Attack on Titan: Episode 04 Review by Miki

Japanese Title: Shingeki no Kyoujin
Reconnaissance Report by: Miki
Progress: Episode 4


attack on titanThree episodes later, humanity has been forced inside the next of three concentric walls, Wall Rose, since the outermost – Wall Maria – was completely overrun by the Titans. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa have made their way through military training along with a partially colorful group of other students. They find varying degrees of success, and the trio joinsthe Survey Corps. The Titans have been quiet during this time, but how long will that quiet last?

This show has been delivering on much of its promise so far. The visuals and animation quality don’t let up, so it’s good to see that the pilot and the OP didn’t just get the lion’s share of the effort. Character-wise, Eren’s development has been quite impressive. Other than him, however, Armin and Mikasa seem to be waiting to deliver on their potential, and most of the other characters seem to be operating on simple profiles.

The plot feels a bit rushed, but training arcs are difficult to time right. While they need to have this to show Eren’s development, there’s a lot more story to get to in this series. Unfortunately, the secondary characters aren’t very distinguishable despite the obvious effort to make the audience care about them. This also isn’t to mention the convenience of the Titans’ absence and the timing of their return. It seems accurate on a couple levels to say that they appear to just teleport back into the story out of nowhere. Until this is explained, it can only be chalked up to a disappointing contrivance.

Score: 8.50/10