Eighty Six Season 2(we spoilin!)
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This anime has exceeded my expectations so many times I would be remiss to not talk about it some more. I honestly blew my load with how much I gushed about this story in my season1 review, so Imma make a concerted effort not to repeat myself. I don't wanna talk much plot, you all saw the story, but I do wanna talk about what I liked so much.
If Season1 was Lena's season, this was certainly Shin's. Without a goal to push his life forward, Shin's journey to find purpose post laying to rest of his brother, his problem of reinventing himself while never loosing his past, and his fears and choices concerning how his new country will use him, was the most compelling plot I saw this year. The way Shin is reborn into a person who uses the skills of the reaper to protect all he cares about ...in about 10 episodes of this quality is incredible. I love how the audience is just left to pray for Lena's survival while we forsake the Republic narratively. With only a few moments checking in with her, its was a smart way to keep her in mind while building up a lot of tension for the ending reveals. The pay-offs from the last few episodes are some of the best I've ever gotten in anime, and seems like we have even more story to go.
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It took me a while to warm up to Fredrika, she felt way too smart for her age. But her "hypocrite speak" with Shin really sealed her place in the cast for me. Also figuring out that she was the "Anastasia" of the previous ruling class made it clear what she was doing in the story. I knew I would like Ernst when I realized he was protecting her, not something a revolutionary would normally do for the previous regime for obvious reasons. I thought it was very important how Ernst decided that post revolution he would never abandon the ideals that he held before he came into power, playing as a counter to the republic and their ideals lost. And I love Lena and her uncle's last convo, their relationship is really thematic mirroring what the republic is going through.
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Every 3 to 5 epis this show somehow reinvents itself completely and consistently without shark jumping. There are 23 epis total in this anime so far and the story has subverted it's audience and expanded the mystery more than other stories can do with a hundred. The director sneaks all of the character development in quickly, so that he can instead spend screen time world building and pushing plot. Every info drop is subtle, buried in dialogue but when people start talking like that, its like rehooking me again into the story, getting me invested in the mystery of the world all over again as they open up more and more. I wish more anime story telling leaned this way, you can have emotional moment without sacrificing plot progression or world building. Maybe I'm just getting burnt out on a certain kind of pathos...
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Unquestionably, the best anime I watched this season. The VAs are top tier like, Lena and Raiden are perfect, Shin' VA is really good too. Pacing is fast and steady. The music makes me ugly cry. Every single fight is eye candy. The writing is so fucking smart I never see anything coming before its revealed, the mystery is handled as well as the best of them. The direction is something to be studied. The cinematography is better than anything else I was watching. I haven't talked about sound design since fire force but its remarkable.
I could go on and on and on. This was everything AoT should have gotten for it's finale. This season has brought this story into my top 25 of all time. I'm at a complete loss at why this anime is so underrated, and I'm honestly shocked and confused at how many people I see online that are openly dunking on it. I guess I would say don't hold your breathe and believe the hype if season1 isn't for you. If you don't like war or politics, that stuff doesn't go away in S2 and this anime probs wont change your feelings on the genre. But if you do like that stuff, I think the quality of both the author's writing and the studio's adaptation are exceptionally high for both seasons. Ill just finish with a message to other stories that still need to be adapted; be like eighty six, its a model to be mimicked. it really was that good.
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