Well, the Female Titan was certainly an interesting opponent. As much as they’ve been established as a credible threat, the regular Titans still really only do one thing – lumber towards you, grab you, and eat you. Sure, there’s Aberrants, but while they may come at you differently, they still just want to eat you. The Female Titan, on the other hand, is, obviously, much more sentient, even intelligent, and probably as a result much more sadistic, spinning soldiers in the air by the wires of their Maneuver Gear or kicking horse and rider like a soccer ball. On the one hand, it sort of feels like slapstick and you almost want to laugh, but the show’s built up enough empathy for the humans that it’s also a little horrifying to watch, especially if you’re able to imagine yourself in their shoes.
I also liked the part where Eren
had to struggle with whether or not to transform. It turned out he didn’t have
to; there was a plan to capture her and all he and Levi’s squad needed to do was
buy time, but several people had to die in the process who may not have if he’d
just transformed. But we know from the flashback where he transformed while
reaching for a spoon how unpredictable it can be, and not just in battle like
we previously saw. And transforming means he’d probably have fought the Female
Titan, and potentially even killed her, when they’re supposed to be taking her
alive. It’s a good illustration of how dangerous an ability Eren has, rather
than some magic solution to humanity’s Titan problem. Plus, it’s about how in
desperate situations sacrifices have to be made, even if that sacrifice is not using something that could potentially
make the whole thing easier. And cost fewer lives.
That said, the device they used
to capture the Female Titan seems awfully tailored to an intelligent Titan,
since every other capture just involved a handful of very large stakes rather
than an arrow volley’s worth of tiny hooks. Why would they have a device like
that unless they expected to run into an intelligent Titan? It’s like how no
one seemed to know where in the formation Eren was – an odd detail that makes
it look like someone was expecting more of what happened than has been let on.
Maybe I’m thinking too hard about this, or I forgot something since there’s a
bit too long of a gap between when I saw these episodes and when I wrote this,
but it still seems like something’s off about all of this.
But boy does the ending hook you.
Pun not intended. Because who doesn’t badly want to find out who’s inside the
Female Titan after watching it? But there’s one thing I noticed earlier, and it’s
that she seemed to recognize Armin. I get the feeling she might be someone we
know. But the preview for episode 20 then makes it look like something will go
wrong and we’ll get revelation-blocked (you know, like crotch-blocking, only
the thing denied is a plot reveal).
Stella Women's Academy [ep. 7 - An Assassin's Bullet Cannot Kill a Kindred Spirit]
When Sono mentioned the sale of
an illegally-modded gun, I was probably about 50/50 on ‘it’s Rin’/‘they’ll make
us think it’s Rin, but she’ll turn
out to be a red herring.’ As of the end of the episode, yeah, all available
evidence is creating an invisible neon sign over her head proclaiming ‘she did
it!’ She is the only one we know of
so far with an actual motive for targeting Sono like that, although the actual
reason why she has that big of a grudge is still up in the air.
I get why they incapacitated
Sono. She’s the team’s star player, and now they have to learn to play without
counting on her to bail them out when the going gets tough. And naturally, it
happens right before the big tournament. It’s also the catalyst for Yura to
step up to the plate and really show how far she’s come in confidence and drive.
It’s all kinda cliché, but hey, who’s watching this for originality? I’m not.
It’s still a little unfortunate though, because it means less screentime for
Sono. I like Sono; she’s cool.
And honestly, I’m curious to see
what will happen in the tournament, but I don’t think the girls are going to
win. I do expect them to end up beating Rin’s team, but some of the other teams
introduced look like they have much more experience, and in at least one case
actual military training, that would put then far above a bunch of high
schoolers, even really skilled ones. A lesson on why they’re really doing this,
and how winning is nice but really at the heart of it, will probably be
involved.
Oh, and one about respect and
fair play, because even if Rin isn’t the
sniper, it’s obvious it’ll still turn out to be someone in the tournament.
The Eccentric Family [ep. 7 - Bathhouse Rules]
Forgot how to shape-shift my ass!
That’s just Yajiro’s excuse so he can stay down the well hiding in shame. But
I’d wager the chances he’s at fault for what happened are close to zero, and if
he does actually share any blame, it’s because of something where he technically
contributed to his father’s capture but couldn’t have known what would happen.
Or at least it’s nothing his father’s ghost will haunt him over, and that his
family won’t forgive him for.
And this is the point where I
start speculating on whether the Ebisugawas are to blame at all for what
happened to Soichiro. With the need to elect a new leader they’re the ones who
stand to benefit the most by his death, and having ‘he failed to prevent his
father’s death!’ as an ace-in-the-hole to discredit the Shimogamos sounds like
exactly the kind of thing an ambitious rival would set up. But then there’s
also Soichiro’s intervention in the tengu feud, so at least some of them have,
if not a chance to directly benefit, at least a grudge against him. Maybe the
two are in cahoots? It does feel like there’s a whole combination of factors,
and by extent people/creatures behind Soichiro’s one-way ticket to a hot-pot.
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