Disclaimer: A big chunk of this review is dedicated to my history with the show, I apologize if that’s not what you came for. Many have doubtlessly reviewed this anime better than I can, and seeing as I’m one of the many people who loved this season, I don’t have much new to offer in a straightforward review. I thought this would be a unique angle to approach the show from. Perhaps if I’m quicker to the draw, my Final Season Part 2 review will be more focused on the show itself.
Attack on Titan is an important anime for me. Now, I won't say that it changed my life or anything, but I'd be remiss to downplay the impact it had on me as an anime fan. A lot of Attack on Titan's importance for me simply boils down to timing. My [love] for anime was cemented during 2013 and my first batch of seasonal anime aired during the Spring 2013 season. I perused the various shows of the season via a TV Tropes page and decided to watch the ones that looked the most interesting. I settled on The Devil is a Part-Timer, WataMote, The Severing Crime Edge, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Majestic Prince, Mushibugyou and, of course Attack on Titan. While I'm decently fond of all-these-shows-not-named-Mushibugyou, for me Attack on Titan stands tall above the rest. Its premise was among the most dour I had experienced at that point. I still vividly remember my shock come episode five at believing that they had killed off the main character then my further shock once he returned as a Titan. The initial season still had other notable scenes to its name, but that was the highlight for me. After the initial hype, the meteoric rise of Attack on Titan via its anime, we got...essentially nothing. Sure there was a manga, but to this day, I'm not really one to pick up a manga after an anime adaptation — I tend to be uncharacteristically patient when it comes to waiting for an anime to be completed. But for Attack on Titan, it wasn't even a matter of "patience." I really don't know how to describe just how much it felt Attack on Titan fell off of everyone's radar, including my own. I know anime adaptations take time (constantly-produced adaptations that load themselves with filler to ensure they don't overtake the manga (ala Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball Z) are mostly emblematic of a bygone era) but I still can't help but feel Wit partook in one of the most egregious examples not tapping into the hype. I simply thought it was just one of the many examples of seasonal anime that were destined to have one season (such as every one of the other seasonal anime I watched that Spring, barring The Devil is a Part-Timer). Don't get me wrong, it's not like I forgot about Attack on Titan, it's just my love for it was pretty dormant. I still had fond memories of it — going to my local library to watch new episodes as they aired. If this was the first season since the original, I'd probably like it due to my nostalgia.
This, of course, isn't the case. Attack on Titan's second season was announced seemingly out of nowhere, slated for a Spring 2017 release. As I said, while I hadn't watched Attack on Titan in years, I was happy to pick it up again and boy was that a good call. I absolutely loved the Second Season and Reiner and Bertholdt’s reveal sticks with me. In the years that passed since I saw the first season, I settled on the idea that Attack on Titan was great but nothing fantastic. Season 2 came to tear down my walls and tell me that, yes, Attack on Titan was a show to be reckoned with. I originally wrote off Season 3 Part 1as a bit schlocky at best, a bit boring at worst, and while I regret my flippant dismissal, I'd be lying if I said it still wasn't the weakest season for me. Despite this, in hindsight, I have to acknowledge how importance it was as its a segue for Attack on Titan's shift in focus. And I absolutely loved Season 3 Part 2 which recontextualized everything we thought we knew about the world of Attack on Titan while providing absolutely stunning fight sequences. If Attack on Titan Season 2 cemented the show as amazing, then Season 3 Part 2 cemented the show as a masterpiece.
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)
This crash-course of my history with the show is important because it frames my thoughts going in, which may be important for the reader who's interested in seeing not just why, but how I come to the conclusions I do regarding this season. This season, in tandem with Season 3 Part 2 is focused on change, not just in-universe, but out of universe, too, for we as viewers are forced to reconcile with our changing perceptions of the characters we thought we knew, the world we thought we knew. Again, Attack on Titan was never pleasant by any measure, but there was a level of comfort in hindsight — we thought we knew what we were dealing with, but everything got upended and the simple yet brutal conflict became a lot more complicated.
Attack on Titan certainly isn't the only work that deals with change, but it feels poignant to me because it feels like Attack on Titan somewhat grew up with me. There are franchises that seem to evolve with fans as they age — Harry Potter, Dragonball, and to a lesser extent, Naruto come to mind. Even if there's not a drastic change in tone or genre, there can also be a sense of a show/series growing up with you just due to it being consistently there as you grow older. This applies to most long-runners — Gundam, Bleach, Inuyasha, and One Piece come to mind, as far as animanga go. There aren't many examples that pertain to me — there's Dragon Ball but the original, Z, and GT, were done by the time I got into it and Super feels like a blip in time, all things considered. I didn't consistently watch or read Naruto enough for this to really count. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is probably the most straightforward example that I have. Hell, Attack on Titan probably doesn't even really count. To put the release of seasons one and two in perspective, I was literally just starting high school when the first season finished and I had just graduated when season 2 released. That said, the gap worked in the show's favor for me. Here I was, four years later, perhaps a different person and Attack on Titan had returned. But it wouldn't quite be the same Attack on Titan that I knew, it wouldn't settle into a comfortable, safe existence. It would change as I changed and, for that, Attack on Titan felt personal.
But don't go thinking that my praise is only due to my personal history with the show. My history simply enhances the masterpiece that's already there; it's the difference between acknowledging a show as an amazingly technically sound and considering that show a favorite. And yes, Attack on Titan Final Season is indeed one of my favorite anime; for the first time in nine years, I had to question if Ranma 1/2 was my favorite anime show. But again, don't let my own bias lead you astray; a "bad" show wouldn't be able to legitimately dethrone and corner the previous King of Western Anime Canon. The jury's in and Attack on Titan Final Season is goooooood.
You may be asking what the Final Season is about. What exactly is this change I've been harping about? Well, let me put it like this:How it started: Humanity is on the brink of extinction thanks to mysterious, hellish giants known as Titans. Titans feed on humans and without the aid of weaponry, they're easy pickings. The threat of Titans have forced humans to cower behind a ring of walls. No one knows what's beyond the outermost wall, Wall Maria. The walls provide its inhabitants with a sense of security, but humanity receives a grim reminder when Wall Maria is breached thanks by two never-before-seen titans: one clad in armor and the other a gargantuan titan that's nearly two-hundred feet tall. The humans struggle to survive due to the influx of Titans. We follow the Scout Regimen, primarily Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, a military branch dedicated to combating Titans using specialized equipment, the ODM gear. The story is dedicated to fighting the Titans and discovering their secrets.
How it's going: Beyond Wall Maria is the rest of the Island of Paradis. The inhabitants of the walls belong to a race of humans known as Eldians. Eldians possess the ability to transform into Titans, including nine Titan "Shifters," people who have the ability to freely turn into and from highly specialized Titans, with Eren, the "Attack Titan," being one of the nine. For countless years, Eldians had terrorized humanity as an empire, using the power of the Titans to subjugate the rest of the world to its will. The King of Eldia, weary of fighting, retreated to the island of Paradis with his loyal subjects. He uses his powers to erase the memories of all except for a select few, and erects walls for them to live in. On the mainland, Eldia is weakened by infighting and Marley is able to capitalize on this to defeat the empire, establishing itself as a superpower. Marley is quick to subjugate the descendants of those who subjugated them, making Eldians second-class citizens and forcing them into ghettos. As punishment, Eldians are regularly turned into Titans and sent to live out the rest of their mindless existences in Paradis. Thus, the Titans Eren once vowed to destroy were once humans themselves, turned into the beasts we know against their wills. Marley has begun operations attempting to retake the Founding Titan, as evidenced by the attacks by the Colossal, Armored, Beast, and Cart Titans in the prior seasons. Now, the Scouts must fight a new enemy — the entire world. With such odds stacked against them, in order to fight humans, they find themselves throwing away their humanity.
Or, in simpler terms:
How it started: Monsters are scary
How it's going: Humans are scary
In regards to this shift in focus, this stark shift in morals, Attack on Titan's Final Season handles this ingeniously. What better way to show things are different than to shift the perspective? Since the mystique of the outside world has been dispelled, we're able to explore settings besides that of Paradis. For the first time in the show's run, we don't follow Eren and co. At the beginning of the season, we follow Marley's Warriors (Eldians who possess four of the nine shifting Titans) as well as the candidates who will inherit the Titans at the end of their term.
This point-of-view humanizes the antagonists in a way that wouldn't quite be possible if we followed the Scouts throughout the season as we have thus far. When Eren launches his brutal attack on Liberio and turns it into a warzone, we take more pause than we would if we simply stuck with Eren's perspective. As others have doubtless pointed out countless times by now, the Attack on Liberio mirrors the Assault on Wall Maria at the beginning of the series. In doing this, Eren (and the Scouts, as they're accessories) are painted as being no better than the Warriors who came before them, if not worse, since they aren't addled with the systemic propaganda and self-hatred conditioning that poisons the minds of Marleyan Eldians. The entire ordeal can really twist your stomach into knots, since unlike at the beginning of the show, we know that humans are committing these atrocities and not mindless monsters that don't know better. If that's not enough, these are characters we've spent years with at this point, characters we're supposed to be rooting for, yet here they are committing atrocities. In witnessing her hometown be destroyed, newcomer Gabi Braun, Gabi takes the place of Eren circa season 1.
Characters in general are another highpoint, with characterization also serving to showcase change. Eren Yaegar is an example of the biggest change. No longer is Eren the screaming, hotblooded shounen protagonist we've come to know over these past seven years. His blood has gone icy; he has a demeanor so calm it'll send chills down your spine. He's extremely cutthroat, not letting anyone or anything, not even morality itself, get in the way of his plans. We don't know for sure quite what his deal is, but it's safe to say he's gone full-blown villain protagonist at this point and it hurts to watch.
I consider one of my biggest embarrassments as a reviewer to be calling Attack on Titan a "turn-your-brain off show" Not only does it insult the careful work Isayama has put into the series, but it also insults my own intelligence and taste as a viewer. Nowhere better does Attack on Titan showcase its complexities than in The Final Season. This season contrasts immensely with the relatively black-and-white first season. Nothing is simple anymore — not the conflict, not the characters. Eren's methods are horrible and Zeke's goals are horrifying, but out-and-out peace talks seem out of the question and a defensive strategy on Paradis' part amounts to waiting for the butcher to sharpen their knife for the slaughter. While Sasha is forced to kill human soldiers in order to protect Person of Mass Destruction Eren, the show goes to great lengths to show that she's a caring person at heart. Despite being Sasha's killer and in general being an unpleasant brat, it's hard for any reasonable person to not at least empathise with Gabi, as she's been subjected to the aforementioned hellish conditioning (not to mention she slowly but surely begins to have her worldview upended). Reiner suffers from pretty serious PTSD and it's hard to want to kick the man when he's so busy kicking himself half the time and contemplating blowing his brains out (and no, that's not being irreverent, it literally almost happens). Hell, after all the heinous acts he's done (and intends to do), Zeke still manages to be humanized. I still hate him as a person and his plans are genuinely unhinged but I can see his logic, even if I don't agree with his conclusion.
The character designs also showcase change. It's a bit of a happy accident, as that's more due to the studio change than anything, but the designs appear slightly more in-line with Isayama's original designs (though they still look better than his art, thank God (sorry, Isayama!)). I really can't say if they look any more "grounded" or "mature," but they certainly look slightly different than what we're used to. This also applies to the Titans, who are CGI now and actually look pretty good. As an ironic inverse, the Colossal Titan is actually drawn this time, and as a result, it looks as good as it did the first time we saw it.
The change is also seen in something as crucial as genre, going from an action-survival story to a politico-war drama. The shift is sure to turn some away but I found the new direction extremely compelling; both due to the story in and of itself and in how much it recontextualizes what we've seen before.
The OP and ED are absolutely wonderful and quickly went on to become my favorite OP and ED in the series. The OP harkens back to the ED of the second season, Yuugure no Tori, with its creepy tone and vaguely child-like backing vocals. The ED, in contrast, sounds more original. It's very melancholic and beautiful.
My bias probably shows in that I legitimately cannot find many faults with the show. The CGI looks good, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer the hand-drawn Titans. The music is good, though I can't help but feel, in general, its a lot less impactful and iconic than seasons prior — YOUSEEBIGGIRL and XL-TT are sorely missed.
Still, neither of these are enough to hamber my enjoyment of the show — these are minor gripes in a very good season. I'm really happy that I decided to watch Attack on Titan all those years ago. While I'm sure I might have picked it up down the line, it wouldn't have felt nearly impactful for me if I didn't start the show in 2013. Of course, the Final Season is a bit of a misnomer as the anime will be concluded in another cour, slated to air sometime in 2022. I've heard that the ending of the manga is contentious, yet I remain optimistic that Isayama and MAPPA will deliver an ending that, even if it's uncomfortable, I’ll still enjoy, I’ll still find engaging. Until then, I shall wait patiently.
