survived, she thinks back to their past. The majority of the episode is a flash back sequence explaining the origins of how Eren and Mikasa met when they were very little. Eren saves her from murderous gangsters of a pedophile ring. It's quite a dark origin tale, but it beautifully explains Eren and Mikasa's bond, how Eren tells her to fight back and why he means so much to her. As the episode draws to a close, it flashes back forward to Mikasa fighting the Titans with her team. Unaware that her friend and beloved adopted brother has been killed, she spurs onward. "Eren, I can do anything as long as I've got you."

I love Mikasa. At 19 years old, she's the greatest Titan slayer in history. She's like a demigod, like a female Hercules of humanity, except it's a more realistic depiction of her skill than her strength, even though she is certainly physically strong. Mikasa is my all-time favourite female protagonist. Forget DC comics' Wonder Woman, Marvel's Mocking Bird or The Bride from Kill Bill. Imagine if Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry had a sister. That's a bit like what Mikasa is like. She's such a badass warrior, and then some.

And now that Eren's dead, it changes things. Mikasa is now the series protagonist. This is bigger than Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat getting killed off at the start of Deadly Alliance to pave the way for characters like Kung Lao and Subzero to take up the hero mantel. And now it looks like Armin is now the main male character of the series. He watched his best friend die and might have saved him if he wasn't so scared stiff. It's cool how he's been slowly built up in this series so far. First his patents are killed and now his best friend - Erin, the main character - has been killed off too. It has such a wonderful "Legacy" feel to it. I can't wait to see how Armin develops on from here, determined to be stronger. It's like the spirit of Eren had entered Armin, and Armin is now the raging male protagonist who must be stronger. It feels poetic, and it also feels very mature. It's f***ing epic!

Po-epic - Something that is poetically epic. It's a word I just made up. And it's a solid definition for Attack on Titan.