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My issue with Attack on titan episode 61 and where it falls short.
[ T H R E A D ]
[ T H R E A D ]
Before starting to bash the anime, I need to say that I did enjoy it, and I'll probably enjoy watching every single episode of this season. I'm trying to get only the positive side of this adaptation, but I do think it's important to point out what exactly this episode got wrong.
My first issue is them removing Bertholdt from Reiner's nightmare. Even manga does a poor job of showing Reiner's reaction to his friend's death and removing these little moments makes it even worse. This can all be fixed during scenes that are yet to come, so I'm optimistic.
Second issue is probably my biggest one. They make Reiner's character much more bland and the devil there is in the details. This can be noticed both during his talk with Porco and during the dinner scene that happens later in the episode. They remove one side of him completely.
In the manga, following Porco's words, Reiner's face switches to this half smirk for a second, as he remembers how he used to behave. It's important because it shows that he finds his actions absurd from this point in time perhaps even funny in some way.
That memory did affect Reiner. He then switches to a serious face and in a calm manner answers to Porco, saying he is indeed correct. But he does it in the manner which shows that he's not taking his words to heart. Again, with the undertone that he finds the situation funny.
In the anime, that whole interaction is replaced with Reiner's face is not changing at all, and him not even getting the chance to answer as Pieck walks in.
I'm not fan of the train scene either as it also gives a slightly different tone from what we've seen in the manga. The difference is not that huge, but Reiner's facial expressions just give off way more emotion compared to a very bland Reiner we got this episode.
It's also safe to say that this scene could have added a bit more to Reiner's character. Explaining what exactly happened to him and how he acted post war. Manga really never mentions him caring about Eldians cause he doesn't. His motivations are completely different.
Now the famous dinner scene. Probably one of my all time favorite moments in the manga, it again makes it clear to us how Reiner feels about the system and other Eldians in Marley, including his family.
Probably the worst thing they removed was Reiner actually laughing at what Gabi said, and then quickly trying to mask it with his hand. Again, he finds the situation funny, this time when it comes Eldians and Marleyan propaganda in Liberio.
This scene is VERY important as it shows us a few things. First that Reiner is above this way of thinking, and that he doesn't share any of their values, even when it comes to his mother. It also shows how isolated Reiner is, being the only person there to understand this.
He has no respect for them and you really feel for the guy. He's coping with this in a very relatable way as well, and seeing him act all serious while we know he's acting, is just gold. Probably one of Isayama's greatest scenes of dialogue.
In the anime, they cut every single emotion and just leave us with this slowly zooming image, where the only moving thing are his lips and a blink or two. I understand that they didn't wanna pull scenes from previous seasons, but it would certainly make it feel less cheap.
Again, Reiner doesn't smile, he doesn't show any emotion, his face is a straight line through this entire episode and that doesn't change once. This should feel like a slice of life episode with Reiner, to get to relate to him more, but he just remains stoic the entire time.
Episode ends on his face looking serious and determined, (as he was the entire episode) even tho he knows what him going back to the island means. We are all aware what he goes to do after this, and it's pretty clear that his face doesn't match that intention.
If you're an anime only, stop reading at this point, it contains a spoiler for the next episode.
It's very important for us to understand as viewers that Reiner's suicide attempt later, doesn't come from his sad memories, it comes from the fact that he has to go back to Paradis. He would rather die, than have to do what he did all over again.
And many manga readers don't even understand this. His PTSD didn't just happen to strike at this time, he legit doesn't want to go there again, and he only does so when the world needs to be saved, with Gabi and Falco being there. It's a huge thing for his character.
So this thread might seem like nitpicking to some of you, but Reiner is my favorite character and I feel like he has much more to offer than what anime showed us. They just removed some layers from him and while I still enjoyed the episode, I felt like this needed to be said.
