I know, I know… Theoretically I’m on hiatus from weekly postings, but I couldn’t resist a few observations.
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Season 3 Part 2 – Episodes 56-57
After 56 episodes of waiting, we’re finally in that d*mm basement… And what we find there is like nothing I could have ever imagined. My head is still reeling over all the implications. Two very interesting ones: First, there’s now a potential second claimant to Historia’s throne. Second, the name of her friend/protector in the Scout Regiment takes on some interesting significance.
Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket continues to be a basket of feels each week. How does it manage to accomplish in a few minutes what other shows would take a week or two to build up to?
Senryu Girl (Senryuu Shoujo) Episode 11
Each week I just fall in love with this show all over again… Part of it is Nanako, but I have to admit to sneaky admiration for Eiji’s characterization. Like this week, when the doofus completely misses the import of putting a ring on her ring finger! The show has made it abundantly clear he cares for Nanako, so he’s not the typical oblivious anime protagonist. He’s just clueless and dense in an endearingly clumsy way.
Any thoughts? Feel free to share them down in the comments!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Since I’m not watching AoT anymore, I still don’t know what’s in the basement. However, I know some of the setting-spoiler (there are plenty of discussions on the web about that), so I suppose it’s got something to do with that?
I’m very happy with Fruits Basket. I remember very little about the older anime, so a lot of it is new. Also, since the adaption is planned to be complete (I hear three two-cour seasons, but don’t take that for the truth just yet), it’s possible that some of the things I don’t remember weren’t actually in the first, since they’d have set something up that couldn’t have had a resolution in the original. I wonder if I’ll even notice when we pass the point where the first anime stopped/went original. For example, I can’t for the life of me remember what kind of game Shigure is playing (maybe it wasn’t in the first anime? Maybe it was?) Love his character. I’m also very much looking forward to the snake.
Senryu Shoujo: Love the show; it’s such fun. During the parents episode, we learned that apparently Eiji said something to her that left a lasting impact. Please, anime, tell us what that is. I so want to see the moment they met. Nanako is pure calculated cuteness, but boy does it work on me.
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Titan: Yeah, we’ve now got a fuller and much different picture of how the pieces of the world fit together. And it’s a doozy. (I thought you were still watching…)
Senryu Shoujo: At first was I thinking Nanako and Eiji were childhood friends, but that can’t be right can it? Her father would know about him. Now I’m going to have to go back and watch that episode…
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I was watching the first two episodes of Titan, but they had camera movement through a CGI environment that didn’t sit well with my motion sickness. I’d have pressed on for a better show. I can’t say I’m not curious, but some of the gear movement is very close to first person perspective and that’s… not good for me. (I don’t remember it being that bad in earlier seasons; I’m not sure I’m imagining things, or if they actually got worse.)
@Senryu Shoujo: Koto nee is Eiji’s childhood friend, and it didn’t feel like Nanako knew her. Her mom said something that hinted at a potentially really cute scene. I was hoping for a flashback, but none followed. It would make most sense if they met at school, but it did give the vibe of going back a little further, didn’t they? In any case, I really, really want to see them meet. It seems just so unlikely, and it has to be extremely cute.
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I should have remembered that on Titan, and it doesn’t get any better… The first few episodes are very action packed. I’m not sure you can pick up in the middle though, there’s a lot of groundwork laid in them.
They could still have met in primary or middle school and not technically be childhood friends if they didn’t hang out at home together. I don’t know why I’m reaching for an earlier meeting other than I get the same vibe. (Do we know if they’re first years or second years? I don’t recall.)
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I think they’re first years, but I’m actually not entirely sure.
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@Shingeki no Kyojin: I’ve been waiting long months to see this animated, ever since the end of last season when I finally gave up and binge-read the manga.
The post-credits scene in #56 where Grisha and Fay opened the door and went outside was like the scene in Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opened the door and the movie switched from B&W to Technicolor… the world changed in an instant, my mind was blown, and there was no turning back.
I almost feel sorry for anime-only viewers trying to make sense of #57… that episode adapted two whole exposition-heavy manga chapters, and despite skipping the OP song, they still had to cut a few too many lines of dialogue to make it all fit. It was still a great episode. Fortunately the next two episodes will fill some of those gaps.
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I feel like I had the concepts from episode 57 pretty clear, but I am looking forward to some more explanation to see whether or not I got it right.
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Though I did get the feeling that parts had been re-arranged or time-skipped… I think I made sense of what we got, the historical bits anyhow. Not so much the current time events.
Normally I hate exposition heavy episodes, they’ve always been something of an problem for Titan. But I spent so much time with my jaw on the floor, I barely noticed this time.
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“My head is still reeling over all the implications.”
I think the last time a plot twist surprised me that much was the original Matrix movie. In this case, the more I think about it, the more astonished I am. This is seriously good stuff!
“Fruits Basket continues to be a basket of feels each week. How does it manage to accomplish in a few minutes what other shows would take a week or two to build up to?”
Honestly, how does it manage? I’m trying to analyze the plot, the settings, the characters, everything — but they make it so effortless that it’s hard to figure out the specific techniques!
But it’s really working…
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I don’t think it’s been that long for me, but either way they’re rare indeed.
Re: Fruits Basket
I think I’m just gonna give up on trying and sit here and bask in the feels… Some shows, it just doesn’t pay.
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