FIRST IMPRESSIONS: EIC Watches Attack on Titan For The First Time (From SE01 EP01 to EP07)

I’ll admit… the reason behind watching Attack on Titans came from the fact that a lot of people in my life have started watching it. So, yes. I am jumping on the bandwagon here. According to the most-trusted website Wikipedia, Hajime Isayama wrote and illustrated the Japanese manga series it was based on. Set in the world where humanity lives inside cities, three enormous walls protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids they refer to as Titans.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: EIC Watches Attack on Titan For The First Time

Season 1 Episode 1

The series starts with Eren and Mikasa collecting some firewood. Are they siblings? Because they kinda look alike but, they’d still look cute as a couple. Wait, let me search it on Google real quick… Oop- they are not siblings. The story follows Eren Yeager who vowed to exterminate the Titans. Of course, just like any other ‘chosen one’ stories, he does this after a traumatic event… which I’ve already seen.

Season 1 Episode 2

So, Mikasa is more badass and scarier than Eren? Wow. I love this girl already. I’ll probably be watching the whole show just to see more of her. One of the things, why I refrain from watching a lot of anime, would be the lack of strong female characters. I like it better when they show a girl’s strength and bravery rather than her being a damsel in distress. I hope Mikasa actually becomes the badass character that she seems to be meant for.

A Titan brought destruction to his hometown, devouring the body of his mother who got stuck under piles of debris. Okay, so the traumatic event really is traumatic. Like, holy shit. Imagine you’re a kid and you watch a freakish giant eat your parent. Wouldn’t you vow for revenge, as well? I felt deeply disturbed from watching that. However, I feel really disappointed that they didn’t show the actual *biting sounds*.

Season 1 Episode 3

The highlight of this episode would be Sasha Braun, eating a steamed potato right in front of her commander. It’s too relatable! When she offered half of it to him, I swear I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Aside from that, we get to establish her and Jean Kirschtein as concurrent characters in the series. Plus, we saw Mikasa continue to be the deserving badass that she truly is. Bertolt Hoover and Reiner Braun also established that there are two kinds of people who are training to be part of the military: ones who’ve seen the horrors that the Titans brought and the ones that don’t.

Season 1 Episode 4

The training scene looks so badass! It showed the uniqueness of each character. Reiner with his dedication, Armin with his aptitude in the classroom, Annie with her flawless slice attacks and reclusive attitude. Meanwhile, Bertolt has remarkable potential and Jean has omnidirectional mobility but has a volatile personality. Sasha, on the other hand, remains unconventional from others. Conny excels at quick turns. Eren extends even more effort than everybody else whole Mikasa remains completely proficient.

This episode also showed how a lot of female characters are more badass than their male counterparts. Of course, that would include how male characters could learn so much from their female counterparts. Just like how Eren learned from Annie when she kicked his ass during a class. He used it on Jean when the two had an altercation inside their dining area. The episode ended with the Colossal Titan showing itself to Eren and a few of his recently-graduated classmates.

Season 1 Episode 5

Oh… So, the Colossal Titan has intelligence, unlike other Titans who devour every human in their way. Because this one literally went for the cannons and busted the door with the intention of letting the other Titans break-in. OH, MY GOD! Did he just… vanish into thin air??? What the fuck just happened?! Now, they’re preparing for a battle. These recently-graduated traumatized cadets are preparing for a battle.

I’m kinda scared for these random couple Franz and Hanna hugging in the corner. That’s not going to end well, is it? Okay, I can’t understand the part between Pyxis and Wald. Why is the large dude stopping the tall one from leaving? Isn’t it Pyxis’ duty to protect humanity? Not just Wald himself? Plus, why is Eren the only one who can open Jean’s eyes? I also have a bad feeling about Mikasa and Eren’s separation between ranks or vanguard or something, I don’t know what it’s called.

Did that fucking Abnormal just caught Thomas Wagner in its mouth and swallowed him whole?! The fuck. Okay, so shit hits the fan after Thomas’s death. Nice, nice, nice. DEFINITELY NOT NICE!!! Please tell me Eren doesn’t get swallowed trying to save Armin. It’s only the fifth episode! It’s all happening so fast. Y’all, I’m going crazy.

Season 1 Episode 6

Armin is going to make me cry with his inner dialogue. My fucking goodness, you adorable adorable child. I told you Franz and Hanna weren’t going to end well!!! He literally got bit in half and she’s trying so hard to resuscitate him. My heart hurts. During the evacuation, a power-hungry bitch was trying to fit his products into a small tunnel. Of course, an Abnormal sets its eyes on the group as the elites try to catch up to it.

Of course, Miss Ma’am Mikasa is on the rescue. She killed that Titan and had a much-deserved superhero landing. Aside from saving the evacuees from the Titan, she turned her eyes to the power-hungry Dorito and made him follow her instructions… which was even more badass. It’s Mikasa and Eren’s background story! A group of men abducted her and wanted to auction her off to perverts. Gross. A younger Eren tried to find Mikasa on his own, despite his father’s wishes to remain at the bottom of the mountain.

It does sound like his character, though. It does sound like him to stand up for this girl. BUT, I DIDN’T KNOW HE PLANNED ON KILLING THESE MEN!  At such a young age, he repeatedly stabbed an adult man twice his age. The little dude has anger management issues. When she remembers that there was another man that came into her home, she would be the one to actually stab him from the back through his heart. Young Mikasa was a wimp. And this traumatic event – seeing her parents die – was the thing that woke her up and ruined her innocence. So, that’s why she was so attached to him! I get it now.

Season 1 Episode 7

Y’all, I hate men in power. This commander just forced these newly-graduated cadets to stay in their headquarters without backup. They were so mentally disturbed and unprepared that one of them just killed themselves. I kind of expected Mikasa’s reaction to Eren’s death… the unwavering stoic expression on her face faltered but it stayed strong. Of course, her insulting words felt inspiring to her fellow cadets. She’s such a badass and you can definitely see it when she takes on Titans on her own.

She loses her only family… losing her will to live. Understandable. She was about to let herself die, letting a Titan walk towards her. However, she saves herself until another 15m Titan saves her. This Titan is kind of different. He kills the other Titan right in front of her with a hint of elation in his eyes. Armin takes her to the roof and Connie arrives to see two 15-meter Titans fight right in front of them. This new Titan beheads the other with one punch.

WAIT, IS THIS EREN? DID EREN TURN INTO A TITAN?

My thoughts on Attack on Titan, so far:

I think I like Attack on Titan. I didn’t expect Eren, the actual “chosen one,” to die in the fifth episode. It threw me off-guard. This is a good thing since it keeps the viewers on their toes. I also liked how they made female characters more physically impressive than their male counterparts. During training, we can see Sasha, Annie, and Mikasa be better than Connie, Jean, Eren, and Armin. Aside from that, their clothing remained uniformed to the point that no one can sexualize these female characters. Plus, their inner dialogues felt absolutely perfect. The way the writers can fit their character developments within a few seconds makes it all the more impressive.