#blows my mind that people can look at gabi who basically IS EREN. she IS EREN and it is NOT subtle at all

[watchmakermori]

every single episode of attack on titan season 4 is basically saying in bright flashing neon letters ‘do not demonise people who seem different to you. you are the same in all the ways that matter. painting others as evil only leads to senseless violence, which causes more violence in turn until you are trapped in an endless cycle of it’ and yet somehow all the crunchyroll comments are full of people like ‘eren did nothing wrong’ ‘i hope someone kills gabi’ ‘marleyans deserve to die because they struck first’ like oh my godd oh my god oh my fucking god. did the wind part your hair when the point sailed over your head

[sparda3g]

Attack on Titan Chapter 119 Review

The craze fest of the anime is over for now, but the manga keeps on going. If the last season garnered new manga readers and caught up to this recent chapter, then what a hell of a time to witness the extravaganza. Isayama has said that this chapter was a rushed work due to his busy schedule. I believe 21 pages were needed to be done under a short period of time; needless to say, that’s pretty tough. Despite that one notable inconsistency and not the cleanest, this chapter was everything that the series is well known for in its highest degree. It was thrilling, shocking, suspenseful, and mind-blowing.

Right from the very start, the tension is incredibly high. Every possible setup is planted. Zeke is down, Eren must be stopped, Survey Corps veterans are on their way, and Falco’s life depends on Zeke’s feelings. The fate of the war relies on the brothers. One contact and it’s all over. It’s mind-numbing to even consider how a simple touch of the two is all it takes; like reaching for a touchdown. The last chapter was nothing but chaos, but this one lead everyone to throw everything they got. Whatever it takes. It’s downright enticing to the very end.

After a reminder on what I just explained, the action resume with the thrills and chills of Eren reaching for Zeke. Never thought a simple contact can be this exciting. They might as well pull an E.T. finger touch for the hell of it. Porco tries to slow Eren down, but good God, he gets pummeled really badly. It’s the worst beating I have seen in a while, and it only took two hits. Thankfully for Pieck, she’s back as Cart Titan and Magath takes a clean shot to Eren’s head. This is what, third head shot? The man is a true marksman.

I was hoping for Armin and Mikasa to reach for Eren, but unfortunately, Marley soliders are everywhere, including inside the buildings. This forced them to change the direction and take on Marley Army first before going to Eren. Judging by the end, that could be a fatal mistake, but we’ll get to that later. Basically, Isayama is preventing them to have a true (and hopefully) fateful reunion. Everyone else like Pixis and Nile is doing their part, so their plan is in process. It was going well, until Zeke finally wakes up.

Immediately, I begin to shake nervously for a possible end. The anime did announce the final season begins next year Fall. If you do the math, theoretically, the manga could end in next year Summer. Granted, there have been series that has ended in the middle of the final season, so it’s possible for this one to be the case. After all, Isayama is in behind the scene, but time will tell. With all that said, I don’t know where the story is heading, so Zeke and Eren making a contact has a good chance of happening. In short, I buy into anything what this story can dish out.

Although Porco got the beating of a lifetime, which says something since he has been pummeled a lot, he does receive a warranted truth of his brother’s last night. It’s worth mentioning that the reason why Porco was able to see it was due to Reiner’s hand causing a glitch of Paths. This was exclusive to anime with the recent change to have Historia explore Ymir’s life and near death in under 10 seconds. Isayama does work with the anime behind the scene. This is all nice because Porco can finally understand his brother’s love; letting out his burden in tears. As a little brother, this speaks to me.

Aside from world changing, the next worst case scenario is here: the call for the titans. Part of me want to believe Eren didn’t want this to happen, based on his expression. Actually, he looks like he was reaching his hand to tell him don’t. It’s likely he tried to keep the damage incredibly minimum, but everything as of late has come crashing down. Now that Zeke wakes up and about to call the titans, more people will die and suffer. If true, then I really pity him. No matter how well he planned out, the cost will always vary.

The scene with the huge gamble pleading from Colt is bone-chilling and quite saddening. This is all or nothing for Falco and Colt let Zeke know about everything, including his demand. All he wants is to save his little brother from becoming a titan. He only wish for Zeke to put it on hold and wait until Falco is far away. This is convincing. As selfish it is in a sense, it would have been a decent way to not kill off Falco and still roar to kill off others. Granted, it will still suck big time for Nile and Pixis, but Falco doesn’t deserve any of it. It’s damn suspenseful, and watching Colt’s expression was beginning to hurt me. The result: no good.

I should mention that this chapter is very worthy for live reaction. I couldn’t tell you how much I was furious when Zeke calls for titans. I only remember shouting, “**** you! What the ****!!” After cooling down, it is true that Zeke does feel the pain for doing so, but he’s a man on a mission. He will do whatever it takes to fulfill his destiny. It still pisses me off, but karma sure makes up for it down the line.

Clearly, Isayama has some hate on brotherhood. I guess Full Metal Alchemist is his most hated series. Joking aside, it pains the hell out of me when Colt refuses to leave, stand by to Falco’s side to the very end. Dammit to hell, this was gut-wrenching. Gabi, after growing up, now have to lose another friend or even a potential lover. Falco, Nile, Pixis, and the rest all transform to titans. This was a low blow. Those three didn’t deserve this. Granted, Pixis was seen controversial, but he wasn’t much of a bad figure by this point. At least he got to drink one last time.

I’m not sure if Zeke is aware of how much Reiner cherished these kids, but it’s messed up for him to send Falco to attack. Living as Reiner is pure hell. He stops Eren from escaping, but Falco aims for his nape. You could tell Reiner doesn’t want to kill Falco at all. If anything, the situation gives him an opportunity; more on it later. I was cheery when Magath takes a shot at Zeke; yeah, I was still mad at this point. Sadly, Pieck has to go against Armin and Mikasa. Guys, I like you two and all, but don’t make me hate you if you kill her. Just saying. Unbelievable that Floch is once again the sole survivor. Isayama, you better give him a satisfying death for all of us.

Reiner’s scene almost had me convinced me that this is the end for him. He wasn’t as suicidal as before, but the floor map made it possible for him to sacrifice his life for the one he cared the most. Case in point, Falco is close to devouring the Armored Titan, but that’s fine for Reiner. It’s his chance to make it right. It lined-up perfectly with his old intention to pass it to him anyway, so the setup was perfect. But of course, not everything goes accordingly.

I don’t have much opinion on Porco as a character, but his last action is pretty enlightening; a proper sendoff when all things considered. It is him that’ll take the fall. He could have simply just die, but instead, he prefers to pass the Jaw Titan to Falco in order to save him. That’s a nice twist; didn’t think of that somehow. I like his last standing moment; reflecting that he has no more regrets. He felt the brotherly love, and know that he’ll always be better than Reiner. Falco devours, but we don’t see him change back to human. The point is, he’s now the Jaw Titan. This was a really nice moment all in all. You did fine, Porco. You did fine.

The whole make or break scene is amazingly breathtaking.

The tension was already high; now, it surpasses the heaven’s sky. Eren hardening the titan to trap Reiner, so he can break off and run in person to Zeke, who is now in person but can’t walk. It doesn’t matter; all they need to do is make contact and it is game over. The suspense level is running wild. Reiner is a man on a mission; a mission that he will complete at all cost. Gone with Reiner the sad man; here comes the beast! The intensity is just crazy; I forgot what page I was on.

I was actually pretty upset when Jean and Connie interfere and shoots down Reiner. He’s stopped. Pieck is stopped. Falco is stopped. Everyone that is a threat is stopped. Yelena, Floch, and everyone in the Yeagerists’ dream will come true. Then, there’s the one with a rifle. The one that is called Gabi. I lost track in time, I don’t know who’s available to stop her. The answer: no one. The build-up to the suspense felt like time has stopped; it’s unnerving as hell. Then, the ending happens and as God as my witness, the final two double-page spread shook the shit out of me. Eren’s head flies off and Zeke’s dream dies right before his eyes.

Oh, how I wished I recorded my reactions.

Before I theorize, I want to express my thoughts on Zeke, starting with the bad me. This is what he deserved for calling out the titans. Falco was pure, and although he will return as Jaw Titan, the thought on his action was unacceptable. If this isn’t the perfect example of “Karma is a bitch,” I don’t know what is. Now the good me. It’s pretty sad that his dream has died, right when he was so close to make it happen. It is bad enough to see it die, it is worse that his little brother is the one to go out. Let’s not forget the amount of sacrifices and sufferings he has gone through. All of his hard work died in vain in a matter of second. Also, his time as Beast Titan is almost up. His chance to make his dream come true is gone.

The big question is, is Eren dead?

I do believe he’s not dead, but it is tough to figure out what he will do to escape death in that situation. I have heard the theory on manipulating the memories or creating an illusion based on Eren’s clothes. Recently, Isayama noted that he had to rush to reach deadline, so it’s likely the pants sleeve that was supposed to be ripped off was a mistake. I know some would argue that’s not possible, but I recalled other series having a similar mistake. In Naruto, a past character reflects his wish to be Hokage, only in the background, the timeline don’t add up. It was corrected in the volume release. Plus, it’s been a while since we’ve last seen Eren in person, so a mistake is likely.

I would guess that maybe Eren is pulling the same trick as Reiner back in the last arc with transferring the consciousness to the titan. The only part that confuses me is the fact Eren’s neck is wiped out. It was a clean cut; almost like the artist simply use an eraser to erase the neck region. Maybe the Warhammer Titan has a trick that he learned to do but kept it quiet in front of everyone. I honestly don’t know. For all I know, the pants could be a huge clue. If, and it’s a huge if, he dies, well, let the meltdown begin.

Whether he is dead or not, I do think it’s best to end it like this and call it a day. The plan is meant to be the end all be all, so it might as well call this day a great fail. We are due for intermission. It would be a good time to change the scenery, especially since Levi’s life is still in pending. I’m not saying it should change immediately; it should show us the conclusion first. That said, I would expect plenty of reactions. Yelena will most likely lose her mind. Floch will probably follow as well. I’m curious on Armin and Mikasa. For Armin’s sake, run away from Yelena. Gabi, start running.

This chapter was jaw-dropping. Despite not at its best quality, the sequences, the atmosphere, and the adrenaline rush were all top notch. The chapter’s title truly focus on the very concept. It’s disheartening on how it was addressed however, but it was felt, well-executed, and captured the spirit of brotherhood in its saddest time. This was an emotional roller coaster. The cliffhanger threw me off big time. I joked about Season 3 Part 2 as the true Game of Thrones Season 8; you didn’t need to kill the main character like one. In all seriousness, I don’t believe he’s dead, but the answer will have to wait and that itself is unbearable. Undoubtedly, the worst cliffhanger in the series. The wait is the true killer of them all.

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 112 Review

Eren gonna Eren Edition

“[He] lives in a psychic economy of aggression and domination. There are dominators and the dominated. No in between. Every attack he receives, every ego injury must be answered, rebalanced with some new aggression to reassert dominance. These efforts are often wildly self-destructive. We’ve seen the pattern again and again. […] We can’t know a man’s inner thoughts. But we’ve seen action and reaction more than enough times to infer, or rather deduce, his instincts and needs with some precision.”

Ladies, if he

Loves running

Has a really hairy chest

Is a total bad boy

He’s not your man, he’s Zeke Jeager, and…well, he still probably plans to screw you over.

You know what I love about the scenario Nicolo paints here? It’s that in spite of how much the story has changed, in spite of how much more grounded in real world issues the story has become, Paradis may still end up getting done in by a titan apocalypse.

Because  P A T H S !

So the EFC invades the restaurant, locks it down, and takes everyone hostage. My only beef is that they didn’t have Onyankopon open the door to leave only for Eren to be standing on the other side. A la this.

Wait, yes, that’s it! Onyankopon opens the door and Eren’s just there. Then we cut to a shot from Onyankopon’s perspective showing Eren looking into the camera. He casually raises a gun to the viewer like the thief at the end of The Great Train Robbery and…

K, so we finally get the EMA heart to heart we’ve all been waiting for.

….

I think Eren is being legit here. *dodges thrown chair*

Just let me explain!

When it comes to this scene, what needs to be understood is that Eren is performing a dominance ritual.

Dominance rituals are ritualistic acts of humiliation that primates, including humans, perform in order to establish a hierarchy. In a human context, dominance rituals are strongly associated with male alpha bro culture.

Donald Trump is the most famous practitioner of dominance rituals out there. For example, Trump is known to give his enemies various nicknames.

Low Energy Jeb, Little Marco, Lyin’ Ted, Crooked Hilary, Pocahontas (Elizabeth Warren).

That’s a dominance ritual. Trump is asserting his dominance over others by referring to them by an insulting name. The fact that Trump only ends up coming off as immature is beside the point. Dominance rituals are inherently immature. When Jeb Bush or Ted Cruz refused to push back, Trump’s dominance over them was confirmed. It’s not rational, it’s primal. Plain and simple.

And that wall he keeps yammering on about? That’s a dominance ritual too. It’s a wall that Mexico is going to pay for. It’s about humiliation. It’s about humiliating the country that’s sending the “rapists” to invade us. (The wall also has an important revenge aspect to it, but that’s not relevant here.)

To this day, Trump continues to perform dominance rituals with his underlings. One time he called his Chief of Staff into the Oval Office and ordered him to swat a fly.

Eren has engaged in dominance rituals before. When he confronted Reiner in the basement, Eren establishes that if Reiner doesn’t do as told, he will blow up the building. Eren then commands Reiner to sit.

As though he were a dog.

It was a show of force. A display of power. The power Eren held over Reiner. And he was clearly enjoying it.

Next, Hange visits Eren in jail. They sincerely ask if Eren cares about what happens to Historia and Eren reacts by performing a dominance ritual on Hange. He asserts that they have no power over him and that he’s only in jail because he’s humoring them. Again, when it comes to Eren, it’s all about power and having power over others. Eren asserts his power, his dominance, over Hange by throttling them. Hange can do nothing but call him a perv.

In this way, (post-time skip) Eren is no different from Trump. They are both obsessed with power and being powerful. They are both determined to be in control and when they are both denied this, they both get pissed.

I keep banging on this drum, and the sound of it has probably driven would-be followers away, but this is the hill I will die on: the best way to understand Eren’s character is to analyze him through a trumpian lens. You simply cannot capture the perverseness of Eren’s inner self without making the comparison. It’s just too appropriate.

In this scene, Eren’s trumpiness has never been more obvious. It’s actually incredible. In this chapter, Eren truly became the President of the United States. Let’s go through the scene moment by moment and witness the highlights.

The scene starts with EMA (and gabi) sitting with their hands placed on the table. Because Eren ordered them to.

Eren does get into roasting Armin and Mikasa, but note the timeline of events in the conversation. First, Eren asserts he is free. He goes out of his way to emphasize that his actions are an expression of his wants and desires.

This isn’t important just because Eren is telling his compatriots that he’s not a puppet of Zeke. Freedom and self-determination have always been important to Eren.

Like most people, Eren thinks of freedom as not being controlled by others. As not being dominated. That’s not wrong; the problem is that because of his zero-sum thinking, Eren also associates freedom with being dominant. Not being dominated, but by being the dominator.

There are only two types of people in this world: the strong, who dominate the weak, and the weak, who are dominated, and you’re either one or the other.

When you’re weak you aren’t free because being weak necessarily means people can have power over you. Because there are only strong and weak people, it follows from this that being free means being strong and dominating others. When no one has power over you, when no one can restrict you, you are free. Because the world is zero-sum, as Eren erroneously thinks it to be, no one having power over him means he has power over them. That’s what zero-sum thinking means: if I have more power, then they necessarily have less.

Trump is similar. Donald Trump is notorious for his desire to dominate others. It defines his every action. I already mentioned his propensity to use his underlings as human flyswatters. You wanna know why he decided to run for President in the first place?

There aren’t any words for it. Just watch the clip and think about what this says about him.

Whenever Trump is attacked, he must punch back “ten times harder.” Because he has to reestablish his dominance. When you’re obsessed with being strong (in an utterly childish sense of the word), you must hit back harder. It’s about putting on a show, a show of your power.

In this chapter, Eren punched back “ten times harder.”

So Eren says he’s basically attained what he’s always wanted in this series: freedom.

And then.

Mikasa says he’s wrong. Not just that, but the way she says it.

“No. You’re being controlled.”

She flatly and bluntly says to his face that he is being controlled. That he is a slave, if you would. Later, when Armin said Eren was the real slave, Eren was pissed. Why would this statement by Mikasa be any different?

And to top it off, Mikasa took her hands off the table. Against Eren’s orders. So not only was she, and Armin by extension, calling him a slave, she also disobeyed him

In primal terms, this is a challenge. And it was only after this that Eren started roasting them.

Eren wishes to be in control. To have power. To dominate.

Eren chose to engage in this dominance ritual because in his mind they slighted him when they questioned his power and acted against his wishes. He did it to put them in their place.

If that sounds incredibly petty and immature…that’s because it is. Dominance rituals are not just inherently immature, they are a marker of immaturity. People perform dominance rituals because they are insecure. They need to be dominant. It’s an impulse, and people like Eren lack the maturity to control those impulses. For all his talk of hating people who surrender, the only one who has surrendered here is Eren.

He has surrendered to his baser human instincts.

In this regard, Eren is basically a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

People have said that Eren must have been pretending to believe what he said because his past actions contradict what he said. Much like how some people claim Trump’s latest Twitter rant is part of some brilliant strategy, people have claimed Eren shat in the punch bowl because he’s playing 10-dimensional chess and everyone else is playing Go-Fish.

In reality, Eren shat in the punch bowl because he thinks shitting in the punch bowl at a party is how you show everyone who’s boss.

The idea that it’s either “Eren meant what he said and he hates his ‘friends’” or “Eren didn’t mean it, he cares about them” is a false dichotomy. I’m sure Eren genuinely cares for his friends. It’s just that Eren also has the emotional development of a three year old and his feelings got the better of him.

So now Eren launches into his rant. He targets Armin first.

Eren claims that people are the products of their memories. In general, Attack on Titan has operated on the assumption that people “live on” through their memories. This is called the psychological theory of personal identity. You are who you are by virtue of your experiences as archived in your memories.

This…is a very problematic and simplistic account of personal identity. There are philosophers who believe that our identity is grounded in our psychology, but their accounts are more complex than just, “you are your memories.” 

To quote the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

“First, suppose a young student is fined for overdue library books. Later, as a middle-aged lawyer, she remembers paying the fine. Later still, in her dotage, she remembers her law career, but has entirely forgotten not only paying the fine but everything else she did in her youth. According to the memory criterion the young student is the middle-aged lawyer, the lawyer is the elderly woman, but the elderly woman is not the young student. This is an impossible result: if x and y are one and y and z are one, x and z cannot be two. Identity is transitive; memory continuity is not.

Second, it seems to belong to the very idea of remembering that you can remember only your own experiences. To remember paying a fine (or the experience of paying) is to remember yourself paying. That makes it trivial and uninformative to say that you are the person whose experiences you can remember—that is, that memory continuity is sufficient for personal identity. It is uninformative because you cannot know whether someone genuinely remembers a past experience without already knowing whether he is the one who had it. Suppose we want to know whether Blott, who exists now, is the same as Clott, whom we know to have existed at some time in the past. The memory criterion tells us that Blott is Clott just if Blott can now remember an experience Clott had at that past time. But Blott’s seeming to remember one of Clott’s experiences counts as genuine memory only if Blott actually is Clott. So we should already have to know whether Blott is Clott before we could apply the principle that is supposed to tell us whether she is. (There is, however, nothing trivial or uninformative about the claim that memory connections are necessary for us to persist.)

One response to the first problem is to modify the memory criterion by switching from direct to indirect memory connections: the old woman is the young student because she can recall experiences the lawyer had at a time when the lawyer remembered the student’s life. The second problem is traditionally met by replacing memory with a new concept, “retrocognition” or “quasi-memory”, which is just like memory but without the identity requirement: even if it is self-contradictory to say that you remember doing something you didn’t do but someone else did, you could still “quasi-remember” it.

Neither move gets us far, however, as both the original and the modified memory criteria face a more obvious problem: there are many times in one’s past that one cannot remember or quasi-remember at all, and to which one is not linked even indirectly by an overlapping chain of memories. For instance, there is no time when you could recall anything that happened to you while you dreamlessly slept last night. The memory criterion has the absurd implication that you have never existed at any time when you were unconscious. The person sleeping in your bed last night must have been someone else.”

This isn’t to fault the series though. Storytellers are allowed to take liberties with reality for the sake of their craft. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

No, problems only start to arise if readers, or even the author himself, start talking as though something profound is being discussed.

I assure you, there is nothing profound about this.

For the sake of continuing this analysis, let’s grant that this account of identity persistence is true. In that case, Eren is saying that because people are who they are by virtue of their memories, Armin’s actions aren’t entirely his own; he’s being influenced from beyond the grave by Bertolt. Given that the series already assumes memories=you, my sense is that Eren’s words, however harsh, will ultimately be vindicated.

Because it’s not like Eren being an asshole has stopped this series from siding with him before. (I’m still salty over last chapter.)

Eren declares that Armin is soft. Yep, nothing new here. It’s not surprising at all that Eren’s preferred method of action is the most aggressive one. Eren is a hawk and like many hard-right war hawks in our world, he thinks the doves are soft.

In the 1980s, when the US was negotiating a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union, Donald Trump gave some advice to the lead negotiator: show up late to the next meeting, walk over to where the top Soviet official was sitting, and, while remaining standing, bury your finger in his chest and say “Fuck you!” Trump’s idea of how to deal with foreign adversaries is to dominate them and show them who’s boss. Not much daylight between that and Eren here.

And then, the best part of the whole chapter happens:

“Armin, Bertolt’s gotten to your brain. You’re the one being controlled by the enemy.”

NO PUPPET, NO PUPPET, YOU’RE THE PUPPET!

This is basically something Trump said to Hillary Clinton in a debate once. I can’t believe this is happening.

Taking someone’s criticism of you and throwing it back at them (instead of, ya know, refuting the criticism) is a classic trumpian maneuver. Most recently, Trump did it against his former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

“I’m just saying. There’s nothing further removed from freedom than ignorance.”

The MC of this manga is a living YouTube comments section!

GoddamnitAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Okay, next is Mikasa.

Snoo here says both her physical strength and the strength of her concern for him is derived from her Ackerblood.

It’s no secret that Eren resents Mikasa for how much she cares for him. Even as recently as chapter 69, Eren still protests when Mikasa tells him to rest. Here, Eren even uses the word “clinginess” to describe that aspect of Mikasa he thinks the ackerblood explains. I wouldn’t be surprised if his mean spiritedness in explaining this was at least partially motivated by this resentment.

As much of a 4channer Eren is being here, the fact that Mikasa involuntarily protects Eren is compelling evidence of him being right. As with Armin, I wouldn’t be surprised if the series ultimately takes the stance that Eren is an asshole, but also has a point. Because apparently we live in a world where everyone has a point.

And then Eren does the most damning thing he’s ever done in this series.

Eren, channeling all the alpha bro smugness in the universe, literally turns his nose up at Mikasa and, in what can only be described as obscene racism, declares that the Ackermanns are a slave race and that he hates them for it.

F!@#. This. Guy.

Oh, and making Mikasa cry is bad too. That’s important, just not in the same way. Feeling the need to emotionally annihilate someone makes you a shitty person. But I would argue that believing in “slave races” and hating people for being a member of that race is even shittier.

When Eren says Mikasa is a slave, he not only denies her agency. He denies her personhood. That is obscene.

That said, my money is on Eren’s saying he’s always hated Mikasa being more hot air than anything else. Like I said, this is a dominance ritual; Eren is doing this to show his power over Mikasa.

Mission accomplished.

And take note: Eren says he hates the submissive even as he demands submission from others. He gets pissed when Mikasa takes her hands off the table against his orders, yet hates people who blindly follow orders.

This is not hypocrisy.

To understand why, look…

:]

At Donald Trump.

Trump demands subservience from Republican members of Congress, but it is no secret that he holds them in contempt for that very subservience. Trump/Eren’s obsession with being strong is partly motivated by their disdain for the weak. Thus, they demand obedience even as they hate the obedient.

Finally, the dominance ritual turns physical. Eren wails on Armin, beating him senseless. He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t have to utterly dominate Armin like he did. But Eren wants to make it clear how much bigger his biceps are, so there you have it.

Now Eren’s on his way to Shighanshina and Zeke has escaped. Like two star-crossed lovers put on a path set by fate, Zeke and Eren seem destined to meet up again. When they do, they’ll be able to mobilize the Wall Titans.

Eren is a lot like Trump, but there are major differences. Most important is that Eren is even more dangerous than Trump.

Trump is a wannabe dictator. He admires despots the world over, most likely because of how those despots have come to dominate their countries. But Trump himself lacks the competence to undermine American democracy and install himself as dictator.

But Eren is very much a competent person. He isn’t senescent like Trump is. He’s young, physically strong, and smart. He is emotionally volatile, and hopefully Armin and co. will find a way to use that against him, but so far this hasn’t been a problem for him. This makes him a far more potent threat.

There are three entities in this story that could fairly be described as evil and they’re the Marleyans, Zeke, and Eren. They are all dangerously competent. Meanwhile, the ostensible good guys, Paradis, have been made to look like the Keystone Cops.

So what’s this they say about the EFC controlling everything now? Did the populace rise up against the government off panel or something?

I know I’m probably being pedantic here, but this is really silly to me. They really expect us to believe that a rebel force of just 100 soldiers was able to take over- 

*checks notes*

-basically everything in just a couple of days?

Hopefully they’ll elaborate on this in the next chapter. My guess is that because the people so strongly support Eren’s cause, the government’s authority isn’t recognized in large swathes of Walldian territory.

Because apparently I was right and Eren IS a folk hero to these people. Good grief.

The final note here goes to the issue of Eren’s supposedly free will.

It’s been speculated that Eren is being coerced in some way. I’ve seen theories ranging from, “Zeke made him do it,” to, “Eren’s being mind-controlled by the Attack Titan.” However, as I’ve laid out in this post, my sense is that Eren’s actions here aren’t a hard break from his already established character. If he is being coerced, then it’s not so much that he’s being forced to act out of character. Rather, it’s more like the negative aspects of his character have been exaggerated.

This is the strongest reason to believe Eren is being controlled in some way. It’s not unbelievable that the little kid we met in chapter 1 would grow up to become the man we saw in chapter 112. What’s harder to believe is that Eren’s personality would undergo such…radicalization in such a short period of time.

Eren has always seen the world in a zero-sum, strong vs weak kind of way. Could this aspect of his personality have festered into what we saw in this chapter? Yes, if given enough time, but Eren looks to have made the evolution seemingly overnight.

Eren has been slighted before and he has responded with aggression, but IIRC he’s never done so when the slighter is someone he loves or respects. Eren was always getting to fights with Jean during their trainee days in part because of Eren’s problem with being overly aggressive. But part of it was also just how much Jean’s cowardice pissed him off. Jean was someone Eren had no respect for and I’m sure that was partly why Eren was so quick to tussle with him.

Compare this to Mikasa. Mikasa has been motherly towards Eren before, sometimes even in a mortifyingly public way. For a man who cares about strength and being strong, his ego was probably smarting. But in spite of that, Eren rarely lashed out at her. He protested, sure, but it’s not like he tried to make her cry.

For Eren to go from this to what we see now is a bit hard to swallow, which is why I will admit that the mind-control theory can’t be ruled out.

But I wish it could be.

Attack on Titan could be the story of a boy who just wants to protect what he cares about, but, through their own character flaws, grows up to become a despicable human being. But all this just being mind-control would ruin that.

Throughout this post I’ve drawn parallels between Eren and Donald Trump. The fact that this comparison can be drawn at all not only makes Eren’s character intriguing. It makes it politically relevant.

Where do people like Donald Trump come from? Where do believers in right-wing nationalism in general come from? This story could be an exploration of that.

Eren doing these awful things because he’s been put down a path of radicalization is interesting and even socially relevant.

Eren doing these awful things because he’s being controlled by the big, bad Attack Titan is dumb, Saturday-morning cartoon s!@#.

The prospect of mind-control Eren is not welcome and I hope this theory is wrong. 

…

…

UPRISING 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO!

[baradorable]

My opinions on the current anime season. I’ll go over come popular shows and try to warm you up to some hidden gems.

Attack on Titan (Season 4)

I ended up liking this show a lot more than I thought I would. I ended up binging the first three seasons in like a week. Now I’m impatiently waiting for more episodes.

I will say that I’m kind of mixed on this one, though. Like I know they want to flesh out the country of Marley, make the war less one-sided and establish how villainous Eren is later, or whatever. I preferred it when the characters were fighting the enigmatic, monstrous force of titans. The political drama was like the least interesting parts of season 3. (That, and Eren being kidnapped for the millionth time.) Regardless, I’m still liking what we have so far, and there’s only one thing that makes me hesitate.

Gabi Braun. Fucking Gabi Braun. She’s so fucking obnoxious. She’s like Eren, except without the character traits that made him interesting. We have less reason to care about her, and her story is mostly just a retread of Eren’s. And I’d tolerate that if she wasn’t such an obnoxious cunt all the damn time. “But euuhughhg Gabi is a kid and she’s brainwashed! She’s actually really well-written!” Yeah, but she’s still an annoying little shit and less sympathetic than the other Marleyans we’re focusing on. She shouldn’t be the main focus character.

“Did you see it happen?” BITCH. There’s being brainwashed and there’s being a fucking moron. And don’t give me that “Well, in real life, brainwa-” Yeah, I don’t care. She’s not real. The only thing real about her is the headache she gives me.

So she’s this unlikable kid who came in and killed a fan-favorite character. I loved Sasha. Everyone did. But I’ll live. (Unlike her.) But she just HAD to be killed by fucking Garbage Braun of all people. Honestly, if Falco killed Sasha, I’d get over it. He’s a way better character than Gabi. I could go on and on about how he works better on a fundamental level, but none of you are even reading this post in the first place. So whatever.

8/10

Beastars (Season 2)

It’s good. I don’t like it as much as season 1, but I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s not a show I actively wait for, but it’s always pleasant to see.

7.5/10

Cells at Work!! Code Black

I never saw the original Cells at Work, but this show makes me not want to. Because I don’t think it would be as good as Code Black.

For those who haven’t seen it, Cells at Work is basically about humanized cells working in a body. You follow a red blood cell as they deliver oxygen, and you encounter all sorts of issues and quirks you see in a body. From sicknesses, to infections, to even cancer, you actually learn a lot. It’s genuine edutainment.

Black is set in a body that’s incredibly unhealthy. The characters are scrambling to survive and keep a failing body going. There’s this growing sense of dread each episode as the body grows worse and worse. You get frustrated because these characters don’t deserve the Hell they go through, and you just want to shout at the human to eat healthy, quit smoking and shape up. Because you care about the cells and want them to have a better work environment.

It’s really fun and makes me feel guilty for my unhealthy habits.  

7.5/10. Maybe 8/10 if these last few episodes keep up the momentum.

Dr. Stone

I really liked season 1, and I’m liking this season so far as well. I prefer the set-up and use of tech in season 1, season 2 is kind of moving too fast with tech while the story is a little slow. But despite all that, this show is still great and is on track to becoming a classic. If it weren’t for Attack on Titan, it would be Anime of the Season for me.

8/10

Jobless Reincarnation: 

A 40-year-old NEET gets isekai’d into the body of a baby. You watch this child with an adult mind grow up and learn about this magical fantasy world. It’s pretty good, I like it. It has good humor, nice characters, interesting lore, and a fun magic system. 

If you ever watched Isekai Cheat Magician? (Of course you didn’t. No one did.) This is what Isekai Cheat Magician wishes it could be.

I give this show a 7/10. It loses points because it made me think of Isekai Cheat Magician just now.

Ex-Arm

No words. Except four words: Go watch this show.

Oh boy. This show is. This show is a doozy. If I had to explain, I would say it’s like... shit. Because it is shit. But it’s very entertaining shit.

The story and characters are cool, but unimportant. You just can’t get into them because the animation is the highlight of the story. It just blows every other aspect of the show out of the water.

What kind of animation are we talking about? If I had to describe it, it would be the visual equivalent of that girl on Tik Tok who made a video series where she plays a Jewish girl during the Holocaust. It’s like a present you would give your eyes, if you hated them and wanted them to die.

Some characters are 2D, but the rest are 3D. And not even good 3D, because this shit is worse than those bootleg mobile games with stolen assets that don’t fit together. They had to censor kisses because they couldn’t animate lips moving, and pushing their faces together would just make their models clip. One of the characters has a wide-eyed smile all the time, no matter the situation, because there’s like no animation for her expressions. This show makes the 3D Pokemon games look like fine art.

Another thing I’d like to mention is the opening song, if only because I can’t tell if it’s good or terrible. I genuinely can’t tell if I like it ironically, or unironically. Either way, it’s perfect for this show.

So yeah, I love this show. It’s such a fucking mess in the best way. It always brings a smile to my face. I just wish the story was bad, so I can have another level of awfulness to enjoy. This show never fails to make me smile. Anime of the fucking decade right here.

HELLO, HELLO/10

Kemono Jihen

It’s kind of like Inuyasha, except without the humans, Naraku has big boobs, the Shikon Jewel/life stones aren’t that important yet, Bakugo from My Hero Academia is on the cast, everyone is a 12-year-old with bad fashion sense, and it’s a lot more generic in premise and execution.

So, nothing like Inuyasha. Honestly it’s more like My Hero Academia in terms of vibes. I still enjoy it though. My favorite character is probably the little fox girl because I like her design. But I also like the little fox boy because I’m not entirely sure what game he’s playing, but I’m into it. 

6.7/10

Redo of Healer

It’s basically just rape hentai with a budget. Honestly, I appreciate the boldness of the show, if anything. (Aside from the fact that they don’t show any dick or vag. How cowardly.) The sex scenes are decent and frequent, so no complaints there. I’m not really into rape (been there, getting raped isn’t fun), but a true hentai connoisseur can still appreciate it.

Plot-wise, it’s neat. Making the main character a revenge-seeking rapist fighting even worse rapists is an interesting take. And there’s a lot of fun creativity in how he uses his powers, though I wish they explained them more. Like I get how he’s doing everything, but breaking it down would make them feel more intriguing. He’s also a broken self-insert power fantasy, but it’s nice seeing one that’s smart, evil and methodical. 

In execution, it’s a pretty generic story with generic settings and plots. The lead’s carrying the whole thing, though I can’t help but like the villains for being so over-the-top evil. If nothing else, the audacity and sex scenes make this show worth watching. Pretty entertaining.

Re: The harem. Setsuna is too young and innocent for my tastes, but I like her. The white-haired girl is cool, she’s my favorite even though she hasn’t really done anything yet. Freia’s meh, but I like the idea of her being a major cunt despite the memory wipe. 

I give this one five rapes out of ten. And if you like this show, I recommend reading that one Megg, Mogg & Owl comic where the characters become obsessed with rape-based puns.

Re:Zero (Season 2, second half)

I love this show. The first season was pretty good. The second half of season 2 was also pretty good, and the plot was shaping up to be great. But now we’re in the second half of season 2, and it’s meh. Which is really disappointing for such a great show.

Like, I get what they’re trying to do: they’re shaping up alliances, digging into the characters’ pasts, moving everyone forward, yadda yadda. But this arc is so slow now. It feels like we’ve seen nothing but flashbacks, characters standing around and talking, flashbacks, more talking, flashbacks. There’s so little action to break things up. The mystery and exploration from earlier episodes is gone, since we pretty much understand the important things. We’re just left waiting for the things they’ve been building up to, to finally happen. 

“AEUUGHG You’re Just an action anime fanboyyy, this is serious plot and excellent story!!” It’s endless exposition, flashbacks that go on way too long, and characters standing around and repeating the same points over and over. Compare how the story was delivered in the previous season. 

6/10

The Promised Neverland (Season 2)

Boy, did this show go off the rails in only a few episodes. What the fuck is even going on in this show anymore?

I ranted about this show on Twitter, but it pisses me off. Season 1 was a well-crafted, suspenseful show about these kids using their brains to unravel the mysteries around them, plan a daring escape from their captors and try to survive in a world of monsters. It was easily one of the best anime of 2019.

Season 2 skips about 80 chapters and off-screens tons of development. Like Norman fucking shows up in season 2, all fine and dandy with his own personal army of freaks. Also he lead his own escape, learned a ton of info AND found a way to auto-kill all their enemies, and we didn’t even get a flashback of any of this. Now Emma’s bitching about saving demons, even though they’re all assholes who probably wouldn’t change their ways even if they could. But she’s an iDeAlIsSTTT!!!!! But she was an idealist last season and had to learn how to compromise when faced with the reality of the situation? And the whole William Minerva plot, which was a major driving force in the last season, was handwaved away and unceremoniously dropped?

So yeah, I dropped it after episode 4 or 5. It’s not even fun to hate-watch I’d give it a 3/10 on its own, but it gets a -2/10 for ruining a great legacy.

Sk8

Free!, except they’re skating instead of swimming. It’s a well-animated show with an interesting premise: undergound gay skateboarding. The battles are fun, the characters (while cliche) are appealing, and it’s fun. And yeah. 

But I dropped this one because Langa is boring as a lead. Canadians, they don’t deserve representation. He’s a fine character besides that, but he’s gotten way too much screentime over the other protag, Reki. Reki was just pushed aside and the show quickly became about Langa. Which is sad, because I feel like this show would have benefitted from making them both stars. Especially since the characters’ friendship is a key selling point.

Ended up dropping this show. I read through later comments that they’re making a plot point about Reki falling behind, but even the fans are having their doubts that he’ll have a satisfactory story. And even if they make him a real protag again, the show’s been so imbalanced that I don’t think it’ll matter. Especially since we only have like 4 episodes left.

6/10

Yashahime

The sequel to Inuyasha, staring Sesshomaru and Rin’s twins, and Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter. Except 2/3rds of the main cast are dull, and most of the stories are blatant retreads of Inuyasha plots, starring retreads of Inuyasha characters.

Think I’m kidding? The first episode was about Mistress Three-Eyes (Mistress Centipede but with three eyes instead of two) coming to eat the character’s magic sacred jewels. Rainbow fucking pearls, what the hell is this shit plot. Fuck you.

“Euhrghhghgh but they’re just paying homage to the old show!” Nah, they’re fucking ripping it off every step of the way. 

The most frustrating thing about this show is how Moroha, Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter, is such a great character. She has great dynamics with other characters because she’s so lively. She has the best traits of her parents, while still being unique on her own. Then you have Sesshomaru’s kids, who are just Kagome 2 and Tsundere. The latter has more depth than that, but she’s  not that great anyway.

Guess who’s the focal point of the series? The fucking Kagome knock-off, followed by the tsundere. Moroha is a minor character who is often forgotten by the plot, or reduced to a joke. The already-boring plots are exacerbated by them ignoring best girl to focus on 

And I’m not alone on this, too. Read all the anime forums, pirating websites, and pretty much anywhere talking about this show. Moroha is the most popular character, far and away. People like her way more than the twins. 

4/10