Attack on Titan: Episode 7 (Review)

By: EyeSpyeAlexI could hardly wait for this week’s episode after the intensity last week brought. We finally have our Titan showdown, and it’s amazing! Missed my last review? Catch it here!This episode’s main attraction is definitely the battle between Eren and the Armored Titan. However, there is also a subplot of the betrayal Eren is feeling. Through flashbacks and Eren’s inner monologue, we see and hear how much he looked up to Reiner during his training, and how much respect he had for Reiner. On top of that, were it not for Reiner and Bertholdt’s attack on his village, Eren’s mother may still be alive. Eren uses these old wounds and his fresh rage as fuel to battle Armor Titan and beat him into submission.While Eren is fighting the Armored Titan, the rest of the Scouts are attempting to kill Colossal Titan. Their efforts prove fruitless as the Colossal Titan begins to emit steam from its entire body. This steam prevents the Scouts from getting too close, and renders their ODM gear useless. This steam causes the Titan to slowly disintegrate until his skeleton starts to become exposed.One cool thing about this episode was the animation of the Colossal Titan. The Titan was rendered using CGI, so the designers had a lot of wiggle room to play with. The fight scene was done incredibly, with a lot of wide angles and 360 degree rotations. It felt like I was there with the rest of the Scouts trying to slay this beast.Another thing this episode handled well was its’ callbacks to past events. Often times, shows will use lampshading to have the protagonist get out of perilous situations. In this case, Eren’s grappling techniques were worked into his recalls of training with Annie and Reiner. This had a dual purpose. It served to provide Eren with the necessary technique to subdue the Armored Titan. It also fit with the narrative of Eren recalling in anger the times he spent with Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie.This episode did finally provide more of Mikasa’s character than we’ve seen thus far. She holds her own against both Titans, and does her best to assist Eren in taking down the Armored Titan. With Hange’s assistance, Mikasa locates a weak spot behind the knee of the Armored Titan. She slices it, weakening the Titan enough for Eren to go in for the kill shot. Before he can, the Armored Titan begins to scream. This is a signal to the Colossal Titan, who falls head first off the wall and onto Eren and the Armored Titan. Next week’s episode will hopefully reveal if his drop attack was successful.Next week’s episode is titled “The Hunters” should hopefully give us some good resolution to the cliffhanger this episode provided.[yasr_multiset setid=11]