Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Episode 13

Attack on Titan Episode 13 (Crunchyroll)

Attack on Titan Episode 13 (Hulu)

Primal Desire / Attack On Trost, Pt. 9 - Attack On Titan, Season 1 (Original Japanese Version)

"Primal Desire/Attack on Trost, Part 9"

08/31/2013

*Spoiler*

I am really enjoying the way that Eren's personal philosophy is growing maturing. He is starting to pile up some pretty great quotes. Everyone is born free in this world, if there are people that deny that, then you need to fight to protect that freedom. It doesn't matter if it is a Titan or another human challenging that freedom that you have.

This episode mostly focuses on Eren's struggle to carry the boulder over to block off the hole in the gate. With a lot of protection (and sacrifices) from his fellow soldiers, he is able to accomplish his goal. For the very first time, mankind has beaten the Titans. Let the wings of freedom soar (Scout Regiment).

After Eren successfully blocks the gate, the Scout Regiment arrives. Captain Levi is really amazing. Of course, his character is a neat freak, so it's funny to see him interacting with Titan blood after he kills them. It seems as if Eren will be able to join the Scout Regiment, which has been his dream since he was a boy. I'm glad. He's had a rough life. Of course, so has every other human up to this point except for maybe the ultra-wealthy and the royalty in the interior.

I sure hope they can make their way over to the basement soon. What could be down there?

Let's stay tuned and find out.

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Episode 12

Attack on Titan Episode 12 (Crunchyroll)

Attack on Titan Episode 12 (Hulu)

Flaw / Attack on Trost Part 8 - Attack On Titan, Season 1 (Original Japanese Version)

"Flaw/Attack on Trost, Part 8"

08/31/2013

Last night and this morning I had a mini-marathon of Attack on Titan. I'm trying to get caught up to what is currently airing, so I can start writing as the episode comes out each week. Here we go with episode 12.

*Spoiler*

This episode has the "classic anime mind trap." Essentially, Eren is stuck inside of his Titan self, and can't seem to get out. This also happens pretty frequently in fantasy books as well. Eren was show a false reality, with his mother still alive and his family altogether, including Mikasa. Of course, it wasn't real, but the episode focused on him trying to escape it while others fought and died around him to protect him.

Armin is really the hero of this episode. He manages to convince Mikasa to leave Eren alone with him. That's amazing in itself, since Mikasa has become quite the hovering older sister. He also sticks with Eren the whole time and finally is able to reach through to him.

A lot of characters really stepped up in this episode. You had Jean keeping his cool even though his gear malfunctioned. General Pixis stuck with the plan despite the early red smoke. He appears to be a better and better commander each episode that we see him. The commander for the elite troops protecting Eren also did a great job and stayed with him.

The episode had very little action, and all of that coming in just the final minutes, but that's alright. This was an episode examining if Eren could control his Titan self. For that reason, I think it will set up things in the future, especially with how he attacked Mikasa.

Of course, we are left with another cliffhanger at the episode's end. What will happen now that Eren has control? We will have to wait and find out.

Stay tuned.

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Episode 11

Attack on Titan Episode 11 (Crunchyroll)

Attack on Titan Episode 11 (Hulu)

Idol / Attack On Trost, Pt. 7 - Attack On Titan, Season 1 (Original Japanese Version)

"Idol/Attack on Trost, Part 7"

08/30/2013

*Spoiler*

So, in this episode we did not have a lot of action. Alright, actually we didn't have any action, but that's alright. This episode was all about character development. We saw a few new things about our main characters.

Eren: We saw him grow more confident and accept the role that he's been given with very little complaining. Even though they seemed to harass him quite a bit in the episode, he took it well and stayed focused on what he would need to do.

Armin: I like the way he is growing. He is gaining maturity and confidence. There are few things more difficult to deal with than a prominent character that spends most of his time doubting himself to the point of whining constantly and becoming incapacitated.

Mikasa: I don't like how clingy she has become to Eren, especially after being eaten by that Titan back a few episodes ago. I also don't like that at the last minute she was assigned to the elite team to accompany Eren. I'm hoping she bounces back soon and becomes that rock-solid character that we grew to like from the earlier episodes.

General Pixis: This guy is awesome. He gave a fantastically motivational speech. "I hate losing more than anything." Pretty great stuff. Here's hoping that his mission to reclaim Trost will succeed.

There was a slight twist at the ending with Eren striking out at Mikasa. I have a feeling though that Eren will get it back under control quickly in the next episode.

"There is a limit to how much we can motivate by fear." Let's all cross our fingers that they'll be able to motivate with a little bit of hope and success after this operation.

Stay tuned.

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Episode 10

Attack on Titan Episode 10 (Crunchyroll)

Attack on Titan Episode 10 (Hulu)

The Response / Attack On Trost, Pt. 6 - Attack On Titan, Season 1 (Original Japanese Version)

"The Response/Attack on Trost, Part 6"

08/29/2013

So, I've decided to expand the blog to also include anime and manga, since I spend my remaining free time watching and reading them, respectively. Right now I'm watching a few shows, so I'll include them as well as my thoughts for the manga series that I'm reading. Naturally, these posts will include spoilers. Otherwise, how would we discuss the series?

*Spoiler*

So, in this episode Eren saves both Armin and Mikasa by partially transforming into a Titan and protecting them both from cannon fire. The effect was nice, however, I would like to point out that they had about a five minute conversation during the span of twenty seconds that elapsed in the show. Classic "anime time warp" (think DBZ fights).

Finally, General Pixis shows up to save the day and remove "Captain Meth," as they call him online, from command. Now, the next step is to see if Eren can move the boulder to seal off the town and let the humans retake the town.

Stay tuned to find out.

Terry Goodkind's "The Omen Machine" Part 1

Terry Goodkind's "The Omen Machine" (Amazon)

Terry Goodkind's "The Omen Machine" (Goodreads)

08/29/2013

Hello, and welcome to my first post for this new blog. In this blog, I will be discussing science fiction and fantasy books and short stories that I'm currently reading. I hope that you enjoy it.

At the moment, I am reading Terry Goodkind's "The Omen Machine" (Link Above). You can look at this novel in two ways, either as book number twelve in the "Sword of Truth" saga, or as book number one in the "Richard and Kahlan" series. I am about halfway through the book, and I'm inclined to go with the latter. So far, the writing seems drastically different than the "Sword of Truth" novels. The characters seem shallow, and the story feels rushed. 

However, with that being said, it is not an entirely terrible read up to this point. Also, Goodkind is one of my favorite authors, so I'm not willing to give up on his work at this point. I will definitely finish this book as well as "The Third Kingdom" after that. I think that he has earned my loyalty to see where he will take the characters in this world, since I enjoyed the first eleven books so much.

Here is to hoping that the story picks up from here. Come back soon to read my take on the second half of the novel.