Attack on Titan Episode 28 Review: Southwestward

Well, well, well. Something smells fishy here. Episode 28 of Attack on Titan was constantly giving hints that something is not quite normal and that there are people in the team that are not who we think they are.

Japanese Title: Nansei e (南西へ)

Plot

Connie is devastated by the death of his family and the destruction of his village even though Gelgar is doubting the fact that everyone is a goner. He is suspecting that they might still be alive since no bodies were found and the horses were still chilling casually in the stables. Before they leave for the mission to find the breach in the Wall, the ‘crippled’ Titan speaks to Connie and says to him: ‘Welcome back,’ making him believe that the Titan could be his mother.

Ymir and Krista are still going around with their group trying to find the breach in the Wall and they eventually meet up with the other group where Connie and Reiner realize that no one has still found any breach. They find a deserted castle close to the Wall and they decide to camp there for the night.

Meanwhile, our lovely Hange explains to Eren and the rest that she has found out that the crystallized skin that Annie created in her Titan form is the same material that the Walls are made off. Armin then suggests that if Eren can do the same thing, it could be very beneficial and could actually help them seal the breach at Shiganshina in a planned night time mission. Pastor Nick after seeing the distressed people of Wall Rose decides to help Hange and the group by saying that a 104th Trainee can give them some information about the truth behind the Walls and everything that is happening. And that girl is Krista.

At Castle Utgard where everyone is resting, Titans along with the super creepy ‘Ape Titan’ show up, despite the fact that it’s still night time. We see him headed towards the Wall while everyone else is engaging in a fight.

Episode Highlights

Connie’s Mother: At the beginning of the episode, when Connie listens to the Titan speaking to him, Reiner is acting waaay to suspicious. There is no way that he didn’t hear him or more likely ‘her’ and all this sudden ‘you are a soldier’ bullshit, I am sorry but I am not buying it. It’s rather obvious that he just wanted Connie to leave the Titan alone. I’m calling it guys, something feels off with this dude.

Ymir & Krista: The fact that the show starts to show up the backstory of all the ‘side’ characters gives us a hint that they play a more important role than we actually thought. When we see that scene where Ymir is talking with Krista it is rather apparent that there is some history behind them and that they are more involved with what is happening at the moment.

Reiner & Ymir: Both of them are on my list after this episode. And needless to say that my suspicions are spot on after the scene before the attack at the Utgard Castle where Reiner is trying to confront Ymir while holding something weird. I smell human Titan transformations coming our way.

Eren’s Hardened Crystalized Skin Mission: Okay, it’s rather amazing that these guys have a plan and they have hope of sealing the breached Wall and go to Shiganshina to find ‘that basement’ but just one question: Why don’t they try experimenting with Eren’s capabilities first instead of being all like, ‘Yeah guys AWESOME let’s do it.’ Especially when you know that Eren is losing it most of the time in his Titan form. I mean come ON.

Themes & Trivia

The Titans: Did you know that Isayama, before becoming a writer, used to work in an Internet Café? Apparently, according to the ‘internets,’ when he used to work there he was confronted by a really drunk customer and he couldn’t reason with him. That whole incident gave him the inspiration to create the Titans since he realized that there was nothing more terrifying that something that looks like you but is infinitely more powerful than you and exists without any reason.

But, according to one of his interviews, the original concept comes from Hell Teacher Nūbē’s Volume 5: Mystery of the Cannibalistic Mona Lisa. There was a Mona Lisa painting where the figure used to come out and eat people. He saw that in elementary school and he was completely horrified by it. Other than that he gets inspired by using expressions from pictures of random people that he sees in magazines. He picks their face expressions and he adds to them an unpleasant look.

If you take a look at the Titans they never change their faces from the moment they encounter someone until they kill them. They never stop smiling. It’s as if they were expressionless but since they never change their expression they give the opposite effect. It gives out a very obnoxious emotion and I choose to do it for that specific reason, the nastier the better. – Isayama

Beast Titan: Isayama has shared countless of times that his main inspiration for the Titan’s bodies, physique and combat skills, is drawn from martial arts and the Beast Titan is no exception. ‘Ape Titan’ is mainly inspired by a mixed martial artist named Alistair Overeem, who has a very small face and a developed trapezius that gives him a really intimidating physique, which is where he got the design from, along with the fact that monkeys are just scary in general. He thinks that there is something creepy and eerie about them just because they look so similar to humans. (Well, who can blame him?)

Comments

Okay guys, after this episode it is okay to presume that there is someone within the Walls making Titans. The fact that there is no breach in the Wall, Connie’s village was found deserted with all the horses still in the stables and no bodies around and with the Titan talking to him, it is rather apparent to assume that the humans in the villages that they were trying to evacuate are the actual Titans that are going around within the Wall. Probably that creepy ‘Ape Titan’ is going around creating them, I don’t know what else to get out of this. We will see.

Titans Vs Titans? Another thing that’s been bothering me since this season started is that I have a feeling that the forces of the Titans don’t work together. I believe that the ‘Ape Titan’ and maybe all these dinosaur ones that we see in the opening titles are acting by themselves. And then we have those who are actually humans that are being transformed into Titans. Maybe they are some kind of experiment? I have no idea. In any case, I don’t understand their motives whatsoever.

Other than that, I think this episode provided a lot of hints for all the conspiracies and the mysteries that are happening and just left you there with so many questions. I am wondering about so many things after this that my head is going to explode.

Reiner. I don’t trust you.

I am not going to say anything else because I think I made enough assumptions already about who is what and what is who in this episode. I am very curious to see Reiner’s backstory and his past so we can finally understand if he is who we think he is or not.

What do you think guys? Isn’t he acting a bit weird in this episode? Share your thoughts on it and don’t spoil anything for us! Cheers! Don’t forget to check the rest of our episodic reviews for Spring 2017 and our impressions for all the first episodes of the season!

NEXT TIME: Soldier (兵士)