(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Attack on Titan, it’s easily one of the biggest and best animes to come out in recent years. The story of humanity on the brink destruction and forced to fight against giants they don’t full know and understand is an epic tale about survival, finding the courage to fight, and finding hope when everything just seems hopeless. And with the third season set to air next month I can think of nothing to get me hyped then by taking a look at the second season with this week’s special guests Isis and Shizuku.
(Isis): Greetings everyone. So good to be here today. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.
(Shizuku): What’s up everybody. I may be a noob to Attack on Titan but I’ll do my best to give my insight this season.
(Isis): Done once again by Wit Studios and coming out in 2017, the second season continues the story of Attack on Titan where it left off. While the season may have been shorter then the first, everyone was still excited to see what was going to happen next. Let’s offer our hearts and take a look at Attack on Titan S2.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Nitsuj): The opening is “Shinzou wo Sasageyo” by Linked Horizon. I’ve talked about this opening in my Top 11 Openings of 2017 but it bears mentioning again that this was a great opening. While the first opening from the first season is still the best in my opinion this opening was a huge step up from the disastrous second opening. This opening is exciting, intense, suspenseful, and perfectly encapsulates everything that is Attack on Titan. You feel yourself getting pumped and hyped for the anime as if you yourself were a part of the Scouts and you were about to head into battle ready for anything that comes your way.
(Shizuku): The ending is “Yuugure no Tori” by Shinsei Kamattechan. Unlike the second ending from the first season, this one is slow, optimistic, but at the same time ominous. While the melody is nice and peaceful the singer sounds ominous and disturbing that it just freaks you out but you can’t turn away from it. I also liked the medieval drawings in the animation. It’s like we’re watching a short history of mankind and their early battle with the Titans which depicts how they fought bravely but still lost and were forced to run away leaving behind their homes and everything they cherished just to live another day to fight and hopefully reclaim what they lost.
Episodes 1-4
(Isis): The new season starts off with a quick recap of the first season (Nitsuj: Reminding everyone why they like this series so much). After that we return to the present where Hanji is interrogating Pastor Nick on why there is a titan in the wall (Shizuku: We ran out of bricks so we had to use titans). Pastor Nick refuses to talk and they receive word that titans have entered Wall Rose (Nitsuj: Fuck). We turn back the clock to 12 hours earlier where we see the rest of the cast was on standby at a castle when the titans appeared. The group rides away on horseback to alert the other surrounding villages of the coming danger (or death in this case) and Connie is terrified because the direction in which the titans are coming from is the direction of his village (Shizuku: They’re all dead). As the group rides off the titans begin chasing after them so Miche takes them on himself. He manages to defeat 3 of them and decides to retreat but his horse gets killed by an ape-like titan who can actually talk (dear God he’s intelligent. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a terrifying thing). He saves Miche from getting eaten by a titan and asks him what the ODM gear is (Nitsuj: A very valid question)? Miche is so shocked and scared by a speaking titan that he doesn’t even talk so the ape-titan takes the ODM and proceeds to leave but Miche tries to fight him only to get torn to shreds by the remaining titans who are following the orders of the ape-titan (scene here: https://youtu.be/tj7zqjX_Jxk. (Shizuku): Damn, brutal. (Isis): Yes, this is definitely the most brutal death scene so far).
Episode 2 starts off with Eren’s team heading out to face the titans and Father Nick joins them (Nitsuj: Feed him to the titans) with Hanji hoping that by seeing the titans and the damage they cause, it’ll encourage him to tell them what he knows. After that we focus on Sasha who heads to a village to warn them of the titans and along the way we get a glimpse into her past. As we know she was raised in the woods by her father and wasn’t very social with people. When Wall Maria fell and the people started flooding in Sasha’s dad decided to quit the hunting game and instead do a new job to help out the survivors which Sasha didn’t like one bit. Her father decides to leave her behind with the others who refused to leave as well but warns her that her personality won’t help her out in the future (scene here: https://youtu.be/7do4sZ5Y4l4). Sasha finally makes it to a village which has been evacuated except for a mother with bad legs and her daughter. The mother is getting eaten up by a titan that’s almost human size (Nitsuj: Damn, that’s a small ass titan. I’m pretty sure Shizuku could take it down if she wanted to. (Shizuku): I could take down the Colossal Titan if given the chance) and the daughter is sitting their traumatized as it all goes down (Isis: It’s because of moments like these that you find it hard to make jokes. Just for how dark this series can get). Sasha tries to kill the titan but has no luck so she instead focuses on saving the girl and the titan goes after them. Sasha’s horse runs away (Nitsuj: Come back here you coward, don’t leave us) and the only weapons lying around are a bow and arrow. Sasha stays to fight the titan while the little girl continues to run away, and Sasha manages to shoot an arrow into both of its eyes buying her time to escape (Actually, I take it back. She shoots one arrow into its eye and then jabs the other one into the other eye. Badass). Sasha escapes and comes across her father and a group of other hunters who have been going around giving horses to people so they can escape (scene here: https://youtu.be/E-fYpBL42uE). Back with Connie’s group they make it to his village where the titans have been there, and it’s abandoned. They do come across one titan, but it can’t move because of its weak legs (Shizuku: Which begs the question, how the hell did it get here?).
In episode 3 the mystery of how the titans got into Wall Rose continues as Connie’s group and Krista’s group each meet up after looking for the hole in the wall going in the opposite directions and finding nothing (Shizuku: So what, they just grew wings and flew into the wall? (Isis): That would be stupid. They must have climbed over the wall following the instructions of that ape titan). They all decide to set up camp in an abandoned castle tower for the night to get some rest and prepare for tomorrow. Back with Eren’s team they arrive at a district where Hanji and Armin come up with the idea to use Eren’s hardened titan skin to seal the hole in Wall Maria during the night when the titans aren’t active (Nitsuj: Why haven’t you guys thought of this sooner? The hardened skin to seal the wall I can understand but why haven’t you guys been doing night missions? The titans don’t move at night it’s the perfect opportunity to move around). After seeing the pain and sadness of the people, Pastor Nick decides to help them out. While he doesn’t tell them what’s going on (Nitsuj: I swear to God I’ll feed him to the titans myself) he does tell them someone who knows what’s going on and that person is Krista (Shizuku: Who is on the frontlines at the mercy of the titans). Speaking of Krista her group gets attacked by titans who are moving at night for some reason while the ape titan climbs over the wall and escapes leaving the other titans to finish off the group in the castle tower.
In episode 4 it’s the battle for survival at the tower as titans slowly overrun the place and only 4 scouts can fight. The scouts do a good job fighting but a few of the smaller titans manage to get inside the tower and it’s up to our young cadets to fight them off. They manage to crush one of them with a cannon (scene here: https://youtu.be/qAWsz9kDk5c) but another one shows up and tries to kill Connie but Reiner pushes him out of the way and gets his hand bitten. Despite getting bitten Reiner picks up the titan (Nitsuj: Wow, it’s super Reiner) and with the help of the others manages to toss it out the window (scene here: https://youtu.be/s7GNa9fW35E. Wow, that was like John Cena level of burying). As the fight goes on more titans show up and the scouts fighting outside run out of gas and supplies and die leaving only the cadets at the mercy of the titans (so this how some of our favorite side characters go down?). The episode ends with a major reveal, Ymir (Shizuku: The bitch of the group who might be lesbian) reveals that she’s a titan (scene here: https://youtu.be/eZSaM1ad0Ws).
Episodes 5-8
(Shizuku): Episode 5 is basically a hype episode (but it kicks ass). We start off with a flashback focusing on Krista and Ymir. It’s winter time and Krista along with Ymir have gotten trapped in a snowstorm separated from everyone and trying to save an injured soldier (Nitsuj: Well Krista is. Ymir couldn’t care less). Ymir figures out that Krista is trying to die on purpose but make it look like she died trying to save someone in order to look like a hero (I wonder if this would count as being suicidal?). We find out that Krista is the illegitimate child of this noble and the church (Isis: Praise the walls) were plotting to kill her (Isis: All for the glory of the walls). However, they agreed to let her live if she changed her name and joined the Scouts which she did. Ymir overheard their conversation in the church and for some reason joined the Scouts in order to meet and befriend Krista since the two are so alike (I don’t see it). The only difference being is that Ymir refuses to die and give those she hates the satisfaction of knowing she died doing nothing. After pushing Krista down a hill she transforms into a titan and gets the soldier to the meeting point safely to save his life. Krista makes it to the meeting point as well and from there the two became friends. We now return to the present where Ymir has transformed into a titan (a small one. What a letdown. I was expecting a big titan) and starts fighting the other titans and beating them (Nitsuj: Damn! Ymir is a scrapper). Despite her best efforts the numbers start to catch up to her so she drops the tower on them and save the others in the process, but the titans survive (these things won’t quit). The titans catch Ymir and begin ripping her a part (Nitsuj: She dead) and looks like the others will soon follow but they get saved with the arrival of Eren’s group who come in and take out the titans (Isis: With Eren getting his first kill. (Nitsuj): He’s already taken out at least 10 titans. (Isis): I meant as a human. Scene here: https://youtu.be/YPZNW5iVRrE). They managed to save Ymir who seems fine (Isis: She’s missing an arm and a leg. (Shizuku): She’ll live) and passes out from her injuries all while Krista reveals her true name, Historia.
In episode 6 we find out that Reiner is the Brock Lesnar titan (Isis: It’s armored titan. (Shizuku): You’re not going to win this fight so just back off now) and Bert is the Colossal titan (Nitsuj: Well she got that one right). While on the wall they talk to Eren and try to get him to join their side. Surprisingly, Eren isn’t all that shocked about this reveal as they had suspicions of them from yesterday. Both Reiner, Bert, and Annie came from the same area. Mikasa overhears their conversation and attack the two titan humans but they survive her attack and transform into titans capturing Eren and Ymir. As Eren goes through his shock stage of finding out that his friends who he trained with and developed a bond with for over 3 years are traitors, he returns to reality and turns into a titan to fight them (Scene here: https://youtu.be/egO592kG5ag, alright. The titan of strong style vs The titan incarnated. Let’s see who wins).
In episode 7 it’s the fight we’ve all been waiting for, Titan Eren vs Titan Reiner and yes, it is awesome. It starts off with Eren getting his ass kicked in a slugfest (Nitsuj: Not surprising. One is flesh and the other has hardened skin. It’s like bare knuckles vs brass knuckles. Who do you think gonna win?). Mikasa tries to help out but her swords keep breaking against Reiner’s skin. Back on the wall the rest of the scouts try to fight Bert. While he’s big he’s slow so he’s an easy target but thanks to his hot steam nobody can touch him to land an attack. Back with the big sweaty titan fight (Isis: And it’s official. Shizuku likes big sweaty titans. Hmm, that would be a good idea for a shirt) Eren begins to incorporate Annie’s martial arts techniques (which are used in MMA) to take down Reiner. He manages to snap off one of Reiner’s arms (ohhhhhhh~ I am so wired right now! That was some hardcore shit if I do say so myself) but Reiner can still fight. Armin and Hanji tell Eren to retreat to the wall saying that Reiner and Bert’s real goal is to capture him so their best option is to escape and he agrees (Isis: He’s listening. Good). However, Reiner has no intention of letting Eren escape so Eren has no choice but either immobilize Reiner or kill him. Eren manages to get Reiner in a front headlock and bring him to the ground where he attempts to snap Reiner’s neck and pull him out (Nitsuj: Yes! Yes! Snap it off! Snap it right off). Just when it seems like Eren has Reiner, Bert’s titan comes falling from the wall and about to land on Eren (scene here: https://youtu.be/LFCnd0HeeTo. (Isis): Oh, this will not end well for Eren).
Unfortunately, there’s not much too say about episode 8. After Bert falls on Eren he’s surprisingly okay however this distraction allows Reiner to pin Eren down and capture him. Reiner and Bert escape with Eren and Ymir. After this 5 hours pass and due to the steam from Bert, Eren’s team suffered a few injuries so they couldn’t send anyone after them. We see a flashback to the good old days (Nitsuj: Oh you mean the days when humanity lived under a false sense of peace and safety only to have it all come crumbly down on them? (Isis): The very same) where Eren fought some bullies who stole Armin’s food, got beat up, and had to get saved by Mikasa again. Erwin shows up with Jean (Nitsuj: Alright, the best character is here) and they prepare to go after Reiner and Bert to retrieve Eren and Ymir. Hanji regains consciousness and tells them that they’re most likely hiding out in a forest not too far from them in order to rest and regain their strength. She says that if they can reach the forest by nightfall they’ll have a chance to rescue Eren and Ymir.
Episodes 9-12
(Nitsuj): In episode 9 we sit around and talk with Eren, Ymir, Reiner, and Bert. The four are up in tall trees with Eren’s arms regenerating and Ymir’s missing limbs also regenerating. They’re surrounded by titans and Reiner and Bert are the only ones with ODM gear on so Eren decides to stay patient, keep his emotions in check, and just try to get answers out of them (Isis: He does 2 out of 3 of these things. The ladder being the one he failed to do). We see that Reiner developed a split personality after going all Brock Lesnar on the wall back in season 1 feeling guilty for his actions and making himself believe that he was soldier fighting for humanity (scenes here: https://youtu.be/RSc4oMhp80o, https://youtu.be/eCrIb57eBxw, and https://youtu.be/AAyREzavcB8). Ymir doesn’t seem to know what side she’s on but once Reiner brings up Krista saying that if Ymir joins them her chances of keeping Krista are slightly higher than teaming up with Eren and this works on her a little (Shizuku: Eren I know you’re bad in these kinds of situations but if you wanted to prove your potential as the MC now is the time to do it). The Scouts are closing in on them as the episode ends and there’s only one hour left until sunset.
In episode 10 you think we would get some much-needed action but no we instead get the backstory of that crazy bitch Ymir (I say crazy bitch because that’s what she turns into this episode. (Isis): That, and the fact that she’s betraying us). We see that she’s lived for at least 60 years (Shizuku: Doesn’t look a day over 17) and was actually made the messiah of this cult saying that she had the blood of the king in her body. Until one day they all got arrested and were thrown off the where she turned into a titan and escaped. She wondered the land for years until one day she ate one of Reiner’s friends and turned back into a human, choose to live for herself, but met Krista and developed a lesbian crush on her. Anyway, with the Scouts close at hand Reiner and Bert decide it’s time to go but Ymir wants them to take Krista with them. Reiner says there’s no time but Ymir threatens to attack them and take Eren unless they get Krista (Shizuku: Wow, you weren’t kidding boss, she is a crazy bitch. Following Ymir’s plan, she lures the Scouts to her giving them a false sense of trust and when Krista appears she captures her, meets back up with the others and they hitch a ride on Reiner escaping the forest with Eren and now Krista as a hostage.
At the start of episode 11 Krista stupidly agrees to go with everyone because of Ymir’s lie to her (is this Stockholm syndrome or did Krista and Ymir get dumber in these last few episodes?). Too bad this doesn’t sit well with Mikasa who goes into demon mood and threatens to kill them all unless they hand Eren over (Shizuku: At this point, can we just assume that Eren is Mikasa’s future sex toy and she won’t let anybody besides her touch him?). The other cadets also hop on Reiner and talk to Bert making him feel like shit for betraying them (scenes here: https://youtu.be/S_KA5L3hTHk and https://youtu.be/M2gn3rHdmMQ) but his guilt will have to wait as Erwin leads a pack of titans to cut off Reiner and since Reiner is keeping Bert safe and Ymir won’t fight at the request of Krista his hands are tied (Isis: Talk about being between a titan and a hard place). Reiner gets taken down and in order to keep himself from getting killed he has no choice but to use his arms to fight back which means he’s leave Bert and Eren vulnerable. The Scouts, Garrison, and Military police head into the crowd of titans to save Eren with some getting killed and Erwin actually losing an arm possibly to a titan. Armin of all people is the one to reach Bert first where he strikes a chord with Bert by talking about Annie since he has a crush on her (no offence Bert but I’m shipping Annie with Armin. Besides, you still got Ernie. (Shizuku): Damn it! You beat me to it! I was going to make Sesame Street joke! (Isis): I’m actually amazed it took you this long to make one). He talks about how they’re torturing Annie which pisses him off and he drops his guard allowing Erwin to come in and cut Eren loose (scene here https://youtu.be/kCUMoVH_Y4Q) . Eren gets saved by Mikasa (okay, time to go home. We’ll kill the titans tomorrow) and they retreat but Reiner begins throwing titans at them (Isis: And apparently, some explode on contact. That wasn’t in the reports). Mikasa loses her horse stranding her and Eren where they see a titan from their past that no doubt haunts the dreams of Eren to this day. The smiling titan, the same titan who ate Eren’s mom (scene here: https://youtu.be/tBT6Z4w5LFw).
In the final episode all hell breaks loose. The titans that Reiner threw have gotten back up and have surrounded everyone. They now have no choice but to fight off the large number of titans and escape with a one-armed Erwin and an injured Mikasa who no doubt has cracked ribs (they are so fucked). Hannes comes to the rescue of Eren and Mikasa and takes on the smiling titan himself hoping to avenge Eren’s mom and make up for his past failure but he gets captured and killed all while Eren sits there unable to transform into a titan to save him. As Eren sits there defeated realizing that nothing has changed and he still can’t protect anyone (Isis: Yes, I was trying to be nice but it’s true) Mikasa gives us possibly her cutest moment in the series talking about how much Eren saved her and gave her a reason keep on living all while blushing (I think my heart skipped a beat) and moving in for a kiss (Shizuku: Do it you fool). But Eren cockblocks her (are you fucking serious!? Kiss her! I know it’s not the right time or spot but kiss her) and goes to face the smiling titan with nothing but his fist (scenes here: https://youtu.be/b4J1sJKW8k4 and https://youtu.be/ZsPgmst0YWs. (Shizuku): He’s lost it) and something amazing happens. The titans start listening to Eren. They stop attacking the humans, attack the smiling titan and kill it (Shizuku: What the hell?). As the group uses this chance to escape Reiner and Bert chase after them where once again the titans listen to Eren and attack Reiner (this is amazing! (Isis): We should start calling him Titan-Man). For whatever odd reason Ymir decides to stay behind to save Reiner and Bert and allows Historia to go back with the others (Shizuku: Why the hell would she do that? (Isis): Because she’s an idiot. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Uy9Pu9BHKvw). The group manages to return to the walls safely (so, what time is tomorrow’s expedition again?) with Reiner, Bert, and Ymir not chasing after them. A week passes and after much investigating they concluded that wall is secure and there is no hole in it whatsoever.
(Shizuku): Than how did the titans get inside the wall than? The ape obviously climbed over but what about the others?
(Nitsuj): A good question Shizuku and the answer will shock you. The titans were already in the wall. Those titans were the residents of Connie’s village and that titan that couldn’t walk was Connie’s mom. This means, that all this time they’ve been fighting against their own species (Isis: Yeah that sounds right. Scene here: https://youtu.be/NaOe8mMlHzk).
Final Thoughts
(Nitsuj): And that was the second season of Attack on Titan.
(Isis): It’s fantastic! This season continues with the dark story of Attack of Titan. While it may not be as long or have as much action as the first season, this season gave us shocking twists and information on the war against the titans. Reiner and Bert being titans and betraying the group was a big shock and the aftermath of their betrayal is done wonderfully as both sides are hurt. Eren and the others were betrayed. They trained together and became a team together, only to find out that what they had was all a front for their mission. Bert and Reiner feel terrible about what they’ve done. What started as a mission turned out to be some of the best moments of their lives. They really did come to see Eren and the other as their friends and even admit that they deserve to die for what they’ve done. Reiner is so torn about what he’s done that he had to create a split personality just to cope with it. The ape titan was also interesting as he displayed a great level of intelligence and has you curious as to who he is, what he’s planning, and his role in all of this? What do you think Shizuku?
(Shizuku): Yeah, I have to admit I really did enjoy this anime. I can why you love it so much. There’s a great air of suspense, drama, and action to this series and the anime does a good job handling all of this. The only downside I do see with this series is that the character development was lacking big time. I do like that we got to explore the backstories of some characters but there was no development on Eren, Mikasa, and Armin’s part. While it is true Mikasa confessed to Eren I find them dropping the event after everything has settled down disappointing. Eren doesn’t really change outside of unlocking a new power which we’re still unsure if he can control it or not. Plus, we really could have used more Levi in this season.
(Isis): Wow, that was actually profound and insightful.
(Shizuku): Yeah, this season definitely needed more Levi.
(Isis): Not that! Well yes, but, you know what I’m talking about.
(Nitsuj): While this season may not be as long or action packed as the first season, they do make each episode count. We get a good amount of information that’s both shocking, surprisingly, and keeps the story moving forward. The action they do show is great. Eren’s fight with Reiner was great and it was cool to see Eren actually be smart and use strategy to take Reiner down and almost beat him. The music was epic, each scene just felt all the more important and epic whenever the music kicked in. It matched up perfectly with each scene and sounds great. I did think the parts at the end with Ymir and Krista were a little weird and weren’t explain all that well particularly Ymir joining Reiner and Bert in the hopes to save Krista only to let Krista go with Eren and the others and side with Reiner and Bert. I assume she’s looking for her chance to stab them in the back but still her actions in the last half of the anime are confuseing to follow.
Is it better than the first season
(Isis): Personally, I prefer the first season.
(Nitsuj): Yeah, I also like the first season more. That’s not to say this season is bad it’s just that the first did a better job at explaining stuff, more action, character development, and a good amount of suspense and drama to keep you on the edge of your seat. Not to mention the first season was longer and thus had more time to explain things as opposed to this season which had to rush a little bit in order to complete the season on a high note.
Final Score
(Nitsuj): My final score is 7.5/10
(Isis): I’m giving it a 8.5/10
(Shizuku): I’ll finish it up with an 7/10.
(Isis): So the final score is 23/30 which brings the average score to 7.6 which going by our system translates into a 7.5/10.
(Nitsuj): And I’m adding in a must watch stamp of approval. The second season of Attack on Titan is a good follow up to the first season and worth checking out.
(Shizuku): With the third season around the corner it’s definitely going to get more intense and this season did a good job getting us hyped and ready for what’s to come. It made me a fan and I’m excited to see what happens next.
(Isis): There you have it folks. If someone as battle crazy as Shizuku can get excited for this series than so can you.
(Nitsuj): Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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