Attack on Titan Episode 32 Review: Close Combat

As we were all expecting of the anime, Episode 32 of Attack on Titan was all about the fight between Eren and the Armored and Colossal Titans. I was very satisfied by the pace of action and the fight scenes. They were interesting and managed to keep your attention with all the flashbacks and the constant change of plans and strategies.

Japanese Original Episode Title: 打投極

Plot

After the huge revelation of the previous episode, we see Eren and the Armored Titan engaging into battle. Mikasa blames herself for not being able to finish off Bertholdt and Reiner by cutting off their heads before they shift into their Titan forms (don’t worry, love, you are awesome anyway). Meanwhile, Hange and the rest try to fight the Colossal Titan, but before they try to do anything he devours Ymir and another Scout.

Believing that the Colossal Titan is a rather easy opponent in close combat, since his movements are really slow, the Scouts try to kill him but of course it wouldn’t have been that easy. The moment they close in, the Titan releases a lot of steam, wounding most of the Scouts and making his ‘personal bubble’ too hot for them to approach him. Hange orders everyone to surround the Titan and wait until he stops being all ‘steamy.’ She then takes Armin and her team to go assist Eren.

Eren is getting his ass handed to him by Reiner, despite Mikasa’s attempts to help him out. However, at that moment he has a flashback from his training days, where he used to spar with Annie and remembers some hand-to-hand techniques that she taught him. These techniques manage to give him the upper hand in the battle, but despite that, Armin suggests to him to get closer to the Wall for his own safety.

Eren is being a good boy and listens to his comrades. With his grapple techniques, Hange’s strategic advice, and Mikasa’s awesome slaughtering skills, they manage to bring the Armored Titan to his knees and make him ‘cry’ out for help. As Eren is trying to behead him and bring Reiner out, they realize that they were fooled by Armored’s roar for assistance and they see that the Colossal Titan begins to deteriorate and falls down with his mouth open toward Eren and Reiner.

Episode Highlights

Mikasa is thirsty for blood: From the beginning of the episode, we see her blaming herself for not killing Bertholdt and Reiner and then throughout the whole fighting scene of Eren and Reiner you see how strong-willed, to the point of being desperate, she is to wound the Armored Titan. And let’s not forget the scene of her going to Annie: ‘Hey Annie, I want to learn that move, too. Show me…’ She was borderline creepy. I am pretty sure that she won over Annie. That girl has some serious skills.

Eren is actually being useful: I think the whole episode tried to show that Eren is starting to control his Titan form and is developing his skills. The fact that he put in use the techniques that Annie taught him, made him an honorable opponent for Reiner, but in the end it didn’t even matter because he was naively deceived.

Hange, are you alright love? I laughed so much with the scene where she goes on Eren’s shoulder and advises him how he can fight the Armored and then Eren nods back at her and she is losing her shit. I am talking about this face she made. Hange, you are the best!

Colossal keeps on falling: It is rather obvious that Colossal didn’t kill Ymir when he ate her and it’s rather obvious again that he fell on Eren and Reiner with his mouth open so he can eat them and get the hell out of there as he is famous for being able to disappear in a flash. I don’t know if it is intentional that they don’t show us the other Scout that he devours. Is he important or just another causality? We will see.

Themes & Trivia

Gender stereotypes in anime: I am starting to believe that Attack on Titan is not some typical shonen anime in that aspect. Generally, in shonen anime it is very common to see females being stereotyped as submissive. They are being objectified and always play the damsels in distress. In this show, however, the female characters take the lead, are badass, and are not being treated that awfully. Okay yes, you have the occasional Eren saying to Mikasa that she shouldn’t go fight or put herself in danger but I don’t think he means it in a sexist way. He has more of a ‘worried friend’ point of view. And yes, you have Krista (or Historia) being all ‘sexy’ and ripping her skirt to treat Reiner’s wound but again nothing crazy. This is all for fan service after all. In this episode, during the flashback with Eren and Annie, she says to him: ‘If you are a guy, aren’t you supposed to be gentle with this delicate body of mine?‘ She is obviously joking, which makes her an even more powerful female character. But in general, sexism is really apparent in anime of all sorts. Well what do you expect when Japan has a famous phrase that says: ‘女は馬鹿な方がいい’ which translates to ‘Stupid women are better’…

Hange Zoe, male or female? Did you know that Hange is being portrayed as a female both in the anime and the live-action film but in the manga she is genderless. Isayama hasn’t made things clear for Hange and he said that her gender is up to the readers to decide because either one is fine by him. Way to go, mate! In any case, I think being voiced by Romi Park was the best solution ever, since she has such a good range of voice acting male and female characters, from Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist to Nana Osaki in NANA.

Comments

After Episode 31 of Attack on Titan, I’ve started appreciating more the directing of the show. During the fight with the Colossal in the beginning, the whole 3D movement was really impressive! The rewind fight scene of Eren and Armored when Mikasa is realizing that Armored’s skin is impenetrable, the transition between the battle and the flashbacks of the training, the camera movement in Annie’s and Eren sparring scene, as well as Mikasa’s movement when she is going to attack the Armored’s knees, everything is animated superbly! The sequence of action is good, and as someone that gets super bored in fighting scenes, I found it rather good.

Also, in this episode you can really see that Isayama was inspirated from martial arts in the way that Titans fight. In case you don’t know what I am talking about, you can check the review of Episode 28 where I am mentioning some of Isayama’s inspiration for the Titans and their fighting style.

Is Eren back to their ‘Hometown’?

If we judge by the ending of the episode I think it’s fair to assume that Bertholdt and Reiner have disappeared with Ymir and Eren. I have no clue what is about to follow in the show and I am really intrigued to see if we are going to learn anything new about the Titans and their hate for humanity.

Also guys, I know I’ve mentioned it before, but who do you think won between Annie and MIkasa? My money is on Mikasa. Let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to check our Spring 2017 reviews as well! We have the latest reviews from the second season Berserk and Little Witch Academia, among others!

NEXT TIME: The Hunters (迫う者)