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Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 1 (Ep 1-16)
756 Plays4 years ago
Zuhair and J Scotty finally begin their coverage of Attack on Titan's fourth and final season by gushing over all of the titanic revelations and change ups that came with the anime's Marley arc!
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Transcript
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Attack on Titan Season 4 Introduction
00:00:30
Speaker
On another episode of the Animation Deliberation podcast, we are finally doing Season 4 of Attack on Titan. We go beyond the walls and even beyond the horizon of the ocean to see a new area called Marley. We have plenty to talk about. All that and more right after these ads, we have no control over.
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00:01:33
Speaker
Sing along if you know the words.
Meet the Hosts: Zuhair and J. Scott
00:01:35
Speaker
One, two, three, it's time for animation deliberation. A conversation and a celebration of our favorite action animated series. Yeah. Yeah. Welcome back to another episode of animation deliberation, the podcast where we take action animation seriously, but not too seriously. I'm your host, Suhara Lee. The beautiful vocals are by my co-host, J. Scott Easton Claire. How are you, bud?
00:02:00
Speaker
Hey, Zuhair, doing great. It is very exciting to finally be almost up to date
Excitement for Attack on Titan Season 4
00:02:06
Speaker
with this show. I feel like, much like our heroes on their ODM gear, we have been zipping through urban environments, zipping through forests with the occasional Titan nipping at our heels, that being our conflicting schedules and whatnot, but we are here, we are back. We are excited to talk season four and all the groundbreaking revelations that come with it.
00:02:28
Speaker
I thought you meant nipping on our emotional heels. That too. That too.
Listener Feedback on The Boys: Diabolical
00:02:33
Speaker
We got a lot to talk about, but first off, we want to pitch one of the other episodes that we did with our sibling podcast, Marvel Cinematic Universe podcast host Matthew Carroll came on to talk about
00:02:44
Speaker
the boys diabolical which was a really fun series it was a fun episode breaking down each of them and it was always great having another of the stranded panda hosts but we also got an email from tj staffer that kind of broke down each episode that we wanted to burn through before we get to attack on tie-ins you ready to go with that let's tackle this feedback
00:03:05
Speaker
Alright, so TJ says, just wanted to write in and give a few thoughts on Diabolical since I figured you guys would be doing an episode sooner or later. Probably easiest to give my thoughts on each episode.
Listener Insights on The Boys Series
00:03:14
Speaker
Episode one, I think this was an excellent way to kick things off. I really, it really encapsulated what I could expect from the show and I thought it was hilarious. Episode two.
00:03:29
Speaker
The name says it all. I had a couple laughs at this one, but also, but then I began to question why I found it so funny and what that says about my mental state. Afraid to answer, so moving on. I'm not sure we want to answer that either. I think he skips over to episode four. He may have skimmed over the ones that didn't resonate with him quite as much, much like we
00:03:52
Speaker
Discussed on our episode. We kind of he was just a different font color. Oh, okay for some reason That was a three. Honestly, this one didn't have much of an impact It was probably the weakest in the anthology for me. Nothing wrong with it. Just didn't really stand out Episode four in the middle of all the ridiculousness of the show We got a fairly compelling satirical commentary on the cost of beauty and fame when things started going downhill for our lead couple I actually felt very sad for them
00:04:23
Speaker
episode five. I like weird storytelling as much as the next guy, but this one took.
Narrative and Emotional Impact of The Boys
00:04:29
Speaker
This one took it pushed a little too far for me. I remember saying, what the fool am I watching right now? On one hand, I felt and identified with Sky and her loneliness in the beginning, but the sentient poop people. Nope, sorry. Not for me. Good for you if you enjoyed it. Well, that was my favorite. So yeah.
00:04:48
Speaker
Nubian vs Nubian, that poor kid, her parents were the worst. I did like that they subverted gender roles just a bit by making the father slightly more interested in the girl's wellbeing. The mother was just a terrible start to finish. It's sad when the child recognized the toxicity of the home and asked for the divorce. They also did groundhog pretty dirty and bothered me how little the kid cared. Obviously the upbringing was already impacting her future supervillain.
00:05:17
Speaker
This was by far the most emotional story for me. You can really feel John's simple and relatable desire to save his wife. How many people died as a result of his actions?
00:05:26
Speaker
Sun he's discussed at John's actions combined with the inability to recognize it or hear her protests are so tragic When Sun he finally gets through to him and leaves to battle her cancer. It was brutal her last line about making Her he remembers to eat without her just broke just broke me And the giant living cancer was absolutely terrifying hmm last one episode 8 they definitely knew the best
00:05:55
Speaker
They definitely knew the best one to end on. It really makes you think and I was very conflicted about it. On one hand, seeing flashes of homeland or childhood does make you sympathize with them. On the other though, seeing the size of his ego compared to his complete lack of empathy left a bad taste in the mouth.
00:06:14
Speaker
I'm hesitant to call anyone irredeemable. The Homelander is definitely pushing it. Sorry for that long message. Feel free to use or discard any as you see fit. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this very thought-provoking series. I tried so hard like not to respond to each one of those because we just did the whole episode so it's like...
00:06:30
Speaker
You know what? I think this whole email was just kind of a cool preview if you're a fan of the boys of like what all these episodes are like So if you have any interest in you should definitely check out the show on Amazon Prime and then listen to the podcast everybody find your podcast
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah, definitely appreciate TJ's feedback and the perspective there. I kind of fell off in that halfway through our episode that we did due to technical difficulties, but I definitely agreed with you and Matt in terms of Nubian versus Nubian and John and Sun he kind of being the bottom tier for me, not that they weren't entertaining in their own rights.
00:07:04
Speaker
But I really liked what TJ brought up about Nubian versus Nubian especially. As a child of divorce, I would have thought maybe that one would have resonated with me a little bit more. But he definitely brings an insightful perspective there. But I have to disagree with him about episode three. Episode three I mentioned was one of my favorites. And I just, like Matt kind of brought up, it felt like it felt the most
00:07:28
Speaker
in continuity with the TV show in terms of just depicting these heroes as despicable as they are and delivering us that over the top gratuitous violence that I'm here for.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think I think I'm due for a rewatch of just season one two of the boys in anticipation of three coming out. Mm hmm. And also, I
Return to Attack on Titan: New Worlds
00:07:51
Speaker
like that, you know, we were jokingly talking about how we enjoy talking about some of the live action stuff. So we're trying to find like animated loopholes to get it to work. So the fact that the boys was like, now we got you to hear some say it's stuff. Go talk about the boys as much as you want. Yes. Definitely. Definitely. Yep. I'm I'm excited for season three.
00:08:12
Speaker
All right, should we get back to the realm of anime? Back to the land of Eldia and Marley.
00:08:19
Speaker
and this awesome world. Yeah, seeing what Marley is like was actually pretty cool. It took me a minute to kind of grasp in the first episode what was really happening. And there is a level of just kind of like throwing everything out at you at once. I feel like I need to watch some type of recap video on YouTube or just do a rewatch of the season overall because
00:08:46
Speaker
it is a lot and it's a lot to track, especially when a lot of this deception stuff type comes in. And I think that this is kind of repeating the format of season three, where the first half is just building, building, building, building, and then
00:09:02
Speaker
the second half is just like the stuff that we love about the show because it did feel slow for me and all the captivating moments while they were great. I didn't feel like there was enough of them. So I'm hoping the back half of the season kind of makes up for that.
00:09:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think those are fair points. And as much as we discussed, you know, having the privilege of being able to watch this series in a continuous binge and not have those gaps in between, I really wonder what it was like for somebody that was waiting this long for season four and just to kind of be dropped into Marley with this different set of characters, like how that made them feel and what they were able to recollect and whatnot. But it, yeah, I agree with you with the comparisons to season three. It definitely feels like the most.
00:09:46
Speaker
Unique in the biggest change up in terms of the attack on titan format like marley is just a completely different world we got little snippets of it back in season three with grisha geger's memories that aaron was able to relive but they really just drop us in like what felt like a world war one maybe world war two,
00:10:03
Speaker
like no man's land battlefield with trench warfare and whatnot. But yeah, we immediately get introduced to these warrior candidates in Gabby and Falco. And then people whose names aren't wasn't remembering because they died. Yeah, right. Exactly. And then I do have to say the jaw Titan. I really like this new iteration of the jaw Titan. It might be one of my favorite Titans so far, just in terms of the visual and kind of being like a lion on all fours and navigating the battlefield so quickly.
00:10:34
Speaker
Yeah, I think the biggest thing that it did for me is really created a new sense of compassion and empathy for those warriors that went to LD in the first place, that being Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie.
Character Complexity in Attack on Titan
00:10:52
Speaker
As villainous and uncaring and callous as they were portrayed to be in those first three seasons, this really makes you feel for them and understand why they would go to the links that they went to.
00:11:05
Speaker
And it really puts Reina's like, like our theory of his split personalities into better perspective. And those personalities are at two such opposite extremes now too, because there is a thing of like, I am, you know, fighting for the wall, I'm fighting for all humanity and like all that means something. But then when you see like Marley inversion of him, then it's to the extreme of like,
00:11:35
Speaker
the the LDNs are devils and they're this and they're that and it's like right this is really fascinating just kind of like how much of a gap is between those two personalities as a whole now
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah, he was basically a runt, a total F up in terms of being like the weakest of the Marley candidates and the Marley warrior candidates. And you really got the feeling back in like season one, two, and three that he was just so capable and especially going into like season two and three, like he felt like he was
00:12:11
Speaker
the leader of the trio there, but we obviously learned a little bit more about I think Porco Galliard's older brother was named Marcel, as I recall, how he was really supposed to be the leader and the fact that he got taken out by Ymir that caused Reiner to have to step up and become that leader. But even Berthold, who was the quiet and reserved one, seemed like he was more capable than Reiner.
00:12:41
Speaker
Yeah, just gives you a completely different perspective on how nuanced and really well-rounded a character he is.
00:12:49
Speaker
He was just ready to die at that point, too, like in front of Falco, and he was sitting next to Aaron. He was like, Oh, yeah, kill me. I'm done. I don't want to do this anymore. Like, I just, I'm really fed up with this. And you could tell like how torn he is between his two, the two versions of him. And it's really just the admiration for these warrior candidates and how much he cares about them and like this big brother fashion.
00:13:15
Speaker
Mm hmm. Which we see like, you know, the other characters like peak have a real connection with those kids too. So for them to have for their like safety and progression and well being to have that much of an impact on the current warriors are really fascinating.
00:13:34
Speaker
Yeah. And it's kind of interesting, bringing up Peek and the connection that she had with those other warrior candidates. I want to say it was Udo and Zofia. It was interesting that the show decided to kind of endear us to these characters. And when Aaron makes his big reveal and starts his attack on Marley, they really show us kind of what we only saw snippets of the first time around as far as what happened in Wall Maria with the sacking of
00:14:03
Speaker
I always- Shiganshina. Shiganshina, thank you. But yeah, just seeing civilians, women, and children being crushed, and when they're trying to save Udo and bring them to the hospital, it's like, no, this kid's already dead.
00:14:19
Speaker
That was just heartbreaking. And I do have to say the whole reveal with Aaron with him, you know, pretending to be a Marley and soldier that was wounded. I mean, I knew it was him from the very beginning, but I do appreciate that the show like went out of its way to kind of keep that secret. I always paid attention during the credits, whether or not they credited this Kruger character as his voice actor. And they just completely omitted him from the credits to kind of, you know,
00:14:50
Speaker
Save that reveal and build that mystery. But I think when he fell over, I didn't notice, but in the middle of the conversation, that's when it started clicking. And then was it. It was a guy who had the attack attack Titan before Grisha that was named Kruger, wasn't it?
00:15:13
Speaker
His name was Aaron Krueger, yes. Aaron Krueger was named after him. So the name kind of clicked then and I was like, wait a minute, oh crap, that's Aaron. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And of course when they were in the basement, he was just speaking so intently and his voice was more abrupt. So it was like, oh yeah, I'm more familiar with that version of the voice.
00:15:33
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. This is the first time that we've had a
Implications of Season 4's Time Jump
00:15:35
Speaker
time jump too. I can't believe I almost forgot to mention that like the first three seasons are in the span of two months, except for the ending, which is like two months later. So a total of four, but we actually have four years, which is typically what we have to wait between seasons, four years.
00:15:52
Speaker
Yeah. Erin has gone from being a runt to quite the strapping young man. Pretty much everyone has different hairstyles. Jean's rocking his little wispy beard that everyone gives him crap for. Yeah. Mikasa seems to be losing hair the older she gets. Yeah. She's looking more and more like Levi in some ways, which is fitting because
00:16:17
Speaker
They're right there on the same level in terms of their ferocity and ability with ODM gear. And they're related somehow. We just need to figure out how. Yeah. So you mentioned Grisha earlier. It brought up an interesting connection. Have you seen The Last Duel yet? I have, and I thought it was excellent. I really enjoyed that movie.
00:16:41
Speaker
So without spoiling too much, you know how the last tool was like the same story but from three people's perspectives on like very big extremes? Right.
00:16:51
Speaker
that's how we've seen Zeke's story in terms of how we saw it from Grisha's perspective of he was a good dad and he was just trying to raise him to you know be the warrior and stuff and he doesn't know what how it went wrong and why he turned on him but seeing Zeke's perspective was really interesting about
00:17:12
Speaker
the other warrior being the father figure to him and coming into the conversations where they're all mad that he's the runt of the warrior candidate. Right. Very much like Reiner in that regard.
00:17:27
Speaker
And just kind of like how the stories, because his grandpa's telling him one story, his dad's telling him another story and both being like shoved down his throat of like, who's right and who's wrong and what the, what he's supposed to learn and what he's supposed to believe. So it's like,
00:17:44
Speaker
As much as I didn't want a filler episode, it was really interesting seeing those two very different perspectives of what actually happened, how Zeke saw it and how Grisha saw it. Yeah, yeah, that's an excellent point. And that surrogate father figure was, I believe his name was Tom Zaver. He was the, um,
00:18:10
Speaker
the beast titan before Zeke was and he was just a fascinating character. The fact that he was just so interested in titans that he was willing to shave so many years off his life and just live another 13 years just to simply learn more about them. Hopefully somewhere down the line we'll get to see what his version of the beast titan looks like because given the fact that he just said he's not
00:18:34
Speaker
He's incapable when it comes to fighting and whatnot. It makes me wonder what attributes, physical attributes his Titan has. But outside of that, their relationship and the constant game of catch gives a whole new context to what we saw in season three from the Beast Titan in terms of his fastball and winding up. I understand why he has such a love for that now.
00:18:58
Speaker
There's so many connections to the early showings of each of these characters that just really never fails to amaze me. But on the subject, you brought up Zeke's grandfather briefly in terms of his grandfather telling him a different story. We did get a little snippet of him as well in that Dr. Jager character.
00:19:19
Speaker
greeted Aaron Yeager in the courtyard and kind of told him to stop messing with Falco because he was basically putting Falco and his family at risk. That's where we got the revelation that Falco was related to Grice, who was one of the restorationists that worked with Grisha.
00:19:35
Speaker
as well as his older brother Colt, who is, I guess, the prime candidate to take the Beast Titan after Zeke. It was really interesting to see what a toll the fate of his son had taken on him and how Grisha kind of abandoned his son. He had kind of done the same thing to Grisha, so just really grounds it in the real world in terms of how the sins of the father
00:20:01
Speaker
can really be a generational thing that's passed down. And I can't help but think of the Batman when I say, sins of the father. That's exactly where my head went.
00:20:14
Speaker
I'm glad you remembered all those names because I definitely did not. Oh, sure. I'm good for something. I'm good for something. Man, there's just there's so many directions that we could take this conversation, but I guess we can kind of focus a little more on the attack on Marley because it was kind of the first big fight that we got, which was really cool.
Galena's Plan and Paradis vs. Marley
00:20:37
Speaker
And I. They kind of went with the non-linear stuff again, which was frustrating me because I'm sure really having a difficult time. Putting all the pieces together, especially when they introduce so many characters like Galena. Oh, yeah, who was part of like the Scout exhibition, and then it turned out that Zeke sent her all along, but she's trying to fight Marley, but at the expense of parody and it. It's a lot.
00:21:06
Speaker
It's a very convoluted plan. It's like schemes within schemes within schemes. Yeah, it took me a little while to get a full understanding of exactly what was happening as well. But in terms of the attack on Marley itself, if I if I did have any kind of like
00:21:28
Speaker
I don't want to call it a full on criticism, but I guess kind of a critique of this first half of the season is that in some ways they're throwing so much at you. I kind of feel like I would have liked to learn more about what was it? The Tiber family, like Willie Tiber. Yeah. I have no idea. Yeah. It's like this family from Eldia that kind of like sold out the rest of the.
00:21:55
Speaker
Eldians in terms of allowing Marley to defeat Eldia and they had the Warhammer Titan, which was really cool. It was badass to see such a unique Titan in action and so many unique attributes in terms of the hosts not residing in the nape, but actually almost being attached to an umbilical cord that was in a subterranean environment.
00:22:24
Speaker
That was one of the best Titan on Titan battles we've had in a long time. It was really funny just because she was frozen in the diamond, but her facial expression was frozen. But depending on the context of the situation, you can just imagine what she's thinking and how her face would be.
00:22:47
Speaker
Like, especially. Oh my God, this was so cool when Aaron got the jaw tight and like just ripped off his limbs and then just shove the diamond in his mouth and just kept crushing it. Like I can just picture. Yeah. Yeah. Man, that it was like a what one V four fight. Yeah. Cause he was taking on the Warhammer Titan, the jaw Titan.
00:23:16
Speaker
Uh, the cart Titan, as we've learned that that's who peak is with her, her little unit that rides on her with the anti-titan artillery. And then, uh, the panzer unit could call, good call. And then I only remember that cause of Zoids. Oh, there you go. There you go. That's a, that's a pool right there. I love Zoids. Zoids was, was fun. It was a little too short lived though. Schneider, Jager panzer and zero. There you go. There you go. Um, but who was the fourth Titan? Was it Reiner?
00:23:45
Speaker
Ryanna came up towards the end, I think after he already consumed the War Hammer Titan, and Watch His Face Beast Titan was kind of further down, so Levi was dealing with him. So I guess it was versus three. Two and a half since Ryanna came in later. Yeah, two and a half. Okay.
00:24:05
Speaker
Oh my god, Levi messing up the Beast Titan. I love how it was just like something he just knows how to do now because he's done it so many times. Right, right. But then I guess we got the revelation after the fact that that was all just a setup. Zeke. Yeah. He's a traitor to Marley. Yeah, it's so bizarre. Gabi was losing her sh**.
00:24:31
Speaker
like when she blows up she blows up like the the culture of Marley is drilled so deep into her brain like it's so easy to trigger her yeah yeah and like when she thought that peak was a traitor and then finding out that Zeke was a traitor like man it does not take much to get her to flip out
00:24:52
Speaker
Well, speaking of her being a Marley enthusiast and a diehard and flipping out, I'm kind of surprised this hasn't come up yet. We talked about how much we would rage if something happened to Sasha.
Sasha's Death and Character Reactions
00:25:05
Speaker
Yeah, I was. There's so much that I want to say because the whole family was a big part of the way the story goes. I didn't want to just like put it and not talk about all of that. But I guess we can just go to that. But yeah, the way that she got up. Well, it's a huge part of Gavi's story going forward. Yeah.
00:25:22
Speaker
The way that she just hopped on, killed the Garrison dude first. I mean, I thought we were going to get some character development, but Jean kind of gave his whole life story right before he died in Walking Dead fashion. But then goes on in the way that she ever just like so happily wasn't, was it her Jean that noticed the sound to begin with?
00:25:44
Speaker
Uh, it was her because she has the, the, the instincts, the hearing. Yeah. She's that's been one of her attributes like going forward. She always hears things before everyone else does.
00:25:53
Speaker
Yeah, they were trying to get them to quiet down. That's when she snuck on and shot Sasha and was just ecstatic. She was so happy about it. And there was a lot of dialogue of, well, she shot my guys first. That's why I hopped on the ship and killed her. She started it and her dad, like Sasha's dad,
00:26:15
Speaker
during the whole encounter, which the way they tied that together was just so heartbreaking. But for her dad to just be like, it doesn't matter. We as the adults need to make the change so that this stuff stops happening. We can't be killing like this. He's just trying to be the mature one and then
00:26:33
Speaker
the kid who was the one that took her in and said, like, I want to be like Sasha and not hurt anybody and just help whoever I can, picked up a knife and almost killed her until Mikasa got in the way. And she's like, you killed my big sister. Like, I would have never done any of this for you if I knew that you killed her. It was just and then that's when you see like Sasha's dad finally break down. And the guy who Sasha was apparently in love with that made all the good food like Nicola was Nicola.
00:27:01
Speaker
Yeah, Niccolo. Just man, all of that and the way that connected like I was not ready for all of that. Well, it makes me back think back to season two where, you know, don't get me wrong, I'll take any excuse I can to spend more time with the character of Sasha, but it did feel so out of place when we had that episode in season two, where it was a flashback to her spending time with her dad and rescuing Kaya.
00:27:26
Speaker
from that like medium sized Titan and whatnot. But it just shows what a long game they're playing here that all of that pays off now in season four. Yeah, I'm glad that they they waited as long as they needed to to make sure that the original creators like got the manga out and got the proper story out because all of these seeds that they planted definitely bloom to their fruition in this in this season.
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah, everything with Sasha was just a lot. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. I was flipping out when I found out that that was the girl that she saved. I was like, oh my god, oh my god, like they connected again very early on in the first two seasons. Yeah, and she's talking about her big sis this entire time. And I can't remember at what point Gabby realized that she was the one that killed her big sis.
00:28:23
Speaker
It's in that moment where, um, Oh yeah. Cause she kind of came in gleefully. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. The way that Nicola beat her and kicked her out and said like, Hey, Mr. Lee, you're the father. You can kill her for him. That's right. Right. Right. Right. That's when all the pieces got connected.
00:28:41
Speaker
And it was interesting that when Gaby saw Sasha's dad for the first time, the first thing she noticed was like, oh, that's a Southern Marlene accent. I was like, I'll act that in Southern.
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good call. Good call. But it does make me think of one of the revelations we got as well when Falco dove in the way of that wine bottle that Nicola was brandishing.
Zeke's Betrayal and Story Implications
00:29:10
Speaker
That's where we learn.
00:29:12
Speaker
that, you know, Niccolo had that exchange with Jean and Connie earlier on where he's like, no, you don't get to have this wine. This wine is reserved for Marlians. You're still Eldian devils. And it's like, yeah, we've established some rapport and whatnot. But you basically held me at gunpoint this whole time. It felt so out of character based on what we'd seen so far. But he was, in fact, trying to protect them. And that revelation there about what was going on with the wine and having Zeke's spinal fluid in there,
00:29:43
Speaker
is really maybe the start of, you know, outside of Aaron kind of laughing hysterically when he learns that Sasha died. It's really where, you know, I've always kind of said that Aaron's never been my favorite character and he kind of rubs me the wrong way, but he's gone full on heel now. He is a villain. I feel like we are seeing, it's almost like Breaking Bad where we've seen the origin story for the world's biggest
00:30:14
Speaker
Killer. Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that he chose Flock to be like his right hand man. When Flock had that exchange with Hanji, when she's like, you knew about this wine and he just turns around and shushes her, he's got like just the... Man, I wish you died instead of Ervin. Yeah, right. And even though he just took casually Aaron says like you, the bride who killed Sasha, come with me. Oh, right. Yeah.
00:30:43
Speaker
I thought he was like laughing in a heartbroken kind of sense. Yeah. Like how did things get this out of control? Hmm. I mean, obviously Connie took it as like what's wrong with him, rightfully so. Right. Because, you know, they're talking about how they're like twins and stuff that was, you know, seeing her die and then going to flashbacks of like kind of her last moments of prepping through that four year timeline was
00:31:09
Speaker
was sad. And then you think that was the end of it, but then the whole situation we just talked about was the end of it. Is this from the end of it? Well, that makes me think of one of the flashbacks we got when they were all traveling together and they're basically talking about who's going to inherit the attack titan from Aaron. And they all take turns saying, no, it's not going to be you. It's going to be me. And then Sasha tells Connie that he's too much of an idiot to inherit it. And he's like, you're an even bigger idiot than I am. Yeah.
00:31:39
Speaker
And I'm glad you brought that up because of what we're saying about how it doesn't seem like he really cares, but he probably does. Like he said, he was like, I wouldn't let any of you do it because I care about everybody that's on this cart right now. So it's like, hmm, especially the stuff that he said to Mikasa about like, you're a slave and I want no wonder why, like, I always hate whenever I look at you and I'm like, you better check yourself right now. Yeah, I
00:32:06
Speaker
It's a tough pill to swallow right now. I really don't know what his end game is, but I have to imagine. There's a bigger picture.
Eren's Motives and World Diversity
00:32:13
Speaker
Yeah. He's got to be in some way protecting them and making them despise him just so they'll keep their distance from whatever he's got going on. But at this point, it's tough not to hate his guts, especially when he does the beat down on Armin. Yeah. And then Mikasa's first response is to restrain Armin. That was tough to watch.
00:32:36
Speaker
And he even says like, this is our first time fighting. Probably because you never had the advantage over me. Yikes. Yeah. All of our heroes are in prison right now. Yeah. Yeah. By, um, Yelena and her right hand man who Anya, Anya Copone, Anya Copone, something like that. I have no clue. You know, yeah, it's, it's interesting.
00:33:03
Speaker
The first few seasons, as we mentioned, felt like it was such a Germanic and medieval environment. This is the first time we're actually seeing people of color in any regard. First, it was the combatants that the Marlians were going up against, but now we're seeing just how much like our own world this world really is. Okay. I'm glad you brought that up because this is a point where I'm confused. Okay.
00:33:30
Speaker
At what point in time do the people from the east make trade with the Peridians? Was this before the king wiped their memory? Because she knew Mikasa's mom. So if they don't think that there's a world beyond the wall, when did these trades and such happen?
00:33:56
Speaker
I guess that that has to lead into I again, I don't know what the the false history that was taught taught in Eldia and you know in the world between the walls, but that does harken back to you know Commander Ervin and and his questions of his own his own father's curriculum that he was teaching him but somewhere along the line they mentioned that's the Ackerman's and the Easterners were kind of singled out because I guess they were
00:34:26
Speaker
Immune to the founding Titans influence so they were specifically targeted and for being wiped out and and some other like big disease which they mentioned before because Grisha was one of the doctors who was actually helping heavily with true true true. Yeah
00:34:46
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good question. And it's like, I really want to look it up, but I don't want it to like spoil something that's happened in the back half, but it really is driving me nuts how casually they're talking about like international trade and that that does it work like that? Yeah, yeah. And refresh my memory. So Mikasa is apparently
00:35:10
Speaker
royalty within this particular tribe or
Mikasa's Heritage and Narrative Significance
00:35:14
Speaker
sex? Some sort of royalty or just a family in higher regard. But again, I've only watched all these episodes once and I just I wasn't tracking what was happening. Okay, okay. Because they were like, yes, like we want this, this and this, like it is about money, but like your family and the mark that's left on you by your mother is a big deal and we need to protect that. And I'm like,
00:35:36
Speaker
What? And then Aaron goes into the stuff. It's like, it's like, it's your acrimon blood that you have a mission. It just happened to be me by accident. Like you were supposed to protect the King or something. I was like, huh? Yeah. I don't get it. Yeah. That's again, that's one of those things where, like I said, if I had any critique of the season, it's just that it throws so much at you, so fast. Yeah. So.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah, but it's good to finally be getting some some solid answers, but like it's only the first half of the season. So it's like we always say with every answer we get, we get like two more questions. Yeah, that's true. And it's the last half of the last season ever. So hopefully to clean that up a little bit. I mean, we were praising them for being able to connect all these things together. So it's kind of like we shouldn't be this uncomfortable. But when you know what's the end, it's like the Game of Thrones vibes are just coming in. It's like, don't mess this up.
00:36:32
Speaker
And we did talk about Elaina and just kind of how there was a whole time jump. I'm surprised we haven't talked about this upgraded ODM gear and how amazing it looks. Oh yeah, it is totally badass and feels like they've as much as Marley was kind of representing
00:36:51
Speaker
what I guess in this world would be kind of the peak of technology and taking us from like a medieval timeline to 1930s, maybe 1940s. That ODM gear seemed like it was like something out of like kind of the spy era of like the sixties.
00:37:07
Speaker
Yeah. Because they were talking about how that was like, you know, they got some of the ODM gear in Marley and they were talking about how it's like similar to their like current technology. And apparently they had like engineers and stuff on those first exhibitions and they were upgrading their gear. But it also reminded me of when we first saw the beast Titan and how he was like inspecting all of this stuff. Sure.
00:37:31
Speaker
I thought it was a titan with intellect that was trying to learn. I didn't realize it was somebody from a different world trying to understand the technology to take that information back to their country. I think that clicked to me like during the season. Oh, that was the intent of his first visit.
00:37:47
Speaker
So for that to come full circle of like, not only do Marley and have Intel on how the ODM gear works, because that's technology that they never needed. So why would they have ever seen it? But now the paradians are using Marley and technology to upgrade their ODM gear to work with people and Titans and
00:38:10
Speaker
That's pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. And then they also talk about like how they built railroads and dogs and stuff like that. But then I think it was Jean had his moment of like you were really just setting it up for yourself and your own takeover and all that. It was never for us. Like these guys have been fighting Titans for centuries. And when they finally get a break, they just go to war. Like it's not even like let's have some time of peace.
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. The moments of levity are definitely few and far between in this world, but mentioning Zeke and his inspection of the ODM gear and just what a long game he's playing. It really speaks to his commitment to whatever his ultimate goal
Zeke's Plans and Titan Abilities
00:38:56
Speaker
is. The fact that he came across as so loyal to Marley for so long. It really has me questioning, you know,
00:39:06
Speaker
what, what his, his goals with Aaron are and vice versa. Like I would love to see like a longer cut of the conversation that they had and kind of coming to terms as, as brothers and whatnot. But hopefully that's down the road. It's just kind of where we left off with Zeke. And again, speaking to his resolution and the links that he's willing to go, he's got a thunder spear embedded into his stomach.
00:39:33
Speaker
and knows what will happen if he makes any sudden movements, but he's willing to take himself out in order to take Levi out. And I do not like where we left off with that.
00:39:47
Speaker
And we talk about in every one of these podcast episodes, why does Levi need to have a conversation with every big Titan that he almost destroys? Right. Right. It's always what messes him up. Yeah. Like we get it. You are the coolest character in this show. You are a badass. There is no denying that. Just finish the job.
00:40:11
Speaker
Yeah, please don't do this to me. Yeah. I did not like that one, but yeah. And then the other Titan just coming up and ripping her stomach open and picking up half of the Zeke and shove you. Ew.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yeah, that's got to be something that's unique to someone with royal blood because if I'm not mistaken, that Titan had already been killed by Levi, but was somehow able to reanimate itself just to go to those links to make sure Zeke was quote unquote saved. Yeah, I don't know about the particulars of each Titan, but that also was really heartbreaking that Levi told his squad that they could bring wine on the exhibition. All of them changed around him and he was like,
00:41:00
Speaker
Oh, it was fine killing them because now that I know apparently I've just been killing my friends all along anyway, so I stopped now I was like dang And then also seeing what happened to Connie's village and all they're explaining the gas and stuff and I was like That's tough Yeah, it's it's like the island of parody really was just this Almost like
00:41:28
Speaker
ant farm just that was being experimented on and viewed as entirely expendable and the rest of the world just saw it as a ticking time bomb. And it adds up to my Australia comparison earlier. Oh, right. The Titans are just a giant spiders. Yeah, right. Sorry to our Australian listeners. Courtney, we know you're listening.
00:41:59
Speaker
A lot happened, but a lot happened in so many different directions. They certainly threw a lot at us, but one of the things I wanted to bring up in terms of the animation
00:42:14
Speaker
One of the biggest changes I feel like that took place this season, you know, the artistic style has been pretty consistent throughout. We've talked about how they started to introduce, you know, more computer animated elements and whatnot. But my biggest takeaway from this season that really stuck out to me
00:42:30
Speaker
is in terms of the shading, especially facial shading. They've gone to using these vertical lines to cast shadows, which I really like. It's a different style, but it just really stuck out to me. And I can understand, you know, the animators at Production IG, they've been making the show for this long and they want to do something to make it more interesting and, you know, keep themselves on their toes.
00:42:55
Speaker
That actually is something they've been doing from the start. Have they? I noticed it much more. I've I've always noticed it, but I guess I didn't say it. OK. Stupid, because we're a podcast for animation. I should have mentioned it. But I think it stands out more because their facial hair is just lines, too. Maybe facial hair is blending into the shadow. So that just looks like lines everywhere. And you can't tell what's a sad excuse for a beard and.
00:43:24
Speaker
And what's shading so I think that's why I stand out a little more I thought you were actually gonna point out the part that was bothering me and that was the 3d look that they used on the colossal Titan before they've been using for all the Titans. Yeah
Art Style Evolution and 3D Animation Critique
00:43:39
Speaker
When the action comes in, it's fine because they kind of move away from it, but they pushed it on all of the of the nine titans more this season. And it seemed really choppy to me, like the way their heads and arms and stuff just did not feel smooth. And again, once the action hit, it was really good. But like the buildup scenes of them like looking around or talking to the scouts or
00:44:05
Speaker
That level of engagement was just like, I think they're going a little too far with this. That's interesting. I hadn't really picked up on that aspect and what you bring up about the vertical lines for the shading having taken place in previous seasons. I'll have to go back and
00:44:23
Speaker
and re-examine that. But it could be what you're saying. It might just be with more facial hair being prevalent. But I do think they probably turned it up a notch. And I'm curious to check out the manga and see if that's something that they're kind of leaning into to make it more stylistically like the manga. Because I've seen panels here and there from the manga
00:44:49
Speaker
One of the things that really impresses me is especially with the depiction of some of just the regular titans and whatnot, some of those, it looks like they adapted it straight from the manga. As the show became more popular, I wonder if more people picked up the books and they felt an impetus to harken back to those original drawings a little bit more.
00:45:14
Speaker
or just like with Marvel and DC fans, like you got to know what's next or what it's based off of or what the environment was. Yeah, exactly. You can't miss a thing. Yeah. I mean, that's how it was for me with I think the biggest stretch of this was the first time that I was watching Naruto Shippuden was I caught up on English. So then I was watching with subtitles. Then I ran out of that. I needed to know what was next. Then I started reading the manga. And then once I caught up there, I was like, well, I don't read Japanese. So
00:45:44
Speaker
I guess I'll find out when the rest of us English readers do. While we're talking about some of the production aspects of the show, on our last episode of season three, you mentioned some of the
00:45:59
Speaker
callouts with the soundtrack and the opening and closing themes that you picked up on. I have noticed that the song that they're using, I believe to close out the episodes is called The Rumbling, which I think is interesting considering we've had the threat of this rumbling all throughout the season. It's actually the name of the song of the next opener, which is a really good song. My friend was like,
00:46:26
Speaker
It's very metal. And my buddy who I listen to metal music with all the time, he was like, I don't care that you're not caught up. Like you have to listen to the song and I've been obsessed with it. So it's it just it the mood of the opener does take a full flip.
00:46:43
Speaker
Okay. Okay. I haven't watched like the actual opening video, but I've listened to the song so many times. Okay. Okay. Oh, I might be getting a little ahead of myself. I think I read that somewhere and maybe I just, I think I was doing some side research on season four, trying to refresh my memory on some of these earlier episodes and whatnot. I think I read that somewhere, but maybe I got confused. Yeah.
00:47:05
Speaker
The name of the song is called The Rumbling, and that was in the song a bunch too. But yeah, we were talking about this being very reminiscent of Nazi Germany and whatnot, and the way that the chaos is kind of in that song. And the way that they're marching with their rifles and stuff. They gave me the heebie-jeebies. I love it, but it makes me so uncomfortable at the same time. Yeah, and it kind of sounds like they're chanting war, war, war, war.
00:47:34
Speaker
And I do love the, like, it's kind of a completely different color palette. Like you've kind of got like black and white imagery with like this almost rainbow kind of coloration to it. Yeah. It's very interesting and does feel like propaganda.
00:47:49
Speaker
I really like it. Yeah, it's I actually don't skip over it very often unless it's like, OK, I really need to know what's next because it's been like, I logged in actual like events, right? So when it's not like that dire of a of a cliffhanger, then it's kind of like, just listen to it. And that's what I'll like, go through my text and check my phone and kind of, you know, refill or go through snacks and things of that sort. But it's catchy. For sure. For sure.
00:48:18
Speaker
Well, where are we at here? Anything else you need to get off your chest or do you have any speculation?
00:48:27
Speaker
Uh, in the spirit of the German influence, I will say that Aaron is a douche. And I hope that there is a bigger picture and not like, Oh my God, I'm an idiot. I'm so sorry. Uh-huh. Because he's had like such a positive drive and everything. And while he did make mistakes, like it was commendable, everything he was doing. So like, I need this, this character to like have a proper purpose again.
00:48:56
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you on that. And you talk about his mistakes. I think one of his biggest mistakes, again, is making someone flock his right-hand man because it's interesting that I never liked flock to begin with. He's always been an unlikable character, but it's interesting that they have me wanting to see him die more than some of these Marlians and whatnot. One of the most despicable scenes that comes to mind is when he has
Flock's Impact and Premier Zachary's Assassination
00:49:22
Speaker
commander, uh, Saudis, shotties, Keith, whatever. I just call him like commandeer, Keith, or yeah. Commandant Keith. Yeah. When he has him beaten up by the set of fresh recruits that he just got done training, like
00:49:38
Speaker
Oh, even the recruits, like, why do we have to train ODM gears? It's not like there's Titans around anymore. And like, you know, we talk about just kind of like how unstable this military already was, because nobody ever follows orders. So the fact that they even collapsed it, which again, like Delana, if you're trying to destroy Marley, destroying your own military is not a good start at that.
00:49:59
Speaker
No, um, especially when you just poke the bear too when they send all of their forces like what you expect to fight back with and It says a lot about Keith that he actually like made them piss themselves in the last bit, too Cuz it's like it's not like you guys could beat me up. Anyways when When what's her face Hanji was trying to get them to stop? He just took it like a boss. I was like, I'm so sorry that happened to you But that was a really cool way to go out
00:50:29
Speaker
Yep, for sure. And I don't know why, but for whatever reason, talking about Keith, I guess it's because he's a bald character. It makes me think of Commander Pixis, who we didn't spend a ton and ton of time with in these episodes. But I can't help but kind of say in jest that his drinking finally caught up with him. Yeah, which is funny. Because his right hand actually didn't drink at all. She was the only one that's like, what's wrong with you guys? Yeah, for sure.
00:50:57
Speaker
Oh, I can't believe we missed the fact that Premier Zaka got blown a bit, like his head was just flying through. And Pixis became the new, I guess, kind of stepped in as a new Premier. Yeah, it seems that way. Yeah. And we talked about some of the more questionable actions of Aaron, and that certainly seems to be one, you know,
00:51:20
Speaker
I guess he viewed this as a necessary sacrifice. And don't get me wrong, it's not like Premier Zachary was the most savory person. He definitely showed that he had a fondness for torture, especially when it came to the royal families and whatnot. But that act of terrorism, you know,
00:51:45
Speaker
He's not, well, I was going to say he's not getting many people to his side, but I guess there are, you know, we see protests happening in the, in the square and whatnot that say, you know, free Aaron Yeager. He's the only one that can save LDS. So I guess he's doing something right. Yeah. That was the only bit that we really saw of, um, the girl in the military police. What was her name?
00:52:07
Speaker
Hitch. Hitch, yeah. Those are the time we really saw her and then there was that dialogue of like why Armin always comes down to talk to Annie. Oh, yeah. And then Aaron makes that connection of, oh, it's because you ate bird hold. So now you have feelings for Annie through those memories. I'm like, huh. All coming together. And then the last character I want to bring up is we have the
00:52:36
Speaker
the ever so powerful Queen Astoria, who's just out in the country with her baby right now. Oh, right. Yeah. She doesn't know any of this is going on. Yeah. And it seems like Aaron's done a full 360 from where we saw him last season. He wanted to go out of his way to protect her. And now at some point he decided that she's a necessary sacrifice. Yeah. So I need answers.
00:53:03
Speaker
Let's, uh, let's wrap this thing up and get back to watching, shall we? Yeah, let's do it. I'm done for the day. All right. All right. Well, uh, I'll thank our listeners for continuing to tune in and I encourage you guys, if you are right there with us getting caught up with season four and have just as many questions and jaw dropping moments as us jaw tighten dropping moments. Sorry. Um,
00:53:30
Speaker
shoot us an email, shoot us some feedback. You can do that at animationdeliberationpodcast.gmail.com or follow us on Instagram at animationdeliberation.
Social Media Management: Andrew's Role
00:53:40
Speaker
I do want to give a special shout out to Andrew. He hasn't been appearing on these last few episodes, but he's continuing to do a stalwart effort with our social media campaign there. So we miss him and, you know,
00:53:54
Speaker
I'm not sure what his availability is in terms to watch these episodes as fast as we are, but hopefully he can send us some feedback. He hasn't finished season three yet. No. Poor guy. Poor guy. I had to send him a picture of Peek yesterday, and I was like, I can't give you any more context, but this is a new crush of mine. Yeah, yeah.
00:54:21
Speaker
That's actually a good point. We won't spend too much time as we're coming to a close here, but it is interesting how grotesque and tight and she is, but how she kind of wins your heart in the end. She's kind of like this, I don't want to say goth, but very peculiar and quirky character with a heart of gold. Yeah, I love it. Yeah.
00:54:45
Speaker
All right, well, I think that's it for me this week. So once again, thanks for tuning in. That's T-O-O-N-I-N. And for now, stay well.
00:54:56
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Animation Deliberation Podcast, a proud member of the Strandepanda Network. If you would like to contact us, you can email animationdeliberationpodcast at gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at animationdelib1. For this and other great shows, you can visit Strandepanda.com or join the great community that is the Strandepanda Chat Facebook group at facebook.com slash groups slash svchat. Tune in next time and remember, stay well. You're invited to take a vacation.
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Speaker
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