The war for Paradis zeroes in on Shiganshina just as Jaegerists have seized control. After taking a
huge blow from a surprise attack led by Eren, Marley swiftly acts to return the favor. With Zeke’s
true plan revealed and a military forced under new rule, this battle might be fought on two fronts.
Does Eren intend on fulfilling his half-brother’s wishes or does he have a plan of his own?
(Source: Funimation)
*This review contains spoilers* As expected, Mappa could not save us from the tragedy that is the Fumbling Arc which is not surprising considering the source material is a huge disappointment in itself. I was dissapointed by this season due to many reasons, the main one being its pacing which is horrific. There are many scenes where characters are just talking most of which adds nothing to the plot (talking about you Pie Scene). I honestly don't recall the manga pacing being that bad but it feels like Mappa dragged out content for example the scene in the woods, we get it Mappa you can animate trees and twigs, congratulations. I feel that instead of these pointless cutaways Mappa could have expanded on scenes like Falco grieving over his brother where for some reason he manages to get over the loss in a matter of seconds. Another issue was that they kept scenes from the manga that had no relevance or were not needed at all, people reading this review will know what I am about to mention the dreaded pie scene. It is without doubt the stupides most terrible attempt at comedy I have witnessed in this medium. HA! HA! HA! Look at Annie guys she is eating pie, hilarious right? No it is not Connie shut your mouth, she is literally responsible for your comrades deaths but lets forgive her cause she likes pie. Sadly, this season kept in all of Connie's scenes which give us some of the most pathetic cringe moments in the medium (until 139). Connie is a stupid character, his "to save the world" line is still corny and his plan with his Mom still makes no sense and is a huge waste of time. As well as being stupid which can be forgivable, Connie is also a hypocrite he will happily work with Annie and Reiner who slaughtered his comrades and Gabi who killed one of his closest friends (essentially forgiving them for their heinous crimes) but he has no hesitations or remorse when shooting Daz and Samuel (who are his so called friends and are hesitant to shoot him but he kills them anyway just because they are Yeagerists, how about forgiving them???). He is just one of the so called heroes we are supposed to root for but due to terrible writing they come across as hypocrites and fools. This brings me to another issue for this season which is the characters. With Eren occupied elsewhere, we sadly had to endure Mikasa, Armin, Hange and the other members of the Cringevengers for most of the season. Mikasa thanks to the amazing writing of Isayama is reduced to two things; Eren and Scarf. This is highlighted when Armin is pouring his heart out and Mikasa's only response is "my scarf is gone". I still can't believe Mappa kept in the scene of Mikasa taking the scarf away from a dying girl with no hint of a remorse, what a character she is! Armin used to be a smart likeable character but after the time skip he has become a useless mess of a character. His plan to take the boat from the Yeagerists highlights his uselessness, on what planet would that stupid plan work? This is the guy that was chosen over Erwin, instead of going to meetings about Paradis' future he was simping over a frozen 16 year old girl. Hange is also extremely annoying, her character is now reduced to "my way is right, your way is wrong". Even though I have many issues with this season, there is no denying it did have its highs especially with Paths, Floch and the development of Gabi continuing. Thankfully the scenes with Eren, Zeke and Grisha were done rather well and a huge credit must be given to Grisha's VA Hiroshi Tsuchida, who I feel has delivered in all his scenes for The Final Season. The animation was also good in a lot of places, there is no doubt in my mind a Mappa employee has the hots for Armin and Floch. However, the animation like last season still suffered a great deal this is seen in many scenes of Episode 10 but thats to be expected when the employees are treated like garbage by Mappa. Also like nearly all of the AOT OPs, Rumbling was amazing although I would like to see Linked Horizon return for the eventual Part 3/movie. In conclusion, the only thing we can take away from this season is that Isayama is that bad of a writer he makes it so people opposing a global genocide are hypocritical idiots, or maybe that was his plan all along? Isayama, what a mangaka you are!
TLDR: This was probably my least favourite season of Attack on Titan. I can already feel the roasts coming. *Spoilers below Ah, Attack on Titan. Undoubtedly the anime of the 2010s, the defining anime of this generation. I started my Attack On Titan watch just about four months ago, binging it from the first season, up to this moment. It’s been one of the best experiences I’ve had with anime, hands down. The immersive story, the action, the emotion, we’ve been on a good roller coaster haven’t we? Now, to this season. From the greatness of part 1, the story picks up where it left off on that brutal cliffhanger, and starts on such a bang, with plot twist after plot twist. Since Season 3 Part 2, there have been what I call “The Banger Trilogies” in each cour. There was the set of “Perfect Game”, “Hero”, and “Midnight Sun” in Season 3, the set of “Declaration of War”, “the War Hammer Titan”, and “Assault” in Season 4 Part 1, and in this season, we had “Two Brothers”, “Memories of the Future”, and “From You, 2000 Years Ago”. My favourite set would still remain the one from Season 3, but the plot twists and reveals we had this season, was not too shabby either. The latter half of this season, was to be fair, nostalgic, it reminded me of Season 1, which I’m sure most of you would agree with, is Attack On Titan at its worst. My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20 STORY: 19.5/25 *Another reminder about spoilers below A mixed bag to be sure. Firstly, we had the plot twist where Eren and Zeke go back in time to see what happened in the past, and it turned out Eren had more of an impact on the past than we thought, and there was this whole time travel aspect to the story, which was a good reveal, but needlessly confusing. There was this reddit post that explained the time travel aspect of the story, called “The complete guide to Chapter 121”, which I recommend you to check out if you haven’t already. There was also some backstory of the kingdom of Eldia and the backstory of Ymir and Fritz, that was quite tough to watch. The whole section of this part of the plot ends with Eren declaring the Rumbling would be beginning. The next part of the story is a grim reminder of what Season 1 had to offer. Just good action against the big bad Titans threatening to destroy Paradis and everyone beyond the island. It was simple, and a bit disappointing, considering the quality of the story beforehand, yet still quite nostalgic, especially when “Barricades” played in the background. There was a subplot where Connie wanted to save her mother, who was still stuck on that house in Ragako Village, which was an interesting, but a little out of place. We saw the return of Annie, which was great to see, and it led to a nice comedic moment with pies, and more of the Female Titan, we saw what happened to Levi and Hange, basically a tying of some loose ends. We see Floch continuing to be the scheming and devious man he is, and also Marley and the Survey Corps end up working together, to assemble the Avengers, as people call it. All in all, the reversion to pure action and occasional emotion is welcome, but it felt like a downgrade. Of course, there is also the depiction of mass genocide. Say what you will about the controversy about that, but this, combined with the time travel, just didn’t sit well with me. It felt oddly… generic, yet it felt like this might have been the only thing that could have happened, when we consider the foreshadowing. The key aspects are still done extremely well overall, like the foreshadowing, the plot twists, keeping viewers on the edge of their seat, a story that remains fascinating, making it so each episode flies by. That sentiment hasn’t changed, but I did feel the pacing slowed down a bit in this season, though it may have be necessary. ART: 8.4/10 Felt less rushed than the previous season, as Mappa had a bit more time to work on this. The CG and 2D aspects still aren’t done perfectly, but it was definitely an improvement to last cour. The animation in the ED this season was pretty spectacular though. MUSIC: 9.5/10 We’ll talk about the opening and ending themes first. The Rumbling. Wow, SIM really did a nice job here, surprising me with the heavy metal, with a great chorus as well, a lot of people’s favourite opening for sure, though Red Swan remains my favourite. The ED for this season, Akuma no Ko, was one the most beautiful endings I’ve seen. Ai Higuchi, props to you! Very emotional and gripping lyrics, and great visuals to boot. Probably my favourite ending so far of the entire show. As for Sawano’s soundtrack. This show recycles a lot of their past themes, using the nostalgic factor at times, especially when “Barricades” played. That is fine to me, and while it may be seen as lazy, I have always enjoyed the entire soundtrack in Attack On Titan, and good music will always complement the show, recycled or not. CHARACTERS: 12.5/20 The masterful character writing in previous seasons certainly carried over to some extent, but the second half really hurts the score here. I loved the first half, as Zeke and Grisha were so good to watch this season, because, like Marley, we don’t exactly root against them. Grisha has such a great voice actor as well, as that performance in “Memories of the Future” was so awesome to listen to. Other than that, we don’t see much development or good dialogue apart from Connie trying to save his mother and also killing his former comrades, Jean in the campfire scene, or Annie saying she doesn’t want to fight. Granted, these scenes were mostly pretty well executed, and emotional. Mikasa had her moment to shine when she ravaged a lot of the Jaegerists, and her fight scenes were certainly interesting and fun to watch. However, her character seems a bit static and uninteresting, made out to be a brute, which wasn’t that great in terms of development. Gabi continues her redemption arc, by saving people, and having some emotional scenes with Kaya and Falco, and that did make me enjoy her character a bit more. I never really hated her, but she has developed into a more “responsible” and mature person, which is good. Floch was a good villain, but nothing more. His attitude makes him a rat, and I have always said, if you strongly hate a character, it means he is written well, and I can see that here, though he doesn’t add a whole lot to the story. All in all, the lack of Eren hurts, and the fact that the second half was less of a character driven story, and more action, was not the path I wanted this show to go. Magath and Shadis though, what a duo. ENJOYMENT: 12.5/15 Some episodes were great to see, but nothing stood out to me as amazing this season, after the reveal about the time travel and all that. THEMATIC EXECUTION: 14/20 From all the political themes, and immersive dialogue and dark atmosphere and savagery and backstory from part 1 of Season 4, this season balances themes of war, camaraderie, and straight up action, which felt like a downgrade overall. As I’ve said, Season 1 was Attack On Titan at its worst, and this felt like Season 1. OVERALL: 76.4/100 Don’t get me wrong, Attack On Titan has never been bad. This season was just a bit below my expectations, as the dialogue didn’t feel as strong, the whole aspect of time travel was not the path I envisioned, and the whole second half went in a direction I didn’t exactly enjoy. Still a wholly enjoyable season overall, but I would have liked to have seen a bit more spice, more scenes that made us stare at the screen in awe, because Attack On Titan has just been that good up until now. I do look forward to what comes next with the Final Edition in 2023.
# Attack On Titan: Final Season Part 2 IMG(https://i.imgur.com/H5bd2Lq.jpg) if you do not know attack on titan, then you are lying because it is the most popular anime out right now period. I will not even waste any more time writing about what aot is as I am guessing all of you have heard of it #Story IMG(https://i.imgur.com/XkzymTq.jpg) I was expecting way more to be completely honest. firstly the pacing is incredibly bad. there are entire episodes of them just talking and it is so boring to watch them just talk, now if the talk was sensical, then it might have been interesting but they just talk about random shit like one time they bring up Marco, a long-forgotten character in aot and do not even get me started on the soup scene, that shit is so boring, we are not here to watch that, we are here to see what the hell will happen with the rumbling but no, instead of doing that, you could just spend 5 episodes on the same day and think you're giving us good content. that episode with Annie and hitch was so damn boring and it was probably the worst anime episode I have ever seen. the season starts with a bang with the fight we all had been waiting for and the eren death and Zeke is a strong character in it. but no they just don't show those strong characters anywhere after the start because why would they show easily the best-written characters in this season later on instead here let's just watch characters talking for 5 episodes I'm sure that's fun, but seriously they forgot about Zeke huh, just note that I haven't seen the final episode so I cannot comment but I was so frustrated with aot that I had to get this off of my chest. the 11th episode was pretty good tho, wow who would have thought, they went back to the formula of the first few seasons, and its easily the best episode of the season wow mappa you should keep that up for the 3rd part of this show and that's right I said the third part of this season because it's just been confirmed that there will be a third part to this 4th season and I am fuming because of this. maybe they could've just kept the talking for one episode and left the other episodes to end the show in this season only but no they have to milk the shit out of the attack on titan brand so final season part 3 it is boys. I can't believe they would do this, now we have to wait another year for it to end. here are some ideas as to how they could have ended the show in this season only. firstly as I already said keep the talking to 1 episode and use the other 3 or 4 episodes to move forward with the story. and 2 make a huge 1 to 2-hour final episode or even better combine the 2 and you will just end the show with this season. I feel like they did this intentionally to make more bucks. like why would you call it the final season in the first place if there is just gonna be another part after it, doesn't that ruin the entire purpose of the name the final season and they didn't do it once they did it twice, don't get us all excited thinking this will be the end and then make another season. it's like that popular saying " fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me''. and even some of the animation is lackluster I read a review on this final season part 2 and that review pointed out how awful the background character looked and now that I look at them, yes they do look awful. it barely looks better than some kid just doing it. it just looks like a basic drawing of a person. have mappa even put any effort into making this season?. honestly I don't feel like it. I was so bored throughout this series. ok, now that has been taken off my chest, let's talk about some good things about this season because I honestly think there are a couple of good things about it. firstly the first 3 episodes are masterpieces, with good animation, good fight scenes, good storytelling, just everything good. there were not a lot of fights but where there were fights, they looked amazing. they brought back the classic ODM gear scenes for episodes 10 and 11 and it looks just as smooth as it ever looked if not smoother. Mikasa is also a great character, as always. the hange was surprisingly likable in this season, just note that I don't usually like hange so this was nice. there was not a lot of Levi and honestly, I kinda liked that, not to say that Levi is a bad character because he is probably my fav character, just saying that it's refreshing not to have such an overpowered monster that just makes things too easy. #In Conclusion I was just very disappointed with this season of aot and it simply boils down to nothing happening. In most episodes they were just talking and even when they were not, the story just didn't move forward like it usually does. there was no standout moment that will be remembered forever and it's just very boring. not to say that everything about it is bad because if I said that then I'm just not being open-minded and I'm just angry that the show has not ended already. I liked the fights when there were fights and some of the characters were great. I just think this season would have benefitted extremely if there was not as much talking. edit: I rewatched this season and it got way better than it was but I still agree with some of my points in this review
Introduction: Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2 is an amazing end to a fantastic season overall. The show continues to be as inventive as ever while having a strong focus on characters and themes, along with some great action that begins to rival some of WIT studio's best shots. However the large cast of characters sometimes holds this season back, and questionable creative decisions along with sometimes flawed writing also prevent this season from being quite as good as season 3 part 2 (the gold standard for storytelling in TV). See below for a more in-depth explanation of my views. Plot: The plot of this season is somewhere in between simple, and very complex. The part begins with the attack on Shiganshina district, which leads to Zeke and Erens adventure in the paths. Then after the long-awaited Ymir backstory, the rumbling is activated, and the main cast from both Marley and Paradis align to stop it. After a conflict between the Yeagerists guarding the flying boat in the port, the season ends with a wonderful Eren focused episode. The writing for the first three episodes that take place in Shiganshina is engaging and has a good blend of action and dialogue. These episodes are highly unpredictable and the stakes feel incredibly high, and there are many great character-building moments for people such as Gabi and Galliard. Episode four has Zeke and Eren travel through Grisha's memories, and is a masterclass in subversion, delivering heavily on major mysteries and calling back to key events in season 1, recontextualising them very well. The writing here is of incredibly high quality and is very exciting to watch. Episode five is perhaps one of the greatest episodes of not just Attack on Titan, but all of TV, delivering a satisfying and intriguing backstory for Ymir while showing just how the power of the titans was obtained. The episode ends with the activation of the rumbling and confirms that Attack on Titan truly is peak fiction, and an insane amount of planning is shown through the names of this episode and the very first episode of the show. ‘To you, 2000 years ago’ and ‘From you, in 2000 years’ is a fantastic way to link back to the very beginning and has many implications. Following this is the three episodes featuring the forming of the alliance, and is without question the weakest of the twelve episodes here. Although there are many great moments and revelations, I believe the quote “butter spread over too much bread” is significant here. In my opinion, adding anime original scenes to these episodes would have helped make them feel more worthwhile and enjoyable, as the scenes feel stretched to fit the set run time. Also the pie scene fucking su- Following this is a great but veeeeeery slooooooow episode featuring the alliance letting everything out and having a much-needed discussion. The decision to focus on the trees and environments instead of the characters' expressions is questionable, and lowered the viewing experience for me, but is a great dialogue-based episode nonetheless. Next, we have two episodes spent fighting the Yeagerists at the port and are full of great character moments and callbacks to season 1, such as the inclusion of Samuel and Daz (rip). These episodes are great from a plot perspective as you can understand both sides of the conflict, and seeing people who used to be enemies now fighting alongside each other, and similarly those who used to be allies now fighting against each other is very interesting and engaging and is something rarely seen in storytelling. There truly is no good and bad in Attack on Titan, only perspective, which is true for real life as well. The victor decides who is right and wrong, and as long as humans differ in opinions, there will always be an enemy. Episode 12 adapts 2 of my favorite chapters of the manga, and has a fantastic plot. The choice to centre half of the episode around the scouts first arriving into Marley greatly increases our attachment to these characters and develops their relationships with each other, while also putting a nice bow on the entire season as a whole by giving context to what exactly happened when the scouts first came to Marley. It gives us a breather after the intense action from the previous episode. Most importantly the focus on Eren in this episode is perfect, and I go into detail about this down below. Overall a great, plot-heavy chunk of episodes as is the norm with Attack on Titan. The story never feels stale and is always entertaining, even during the slightly worse episodes. Out of all the seasons of Attack on Titan, Season 4 Part 2 covers less content from the manga than the other seasons do, and while it shows a bit, the amount of content adapted is enough and considering the huge revelations that take place in this part of the story, it only makes sense to slow things down. However, I believe the plot of these 12 episodes to be nowhere near as tight as Season 3 Part 2, which is one of the greatest seasons of television ever produced from a story/plot perspective. While the earlier episodes in Season 4 Part 2 are stellar and arguably the best the show has ever been, the next few episodes are where the cracks begin to show. Characters are all over the place with little rhyme or reason, characters do nonsensical and irrational things, and characters who haven’t seen each other for years reunite again without any sort of acknowledgement of how long it's been. For example, many find how Armin and Connie met up with Annie to be funny, due to it being so unlikely, but I can’t help but question the odds of this. I also find it strange that this scene is played for laughs when Attack on Titan hasn’t focused on comedy really since season 1, and even then the comedy didn’t feel this forced. Annie surely murdered people in the scouts that Connie and Armin knew, yet Connie just laughs at her, and they team up as if it were nothing. Things such as Falco mourning his brother’s death are brushed over, going from crying to happily eating pie in a matter of hours. Also, it's strange for Hitch and Annie to have half an episode talking to each other when before she was frozen, Annie wouldn’t have known Hitch for any more than 2 months, especially when you consider that Annie’s reunion with Reiner lasted but a few seconds on screen and consisted of her kicking him in the face when those two knew each other for years as children. Characters meet up for no deeper reason than because the plot requires them to. Isayama wants the alliance to form but doesn’t know how to do it in 3 chapters worth of pages, so it all just kind of happens. The fact that Jean doesn’t even openly consider if his mother is ok during all of this when there was an OVA dedicated to their relationship seems strange to me, and though this is the definition of a nit pick, it would have been nice to show that Isayama was considering things such as this. I want to stress that these episodes aren’t awful. They are in fact good, however, they lack the incredible storytelling heights reached just episodes ago. Characters: The characters in Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2 are as great as they have ever been. This season ultimately revolves around Eren, which is fitting as both the opening and endings are centred around him. Eren’s arc was completed in season 4 part 1 with his reintroduction and reveal in Marley, going from a very loud and angry individual who was very open with his emotions and sought freedom through the annihilation of the titans, to a more focused and level headed individual who realised that now to obtain freedom he must destroy the entire world instead. Though this change seems unbelievable and poorly written to some, this part of the season fixes this issue. While we previously knew that this change was partly because of his realisation that even after he has killed his mortal enemy, the titans, he still wasn’t free, we learn in episode five that it was also because he saw himself in his father’s memories and realised that one day he would initiate the rumbling and that there is nothing he could do about that. This, logically, kind of traumatised him. Furthermore, we also learn that for most of the time in season 4 part 1, Eren was merely putting on an act to push his friends away from him because he cares about them so much, to save Paradis and his friends, which makes perfect sense. This would have been incredibly painful for him, but in his mind it was necessary. Also, the twist that Eren hates the euthanization plan and instead wishes to use the rumbling makes complete sense for his character and shows that though Eren has changed so much, the core beliefs that he has held ever since he was born have never changed. That he is free, and so is everyone else, even the people that he will crush with the rumbling. It’s incredibly interesting to see how Eren has now become what he hated more than anything else, a giant monster who takes away freedom from others. But to understand why he would do this, we need to understand why he activated the rumbling. It’s simple really: Not for anything as silly as revenge, or even really about protecting his home, but to put an end to the cycle of hatred by wiping away the civilization that created it. Eren has always been willing to take freedom away from those who want to take it away from him, and here we see Eren take freedom from the entire world, from every single person who was born free, to protect his freedom and the freedom of those who survive on Paradis by erasing all essence of hatred beyond those lands. Unfortunately, the only way to do this is to become hatred incarnate. Eren is truly the face of evil, but in his mind, this is the only way to end war and conflict, and it makes perfect sense as to why he would think like this. Overall, although Eren’s character arc was complete a while ago, we learn an incredible amount about him this season which elevates his character to insane heights. I find him fascinating and very layered, and I aim to one day create characters as interesting as him in my writing. The arcs of other characters continue in season 4 part 2 as well. Armin is still dealing with the pressure of inheriting the colossal titan instead of Erwin, and we see him attempt to jump into a titan's mouth to save Falco, believing that is what Erwin would do. Seeing how far Armin has come since the beginning of the show is wonderful, and his development this season is decent. Mikasa is also in the middle of an arc, having to accept that Eren, the person she cares about the most, is now an enemy and that there may come a time when they have to kill him. Her development is passable, but nothing that interesting. Zeke is also a focus in the earlier episodes here, and him making up with his father through the powers of the founding and attack titan combined was both emotional and mind-blowing. Through making up with his father comes the completion of his arc, however even in the end his views about the euthanization plan don’t change, and he loses to Eren. He continues to be a fantastic character, and very interesting. Seeing the potential end of Floch, depending on whether he died or not, was an impressive moment, and seeing him take on the Jaw, Hange and the Cart at once shows just how far he has come from season 3, where he was nothing but a pathetic, crying soldier who was powerless. His belief that only a devil can save the world has been his driving motivation since his introduction, and his risking everything to support Eren, who in his eyes is a devil, is commendable. His development has been stellar this season, and an entertaining presence. Other characters like Jean and Connie receive some development, but nothing special, with Connies in particular feeling rushed and quite pointless. Gabi’s arc reaches its conclusion in this part, as she finally understands what Reiner was saying back when they ate a meal together in episode 2 of season 4 part 1, about how the people in Paradis were just normal people, not devils. Her arc is very good and her change feels natural, and I found myself liking Gabi a lot this season. Plus, she made up with Kaya, which was also a great scene. While there are many other characters, the final two I would like to commend are Shadis and Magath. Magath has always shown compassion to the warriors, and over this part, he realises that he cares deeply for them. His apology to everyone in the alliance is fantastic and shows how his character has matured, and his final sacrifice is a good farewell to his character. Shadis also gets his moment to shine as he aids Magath, proving that he is no longer a bystander. His character was a good presence in this season and his relationship with the new trainees was interesting. However, there are some characters that I feel were not handled as well as they could have. Hange and Levi are both great but don’t serve many purposes in this part. It would have been nice to give them an arc or some sort of development besides showing how great of a chef Hange is. Furthermore, I find it difficult to root for or even like Annie. She shows no remorse for what she has done in the past unlike Reiner, who I now really like. Yes, her interactions with Hitch were great and much needed, and the scene in which she said she doesn’t want to fight with anyone anymore was some good development, however, I find it difficult to root for her. Even someone like Floch, whose views I do not agree with, I can get behind and cheer for as he goes against the alliance because I understand just how much all of this means to him and he is giving it his all (I swear I’m not a Yeagerist, I just appreciate good character writing). Annie simply wants to save her father, which while consistent with her goals from season 1, is a rather selfish trait to give to a character we are supposed to completely root for, unlike everyone else who wants to save the entire world no matter what they have to do. I still think she’s an alright character though, but it would greatly benefit the story if she begins to show remorse for how she brutalised so many scouts in the female titan arc, and also if she perhaps becomes motivated to save not just her father, but the world also (due to the fact we have to root for her now). A large cast of characters isn’t necessarily bad, but in this case, it hinders the story in my opinion. In my writing, I make sure to consider how large my cast of characters should be to not negatively affect the experience for the reader. I do like a large cast though when done right. Not to say that Attack on Titan does it badly, but it does bite off a bit more than it can chew at times. Overall the characters in this part are great, especially Eren and Zeke. Not a whole lot of meaningful development is given for many others when compared to season 4 part 1, but regardless Attack on Titan continues to have much better characters than the vast majority of other shows and is one of the reasons Attack on Titan is still so popular. Themes: Thematically, Season 4 Part 2 is peak. Freedom has been the main theme since the very first shot of the entire series, which was of birds, representing freedom. However, by now, the idea of freedom has mutated into something much bigger than exploring the outside world. This show is fantastic in how it questions what freedom truly is. To Eren, freedom is everything, and he still desires it more than anything else. However now, it's not titans but the whole world that prevents this. For him to gain his freedom, he must murder the entire world, and thus wipe out hatred so the island of Paradis can be free. Zeke’s idea of freedom is very different, believing that for Eldians to be free, they must be euthanized, and thus the world will be saved. Ultimately it comes down to two opposing beliefs: To be free is to not be born in the first place and accept the world's hatred, or to be free is to be born into the world and fight back against oppressors. Zeke supports the first, and Eren supports the second. Of course, Eren comes out on top, and his plan to claim his freedom by murdering the planet and taking their freedom is initiated. There are many metaphors of freedom in this part, such as Ymir being a slave representing her lack of freedom, how in the paths Ymir chains Eren to the ground erasing his freedom to move and give orders, and the still ever-present shots of birds. Furthermore, the theme of hatred is explored very well in this part. Essentially, though once enemies, the people of the alliance have learned to overcome their hatred for each other by talking things through around the campfire. Furthermore, Eren’s new titan form can be looked at as the personification of hatred itself, with a face looking very much like a typical devil, the root of all evil. It can be argued that through the world's hatred towards Eldians, they brought the ultimate form of hatred upon themselves: A merciless, seemingly unstoppable monster. Essentially, hatred is bad and leads to bad things. Also, the idea of ‘escaping the forest’ is a wonderful metaphor for how people should avoid conflict and instead treat people with respect (something that a vocal minority of Attack on Titan fans on the internet are incapable of). The idea that the world is one big forest full of war and hatred, and at the very least we need to keep the children out of it or else war will just continue forever, is a great message and metaphor for our world. Though Attack on Titan is fantasy, it’s great how many of its messages can be applied to our world today, without getting in the way of the main story or becoming too political. Themes are an important aspect of storytelling, and the more unique or complex the themes, the better. Attack on Titan has always been heavy on themes and has found unique ways to explore them. I've always loved how the show uses birds to represent freedom, and the survey corps symbol is the wings of a bird. The scouts even fly around, making the comparison even more obvious. Many shows don’t bother with complex themes, and shows such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer are prime examples of this. They are good stories, however, they fail to say anything beyond ‘family is important’ or ‘don’t give up’, for example. A lot of people don’t care about things like this in their stories, but stuff like this is very important to me. I make sure to decide on my themes before I begin writing my stories and ensure I have something meaningful to say while avoiding taking political stances. Attack on Titan does the same. Pacing and Structure: Season 4 Part 2’s pacing is rough. Episode 1 is paced fine in my opinion, but in episode 2 the long recap is a bit much and reminds me very much of season 1’s recaps (yawn). Episodes 3-6 are well-paced in my opinion, but I feel that 7, 8 and 9 are on the slow side and when writing the script, additional anime original scenes should have been added to pad out the episode, like what was done with the Trost arc in season 1 which worked out well. The rest of the pacing is fine, however, in terms of structure, I would have personally put the beginning of episode 12 where the scouts are shown exploring Marley around episode 6 instead. This is how it was in the manga, and helps to give more reason for why the scouts would want to stop Eren. Otherwise, there are no other complaints. Visual Quality: In terms of animation, this part is stellar. It has very impressive scenes such as when time has stopped after Eren has his head shot off and the camera moves through the 3D environments, and also when the rumbling was activated and MAPPA displayed some great sakuga. The action was consistently very high in this part and the CG felt much better integrated, with much more 2D titan shifters that also looked great. Much more high-quality 3DMG action was implemented that MAPPA just didn’t have time for in part 1, and overall everything is of high quality. There are many great effects, however, the animation does take a dip in certain episodes. Episodes 8 and 9 can’t hold a candle to any that came before it in my opinion, with many janky shots, especially in the dreaded pie scene (not to mention a completely static background, where everyone behind them is frozen in place for some reason). Episode 9 features a very dull storyboard, in my opinion, however, the use of colours was great, just as in all of the other episodes. In terms of ranking the seasons of visual quality, my list goes as follows: 1) Season 2 (Perfectly on model characters, plenty of detail, stunning action) 2) Season 1 (Best and most consistent ODM scenes in the series, with impeccable direction) 3/4) Season 4 part 2 (Great direction, mostly on model characters, blend of great and terrible creative decisions) 3/4) Season 3 part 1 (Impressive ODM action, perfect direction, very high-quality overall) 5) Season 3 part 2 (Levi vs beast titan. Enough said) 6) Season 4 part 1 (Over-reliance on 3D, rushed production, off-model characters, but still looks great at times) Audial Quality: The music is yet again very good, but nothing compared to what Hiroyuki Sawano gave us in seasons 1-3. We do get the occasional banger such as ‘Footsteps of Doom’ and the remix of ‘Fall of Marley’ but overall is not the best in terms of new music. Still much better than most other TV shows can give us. Here's my seasonal ranking: 1) Season 1 (Nearly every track is a masterpiece) 2) Season 3 part 2 (I know I’m biased but I just love the season 3 part 2 soundtrack, ‘T-KT’ is amazing) 3) Season 2 (‘YOUSEEBIGGIRL/T;T’, ‘Beast Titan’, ‘Barricades’. So many bangers) 4) Season 3 part 1 (‘K2’, ‘Barricestra’, ‘OSK’, *chefs kiss*) 5) Season 4 part 1 (‘Ashes on the Fire’, and ‘The Other Side of the Sea’ are AMAZING) 6) Season 4 part 2 (‘Footsteps of Doom’. Pretty much it) How to improve these twelve episodes in 3 easy steps: 1) Either fewer characters or increase the episode count to allow more time for meaningful character development. This could fix Connie’s awkward arc, as well as be used to develop weaker characters such as Pieck. 2) Devote more time to the alliance forming episodes to establish clearer motives for the characters while making the joining of characters make more sense and feel less rushed and jumbled. Add extra scenes. 3) Correct more of the frames. Attack on Titan still has more off-model drawings than other MAPPA anime but is greatly improved from Season 4 Part 1. Also, perhaps a more interesting soundtrack would help this season compare to previous ones. Kohta Yamamoto is amazing, but Hiroyuki Sawano is on an entirely different level. Conclusion: Well, there you go. My honest and hopefully mostly objective views on Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2. As much as I love this show and these twelve episodes in general, I can’t honestly say it's perfect because it's not. I think there are just too many characters at this point for the show to be trying to accomplish this much in such a short time. I remember when this portion of the manga was being released monthly, and I hoped that for the anime they would extend some of the alliance forming chapters to make it more coherent, but they did not. That doesn’t change the fact that the majority of these episodes here are extremely good and incredibly exciting to watch. Some characters unfortunately do feel sidelined by the plot, while others get more attention than you would expect (which on its own is a good thing). Eren is still a masterclass in character writing and the best thing about this season. Animation is much better this time around, however, this cour of episodes is, unfortunately, the weakest in terms of soundtrack. Regardless, Attack on Titan is still good, very good, actually it's amazing. If you read all of this, then thank you. I hope I made at least some sense. Grade: A (I really wanted to give it an A+) Score: 89/100 (Rounds to 9/10)
As powerful and engaging as Attack on Titan can be, it felt more like a rollercoaster that afterwards was just fun with nothing of value gained or to remember. MAPPA really couldn't do it. The CGI is laughably stiff and rigid. It stands out on the lazily copy pasted titans that look like giant plastic toys. I almost want to grab one from out of my screen and throw it at Isayama. What this season could do was ruin the characters many of us have grown up with. Levi has been reduced to a background character. How could they treat the most popular character in the series like that? That's bad character management. It's one thing to take a character out when the rest of the cast is entertaining enough to keep the series going, and another to annoyingly have him hang around in the background throwing one liners. Mikasa is this unstoppable force with full cheat codes on. It's clear what she can be capable of, but bizarre how no one can shoot her or stop her considering how great of a force she goes up against at times. Her character has been reduced to a confused child with an ugly character design, unlike much earlier in the series. It wouldn't be until the last episode of this series that she looked improved, but it doesn't count considering when its happening. I was never a fan of Gabi in how unlikeable she was from the start. Her forced insertion into the plot and key moments feels like the author is desperate to make her relevant. She's always there at the right time and never fails what seems like impossible tasks for her. It's amusing to see how hated her character is, and what the people who defend her say. It's not that Gabi can't be liked, but rather that I personally just find as one of the worst characters in anime for those reasons. She is part of the reason the show really fell off for me. Though the rumbling was supposed to start this season, they really did all they could to just tease it nearly the entire time. As a result, Eren was often absent. The last episode was really a desperate attempt to make up for a lot of what wasn't there the entire season. Animation wise, besides the awful CGI titans, it as clear as black and white where they tried to animate and where they didn't. Floch's moment is a clear example where he was animated beautifully, but his men in the background looked like artificial clay men with twisted limbs because there was no effort there. Everyone also can't forget the forest episode where the animation fell out the window. The viewers were confused with the constant slideshows of branches. Just about the only parts of this season that prevented me from scoring it any lower are the soundtrack and Pieck. Pieck is a very amusing character in how her personality has been affected by the cart titan. I always enjoyed her cunning moves during critical moments, and intelligence in tactics, as she secured herself as one of the most important characters in the series. For the most part, this continued the problems of the previous season. I have no idea what happens next, as I didn't read this far into the manga, but it sounds almost ridiculous there is yet another "final season" coming. Considering how universally hated the ending to this is, only God knows the chaos that will happen.
__EDIT:__ If you're interested in a more detailed opinion of mine regarding some themes/aspects of this season, you can also check out [this video critiquing this season](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGtAzwCyAS0) which I responded to. Luckily my comment is easy to find because it's pinned :) Watch the video first though, my comment is a response to it. To start off, this review is written by a manga reader who loves the source material. So as an anime-only, there may be points you disagree with simply because we had a different set of expectations going into this season. And my focus in this review will be mostly on how it performed as an adaptation. I will say however that it was difficult for me to rate the season – or, to be more specific, really determine how to feel about it. __SPOILER ALERT. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK__ When it comes to plot and characters, of course, there is a lot this season has to offer. We have reached the endgame of the story by now, and it’s nice to see that anime-onlies are shitting their pants in a similar way we manga readers did. Luckily the team MAPPA assembled was also very faithful with the source material with adapting one chapter per episode. As an adaption however, I wish sometimes they would’ve taken more extra steps than just being faithful to the source material – Especially when they proved multiple times that they have the necessary talents to make this anime into something very special. I think everyone knows which episodes I’m talking about when I want to mention the strong points of this season. Episode 3 literally gave me goosebumps all over my body with its amazing direction choices, it really solidified my opinion that [Teruyuki Omine](https://anilist.co/staff/144647/Oomine-Teruyuki) truly is the ace among the episode directors who worked on AoT S4. I loved the slow motion when Zeke screamed with the music slowly creeping in leading to a big 3D shot encompassing the entirety of the shiganshina district. I loved how the build-up from Eren running to Zeke to getting shot by Gabi is just __perfect__. They also did a fantastic job with Paths and the memory shards, [ Hayashi](https://anilist.co/staff/115016/Hayashi-Yuuichirou) showed again his capabilities as director by choosing to film a real eye and adding composite layers on top of it. The other episode Omine directed was episode 10, which wasn’t as spectacular as the first episode he worked on but a highlight nonetheless with displaying Connie’s struggle very well. The last episodes in general are a highlight. Episode 11 was a pure sakuga-fest, with [Q Kawa](https://anilist.co/staff/160400/Qiu-Jiahe), [Malcolm](https://anilist.co/staff/267651/rocketboiart) and [Takashi Kojima](https://anilist.co/staff/119807/Kojima-Takashi) joining in to give us non-stop incredible 2D animation. I still can’t believe that we got to see amazing animation like this in a S4 episode. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/b581c8845f91a0cd29da89b523993b32.mp4) ([Takashi Kojima](https://anilist.co/staff/119807/Kojima-Takashi)) webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/3c1b8dd6b7ac3addaac87ce28764a5fb.mp4) ([Q Kawa](https://anilist.co/staff/160400/Qiu-Jiahe)) And episode 12… was so good that I had to rewrite my review which I wrote beforehand after episode 11. The music and the arrangement of the scenes gave me chills, combining chapter 123 and 130 into one episode was a wonderful choice. While mentioning Kojima we of course can’t forget the OP, which he directed, storyboarded and animated by himself. The song SiM made for this season also fits so damn well and might be my favourite AoT OP. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/9292f783667273d563a4dd8365f57e87.mp4) The fact that we saw what the staff can do makes it even sadder however because it shows that it could’ve been much, much more. While episode 3 surpassed the manga in any possible way, it was only the build-up to episode 4 which was, if we look past the phenomenal Grisha breakdown, frankly a disappointment. The storyboard was plain, sometimes weird even with angles chosen in for example the scarf scene. Art and shading despite the little animation was simple as well, looking worse than the post-ed scene in episode 11. While I understand that working on action-heavy episodes early on was a logical choice for them, AoT is more of a plot-driven story. The focus should’ve been on episode 4 and 5 (yes, 5 was also partly a disappointment). It’s not the best example, but it sort of feels like the Heaven’s Feel movies where Ufotable turned random fights in the visual novel into nutty spectacles while neglecting the actual important stuff (yes I’m exaggerating a bit, but it still fits). webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/71c0ec0bf29f4f1d61cb78dfc6e8037d.mp4) _Here the most outstanding cut in ep 4 done by [Shinya Takahashi](https://anilist.co/staff/105544/Takahashi-Shinya)_ I wouldn’t even call it bad in that sense, but more of that it’s not worth watching over the manga, except a few episodes. I’m not demanding for every episode to be one the same level as episode 3, but the inconsistency in quality made it frankly frustrating to watch at times. There is a lot to nit-pick, from drawings looking off-model or the horrible red composite for the rumbling after episode 5, but I leave it at that. The problem simply is that I wanted AoT to be the anime of the decade, and because of tight schedule and deadlines the anime turned out to be much poorer than the staff is capable of in healthy circumstances. (Yes, the schedule for this anime is tight. You can see that by simply looking by the high number of CADs (Chief Animation Director) and Ads (Animation Director) each episode, episode credits apparently have an even higher amount than what the credits on the website suggest. Don’t let the bigger timeframe compared to part 1 fool you that they had more than enough time for this season; It was actually the opposite.) As a side note, did I also mention how the anime stripped Eren from any sort of human emotion? They went a bit too hard with the emo persona, if you ask me. [Here](https://anilist.co/activity/349407004) are more comparison pics between anime and manga. _(The pics are not from me, I reposted from twitter because people on twitter love to spoil)_ img400(https://i.imgur.com/K0Dogwu.png) ______ __To conclude:__ This season had tons of ups and downs, and I certainly enjoyed myself as much as I felt simply bummed out by how painfully average it was an adaptation. Maybe it was a mistake to go into this expecting to be able to safely rate it as 10/10, my expectations clearly messed with my experience. Nonetheless I’m looking forward to the resolution of the anime in 2023, regardless whether it will be a good or bad adaptation, because I’m just happy to see this masterpiece of a manga receive a full adaptation. __Thank you [Isayama](https://anilist.co/staff/106705/Isayama-Hajime) for creating AoT, thank you [ Hayashi](https://anilist.co/staff/115016/Hayashi-Yuuichirou) trying to make the anime the best version of AoT it can be under the current circumstances.__ img500(https://media.giphy.com/media/Diym3aZO1dHzO/giphy.gif)
It’s hard to believe Attack on Titan is almost over. I still remember all the way back in 2013, when one of my brother’s friends showed me the first episode of this weird thing called an “anime.” I was completely unfamiliar with the medium back then, unless you count dubbed Pokemon and Ghibli movies, and I had no idea what to make of something so radically different from the stuff I was used to in Western media. But even though I didn’t actually watch AOT until many years later, that first episode lingered in my mind. The imagery, the music, the electrifying visual storytelling, the vision of a dark fantasy world unlike anything I’d seen before, the sheer majestic brutality of Eren’s mom being eaten... even back then, I could tell there was something special about this show. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but remained like a whisper at the back of my mind. _You’ll return to me eventually,_ it seemed to say. _It’s only a matter of time._ Flash forward almost a decade later. I’ve been watching anime regularly for over four years. I’ve discovered masterpieces that have blown me away, stories that have changed the way I look at media, experiences that have made my life infinitely richer. I have fallen in love with an artistic medium capable of truly dizzying heights, explored it from every conceivable angle, and still find new things to delight me. Anime is special to me, and I could not be more thankful for the journey it’s taken me on. And almost ten years since that first episode creeped into my mind... I am still enthralled by Attack on Titan. It has been a long decade for Hajime Isayama’s magnum opus. In the time since its first episode exploded into the public consciousness, Attack on Titan has grown so much that it barely resembles the beast it began as. Beloved characters have died, or changed so much that the people they once were are now little more than distant memories. The world we thought we understood has revealed itself to be far more bitter and cruel than we realized. Countless times, our understanding of even what this show _was_ has been flipped on its head or smashed into dust. And the culture of anime itself has shifted just as drastically, ballooning to sizes that previous generations of fans must have thought impossible. Anime today is no longer a niche hobby for weird nerds: it’s one of the single grandest forces in the global market, with franchises and characters and iconography as recognizable as anything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And Attack on Titan, time and time again, has stood at the vanguard of that change. It’s the single most popular entry on both MAL and Anilist, a property so mainstream that it’s talked about in the same breath as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. Anime fandom’s explosive growth and mainstreaming can be explained in large part by how fucking popular this show has been. It created a space for anime to thrive in the west like nothing else, and it’s maintained the boundary-smashing power even through all its many jaw-dropping evolutions. There has never been a show like Attack on Titan, and there likely won’t be again for a very long time. And in just one year, marking basically an exact decade since its first episode aired... it will finally be over. It’s hard to think of an anime landscape without Attack on Titan. Ever since I’ve known about anime had a concept, this show has stood at its forefront. Love it, hate it, don’t care about it, no one can deny how much this show has defined anime for so long. But in just one short year, we will enter a world where we no longer have more Attack on Titan to look forward to. No more dizzying ODM-gear action scenes. No more utterly vicious gore and suffering. No more haunting portrayals of the horrors of war, both physical and psychological. No more gut-wrenching moral dilemmas that force us to choose the better of two terrible options. No more jaw-dropping twists to completely reshape our understanding of the story. No more Levi and Mikasa being the world’s biggest badasses. No more Armin thinking his way out of a desperate situation. No more Zeke. No more Conny. No more Jean. No more Hange. No more Eren Yeager. Pretty soon, all that Attack on Titan will ever be... will be. And we’ll have no choice but to be okay with that. If it seems like I’m front-loading this review with tons of setup, well, that’s because I am. I’ve never been good at editing my long, sprawling streams of thought even at the best of times. But the reason I’m spending so long talking about Attack on Titan without, well, talking about Attack on Titan, is to help you understand the context I bring with me into this “final” season (By which I mean the first two parts of the now three-part “final” season.Pro tip: don’t label something the “final” of anything unless you’re actually sure it’s the last entry.) I cannot simply approach this show as I do most other anime, because Attack on Titan is _not_ most other anime. It carries the weight of an entire generation on its back, so many memories and expectations and fans new and old. This show has _presence._ It has a _legacy._ And as of this final season? Well, as of this final season, Attack on Titan has officially become legend. There’s a lot of reasons why, but most of them come back to the absolutely brilliant basement twist that capped off season 3, and how its revelations reverberate throughout the story from then on. When you look at Attack on Titan on a grand scale, one of the most impressive things about it is how well it grew from a seemingly simple tale of killing big monsters to a difficult, complex world where heroes and monsters are often just a matter of perspective. With each new layer of mystery unraveled, it’s become harder and harder to truly see anyone as wholly doing the right thing. And the reveal of Marley and Eldia, and everything that comes with it, is the moment where that thorny complexity gives way to full-on deconstructive fury. It turns out, these titans we were initially told to think of as mindless killing machines are actually victims of an explicitly Holocaust-esque ethnic genocide, and all this time we’ve been rooting for the protagonists to slaughter their oppressed kinsmen because both we and them bought into in-universe propaganda perpetuated by this world’s version of the Nazis. _Gotcha._ It is, without question, one of the cruelest moments in any piece of media I’ve ever experienced. Forget just twisting the knife, this reveal takes _the initial premise of Attack on Titan itself_ and punishes us for believing it. Suddenly, the rah-rah-kill-all-the-big-things edgy action spree we thought we were signing up for reveals itself to be a _condemnation_ of that kind of mindless violence. Suddenly, we’re forced to confront the raw brutality of killing for killing’s sake. Suddenly, we’re forced to take a cold, hard look at the way that society dehumanizes those it believes shouldn’t exist, how rhetoric and media alike can reinforce the idea that some people just deserve to die because of who they are. In this one moment, Attack on Titan reveals that the true, ultimate evil our protagonists must overcome is, well, _itself._ Or rather, the show it was pretending to be. From now on, Eren and his friends aren’t fighting a mindless horde of monsters that deserve to be slaughtered; now, they’re fighting the forces that made them believe that mindless horde existed in the first place. And the final season takes that subversion and runs with it. After a four-year timeskip, we kick things off not with our usual band of titan-hunting scouts, but with the people of Marley, the country that oppresses their people. We see how propaganda warps and twists the ordinary people of this country. We see how it molds eager children like Gabi into bigoted zealots willing to slaughter those they believe to be devils for the glory of their motherland. We see how the oppressed Eldians fall prey to its manipulations as well, cursing their bretherin on the far-off island of Paradis for supposedly carrying the sins of all their race. We see how no one, not even reluctant soldiers like Falco, is unaffected by the lies their country has fed them all their lives. And, most importantly of all, we see how those delusions hurt Marley as well, how these ordinary people’s lives are twisted into nightmares of violence and viciousness at the behest of leaders who will never have to suffer the same horrors. Marley the political regime may be monstrous, but Marley the nation is made up of people. People who, just like the people of Paradis, just like us in the audience, were made to believe lies that turn them against their fellow man, made to see them as nothing more than monsters in need of extermination. In short, what we quickly come to understand is that the world of Attack on Titan is a world where there is to true villain to face. Yet, the Marleyan government is certainly corrupt and fascist, but even if they were overthrown in a flash, the hatred that years of war and propaganda have fostered in its people will remain. You can’t slaughter bigotry with ODM gear, you can’t shoot bloodlust in the head, and there are no arch-villains you can take down to end the pain of centuries of atrocities. The enemy is no single person, or even one society: it’s the concept of hatred itself, in all the cancerous, intimate ways it manifests in the human heart and soul. It’s hatred borne from lies, and the atrocities those lies perpetuate throughout the ages. A kills B, B’s friends kill A in vengeance, A’s friends retaliate in turn, and on and on the blood spills from generation to generation until no one even remembers what they were fighting for in the first place. All that remains is the sins themselves, endlessly perpetuating until, someone, anyone, finds the courage to stand up and say _enough._ But it’s easy enough to say that the cycle of vengeance must stop. It’s much harder to be the one to stop it when it’s all you’ve ever known. And over the course of Attack on Titan season 4 (as I’ll henceforth call it), we see how no one is safe from the endless tides of violence. Characters we’ve come to love and trust commit horrific acts in retaliation for the pain they’ve suffered. Characters who perform detestable deeds reveal themselves to be sympathetic, even noble in their aims. Good intentions give way to cruel outcomes, hard choices only make the rivers of blood run blacker, and everyone’s hands end up stained by evil. I can’t remember the last time I watched a show that was so willing to let its characters- characters that a fanbase has spent years falling in love with- do such terrible things and make such impossible choices. Whoever your waifu or husbando is, they are now a war criminal with sins on their conscience that may never be able to wash clean. Nowhere is this better portrayed than Gabi, one of AOT’s best characters of all time. Gabi is a child who fully buys into her country’s lies, and she does some truly heinous things in support of those lies. But it’s clear that in her mind, she’s every bit the unquestionable hero we once saw Eren and his friends as. The things she does to hurt the people we care about are no different than many of the things they did, atrocities committed unknowingly thanks to the blinders placed over their eyes. Had this show begun in Marley, and only showed us their perspective? We would’ve hailed Gabi as a hero, and cursed the island devils just as hard as she does. Because we are all victims of the sins we never knew existed; all that’s changed now is that which side is doing the killing. Gabi is no more a monster than the people she kills; she’s just a child who was never given a chance to see the world beyond the lies she was fed. But once she’s finally ripped from her comfort zone and forced to confront the truth of what’s going on and what she’s become? Then her slow, agonizing crawl back to humanity becomes the beating heart not just of this season, but arguably of the entire show. Gabi, in all her painful, unforgivable mistakes, represents the hope that when the dust finally settles and the killing is finally over, the children we leave behind can forge a better path than the one we laid for them. She is the symbol of the better future that, against all odds, we _must_ believe is still possible. Because what is there left to fight for, without hope? Well, without hope, I imagine you’d end up a bit like Eren Yeager. I’ve always had a deep, abiding love for Eren. Even back in earlier seasons when most people dismissed him as a shouty idiot, I saw the hidden depths beneath his raw, aching surface that clawed their way further into the light the longer the show went on. But even I wasn’t prepared for how fully season 4 would commit to letting Eren become the person he was always destined to be. Here, the relentless, furious boy who promised to slaughter everyone who stood between him and freedom has grown into a man with the power to make that dream come true and the perspective to understand just how much blood it’s going to leave on his hands. But unlike his friends, who still desperately cling to any possibility they can grasp in the thick mud of despair, he no longer sees any way forward but to plunge headfirst into hell. Let the world burn to ash and humanity curse his name; Eren Yeager will seize his freedom. And just as he vowed all those years ago when he watched his mother die in front of him, there is nothing, nothing, _nothing_ that will stand in his way. This is always who Eren has been. This willingness to stop at nothing, no matter how many people must suffer for it, has been the darkness swirling within him since the beginning. All that’s changed now is the scale upon which he can pursue that goal... and the understanding of everything he must destroy in order to achieve it. At once tragic and terrifying, unforgivable and understandable, the embodiment of all the world’s hatred and in direct opposition to it, Eren Yeager has grown into one of my favorite anime characters of all time. Call him a fallen hero, a sympathetic villain, an irredeemable monster, or however you see fit to judge him; the weight of his choices speaks for itself. Never before in anime has a protagonist so perfectly switched places to become a main antagonist without ever really changing at all. And never before has a character left me so broken with every choice they make, eternally torn between condemning him and pitying him for the path he’s chosen. Perhaps in a better world, a kinder world, things may have never come to this. But they have, and now we have no choice but to face that agony head-on before it decides the world’s fate for us. Because the end is coming. Whether we’re ready for it or not, the end of Eren’s journey- and the end of Attack on Titan- will arrive soon. Frankly, I have no idea what to expect; with how desperate the situation has gotten, there’s no telling how things will finally shake out. And I doubt any prediction I make would even come close. What I do know is this: ever since I started watching Attack on Titan, I feel like I’ve been waiting with baited breath for the moment it all finally falls apart. This roller-coaster ride of a show has been so breakneck at points, so overwhelming and ferocious, that it feels like it can’t possibly survive much longer. Sooner or later, some screw is gonna come lose and the whole thing is gonna crash and burn in a spectacular dumpster fire. Even now, with manga fans complaining to everyone in earshot that the manga ending is the worst thing to happen to humanity since Hitler, part of me still is still anticipating disaster. But here’s something else I know: every single time I’ve come back to Attack on Titan, those fears have been proven wrong. I thought there was no way season 2 would be able to recapture the shock-and-awe brilliance of the first season after a four-year gap. Instead, I was given a smarter, more tightly focused story that truly drove home the complexity and weight this series was capable of. I thought season 3 would suffer from switching focus to fighting humans. Instead, the political revolution arc delivered some of the most jaw-dropping action setpieces yet. I thought there was no way the basement reveal would live up to all the hype. Instead, the reveal catapulted the story into a level of brilliance I didn’t even realize was possible. I thought that with the final season switching studios and heading into completely uncharted territory, it couldn’t possibly follow up on the promise of that twist. Instead, I was plunged headfirst into the best, most gripping material of the entire series. So you know what? Fuck it. I’m done being scared of Attack on Titan going off the rails. I’m done anticipating disaster when this show has proven itself to me time and time again. Every time I doubt AOT’s ability to last, it comes back stronger and surer than ever before. And frankly, judging by the kinds of things the salty manga fans are complaining about (”Waaaaah too much comedy! Waaaaah not enough grimdark! Waaaaaaaah the show isn’t praising Eren for the terrible things he’s trying to do!”), I’m starting to doubt I can trust their word on the matter. I don’t know how Attack on Titan will end, but at this point, I trust Isayama to land this plane just as explosively and beautifully as he began it. What other choice could I make, after everything this show has given me? In just one more year, marking a full decade since it began, Attack on Titan will end. It leaves behind it one of the grandest legacies in modern fiction, anime or otherwise. It revolutionized a medium, it mainstreamed a culture, it maintained success through years of constant evolution. And to this day, it remains, on its own merits, one of the most astonishing works of art to ever come out of anime. It’s an epic tale of war and violence, pain and forgiveness, cycles of vengeance and children lost in the woods. a vision of the horrors of hatred so raw it’s almost suffocating. It’s an action spectacle second to none and a deep, powerful drama about the people behind that spectacle. It’s an uncompromising journey through the most unforgiving parts of humanity, and yet it never fails to be entertaining- and even hopeful- in pursuit of those painful truths. It’s a triumph the likes of which we almost never see, and likely never will again for many years to come. And I cannot wait to see how the curtain finally falls.
Attack On Titan is the most influential anime in the world right now and is definitely one of the most talked about things to have come from Japan in recent years. Fans spend a huge portion of their time thinking about it and the case for haters is even worse since Isayama's work lives rent free in their minds eventho they hate it. It is one of the few shows in my opinion that has successfully divided its fanbase and created controversy without killing its quality, something which is insanely hard to do. So lets get started shall we? Art - 10/10 Its gritty and complements the story's current situations The lines and shading on faces may bother some people but they're necessary to show us the stress the characters are going through Sound - 10/10 The OST, composed by Sawano and Yamamoto are GOATED AF, the voice acting by Yuki Kaji and everyone else is phenomenal. Nothing more to say here. Enjoyment - 9/10 Its a real shame that I got spoiled to the bone this time so I didnt enjoy as much as I would've liked to but I still found myself cheering and and getting hyped a lot over many of the episodes, especially at the parts I didnt know about beforehand Characters - 10/10 This season of AoT has no shortage of complex and well written characters. They all get their moments in this series and we see them make tough calls, struggle against or succumb to their demons and of course, against and to each other. All of these guys feel real and their actions and choices all carry weight within the greater context of the story. We have Floch, a nationalist who's hell bent on protecting his nation, and even though he's an extremist who chose the easiest solution at the expense of omnicide, his extremism is natural and realistic given his circumstances. At the opposite end of the spectrum we have Jean. He's someone who's tempted with the same easy solution that Floch has sold his soul to and dreams of living a life of comfort one day. He tries look away and focus on his own life, but he struggles to do so and his conscience weighs on him..... he then comes to the realization that he cannot live a comfortable life if its built on the corpses of billions of human beings who did not need to die . We have Zeke, whose bad childhood has led him to center his entire life around denying his father's ideology, going as far as to believe that the greatest salvation was in not being born at all. He also projects these feelings onto his brother, thinking that he is the same as him, which undoubtedly makes him feel less lonely in a world where he has constantly lived wearing a mask . He also has this savior complex and feels that he has to save everyone and justifies his sins with the end goal of preventing Eldians from being born in a world that despises them, ridding the world of the race everyone is afraid of and giving peaceful deaths to the eldian race. Whether people want that kind of "saving" though is something he never considers, as he seeks to mold the world according to his personal philosophy, something that was itself shaped and validated by his childhood . In the end we see that despite a lifetime spent denouncing his father, he could never truly get rid of the desire to be loved by him Then of course we have Eren. He's honestly a bit of an odd one in the world of anime when it comes to protagonists. A victim and an oppressor, a man who wishes for freedom above all else, and yet does not hesitate taking the freedom of the billions who did not wrong him. Someone who understands the value of life and yet takes it without hesitation, who knows the pain of losing loved ones and yet inflicts the same to others. He is saddened by the crimes he's about to commit and yet he says that it was all he ever wanted. Everything he does, he does out of his free will and yet because he was born this way from the start, one could say that it was all destined to be this way from the beginning. As the conversation with Reiner proves, he wants to believe that he's doing it all to "save his world" just as he asserts Reiner did, and yet when Reiner breaks down and confesses that he acted selfishly due to his desire for recognition, Eren confesses he too is making a selfish choice. Eren Jaeger is unique indeed, one whom very few people will actually come to understand, both within this show and without. "Eren Jaeger" is a fitting name for this self contradictory monster, this child of evil. After all, he is a "saint" who will selflessly protect those he holds dear and a ruthless "hunter" who will murder all who stand in his way. Story (10/10)- The story of this has never been better. It is a constant ride of surprises and thrill and has depth that most mainstream shows hardly ever approach. It tackles discrimination in a very realistic way and takes us through the viewpoints of everyone involved in it. From victims who have been taught to hate themselves, to perpetrators who can be seen interacting with people normally, amiably and even showing kindness until they discover they're from a certain background. It goes beyond the narrative of victims vs oppressors and aggressors vs defenders and takes a very nuanced take. In truth, the oppressors arent monsters but are only people who have been influenced by certain stereotypes and narrations of history. They are people who have been lied to by others who had also been lied to and once they begin to interact with people they once called "devils" we see that those views shift entirely. Hate is also shown as a multifaceted issue. It does not grow out of thin air but is actually a product of a mixture of propaganda, history and differing perspectives and beliefs. There is also no homogeneity in hatred. Some people hate all Eldians, others hate the Paradis ones more and treat the ones in their neighborhoods with disdain. Others go as far as to sympathize and pity the eldians amongst themselves but hate the ones from Eldia. However Victims are often not innocent as well. A victim might descend into doing the same things he hates his oppressor for doing to him. oftentimes a victim may identify people, comprised of mostly innocents, as the "oppressor" even though they had no knowledge of or decision making capacity in the oppression that was being done by people representing them. They were simply taught to hate and since they never had any exposure to anything other then that, could one really blame them for their racism? Thus a victim switches roles with his oppressor and kills innocents for the fault of others despite themselves being subjected to the same unreasonable cruelty. Attack On Titan manages to encapsulate all that, , while delivering its final verdict "We are the same" And thats perfectly true. People everywhere are the same - some are truly good, most are just tying to live and would be satisfied with just being happy along with their loved ones, while a minority are despicable. Aside from this, history has shown that all people have the same propensity for violence and discrimination. The Oppressed and the oppressor are segregated by only victory and loss and this story could well have been one about "heroic" Marleyans fighting for freedom from their tyrannical Eldian overlords if only Karl Fritz had not retreated behind walls. Aside from that it also gives us complex moral dilemmas. Killing the world for crimes most people have not committed is wrong, but its understandable that people with extreme paranoia of the unknown would resort to such extreme tactics to save themselves, even if its not the only way to do things. In such scenario's its not only natural to want to take the easy way and return to how life used to be, without having to worry about anyone from the outside Likewise, people who have come to an understanding about "the other side" are likely to stand against any attempt they find excessive, extreme and unjust , especially if they believe that there are other solutions to the problem that involve a bloodbath of a much lesser scale. The two sides have their points and while some in the fanbase would argue that "side A are a bunch of traitors and idiots" while others say "side B are fascist assholes", both bunches of viewers are simply proving the point the show is trying to make - That people will always disagree with each other on complex things and would refuse to to look at things from a viewpoint in contradiction to their own. People might be 90 percent identical and yet still find cause to kill one another cover that 10 percent difference. Which is my key take away from this show - Killing does not solve conflict, it only reduces the number of people capable of fighting. The only true solution is to talk and yet people will hardly ever solve their differences that way. Hence conflict can only be ended by violence. However, violence and distrust remain as they are inalienable to human nature, and that ensures that any end to conflict is temporary and every peace treaty is a just a ceasefire waiting to be broken Overall - 9.75, rounded off to 10 What Attack On Titan's story does is simple. In a fantasy setting, it gives us a near perfect mirror of the real world conflict, which, I believe is the best thing any fictional war story can do
I'll try to keep this brief for the most part; I'm sure most of what I am saying has been said before, anyways. This review will not be all encompassing of my thoughts, mostly just covering what is at the top of my mind after finishing the final episode. I have always had problems with Attack on Titan's criminal under-utilization of its characters and emphasis on shock value over substance to trick viewers into thinking they are witnessing the most shocking and daring anime the world has ever seen. But ever since the the Final Season Part 1, the storytelling and overall plot has taken a big step in all the wrong directions. What was once a deeply complex mystery about the origins of the world with elements of horror and a display of the realness of death and humanity has turned into a bland story and a dangerously dumbed down ethnic politics charade. I could sit here and talk about the animation quality or the CGI titans all day, but I think the true problems of Attack on Titan lie in its subject matter. Let me be clear, by making this review, I am not saying that it is impossible to cover things like ethnicity and genocide in media; Code Geass is in my top 3 favorite anime of all time and that show is literally completely about ethnic politics and colonization. But you have to be really careful. Making the fan-favorite main character of your anime a mascot for mass-genocide and having the main plot points of your anime being ethnic cleansing and race wars is... well, it's not the direction I would have gone with this story. I think that what Attack on Titan has done at this point is almost dangerous, to a certain point. Yes, the good guys are on their way to go take down Eren, but I don't think you can really take back the damage that you have done by making him, the MAIN PROTAGONIST, the poster boy for wiping out all of humanity in a genocidal rampage. The best part of this season was Eren's huge moment in the paths, convincing his father Grisha to consume the Founding Titan and essentially set Eren's plan into motion. Or, at least it's the best part of the season if you don't think about it for more than 5 seconds... the Attack Titan having the ability to basically transcend time sure is a convenient plot device for Eren at that moment, and sure, it might've been planned back at the end of the third season, but that doesn't make me hate it any less. Introducing a time travel ability was the second-last thing Isayama should've had on his list of things to include in this story, right above ethnic politics. It straight up does not make sense. If Eren is able to see not only into the past, but also into the future, does that not make the entirety of the series irrelevant? Are the events of the rest of the series then pre-determined? Does that not completely remove any stakes for Eren and every other character? Can the future be changed? It makes my head spin. Maybe I'm missing something? (Manga spoiler)~! It's not like it matters anyways; it's never really brought up again in the manga LOL!~ Aside from the problems I have with that aspect of the anime, I once again take issue with the characters and the ways in which they are used. Having a cast as large and with as many moving parts as AoT's comes with obvious utilization issues; not everybody is going to get their appropriate time to shine, and you have to plan around that. This season is particularly bad in this sense, and it's honestly a head scratcher. Why in the world do Yelena, Floch, and Magath (as well as others whom I forget) get as much screentime as they do? These characters are so useless, I literally despise every one of them. Why not spend time on, I don't know, your literal main characters in Armin and Mikasa who are still horribly underdeveloped and boring at this point in the story? It's baffling to me. Of course, that's not to say that everybody deserves more screentime. Eren understandably gets a ton of coverage at this point of the anime, but my god does it get tiring to hear everybody talk about him constantly. Maybe it's just because I find him to be a worse Lelouch, but I think I hate Eren. I don't want to get into that too deeply because this might end up being a billion words long if I do, but I just can't stand him. What he has become, not just in the anime, but in the fanbase, has turned into something I truly detest. I think the biggest problem I have with this part of the anime is that it has become unbearably bland. There is nothing like the magic of the first two seasons to be found in any part of the Final Season. It has become something so far removed from the mystery and intense emotional journey that Attack on Titan initially was. Instead, we now get to watch a soulless attempt at a political war drama and a frustrating display of amazing potential flushed down the drain. At least it's finally over... Wait... ~~~Oh.~~~ ~~~img350(https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/FPbgN6-XwAsJfar.jpeg?resize=732,1024)~~~ ~~~Seriously, can this shit end already?~~~
#~~~__setz's Attack On Titan Season 4 Part 2 Review__~~~ ~~~ By the time of me creating this review, Attack On Titan Season 4 Part 2 ended yesterday, on April 3rd, 2022. I waited a day to create this review so I had a bit more time to collect my thoughts on this part, as I have a good bit to say. ~~~ ___ ~~~This review contains spoilers. If you haven't watched the season yet, I highly advise you go watch it and stop reading this review. Also, this is more of a casual review as it is my opinion. You don't have to agree with it. I don't really care if you dislike the anime. This is just what I think.~~~ ___ ~~~__Introduction__ Attack On Titan Season 4 Part 2 had a lot of hype surrounding it before it came out. Everyone was excited for it and while it was airing, it was a really big deal. I would go to school and I would hear so many people talking about the new season. Same goes with both MyAnimeList and Anilist. Coming out every week, all of the AOT fans could be excited for that fresh episode every Sunday for new AOT content. Did it live up to the hype? Let's see what I think about that.~~~ ___ ~~~__ Story / Plot: 9/10__ As far as plot goes, there was its ups and its downs. The story continues off from the crazy ass cliffhanger from the last part, where Pieck declares Eren as the enemy. Eren goes in his titan form, huge fight happens, planning goes down with Onyankopon, Mikasa, etc. As the first 3 episodes go on, they try to stop Eren as Eren and the Yeagerists do their thing, where the Yeagerists were trying to go with Zeke's plan. This spans through episode 1-2. This part was pretty cool. It was a good start for what was to come. It was quite dialogue heavy in the first episode but it turned out fine. No complaints. From episodes 3-5, Eren is in a tight corner. He is then shot through the neck and his head gets decapitated. Zeke, however, grabs his head, bringing them to the paths with Ymir. They flashback Grisha Yeager's past and learn that Eren actually caused Grisha to slaughter Frieda and the other children. Eren kissing Historia's hand in season 3 was actually foreshadowing this. Then we learn the Attack Titans' special power can actually see through the memories of it's previous users. Due to this, Grisha tells Zeke to stop Eren. Then there's another flashback: Ymir's origins. Ymir ran away from her village because everyone accused her of letting a pig loose. She falls into a tree that gives her the power of the Titan. The king takes advantage of this. When she dies, her children eat her to gain the Titan powers. Eren (In the paths) then convinces Ymir to give him the power of the Rumbling. Then The Rumbling starts. This is without a doubt the greatest trio of episodes in anime history. I don't think any anime episode will top episodes 3-5 of this season. From the crazy moments in episode 3, to (in my opinion) the greatest plot twist in anime history in episode 4, to the single handedly craziest moment in anime history for episode 5. Incredible. Episode 6, the craziness dies down. There's a very awesome ODM gear moment that reminds me of how it was in Season 1. It was just a lot of really cool action. Nothing much else to say. Now I cannot really tell you wtf happened episodes 7-9. It really died down there. Annie came back and there was a weird pie scene. Connie had this stupid plan to take Falco and feed it to him to his mom? Idk it was weird. This was a part that I couldn't really grasp around my head and I enjoyed it way less than any of the other episodes. This is one of the downs of the season. Episodes 10-12 were really good. Levi's remaining squad and some people like Yelena and Onyankopon come together to stop the yeagerists. There was a lot of cool action during episode 10-11 and the yeagerists end up defeated. Episode 12 was a flashback episode that took place right after Season 3 Part 2 ended (the ocean scene.) They visited the world outside Paradis and meet a nice village. It talks a bit more of Eren's intentions as well. The final scene is another crazy ass cliffhanger where it shows The Rumbling in action. This was a nice conclusion to the season. It was mostly good but episodes 7-9 and just some wacky strange minor things that happened throughout made the score for this a 9 instead of a 10.~~~ ___ ~~~__Animation / Artstyle: 6/10__~~~ ~~~Now animation was real inconsistent. Now I do like MAPPA's artstyle way better than WIT's but my god sometimes the animation really was wack. Choppy is an understatement. CGI was fine at least besides some moments, like Reiner running towards Gabi in episode 5. The Rumbling CGI was fine. If it was shit there, this would've been a 4. A very obvious moment when animation was kinda rough was during the first half of episode one. It's noticeably off. Really off. It get's better though. But then it'll become off again. And then better. And then off again. The cycle continues. If you wanna find some specific screenshots of some wonky animation, @ChrisHacker ‘s review has some screenshots that show how strange the animation is at times (shoutout to ChrisHacker.) It's mostly with the small details though, but these small details are still noticeable. It doesn't do well on AOT's behalf. ~~~ ___ ~~~__OST: 10/10__~~~ ~~~The OST for this part was fucking sick. Genuinely. I do think that the OP and ED that we got this season are the best that AOT has ever had. I know for a fact that The Rumbling is gonna be a classic for ages. The ED was also kinda emotional with its' foreshadowing. Some other amazing tracks you have were The Fall of Paradis, Call Of Silence, the song that played when Reiner and Annie were titans on episode 10, and the song that played episode 6 during the cool ODM gear scene (couldn't find name of them.) It's all so nice to listen to and there's not a single bad song to it.~~~ ___ ~~~__Enjoyability: 10/10__~~~ ~~~Watching this season was a real treat. The hype that I (and many other people) got watching it weekly was super high. Since every episode was good, it was so exciting seeing what the anime had in store next. All the crazy moments in Attack On Titan had me on the edge of my seat and it gave me multiple emotions, from joy to sadness. Most anime fan's would really enjoy this part (it was enjoyable while it was weekly) as it is really fucking good.~~~ ___ ~~~__Conclusion__~~~ ~~~Yes, it did live up to the hype. It truly was a big time in the anime community when this was releasing and it's gonna be remembered for a long time. Is it the best anime for (technically) 2021? Hell no. Fruits Basket: The Final Season gets that. But it's a competitor. It sucks that we have to wait another whole year for the actual ending of AOT but nonetheless, the part is, in my opinion, the peak of Attack On Titan. (the fact that we have to wait another year will NOT affect the score) I did give it a 100 in my personal list but due to the rating format I have going on here, its actual score is a 90. Personal Score: 9.5/10 Overall Score: 9/10 Anyways, this is my opinion. Don't take this all too seriously. Watch it for yourself and base your own opinion off that. People have different opinions and that's fine.~~~
_WARNING: This review covers major spoilers for Attack on Titan: Final Season Parts 1 and 2 (which makes sense, considering the majority of this review covers the second half of an ongoing story). Also, I forgot that the minimum requirement for writing a review here was 2,200 characters, and not 2,200 words. So buckle up._ Whoever said that Studio MAPPA’s Attack on Titan was inferior to what we got from Studio WIT can eat their words (and eat my shorts). At the time I’m writing this review, not only are Final Season Parts 1 and 2 the exact same average rating, but their ratings surpass those of Seasons 1, 2, and 3 Part 1. And that’s just looking at the hard facts on the site. The show proper speaks for itself. Final Season has basically flipped the genre of the show on its head, and yet, it works so well with what was revealed at the end of Season 3. It may have been a complete mental whiplash at the beginning of Part 1, and I suppose it’s only fitting for Part 2 to end with some more mindbending. I watched the last episode with my brother and, I’ll be completely honest, the idea that it was a flashback never crossed my mind until they basically spelled it out for us. To be fair, they ended the penultimate episode with the gang on a boat, so starting the next episode with the gang on a similar boat, wearing completely different clothes, and adding back characters who are either dead or gravely injured seems like a strange choice from a continuity perspective. That would really be my only major gripe with Part 2, and even then, I wasn’t having a bad time even though I was thoroughly confused. I’m used to the sensation after having watched four whole seasons of this show. One thing I wasn’t used to, however, was watching the show weekly. I had watched Season 1 when it had initially aired, and I had only caught up to Final Season Part 1 in late 2021, binging Season 2 and onward like a madman. I only realized after the first episode how fortunate I was to have been able to simply move onto the next episode, especially after the insane cliffhangers. But watching it weekly only fueled my hype and made me look forward to next week so much more. Remember when Floch was just a coward and an annoyance? Now he’s been developed to be one of, if not the most hateable character in the entire show’s history. Granted, most of the development happened offscreen between Seasons 3 and 4, but it was the natural direction his character was going. And you can see these sorts of developments in every character. Armin is more confident in himself, Mikasa thinks for herself now instead of being Eren’s de facto bodyguard, and Eren is grappling with the realization that he must reject his own humanity in order to fulfill his mission. Heck, even Connie, who has been kind of a one-note character for most of the show up to Season 4, has been concocting a plan to get close to someone who has a titan power so he can feed them to his mom! And he shows his true loyalty when he is forced to make hard decisions. The character writing is so good; even though a lot of it stems from the fact that most of the main characters are viewed as traitors, they regularly have to make choices in the face of certain death, and these choices, big or small, show us something about them and further develop their character. This is the kind of thing that Attack on Titan has been doing since Season 1, and using the constant threat of their own death or the deaths of people they care about to further character development is the equivalent of playing Grand Theft Auto with cheats enabled. But it does wonders in forming lasting and compelling character arcs for nearly every character in the show. After I had watched Season 1, there was a short period of time where I found a site to read the manga, and oh my goodness it was tough. The artstyle was definitely not my thing, and the pacing was rough. I only managed to get a handful of chapters ahead of the anime before deciding to wait for the next season (and we all know how that turned out). But despite my gripes with the manga, the show is a testament to the fact that the anime only succeeds where it does because of the source material. The story is gripping in each and every episode. Even in the quieter moments, or the in-between episodes (specifically episodes 6-9), I found myself completely engrossed. It wasn’t a matter of IF something important to the plot would happen in these moments, it was a matter of WHEN. You always get the sense that something big is around the corner. Even after something huge happens, you always think, “What’s going to happen now?” I may not have been a fan of the artsyle of the manga, but the animation in the anime is top notch, as always. Since I didn’t write a review for Final Season Part 1, I’ll just say (for both parts) that the change in animation studio, and the resulting change in artstyle, works perfectly for this chapter of Attack on Titan. If anything, I consider it a little ironic that I enjoyed the look of Final Season despite the fact that the rougher lines are closer to the look of the manga than Studio WIT’s smoother style. Both styles look absolutely amazing, but I feel like a more gritty styling fits this climatic and extremely different time period in the world of the show. I guess one more small gripe I have with this part of the season is that we never really got any ‘sakuga’ moments, no stand-out-amazing animation, until the second-to-last episode. Granted, that episode was insanely good, but I just wish we had gotten at least one more burst of sakuga in there somewhere. And now that Attack on Titan: Final Season Part 3 has been announced, I guess I’ll just transfer my end-of-the-show hype onto that one. Here’s hoping they don’t draw the ending out with a Part 4.
There’s no way to substantially criticize Attack on Titan without spoiling at least some of the plot, so here’s your warning. When the first season aired, I couldn’t understand why my peers loved it so much. I tried watching it, I did, but it bored me out of my 14-year-old mind. Years later, I gave it another shot and ended up enjoying it, but still missing the overwhelming praise. It wasn’t until season four that I began to see the appeal of Attack on Titan, then watch it all wash away as it went on. Time travel, brainwashing, character motivations, magic system, and the ever-changing sequence of historical events require a spreadsheet to follow. Everyone is double, triple, quadruple crossing each other like we're back in the second season, which made that the most entertaining part of the show for me. It leaned into the series' absurd premise—it was like a murder mystery, except the murderer was a giant bloodthirsty cannibal, and there were ten of them. Almost a decade later, we’re still revealing betrayal after betrayal. It’s old hat by now, and even a generous viewer would struggle to call it surprising. The repetition could be forgiven if the characters involved were multilayered enough to justify lazy writing. The truth is, the cast is still flimsy. In part one of the final season, Reiner was the best character because his backstory was placed well in the plot, his motives were justifiable, and his subsequent redemption felt earned. But he is on the sidelines this time. Armin and Mikasa are not strong enough characters to carry the show. She is bland, and he is practically a stand-in for the author. Other side characters serve as speed bumps in part 2, such as Connie (do you remember him?). He deals with grieving his mother, trapped in the body of a titan, but his episode leaves no lasting impact beyond satisfaction for fans of the character. Though Levi returns, he is practically only present in spirit because his injuries rendered him immobile. Levi should have died, simple as that. There was no way he could’ve survived his injuries in part 1, but it was far from the first time he was protected by plot armor. We’re constantly reminded that the good guys aren’t immortal because dozens of faceless soldiers die violently, but it is seldom a main character. I’m going to speculate here, so take it with a grain of salt, but I worry that the author feared killing off popular characters would cause too much backlash or people to drop the series, so he kept them alive—at the expense of tension. Reintroducing Annie halfway through part two was also an interesting choice—her reveal was practically a carbon copy of the manga’s panel with uninspired directing, which was a bad omen of how the production showcased her revival. Annie hasn’t been relevant since the second season. It’s like the author read complaints about the cast lacking depth and decided to dump it at the last minute. Spending 10 minutes of a 23-minute episode on the backstory of someone who hasn’t been relevant in four years destroys the pacing. It wouldn’t be so bad if the visuals were at least cool to look at, but it was flat still images lacking animation. The ninth episode of part two is emblematic of the poorly directed drama scenes. Most of it is spent hashing out grudges and speaking about the past, which amounts to dull conversations animated like a slideshow. MAPPA’s artists certainly can draw frightened, concerned, and infuriated facial expressions like no other modern studio, but an entire episode of intense faces lessens the effect they once had. The use of a melancholy piano track for background music served as a reminder that the score seldom suits each scene half as well as it did in the first three seasons. MAPPA poured talent and resources into the score. However, the editing and placement fail to do it justice. The recurring problem with MAPPA’s Attack on Titan is that when we’re not in an action scene, it’s boring as hell to watch. I’m not a picky person when it comes to anime visuals. As long as it doesn’t detract from the writing, it’s okay in my eyes. The matter is, the directing is subpar outside of the titan fights, and even the 3D titans struggle to keep up with the choreography. The CGI titan artists come out unscathed because their work is not as prominent this season, and the worst CGI is obscured by fog, blood, and fast-paced action. The infamous "rumbling" looks like an army of giant turkeys, which I should've expected because nothing this show hypes up is as exciting as we're led to believe. 2D art for some of the Titan battles worked, as did the 2D blood. Due to the animators’ constrained deadlines, entirely 2D art was impossible. The 3D blood just looked terrible. Even during action scenes, the directing always feels off. The shot composition never feels quite right; shots either linger too long, not long enough, or are positioned in the wrong order. The flow of action is cut off, making the pacing seem choppy. Even choppier than the pacing is the theme of this season. The central theme of season four is a condemnation of nationalism. This anime is NOT pro-nationalism. The first two seasons of attack on titan present pro-nationalism imagery in the openings and cool as fuck titan wars, which is later subverted. The third and fourth seasons tear down these messages by portraying soldiers as clones, giving the role of the main character to child slave soldiers, blatant allegory to Nazi Germany, making the fascists the antagonists, and discovering that the titans were once real human beings. These revelations are executed mainly successfully. The opening of season four, part 1, immediately establishes the anti-nationalism theme: Soldiers are shown as uniform statues destroyed instantly. Following the cliffhanger at the end of season three is a time skip, which worked well for several reasons. First, switching visuals from WIT Studio to MAPPA’s grittier art style helps darken the tone. Second, Gabi and Falco refresh the story and themes by introducing two new protagonists. They are Eldian kids who are conditioned to believe they must become soldiers to defend Marley, a stand-in for Nazi Germany. There are slight issues in basing the Eldians on Jews because they are genetically different from Marleyans. The ability to become titans sets them apart—this fucks with the allegory, which is further complicated in part 2 when the Eldians try to genocide the Marleyans led by Eren fucking Yeager. For the first three seasons, Eren was the protagonist. Now he is the antagonist who strives to murder man, woman, and child so long as they’re Marleyan and anyone who stands in his way. You will undoubtedly find people defending Eren’s actions because he looks like a badass and has super cool time travel powers. Now, there will always be people who misinterpret the text. Unfortunately, many people unironically support Eren and his followers, the Yeagerists. It’s not just a few conspiracists and crazies on dark corners of the internet—and that says something about the show’s struggle to balance portraying almost every character as morally grey versus sympathetic. Eren’s waltz through time in season 4, part 2 shows us how he was forced into his role at a young age by Grisha; this absolves him of some responsibility; however, his choice to persuade his father to claim the founding titan by murdering the royal family puts their blood on his hands. One could suggest Eren is a psychopath, but tantamount to arguing that Hitler was a sociopath. These statements are untrue because mental illness absolves them of criticism, and they both have a love for their people, although horrifically misguided and tainted by bigotry. Whether or not the show chooses to portray Eren sympathetically or condemn him remains to be seen, and could make or break the final season. Attack on Titan: The Not So Final Season Part 2 is, to the surprise of no one, far from the last we'll see of this anime. It would take an immensely forgiving fan to praise the mediocre art and animation wholeheartedly. Given that I am not, and never was, a fan of AoT I can happily say I'm looking forward to whatever nonsense they hash out in the next season. Regardless if the story and characters are still haphazardly written, it will surely be an entertaining ride.
~~~__Bem-vindo a minha opinião de Attack on Titan. Também tem o resumo da temporada abaixo.__~~~ ~~~___Observação: cuidado com SPOILERS.___~~~ ____ ~~~___MINHAS OPINIÕES SOBRE A TEMPORADA___~~~ - Nossos "heróis" não conseguem impedir o começo do genocídio em massa. Hange Zoe é a pessoa que mais tem certeza sobre suas ações e ideologias nessa temporada. A todo momento ela reforça o quanto renega a ideia sobre cometer um genocídio em milhares de nações, apenas pelo bem de si próprio. O Eren quer salvar seus amigos e sua nação, mas a que custo? A melhor forma de acabar com toda essa guerra é seguindo o plano de Eren? E o plano eutanásia? Para ser sincero, eu não sou tão inteligente e dizer para vocês um plano melhor que esses dois. Mas eu tenho certeza, que por mais que seja a única forma, eu não conseguiria sujar minhas mãos de sangue igual Eren está fazendo. É um desenrolar muito triste para toda a história, todas as soluções envolvem matança, é um mundo completamente sem esperanças, vazio e obsoleto. É triste como tudo chegou a esse ponto. Será, que se o Eren não tivesse impedido seu próprio pai e o Grisha não tivesse exilado a família real, não seria melhor a Jura de Renúncia a Guerra? É difícil decidir isso, pois, Marley iria continuar atacando, com todo seu ódio, e os Fritz não iriam revidar. Parece que quanto mais tentamos achar soluções, mais dúvidas temos. Para mim, não há demônios de nenhum lado, sendo bem sincero. Todos são vítimas. Todos são vítimas de suas lavagens cerebrais e seus ideais distorcidos nessa realidade distópica de guerra sem fim. É triste. Essa temporada é bem difícil escolher um personagem. Mas, escolho o Armin Arlert, pela sua cena com o Connie que estava em sua vila natal. Armin estava disposto a se sacrificar e entregar o Colossal para a mãe de Connie para a mesma voltar a vida. Me faz refletir um pouco também: "Será que o Armin está só tentando achar a saída mais fácil de tudo isso?" Bom, não consigo julgá-lo, vendo a situação em que todos se encontram naquele momento. A cena da fogueira é bem emblemática também, pela primeira vez, vemos os maiores "líderes" de dois grandes povos dividindo a mesma comida. Por mais que Magath ainda tenha pensamentos extremistas por enquanto, vemos um homem querendo mudar pelo seu afeto a Gabi e o Falco. Acho que depois de tantos anos, vemos Marley e Eldia juntos, lutando por um bem maior. A salvação do mundo. Impedir um genocídio que destruiria toda a humanidade, e todos que eles amam. O amadurecimento da Gabi é bem tocante de se ver, eu entendo completamente o hate em cima dela, mas precisamos entender o quanto essa garota sofreu lavagem cerebral por toda sua vida. Ela não é a mesma da primeira parte dessa temporada. ___ # RESUMO DA TEMPORADA (1) Levi sofre um grande acidente, enquanto Floch e outros soldados leais a Eren resgatam Zeke. __Eren luta contra o ataque de Marley à Ilha Paradis, e contra Galliard, Pieck e Reiner.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/01/aot-ep-76-all-out-war.png) (2) Armin e Mikasa tomam a decisão de ajudar Eren a se salvar. Enquanto isso, a luta continua na cidade, __com o exército de Marley e seus três titãs contra Eren e Zeke.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/01/aot-episode-77-10.png) (3) A luta continua na ilha Paradis. Zeke transforma todos em Titãs, Eren e Zeke estão cada vez mais próximos de terem um primeiro contato, mas o exército de Marley tenta a todo custo impedir que isso aconteça. Falco como titã, devora Galliard e vira o Mandíbula. Eren e Zeke conseguem, por mais que a Gabi tenha cortado a cabeça de Eren. __No mundo dos "Caminhos e da Coordenada" Zeke estava lá por toda uma eternidade, esperando Eren.__ E nesse tempo ele descobriu __como cancelar a Jura de Renúncia a Guerra.__ Então quando Eren chega, realmente acontece a divergência de planos. __Zeke queria manter o plano de eutanásia e esterilizar Eldia.__ Mas, Eren disse que nunca concordaria com esse plano tão medonho, e que estava apenas usando Zeke. __Ymir Fritz ignora Eren e Zeke com dúvidas sobre a real intenção de Eren e possível traição do mesmo, forjou suas algemas, antes de Eren chegar.__ diz que Eren foi apenas uma chave, pois Ymir segue a vontade de seus herdeiros como uma escrava. mas __Zeke disse que não iria desistir de seu irmão.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/01/aot-ep-78-4.png) (4) Zeke e Eren visitam as memórias de seu Pai. __Confirmamos que o Titã de Ataque pode alterar o passado.__ __Eren tava manipulando todos para poder ativar o Estrondo. Pra isso, fez com que o Zeke achasse que foi o pai deles que matou as crianças e roubou o poder.__ E também achou que Eren tivesse sofrido uma lavagem cerebral. Mas na verdade, foi tudo o __Eren que influenciou o pai.__ __O Eren só podia acessar esse passado e alterar as memórias se tocasse em alguém com poder real e teve um flashback quando tocou na Historia; Ele viu que chegaria nesse ponto com o Zeke e faria a cabeça do próprio pai.__ O que o Eren fez foi __liberar apenas as memórias que ele queria que o pai dele visse fazendo ele acreditar que o Eren libertaria Eldia.__ Ele precisava do poder do Fundador e __fez o pai dele roubar pra ele poder usar o Estrondo.__ Eren nunca sofreu lavagem cerebral. __Ele sempre foi um psicopata.__ O Titã de Ataque __pode ver as memórias dos seus antecessores, como os outros titãs, e dos sucessores.__ Ao espiar as memórias dos sucessores, __ele pode ver o futuro.__ Normalmente, __os possuidores do Titã de Ataque não podem controlar as memórias que veem, mas o Eren aproveitou o contato com o sangue da família real e a coordenada para manipular seu pai a seguir em frente a qualquer custo.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/01/aot-ep-79-eren-and-grisha.png) (5) Esta é a história daqueles que vêm resistindo, lutando e continuamente avançando há 2 mil anos. Quem diabos começou esta história? Eren fala com a Fundadora Ymir, que continua a caminhar: __"Você estava esperando... Todo esse tempo. Por 2 mil anos... Esperando por alguém..."__, Vemos o passado de Ymir. __E o Estrondo começa.__ Eren diz para os Súditos de Ymir que __o objetivo é matar toda a humanidade fora de Paradis, para protegê-los.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/02/aot-episode-80.jpg) (6) Se pararmos pra pensar, basicamente foram duas ideologias. __A de Zeke: Sacrificar Eldia (e os descendentes Súditos de Ymir) esterilizando todos, ou a ideologia de Eren: Proteger Eldia e acabar com toda a humanidade fora de Paradis para viverem em paz.__ Esse episódio foi lindo, para mim, o mais cativante e gostoso de assistir desde a parte um dessa temporada. __Boas escolhas de músicas, bons momentos de batalha, redenções.__ (precisamos sair da lógica do ódio) Annie no final sai da proteção de gelo, e __Connie decide usar Falco para salvar sua mãe.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/02/aot-81-preview-2.png) (7) Em meio a confusão que se encontram as pessoas, __Annie desperta.__ Enquanto ela estava parada, o tempo avançou e tudo mudou. __Floch continua reinando na ilha em prol de Eren, até revelando que sabia de seu plano há 10 meses atrás.__ Connie continua indo para a sua vila com Falco para sua mãe devorá-lo e voltar a ser humana. __Porém, Armin e Mikasa sabe que o Falco é fundamental vivo para manter Reinier calmo, e evitar mais confrontos.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/02/aot-ep-82-1-1024x576.png) (8) Hange e Levi estão vivos e fazem uma aliança com Margath e Pieck, __o objetivo dos dois são o mesmo: Acabar com o Zeke.__ Marley quis Yelena viva. Jean também não quis se tornar um Yeagerista e ajuda a aliança. __Armin consegue impedir Connie.__ Um grupo se reúne então __para "salvar o mundo". Que tem, Mikasa, Connie, Armin, Annie e Reinier.__ img(https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/2022/02/23/06746b55-73b1-47cb-8002-6b822de63b50/attack-on-titan.png) (9) __Nossos inimigos nasceram como resultado da guerra. Nós odiávamos uns aos outros, desprezávamos uns aos outros e matávamos uns aos outros. Em frente à fogueira, haviam pessoas que carregavam noções diferentes de justiça.__ Yelena faz com que todos de uma certa forma, se entendam. Eles conversam sobre a morte de Marco. Jean não consegue perdoar Reinier, mas é lindo como todos estão lutando juntos para combater o genocídio que Eren quer causar. __O ódio não prevalece.__ Os yeageristas e Floch estão no Porto para evitar que o Eren seja incomodado. __Asumabito é o refém.__ img(https://static.animecorner.me/2022/03/attack-on-titan-episode-84-1.png) (10) No caminho daqueles que tomaram a decisão de impedir Eren para salvar o mundo, estão seus antigos companheiros. Eles lutam com um sentimento no peito: __a vontade de não deixar ninguém morrer.__ Porém, o plano de Armin deu errado. __A violência infelizmente aconteceu novamente.__ __Connie precisa matar seus amigos, Daz e Samuel.__ Que cena arrepiante e triste. Meu deus. img(https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/2022/03/08/56ede221-faa9-487d-b40b-65f3c5942716/attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-85-armin-connie.jpg) (11) __Se hesitar, você morre. Aponte a arma e aperte o gatilho. Acredite que além dessa traição, há uma forma de salvar o mundo.__ O plano é levar o barco junto como hidro avião para montá-lo em uma área dos Asumabito, para evitar mais e mais reforços atrapalhando, eles esperam conseguir deixar o avião funcionável antes do Estrondo chegar. __Margath e Keith se sacrificam, e é muito simbólico. Ideologias passadas que se sacrificaram por um mundo melhor.__ Muito lindo. Annie entende que Liberio e Marley acabou. E não quer mais viver. Porém, ela questiona Mikasa se ela mataria o Eren. __Ela não aguenta mais. Mas, também, não quer matar o Eren.__ img(https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/2022/03/20/9818ed02-3070-4395-a381-bcfb0583df5e/attack-on-titan-season-4-mikasa-female-titan.jpg) (12) __Mostra a primeira vez em que os Eldianos foram para Marley, conhecer as tecnologias, carros, e tudo mais.__ Eles até mesmo descobrem uma pequena aldeia "renegados" e passam uma noite de muita diversão por lá. Mas, eles vão em uma audiência, com a leve e mísera esperança de que eles possam negociar, ao invés de usar a força. __O homem no palco diz que os habitantes de Paradis são demônios, e que só pode haver guerra. Após Eren ouvir isso, foi quando ele começou a agir sozinho.__ No encontro clandestino de Eren, mostra o Floch escondido e comprova que ele sabia do plano de Eren há 10 meses atrás, desde lá __Eren já pretendia trair Zeke. Eren tinha dito para Historia sobre seu plano (mas acho que apagou suas memórias). O Estrondo chega em Marley.__ img(https://criticalhits.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/aot-87.jpg)