Attack on Titan: Manga Volume 9 Reaction & Review!
Added 2023-05-19 17:00:03 +0000 UTC**BEASTLY HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
We're starting the events of season 2 proper, now, and man -- the illustrations, the tension, and all the foreshadowing brought up in this volume! It's fantastic! I love seeing how the anime adapted these moments, especially the lead up with Sasha, Connie, and Ymir! Oh, and The Beast Titan just casually pops in for the first time...no big deal!
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Agreed; I think Isayama is fairly clever in knowing when he can get away with a plot device and how to not "over-explain" the ability so that it creates a plot hole later on -- can't have a plot hole if we never really enveloped it into the plot...right? :) I definitely can let it slide, though, because it's pretty sparingly used and the nature of the titans themselves, at least to where I've gotten in the story, still has a lot of mystery surrounding it. It's a very NGE moment, where things are "there" in the story, just not ever fully explained concretely.
Romaniablack
2023-05-26 13:53:48 +0000 UTCYeah, i think we can call some of what is going on in AoT "magic", and i'll give that some leeway and it more importantly being in service of the story than it having to always be 100% consistent. But perhaps there were a few abilities introduced that he didn't really know how (or wanted) to use throughout the whole story.
Christopher Pettersson
2023-05-26 13:33:28 +0000 UTCAhhhh Doccyy, I LOVED these comments! I'm definitely going to bring them up for Volume 11 -- since Volume 10 is done already -- but it's so cool looking back on the "forest" themes with Sasha and seeing how they were set up from the start here! And the comparison and contrast between Mikasa and Levi, Christa and Ymir, Eren and Mr. Braus -- they're all SO GOOD! I really appreciate you taking the time to point these all out because they organize thoughts I've had in ways I couldn't and add so much to them! Thank you! :D
Romaniablack
2023-05-26 12:32:30 +0000 UTCI agree; I feel he had a lot planned out but I'm sure he tweaked as he went, like with Sasha's fate, etc. and fine-tuned and polished the parts he wanted to when it got to it. I would say that what you mentioned with the titan "abilities" is probably one of my nitpicks as well -- as much as I can do without an anime over-explaining every single "ability" because that has become its own cliche and trope and I'm glad Isayama doesn't do that -- there's not really much consistency with the titan abilities to the point where you're not quite sure WHAT each can do in that regard, especially the hardening. I don't mind it being left up to the audience to figure out, but during Marley, SOME sort of explanation would have been easy to fit in, especially during the debriefing that they do to "introduce" the warriors -- I'll have to make sure to remember to bring your comment up when we get to that point! Normally, I REALLY love being surprised -- that's why I'm so critical about not being spoiled. This was one of the few rare exceptions that I enjoyed the reveal confirming things -- and for me, it was more HOW the secret was revealed than figuring it out -- but I'll gush about that with Volume 10! :) But I'm right there with you in loving to be surprised! Thanks for the comment! :D
Romaniablack
2023-05-26 03:49:40 +0000 UTCIt would be fun to know exactly how much Isayama had it all planned ahead of time. In my mind he atleast had the broad strokes well thought out beforehand, i have a hard time imagining it all tying together so neatly if that wasn't the case. The thing i perhaps feel is most... "haphazardly" constructed are the titan shifter abilities, how explosive is the Colossal titan when forming? and how quickly can it disappear? how does the hardening work? we have like 4 different levels/versions. We have the crystallization that Annie and the Beast titan use (and the Armored titan that one time in season 3 and never again), and where Reiner also can move his conscious around for some reason (also never used anywhere else). We have the regular Armored titan hardening and we have the hardening Eren gets from the bottle that gives him the ability to contruct elaborate structures outside his titan body, i'm not really sure how that one is different from the last form of hardening that the Warhammer titan possesses. Even the walls themselves could be counted as another form of hardening as they don't seem to conform to any of the other ones. Sure it could be somewhat explained by differences in user proficiency/experience, compatibility between the special titan in question and the person inside... or maybe it's just the will of Ymir (or Eren perhaps). But if someone forced me to nitpick something in AoT that would probably be it. Is it just me that really dislikes to figuring out things beforehand? If i see a twist beforehand our figure out who the murderer is to early it was obviously all to... obvious (or maybe i'm just to hard on myself). I'm glad i had not figured out Reiner and Berthold before Reiner spilled the beans. Perhaps why i also like the basement reveal so much, it wasn't something that you could figure out beforehand but afterwards it just makes so much sense and all the pieces fit.
Christopher Pettersson
2023-05-25 22:08:58 +0000 UTC4. It’s interesting how there’s always this mounting pressure on Eren that due to his titan powers he is essentially humanity’s only hope and therefore he has no choice to succeed since there’s no other option. Just like how he didn’t know whether he’d be able to lift the boulder to plug the wall in Trost but said he’d do it anyway since that was the only option. Now it’s the same thing with him having no idea whether he can do the hardening ability but vows to do it anyway since he’s got no other choice. It makes sense that Eren sees so much of his self-worth through his actions, his strength and what he’s able to accomplish which is why he breakdowns when that foundation crumbles. Like when he’s powerless to save Hannes, or when he learns his titan powers aren’t actually his. This trauma likely originates from Hannes telling Eren he couldn’t save his mother because he wasn’t strong enough. This is also why he’s incapable of understanding why someone like Mikasa would be able to love him simply for who he is, and has to justify it with a reason, like it’s because I saved you when you were young, or it’s because your Ackerman blood is making you. Because outside of what he’s able to do for humanity, he has little value for himself as a person. 5. I find Levi accusing Mikasa of being overly attached to Eren kinda funny given his close relationship with Erwin and how far Levi is willing to go for that man. Like pot calling the kettle black sir. 6. Ymir flunking her test results to get Christa in the top 10 of the trainees is a lot like Marcel bigging up Reiner and criticising Porco so that he’d be safe and wouldn’t have to inherit the armoured titan. Both influenced training exam results to protect their loved one. I guess it’s a shared Jaw Titan trait lol. 7. Ymir gives herself in more than 1 way in that scene with Reiner in the castle. The first is obviously her being able to read the food can in a different language, but the second way is that she says the can is herring. Since Herring is an ocean fish which someone within the walls would have no knowledge about.
Doccyy
2023-05-21 16:17:41 +0000 UTC1. Love how the mantra of getting out of the forest has been in the series all the way back from season 2 content. Sasha to Mikasa in chapter 27: “If you underestimate the forest, you’ll die!” Mr Blouse: “I think Sasha got killed cause she wandered too long in that forest” 2. It’s interesting how you noted how Sasha’s words about not wanting to make any concessions in her way of life for outsiders is very reminiscent of Eren’s mindset and I agree with you there. This is very much that same idea of prioritising your home and your values over that of others, of course though Sasha not wanting to let any immigrants from the outer walls into her hometown, and Eren wiping out the entire world are entirely different levels of this attitude. Mr Blouse’s line saying that living in the world is a privilege is almost directly in contrast to Eren’s ideology that the outside world is his birth-right. Mr Blouse is willing to give up his home and traditions for the sake of other people, whereas Eren doesn’t believe he owes the world anything that he shouldn’t have to make any concessions of his freedom for other people. Eren would likely see Mr Blouse’s mentality as cowardly and unacceptable in the same way he looked down on people who were satisfied with the status quo within the walls at the start of the series. 3. I left a comment previously on how Ymir and Christa’s first interaction perfectly encapsulated their dynamic of Ymir being a selfless person putting on a selfish façade, and Christa being a selfish person putting on a selfless façade. And now again in Sasha’s flashback we get another interaction that perfectly highlights their feelings on the facades they put out to the world. Ymir believes Sasha should be herself, not hide her accent for the sake of others and to stop playing a character, since that’s exactly what Ymir did in her first life pretending to be the Goddess Ymir to the cult members, which got her and the people she cared about turned into titans. She’s telling Sasha to live her life with pride instead of putting on act, since that’s what Ymir herself vowed to do when she was given a second chance at life. Whereas Christa tells Sasha it’s fine if she hides her accent if that’s the way she wants to present herself, which makes sense coming from her since Christa herself is just a fake persona Historia puts on. Since she wants to be seen by others as a helpful, good girl who cares for everyone and remembered that way once she dies, rather than how empty and suicidal she is on the inside. Christa values projecting the image of how you want people to see you, whereas Ymir values being true to yourself above everything.
Doccyy
2023-05-21 16:15:59 +0000 UTCYES! I was floored with how soon it was in this story! Thanks for pointing that out and the comment!
Romaniablack
2023-05-21 12:32:01 +0000 UTCSasha's discussion with her dad is such an early deconstruction of the Yeagerist ideology
Cart
2023-05-21 07:42:21 +0000 UTC
