English Dub Review: Attack on Titan “Beast Titan”

I’m in your walls, messing with your head.

Spoilers Below

After defeating Annie Leonhart, the renegade Scout who could turn into the fearsome Female Titan, the Scout Corps make a disturbing discovery. The battle has broken away a portion of Wall Sina, and a colossal titan is within. A pastor of the Cult of the Wall rushes to the scene, begging the soldiers to cover the hole and protect it from the sunlight. The Cult knew there was a titan in there the whole time! That’s why they had always opposed the military doing any modifications to it! Section Commander Zoe Hange has Pastor Nick taken up to the top of the wall. Hanging him off of it, she interrogates him. Despite the high pressure tactics, Nick doesn’t crack. He’s willing to become chunky salsa on the pavement rather than betray the secrets of the divine walls. Hange theorizes that this titan is not alone, but that all the walls are filled with titans. Dread, terror, and exhilaration mingle in the Section Commander’s gut. It’s feels like she’s a rookie again. No time to delve into those feelings: A messenger has arrived for Commander Erwin. Wall Rose has been breached. Titans are on their way to Wall Sina. Pants are now soiled.

But, let’s rewind a bit. Say twelve hours. Those members of the 104th Training Corps who were not recovering from the battle (or investigating its aftermath) had been shipped out to a remote outpost. Suspected by the brass that any of them could be titan spies, the trainees are kept in civilian clothes, and aren’t allowed access to their ODM Gear or weapons. The ranking officers supervising them however, are armed for bear. Wait, that’s not right. You’d just shoot a bear. They’re armed for titan, and some of the rookies have noticed. They’ve also noticed how bored they are. Connie Springer, a guy despite the name, has also noticed how close to home he is. Just a few hours to the south. Some of his teammates vow to help him escape to his home when night falls. Sasha, however, hears something as her boredom-addled head hits the table. Footsteps. Big enough and deep enough to be titans. Her classmates scoff. They’re inside Wall Rose. They should be safe.

One of their superiors arrive at the window. They are not safe. No time to put on their gear. Get to the horses. Titans are on their way. Squad Leader Mike Zacharius gives them the plan. As soon as the Titans hit the woods surrounding the outpost. Everyone will split up into four groups to ride out and warn surrounding towns. Sasha and Connie are familiar with the surrounding countryside, and can act as guides. Connie comes across a terrible realization. The titans have been approaching from the south. His home town is to the south. Mike orders him to take his group to do their job, and then he will be released to check on his home. The titans hit the trees, and the soldiers split up but… Where is Mike going? He’s spun around and is riding full tilt towards the titans! His plan is to distract the titans to give the team time to save the civilians. Of course, given his level of skill, if anyone could last against these titans, Mike Zacharius would be your man.

Back in the capitol, Eran Yeager wakes up from a memory wrapped in a dream: his mother admonishing him to show strength through restraint, and to stand up for Mikasa instead of letting her stand up for him. As he sits up, he sees his childhood friend hovering over him, teetering on the edge of exhausted sleep herself as she mends her scarf. He tells her to get some rest. No time for that, though. Armin bursts in with the news from the messenger.

Mike is in his element, though. He’s kited and killed whichever titans he could to keep the lot of them entertained. He stalls them long enough and calls for his horse to pick him up. His only concern was the abnormal titan roving about. It looks like a fifty-foot Sasquatch blended with an orangutan. Since abnormals often show bizarre tactics, he has to be careful of it. Really, his horse should have been careful of it. The Beast Titan grabs the horse and chucks it at Mike, knocking him from his safe perch and into the clutches of a titan. As the creature bites down into his legs, he’s certain to die.

“Stop it.” He hears. The beast titan can not only talk but command the other titans! It hunches over and begins asking him about the ODM gear. What is it called? Really, the Beast seems curious. Paralyzed by fear, Mike can’t even answer. So, the Beast takes his ODM and starts walking off. Mike finds his courage and picks up his swords, determined to regain his gear. The Beast releases his sanctions on the other titans, and they tear him apart with glee. Hope you weren’t attached to him.

Oh, man. My popcorn didn’t even last to the commercial break! Attack on Titan has always been a series that keeps up the tension, and you’re always on the edge of your seat. Just like Walking Dead or Game of Thrones, nobody is safe from the jaws of the titans, and curveballs are thrown every five minutes. This episode made those twists a bit more subtle, asking questions as to the nature of the Walls and the Titans, and how they are related. It also introduces this new titan and his incredible intellect. While Eren can retain control of his titan form, the Beast Titan takes that to a whole new level. And with a smart titan fighting our heroes, the feces has hit the fan. Question is, what are his motives? We may never know.

If you weren’t looking at the screenshots above, the art and animation of this series are “A-frickin’-mazing”. The style looks as if it were pulled straight from the pages of the manga, and slapped into movie-quality backgrounds. CG animation is used sparingly, primarily in places where the characters are explaining things, or when a large number of intricately moving characters are on screen. Such a spot was when the 104th split up. I don’t blame them, that was a good number of horses to animate. They did it well enough that the only reason I noticed is because I was looking for it. Studio Wit and Production I.G. are already lauded for their work on the first season of this show, and it doesn’t look like their planning to cheap out for this season either.

Voice acting… I wish I could give a more favorable report. It isn’t bad, not by any stretch of the imagination. I felt, however, that many of the characters could have had a bit more emotion and depth from their voice actors. Armin, on the other hand, needed to dial back. His only lines are delivered with so much faux-scream that they came out high pitched and screechy. All of that being said, none of this takes away from the show as a whole. It just prevents it from bouncing over the standard already set by the series. Hange’s voice has always been fun, and this was a point where Jessica Calvello showed the serious side of the character. I liked it. Overall, I give this episode nine creeper titans out of ten.