Attack on Titan: Episode 6 Review

After one of the most shocking episodes of all-time, episode six has a lot to live up to, and while it does not disappoint entirely, it does not exactly answer our questions either. 

*Major Spoilers*

We first pick with Armin after the Titan attack. On a side note, the bearded Titan that ate Eren looked like a Santa Claus Titan. Next, the episode follows some of the citizens trying to escape when the greedy merchant's guild leader is blocking the way with a cart. When a Titan comes crashing towards the citizens, Mikasa, aka the most bada** character since Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist), saves the day. The majority of the episode follows Mikasa with a flashback to how she met Eren. 

Before continuing, I must explain how my viewing experience for this episode is different than before. Previously, I watched the series weekly on Toonami; however, now that the first 13 episodes of the English dub have been released, I watched episodes 6, 7, and 8 the day after watching episode 5 instead of waiting for the episodes to air. Now, back to the review.

The episodes picks up with Mikasa's flashback to when her parents were still alive. Three bandits attack her home and murder her father and mother. It is revealed that Mikasa and her mother are oriental, and that Orientals are rare in AOT’s world. The bandits planned to sale her as a slave in the capital. Since the character designs are somewhat ambiguous in terms of ethnicity, the revelation that she is the only oriental is interesting. Eren apparently finds the cabin where the bandits have taken Mikasa, and, unexpectedly, he kills two of the bandits. It seems that Eren has had no problems with killing to survive even before his mother was eaten by the Titans, which provides some intriguing insight into the character's motivations. Although, my first impression of Eren in pilot episode was that he was a wimp that became motivated after his mother’s death, but that is obviously not the case. Mikasa also kills the third bandits when he grabs Eren. I am not sure if it was for dramatic effect, but how did Mikasa break the floor by planting her feet to attack? It happens a lot in anime, but unless she actually has superpowers of some kind, other than being a bada** Titan slayer, that one scene was kind of odd. Regardless, the part towards the end of the episode in the flashback when Eren gives Mikasa his scarf was a good character moment explaining where she got the scarf. 

Is she superhuman?

For the most part, the episode did next to nothing to progress the current plot thread, but that is not really a bad thing. If I was still watching the series on a weekly basis, I might be disappointed by the episode, but considering that I watched the next two episodes back-to-back, it was not a huge deal. Mikasa stood out as an intriguing, yet stoic, character in the previous episodes, and this one humanizes her, while still making her a bada** Titan slayer, which is a nice touch. In fact, after watching this episode, I am fully invested in her character now. Mikasa is, by far, my favorite character of the series at this point. 

Overall: 8.5/10- While not nearly as shocking and groundbreaking as the previous episode, episode 6, "The World She Saw: Battle of Trost District, Part 2," is an excellent character development piece that humanizes one of the best characters of the series.

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