Former TV Student's Analysis of "To You, in 2000 Years: The Fall of Shiganshina, Part 1"
Attack On Titan Season 1, Episode 1 Breakdown
Length: 26min
MPA Rating: TV-MA
Episode Pungency: Level 9 (EOI)
Director: Tetsurô Araki, Hiroyuki Tanaka
Writer: Hajime Isayama, Yasuko Kobayashi, J. Michael Tatum
Analysis (in a nutshell)
Writing
=OHHHHHH man…
=They absolutely do not hold back….
+A perfect script from start to finish
Story Concept
+The slow-burn nature of this episode is what hits the hardest of all
+The dynamic between Eren, Mikasa, and Armin is one to watch—one that could be a dynamic for the ages
Aesthetic Vision
+The drawings are one thing, the aesthetic style between still images and animation makes for a PERFECT dynamic
Technicals
+Sensational voice acting
+Perfect editing
+Perfect execution
*SPOILERS WARNING*
Observations (from a TV student)
=ominous soundtrack while showing birds flying and a light
+Cool mix of shots to start
=Narration takes place to signify that this is an old story being told
+Superb drawings for the first battle sequence
+This opening sequence has a killer soundtrack and drawings as well
=Main subject was having a nightmare and is outside the wall—Mikasa came to wake him up and bring him back
==Eren doesn’t seem to remember his dream, but something called back to him
===============Year 845, apparently
=They’re not brother and sister since she said “you’re dad”
=Eren seems to take issue with the guards since they’re SUPER laid back about things
==Dr. Jaegar is Eren’s father—he saved the city from a pandemic
=“Become the Wall Repair Corps”
=Eren clearly has a lot of beef with the way things are
==Mikasa is a grounded one
+They are showing a lot of still drawings with the animations—it’s VERY interesting
=Eren is excited to see the Survey Corp since he wants to join them
=The still drawings say it all
==People’s chatter is mere natural reinforcement rather than forced exposition
=Goddamn…only an arm of Moses for his mother…holy shit
=Wind is coming???
=Wow, one of the main Survey Corps’ members is taking significant responsibility for the failure
=Eren has a TON of rage
>>>>>>>Honestly, he prob should join the Survey Corp to get all that rage out lol
=Mikasa just casually notifies his parents that he wants to join the Survey Corps
=Eren is too curious about the outside, only natural for a story to have a pulse
==Eren’s father says he’ll show him something once he gets back
=Eren’s mother makes Mikasa promise to look after Eren
=“I think people who’re fine with being cattle are more stupid”
=Eren seems to be bark with a weak bite while Mikasa doesn’t bark, but she BITES
=Seems to be a wind motif here
=Armin is such a wise one, it seems
==He senses complacency amongst the people
=Uh oh…some lightning strike that caused something to fall from the sky
++The drawings to set this whole thing up are sensational
=Holy fuck…a titan as tall as the wall, for once
==that titan broke open the wall…goddamn
+This animation from the outside is GODDAMN SENSATIONAL
+Excellent soundtrack
=Armin being the timid, wise one is interesting
=Wow, Eren’s house is fucking destroyed…
==His mother is finished, it seems
=The problem here is there seems to be too little knowledge of the titans to be able to defeat them
=Eren’s flashbacks in seeing his mother’s fate… 💔💔💔
=These goddamn scoundrel titans…
Summary (in summation)
They DO NOT HOLD BACK, like holy fuck… The little dynamic between Eren, Mikasa, and Armin is one to pay attention to, especially with that ending… The drawings are excellent and the use of still images paired with the animations is a superb aesthetic choice. Eren’s determination and inner rage is one he needs to let out, and I SURELY am familiar with restrictive parents. However, with that ending…there’s unlikely to be a choice anymore… This show is absolutely not for the weak.
Rating: Historically Excellent
Grade: 10/10
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