Attack on Titan's core message gains full meaning in a seemingly fruitless conversation with a bystander
Above all, it shows the ordinary has the answer to life's mysteries, be it Titans or humans
Hence this arc matters #AoTVincent
Episode 48 adapts:
Chapter 70: A Dream I Once Had (pages 1-17, 26-41)
Chapter 71: Bystander
As expected, some sections were trimmed but this time for better pacing while others were moved around
Like Friends, this episode is quite high quality in art and storyboards #AoTVincent
The faces of those who return to the place they once lost
After 5 years, humanity witnesses empty homes
As the sun behind them shines on a new dawn, the Scouts prepare for the Return to Shiganshina
18, the coming of age
And of the harsh, necessary truth
Volume 18 #AoTVincent
For the events of Chapter 71, I have already covered them on this thread
Please check it out
I will expand on what the anime contributes to this section later on #AoTVincent
It is fitting to discuss the full episode today on its 4th anniversary
There is not much to cover in Chapter 70 but it centers of the calm in the Walls as they adjust to a new regime and answer new questions
But I gotta say, Isayama really loves making his meme faces #AoTVincent
Historia is a constitutional monarch
Key to Uprising's realistic politics
To counter absolutism, restore consent to be governed
Her charity role does evoke certain queens
Part of noblesse oblige but also Historia being herself
Using a limited role in a heartfelt cause #AoTVincent
Armin reminds us the Military, people from the old system, rule
Revolutions do rely on members of the old system to apply force against the system itself
Yeagerist fascism had appeal bec it broke from that, only for 139 to remind us they have not learned from history #AoTVincent
Historia being queen ironically let her choose to be proud of herself amidst culturally-ingrained constraints
As a person, part of the World (Heidegger's term for circumstances)
They remain part of life so she cannot be separated from them
She is born into this world #AoTVincent
I cover more of Historia's circumstances in this thread, which makes her an archetype akin to a Biblical accused woman whose being is judged by the powerful patriarchy
She created a better Paradise for those born into this world #AoTVincent
Just praising the visuals of this episode, not the kinda misleading "shippy" scene here (with the "blush" but let's give people what they want)
Bihou's cloud game was strongest this season, as we will see with other scenes #AoTVincent
The anime's narration really minimized the impact of the epistemological/knowledge transition
This is both a consequence of losing the Hange training scene from the start of Uprising and of not mentioning that the Interior Squad kept documents of advanced research #AoTVincent
The Reiss cave is seriously more than a gold mine
The "limitless energy" being the luminescent rock is a shortcut to the light bulb or electrical power, showing the natural advantages of Titan science and expanded opportunities for both common people and foreign trade #AoTVincent
A "convenient power-up" aligns with the narrative
The hardening serum was one of many secrets the Reiss kept from humanity, part of their experimentation with Titan diversity
And it is how Eren could help reclaim Wall Maria and Hange build a life-saving mechanism #AoTVincent
Just like how Grisha took the Founder to free Eldian fate from a conservative cliche, Eren and Hange's reclamation of Titan secrets was their way to complete the Wall Maria mission and helped humanity rise beyond the Titans by this point
Regardless of plot convenience #AoTVincent
One of the few times any adaptation employed one of AoT's flashback styles
Usually we just get a full scene but this was easy to do
An example of the ship focus this episode but I like this one as they warmed up to each other more the whole arc
Plus they are cute #AoTVincent
Slight rearrangement I like is we get introduced to Floch later on
Jean remarks that the excited recruits lack practical experience
Floch is more distinct in the anime bec his hairstyle was clarified
This scene fits Floch due to who he is
An ordinary guy in the Forest #AoVincent
The manga goes more into this
Floch's timing is important because it was the SUCCESS of the Scouts that brought him in first
He was not given the allure bec, like all ordinary people, he was not sure
Don't forget he was of the Garrison too
Ordinary soldier #AoTVincent
Yes he grows in the culture but since his first experience with the Scouts is extreme, he becomes devoted to a fanatical realization of that success, that a "devil" is needed
Admiration of the devil kept him from understanding him, like Floch's admirers in the fandom #AoTVincent
The manga also slightly goes into the process of the gang slowly coming to the realization that the Titans were more than some infected zombies or cursed by nightmares, as Armin notes that there is more to the world beyond the walls #AoTVincent
As for Eren realizing Shadis was the man he was looking for, it is pretty fun how he goes about it, him wishing the instructor specifically headbutted him since no one knew the conditions for memory unlocks
And by mentioning Shadis, he saw the bald man in the odd man #AoTVincent
Mid-info card is on the...did Hange actually name the Titan guillotine that?
Sheesh letting out the edgy out of the bag #AoTVincent
The anime presents the events of Bystander quite cleanly
Certain background shots and the storyboarding of Grisha holding Eren in particular felt really powerful
Evoking the mystery of Grisha but also of the "curse" Shadis felt of his own static existence #AoTVincent
The melding of Akatsuki no Requiem was perfect
Expressing that feeling of knowing you are born into this world
Your existence means you are free
Eren never giving up was the moment the Bystander failed the lesson
Yet also where he saw humanity at its freest
Struggling #AoTvincent
Finished the review
This was a lot shorter than expected but I explained more about Bystander in the chapter review
Hope you all enjoyed it
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The revelation of the Soul King lore in the TYBW anime opened my eyes to the full story of Bleach happening both in macro- and microcosm
Ichigo's life is the story of the life and death of the universe, as if the creation of Man is the eternal present retelling of Creation itself
This thread shows the original state of the Bleach world:
@radman_v2 notes: Bleach is a pantheistic world, the inner world of Adyneus (Adonai/LORD or Gnostic Archon of the Sun), as if all beings once existed as part of God's "soul sleep" (a Bleach term)
Fave part about #BleachTYBW lore is how much Kubo recontextualizes everything with Ep 28
Yhwach does feel like a Zanpakuto Spirit in relation to his dad, who divided an infinite ocean world of chaos while Yhwach cries as Zangetsu does for Ichigo
Helpless to stop the Original Sin
The first time we meet Zangetsu, his name was erased by Ichibe
This might not even be the name Yhwach but possibly Yhwach's birth name as Reio's godly son
The black on incarnate Yhwach is Ichibe's doing, erasing his name and meddling in reincarnation by making him a human
Yhwach and Zangetsu are not merely tied by blood
They are the same
Zangetsu stands on a sword in waiting
Yhwach presents a sword to Ichigo
By himself he cannot act
Yhwach is a Zanpakuto spirit who needs a king
Ichigo is that king, with Hollow-Fullbringer-Quincy-Shinigami essence
Attack on Titan
The Final Season
Part 1
The Rewatch Thread
After WIT staff and Araki brought AoT into a wider world
MAPPA staff under Yuichiro Hayashi's direction take on the pressure and challenge of adapting the post-timeskip content and a stronger discourse on war #AoTVincent
Today is the 2nd anniversary of the Final Season
A big day for me
I will be making a live-tweet series per season but as the anniversary of the season that basically immersed me into the anime online community, I needed to skip to this point #AoTVincent
I will make different threads per episode, as well as links to any blog post I made before as references
Part 1 actually had most of its episodes reviewed on my Hubpages
Also watch out for special thread series in between
Will organize all thread types soon #AoTVincent
Episode 374: The Shooting Star Project (Zero Mix)
7/10
The calm after the storm
A dark atmosphere gathers in Soul Society after the dust settles
While bright light is a hollow hole for the bereaved who witness the apathetic Squad Zero claim Ichigo for their plans #BleachVincent
Episode 374 adapts:
Chapter 515: Relics
Chapter 516: Squad Zero (pages 2-6, 9-17)
Chapter 517: The Stairway to Heaven
Chapter 518: The Shooting Star Project (Zero Mix) (pages 1-10, 12-16)
Chapter 519: Hot, Hot, Heat
515 title page
While fast, not much was skipped #BleachVincent
Interesting choice to have Unohana not join as she was a veteran from Yamamoto's time
That is not a spoiler. We saw her face last episode
So why was she left behind? Was it so the best healer survives? Even as Kirinji reveals she cannot heal Byakuya et al fully #BleachVincent
Bleach Episode 373: Born in the Dark
9.5/10
A turmoil-filled conclusion to the first Wandenreich invasion, mired with a heavy weight of loss and uncertainty
Soul Society beyond repair, its image of protection and Ichigo's confidence broken like his Bankai #BleachVincent
Episode 373 adapts:
Chapter 511: Die Standing
Chapter 512: The Stand Ablaze
Chapter 513: The Dark Moon Stroke
Chapter 514: Born in the Dark
The extensions of the anime not only improve pacing but enrich the material of 511 and 514 to a surprising degree #BleachVincent
The first scene is original and I love it
The lack of voices is perfect as history is played through the dated film and the Sagisu choral track played in Episode 371
The song sounds heroic but the lyrics speak of the ruthlessness of Yamamoto and the original Gotei #BleachVincent
The start of Season 2 centers on Zeke Yeager, whose presence changed the entire story in more ways than one
The thread title is based on a quote from Bleach Volume 48: GOD IS DEAD and shares a thematic parallel to the subtle commentary of the quote and the volume’s figure, Aizen
Men being imitations of apes does not literally mean men act like apes
The second line is the answer: “All gods, imitations of men” means the gods we worship are a reflection of who we are and want
The Beast embodies both lines as an Ape due to its real unique feature, variation