Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou Episode 1 [First Impressions]

All right, i’m going to first start off by saying this. No, I am not a fan of Attack on Titan. I think it’s Meh at best, and boring at its worst. However, I HAVE seen most of the first season. So I am stepping into this series with a knowledge of the series it’s based off of, but also an indifference to the source material. I actually believe this is the perfect place to be in for a show like this. Knowledge of it, but going in basically unbiased. That being said, does the show stand on its own merits? Well, I’ll let you know.

So the series opens up with Eren waking up for his first day of Junior high, basically stating that the original series was a really long dream.

We see the mother and father are just fine in the living room as the kids are leaving for school (also, AOT is playing in the background as an easter egg)

After that we get our opening theme song which is a cute little parody of the original one.

Following the theme song, Eren runs into a bunch of people (quite literally). First he runs into the blonde chick and makes her drop her breakfast. A brown haired girl gets very jealous of this because she totally has the Yuri hots for her.

He then runs into Potato girl who actually has a watermelon this time that he breaks and can’t pay her back so he gives her a sticker.

He THEN runs into Jean who he basically ignores.

In this version, Mikasa’s crush is more obvious and tries to accidentally run into Eren so she can do the romantic meetup thing, but it fails miserably as the bald guy gets in the way.

They all make it to school however since they’re late they end up going the wrong way towards the titan class instead of the human classes.

Arriving at their supposed classroom they can tell something is very wrong as the items such as erasers and protractors are huge and fall a lot on Eren.

They escape only to be greeted by the janitor who’s actually that guy who saved Eren and Mikasa in the original first episode.

The next scene is a parody of the introductions where they make fun of the introductions of the original way they did it. Jean says Eren probably had no friends in elementary school, potato girl is eating  a giant riceball, and the brown haired girl (Ymir) is one step away from fisting the blonde haired girl (Christa ha! See, I told you i’d get the names) in the middle of class.

They then tell the kids to bring their lunches to a meeting with the headmaster. Who..of course…is the Colossal Titan. He opens the gate so the other titans can get through and they, you guessed

spit the people out and eat their lunches.

Okay… i have to say, when I saw this, I had to pause the video because I actually burst out laughing. I’m sorry. That’s fucking hilarious.

Yes..Thomas makes it through the episode unscathed (except for them taking his lunch)

So yes. It turns out the reason that Eren hates the titans so much…is because the Colossal titan was responsible for him losing something precious…his cheeseburger lunch. That….that’s amazing.

Eren tries to jump and reach the titan…but…then the show realizes just how unable that jump would actually be to make.

And that’s where the episode ends.

All right. I’m going to say it…this show is absolutely goddamn hilarious. I don’t think that there was 30 seconds that went by in this show that I wasn’t at least smiling if not laughing. This is one of those shows that they ASSUME you’ve seen the source material, but if you have, this show is absolutely hysterical.

So now all of you don’t kill me for saying this. From what I’ve seen, and that’s only episode 1, I think this series is far better than the original Attack on Titan. I enjoyed this far more. It was more energetic, more fun, and just more pleasant to watch overall. I know that’s not the point of the original series, but fuck it. I don’t care. I watch series to enjoy myself. That being said, let’s go onto the scoring.

Head: A parody series of Attack on Titan in Junior high where the Titans eat the human kids’ lunches. That’s..that’s just a hilarious premise in itself. This series is PERFECT for a chibified version. It takes itself WAY to seriously and it pokes fun at itself in a story setup that, in my opinion, is brilliant.

They’re bringing in all the characters in a unique and cute way that really lends itself to this setup and I don’t feel anyone is shoehorned in and they all have their place.

The plot moves at a nice pace and leaves you wanting more without overusing jokes or overstaying its welcome. At 17 minutes the episodes are just short enough to be enjoyable, but don’t get stale.

8.5/10

Eye: I really dig what they did with the animation here. Everything’s been utterly chibafied, but they’re all still completely recognizable. The look of everything is crisp, clean, and to an extent, adorable. The voice acting’s as good as ever, but you can tell this time around the Japanese Seiyuu’s are REALLY having a fun time with this. Mikasa’s blank expression is hilarious, the anime style chibi anime jokes they go with hit home, and everything just looks and sounds fabulous.

Eye: 9

Heart:
Okay. This…Here’s the thing. When I watch these shows, 9 out of 10 times, I am sitting and watching these shows with either a straight face, screaming at the screen, or with a grimace of slight dissatisfaction. This is the first time I can actually say that I smiled or laughed the entire way through. That is so exceedingly rare for me, you all don’t understand. I was actually HAPPY when I was watching this.

The characters were a perfect overblown version of their original selves, the jokes were genuinely funny, and I actually had a good time and didn’t feel like smothering myself to death in the nearest pillow due to the depressing nature of the episode and the plot actually MOVED. I enjoyed how the characters acted, I enjoyed their interaction with each other, and it makes me want to see MORE of what they’re going to do.

Heart 9.5/10

Overall Score: 9/10

I know this may seem high, but as of right now, I absolutely adore this show. This show, in my opinion, is FAR above the original. For not liking the original that much, this show really brought a lot to the table for me. I can’t get over how much I immensely enjoyed this show. It reminded me that even the people who make these beige depressing gore fests also have a sense of humor and can make fun, enjoyable stuff when they want to. And that makes me happy.

Watching: Every Single Week it’s on

Blogging: I Wouldn’t Have it Any Other Way

I will leave you with this tidbit.

If you have seen Attack on Titan, or even if you just know the basic premise. Watch this show. It will put a smile on your face.

-Hideki