Attack on Titan - S1E1 - To You, After 2,000 Years
What’s up, ProFans! I’m here to broaden your geek tendencies by recapping one of the summer season animes to hit Hulu! This is a funimation Anime called Attack on Titan. A brief summary before we get into the episode-from the director of the Death Note series we’re thrust into a world where Humanity was almost driven to extinction by man-eating titans that roam the world outside of their massive fortress.
The episode opens up with townspeople with their eyes locked onto the top of the wall where a massive figure peers over at them. It’s then we hear someone utter; “Humanity was suddenly reminded that day of the terror of being at their mercy, of the humiliation of being trapped inside a cage.”
Cut to soldiers wearing green cloaks-their mission is simple; take down the Titan they’ve spotted and claim the first settlement outside of fortress in 100 years. The leader calls out the orders; split into five groups and while his group will act as bait, the rest will attack at all angles! One soldier maneuvers carefully into position using the apparatus that they’re all equipped with and as he swings behind the behemoth he yells;
“Taste the power of Humanity!” Then we cut to the opening credits, because that’s a normal procedure for shows like these. A little teaser, a little something to wet your beak and get you hooked!
Some disturbing images flash and Eren, the protagonist’s eyes snap open. His adopted sister, Misaka is standing over him. It’s a lazy day here at Shiganshina, they’ve collected firewood for the house, there’s nothing big going on. Misaka notices that Eren, as deep a sleep as he was in had been crying. Eren dismisses this as no big deal and threatens her not to say a damn word. She obliges but urges him to at least have his dad, the town physician give him a check up. On their way back they run into Mr. Hannes, one of the soldiers of the wall Garrison. In a hundred years not one titan has broken through, so they’re drinking on the job. The walls are fifty meters high and none of the titans out there now can even climb the walls. While this upsets Eren, Hannes tries to assure him that if they have to do their job, then things have gone to hell. It’s better that they’re just freeloaders and drunks. It’s quiet and peaceful that way. Eren is quiet until…
“Sure. We can live that way. But that basically makes us cattle!” Some children are easy to bullshit and ease. Eren is not one of them. After he wounds Hannes with his words, he stomps off. Hannes is pondering what would have caused him to shoot his mouth off like that. As if on cue, the bells ring out, signaling the return of the Scout Regiment. The guys we saw in the beginning, riding on horses and swinging through the trees with swords. Eren takes Misaka by the hand and rushes to the street; he thinks these guys are the cream of the crop. The baddest bastards to walk the earth. They’re brave enough to saddle up and ride out into the world of titans.
When they get there it’s a totally different mood. Not many have returned and the ones who have, there’s not a single guy who isn’t injured. The leader looks especially whipped. There isn’t much sympathy from the civilians either. Hell, the attitude towards them is that going out there is asking for a death sentence. It’s rough and they don’t hold back in their comments. The Scout Regiment is looked down on for venturing out into the unsafe world. A frantic mother looks for her son and when she asks where he is, she’s presented with his arm. That’s all they could recover and when she asks if he made a difference, if he made an impact, the leader drops to his knees. He doesn’t even bother trying to lie to her. It was like all the other missions. A complete failure. It was a wash. All these times they’ve gone out and they still don’t know shit about the titans. To one observer, they’re basically titan food that their taxes pay for. An emotional Eren strikes out at him Misaka whisks him away before he gets into serious trouble.
Even an idiot can see that he wants to be a part of the Scout Regiment. It doesn’t remain much of a secret once Misaka tells his parents that when they get home. Naturally, his mother freaks as most mothers would. His father asks why he’d want to do that. Eren replies that he doesn’t want to spend his life in ignorance and he wants to see the world. Dad is apparently satisfied with that answer and tells him that when he returns from the interior city, he will show him the secret basement. Mom is still not pleased with Eren’s decision which causes him to run off.
Meanwhile, a blond kid is getting the boots put to him by the local bullies. He’s no pushover intellectually; I mean he straight up tells him that because they’re kicking his ass, they lost the argument. Obviously this kid is a friend of Eren’s, which causes him to launch right at them. They’re ready to beat him to a pulp too until they see Misaka right behind him. They take off at the sight of a girl. Shows you how many strong men are left behind in this world. Once Armin’s cleaned up, he explains why he was attacked. In a hundred years there hasn’t been a single incident or anything resembling an attack on the high walls. As such the royal government has made anything that even hints at an outside world taboo. This ruffles Eren’s feathers and he tears into another acidic remark; “It’s our lives, why can’t we risk them?” Armin starts to get melancholy as a montage of the happy and complacent townspeople go about their lives. He says that just because the walls haven’t fallen today, or for a hundred years, doesn’t mean that they won’t ever fall down.
As if on cue everyone hears a loud rumbling noise and runs in the direction it’s coming from. The walls aren’t falling tomorrow. They’re falling today! A titan who looks like he doesn’t have any skin, his head is clear over the wall. He looks down at Eren and the rest of the people there…and kicks the front door in. There’s stone and debris flying everywhere from the force. The terror doesn’t begin until the titans start to wander in and devour the people. In the chaos Eren runs back to his home to find his mother caught in the rubble of their home. He tries to free her but she knows that even if they did free her, she wouldn’t be able to make it far. A titan gets a whiff of them and sets off in their direction. Hannes swoops in and she orders him to take the kids and get the hell out of dodge. Now I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol talking but he smirks and says he’ll kill this titan here and save all three of them. He starts off into a charge and stops dead in his tracks.
A titan stands there with a lipless grin. He is menacing. He is terrifying.
Just standing there he gives you every reason to be afraid. He shocks Hannes down the core. He locks up; whatever courage the alcohol gave him has dried up. He sheathes his weapon, does a one 180 and picks up Eren and Misaka. Eren’s mother is satisfied in knowing that her children will be safe. As if it weren’t already heart wrenching, we see the next few minutes that usually end up on the cutting room floor. Her life flashes before her eyes and she regrets being left behind. Just when it couldn’t get worse, the titan is upon her. He makes quick work of the rubble and claims her for his snack. Eren watches at it picks his mother up, snaps her back and bites her in half. The credits roll as a mist of blood flies through the air and the titan smiles and swallows his meal.
