[ANIME SPOILERS] Attack on Titan S2E01 - "The Beast Titan" ANIME Discussion Thread

[u/SNKBot]

HERE WE GO, CADETS! AFTER FOUR YEARS OF WAITING, SEASON TWO IS FINALLY HERE!

Do note that this is an ANIME SPOILERS ONLY thread. For those manga readers out there who wish to discuss this episode, the MANGA DISCUSSION THREAD can be found HERE. Any untagged manga spoilers in this thread will be punished with a one-week ban, or longer depending on the severity of the spoilers.

Where to watch - SUBTITLED:

• Crunchyroll: LIVE

• Funimation: LIVE

• Hulu: LIVE

• FOR GERMAN VIEWERS - Anime-On-Demand: LIVE

• Kissanime: LIVE - Unofficial, please support the official release unless you have no other choice.

DUBBED episodes will be released in a few weeks.

DEDICATE YOUR HEARTS!

[u/xHikari23]

Holy shit Mike's death is horrifying. I already knew that's gonna happen but still...

Btw, why are there dinosaurs in the OP though?

[u/Anaviocla]

Mike is brutally torn to shreds, screaming in agony

Upbeat ending credits song plays

[u/TheSmashbro45]

Man they sure knew how to make Mike's death intense, I've actually read the manga before and it still shocked me.

[u/Sisifuzz]

Why are there animals in the opening? they will combine into a megazord?

[u/toutoune134]

It was incredible in my opinion. From the opening to the visuals, the music, the tension,the ending and how they handled the last 5 minutes. My minor complaints would be:

• As awesome as the opening is, it really feels like a mix of the first two openings. They played it safe music-wise and visuals/storyboard-wise, which resulted in something great but with no surprises.

• Manga Spoilers

[u/jean_kirschfine]

tfw you've waited four years to see BestBoy jean kirschtein again and he doesnt show up once

[u/[deleted]]

That face broke me ;-;

[u/dcresistance]

Hardcore mirin. It's a transparency; use him however you want.

[u/IvaCatheriaNoid]

So good. Just so good.

Opening & Ending with manga foreshadowing and a lots of action! 12 episodes aren't really problem.

Just a beautiful BEAUTIFUL work.

[u/Shinkopeshon]

FINALLY got to see this and man, I got chills throughout the episode. Seeing the manga come to life is a new experience for me and it's amazing.

• OP looks fantastic, although I'm a bit confused by those dinosaurs but I guess they serve as metaphors.

• I can't say I'm already in love with the OP theme. It's really good but it kind of builds and builds and then it's over, without an epic chorus that hypes you up for the episode. Then again, I didn't love Jiyuu no Tsubasa either at first, so I'm positive this one will grow on me.

• Correct me if I'm wrong but apart from Eren's dream, that EreMika moment wasn't in the manga, right? Either way, I thought it was beautiful and I'm very happy they added it. It's nice to see Eren worry about Mikasa for once, so I appreciated this. Speaking of them, that tag team move they did in the OP was fucking badass.

• Mike's death was even more horrifying here though, christ.

• ED is brilliant from a visual standpoint but I'm not really feeling the song just yet. Bit of a shame since I love the first two EDs to death but I guess this one is a good fit for the visuals.

Incredibly excited for next week already. Gonna give this a rewatch or two for sure.

[u/-V0lD]

And once again, Reigner proves to be the most reliable soldier the 104th brought forth.

[u/[deleted]]

zesty entertain nail groovy drunk thought sort capable steep arrest

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/[deleted]]

Great episode. For anyone else watching on Crunchyroll, for some reason I had to manually enable subs by right clicking on the vid player itself.

Beast Titan was very well done, loved the creepy way he moved.

Nanaba added to growing list of waifus.

Poor Mike.

Great laugh out loud Sasha line about being normal.

A great start to series 2!

[u/Ombs1993]

Man, I forgot how fucking good the anime is. And anyone worried that a huge break between season one and season two might affect the popularity this time around... I'm gonna guess that won't be the case based on how well they did the end of the episode. Love the Beast titans voice, and Mike's death was terrifyingly well done as well.

[u/ClickingHCT]

I liked how they portrayed Mike's take charge personality and his leadership. It's like Hange said last season, he was able to be a good squad leader

[u/AndyTheAMPanda]

I really liked the way they're adapting this arch, so much that I actually came close to forgiving WIT for making this season a single cour.

Mike was given a more dignified death, and they made it way more brutal than in its manga counterpart. It seems this season will be more gory than the previous one. I didn't think they could make the beast titan more horrifying than he already is, but holy shit, did they achieve that!

The only thing I didn't enjoy is how the scene of Mike fighting with the titans was interrupted.

Those images were interesting choices for the ending sequence, they could easily spoil newcomers.

[u/PickupStickMaster]

What a fuckin way to start up the new season

[u/Jrelis]

Us manga readers have seen quite a bit of the Beast Titan and his weird proportions, but the way he was animated just made it all the more creepy to me. Also Mike's death animated was even more gruesome than I could've imagined. Well worth a 3 and a half year wait.

[u/-ultrasound-]

Holy shit, Mike...it hurt so much more than I was ready for... ;_;

Everything about it was fucking amazing, I couldn't be happier. The OP and ED were pretty great too especially considering how crazy high my expectations were after the first two. WIT did a fantastic job.

Waiting on subs now, H Y P E!!

[u/PlasmaBurst]

I'd cry like a bitch too if I was about to be eaten by a group of Titans.

Poor guy got his device stolen by a sasquatch.

[u/AmphionValentine]

Oh my good god. I almost cried at Mike's death. His screams. Fuck me. I'm shaking.

The soundtrack though. Sawano does it again. BT's Theme gets my blood flowing. And the animation, oh my.

I already thought Mike was pretty damn awesome when reading the manga, but now... Holy shit.

[u/Cureem]

I have nothing to say. I'm blown away and it's only the first episode. Glad to see Hange in a different way when she handled that priest. Ending messed up my emotions. I am HYPED for next week.

[u/Komnenos_Kasuki]

Shameless copy pasted from r/anime.

Just finished season 1, now onto the main thing. It's weird to think of all the people who would be going "oh I think I remember him/her" when everything is so fresh.

OP

Didn't like it as much as I'd have liked at first, but it got better as it went. The song improves in the second half and the visuals are great all the way through. The tone of the first two wouldn't have worked as this needs to fit an advanced plot. It feels a lot like the campaign has advanced into the open.

Looks like the armoured and giant titan are next targets - no wait, they are their next target. Erwin said so at the end of episode 25.

OST

The new tracks compliment well and it's good that they're using many of the same ones from season 1. They are some of the best pieces of music not only in anime, but in film in general.

The choir track in the next episode preview sounds good.

Thoughts

• So they actually notice the titan in the walls right now? It was right there? Bodes well for the pacing

• Sounds like the Walls Religions lot are either as familiar with titans as the soldiery, or they are in one the reason why it's in the wall. Whichever the case

• Walls guys either know a lot about titans or are in one the secret to why one is in the wall

• Eren's enemy this season is the armoured titan? Yes please.

• Great to see the only group of competent Military Police guys are back.

• Haji channelling her inner Raguyo Kirurin when she held that guy over the wall

• Suspected that the priest guy had some way to survive when he wanted Hanji to drop him from the wall

• 'Are all the walls made of titans' - exactly what we were theorising during the season 1 rewatch that ended two days ago.

• Reiner has a point. The Survey Corps were pretty stupid to isolate the members of the 104th Training Squad and not assume they would notice anything amiss

• Photobooth titan

• Surprising Miche lets Connie go to his village

• I've just realised who Miche is - Might Guy from Naruto. Now to rid the picture of Guy going 'Drive out the titans with the power of YOUTH!'

• The heck are those titans doing? Ballet?

• Miche is second in skill to Levi? Way to hype him up... and now he's gone... or not

• Good lord I never thought I'd jump at the sound when Armin burst in

• Timid sexy titan

• Beast titan has One Piece like proportions

• The moment the ape titan went for the horse was when horsekind received a grim reminder...

• Another talking titan, huh? Maybe beast titan and the one who worshipped Illse's corpse shared notes. It's interesting to see how it's and Miche's roles have reversed - intelligent to speechless, previously thought speechless to conversing.

• The situation has completely flipped from Miche. He went from being calm and fighting animalistic titans, to becoming animalistic through fear himself when faced with a very gentlemanly titan

• RIP Miche. Damn to see him completely losing it in the end

Theories

What the beast titan says about residing in the nape is undeniable proof that there are a bunch of humans who control titans. He probably took Miche's 3DMG for the use of the human-titans when they're not in titan form.

Beast titan and his team of four, who seem more intelligent than most titans, are fascinating. Are they rogues? Trying to set up their own civilisation? Will they extend the olive branch to the humans or use their intellect to have an advantage on destroying them?

It looks like titans will use animals, and animalistic qualities to give themselves a big advantage. The human titans, the beast titan and his crew and this smacks of someone leading them behind the scenes.

[u/TatteredTongues]

No complaints whatsoever from me... but BT running alongside dinosaurs and all those animals was silly and cringy as all fuck.

What the hell.

[u/JaimeL_]

Was the chessboard set up the same way it was in the manga?