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.
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