Attack on Titan: Episode 4 Review

Attack on Titan episode four, aka when it all hits the fan! After three episodes of worthwhile and effective setup, Attack on Titan has another setup episode that brings us to the eve of the destruction! 

*Spoilers*

Episode four picks up two years after the previous episode with the Eren, Mikasa, and the other all graduating from the Survey Corps. As it is explained in the series, there are three parts to the military, the garrison, symbolized by the Roses, that protect and maintain the walls, the military police, which are the highest ranking officers that protect the interior, symbolized by the green unicorn, and the Survey Corps, which are the scouting regiment that attack the Titans outside the walls. Of course, Eren and the others, despite being highly ranked in the class, join the Survey Corps. After teasing viewers with a brief look at the 3DMG last week, the episode opens with the soldiers using them in training. The animation for the scene was superb with the characters flying around the forest with the 3DMGs. After that, we are introduced to a new character named Annie Leonhart. When she appears to be slacking off for the hand-to-hand combat training, Eren and Jean (I believe that is his name) try to teach her a lesson of sorts, and it turns out Annie is already a bada** at hand-to-hand combat, which resulted in a very funny scene. Later, Eren gets into an argument with another recruit, whose name I cannot remember. Eren’s speech to fight against the Titans makes sense with the character, and the scene works well. Hilariously, when the drill sergeant checks out the commotion, Mikasa's says it was Sasha "passing-gas." Sasha was more of a background character, but she still had her fair share of comical moments, especially the scene near the end with her stealing the piece of meat. The episode also introduces a fan-favorite character, Levi, although his appearance is only brief. 

Later in the episode, after one of the characters basically says, "We have had five years without a Titan attack," guess what happens; the Colossal Titan strikes again! Everything hits the fan, and it is now time for the big freaking epic battle to begin! How exactly did the sentries miss that thing walking up to the walk!? It is a freaking Colossal Titan! Unless something explains it later in the series (do not spoil it in the comments if you already), that is a little strange. Other than that, there is nothing to complain about in the episode. Eren's character continues to show fortitude and development. Unlike a lot of shounen protagonists that swear vengeance, considering what happened to his mother, he has plenty of reason for his actions. All of the actors continue to impress in their roles with Bryce Papenbrook finally starting to come into his role. The animation continues to be positively stunning and spectacular! In fact, I believe the series uses some 3D animation with the 2D, and it is barely noticeable, which is rare. Also, the music was particularly noticeable with a well placed insert song to go along with the epic orchestral score.  

Overall 8.4/10- Attack on delivers yet again with another strong episode that continues to get me invested in the characters and setup for, what I assume will be, a big throwdown in the next episode.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Star Wars Standalone Director Chosen

The director for the upcoming Star Wars standalone feature has now been chosen, and it is Godzilla director, Gareth Edwards. Also, the release date is set to be December 16, 2016, and Gary Whitta is signed on to write the script. My initial reaction is skepticism with a touch of optimism. Providing the new standalone is not about a young Han Solo or Yoda, I am mostly OK with the standalone films considering how well Disney has handled the Marvel movies. Right now, a Boba Fett movie set not long after Episode VI would be great, because no, Boba did not die in the Sarlacc Pit, or even a movie set sometime in-between the other movies with him being a bada** bounty hunter anti-hero. However, my preferred standalone film would be an Old Republic one. As for the talent behind it, Edwards seems to be an odd choice. While I have no intention of seeing the recent Godzilla in theaters, the general opinion is that it is good, but not great, and the human story is serviceable for a monster movie, but still clichéd. Star Wars is a very character driven franchise, and getting the characters right is the most important and I am not sure if he can do it. On the other hand, the Russo Brothers, who have only directed comedy beforehand, directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and it turned out to be one of the best movies ever, so a director’s background is not necessarily the most important thing. Screenwriter Gary Whitta is another odd choice considering that he has written the critically panned After Earth and the forgettable Book of Eli. On the positive side, he has written for the Walking Dead video game and the TV series, and considering how effective the video game and TV series can be at creating characters that the audience can connect with, maybe he is the right choice. Another interesting part of the announcement is the December release date. With Disney dominating the summers with the stellar Marvel movies, maybe they are trying to take over the Christmas season with the Hobbit coming to a close later this year. What do you think of this? Please comment below and let me know, and please check back Monday for the beginning of my Top 100 Movies of All-Time list.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Agents of SHIELD: Beginning of the End Review

Agents of SHIELD's run is now over, and Marvel's attempt at expanding the Cinematic-Universe into the realm of television has been a rocky road to travel, but it most certainly paid off in this week's finale, which may be the best episode the series has offered thus far.

*Spoilers*

Because this is the finale and because it had so many quotable moments, I have decided to add a lot of cool gif sets instead of posting the full quotes for most parts.

Oddly enough, the episode opens with a scene in Cybertek with a head guy introducing a newbie to the tech. He refers to the "Incentives Program," which I am exactly sure what that means. The most likely conclusion is that it means that one of their loved ones is held hostage, but maybe it meant actual incentives. 

After 15 minutes of Garrett babbling on about like a mad man with everyone giving him strange looks, "Beginning of the End" picks up the pace with an action packed finale that hit the mark in every department. The first part of the episode almost had me worried that the finale was going to be a disappointment, but thankfully, that was not the case. After some ambiguity last episode, the container that Ward dropped Fitz and Simmons in did sink to the bottom of the ocean. Fitz confesses his feeling to Simmons, well, he kinda confesses in an indirect way, and he sacrifices himself to save Simmons, which was a very Joss Whedon type character moment. Thankfully, a one-eyed bada** happened to be around to save the duo, which I will discuss in a minute. To my surprise however, Fitz is not doing so well with Simmons essentially saying that he suffered severe brain damage, which will either mean Cybernetic enhancements to fix his brain, or Fitz is not going to be particularly useful to the team. Actually, the episode ended with, what I assume, is going to be the new team with Ward being replaced by Triplett, and no Fitz.  

Going back to the Nick Fury's appearance in the episode, I cannot believe he had such a crucial role! Even though I knew Samuel L. Jackson would make an appearance in the finale, I did not expect him to have an extended part in the episode! Seriously, he was in the episode just about as much as any of the team other than Coulson. Just the simple fact of seeing Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury on television is an impressive sight, but he was freaking awesome in the episode! He had a ton of hilarious and cool lines, like "You don't have to call me 'sir,' Coulson. Look at me. I'm dressed like I live under a bridge," as well as the perfect banter with Coulson, who we now know was originally recruited by Fury. At the end of The Winter Soldier, you may have noticed that Fury was going somewhere to respond to a distress signal before he burned his eyepatch, which likely refers to the distress signal that Fitz sent out (Jacob actually noticed this). Also, seeing Fury coming to Coulson's aid with the Destroyer gun from The Avengers was such an awesome callback to the Avengers! During the confrontation with Garrett and DeathLok, the entire dialogue exchange is classic! 

Later in the episode, Coulson finally gets to have the conversation about his resurrection with Coulson flipping out exclaiming "Yes, but that emergency was supposed to be the fall of an Avenger!" with Fury replying "Exactly. And I'm d*mn glad I did it, too." Any fan of The Avengers would agree that Coulson is an Avenger, and hearing Fury say it in the episode was incredibly satisfying. But that was not the biggest surprise of Sam Jackson's part of the episode. Coulson is now the new Director of SHIELD! Fury passed the torch to Coulson, and along with a cube that supposedly is going to help him rebuild SHIELD.

 For the finale, the episode certainly rammed up the action with probably the best action scenes to date from the series, particularly May vs. Ward. While it did not make a lot sense why May did not just shoot Ward with the ICER to knock him out, the action was certainly satisfying. She really nailed him during the fight (pun intended). Skye and Ward's dialogue before was perfect, and hilarious!

 

 Earlier in the episode, after Coulson made an inspiring speech, May's reply was great as well.

Coulson: "But Fury always said ... a man can accomplish anything when he realizes he's a part of something bigger. A team of people who share that conviction can change the world. So, what do you say? You ready to change the world?"

For yet another surprise, Agent Koenig is back! Well, not exactly. The team meets Billy Koenig, which is likely the brother that Eric mentioned playing Call of Duty with in the previous episode. However, my suspicion is that Koenig is a LMD (Life-Model-Decoy). A LMD is a robotic replacement that SHIELD agents, particularly Nick Fury, use as a decoy. Often times, SHIELD agents would use them to fake their deaths. Other possibilities include, Koenig being a form of AI that is at every SHIELD base, he is a clone, or, the simplest option, he is actually Eric's twin brother. 

Next, Raina tells a creepy looking monstrous figure that she has found his daughter. Who is this decaying figure? Before this reveal, I was thinking that Skye's parents could be Kree, Skrull, or Frost Giant, but this certainly rules out Frost Giant, and probably Kree. Skrull is still an option since they can shape shift, yet that seems unlikely. Maybe it is of the same race as the Asgardian fire demon Surtur (picture below), or, if Marvel wants to go the magical route with Doctor Strange on the horizon, she could be the daughter of Mephisto, or someone from that realm. Mephisto is not from one of the Nine Realm of Asgard, but rather, he inhabits a realm of fire and brimstone, and creatures from that realm somewhat resemble the creature at the end of the episode. However, a Doctor Strange movie is way too far off for it to be introducing concepts and characters from that. A popular theory is that Skye is an Inhuman, which are a race of altered humans that gained powers from being experimented on by Kree. An Inhumans movie has been in the works for a while, so that is a possibility.   

Ward's conclusion was mostly satisfying with him neither going back with the team nor dying. While killing off the character probably would have been better, using him to get information on HYDRA could result in an interesting dynamic. DeathLok also gets a solid resolution after Skye frees his son. He is likely to return to help the team in the future. Also, the episode ending with Coulson drawing those strange symbols that Garrett was drawing will hopefully be explained in the next season, because I have no idea what they mean.

One of the best parts of the entire season has to be the scene below with Coulson and Garrett! When Garrett started to pull himself up on the cybernetic thing, I was thinking, "How cliched can they get?!" Thankfully, in a very Whedonesque moment, Coulson walks into the room to grab the energy-ray thing from the second episode and completely disintegrates Garrett. Leave it to Whedon and company to subvert cliches in the most hilarious ways possible! It was such a classic moment; I love it!

Overall: 10/10- Thanks to Samuel L. Jackson's presence, hilariously subverting cliches, and a satisfying conclusion that provides the series a new direction, "Beginning of the End" is the best episode the series the has delivered to date.

At some point in the near future, I will post my full review of the first season as a whole, so look out for that, and please check back next week for the first part of my Top 100 Movies of All-Time List. 

For another opinion, you can check out Tegan's review by clicking here.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Video Review: Interstellar Trailer Review

Today I present my first ever video review of a movie trailer, and it my review of the Interstellar trailer. Interstellar is by Christopher Nolan, who is best known for films such as The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception. Interstellar is his first original film since Inception, and it is one of my most anticipated of the year. Today's guest is Jordan Rath from RATH'S REVIEWS, and a special thanks goes to him for coming up with the idea for the trailer review. Please keep in mind that this is our first trailer review, and my editing is not always perfectly timed with what we are saying, and the video quality turned out lower than expected. Next time however, I hope the quality will be improved. Also, if you have not already seen the trailer, you can do so below. Please let me know what you think of this trailer review and if you would like to see more.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Baccano! Review

If Quentin Tarantino made an animated series the likely outcome would be Baccano, a short 13 episode series about 1930s American crime with elements of fantasy and a ton of action and humor. Baccano is bombastic, violent, hilarious, and absurdly entertaining, and it has gangsters, guns, witty dialogue, blood, action, and a soundtrack that perfectly fits the 1930s setting with equally bombastic tracks throughout. To get a feel of what the series is like, watch its opening below, it is one of the best theme songs of all-time. Also, since the entire series is on Hulu (and I think Netflix) you watch it free!

The Good: Many memorable characters, Non-stop insanity, Absurdly entertaining, Satisfying conclusion, Must watch OVAs, Fast paced, Great action, Top notch animation, Incredible amount of style, No fan-service,

The Bad: Can be confusing at first,

Plot: 8.6/10- Baccano is Italian for ruckus or rowdiness, and that is exactly what Baccano's story feels like, a ruckus of different things all mixed together in a brilliant combination of fun insanity. Baccano's plot is shown out of chronological (similar to Quentin Tarantino's films) with the opening scenes taking place at the end of the story, and then it switches between three different timelines for the majority of the series. In the first two or three episodes, Baccano can be a little confusing. With the three different timelines to keep track of, and all of the different characters that appear in each timeline, some viewers might find the show too confusing for their liking, but, to me at least, it become relatively easy to follow the story after the third episode. Aside from the possible confusing presentation of the story, the plot is full of twists and turns that you rarely see coming. On a side note, watch the three OVAs of the series since they are absolutely necessary to the enjoyment of the series since they offer better closure. However, on Hulu they are listed as episodes 14, 15, and 16, so just watch the series in order (I did not know they were OVAs until after watching the series).

Characterization: 8.9/10- Despite the short length of the series, Baccano's insanely large cast of likable and generally awesome characters are well realized and are even given distinct personalities and traits. The most notable characters are Isaac and Miria (gif below), who are the most lovable pair of morons in the history of fiction. They are criminals that rob banks and such, but they are generally nice and befriend everyone around them. Not only are they positively hilarious, they are the best aspect of the entire series. As the series says in an episode, "Isaac and Miria Spread Happiness Without Realizing It," and is exactly their effect on the audience as well.

Another noteworthy character in Baccano’s incredible ensemble of awesomeness is Ladd Russo (gif below), a psychopathic maniac that is a part of the infamous Russo family mafia. He is bombastic and loves to kill. Think of him as if the Joker was loud and bombastic, while still being insane. Other characters that are memorable include the bootleggers, Jacuzzi Splot and Nice Holystone, the Martillo family mafia members, Maiza and Firo, and there is another incredibly cool character that I cannot name without spoiling the plot. Since there are so many characters in Baccano, going into detail about all of them here is nearly impossible, so just watch the series and enjoy.

Action: 8.9/10- Most episodes of Baccano feature impressive and fluidly animated action scenes that are reminiscent of American action films such as Indiana Jones. In general, there are a lot intense gunfights and brutal hand-to-hand combat, which are animated with style and a general sense of fun, even if there is a lot of blood going everywhere.

Acting: 10/10- Baccano's English dub is, as Dallas Genoard would say, "Freaking Unbelievable!" Seriously, unless you feel as though you have to watch the sub for every anime that you watch, Baccano's dub is an absolute must considering that most of the characters are Americans anyway, and that the accents for the New York mobsters and other characters sound more authentic. J. Michael Tatum should be given special praise for his incredibly fun and over-the-top portrayal of Isaac and the cast in general is just fantastic. In short, Baccano is one of three series that if you are not watching dubbed, you are not watching it at its best.

Art Style: 9.0/10- While still retaining some of the general traits of an anime, Baccano's art style perfectly suits the 1930s setting. Most of the character models are well designated and unique. Despite some ridiculous physics and one fantasy/sci-fi element, Baccano stays relatively grounded in reality with its animation, which you can see in these gifs. Also, it should be noted that Baccano has absolutely no fan-service.

Soundtrack: 10/10- Baccano's soundtrack is flawless! It is filled with upbeat and fast paced big band music that perfectly fits the 1930s era. It is one of the soundtracks that I listen to the most, and you can listen to one of the best tracks in the video below.

Humor: 9.5/10- Baccano is positively hilarious throughout! However, Baccano has a dark sense of humor that may not appeal to everyone. It often sends conflicting tones of humor and violence, which can be a major turn off for some. That being said, Isaac and Miria are two of the funniest characters ever!

Opening and Ending: 10/10- Baccano's opening is my personal favorite opening of any anime. As much as I like Cowboy Bebop's opening, Baccano's takes the number one spot for me, and it is one that I listen to often. However, the ending is not particularly memorable or worth listening to because you will want to watch the next episode as soon as you finish the last one.

Non-Otaku Appeal: Baccano is an excellent gateway anime for those that enjoy the style and over-the-top violence and action of America films such as Quentin Tarantino films.

Overall: 8.9/10- Thanks to its memorable characters, surprisingly American style, hilarious humor, and utter insanity, Baccano is a classic that is not to be missed by anyone, providing potentially confusing storylines are a turn off.

Closing comments: If fast paced action, violence, and humor is your thing and you are new to anime, Baccano is a great place to start. If you are already a fan of the medium, what are you waiting for? Watch Baccano!

Note: One important thing to know about Baccano before watching is that it is a very violent series. It is often hilarious, but there is plenty of animated blood, gore, and death. If you are sensitive to that, Baccano is probably not for you.  

Recommended for *Mature*: Action fans, Quentin Tarantino fans, Crime genre fans, Anime fans, Dark Comedy fans,

For another opinion of Baccano, you can click here to read Arvin Saints' review of the series.
You can also click here to watch Otaku-Vs' video review of Baccano.

Also, if you have reviewed this anime, leave a comment with a link to your review and I will post it here (providing it does not contain any explicit content).

Below is the first episode of the series. After finishing that, you can click here for the series in its entry on Hulu, and if you live overseas and cannot watch Hulu, here is a link to the series as well. Also, it should be noted that the first two episodes are not particularly that great compared to the rest of the series.

To read more of my anime reviews, you can click here.

If you want to contact us or have any question please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Marvel's Big Hero 6 Trailer Review

From Marvel studios and the people who brought you Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, and Tangled comes Big Hero 6, an animated film based on the Marvel comic of the same name. Considering that Disney animation is probably the best animation studio in America right now and that this is based on a Marvel comic, I had relatively high hopes for the movie and this trailer does not help much. This actually reminds me of the teaser for Frozen with the snowman rather than an actual trailer, because nothing of the plot is shown. According to the plot synopsis, it is about a young super-genius, Hiro Hamada, who builds a suit of armor for a health care robot, which you can see in the trailer, to save the fictional city of San Fransokyo, a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo. Taking into account that the original team from the comics was set in Japan, I was hoping the animation style would be influenced more by eastern animation, particularly Japanese anime. Unfortunately, from the trailer at least, this is not going to be the case. While the character Hiro looks maybe half Asian, which is what the rumors suggested, the animation style and the character does not look nearly Asian enough for me to consider it inspired by the Japanese style. It looks, more or less, about the same as Disney's other animated works. 

Another odd thing is that the release date outside of the US is said to be February 2015, whereas the Americas will be getting to see it in November 2014. Such a large discrepancy in time is odd. So, what do you think of the trailer? And if you are an anime fan, please let me know what you think of the art style. Also, please check back tomorrow for my review of Baccano!

Below is a review of the trailer by one of my favorite YouTubers and movie critics, Grace Randolph. I am on her side that the trailer was a little disappointing because it is not what we were promised. To watch her review, click on the annotation at the top of the video or skip to around 1:23 in the video if you have already seen the trailer. Also do not forget to read my other post today about the new Doctor Who season eight trailer, which you can read by clicking here.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Doctor Who Season 8 Teaser Trailer

The first look at the upcoming season/series of Doctor Who is here! And it more like a glimpse rather than anything else with a heavy emphasis on teaser than trailer. Seriously, watch it for yourself! The teaser is only 16 seconds long. However, releasing really short teasers seem to be the trend, so I do not really have a problem with it. The only thing it really shows is the silhouette of Peter Capaldi's Doctor inside a burning TARDIS. At least we now know for certain that the new season is coming in August and not September. What do you think of this short teaser? Please let me know in the comments, and since this teaser is so short, I also posted a trailer for Marvel and Disney's first animated feature, Big Hero 6, which you can click to check out. Also, please check back Wednesday for my first video trailer review of Interstellar's trailer.

Also, thanks to Tegan for first notifying me of this Doctor Who teaser.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Ant-Man Director Edgar Wright Departs from Film!

Marvel's upcoming film Ant-Man has now lost its director, Edgar Wright. After working on the script and technology at make an Ant-Man film, Edgar Wright leaves "due to a difference of vision." Wright is best known for his popular comedies, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End; he also directed the comic book film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He has been working on an Ant-Man film for years! Even as far back as the first Iron Man, Wright is said to have pitched the film to Marvel studios. While I have yet to watch any of his movies in their entirety, considering how much Wright has spent trying to make an Ant-Man film, I am sad to see him leave the project. He probably knows what he is doing and has given considerable thought about how to make the film, and he obviously knows how to handle to humor. Usually when a director leaves a film close to, or during, filming, the result is not so good like Superman 2 for example. While Superman 2 was a decent movie, it was disjointed due to two different directors working on the project. Hopefully Marvel can salvage the film and continue to maintain their dominance in the comic book movie stage. What do you think of this news? Please comment below and let me know.

I also posted my review of the new Flash trailer today, which you can read by clicking here.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

The Flash TV Series Trailer

The Flash, DC comics' classic speedster is finally getting his own TV series, again. After the relative success of Arrow, The CW is launching another DC comics series set in the same universe as Arrow. Even though I have not seen Arrow yet, this Flash series interests me. The series revolves around Barry Allen, the second and most commonly known character to be the Flash, although in this universe he is obviously the first. The Flash’s powers are somewhat self-explanatory; he can run really, really fast. Grant Gustin plays the Flash, and he reminds me of a discount Andrew Garfield. With the Justice League movie right around the corner, will there be two Flashes? One on TV and another in the movies. According to sources, the likelihood of the Arrow DC universe crossing-over into Sndyer’s Man of Steel DC universe is virtually zero. Also, neither Arrow nor the Flash will have anything to do with Fox's Gotham and NBC's Constantine, which are both based on DC properties. While the special effects are certainly low budget TV effects, they are not that bad, and providing the story is fun enough, I will likely give the series a watch. Also, comic fans should notice the reference to Ferris Aircrafts Company, who is a major part of the Green Lantern comics. For a bit of Flash history, back in the 90s, the Flash had a short lived series that accumulated a cult following, although it only lasted one season. As for Arrow, I hope to get that one free month of Netflix and marathon Arrow, so that I will be caught up with the series by the time season three rolls around. What do you think of this Flash trailer? Please comment below and let me know.

Please do not forget to check out my other post today about Marvel's upcoming Ant-Man film having trouble with its director.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Attack on Titan: Episode 3 Review

After waiting two episodes, I finally get to see the characters all grown up, and the series continues to deliver.

*Spoilers*

I have been looking forward to seeing Eren and Sasha grown up, and watch them begin their training. While training episodes are somewhat of a shounen cliché, the episode handled it well in a way that reminded me more of military boot camps, which is essentially what the Survey Corp is, and therefore did not fall into the usual clichés. The character models for the young adult characters are particularly appealing and work perfectly for the series. My only problem is that a few of the minor characters' hair, like the guy on the left in the picture, looks a little out of place, but that is just a nitpick. Again, Studio Wit and Production I.G.'s animation is very impressive with its unique style and fluid animation that is almost on par with feature film animation, although the fast moving lines to make things more exciting are a tad overused, but again, that is a very minor thing.

In terms of the story, the opening scene with the drill sergeant was a lot of fun. After two episodes of death and despair, it was fun to finally see the series' lighter side with "Potato Girl," Sasha Blouse, and the positively hilarious Potato scene! "Are you asking me why people eat potatoes?" Newcomer, Ashly Burch, does an excellent job with the humor of the character, and I already know that I am going to love her character! The fun and goofy type characters, if executed well, can provide a lot of needed comic relief, and I hope Sasha has a serious side too. Also, the scene when Sasha turns red-eyed and attacks the food was hilarious! 

Now that the characters are grown up, the voice actors have changed their tone to match the age, and the performance seems better than before. Bryce Papenbrook as Eren is not the best, but he is still very good. However, the rest of the cast are the real highlight of the series in terms of acting.
My only problem with the episode is that the translation uses the same translation as the Funimation sub for the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear by naming it "Omni-Directional Maneuver Gear." If you are not aware, the Funimation sub that was released on Netflix made a few changes to the wording of a few aspects compared to the other subtitles, and it was very controversial.
Going back to the plot, after the hilarious potato scene, Eren struggles to master the 3DMG. Despite his best effort, he cannot hold himself up, but it turns out that the 3DMG malfunctioned, thus causing it not to work for Eren. In a way, Eren's struggle was more of a side story that was present to add conflict and demonstrate Eren's determined nature; however, the main reason for the episode seemed to be to setup the Survey Corp camp, 3DMG, and introduce a few new characters, all of which worked well. The episode concludes with a small taste of the awesomeness that is to come with the 3DMG.

Overall: 8.2/10- While not as dark and dramatic as previous episodes, episode four developed Eren's character effectively, introduced a few new characters, and showed the series' lighter side with some well timed humor, which adds up to a very fun episode and entertaining episode.

For the anime fans reading this, please check back Tuesday for my review of the popular anime Baccano.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.