[Maark Abbott]

LinearPhilosopher, on 04 June 2019 - 02:28 AM, said:

Loved the latest episode. The literal choice of who lives, and who dies.

What's impressive is how they capture the tone of the manga so perfectly.

Spoiler

Bertholdt's despair at realising he's about to die. The anguish of the characters as they agonise over who to save. Levi's reaction to realising he has to let Erwin go, despite that Erwin was effectively his brother.

The Arc will wrap up soon. As in not the season, but the arc] itself. And next season, we're caught up with the manga.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Maark Abbott, on 04 June 2019 - 07:01 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 04 June 2019 - 02:28 AM, said:

Loved the latest episode. The literal choice of who lives, and who dies.

What's impressive is how they capture the tone of the manga so perfectly.

Spoiler

Bertholdt's despair at realising he's about to die. The anguish of the characters as they agonise over who to save. Levi's reaction to realising he has to let Erwin go, despite that Erwin was effectively his brother.

The Arc will wrap up soon. As in not the season, but the arc] itself. And next season, we're caught up with the manga.

Spoiler

indeed, it also kinda cements how craven he is. At the same time i think it's a bit of a cop-out that reiner somehow lives through EVERYTHING

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 05 June 2019 - 02:27 AM

[Maark Abbott]

LinearPhilosopher, on 05 June 2019 - 02:27 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 04 June 2019 - 07:01 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 04 June 2019 - 02:28 AM, said:

Loved the latest episode. The literal choice of who lives, and who dies.

What's impressive is how they capture the tone of the manga so perfectly.

Spoiler

Bertholdt's despair at realising he's about to die. The anguish of the characters as they agonise over who to save. Levi's reaction to realising he has to let Erwin go, despite that Erwin was effectively his brother.

The Arc will wrap up soon. As in not the season, but the arc] itself. And next season, we're caught up with the manga.

Spoiler

indeed, it also kinda cements how craven he is. At the same time i think it's a bit of a cop-out that reiner somehow lives through EVERYTHING

Spoilers AOT second arc - don't read this if you're not up to speed with the manga.

Spoiler

Reiner survives, but he is far from unscathed. He has severe, severe PTSD, everything he had been brought up to believe has turned out to be a lie, and he's starting to see the absolute hell of the gulag the Eldians are forced to live in. So I actually assume he's going to have a redemption arc and potentially defect to the Paradisians.

[Maark Abbott]

Lackluster Bachelorette, on 06 June 2019 - 09:27 PM, said:

Violet Evergarden...any good? It certainly looks like it could be. Got some romance vibes and BK loves him some romance.

It's not a romance. More of a rehabilitative journey for the MC than anything. But well, WELL worth a watch.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Maark Abbott, on 07 June 2019 - 07:00 AM, said:

Lackluster Bachelorette, on 06 June 2019 - 09:27 PM, said:

Violet Evergarden...any good? It certainly looks like it could be. Got some romance vibes and BK loves him some romance.

It's not a romance. More of a rehabilitative journey for the MC than anything. But well, WELL worth a watch.

be prepared to cry like a little bitch.

[Maark Abbott]

LinearPhilosopher, on 08 June 2019 - 01:15 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 07 June 2019 - 07:00 AM, said:

Lackluster Bachelorette, on 06 June 2019 - 09:27 PM, said:

Violet Evergarden...any good? It certainly looks like it could be. Got some romance vibes and BK loves him some romance.

It's not a romance. More of a rehabilitative journey for the MC than anything. But well, WELL worth a watch.

be prepared to cry like a little bitch.

Yes.

[D'rek]

So that basement...

Spoiler

Well, we knew already there was a civilization beyond the wall. One with coffee and canned food, so at least in some ways more advanced than Wall-land. And we knew it wasn't necessarily a happy place, given Ymir's recollections. Still though, I wasn't expecting blimps and Jewish ghettos?!

[Maark Abbott]

D, on 10 June 2019 - 01:36 PM, said:

So that basement...

Spoiler

Well, we knew already there was a civilization beyond the wall. One with coffee and canned food, so at least in some ways more advanced than Wall-land. And we knew it wasn't necessarily a happy place, given Ymir's recollections. Still though, I wasn't expecting blimps and Jewish ghettos?!

I can elaborate on this if you really want. But next week will probably extrapolate most of what happened anyway.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Maark Abbott, on 11 June 2019 - 07:31 AM, said:

D, on 10 June 2019 - 01:36 PM, said:

So that basement...

Spoiler

Well, we knew already there was a civilization beyond the wall. One with coffee and canned food, so at least in some ways more advanced than Wall-land. And we knew it wasn't necessarily a happy place, given Ymir's recollections. Still though, I wasn't expecting blimps and Jewish ghettos?!

I can elaborate on this if you really want. But next week will probably extrapolate most of what happened anyway.

omg dayum.... I knew a few spoilers froma while back so some of what we learned today i wasn't surprised. But i Didn't know everything...

What an episode!

[Maark Abbott]

LinearPhilosopher, on 17 June 2019 - 06:27 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 June 2019 - 07:31 AM, said:

D, on 10 June 2019 - 01:36 PM, said:

So that basement...

Spoiler

Well, we knew already there was a civilization beyond the wall. One with coffee and canned food, so at least in some ways more advanced than Wall-land. And we knew it wasn't necessarily a happy place, given Ymir's recollections. Still though, I wasn't expecting blimps and Jewish ghettos?!

I can elaborate on this if you really want. But next week will probably extrapolate most of what happened anyway.

omg dayum.... I knew a few spoilers froma while back so some of what we learned today i wasn't surprised. But i Didn't know everything...

What an episode!

Spoiler

Yeah, it's pretty messed up - the fact that the Smiling Titan is Eren's stepmother was a huge WTF moment in the manga. Also knowing how Grisha came to possess the Attack Titan, and why the Marleyan Loyalists are on Paradis...

[D'rek]

Maark Abbott, on 17 June 2019 - 07:23 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 17 June 2019 - 06:27 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 June 2019 - 07:31 AM, said:

D, on 10 June 2019 - 01:36 PM, said:

So that basement...

Spoiler

Well, we knew already there was a civilization beyond the wall. One with coffee and canned food, so at least in some ways more advanced than Wall-land. And we knew it wasn't necessarily a happy place, given Ymir's recollections. Still though, I wasn't expecting blimps and Jewish ghettos?!

I can elaborate on this if you really want. But next week will probably extrapolate most of what happened anyway.

omg dayum.... I knew a few spoilers froma while back so some of what we learned today i wasn't surprised. But i Didn't know everything...

What an episode!

Spoiler

Yeah, it's pretty messed up - the fact that the Smiling Titan is Eren's stepmother was a huge WTF moment in the manga. Also knowing how Grisha came to possess the Attack Titan, and why the Marleyan Loyalists are on Paradis...

I somehow managed to stay completely spoiler free, and it was awesome! Indeed indeed, what an episode!

(enormous AoT S3 spoilers herein)

Spoiler

She's not really Eren's stepmom. Dad's first wife is the only way to put it, I'd say. Still, that's messed up. Recognized a bunch of the other titans there, too. And Zeke is Eren's brainwashed half-brother. For that matter, now we know that Zeke/Reiner/Bertholdt/Annie (and Marcel) are ALL Eldians made into "honourary Marleyan warriors" child soldier types.

Seems like this is the *only* way ordinary titans are being added to Paradis. And considering how many titans there are... that means the Marleyans have been executing a LOT of Eldians. Though maybe there was an initial big purge of thousands at the start. Still... chilling.

Now we know the deal with Ymir, too - an Eldian from Marley that was turned into a titan and executed ~60 years prior.

It certainly seems like only Eldians can become titans of any sort. I think it would be a fair assumption that the Ackermanns are NOT Eldians, which is why the old king(s) couldn't command them or alter their memory with the power of the Founding Titan. Which also means Levi and Mikasa can't become titans.

We also get a finite numbering now - nine shifter powers, all broken off from Ymir Fritz' original titan, and presumably can be recombined since Eren has two of them right now.

Founding Titan -- Frieda > Eren
Attack Titan -- Kruger > Grisha > Eren
Beast Titan -- Zeke
Colossal Titan -- Bertholdt > Armin
Armoured Titan -- Reiner
Lady Titan -- Annie
Dancing Titan -- Marcel > Ymir
8th Titan
9th Titan


Can't say I fully understand the Founding Titan / Coordinate / royal blood power just yet, but the end of season 2 is *starting* to make more sense. Descendants of the Fritz/Reiss line can control ordinary titans, as Zeke has shown he can do to some extent, and can influence the actions/memories of Eldians in general. Zeke doesn't have the Founding Titan / Coordinate power, so do these apply to any shifter with royal blood, perhaps in a less powerful form? Or maybe any royal shifter can control ordinary titans but only the Founding Titan power can affect Eldians in general. Eren was also able to control the ordinary titans in the season 2 finale and had a small reaction from the other shifters - but only after he touched the smiling titan, who was Dina, who was a Fritz. So it seems that because Eren ate the Founding Titan/Coordinate he can control titans via the Founding Titan power, and possibly to a much greater extent than other royal shifters, but since he doesn't have the royal blood he can only do it when he's in contact with someone who is. Which, if they figure this out, will make a Eren+Krista/Historia duo mighty strong (and disappoint all the Mikasa shippers... and the Krista-Ymir-OTP'ers... and Reiner ).

World-building-wise, the supposed Marleyan motive to attack Paradis now seems rather thin. Marley has 7 of the 9 shifter powers, as far as we know the rest of the world has none. Yet Marley needs the fossil fuels of Paradis because they're worried of an upcoming war with other nations? Why, when they have 7 titans that no other country has? If the titans are becoming obsolete in war due to developing technology, then there's no reason to fear that the king of Paradis would unleash the wall titans on Marley, and hence there's no real need to attack Paradis covertly like they have done, just send in the blimps and troops, right? Perhaps it is because they fear that if other countries knew they were attacking Paradis it would spark a war on their other side, too, or something like that, but I think there'll be more to this to come.

On a side note, I liked how Grisha admitted he couldn't read the old Eldian texts and was basically just fanatically presenting a clean Eldian history without any real basis, i.e. both sides are probably wrong but want to justify their own ideologies.

[Maark Abbott]

D, on 17 June 2019 - 04:09 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 17 June 2019 - 07:23 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 17 June 2019 - 06:27 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 June 2019 - 07:31 AM, said:

D, on 10 June 2019 - 01:36 PM, said:

So that basement...

Spoiler

Well, we knew already there was a civilization beyond the wall. One with coffee and canned food, so at least in some ways more advanced than Wall-land. And we knew it wasn't necessarily a happy place, given Ymir's recollections. Still though, I wasn't expecting blimps and Jewish ghettos?!

I can elaborate on this if you really want. But next week will probably extrapolate most of what happened anyway.

omg dayum.... I knew a few spoilers froma while back so some of what we learned today i wasn't surprised. But i Didn't know everything...

What an episode!

Spoiler

Yeah, it's pretty messed up - the fact that the Smiling Titan is Eren's stepmother was a huge WTF moment in the manga. Also knowing how Grisha came to possess the Attack Titan, and why the Marleyan Loyalists are on Paradis...

I somehow managed to stay completely spoiler free, and it was awesome! Indeed indeed, what an episode!

(enormous AoT S3 spoilers herein)

Spoiler

She's not really Eren's stepmom. Dad's first wife is the only way to put it, I'd say. Still, that's messed up. Recognized a bunch of the other titans there, too. And Zeke is Eren's brainwashed half-brother. For that matter, now we know that Zeke/Reiner/Bertholdt/Annie (and Marcel) are ALL Eldians made into "honourary Marleyan warriors" child soldier types.

Seems like this is the *only* way ordinary titans are being added to Paradis. And considering how many titans there are... that means the Marleyans have been executing a LOT of Eldians. Though maybe there was an initial big purge of thousands at the start. Still... chilling.

Now we know the deal with Ymir, too - an Eldian from Marley that was turned into a titan and executed ~60 years prior.

It certainly seems like only Eldians can become titans of any sort. I think it would be a fair assumption that the Ackermanns are NOT Eldians, which is why the old king(s) couldn't command them or alter their memory with the power of the Founding Titan. Which also means Levi and Mikasa can't become titans.

We also get a finite numbering now - nine shifter powers, all broken off from Ymir Fritz' original titan, and presumably can be recombined since Eren has two of them right now.

Founding Titan -- Frieda > Eren
Attack Titan -- Kruger > Grisha > Eren
Beast Titan -- Zeke
Colossal Titan -- Bertholdt > Armin
Armoured Titan -- Reiner
Lady Titan -- Annie
Dancing Titan -- Marcel > Ymir
8th Titan
9th Titan


Can't say I fully understand the Founding Titan / Coordinate / royal blood power just yet, but the end of season 2 is *starting* to make more sense. Descendants of the Fritz/Reiss line can control ordinary titans, as Zeke has shown he can do to some extent, and can influence the actions/memories of Eldians in general. Zeke doesn't have the Founding Titan / Coordinate power, so do these apply to any shifter with royal blood, perhaps in a less powerful form? Or maybe any royal shifter can control ordinary titans but only the Founding Titan power can affect Eldians in general. Eren was also able to control the ordinary titans in the season 2 finale and had a small reaction from the other shifters - but only after he touched the smiling titan, who was Dina, who was a Fritz. So it seems that because Eren ate the Founding Titan/Coordinate he can control titans via the Founding Titan power, and possibly to a much greater extent than other royal shifters, but since he doesn't have the royal blood he can only do it when he's in contact with someone who is. Which, if they figure this out, will make a Eren+Krista/Historia duo mighty strong (and disappoint all the Mikasa shippers... and the Krista-Ymir-OTP'ers... and Reiner ).

World-building-wise, the supposed Marleyan motive to attack Paradis now seems rather thin. Marley has 7 of the 9 shifter powers, as far as we know the rest of the world has none. Yet Marley needs the fossil fuels of Paradis because they're worried of an upcoming war with other nations? Why, when they have 7 titans that no other country has? If the titans are becoming obsolete in war due to developing technology, then there's no reason to fear that the king of Paradis would unleash the wall titans on Marley, and hence there's no real need to attack Paradis covertly like they have done, just send in the blimps and troops, right? Perhaps it is because they fear that if other countries knew they were attacking Paradis it would spark a war on their other side, too, or something like that, but I think there'll be more to this to come.

On a side note, I liked how Grisha admitted he couldn't read the old Eldian texts and was basically just fanatically presenting a clean Eldian history without any real basis, i.e. both sides are probably wrong but want to justify their own ideologies.

Spoiler

Dancing Titan is the Jaw Titan in the manga. 8th and 9th Titan will appear next season.

RE Marley's desperation, the Titans are becoming technologically a bit obsolete, the other nations are starting to develop anti-Titan weapons. So that one that rescued Zeke and Reiner wins up basically armoured into a tank. But they can't launch a full invasion of Paradis because of the First King's threat that if they did he'd release the Titans in the walls and they'd wipe the world out, because there are so many Titans in that wall that they could do just that.

[Maark Abbott]

BfuckinK, on 18 June 2019 - 10:54 PM, said:

What the FUCK am I watching here?

I'm lost as hell.

In short - PTSD-stricken war survivor tries to remake a civilian life.

[Maark Abbott]

New season in July and it's looking [ L I T A S F U C K ].

Just like [ S H E E R H E A R T A T T A C K ] it has no weaknesses!

[Tsundoku]

Netflix must have listened because I got to finish One-Punch Man Season 1.

That was some really good stuff. Takes a lot of the combat tropes and seriously messes with them. In a good way.

An easy nine environment-altering punches out of ten.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 22 June 2019 - 11:35 AM

[Maark Abbott]

General nearly-end-of-season thoughts:

AoT:

Spoiler

the big reveal has been a long time in coming but no less impactful for it - the Paradisians learning about the world, the truth finally revealed. Be interesting to see what happens in S4.

.

Senko-san: Throwaway, mofumofu moeblob, but I enjoyed it for just that reason. The MC is incredibly relatable, lovely show to chill out to.

Wise Man's Grandchild: Throwaway generic isekai, but again sometimes you just want something brainless to relax with.

Shield Hero doesn't seem to be done yet. Any idea on how many cours this show is booked for?

The shorter shows like Ao-chan, Senryu Girl, Why Teacher?!, all been good fun.

Next season will be busy as hecc.

[Maark Abbott]

AOT season finale was... Faithful. As much as any adaptation I've seen, it delivered the source material beautifully.

5Tobun and Bokuben both have season twos coming in October. I can't wait.

[D'rek]

Yup, AoT has really been stellar this season (and they confirmed another season next year), and the ending was both cathartic and disturbing, love it.

Can't say anything else really gripped me the same way this season. Demon Slayer is good, but not great, too much stand-around-fighting and too little complexity, I guess (though lightning guy's little moment last week was very fun).

I haven't binge-watched Sarazanmai yet, though, so that could change everything.

[Maark Abbott]

D, on 01 July 2019 - 04:08 PM, said:

Yup, AoT has really been stellar this season (and they confirmed another season next year), and the ending was both cathartic and disturbing, love it.

Can't say anything else really gripped me the same way this season. Demon Slayer is good, but not great, too much stand-around-fighting and too little complexity, I guess (though lightning guy's little moment last week was very fun).

I haven't binge-watched Sarazanmai yet, though, so that could change everything.

It was a pretty slow, laid back season. The summer stuff looks like it's gonna be nutty though. End of JoJo, DanMachi, ReZero (I think?)...

Though "...Sacred Beasts" has managed to piss me off to no end in one episode already.

[Maark Abbott]

Picked up "Are We Lost?" and "Magical Sempai".

Both short shows at 12 minutes a pop. See how we go but I've become fond of short filler type shows I can slot in wherever.