Board Thread:Manga/@comment-5774380-20160209010741/@comment-4929778-20160216023550

Manuel de la Fuente wrote: I haven't posted my impressions about this chapter yet, so let's do it:


 * This was a chapter that felt mostly as a transition, which has been something common in recent months. Isayama is taking his precious time with this arc, spending a lot of pages with character development and slowly moving on with the story. I know it's important to show the motives and evolution of the characters, but as Elvis Presley said: "A little less conversation, a little more action, please".
 * Now we know for sure that Reiner isn't dead. %#$%"#$&"&. I've lost my hopes of seeing him dead at least until the end of the arc. Is it too much to ask you to die once and for all, Reiner? ^^
 * Bertolt is the new Historia, LOL (I miss Historia, by the way :. You see, Eren? This is how you must be if you really intend to make a change in a cruel world. I like his evolution. I like strong characters, either emotionally or physically; preferably both. Though I still hate him as a person and I want him to die along with Reiner. :P That part when he said "What a strange feeling... I'm barely even scared... I can see... every thing around me", it sounds like the "awakening" characteristic of the Ackermans. I think the "awakening" is something that any person can accomplish regardless of their bloodline (like Historia and Bertolt) if they experience a shocking event that forces them to dramatically change their way of thinking and be strong, and the Ackermans simply have a natural ease to achieve it and to a higher degree. This is so cool because one of the [many] reasons I felt identified with this series in the first place was because I experienced something similar a few years ago, but... that's another story. :P
 * That new ability of the Shifters to transfer their conscience throughout their entire nervous system is such a pain. If taking down those three damn strong Titans wasn't enough of a problem, this now means that the Corps would have to find a way to destroy their napes instantly so they don't have time to react, or to destroy their entire bodies. It's almost like to be fighting Cell from DBZ. o_O Also, this ability feels like a plot device of the last minute. I don't know if it is that or if Isayama actually planned it from the beginning and we were simply taken by surprise just like the Corps were. But it will be interesting to see how they will handle it.
 * Humanity's strongest duo just keep failing miserably. First, Levi couldn't kill Reiner (in his human form), then Mikasa + Levi couldn't kill Bertolt (in his human form too). It's pretty obvious now that Levi really stands no chance against Zeke in his Beast Titan form, at least not with we have seen so far.
 * Overall, the operation has been a total fiasco up to this point. The Thunder Spears at the end served for nothing; the enemy now knows the weapon so the element of surprise is lost; that new ability and the inefficacy of the strongest soldiers to take them down even in their human forms make them look more difficult to defeat than ever; the Corps are still trapped without their horses and with half of their soldiers at the other side of the Wall; the explosion has certainly caused several casualties, with Hange and Moblit probably counted among the victims (if not dead, at least injured); and Bertolt and Zeke have not even begun to fight. What are you going to do, Erwin and Armin?

In conclusion, despite the little action, I liked this chapter. Bertolt's evolution was interesting, the ability to transfer the conscience will completely change the course of the story, and Isayama is turning the situation even more uphill for the Corps, so I'm intrigued to see how he will get them out. Still, I hope the following chapters go more to the point. Because Levi is trained to fight against titans with no intelligence or superpowers. The shifters all have powers and defenses he never learned to fight against so of course he wouldn't know. Same with Mikasa. She doesn't know how to fight a Titan that can think and outsmart her then, squeeze her, then flick her against a tree like a booger.

Maybe the consciousness thing is a thing all shifters can do. Just it's something that needs to be learned. It's like regeneration just only shifters can do it since they have the aptitude and willpower to actually try. Mindless titans couldn't do it since they don't know how.

Or you might need to have strong willpower or excellent control of your Titan to the point of being completely lucid (eren says that transforming the first time is like a dream. I always imagined that Titan shifting is like having a lucid dream for shifters, just the dream is actually happening). Eren has only been trained to use his powers for at most six to nine months. Bertolt and Reiner it's kinda implied they have had their powers since they were probably way young and just grew up with it. I mean how else would they have learned to carry out the mission and be so good at controlling forms?

It's probably like taking Titan shifting to an extreme just as selective regeneration and turning off regeneration is taking regeneration to an extreme. Like you need to learn how to do it and have excellent jean grey like willpower and control.