“Attack on Titan – Season 2” was a long three year wait for fans and it was no doubt a highly anticipated season. While. I found season one to be much better, season two is action-packed, mysterious and entertaining enough to keep fans captivated and excited for a season three.
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TITLE: Attack on Titan – Season 2
DURATION: 300 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Funimation
RATED: TV MA
Release Date: February 27, 2018
Originally created by Hajime Isayama
Chief Director: Tetsuro Araki
Directed by Masashi Koizuka
Series Composition by Yasuko Kobayashi
Music by Hiroyuki Sawano
Character Design: Kyoji Asano
Art Director: Shunichiro Yoshihara
3D Director: Shuhei Yabuta
Director of Photography: Kazuhiro Yamada
Anime Production by Wit Studio
Featuring the following voice talent:
Yui Ishikawa/Trina Nishimura as Mikasa Ackerman
Yuuki Kaji/Bryce Papenbrook as Eren Jaeger
Marina Inoue/Josh Grelle as Armin Arlelt
Daisuke Ono/J. Michael Tatum as Erwin Smith
Hiro Shimono/Clifford Chapin as Conny Springer
Hiroshi Kamiya/Matthew Mercer as Levi
Keiji Fujiwara/David Wald as Hannes
Kishô Taniyama/Mike McFarland as Jean Kirschtein
Romi Park/Jessica Calvello as Hanji (Hange Zoe)
Ryota Ohsaka/Austin Tindle as Marco Bodt
Saki Fujita/Elizabeth Maxwell as Ymir
Shiori Mikami/Bryn Apprill as Christa Renz
Tomohisa Hashizume/David Matranga as Bertholt Fubar (Bertholdt Hoover)
Yoshimasa Hosoya/Robert McCollum as Reiner Braun
Yu Kobayashi/Ashly Bursch as Sasha Blouse
Yu Shimamura/Lauren Landa as Annie Leonhart
Takehito Koyasu/Jason Liebrecht as Beast Titan
Erenâ’s battle against the Titans rages on! After fighting the Female Titan, he has no time to rest as a hoard approaches Wall Rose. A new war begins and as they face the threat to humanity, they begin to unearth terrifying secrets. What are the Titans really and where do they get their power”and who’s really on their side?
Wall Rose has been breached and Titans are roaming inside, but among them is the huge Beast Titan who not only happens to be smart and powerful, he can speak. Meanwhile, Hange Zoe and her team discover a Wall Titan sealed inside the wall. Why is there? And what is the tie to Christa?
Many secrets revealed including the revelation of the Iron Titan, the Collossal Titan and the Titan Shifter.
What is “Attack on Titan”?
Back in 2006, Hajime Isayama wrote a 65-page one-shot of “Shingeki no Kyojin”. Inspired during an encounter with an irate customer while working at an internet cafe, the encounter would eventually be the basis of his hit series which is known internationally as “Attack on Titan”.
In 2009, “Shingeki no Kyojin” began serialization in Kodanasha’s “Bessatsu Shonen Magazine” and is currently on its 13th tankobon volume. With three light novel volumes, multiple video games, manga spin-offs two live-action films, many would discover “Attack on Titan” thanks to its 25-episode anime series which began airing in April 2013.
A 12-episode second season would be released in 2017 and an announcement of a third season was recently made in Japan. The first season and second season of “Attack on Titan” are available on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Funimation.
“Attack on Titan” is set in a world that was besieged by giant humanoid creatures over a hundred years ago. These humanoid creatures nearly wiped out all humans and want nothing but to devour humans.
Humanity has no answer to defeat the Titans but to protect what is left of humanity, the country of surviving humans now live within three enormous walls which include the outer wall Wall Maria, the middle wall known as Wall Rose and the inner wall known as Wall Sina.
And for 100 years, despite having a team that ventures out to confront the Titans, humanity has had no such luck.
We are introduced to three children which includes the impulsive and hotheaded Eren Yeager, his friend that always protects and cares for him, Mikasa Ackerman and the often scared but very smart Armin Arlert.
One day, while these three children were together in what was supposed to be a peaceful land where Titans are unable to enter, lightning has struck and born was a 200 ft. Titan who is taller than the walls that were constructed. The titan breaches the outer wall, allowing the smaller Titans to enter the village and devour humans. While Eren tries to find his mother, he finds her pinned under the house.
While a family friend named Hannes is able to rescue the two kids, Eren’s final memory was seeing his mother devoured by a Titan and from that point, he has dedicated his life to defeat and destroy the Titans.
Eren, Mikasa and Armin survives the attack by the Titans and have no choice but to retreat behind Wall Rose. But he has these nightmares of his father injecting him with something and reminding him about his key and for him to go into the cellar.
As the food shortage hits the country and refugees are forced to work in farms or fight to reclaim Wall Maria, Eren vows to destroy the Titans and to do that, he must join the army in which Mikasa and Armin follow their friend.
Fast forward five years later, Eren, Mikasa and Armin are training in the army and each meets new friends and rivals but just when they thought there was some semblance of peace, the Colossus Titan returns once again. Mikasa is set to a different squad to backup the front lines, while Eren and Armin must prepare to attack and fight the Titans, learning that the weakness of a Titan is cutting a piece of their flesh from the nape of the Titan’s back neck.
Will the army have what it takes to protect humanity from this new attack from the Titans?
“Attack on Titan” features the following main characters:
Eren Yeager – A hotheaded teenager who wants to destroy the Titans for what they have done to his family and people. Often upset that Mikasa is constantly defending him. For some reason, he has nightmares of his father injecting him with something and telling him to bring the key to the cellar.
Mikasa Ackerman – The adoptive child of the Yeager family who was rescued by Eren and her father when she was younger. She is quiet, often wants to protect Eren from trouble and cares deeply for her foster brother.
Armin Arlert – Often bullied by other kids and rescued by Eren and Mikasa, Armin has a sharp mind when it comes to strategy. But he sees himself as a person always in fear and often scared.
Levi Ackerman – A member of the Survey Corps and is seen as humanity’s most powerful soldier. He leads the Special operations Squad.
Annie Leonhart – A former member of the Military Police Brigade. A lone wolf and excels in unarmed combat. A member of the 104th Training Corps with a secret.
Reiner Braun – A former member of the Survey Corps. A man with a strong sense of duty. A man with a secret.
Hange Zoe – A former Squad Leader of the fourth squad. Conducts research on Titans and is obsessed with them.
Sasha Blouse – Has great instincts, an avid hunter who loves food and is always hungry.
Bertolt Hoover – A member of the 104th Training Corps. Strong potential and mastered every skill he was taught but lacks drive. He is also attracted to Annie. Also, a man with a secret.
Ymir – A member of the 104th Training Corps and close to Christa. Cold attitude but willing to protect Christa at all costs. A woman with a secret.
Christa Lenz – A member of 104th Training Corps and is close to Ymir.
VIDEO:
“Attack on Titan – Season 2″ is presented in 1080p High Definition. The anime series is absolutely vibrant. Character designs are well-shaded and I like how the series uses the strong darker lines around the character designs which shows plenty of detail. But I felt the transition of Hajime Isayama’s work from the manga series received a fantastic adaptation and bringing these Titans to life. I personally didn’t notice any artifacts or banding during my viewing of the anime series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Attack on Titan – Season 2” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. While both voice acting soundtracks are well-done, as one can expect from the English soundtrack receiving a 5.1 lossless treatment, while the Japanese is crystal clear through the front channels, the English soundtrack is immersive. Great use of sound effects from the surround channels and also great use of LFE.
One thing I also want to add is that FUNimation made the right decision by bringing Mike McFarland to become the ADR Director for this series. He has done an epic job for “One Piece” and for a series this important with a multitude of characters, he’s the man for the job and the casting for the English dub was well-done. Yes, it is different for those who are familiar with the Japanese vocal talent but I felt that the comparable differences and love the fact that the voice casting was not repetitive of talent used in many other FUNimation series.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Attack on Titan – Season 2” comes with the following special features:
- Episode 30 Audio Commentary – Featuring ADR Director Mike McFarland (voice of Jean Kirschtein), Bryn Apprill (voice of Christa Renz), Elizabeth Maxwell (voice of Ymir), Josh Grelle (voice of Armin Arlelt)
- Episode 31 Audio Commentary – Featuring ADR Director Mike McFarland (voice of Jean Kirschtein), David Matranga (voice of Bertholt Fubar), Robert McCollum (as Reiner Braun), Trina Nishimura (voice of Mikasa Ackerman).
- Anime Expo 2017: Interview with Trina Nishimura – (4:15) Interview with voice actress Trina Nishimura (voice of Mikasa Ackerman).
- Anime Expo 2017: Interview with Tetsuya Kinoshita & Yui Ishikawa – (17:04) Interview with Yui Ishikawa (voice of Mikasa Ackerman) and producer Tetsuya Kinoshita.
- Attack on Titan Season 2: Interview with Original Creator Hajime Isayama – (9:46) Interview with mangaka Hajime Isayama.
- Inside The Episode: Attack on Titan Quiz and Cadet Corps Missions #1-4 – Featuring Trina Nishimura, Ian Sinclaire, Jessica Calvello and Josh Grelle taking part in a quiz and a few fun missions.
- Final Recap – (9:44) Featuring Mike McFarland (ADR Director), Elizabeth Maxwell (voice of Ymir) and David Matranga (Bertholtz)
- Eyecatch Gallery
- Promo Videos
- Textless Opening and Closing Songs
- Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation.
EXTRAS:
“Attack on Titan – Season 2” Part 3 comes with the Blu-ray and DVD.
“Attack on Titan” has captivated fans all over the world thanks to its characters, its story of humanity’s survival but also its fight against humanoid behemoths. And along with the series comes a stylish costume design for its army which have driven people all over the world to cosplay as a military member from the anime series.
And three years after the final episode of season 1, the second season was released. And the big question was if the second season could continue its momentum several years later?
The answer is that it depends. For those who loved the storyline to see how Titans attack villages and see that mode of survival among the surviving humans behind the wall may be sad to find out that this second season is different that it moves away from the villages and is now focused on answering the question of who is the Armored Titan? Who is the Colossal Titan? If Eren could change into a Titan, are there others who can do the same?
With the first season heavily focused on Eren, Mikasa and Armin, season two now puts emphasis on Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, Christa Lenz and Ymir of the 104th Training Corps.
This deviation from the first season may turn a few people off but it’s one of those storyline twists that I’m hoping is bringing things to an exciting season three. A necessary storyline with major ramifications involving a lot of other characters than the primary three.
And integrating a larger cast of characters that works, but those wanting more Eren, Mikasa and Armin may not be satisfied until the second half of season two.
If anything, season two introduces us to beast titan who shows intelligence and can talk, which makes one think, what is going on? Then there is another question of why are there titans inside the walls protecting the village? There is something that doesn’t seem right and we are given a glimpse of how chaotic things will get by the final few episodes of season two that makes one to really anticipate season three.
It’s important to note that while the series is popular, by no means should children watch this anime series. It is violent as body part dismemberment are shown, people being eaten or crushed by the Titans are shown and if anything, it’s visual violence adds to the viewer being interested in what happens because simply, you want to see humanity kick some major ass! That is if they can!
As for the Blu-ray, you get great picture quality as colors for the series are vibrant. Black lines are nice and solid and character design is well-done, well-shaded. Backgrounds are nicely painted and for the most part, “Attack on Titan” looks incredible in HD! As for the lossless audio, while I love the Japanese vocal track, the fact is that the Japanese soundtrack is Dolby TrueHD 2.0 while the English dub, which was well-cast, received a much better Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Great use of special effects and use of the surround channels and LFE. If anything, I loved the fact that there was amazing focus in bringing this series out to the United States with the quality that fans and anime HD fans have come to expect and fortunately received in “Attack on Titan”.
Also, for special features, FUNimation really went out of their way to give fans not just two audio commentary but Anime Expo featurettes, interview with English and Japanese cast/producer and also fun segments involving the English voice dub actors in a few missions that I have not ever seen done in a Funimation special feature before. So, kudos to Funimation for coming up with more creative special features!
Overall, “Attack on Titan – Season 2” was a long three year wait for fans and it was no doubt a highly anticipated season. While. I found season one to be much better, season two is action-packed, mysterious and entertaining enough to keep fans captivated and excited for a season three.
Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon