English Dub Review: Attack on Titan “The War Hammer Titan”


OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

In flashbacks, we learn that Willy and Magath knew beforehand that they would be attacked by Eren, and so arranged for the big event to gather enough people from around the world to be caught up in the crossfire to warrant a global effort against Eren and the Eldians from Paradis. Their efforts end up working as intended, as Magath rallies the rest of his forces that weren’t deliberately placed to die in order to face the oncoming threat. Lara Tybur, Willy’s sister, reveals herself to be the War Hammer Titan and engages Eren, but even though she’s able to bring him out of his Titan body, she’s stopped by Mikasa, who arrives along with the rest of the Scouts. They gang up on Porco, who’s gotten out of the hole trap, while Eren figures out the War Hammer’s gimmick. It’s shown that it can create several types of weapons with its hardening ability, a more versatile version of what other Titans have shown, but Lara is not in the body’s nape, but hiding underneath the stage controlling the body remotely. Eren then rips her out of the ground and disconnects her from the body, planning to eat and absorb her powers like when his father ate the Founding Titan.

Meanwhile, Gabi and Colt try to escape the chaos. Zofia and Udo are killed. Gabi sees two policemen be killed by a sniper, revealed to be Sasha.

OUR TAKE

With the attack on Marley in full force, we see gears turning on multiple fronts, as well as the return of most of the main cast, who are now four years older and have massively upgraded their Titan hunting gear…but that’s not what I want to focus on this week. There will be time to reflect on everything that is happening next time, but there is one thing that will not be sticking around for long, and it’s the title of this week’s episode: The War Hammer Titan.

This Titan was the last of the Nine Titans that we had left to see, having seen at least one of the Attack, Female, Armor, Colossal, Founding, Jaw, Beast, and Cart. And I didn’t keep track of this well enough to say I was all that hyped to see this last one, nor was I connected to fan forums enough to tell if anyone else was. However, such a quick reveal and subsequent elimination (because SPOILERS, she’s dead by next episode and it’s basically an afterthought) was always something that really irked me as I awaited the episode that would cover it. Now, I understand that there are already several dozen fully fleshed out characters to juggle right now, including the two handfuls of new ones introduced in Marley, so I can see why adding yet another one for this remaining Titan might have seen like something to just shuffle off. But I can’t help but feel like this was a bit of a waste for at least a few reasons.

First thing worth pointing out is that Lara is so insignificant in the manga that she didn’t even get a name, instead given one in the eyecatch of this episode instead of ever having it said out loud. She also has no connections to any other characters besides her brother Willy, but she only becomes important the second he’s killed and she’s revealed to have a Titan. Yet surprisingly, her Titan’s powers and design are quite unique amongst the rest, sporting an almost alien like look, being able to conjure weapons from essentially thin air, and being to operate her Titan from a remote location so the usual methods of defeating one are left useless. But at the end of the day, she’s given only a couple lines that don’t give her any apparent personality, her weakness is immediately found out, and now she’s about to be killed and used to upgrade Eren.

I guess it’s not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things and we do have a lot of ground left to cover, but it still feels more like boss fight in a video game than a fight with any character behind it, aside from showing how much more ruthless and calculating Eren has become now. And this isn’t helped by the notable use of CGI in the fight, which is just how major Titan encounters will be handled under Studio Mappa. There has been a LOT of heated discussion about this change, and while it is certainly not bad CGI, it is conspicuous enough that it takes me out of things sometimes, as well as making remember how well animated the purely line drawn Titan fights were in the previous three seasons. So, much like my ramblings with the War Hammer Titan, I guess it’s not really that much of a real issue, but it sure bugs me a whole lot. Anyway, more relevant ranting next time.