Attack on Titan: Junior High

Episode 11

Episode 11 wasn't too late for Attack on Titan: Junior High to enjoy an adequate return to form. A school festival set the stage for a series of semi-related, fast-paced vignettes. Although it still had the same confusing personality and world-building issues that have characterized previous episodes, this made for a slightly more fun half-hour than usual.

My favorite episodes of Attack on Titan: Junior High have all had something in common—instead of struggling to stretch their two-dimensional characters and flimsy story to fill an entire episode, they were divided into short sketches. Episode eight, the test of courage storyline, did this especially well by alternating between different characters' adventures in various parts of the “haunted” school. This episode took a similar approach, panning between different characters' experiences at the school festival without lingering on any storyline long enough for it to get stale. On one side of the festival, Eren, Mikasa, and bunny-girl Armin are vying to make their cheeseburger booth the most popular food stall at the festival, but it won't happen if Rico can help it! On another side, Jean stars as Snow White, the prince, and the evil queen in a Disney copyright-infringing play with a rapidly dwindling cast. Elsewhere, Annie adorably snuggles a kitten, Reiner and Ymir fight over a maid-costumed Christa, and Hanji tickles a Titan. There was so much going on that I was too entertained to notice the lack of substance anywhere.

There's still quite a bit of confusion over what constitutes a reference versus a gag. Armin's crossdressing is, of course, a reference to the time he was disguised as Christa in the original manga. The same is true of Sasha as the huntsman in Snow White—it's a reference to her archery skills. Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church simply sitting in the audience at Jean's awful play is a bit of fanservice for those who recognize them. Oluo biting his tongue is clearly a reference to the time Oluo bit his tongue last episode, the episode before that, the episode before THAT, and oh yeah, very rarely in the original show. On the other hand, there are character traits that have spun so far out of whack with whatever inspired them in the original show that it's just ridiculous. I'm talking about Reiner's girl-craziness and Jean's pathetic quest for popularity. These set Attack on Titan: Junior High apart from the original show, but not exactly in a positive way.

Once again, I'm left with questions about the Titans. Shouldn't this be their school festival too? It would have been hilarious to see some Titan booths. Instead, the Titans are only utilized as enormous delinquents that ruin everyone else's fun. Shouldn't the Titan teachers be on that? The way Erwin announced the Titans arriving made it sound like they came from outside the wall. So are Titans respectable members of society who go to cram school and send love letters or not?

In conclusion: don't think too hard about this episode of Attack on Titan: Junior High. Just let the cute and marginally funny sketches tide you over until the real Attack on Titan comes back.

Rating: B-

Attack on Titan: Junior High is currently streaming on Funimation.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.