Attack on Titan Episode 36 Review: Charge

Episode 36 of Attack on Titan shouldn’t have been called ‘Charge’ but SUSUME!!! Damn, Commander Erwin is crazy. Needless to say that this episode was great, especially the humor bits in the dialogues. Seriously ‘sick’ humor…

Japanese Original Episode Title: Totsugeki (突撃)

Plot

On the Armored Titan’s back, we see Ymir removing Historia from her mouth and exiting her Titan form to have a little chat with her. She tries to make Historia understand that she is doing everything for herself and the reason why she took her away is to save her own ass. The conversation is interrupted by the Scouts who have caught up with them and are starting to attack. The first to assault them is, of course, Mikasa who goes straight for Bertholdt in order to save Eren but fails when the Armored surrounds them with his hands to protect them. The rest of the 104th Trainees catch up with Mikasa and engage in a very emotional conversation with Bertholdt trying to question him if everything they experienced together so far were lies.

Hannes interrupts them and orders them to move away when he sees Commander Erwin and his team luring in some Titans and heading straight towards them. As the Armored Titan is attacked by the Titans, Erwin commands everyone to charge, save Eren and immediately retreat but a Titan grabs him in his mouth and carries him away. Reiner realises that in order to defend himself he needs to leave Bertholdt and Eren unprotected and lifts his hands leaving them vulnerable. Mikasa gets badly injured in her attempts to save Eren, and as Armin starts playing mind games with Bertholdt the one who succeeds into freeing Eren is Commander Erwin who is now missing one hand.

As the Scouts retreat, Connie and Potato Girl retrieve Historia explaining to her that Ymir was obviously lying with the things she said as she would never harm her in any way. The retreat is halted by madman Reiner who starts throwing Titans in their way, successfully knocking Mikasa and Eren off their horses. When they regain consciousness they are assaulted by an approaching Titan, who ends up being the same Titan that devoured Eren’s mother.

Episode Highlights

Old Cadets Reunion on the Armored’s back: The 104th Trainees decided to make a reunion in the heat of the battle on Reiner’s back. Probably Erwin told them to go and be all emotional to them in order to halt them but then again I have nothing else to comment about this… Just lol.

Ymir’s arguments: There was so much unexpected humor this episode. This dialogue made me chuckle:

Ymir: Outside isn’t that bad, nobody will say that you shouldn’t have been born.

Christa: I’m sure the Titans won’t say that….because they’ll be too busy trying to eat me.

Ymir: Well, if you just ignore that part, Titans really aren’t that bad.”

Mikasa is creepier than the Titans: That stare she gave Bertholdt was so sinister and evil.

HEY GUYS. YOU GOT SOME EREN THERE, RIGHT?

You would think she is the villain in all this. Her face gave me the chills since I was reminded of the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni murder faces. Jeez…

Commander Erwin is a crazy bastard: I love him. He went all in, in this episode. He is such a noble example of how Commanders should act. Very inspirational, glorious and insane. Good job mate!

Armin is evil too…: That little shit is the most dangerous of them all. The way he thinks and how his brain works is no joke. He finds each person’s weaknesses, since he is so observant, and uses them against them. Perfect mix for a psychopath killer. And he looks up into Commander Erwin who, well, isn’t the sanest in the group I would say…

The face of the Titan & the horse: When Reiner is throwing Titans everywhere there is a scene for just a second with the Titan’s face being all derpy. I died. Also the face of the horse when his rider gets eaten had me in tears. So goofy!

Themes & Trivia

Apparently there was a cut out dialogue that explained how they catch up to Reiner so quickly and how Erwin was able to bait them into the Titans. Reiner could have been moving much faster, but instead decided to cover all his weak points and joints in armor. This made him much slower, but he wanted to be sure that even if they did catch up to him, they wouldn’t be able to do much. In my humble opinion this should have been shared to the audience because the timing of the episode made no sense whatsoever.

Comments

So many emotional dialogues in this one. We had Ymir and Historia, then Mikasa and Ymir and Historia, then the Trainees trying to appeal to Bertholdt, then Bertholdt had his spotlight with his speech and the ‘Someone find us’ that was so heart-breaking and then Armin with his mind games to Bertholdt and finally even Connie to Historia. And in the end, with all this intensity in the air, we even see the Titan that ate Eren’s mother! An episode full of emotion, amazing pace and action. I have to say that all the previous slow episodes made these moments hit even harder. The directors of the series are being really smart with this.

Reiner and Bertholdt are not the bad guys in this. With all the emotions they shared in this one, it is pretty obvious that they are just pawns in someone else’s game. I believe that if you take a good look in the closing of this season’s episodes we are given a lot of hints as to what the hell is happening. I am not even going to try and think who is behind this but I am starting to feel a female presence as the mastermind behind the Titan industry.

SHINZOU SASAGEYO!!

We all know what will follow in the next episode. Eren is going to lose it, transform into a Titan and kick the ass of the Titan that ate his mother. That titan has the creepiest smile ever. We will witness an epic battle, I am sure. I hope Erwin is okay even without one hand. And for one more god damn time. WHERE IS LEVI?

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