Anime Thoughts: The Imperiled

Attack on Titan [ep. 22 - The Defeated: 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls, Part 5]
This episode reminded of that quote/motif from the last book in the Black Company series – “soldiers live – and wonder why.” Eren certainly seems to feel that way now, what with seeing everyone who was with him get curb-stomped because of him. And then he has to watch Petra’s dad talk to Levi oblivious to the fact she’s dead (and they hammer it in for the viewer by showing the families of all four reacting as if they’re going to come back). To be fair, Eren is special, what with being the only one who can turn into a Titan – well, and who’s on humanity’s side – but I’m pretty sure that sort of logic doesn’t make someone feel any less guilty about others having to die on their account.

And it definitely looks like most of the others are having the same kind of thoughts. All that work, all that sacrifice, and in the end they went back after a day – a single friggin’ day – with nothing but casualties to show for it. And get to listen to the people who were singing their praises not half a day ago, and have no idea what happened, turn around and talk shit about how ‘useless’ they are when they’re fighting an enemy that outclasses them so much it’s a miracle they found a way to fight them at all. And that just sucks. It’s not like they want to come back without accomplishing anything, but seriously, there’s only so much they can do.

And it’s not like Erwin and Levi like leaving people behind. Look what happens when you try to retrieve them – you get two more dead and need to abandon all the bodies you did have for your trouble.

The Eccentric Family [ep. 10 – The Behind-the-Scenes Dealings of Ebisugawa Soun]

Huh, so it was a conspiracy the entire time. And, of course, Soun’s the culprit. I guess it’s true what they say about how it’s almost always the most likely suspect (or maybe that’s just from that one episode of The Simpsons, I dunno). I’m not terribly surprised, because he was always the one who stood to benefit the most from his brother being out of the picture, but for a while there it really did look, at least to me, like it was just ‘shit happens’ and he was only taking advantage of what’s, for him, a godsend. Mostly because the themes of family and coping with loss were more obvious, so it seemed, again, to me, like the story wasn’t actually going for the ‘conspiracy’ angle. In hindsight I’m not actually sure why the former would make the latter less likely, but it seems to be the reasoning I was using. But hey, it’s not like it’s a nonsensical reveal, because it was ever a mystery who the culprit would be if it was actually a murder. Now it’s just time to wait for Yaijiro to overcome his inability to shape-shift and save his family. Because you don’t have the bad guys ignore someone on the assumption they’re not a threat and not have that be the thing that ruins their perfect plan. Well, you could, but this is a show where it’d be appropriate dramatically and thematically. Or Kaisei could be the one to save them, since she’s not exactly on board with her family’s plan. Maybe it’ll be both.

Also, I forgot the whole ‘Soichiro’ can’t maintain human form around Benten’ thing – that definitely would’ve been a factor in staying away from Akadama while she was with him.

Anime Thoughts: Thus, the Wait Ends

Genshiken: Second Season [eps. 7-9 - KOIBANA3, There's a Route, but There's No Loop! & White Gate Keeper]
This show’s been absent for a while because I haven’t been able to think of anything to really say for the last few episodes. Sure, there’s been some amusing stuff, like Yoshitake’s putting Warring States generals in everything, Sue following Those Two Girls (*should just look up their names – is too lazy*) around during the festival like a spoiled dog begging for food, and Ohno getting giddy over the prospect of getting all the club members into cosplay, but you can’t really get even a short paragraph on something like that.

There’s probably also a bunch more that can be said about Hato, what with how he can only draw well when cross-dressing, and this continual anxiety he feels over whether Madarame and Kasukabe should be together – no Hato, don’t go trying to break up her and Kohsaka. Trying to force something like that is just a bad idea. And I suppose his ability to go become a yaoi-drawing machine when cross-dressing stems from exactly what Ogiue pointed out in episode 9 – he likes and wants to draw it, but he’s ashamed of it and thus can only do it as a girl, since it feels more ‘acceptable’ that way, what with the target audience for yaoi being women. He’s basically the main ‘embarrassed about what they like’ character this season. I know, completely new information, right? Yes, I really couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Stella Women’s Academy [ep. 9 – Thus, the Party Ends]

OK, it’s official – Sono’s a troll. The first time it just looked like fanservice (not that it isn’t still…), but this time it’s clear she walks out of the bathroom naked on purpose, just to startle Yura. Then there was the ninja ramen-eating. I’m not complaining – the latter was pretty funny, and there’s probably a hundred things before now that made that clear and I’m forgetting about…like when she swiped Karila and Honoka’s bikini tops to use as replacement flags. Wait, why am I only making this declaration now? But yeah, total troll.

Anyways. Now we know where Rin’s coming from, and while she’s not just self-absorbed like I was kinda assuming she was, she’s still misguided, but because she took the wrong lesson from the death of Sono’s (and her) mentor. Also, it turns out she’s not the one who shot Sono – but if she knew he was there when it happened, I rather doubt she wasn’t just standing by and letting it happen. She can catch him after he’s taken her rival out of commission. And her reaction when Yura tries to come clean does make sense – in her book, doing anything you need to in order to win is perfectly acceptable, so Yura didn’t do anything wrong, at least not according to her own personal code of behaviour; really, she’d probably only consider knowingly doing things that hurt your chances of winning to be ‘violations,’ regardless of what the rules might actually be. Plus, she’s clearly trying to turn Yura to the Dark Side, and as of now it’s working.

And down that path lies nothing but hollow victories. They really drove home the comparison between the two teams this episode. The Meisei girls are practicing in a normal shooting range, except it’s bleak and sterile and the only time one of them even speaks is to give Rin a message in a business-like manner. Meanwhile, the Stella girls are playing some silly game, joking around, and clearly having a blast. And it’s not like they can’t be serious – they’re plenty serious when Yura tries to tell them what happened. But when you get down to it, they’re doing the same thing – practicing their shooting; hitting a small piece of rope is probably as hard as hitting the center of a paper target, when you think about it. But it’s clear who’s getting more out of it.

The Eccentric Family [ep. 9 – Kaisei, Daughter of Ebisugawa]

Huh, that wasn’t as much about Kaisei as I thought it would be. More like a proper introduction since we finally get to see her. And I do hope she gets more screentime from here on out, because she seems pretty interesting. Mostly, it’s the way she seems conflicted – caught between the need to stand with her family, and knowing that they aren’t the best people/tanuki/whatever out there, or the smartest (‘Hey! No one calls my brothers dumbasses but me!’). Plus, she clearly still cares about Yasaburo and his family – possibly she’s fond of their mom in the same way the latter is of her. Because why else would she warn Yasaburo that her father and brothers have something nasty up their sleeves? Methinks Soichiro knew what he was doing when he arranged to have her marry Yasaburo.

It’s like how Yasaburo, and to a lesser extent his brothers, still make time for Professor Akadama in spite of everything that’s frustrating about him, or his past wrongs. I called him unsympathetic after finding out he kidnapped Benten, and that’s still far removed from anything you could deem acceptable behaviour. But on the other hand, we’ve seen how he was a close friend of Soichiro and does care about Yasaburo, even if he’s too proud to show it. Plus, he’s still just a grumpy old man who clings to his pride because it’s all he has left and refuses to let go of the past – specifically Benten, who’s long since kicked him to the curb because she’s no longer in his power. In some ways he’s kind of pathetic, and while I can’t say I like him, that makes it harder to actively dislike him too, since it doesn’t seem like he can harm anyone anymore. Just like Kaisei seems to be devoted to her family despite her misgivings, the Shimogamos are loyal to Akadama as a long-time family friend in spite of what he’s done. It’s kind of a theme.

Also, I spent this episode wondering who’d be the tanuki to get hot-potted by the Friday Fellows. Since it’d be the perfect way for the Ebisugawas to pull a checkmate on the Shimogamos, my first thought was that the scheme was to get their mom caught, so that Soun could insist that it’s not fair for Yaichiro to take on so much leadership responsibility while he and his family are grieving. But, neutralizing a political rival by killing someone close to them, leaving them with the strong suspicion you’re responsible (because you’re the obvious suspect) and able to come back with a vengeance, isn’t the best idea. Plus, Professor Yodogawa is the one who has to catch the tanuki this year, and he remembers the time he helped her vividly enough that he’d probably recognize her, and there’s no way he’d let her be eaten, so it still doesn’t really make sense. Maybe the plan is to make sure Yaichiro is hot-potted – that makes way more sense.

Anime Thoughts: First Genshiken, Now Stella - Am I Thinking Way Too Hard About This Stuff, Or Actually On to Something?

Attack on Titan [ep. 20 - Erwin Smith: 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls, Part 4]
Of course – a spy! That’s why some of the soldiers wouldn’t know everything, or be told conflicting information. And if they think there’s a spy who also has the ability to transform in their ranks, of course they’d bring along something tailored to capture an intelligent Titan. Damnit me, you suspect humans are behind the Titans, how were you not able to think of any of this? OK, yeah, bottom line, none of this stuff about everyone being told Eren was in a different place or the expedition ‘conveniently’ having something for capturing the Female Titan is as suspicious as I was making it out to be. Because I apparently never considered that the people behind the Titans would do something like infiltrate the Survey Corps. I was thinking that the brass knew about the Female Titan already, and was maybe even connected to whoever’s behind the Titans – like this was all part of a plan to make everyone think they were gaining ground when they actually weren’t. Or something, it doesn’t make much sense even to me, especially now. Not sure if the series was actually that good at not making it obvious or if I was just so focused on one possibility I overlooked another, though.

There was also an interesting contrast between deception and trust in these last few episodes. Smith and Levi were asking everyone to take their word that everything was under control, because of the need to fool the person controlling the Female Titan. But they’re in a situation where there’s too much potential for things to go wrong if everyone isn’t on the same page, like how Eren almost transformed because he couldn’t see any other solution, but in hindsight that could’ve seriously jeopardized the actual plan. Only telling everyone the full plan is a bad idea because it means they’ll alert the spy. The need to balance the two is just another one of those ways the show makes it clear that, beneath all the giant-slaying and swinging from wires, these people are in an extremely precarious situation.

Stella Women’s Academy [ep. 8 – Should a Commander be Cold of Heart?]

Well, I was completely off the mark on this one. I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprise they won; OK, there’s no shouldn’t about it – I’m not; the show’s about them, after all. And yeah, they didn’t win, but until Yura ‘fesses up, they think they did.

But still, when you see that there’s other teams made up of people like active members of the Marine Corps, or others who seem like they’d have way more years of experience, not to mention relevant training, you’d think they’d be better than a team of high schoolers. I knew Rin’s team was supposed to be insanely good, but not that they were god-damn ninjas. Seriously, what kind of training do those girls do?

I suppose Rin does have that sneaky side, though. I don’t mean covertly taking out Sono – that’s under-handed, but mostly just bad sportsmanship. I mean her ‘I see what you did there – and I won’t tell anyone’ stealth attack on Yura. I don’t know about you, but I’d wager a guilty conscience trumps the temporary humiliation of being called out right away most of the time.

I was also assuming that the tournament would be a multi-part thing because it lasts long enough, and has so many participants, that each succeeding episode could have had Stella going up against a different team and having to use different strategies each time. Obviously, Rin’s team would be reserved for the final showdown. Except, that’s not what it was actually about. And probably would’ve been kind of repetitive, now that I think about it. Rather, it was the dramatic payoff for the foreshadowing from episode 5, about how Yura can get so wrapped up in the moment that she loses sight of the larger picture. In this case she got so wrapped up in getting even with Rin and proving her wrong that she ended up proving her right. Losing may not have proven her wrong, but cheating to win definitely validated her beliefs.

She’s also kind of a cliché, being the antagonist who’s become so focused on winning it’s become its own purpose. It’s an understandable mindset coming from a culture that places so much value on success and excellence, and sure, winning’s part of anything competitive and very much a goal, but when you think about it, by itself it has no meaning. You won – so what? By itself, all it does is make you feel good about yourself temporarily. It has no meaning in the long run unless your goal is just validating how much better you are than everyone else by continually winning.

And I gotta say, boy is she misguided with the whole ‘airsoft is just like real war – all that matters is winning.’ Because, correct me if I’m wrong, but no functional human being has ever fought a war simply to win. Rather, in a war you’re fighting for something – control over a territory, freedom of various sorts, for or against an ideology, what have you – that the other side opposes strongly enough that you need to take it through force. Sure, you want to win, but that’s only because winning is how you achieve your goal. It’s just a means to an end, not the end itself. Obviously, this is a simplification, but I think the bigger point speaks for itself.

It looks more and more like Sono really does have the right of it. Airsoft isn’t about winning, it’s a way of learning things about yourself and even gaining an appreciation for the gravity of real violence. At least, that’s what it means to her, and by giving a meaning to why she plays, she actually understands competitiveness way more than Rin, as much as the latter seems to think otherwise. So do the other girls, for that matter, when they let slip that they aren’t having fun and that’s hurting the experience. This may just be a fun little show about girls playing airsoft on the surface, but with things like this it does feel like its trying to make a point about competition and what you can learn from it. And that guns and violence should be taken seriously, even when you’re just playing a game for fun.

The Eccentric Family [ep. 8 – The Day of Dad’s Departure]

Well, unless Kaisei was told to start coming on to Yajiro so he’d fall for her, it doesn’t look like Soichiro’s death was arranged or set up by anyone, based on what we saw this episode. Rather, it looks like it’s exactly what he saw it as going to it, and what the general tanuki philosophy towards hot-potting can be summed up as – shit happens – and those who stand to benefit from him being out of the picture didn’t arrange it, they’re just moving to take advantage of it. It puts this series in a new light – it’s not a mystery about why someone was murdered but rather his family coming to terms with their loss and learning to understand those who were responsible for it, or are trying to profit from it. Granted the next episode looks like it’ll be about Kaisei, who’s the reason Yajiro and his father went drinking in the first place, that will probably shine a new light on things and may through that reveal that there is a conspiracy, but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. Which I’ve gotta say, I like. It’s not like ‘a family coping with loss’ has never been done before, but there aren’t too many anime like that, at least not to my knowledge, so it’s nice to see.

Anime Thoughts: Um...I'm Curious Where All of These Are Headed?

Attack on Titan [eps. 18-19 - Forest of Giant Trees & Bite: 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls, Parts 2-3]
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.