Archive for Rivaille

Titan Online “Wings of Counterattack” Beta Launch

Posted in Attack on Titan, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/08/05 by OnePixelJumpMan

Titan’s a pretty good venue for games. The 3D gear lends itself to a fun movement system that can be used for combat. One of my favorite things to do playing the Unity 3D Titan game was climbing to the top of the barrier and launching myself off at high speeds to see the whole map for a second only to catch a building and fling myself through a titan’s neck. And there’s also the possibility for squad based combat. There’s a lot of thought put into how groups like the Scouting Legion gets around, like what you saw in the last episode with the explanation of their anti-encounter formation. This new game is going with the second one.

At least I guess you could call it that. These are screens from the beta of Attack on Titan Online “Wings of Counterattack.” The game, as you can take it from the numbers all over the place, is an RPG where you take command of a Scouting Legion detachment. You will be in the command position where you giver orders to you units in the runs against titans. Based on the look, in this mode, you’re running on a 2D plane, so I’m not sure what sort of orders you’d be able to give, but you can see that there’s horseback combat against the lesser known log titans and 3D gear movement all using standard equipment and uniquely crafted items.

But that’s not the only type of combat. There are also these grid based boss fights against notable titan types. This is the Armored Titan, of course, but there are probably also plans for the Female Type and, of course, the cute and cuddly Colossal Titan. With the way it looks, different attacks with probably hit different amounts of squares on the grid, and you hop along them to avoid them. Sounds like Mega Man: Battle Network, but I’m only guessing based on the way it looks. There are also the dramatic cut-in attacks which will probably be used on both play types as a screen bomb or other various effects.

And, of course, alternate costumes. You can see a few in the game play screens, easiest on who I’m pretty sure is Eren. Jamming more types of military uniform onto the characters is sure to bring in the fans, but that doesn’t seem to be the limit. Christa has that very weird take on the boob plate, Eren’s got his other, more foppish outfit with the feather cap, and we have these more traditional Japanese like clothes as part of unique classes. They come from which way you choose to play the game. Eren’s is if you decide to play via the GG Online Game Portal, and Mikasa’s comes from if you use the NicoNico App. They’re mentioned as “unique avatars,” but I’m sure they’ll end up as character sprites as well.

This is all a bit off. This announcement is only about the game being in closed beta. However, beta testers have not been chose, and you can sign up. If you’d like to, you can sign up here. There are 10,000 total slots, and the testers will be chosen from who’s signed up by lottery. I don’t think this game is likely to get any sort of official English version at the moment, but the game is open online, and if a number of westerners try to get into the beta, they might just throw one out there. Or you could wait for an English fan patch. Consider this a chance to see if the game is worth that effort.

Attack on Titan Episode 15 “Special Operations Team” Teaser Images

Posted in Anime Seasons, Attack on Titan, Spring Season 2013, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , on 2013/07/21 by OnePixelJumpMan

It’s cleaning time with Captain Rivaille

I’ve got the sweeping

Open up those musty, old windows and get some fresh air in hereHey, Hanji.

Yes, Captain?

I need you to clean up some of the refuse from your experiments. They smell.

You got it, big guy!

Weeeeeeeeeee

You can see more images over at Yaraon. Contains a significant spoiler, so be cautious.

Attack on Titan Episode 15 “Special Operations Team” Preview Images and Synopsis

Posted in Anime Seasons, Attack on Titan, Spring Season 2013, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/07/20 by OnePixelJumpMan

I wonder if seeing Rivaille in vague cleaning clothing will send any fangirls into fits.

Yeah, something like that.

After much deliberation, it has been decided that Eren will be a new member of the Scouting Legion’s Special Operations Team, affectionately known as the Rivaille Team. The Rivaille team is made of up of the Scouting Legion’s most elite members that all compliment each other. There will be an expedition to explore outside the walls in 30 days, but for now, Eren is to observe two titan specimens captured for research during the Trost operation.

Screenplay is Hiroshi Seko, who I’m almost tempted to just not write anymore and only list the screenwriter if they’re an exception. Storyboarder is a new guy, though, sort of. Keiichi Sasajima has worked for the show before with Art Setting Assistance on the last episode. He’s otherwise had a good mix of storyboard, Samurai Champloo, Gunbuster, and key animation, Now and Then, Here and There, Armitage: Dual Matrix.  Director is Kiyoshi Fukumoto back from Episodes 3 and 11. Animation Direction team is a whopping four people, Satoshi Sakai, Satomi Miyazaki, Hatsue Koizumi, and Daisuke Saito, all familiar faces from earlier in the series.

(Images from Shingeki.tv. © Hajime Isayama, Kodansha, Production I.G., WIT Studio, and The Attack on Titan Production Committee.)

There’s no new “Training Corps” this week, so I’ll buffer this with a little extra Titan news until one shows up.

To promote the blu-rays, this slick Ferrari was sent out with fliers. Everyone got an eyeful of a cool car, cool poses, cute characters, and also some information about the show. But who was passing it out? Who else?

His sash says “Shingeki no Kyojin Advertising Captain,” and who better suited to that job?

Attack on Titan Episode 14 “Still Can’t See the Eyes (Evening Counterattack Number 1)” Teaser Images

Posted in Anime Seasons, Attack on Titan, Spring Season 2013, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/07/14 by OnePixelJumpMan

Do you like seeing Eren getting kicked in the face?

Do you like Mikasa’s angry face?

https://i0.wp.com/i.imgur.com/lhgMint.gifDo you like Hanji’s sudden face?

Then this is the image set for you. Like I said, this was going to be a talky episode, so there are tons of dramatic expressions, but it looks like they handled it pretty well. That Hanji gif might be a good way of telling people how they’ll react to the show at first.

Rivaille is responsible for a 100,000 Currency deficit in the military dental plan every year.

Wha- Eren’s not shocked, angry, or covered in blood. It’s like I don’t know who he is anymore!

You can see the rest of the images at Yaraon. They also have a few videos on the new OP. Also, thanks to the Titan thread for posting that Hanji gif and also this.

https://i0.wp.com/i.imgur.com/JIkQWuJ.jpg

Mikasa’s just mad because she doesn’t get to be in Men’s Festival.

Attack on Titan Episode 14 “Still Can’t See the Eyes (Evening Counterattack Number 1)” Preview Images and Synopsis

Posted in Anime Seasons, Attack on Titan, Spring Season 2013, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/07/13 by OnePixelJumpMan

Damn it, Eren, You couldn’t get cleaned up for the actual new episode?

Man, that’s a long title. Lots of dramatic faces too. But hey, new episode and this is when Rivaille puts his foot on Eren’s face, so cool.

How do we handle a person like Eren? He was already a murderous, violent ball of crazy, and now he can turn into a giant murderous ball of crazy that we usually see eating people. Human society is split. The people who live closer to the center, the aristocracy, want Eren dead, and the people who live closer to the outside see Eren and his new powers as a potential savior. He’s now been brought to the capital in chains so that the military police and the scouting legion can vouch for either killing or keeping him to the central government.

Depending on how fast this goes, this is going to be a talky episode. That’s why I think it’s odd that they gave the screenplay job to Yasuko Kobayashi, Miss Tokusatsu. I figure you’d save her for the action heavy episodes, but whatever. Storyboard is by Sakomi Yajima back from episode 12. Two Episode Directors this time. First off, the new guy Keisuke Onishi, episode direction on Star Driver and Red Data Girl that I didn’t watch from last season. Second is the old, reliable Ezaki Shinpei. And a triple team is doing AD. Hitomi Hasegawa and Yuko Yamamoto who were in a 3 AD team before, and bringing the new member Tomoe Nishio, entirely key animation on some really strong projects, Star Driver, FMA: Brotherhood, Chihayafuru.

(Images from Shingeki.tv. © Hajime Isayama, Kodansha, Production I.G., WIT Studio, and The Attack on Titan Production Committee)

And I’ll get back to you with the 13.5 4koma right now.

13.5

Panel 1

Eren: I got into the Scouting Legion so I could kill every titan.

Panel 2

Rivaille: Huh? And why do you think you’ll get out of here?
Eren: Wo- Wouldn’t it be really weird for the main character to be in an isolation cell until the end?

Panel 3

Rivaille: Don’t worry. In the next “4koma Training Corps” I’ll be the main character!

Panel 4

Eren: No waaaaayyy!
Mikasa: Eren, why are you crying?

Attack on Titan Second Half Teaser Images, and Blu-ray 2 Cover with Distributor Bonus

Posted in Attack on Titan, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/07/07 by OnePixelJumpMan

There probably can be teaser images for Titan 13.5 , but they would be old images regardless. Instead, we’ve got some teaser images for when we’ll pick up in the next half. Most of them are dramatic face shots, but it does have maybe my favorite non-Titan face image so far.

If I didn’t know better, I’d like to think this was just Rivaille having some fun.

Mikasa is not amused by this or her recent meth addiction.

You can see more faces over at Yaraon. We’ve also got a few more pictures from other parts. The cover art for the Vol. 2 blu-rays are out.

They should all follow this pattern of character sweeping around on 3D Gear, though I will be happy if there is one with a nondescript person getting smacked away by a titan, gruesome as that might be for something you’ll keep on your shelf. Along with this, we’ve also got the preorder bonus that comes with the disc itself. Vol. 1 had the big item of the Vol. 0 special manga. This time the big item is a drama CD: “Sasha’s Furious Cooking Battle Compilation!!” Locked in one place, stuck without food, Sasha must stand up against the lack of meat! If that isn’t translated, a great sadness will wash over the fandom.

They may be able to keep their spirits up with HMV’s distributor bonus, though. Like with JoJo, every distributor gets their own special bonus for if you buy a disc or all the discs from them. HMV typically does box set container sleeves, and this is no different.

Christa is wearing a full on shirt because it would ruin everyone’s image of her if we found out she was also super jacked.

(Blu-ray and HMV bonus image from Shingeki.tv. © Hajime Isayama, Kodansha, The Attack on Titan Production Committee, and HMV.)

Attack on Titan Episode 13.5 “From That Day” Preview Images

Posted in Anime Seasons, Attack on Titan, Spring Season 2013, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/07/05 by OnePixelJumpMan

This week’s episode of Titan will be a unique one. There is no staff and there is no summary as Episode 13.5 will a half series recap episode. Ever since that call for extra animators went out, there was that niggling doubt that WIT had the capacity to handle their intended project, and the animation quality of the last episodes has noticeably  suffered in some places, not to mention that Fukuoka incident. Because of that, everyone is theorizing that this episode is going to serve as a break for WIT to recompose themselves and come back stronger in the next half, and because of that, the preview images for this episode, the colossal titan reaching over the wall, Eren crying as Hannes carries him off, Mikasa’s rallying cry, and the above picture of Titan Eren carrying the Trost plug boulder, are all things you’ve seen before.

There is, however, still a new “Training Corps.” It’s not just the audience poking at WIT.

14

Panel 1

Irvin: So your intention with this “key” is to save humanity from its despair with it?

Panel 2

Rivaille: This asshole probably doesn’t get it, but I’ll explain it to you who knows nothing.

Panel 3

Rivaille: In spite of being in charge of the basement “key,” in which the “key” will become an important item and be “secured,” Irvin does it WIT style.

Panel 4

Rivaille: Furthermore, the “key” will “secured” with high level technology…
Irvin: Forgive us on that side…

This one is a little complicated because of puns, so bear with me. What I translated as “secure” is “掛ける” (kakeru.) It can mean “to secure” but it can also mean “to begin (but not finish.)” When you think of it like that in combination with the word “key,” it’ll come to you. That one took me a bit.

A fully new episode next week. Hope for WIT’s rest to be a fruitful one.

(Image from Shingeki.tv. © Hajime Isayama, Production I.G., WIT Studio, and The Attack on Titan Production Committee.)

Maybe the Dancing will Distract the Titans

Posted in Attack on Titan, Fanworks, Text Articles, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 2013/06/25 by OnePixelJumpMan

Get in on the ground floor of Titan Fad #6: Titan Character MikuMikuDance time. This particular image comes from a Nico video of a guy showing off his newly made Mikasa model MMD model. It’s a nicely made model with the 3D gear and the details given to the colors and texture, and replicating the flying around part of the OP video for the anime was impressive, but the real shine for details is that she has two outfits. The one above is the standard Corps uniform.

The second is her Idol Corps uniform, and he was nice enough to remember that Mikasa is ultra-jacked. Remember, if Isayama draws her without a shirt on, that’s what she looks like.

If you happen to be interested, and how can you resist, the guy’s F2C has the models for free download. He typically makes Hetallia models, but the two Mikasa models are at the top of the list at the bottom.

And I’m not kidding when i say this is the new Titan fad. The video linked up top didn’t include side characters for nothing. There are already videos cropping up using those other models including a Hanji one, an Eren and Rivaille one, and a Rivaille only one but there’s 3 of him. You thought all the sexy boys love pictures of Rivaille with or just him being pretty weren’t enough, how will you handle his solo parapara triple threat?

“March to Freedom” Preorder Bonus (1/6th)

Posted in Attack on Titan, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/06/16 by OnePixelJumpMan

The preorder period for Linked Horizon’s single album “March to Freedom” is now open. The CD will contain “Guren no Yumiya,” “Wings of Freedom,” and “If We Make the Inside of These Walls Our One Home,” and the special edition will contain the exclusive “Guren no Yumiya” music video.

That’s standard. The preorder bonus is an interchangeable cover jacket with original anime art. There’s a Mikasa one, and Eren one, an Armin one, a Rivaille one, a REVO and Jean one, and a Sasha one. Amusing on their own, but nothing too special. What’s cool is that if you latch them all together, you get this:

And, yes, Sasha is eating a potato.

Which picture you get depends on which preorder service you use. REVO and Jean come from Animate Online, Mikasa comes from HMV, Rivaille comes from Tower Records, Eren comes from TSUTAYA Records, Armin comes from Pony Canyon, and Sasha the Potato Girl comes from select supporting stores across Japan. It sounds like you may never be able to get that Sasha picture, and if there’s one I know the western fans would want, it’s the Sasha eating a potato one, but they have given a list of online stores. I was able to find the preorder page for the ones on JBOOK, Neo Wing, Chara-Ani, GuruGuru Kingdom, and Melon Books. That last one asked me for confirmation on something when I looked it up, so I would click with care if you decide to use that one.

The cost seems to be pretty stable at ¥1,800 (~$19) for the special edition with the DVD and ¥1,200 (~$13) for the standard edition. If you’re interested in a little original art of your favorite character/vegetable, keep it in mind. The CD launches on  the 10th.

(CD image from Animate Online, full image of bonus pictures made by Yaraon made of images originally from Shingeki.LinkedHorizon. © REVO, Linked Horizon, and Pony Canyon)

Attack on Titan Episode 9 “Missing Left Arm” Teaser Images

Posted in Anime Seasons, Attack on Titan, Spring Season 2013, Text Articles with tags , , , , , , , , , , on 2013/06/02 by OnePixelJumpMan

Hanji’s glasses/goggles are way thicker than I ever noticed. Look at that brick of glass on her face.

If there is one issue with the anime, it’s that titans are inadvertently cute way too often.

Ahaha! I am eating you! What will you do now, Hu Man?

Ok, maybe not that guy.

You can see even more pictures at Yaraon. It’s a lots of dramatic face this time.