Why So Blu?

Attack on Titan, Part 2 (Blu-ray Review)

Eren Jaeger vowed to rid mankind of the bloodthirsty giants who devoured his mother and destroyed his city. Now, after discovering that he has the ability to turn into a Titan, the world Eren promised to protect looks at him like he is the monster. Narrowly avoiding execution, Eren s fate is entrusted to the Scout Regiment where he must prove capable of following orders. But on an expedition outside the wall, a unique female Titan appears and cuts through the Scouts, leaving a trail of carnage and splintered bones behind her and making it difficult for Eren to control his rage. As it becomes obvious that a traitor is sabotaging the Regiment from within, Eren must ask himself who humanity’s true enemy really is. Bloody revelations await beyond the wall in this jaw-dropping series io9.com calls ”Japan’s equivalent of The Walking Dead.”  Comes with the following extras: Episode 14 & 25 Commentaries, Attack on Titan at Anime Expo, ”Chibi Theatre: Fly, Cadets, Fly!” Days 14-25, Eyecatch Gallery, Textless Songs, and more! 

 

Series 

As you can see this is the review for Attack on Titan Part II. Where’s Part I, you ask? Well, I have not seen Part I. This is one of those “out of the frying pan and into the fire” kinds of scenarios, and by God, we’re gonna get through this! Since my introduction to the series is halfway in I will write about this section of episodes. First off the Titans look creepy. There’s no other way to say this. They’re giants, and for the most part, have a perpetual grin on their faces at all time. They feast on humans and their bodies look like they’ve been skinned and folded. They also have no reproductive organs. Yeah, creepy would be an understatement.

Our hero is young Eren Jaeger (yes, Jaeger, as in HUNTER in German) who has vowed to help rid mankind of the Titans by any means necessary. All is going according to plan until Eren discovers a unique ability. What this ability is I cannot tell you, but you can figure it out in some of the descriptors in the summary and pictures. This amazing discovery doesn’t bode well for Eren, because he’s now seen as an outsider and that which the resistance has been fighting against all this time. Then again, Eren is also seen as mankind’s ace in the hole – their hail mary, if you will.

I read some of the captions for the Attack on Titan and some sites said that this series was like The Walking Dead but I don’t see the commonalities. Now if they meant that there are various episodes that need to move the hell along and get to the good stuff then I will agree on that. Attack on Titan Part II is peculiar, because you have some epic, bloody, and brutal battles, that get hampered down a bit by some useless drama. On the other hand some of the “useless drama” gets several injections of apathy and reflection. This is by far the perfect combination when you have giants basically eating humans. Some of the humans begin to question themselves and the situation they’re in and whether or not it’s even worth fighting on. I think the apathy factor and the jadedness of their plight should have been exploring more instead of it dragging along.

I’ve been slowly getting back into the anime kick of things and like what I am seeing as of late. Attack on Titan Part II is no different. What really separates this series from the average series or standalone film is the care that went into the animation. The animators have gone back to the 2-D realm and brought out all the tricks of the trade. Hand drawn and inked, traditional painting techniques, etc., enhanced with some computer generated trickery really make Attack on Titan Part II leap to of the screen. They surely don’t make them like this all that often anymore. I’m glad some have gone the old school way.

If you’re new to the world of Attack on Titan then you’re obviously better off starting with Part I. My rating for Part II is a placeholder, more or less, until I get to see Part I. I can only critique this as individually as opposed to a whole. If you’re new to this world you may like the style over its substance, as I did, but that’s it. If you enjoyed Part I then I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy Part II, as well.

 

Video 

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail: Outside of a few scenes of haze (which seems to be a staple in anime) Attack on Titan Part II looks really good. I like the fact that they’ve incorporated many styles of artwork into the finished anime. I noticed that there are more traditional techniques being used than there normally is on the anime of today.

Depth: The level of depth is enhanced by the use of many traditional techniques in the rendering of the final images you see onscreen. The Blu-ray translates them rather well.

Black Levels: There are various scenes that take place at night and even for an animated series these scenes look good and are without crush.

Color Reproduction: The color wheel is a tad reserved when it needs to be and then lights up during scenes of destruction and/or reflection. This isn’t “rainbow-brite” by any means but there are some big and bold scenes that use lots of color.

Flesh Tones: N/A

Noise/Artifacts: The source seems intact and I did not notice any debris or anomalies.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0

Subtitles: English

Dynamics: Attack on Titan Part II is no slouch on the Blu-ray format, especially when you blast the rumbling English 5.1 audio track. You will be thrust into the world of said Titans and the folks that want to stop them.

Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer gets a workout during those scenes featuring running and stomping by the Titans in addition to buildings being toppled down. The LFE channel rocks.

Surround Sound Presentation: During scenes those scenes of resistance, meaning everyone vs. Titans, the equipment used by the them have them swinging around almost like Batman and Spiderman – and the surround channels make ample use of the directionality of where everyone lands. It’s really neat when you have folks swing around your home theater and you constantly turn your head to see where they’re going.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are average and they do remain clean and clear. This is anime, so expect a lot of high-pitched voice excitement that does get kind of grating every once and a while.

 

Extras

The pickings are quite slim but FUNimation lets you know ahead of time how long the special features are in length. This package has just over an hour of bonus original content and several audio commentaries.

• Commentaries on Episodes 24 & 25 

• Attack on Anime Expo (16:21, HD) – The foot traffic seems insane at an anime expo and this is your “fly on the wall” look at the whole Attack on Titan phenomenon.

• Chibi Theater: Fly, Cadets, Fly!  (47:15, HD) – This is the best special feature on here as it tells some stores about our characters in Chibi form. It’s disgustingly cute stuff.

• Eyecatch Gallery (HD) – A still gallery presented in high definition.

• Textless Opening Song: Jiyuu No Tsubasa (HD, 1:31) – The opening theme song in its textless format presented in high definition.

• Textless Closing Song: Great Escape (HD, 1:31) – The closing theme song in its textless format presented in high definition.

• U.S. Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:50) – The U.S theatrical trailer for Attack on Titan Part II in high definition.

 

Summary

Honestly, I tried to be as impartial about Attack on the Titan Part II as I could, because Part II is my first introduction to the world of Titan, so I feel I’ve done an adequate job in critiquing the material at hand. Maybe I’ll check out Part I at some point? Who knows. As far as video and audio specifications go Attack on Titan Part II looks and sounds great. The extras on this edition are a bit thin but please stay tuned to my upcoming review of the LIMITED EDITION set. They looked to have beefed up the offerings on that edition. If you’re already fan and are familiar with the world of Attack on Titan then you know you have to get the Blu-ray edition(s).

 

 

 

Order Attack on Titan, Part 2 on Blu-ray!