- Episodes : 2nd movie of 2
- Genre : Action, Horror, Drama, Suspense, Thriller
- Airing Date : September 2015
- Producers : Toho
Attack on Titan End of the World Preview / Plot (No Spoilers)
Serving as a continuation of the first movie, Eren and the rest of his unit are now aware of his Titan changing abilities and are debating what to do with him. Just like the original anime, the only person who does not hesitate to stand up for him is Armin, his best friend. However, the threats start to escalate and according to Shikishima, the original character who trained Mikasa, there may be bigger threats than the Titans and needs Eren’s help in his battle. However, who are the real villains? What are the origins of the Titans? This movie has the answer to all of those questions.
Who does Attack on Titan End of the World cater to?
Serving as a continuation to the first movie, people who got to see the first movie are more likely to be interested and understand the story more. However, there is a pretty heavy recap in the beginning for those who did not get the chance to see the first movie. For any of you readers living in Japan, a good number of theaters are still playing the first movie. As usual, fans original of the source material that are curious to see how a live action Attack on Titan (doesn't) works can give it a shot.
Ultimately, this may cater to those who like to make fun of awful movies like in Mystery Science Theater 3000. This might be a good movie to use as source material.
What’s appealing about this work?
It is marketed as a dark action series but a lot of the themes deal with human nature and relations, which is why it works as a live action on a foundational sense. The movie also casts some big name stars from the Japanese entertainment world such as Miura Haruma (from the live action Gokusen, Bloody Monday) as Eren and Hongo Kanata (from the live action Prince of Tennis and Gantz) as Armin. Other than something to laugh at for being bad, there are no other appealing qualities,
Attack on Titan Part 2 Trailer
Attack on Titan Part 2 Character List
Eren
Voice Actor :Played by Miura Haruma
In the live action version, he is a teenage orphan who tends to lose jobs a lot due to fighting for his beliefs in wanting to see the world beyond the wall. Just like the original version, he is a capable soldier, but nowhere near the shape and capabilities of Mikasa. After the initial attack, he joins the army and wants to fight the titans. If Eren can be described as a certain part of the trio between him, Armin and Mikasa, he is probably the heart.
Armin
Voice Actor :Played by Hongo Kanata
If Eren is the heart then Armin is the brains. Unlike the anime and manga versions where is blonde, Armin keeps his hair at his natural dark color. Once again, he is the strategist of the team and demonstrates a great deal of knowledge of the world before it was walled-in, but how he learned from his grandfather is entirely omitted from the movie.
Mikasa
Voice Actor :Played by Mizuhara Kiko
Eren and Armin’s childhood friend, her character also suffers some signify changes from the original source material. As opposed to being an adopted sister of Eren, she is more of a childhood love interest and does not exhibit the same maternal protective nature she has for Eren and Armin.
At first, she is just a sweet girl who shows some romantic interest in Eren, but after the titan attack, they get lost and separate from the commotion and Eren believes she is dead. Two years later, they manage to reunite and Mikasa is a changed woman. But if Eren is the heart and Armin is the brains, then Mikasa is the brawn.
Shikishima
Voice Actor :Played by Hasegawa Hiroki
Shikishima is the movie’s original character. He is an elite soldier who trained Mikasa during the 2-year interim between the first attack and when Eren and Armin becomes soldiers. He demonstrates excellent skills on the three-dimensional maneuver gear and does his best to support Eren and his team when they fight with him. He also exhibits a romantic interest towards Mikasa.
Contains Spoilers
Attack on Titan Part 2 Review spoilers
The second movie (very) loosely adapts the story after when Eren gains his Titan powers. Other than that, a significant portion of what is portrayed is largely changed and (very badly) original. The movie is just a mess and the changes (which will be shared in the three events that will have spoilers) overall hurt the emotional impact of the original source material. The movie does explore the moral ambiguity of what makes Attack on Titan appealing, but not to the same effectiveness as the anime and manga.
To give credit where credit is due, the central cast as a whole does have equal screen presence and they each have their own small but yet notable contributions. However, Mikasa is once again done horribly wrong in this movie for every reason fans can think of. She is practically a weakling and not at all a representation of this semi-emotionally distant bad ass that she is in the anime and manga. Armin sort of serves as the amateur MacGyver of the group with his plans. Hange is the over the top comic relief. Shikishima, the original character, is once again the wild card (though predictable) after the “trial” of Eren.
The action is choreographed horribly. For starters, the camera angles are awful and way too close. It is impossible to see what is going on 95% of the time. To make things worse, it uses the shakey camera technique made famous by the Jason Bourne movies. It just makes things worse. There a video out on YouTube that uses Jackie Chan interviews and movies on why filming action in this manner is a terrible way to do so. This new AoT movie is now the newest prime example that this is horrible.
Isayama Hajime, the original creator, took inspiration from Mixed Martial Arts for the action scenes and the bodies of the Titans (such as Erin’s Titan body is based on former UFC middleweight contender, Yushin Okami). The staff of the movie could have just as easily referenced MMA fights to make the action faithful to the series and use the genius use of camera work in some of the old Japanese fight organizations such as Pride.
The music relies a lot on heavy guitar riffs. It sounds very similar to guitar riffs used in the boss battles of Metal Gear Solid 4. The ending theme is nothing special and the music as a whole is nothing original or exciting.
As for the special effects, at this point, it's like beating a dead horse. Then again, special effects should not always be a priority of what defines cinematic quality. Michael Bay can have the best special effects in his movies but it doesn't mean he can make a movie like The Piano or Enter the Dragon.
1. The fate of Eren’s parents
After the recap of the first movie, the movie pans to the fate of Eren’s parents during his childhood. As opposed to being a respected doctor, Eren’s father is solely portrayed as a mad scientist who does experiments on Eren while his mother is reluctant to have him involved. However, the military catches on to his father’s activities and orders him and his mother to be executed. Since then, Eren has been living on his own. Sadly, Mikasa’s origins and her dark backstory are entirely omitted.
2. The Origin of the Titans
After Eren reunites with Shikishima, he is told the origin story of the Titans. They started out as a military experiment and went berserk. Through Apple TV, Shikishima shows documents and old news footage of the rise of the Titans and how the experiment spreader like wildfire.
3. Mikasa’s kiss
From the trailer, the audience is given a scene of Mikasa kissing someone only to be criticized by fans. However, the kiss by Shikishima is forced to further embarrass Eren. Eren learns the truth of Shikishima’s plans and feels that they don't ultimately benefit all,of humanity, goes against him. But being a superior level soldier and fighter, he makes easy work of Eren and to further humiliate him “It was me, Dio” style, he steals a kiss from Mikasa in front of him.
Ultimately, the impact of Levi’s removal is going to be felt in this movie and it is not good. The story in itself (even for those who don't understand Japanese) is conclusively too predictable. There are many fans who respect Shinji Higuchi’s contributions to Evangelion and Otaku no Video, but if he is going to continue making movies to the quality of Attack on Titan and respond to the criticisms in a low class manner, he is on his way to being the Japanese equivalent to Uwe Boll.
Author: Justin "ParaParaJMo" Moriarty
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