Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3 Part 2

The unknown is always too easy labelled as a threat, and it is easy to join that particular chorus who claim it, mainly due to fear, fear of failure and concern of personal cost.
On the basis of that postulate, the journey resumes for our SnK characters, as they prepare to undertake a fierce battle against those who want to annihilate humanity...however, is that these guys objective?

It is well known the one-of a kind storytelling attributes this adaptation has: the understated foreshadowing –great for those who like to re-watch shows-, the captivating epicity, the more than famous plot twists; nevertheless, it never stops to amaze ... me the ability –and specially, in this season- they have had to build, step by step, a huge storyline that is both fascinating and enjoyable, while being able of connecting the dots that had been scattered during the 3 seasons prior to this one -all of this without making the story messy and confusing-.
While I am on this subject, I have to bring to the table the marvellous combination of this storytelling with the animation and music. One of the most overlooked aspects, not only in anime, but also on the film industry, is the ability of a motion picture to use this or that piece of music, sound, silence and/or frame in this or that given moment to capture the audience and, what can I say, Shingeki no Kyojin does it extremely well on this season.

Speaking about music, this asset is and has been one of SnK’s hallmarks. Not only the use of it –as I mentioned before- but the compositions per se are just one of a kind. Am I the only one who listens to them on a daily basis? And if this was not enough, WIT studio decided to bring into the equation some of the old soundtracks from season 1, which we will all agree were masterpieces.
Furthermore, speaking about other technical aspects, the animation has made quite an improvement, leading to great results. This made some of the events –including fights- that took place over the course of this season something special: backgrounds were depicted in a really wonderful way, movements and facial expressions were really fluid and seemed pretty natural (including the Omni-directional mobility gear animation where camera rotations and 3D movements were executed to perfection) and pace was used fantastically well –that episode 54 fight it’s a great example, where Levi moves so fast that it takes time to the physics to actually catch up with him, making it look like he moves at the speed of light-. This, accompanied by an amazing sound design, a cast sounding as good as they do and a very good characterization, makes Shingeki no Kyojin a really wonderful series to watch. And don't forget what a banger the OP was.

Moreover, I’m glad that, between the chaos of war, they have set aside some time to explore the inner conflicts of some of our characters, their convictions and motivations, the reason for them to fight, as well as exploring on how their decisions not only changed –and will change- their lives and made them who they are now, but the lives of the people around them. Characters like Levi, Armin or Erwin, who had not have so much screentime-development over the course of the show gain in importance on this season -it was about time-, without laying aside others like Eren -who finally shows a glimmer of manhood and logic-, Mikasa, or even our titanic traitors -if you know what I mean-, as they also meaningfully develop. For instance, side characters no longer feel like side characters.

So, while I’m not in a position to say that I would never see something like this in awhile, I can say that this season was, hands down, a dazzling, breathtaking piece of animated work.

*Review contains spoilers till episode 4!*

We are blessed that we're living in a timeline when we are getting return to shiganshina animated. We have linked horizon back for the OP, we have been teased with the basement in this season and on top it, we have the banger soundtracks from season 1 back!
While the previous part of the season was primarily focused on politics and mystery, this season has been primarily focused on action and hype. But trust me, this season has a lot more to it in the coming episodes!

This season started off with 3000 levels of hype with Erwin's epic speech ... in the first episode. The mind battle between Erwin and Reiner, the subtle foreshadowing of coffee being non-existent inside the walls, Berthold's character development, Erwin's inner monologue and his cathartic moment have been the highlight of this season for me.

Shingeki has been expert in subtle foreshadowing. Eren eating his dad, or shadis being his dad's former acquaintance or Marco's death; everything had been foreshadowed before. It was after the trost fight when Annie was constantly saying "I'm sorry" to the dead bodies as if being in regret that she couldn't save anybody, but it was in fact that she was responsible in Marco's death.

Erwin's charge was my favorite moment of the manga and I'm impressed on how WiT managed to pull off this in such a manner that made me cry once again. Erwin has always been my favorite character of the series, the most charismatic character ever.

In the time since SNK first started airing, Erwin went from being a desperately undervalued character to one of the most popular, and I couldn't be happier. His complexity, his unwavering resolve, his growing obsession, his strategic mind and adaptive nature, his decreasing ability to mask his emotions, his complex relationships with Levi and Hange, his largely unspoken mentor relationship with Armin, his physical capabilities, his fearlessness... There is a ton of intriguing depth in his character. And on a personal note, his struggles with disability and inability to slow down in spite of it really resonate with me.

Shingeki no kyojin has been my favorite series. It has a unique way of storytelling. Some people believe genius is hyper-complexity that makes uniqueness, which is why those people will shit on 'simple' foundation for works of art. But to be honest, those simple, bare and raw ideas that are so fascinating and fresh to capture the energy of so many people comprises true, fundamental genius.
SnK's idea was as simple as it was unique, and still somehow familiar enough to satisfy our ease with the genre: man-eating giants -- not the ugly, inhuman-looking giants you usually see, but straight-up naked giant people -- three tall ass walls, and then people within those walls. Shifters didn't 'become' or transform into their titans, and the Titans weren't some sci-fi bullshit; the bodies were flesh and blood and literally formed around them like an extension of themselves.
From there, Isayama managed to make a world so complex, using these fundamental ideas made me admire the series as it is as of now.

Shingeki anime has been blessed by our god composer Sawano which doubles the quality of the show. This season has brought back so many soundtracks from season 1 which never failed to give me eargasms.

The artstyle is better than the thick lines, and character designs are closer to the manga. The animation quality is mediocre, which was a slight disappointment.

This season of shingeki has been my favorite season so far!

*Minimum Spoiler Review*
TL;DR: From Titans being shredded to human bodies being melted, this is the season fans have been waiting for since Season 1. We have been blue balled long enough. It's time to finally find out what's in that bloody basement. If you didn't watch any previous seasons, don't even bother reading or watching this anime. Go back to watching your crappy anime. We are in the endgame now.
[Story: 9/10 , Characters: 8/10, Art: 9/10, Sound: 8/10, Enjoyment: 10/10]

"Everyone will die someday. Does that mean life is meaningless?" - Erwin Smith

The second part of Shingeki no Kyojin or Attack on Titan ... Season 3 picks up immediately where it ended. No delay in pacing, no unnecessary flashbacks, we are in the endgame now. If you've been following this show, you know where we are and what's at stake. We all want to know what's in that basement. So let's finally find out. Question is, are you ready? Can you handle the truth? If there is one thing I'll warn you, after learning the truth, this season will immediately surpass any of the previous seasons and just turn the entire show upside down. If you can't handle the truth, avoid this season. Your watch has ended. If you can, let the clash begin, for Isayama has the best curve ball prepared since GRRM wrote Game of Thrones. Don't worry though, thankfully we don't have incompetent writers like D&D to screw this gem of a manga up. With the animation powerhouse of Wit Studio and musical prowess of Linked Horizon, Tetsurou Araki delivers the justice this manga have always deserved. It's been a while since we've seen an anime that can equally deliver on both action and plot.

"It's us who gives meaning to our comrade's lives!" - Erwin Smith

From Titans being shredded to human bodies being melted, this was the bloodiest season of them all. This season is the season of revelations. All the hype that's been building up since season 1 about the bloody basement is finally going to be explored. Question is, who will survive to know the truth and who will die trying. If there is anything the preview showed us last season, we know Araki will be jamming to "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" as he skillfully directs this cour. The story is linear but you're constantly at the edge because every episode ends on a cliff-hanger and the dead bodies just pile up. Despite how fast paced each episodes are, you know certain episodes are going to be jaw dropping when they start without playing the opening song. What's more, some episodes, there is more after the end song. Just downright crazy. Last season we tackled the moral dilemma of our living system within the walls by juxtaposing the childish and adult view whereas this season we tackle the racial political dilemma of genocide, murder and ostracism. The only complaint viewers are allowed to have is maybe two more episodes to flesh out the plot better. Overall, the manga is beautifully adapted and no qualms about it.

"My soldiers, rage! My solders, Scream! My soldiers, FIGHT! - Erwin Smith

Time after time, the characters of this show just always stand out. Despite this season being more plot heavy, the characters still managed to steal the spotlight, especially Erwin. As each season are passing, more major characters are dying; that's why we are able to focus more on the key characters of the show and better understand the uphill battle they are always facing. This not only heightens the anxiety and tension but delivers a cathartic feeling in their success or death. Last season, our heroes had to go up against humans and deal with the ramification of murder. This season, despite reverting back to killing Titans, they have to deal with the ramification of murder again. It seems Isayama wants to solidify within us, no matter how much we enjoy seeing our heroes kill Titans, murder is murder. Moreover, none of this would be possible had it not been for the seiyuus. Every damn season, they are going above and beyond to give each character such depth and plot, hell even minor side characters are voiced so well. You just can't help feel right in the moment of the story. Huge kudos to them.

"No casualties, Don't you dare DIE!" - Levi Ackerman

Aside from the stellar linear plot & well developed characters, if there is one thing this studio does justice, it's their animation & art style. Without any surprise, this season they nailed it again. At this point, they have set the bar so high, good luck any other studio, attempting to reach it. Every panel was hand-drawn really well and the use of CGI for certain action sequences flowed really well. Kudos to the key animators. We know they bailed on us part way last year since they were not going to finish the animation in time but be glad they took the time. They delivered. The background score was really hype throughout all the fight sequences and the drops right before key enigmatic moments definitely escalates the excitement each episode. Linked Horizon is back again for an eargasmic opening song, even if it sounds very similar to their first opening song and the ED song is nice and chilling. When the OST is released, fans of this show will enjoy listening to it repeatedly.

"I always knew you were the bravest one out of any of us" - Eren Jaeger

Overall, SnK S3 P2 significantly blew all previous seasons out of the park. Is this season perfect? No. Is it the best we've seen so far? Yes. Isayama is a master of foreshadowing and this season from all the revelations, you will be going back and realizing just how many scenes and dialogues you overlooked thinking it would never be important to the story. Given how well Araki and staff of Wit Studio adapted the manga by rearranging the story arcs to showcase a better linear plot, it really accentuates the rewatch value of this show. Even after it ends after it's final season (which has also been announced), fans of this show can continue to rewatch over and over again. At this point, if you've come this far without spoiling yourself, then anime watchers, I would recommend hold your breath and not read the manga. If you're a manga reader, be happy your fav manga was adapted this well. Without spoiling too much, the series ends with a new purpose and goal for the characters. The real war is about to begin. Nevertheless, there is no point not watching this season of AoT. You've already invested in watching previous seasons, so might as well binge watch this season. That's always the best way to watch this anime. Anyways, check it out & let me know later how you like it as well as share with me your favourite quote from the anime! Ciao.

P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!

*Clap clap* before I start this review I will like us all to bow our heads and have a moment of silence for all our fallen comrades, just like us they them-self started this series from season 1, but as time passes and more seasons are release many has fallen and so I will like to congratulate each one of you for making it this far and finally being able to see what is in that damn basement! lol

Now let's begin this review.

Imagine if you were a fish that since birth has been living inside a fish tank, you are unaware that there is a ... bigger world out there with vast oceans where you can swim to many different areas and see various different species. That is basically what Eren and company were in, and we as the viewers were also in the same situation. Attack on Titan season 3 part 2 is the season that connects all the previous seasons neatly together, this was three seasons in the making. Snk is an action/mystery series that builds its foundation and then explodes with greatness when the apparent time comes.

To appreciate this season you have to realise how important foundation is, in terms of setup, without proper build up this season would not be getting the praise it currently has, because if there wasn't any foundation the impact of the basement reveal and the character interaction/fights would be lacking, there would be a big void there.
I think plenty of persons believe the basement would be the end game, where after finding out what is in the basement the series would eventually end, the twist is that the basement is simple the key to open the next level of the series, the first 3 seasons
were simple the prologue and it is now time for the series to touch on the main plot or the true issue at hand.


Visually this season looks great despite the issues with the animators, the staff did their best with this season from the awesome soundtrack, to the great action scenes, some fights were lacking a bit like episode 2 also the cgi Collosal titan was a bit distracting at times, but that still didn't affect my enjoyment of this season, the voice acting in this season was phenomenal especially in episode 6 when there was minimal ost used in that episode.



The interaction and development for some of these characters in this season was also a highlight, especially between Erwin and Levi, there is a famous criticism that snk gets a lot and that is that the characters are bland, but I think it is an outdated criticism back in season 1 that needs to die, simple put a lot of characters didn't get much time to develop in the first seasons also in retrospect some of the characters didn't get early development because of their secrets, but as more seasons were release, the more the characters grow on you and the more you appreciate these characters and want them to finally be free.

Despite giving this series a 10/10, don't take it as me saying it is a "perfect" series, because no series is perfect and this is where I will point out a flaw I personally have for this particular season and that is the fakeout in this season, specifically regarding Reiner and Armin, I didn't like the situation/explanation in how they both survive and that bothered me, but here is where Isayama shows why he is a God writer! he somehow finds a way to make something great come from those two sour situation for me, with Armin in episode 6 and how that was written was just incredible the same with Reiner, can't say much but all I will say is that he is putting him to good use, not often a writer can write something you as the viewer didn't like but then just blow you away with what he has done with that particular situation.

I don’t think I will ever like it, but what I am getting at is that nothing in this world is perfect, just like how you care for your close family and friends and you know they have their flaws, you argue with them at times and there is somethings you don’t like about them, but in the end you care deeply for them, it is basically the same for loving a series or someone despite their flaws.

And to end this I will say to all anime only watchers, I know that some of you are nervous, excited and even skeptical on where the series is going, but trust me when I say you should have faith in Isayama, he delivered on the basement reveal and has set up the series perfectly for the main course, see you all again in season 4 and make sure that you will not become another fallen soldier when the next season arrives, Erwin would not be pleased.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your day.

Attack on Titan is the face of anime. It exploded onto the scene in 2013 with popularity unmatched by any other anime. No other anime has left as titanic of an impact as this one. It's the anime that introduces many newcomers into the medium. Many with no exposure to anime whatsoever have still heard of or even watched Attack on Titan. So it's only appropriate that it would be great, because that's what should be expected from what is essentially the representative of all anime. And for me, every season leading up to this one has met these high standards and been great.

But this...this ... is extraordinary!

WIT Studio clearly went all out with this season. It has practically everything that any rabid fanboy (and any casual watcher really) could possibly want: exhilarating action, captivating dialogue, mind blowing plot revelations, and more. This of course is clearly reflected by the overwhelmingly positive feedback that the show has been receiving. And for me, it's totally deserving of all of the praise.

This season essentially tackles what is the ultimate battle between humanity and the titans. Every previous episode has been culminating towards this confrontation, and it's a spectacle that exceeded my highest expectations. Strategies employed by each side are ingenious, and it's bittersweet to witness the immense losses taken as a sacrifice to ensure victory. Instead of just having one character be the hero, I was pleased to see that it took the power, planning, and perseverance of practically all of the major players to pull off an epic win. Erwin's charisma, Armin's tactics, Levi's strength, and more were all vital when it came to taking on their foe. This just made the entire experience so rewarding by seeing all of the characters who we've spent years following contribute to what is potentially the most significant battle in all of Attack on Titan. This approach was much more effective then having some of them cast aside as worthless, and gave worth and meaning to every character.

Speaking of worthless, there's something that I'd like to take the time to clear up. Years ago, when I wrote my review on the first season of Attack on Titan, I mocked Armin for being a weak coward and a generally useless character. I'd now like to officially retract that statement and admit to being wrong...and kinda douchy towards poor Armin. Though it's not just me. Even the other characters in the show always seemed to underestimate Armin's abilities and worth. While his closest friends and even Erwin eventually understand his potential and see his value, it wasn't until he stepped up his game in this penultimate battle that everyone finally got to see how this apparent coward might just be the most courageous of them all.

The other stand out character for this arc who I'd like to give a special mention to is the other blonde boi and Sasageyo Super Star Erwin Smith. Throughout each and every season, Erwin has slowly climbed over the rest of the cast to eventually stand on top of all of them as the best character the show has to offer in my opinion. I've briefly mentioned his charisma already, but I can't stress enough how inspirational this guy is. Erwin even makes me want to get up and give my heart, and he's a frickin anime character!

The weakest point of Attack on Titan for me has always been the characters. Yet with each passing season, they just keep getting better and better. I've already mentioned two of the characters, but the rest have been kinda growing on me over the years. Levi and Mikasa are absolute badasses. Eren has actually developed a bit beyond his "I GOTTA KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE DAMN TITANS!" mentality and actually develops a semblance of a personality. I also really like what they did with Bertolt. He came out of his shell a lot and gained some confidence. Though he's still completely eaten out by Armin in that department. Whoops, totally meant to say beaten out, sorry about that.

The glue that just brings everything together would be the show's audiovisuals. Attack on Titan completely eclipses the other Spring 2019 anime in terms of presentation with its pristine animation. It doesn't just look good, but the technical aspects that went into its creation are most impressive. A great example would be the Levi vs Beast Titan fight. I watched a detailed video discussing the mechanics that went into designing that scene alone, and it's ridiculously high in quality. It's insane to think about all of the care that the animators put into this series. The AOT animation team at WIT Studio is easily one of the best in the industry, and I commend their efforts.

Voice actors do a phenomenal job at conveying expression. The performances in the emotional episode six alone were enough to solidify the seiyuu as exceptional in my book. They were always good, but the writing of this season gave then a chance to really shine. The GOAT Hiroyuki Sawano returns to compose the soundtrack, and it's, well, typical Sawano. In layman's terms, simply fantastic!

I've spent a lot of time fanboying over the return to shiganshina arc, but I don't want to overshadow the back half of this season, which is great in its own right. We get to see the backstory of Grisha Yeager, Eren's father, and it has some excellent plot revelations and world building. It also hits right in the feels too. It basically ties everything together, which only serves to heighten the already unique and intriguing narrative.

This show features a plethora of great moments. Whether it be Erwin's charge, Armin's final stand against the colossal titan, or the characters finally reaching Eren's basement, each episode just seemed to captivate me with at least one epic scene. And that's precisely where Attack on Titan truly shines: In its entertainment value. Maybe you're not a fan of the story, or perhaps you think that the characters are bland. But you can't deny that Attack on Titan is simply thrilling to watch. The excitement that I get out of watching this anime is unrivalled by practically any other show, and for me, that's what makes Attack on Titan truly special.

[Spoiler Warning]

Prior to season 3, little was known about the origins of the titans, as the previous seasons focused on humanity’s survival in the face of impending doom. While bits and pieces were revealed through the Reiss family history, nothing about the titan’s origins were divulged. Until now! Yet, should we be pleased with these revelations, or disappointed with the paltry character development? Because let’s face it: Attack on Titan’s (AOT’s) characters are terribly written.

Starting with Eren Yeager, he’s gone from being a vengeful edge-lord who was consumed with killing titans at all costs, to a whiny, vengeful edge-lord ... who can’t think beyond his emotions. Rage, sorrow, and regret is his entire range of feelings. Besides his family lineage and transformation into a Titan, he serves no other purpose in the series.

After 2.5 seasons, I still don’t know who Mikasa is besides a cold-hearted, reserved girl who obviously loves Eren (that smile in episode 10, tho). She’s the female version of Levi, a proverbial bad-ass who is all style but no substance. Levi is brutally honest to his comrades and honestly brutal to the Titans. Like Mikasa, his combat skills are nonpareil to cover his overall vacuousness as a character. Also, while AOT built itself up on semi-realistic fights, it became too enamored with making Levi look ‘cool.’ His fight with the beast titan stretched the limits of human physics to the point of comical absurdity.

Erwin is the veritable “go get ‘em” leader with his hardened determination and unwillingness to surrender, despite the circumstances. His laser focus on accomplishing his goals makes him very one-dimensional (CHARGE!). I understand that he was constrained by the rock throwing of the beast titan, but a full-on kamikaze ‘attack’ seemed ill-advised (CHARGE!). Correct me if I’m wrong, but why couldn’t they help capture the armored titan and colossal titan first, then wait for the beast titan inside Wall Maria?—setting up an ambush, if he decided to come. If the horses were lost, who cares! Eren could have turned into a titan and carried his comrades back to Wall Sheena or Wall Rose.

As for Armin, he seemed somewhat relatable, given his initial trepidation and eventual growth as a self-confident strategist. But overall, he came off as extremely plain and ill-explored. Furthermore, due an in-universe plot device (i.e. the titan’s regenerative powers), his ‘sacrifice’ lost all emotional impact; speaking of which, it was humorous when Floch started calling everyone out at the award ceremony for being complicit in Erwin’s death. Dude knew how to rain on everyone’s parade at exactly the worst possible moment. But in all seriousness, it was a contrived rant that felt soap-opera-esque to drum up tension in a jejune final episode.

As for the aforementioned revelations — a primary reason a preponderance of people are watching AOT — they were interesting, but not enough so to counteract the paltry characters. You can only ‘horrify’ the viewer so many times before they become desensitized to it. Moreover, the progressively foreboding tone made the story feel mechanical. A good story needs to have some irrational flexibility, otherwise its contrivances felt forced and theatrical. The introduction of titan lore was fascinating and made sense within the context of the story; however, the overuse of ‘shock and awe’ has made Attack on Titan rather predictable.

While the animation exceeded most expectations, it should be noted that the colossal titan had some jankey aesthetics. The OP was a rehash of "Guren no Yumiya” — a creative block? — and the overall pacing was atrocious. It seemed like whenever the Survey Corps were in a battle, there was a million flashbacks that drag out the proceedings. But if the WWE can have lumbering, slow-witted ‘giants’ string along the audience needlessly for ratings, why can’t Attack on Titan? Quality aside, it certainly brings in the cash! Just understand what you are getting into.

This season of Attack on Titan is known to be one of the best arcs of the whole series (is that really saying much though), but the ones who have decided that is none other than the manga readers. That is the one and only reason why it is rated so highly, especially after the snooze ride of a third season. I will give my opinion as an anime watcher only. I do not care what happens after, this is just my thoughts of the anime so far. MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story 4/10: The story is quite simple, our characters want to rebuild the Wall Maria, ... as a representation that humanity has a chance against the Titans. As another addition, we also have the mysterious basement that has been a question for many since the first season.

Unless you still care for it even after 50 episodes, you will not be finding yourself anything worth your time. There is not much progression, and the anime uses inner monologue, and melodramatic statements of "realism" to its advantage, not letting anything happen just so that they are able to prolong the story further, despite being 10 episodes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Characters 3/10: One of my biggest problems for me. Character development is VERY subtle, which I have seen others comment on. That is not good writing since it happens so suddenly with no actual commitment to making the character look interesting. Actual development should be clear, showing that the character has actually changed for good or bad. Why watch an anime where the characters are not standing out?

The one that currently interested me is Erwin, he has one goal which he is basically willing to sacrifice all of his men to achieve. Eren and his gang of prepubescent children are not showcased for the most part, which can be a blessing for some, but it gives the feeling that there is no main character, no one to be focusing on. He still yells out stupidity with anger like "Do not look down on me", despite being towards the COLOSSAL titan. Does Sasha think it might be hilarious to yell out "Pervert"? Armin seems to be the only one who actually tries to have a brain, but he is a wimp who will always be overthinking everything and will ask himself "Why is everyone dying?" while trying to figure out a plan. Who knows, but supposedly this is so realistic.

When I said melodramatic earlier, I meant the creator of this show tries so hard for the characters to seem realistic, what do I mean by that? The soldiers, yes the ones that should already know that they are risking their lives, have the audacity to start crying their ass out while being attacked, they do not try to move or think for themselves. It is just an opportunity for Erwin to motivate them and seem like a badass. They will always be used as a shock factor, including Marco. He starts crying about "talking it over", when there's a broken window right beside him, did his legs just break or could he not move so that he would be able to at least try to run away? Nope, he has to be eaten in a brutal way. Characters also think if they yell out their thoughts and feelings, we the viewers, will automatically feel sorry for them.

Reiner is the one that angers me the most, he is known to have a double personality, perfect for contradictions in the whole show. Using mental illness as an excuse is the last resort you should use in a character. You can make him indecisive, include his opinion on both sides, and that would work MUCH better. My friend has called him the "Plot-Armored Titan" and I don't have any doubts about that name.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Art 6/10: Not much to complain about here other than the atrocious CGI used in the colossal titan and horses, hopefully, there are a few glorious scenes (like Levi vs Kenny) upcoming.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound 8/10: Perfectly fine, but it reuses the same OST for multiple scenes, losing its value for being a great tune.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoyment 3/10: I am currently enjoying it more than the second and third season because I am hoping for some crazy plot twists. So far though, it makes me glad I am only watching it weekly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall 4/10, TLDR: My only advice to you is to watch it if you have been a fan since Season 1, it has gradually lost quality despite the first one being Shounen as fuck, no excitement other than a few plot twists here and there.

Thanks for reading this far.

English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.

- This review cointains spoilers -

Early in the first season (I don't remember the exact episode), it was stated that the basement of the Yeagers house was pretty important, from that moment, throughout the show we have been given some hints about it's importance and how to get there seems to be vital for mankind; each time stronger, each time louder, there has been a lot of talk around it, more and more things pointed out toward this basement, and after two and a ... half seasons, they're finally there... or well, almost there.

This (half) season begins with the Scouting Legion going to get back the Wall Maria, in a desperate effort, they go with everything they have against the titans inside the wall, the plan is to return to Shiganshina as fast as posible, there they'll stablish a cordon in order to defense the district, so Eren and company can get to the basement and reveal what has been the hope for mankind since the battle in Trost; simple in the theory, a huge chaos in the practice. Shingeki no Kyojin is know for its long battle sequences, taking a detailed look at the events and the impact that these have in the results of each fight; it seems that this whole (half) season will be like this: a long battle in which the fate of the humanity is put in danger again.

One of the most attractive characteristics from this series is its dystopian setting, it's hard to imagine the world worst than how it already is, and eventually it get worst in some way: the titans destroy one of the walls, the titan are trying to destroy one wall more, there are titans infiltrated within the walls, everything has been product of a conspiracy, the titans seems to always have been humans transformed, etcetera; but there's always a hope element which contrast this hopeless atmosphere, most of the times being about Eren and his titan form, which finally helps to bring mankind some victories against their hunters, for a huge price, but something worthy of it. That narrative structure based on contrast is extremely strong here, the premise of the season is based on the idea that whatever be there it will be worthy of risking the strongest soldiers of humanity, that the benefit will be bigger than the cost, but at the end of the first episode this idea is diluted by the strategic movements of the titans, which makes seeming that everything has already been lost; this structure is repeated once and once again through these four episodes, but as it's used properly, it doesn't feel repetitive, it helps to emphasize the weigth of the plot in its stead, or well, till the moment in which Berthold appears and transforms in the Colossal Titan, from this point, the show takes a much more hopeless mood, the things are not going good for them and the chaos seems to have taken control of the situation, each step forward gets closer to be the latest; this reaffirm the setting of this as the most cruel (half) season of the show, where hope seems to disappear and the life of each member can't be guaranteed, where the fight will be for everything or nothing.
Another attractive aspect from this (half) season is its focus on characters, the series has always been focused on how the characters decisions affect the story, giving itself the opportunity to explore their inner conflicts sometimes, this time it's balanced between this two approachments: it's showed how the actions they take move the story to one or other side, but it's also showed the convictions and motivations behind those actions, and how those are questioned in middle of all the chaotic situations; we have a more personal perspective of each character for comprehend better their emotional states and how they're led by them.

In the technical side, Wit has maintained the quality standard we're used to see in this series, and althoguh the CGI Colossal Titan is pretty distracting, the art work is outstanding as ever. The work of the seiyuus is top-notch as we have seen through the other two and a half seasons; the music is still very good even if is not as epic as it was in previous seasons, it fits with each scene and provides them with more emotional power one piece at a time; but in the other hand we have the ending and the opening, which are a big step backward: the ending isn't bad, it's has a melancholic tone and it's mainly composed by piano, but the opening is like a missed mixture of the previous openings.

It has been said till tiredness that this is the best arc from manga, that this will be revolutionary and that all the journey through the story is rewarded here; and I think those staying that are right, at least until this fourth episode, this (half) season seems to be a great climax built from all the previous arcs, it seems that this is the big bet of the show, and honestly, I'm really pleased with it.

After years and years of foreshadowing, teasing and promising great things, Attack on Titan is back and ready to reveal its mysteries. Was it worth the wait though?

*This review will mention parts of season 1 and season 3. It will contain spoilers for the whole show*

I remember the times when I was excited for a new Attack on Titan episode. There were problems back then too, sure, but I was able to enjoy it regardless. That is because for everything I watch there is a limit to the bs I can take. I know this is a review for season 3 part 2, but some ... problems are so big they can ruin the experience of watching the whole franchise. The last season of Game of Thrones is proof of that. So, what am I talking about?

The first example is way back in season 1 when the show tricked us into thinking it was about the unlikely survival of humans vs giant mindless zombies. Then Eren turned into a titan and it turned into a standard shounen where the MC is special and has a hidden power. "Ok, whatever, it could have been great, but I guess this is how it is now" I said to myself as I accepted this new standard. The second example is in season 3 part 1 when they revealed that the reason people inside the walls don't know anything is the massive MIND WIPE made by some titan power or whatever. This is very lazy writing, only written because the author didn't know what to do with the cards he already layed out on the table. DO. NOT. MIX. MAGIC. AND. MYSTERY. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying it's hard to do properly. Take death note for example, there is a magic notebook that kills anyone as long as you have their name. There were rules set at the start, and while new rules were added later it doesn't matter because the mystery only exists in the show. We, as the audience, know everything, the mystery is there for the characters. We get to watch them figure it out. Meanwhile, in AoT the story is constantly baiting you into getting curious about what happens next and then treating you like and idiot for not figuring out the new magic trick the author cooked up.
To summarize this paragraph: in a mystery show, you shouldn't suddenly reveal crucial story elements to solve the riddles. Every plot element should be revealed early in the story and the viewer should have the chance to figure it out by gathering information laid out by the author or just make it an in-series mystery like Death note. That's how you make a good mystery.

The reason I talked about all this is because it's very relevant to season 3 part 2. We finally got answers for what's in the basement, but at what cost? Surprisingly enough, all of the reveals make sense if you accept what has happened in season 3. As you already read in the last paragraph, I don't accept it. In spite of that, I will give props to the author for not making up even more BS on the reveal. However, the reveal itself was done in a lazy way with a flashback of 2 people sitting in a chair and info-dumping years of foreshadowing. Not to mention it's extremely convoluted, so much to a point that a friend who read the manga had to explain every detail of it for twenty minutes to me and my friends (who are anime-onlys) to understand it. Chalk it up to the three of us being stupid, but nobody got it right away. Additionally, memories can travel through time now and Eren gets memories handed to him when he touches Historia's hand. What a cheap way to reveal information, it's just more proof that magic has no place in a mystery show. The author can add whatever he feels like to the story and it doesn't need to make sense because it's magic.

Not only are crucial elements of the mystery made up on the spot, other easily avoidable things are aswell. I will showcase a few examples: the hand-missile thingys used vs Reiner. They seem to be very effective at taking down the armored titan, but why weren't they used vs regular titans years prior? And why do they work in the first place when they clearly showed us in the 1st season that cannons have very little effect vs titans because of their regeneration powers? Going in melee range vs a titan seems like an inferior idea than to just blind-them with hand-missiles and then slice them. You can call it new technology, I call it convenient. Another convenient thing is the "Titans can live for 13 years" rule. I don't have a problem with the rule itself, just the way it was implemented. The author couldn't think of a natural way to justify Owl giving Grisha the titan power so he made it easy for himself and just made Owl die from the convenient curse. Furthermore, he didn't know what to do with the regular titans anymore so he just made them dissapear. Just like that, with one sentence. "We cleared them all out in one year" says Levi. I can't think of a more lazy way to do this. It's annoying to watch a show that tries to cut corners at every turn.

The action in this show is bad. The strategies, the animation, the character power levels and the payoffs. Ok, maybe the animation isn't bad, it's just worse than season 1. There are noticable animation inconsistencies in almost every episode. Most of it is decent though, but we don't come to Attack on Titan for just decent animation, do we? At least it's not the disaster that was season 3 part 1, where they blew all the budget on one sakuga scene and then the rest of the season looked ass. Everybody knows about CGI colossal titan, so I won't spend any more time on this.

The strategies are mega bad though, at least from the good guys. Let me start off with the positive, I like how the beast titan just stood far away, out of everybody's reach, throwing massive boulders. That was smart, he didn't put himself in danger, he didn't "get cocky" as anime villains tend to do. He even set up titans around the whole area so the good guys can't escape. Very smart play, bravo! The good guys, however, oh boy... So the plan is to jump from titan to titan to get to the main bad guy and solo him. Am I the only one that finds this 99% impossible and extremely idiotic? Not to mention they risked EVERYONE'S lives for this. Let me break down why everything is wrong with this: first off, the terrain. I remember in season 1 characters used to make comments about how they couldn't traverse an area because they didn't have any buildings to hook onto. Now that restriction is completely broken since apparently titans are a viable source of movement. If you hooked onto a titan before, you better hope you deal the killing blow or else you'd become a delicious snack. Instead of this, we have robot titans that stand in place and don't do a god damn thing even though they are SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING OUT FOR HUMANS AND EASILY SPOT LEVI. They don't even have to fight him, they can just move out of the way and the whole plan is ruined. And what better way to present this than not to show it on screen at all... I'm not even being ironic here, there isn't any possible way to portray this scene without showing how flawed the strategy is. Realistically, even if somehow this whole situation didn't fail miserably, the beast titan could just see Levi jumping across the titans. I know they rode out and died just to cover levi with smoke, I only have a problem with the presentation of this scene. It looks like the soldiers shot smoke vertically in the air just to distract the titan and not to cover Levi. If this is really what they were going for, that makes the good guy strategy even more impossible than it already was, and the beast titan should get glasses. Pick your poison.

The fights against armored and colossal titan were also a disaster. Reiner should have been killed several times. Apparently laying on the ground and covering your neck is a good idea, especially when the enemy displays their strong explosion weapons. And, of course, the good guys "can't finish him off" because using more explosions to blow up the rest of his head or hands is too much work. Furthermore, everybody prefers talking about killing reiner than actually killing him. This is another presentation problem, Reiner is on his knees with a blown up face and neck, but nobody does anything even though they could. You don't have to tell me it's better presented in the manga, because I believe you. About the colossal titan fight, we see another example of bad strategies. So their plan is: Armin jumps in like an idiot and distracts Bertholdt while Eren sneaks behind and surprises him. That's it. Question: why doesn't Bertholdt just squish or punch Armin and be done with it? Why does he start emitting steam to make himself vunerable when he's a 60 meter titan fighting a single human? Because of the plot, that's why. The ONLY reason the plan succeeded was because Bertholdt literally locked himself in place for no reason. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Every time the good guys win, it is because the enemy made a mistake, therefore it feels cheap. Mistakes can happen, sure, but they shouldn't happen on a basic level. The mistake should be a flaw in someone's strategy and not, for example, forgetting to reload your weapon.

On to the characters, most of them are the same as they were before. Bland and not really anything special. Eren used to be angry, saw the world black and white, "Kill all titans!" (a.k.a. a stereotype). Now he is more pathetic, whiny and blames everything on himself (a.k.a. a stereotype). He just shifted the most common MC personalities and he doesn't do anything. Most of his actions are directly controlled by the plot, he rarely reaches conclusions himself, and when he does, they are mostly worthless. Armin stopped being so whiny, which is always a plus. He is still, however, a pretty basic character. They tried to give him some significance by making him the leader, but this is meaningless since it keeps being forced onto him even though it looks like he doesn't want it. He did have the will to sacrifice himself, so he is a bit better than before. Mikasa is the worst one. All she ever does it cling onto f*cking Eren. Eren Eren Eren Eren, only Eren. None of the decisions are her own, she isn't even worthy of being called a character in my eyes. You would think she would mature over the years, but nope, always the same. It's a shame, since she could have been a great character. Now she is even worse than Asuna from SAO. Levi is the same, but more overpowered. The whole beast titan strategy wouldn't even work if levi wasn't so unreasonably strong. None of the other chacacters even come close. It would be fine if he was smarter than everyone else, but he has superhuman capabilties at this point. What he is able to do undermines the threat and fear of the titans. Erwin was my favorite character and he's dead now. He became very dumb before his death, thinking Armin is more valuable than himself for the purpose of survival. Either that, or he didn't want to become a titan, in which case I guess he didn't care about humanity after all.

The plot armor: It didn't diminish, it multiplied. I hate it when every single conflict ends with a draw, and it's not only plaguing Attack on Titan, it's very common in many other anime. Even though I already talked about some, I will put all of the plot armor instances from these 10 episodes here in one place, just so it's easy to see how many there is. Reiner when he's on his knees. Why not finish him off? Because the plot still needs him. Armin when he's burned by the colossal titan. Why didn't he die? Because the plot needed him for the Eren vs Levi conflict scene. This also applies to Erwin for surviving that long with his wound, although it's not that big of a deal since it's much more believable. The beast titan when levi captured him. Why did he manage to escape? Because apparently smoke OP, it's totally impossible to hear that sneaky titan coming to save him! Let's forget that Levi has just solo killed like 50 titans AND beaten the beast titan. But Levi needs to not hear right now, because the plot still needs the beast titan to survive. Reiner. Again. Just like the beast titan, he got snatched by the fast one. And once again, impossible to hear him in a city full of crumbling houses. This was such an eye roll. I also hate it when every time they capture an enemy titan, instead of killing him, they want to "question him". This is fine from the characters perspective, however, every time they mention it, I instantly look around at who is going to save them. And lo and behold, they get saved every single time. Because of all this plot armor, the world starts to lack consequence and fights become meaningless.

I didn't pay much attention to the sound, I just noticed it was misplaced sometimes. Animation and sound problems don't bother me usually, unless they are awful. The first time I heard the opening it sounded like a worse version of the first opening. Over time it grew on me and I see it has some differences that give it its own flavor. It's no SASAGEYO, but it's nice.

In conclusion, Attack on Titan is a story with lots of minor and major problems. The author always puts himself in a corner and then introduces new elements in the same episode they are needed to get him out. Mysteries are resolved by magic tricks and asspulls. You can't even turn your brain off to enjoy the action because the strategies are extremely flawed any rely on enemies making basic mistakes. Characters never change in any meaningful way. The sound and animation are decent but not good enough for Attack on Titan standards. That's it, don't tell me that the manga is better because this is not a manga review, I'm rating the anime only.

Segura essa review goodtaste:
Erwin starts the show being the best character ever made in anime industry, he is smart, strong, beautiful, and with devotion with devotion!
The narrative is so deep that i can even describle, the coffee is the best foreshadowing that i see, and builds that world with maestry, nothing less expected of the master Hajime Isayama, the tension and the hype of ''pan pan pan'' soundtrack is such epic, i can't describle too.
To finish i would like to put, shingeki is my favorite anime of all time because is just so realistic and mature to be considered ''shounen'' anime to ''young boys''.

Kino. Pure, undiluted, unsatured, unconfined kinomatographique. Shingeki no Kyojin, or Shingeki no Kino as I like to call it, is what comes up when you combine kino art, with kino story, with kino music. This anime feels like it's been the work of Spielberg, Eastwood, Nolan and Tarantino combined.

Story 10/10
As I've already caught up with chapter 117, I'm not gonna spoil this a lot. This season is about Erwin, Eren and Armin, really. Erwin coming to terms with his fate, Eren pushing forward, and Armin, well, you'll see. Eren continues his eternal quest for freedom and revenge, through ending his enemies, titan or human. You ... can not stop this testosterone fueled beast, this Titan of Freedom. He can not be stopped even if you'd like to stop him. That man sees one goal and one goal only, freedom, and no one is about to stop his from achieving it. A bit closer to freedom by every minute, chapter and episode.

Art 10/10
WiT Studio gathered the best of the industry and told them "I want kino on screens. Nothing but pure kino, perfect lines and perfect colors. I want to fear for my life when I watch Shingeki no Kino."
And they delivered.

Sound 10/10
Hiroyuki "The Sound of Kino" Sawano is the man behind the greatness of this show, alongside Kaji and Isayama. YouSeeBigGirl, Call of Silence, and so many others elevate amazing moments to new heights. Linked Horizon is doing openings again. While the opinion is split on the newest opening, I have a firm one. Only an individual who read the manga, boasting an IQ of 130 and above can understand it's greatness. From the subtle hints of Marley, to the Shingashina Return spoilers, to the bits from every single opening depicting revenge, wings of freedom and fight, it's absolutely amazing. Voice Actors wise, we have Eren's VA, Kaji at the helm, which is so good, the writer of the manga based the character on him.

Character 10/10
My favorite part. It's just believable. Kid lost a mother, friends and everything else because of titans. What's he gonna do? Make friends and use power of friendship? Understand the other side and create peace? Nope. The only solution is pure, 100% genocide. No kiddy shit, there is only one real choice. We watch this cast through perils, and rarely, happy moments. No cringy stuff like romance, so if you're looking for that, stick with whatever seasonal trash is airing currently.

Enjoyment 10/10
It's hype. Pure hype. Unexpected, amazing, twists make sense. I don't want to spoil stuff, but man, you REALLY should be looking forward to the end of this arc, because this 10/10 anime turns into an 11/10 anime by the end. I for one welcome our new free overlord.

Overall kino/kino

Nothing else to say. It's the peak of the medium and nothing else in the history of story writing every came close to it.

Attack on Titan, the franchise that made a huge impact in the anime industry once again proves itself capable of carrying the torch. Before watching this part 2, I confess that the announcement of 10 episodes was slightly worrying. I approached this season with a bit of trepidation even with some of the jaw dropping cinematic trailers. Truth to be told, Attack on Titan has a lost some hype over the years but still manages to maintain a strong fan base. It’s for that reason and its many successes that we’re getting part 2.

At its most fundamental level, Attack on Titan has been a ... show about survival, dark fantasy, and action-adventure filled with mystery that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. Author Hajime Isayama’s work has achieved an international level success with over 90 million copies of the manga sold. Such an achievement is something few manga artists could ever reach. The franchise shares some similar elements in post-apocalyptic worlds such as Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Seraph of the End, God Eater, and among others. The real question fans should be asking themselves is if 10 episodes can be enough to make Attack on Titan stand out again as a blockbuster this year.

To be fair, the Season 3's part 1 didn’t exactly earn its praise when we’re talking about pure action. There’s instead a lot of exposition and background storytelling of the past. From the start, Part 2 immediately builds off from the previous events and puts mankind to test. We got a homecoming of the main characters as they promise to take back what was there’s. The missions puts the characters’ lives at major risk considering the powers of their adversaries, specifically the Titan shifters. With enemies like Zeke, Reiner, and Bertholdt, there’s no doubt our heroes would have a mountain to climb. More so, this season also tests how much secrets they will discover. If you remember, there’s the secret basement that everyone is curious about. This season explores the dark secrets of what lies there and may draw a surprise or two out of you.

In another way, Attack on Titan has an interesting pacing. We get a balanced amount of action, psychological drama, background storytelling, exposition, and characterization. The action itself is fast and furious with a heavy dose of psychology poured in during the missions. In several particular episodes, characters shows fear when they realize how fragile their lives are. A clear example is when the Beast Titan attacks the troops by throwing boulders like a rocket. Humanity takes heavy damage and some begins to even break down mentally. Another prominent example is Bertholdt this season who shows character change during the Battle of Shiganshina. His personality changes from a weak minded quiet person to a cold and determined individual. However, he still has traces of humanity left when we see his reactions in the past when Marco died or before moments of his own death. It’s what makes Attack on Titan feel so real times. The amount of human emotions that we see during characters’ final moments communicates the cruelty of their world.

Isayama realized that he wanted the audience to experience and understand the world of Attack on Titan. It uses a clever device of extensive background storytelling through the eyes of important characters such as Eren’s father. Many anime that I’ve seen sometimes jumps all over the place and loses its direction. What makes Attack on Titan’s background storytelling works so well is how events tell more than a story. It has a meaningful purpose and always stays true to its themes. In addition, background storytelling reveals many secrets that the audience wants to see. If you’re an anime only viewer, this can be a thrill to see how much you’ve gotten right or wrong from previous theories. The characters from the past also holds important purpose for the overall flow of the plot. Make no mistake, Grisha Jaeger’s basement is like goldmine for Internet sleuths. What lies down there are unlocked secrets just waiting to be opened.

And if you remember, character relationships in the show is ever so important since the beginning. From the day Eren, Mikasa, and Armin became close friends, they’ve always looked out after another. Because of relationships, character decisions also play a big role in certain outcomes. Without spoilers, I will say that a certain someone undergoes a huge change during the Battle of Shiganshina. Having seeing the amount of plot developments in this franchise, it may be easy to say that some events can be predictable. Perhaps they are but as a dark fantasy with survival themes, decisions often have huge plot outcomes that influences the past, present, and future. Attack on Titan’s character decisions and relationships remain adamant to not lose its importance.

Even at 10 episodes, Attack on Titan continues to prove itself as one of the most iconic anime franchises of this generation. From a spellbinding story to an extravagant character cast, the show cleverly adapts with changes and development. Every episode is important that expands its overall themes and world fiction. Someday when this franchise ends, it will be history in the making. And I hope I’m there to see it.

Personally, I believe the art, sounds and music of every SnK season were amazing. However, there were a few specific episodes/scenes in Part 1 that desperately lacked background music and weren't as immersive as in the previous episodes/seasons.

Nevertheless, I still believe Part 1 was great although it would've been closer to a 10/10 with these small fixes.
Season 1 was masterful, season 2 was great.. and so was Season 3 Part 1 (after rewatching the season and initially disliking the direction the story took, I believe I misjudged at first).

Anyhow, while Part 2 didn't end yet.. It's amazing so far, chaotic and full of interesting points ... going for it.
I hope they keep it up to make such a great series' continuation truly great because so far so good! :)

Edit:
Point still stands after finishing the season! :)

I do not think I can ever give a 10/10 as quickly as I can for Part 2 of Season 3 of Attack on Titan. It has set the new standard for adaptations. Isayama's master storytelling, the exquisite soundtrack by Sawano, the emotional tight rope the studio had us walk throughout, the sweat-inducing action, and the perfection of the voice cast. Everything in this season has been fine tuned, and the end result is one of the greatest animated feats that I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

I have read the manga up to its most current chapter as of this review, but ... this review will be largely spoiler-free for both anime and manga viewers.

Part 2 of season 3 is the culmination of everything that the previous seasons, over all these years, had been building up towards. The answers that the cast, and the viewers/readers had been (sometimes) patiently waiting for finally came to light. The origins of the titans, the battle for Shiganshina district, the basement, Eren's family, all of these reveals were foreshadowed absolutely perfectly by Isayama over his entire run on the manga and he somehow used the anime to fine tune those reveals even more so into the masterpiece presented here.

The characters themselves are extremely well done by the VA's and Studio WiT, no one character is an afterthought. Traits, habits, facial expressions and personalities are exquisitely captured at the moment a character is on screen. No one eyebrow raise or smirk should be ignored. The seriousness of combat and massacre is engraved onto the faces and hearts of everyone involved, hysterics, escaping into themselves, or marching forward through the destruction they have witnessed. All the characters present are so incredibly well crafted that by the end of the season, we feel that they truly are HUMAN.

Words honestly cannot describe how well done Sayano's OST has been for this season. Every piece was carefully selected, created, or remixed for particular scenes. The emotion evoked at even the final scene of the final episode is made 10 times more powerful by the incredible work done by the composer. An exemplary case of composition throughout the entire series, nothing more needs to be said.

Part 1 of Season 3 left a high standard for many with it's streamlining of what many (Even the author himself) felt was the weakest part of the story. Between Studio WiT and Isayama they were able to raise the bar and create an excellent build up for one of the most anticipated arcs in the entire story. Somehow, someway, EVEN THOUGH I knew what would happen, the build up could not have prepared this reviewer for how well Part 2 was executed.

Studio WiT has absolutely, without any doubt, created one of the greatest arcs in animation. I wish I could thank them and Isayama for giving this to us.

10/10, an absolute masterpiece and a pleasure to have experienced from day 1.
Now the real story can begin.

This is a review up till episode 5 of season 3 part 2.
*Not really spoilers but I'm going to talk about episode in 5 in general without referring to scenes*

Im sorry but after watching episode 5, you have to concede that despite all the general hype of the show and people talking down on it due to it becoming so mainstream, that this show is a godamn masterpiece. Episode 5 brilliantly manages to intertwine all the character's arcs leading up to this episode. Unlike shitty GOT, this show executes a climax to its peak potential rather than leaving the audience disappointed and expecting more.

I know ... my review is mainly based around episode 5 but if you haven't watched the show, you really should, even if its just to be able to experience episode 5 to its fullest. As this acts as the zenith of what living up to its hype means. With the show masterfully get you to sympathize with all the characters, despite the moral ambiguities and flaws, you still root for the characters. And the animation perfectly supplements and further exemplifies the brilliance of the show through the fight choreography.

Also I forgot to mention, f*** me, I'm by no means gay, but after episode 5 Levi is the closest thing I've had to getting a boner from a dude.

In summary. Watch the show

From a long time i've been following this foro in multiple animes without an account, but today's episode was /'that'/ impresive.

Honestly, i wasn't sure that they were going to pull off such a memorable episode. It's hard to make an episode to be able to capture a part of what it really may have felt 'the realizing of their certain death', the girl throwing up, that guy in total shock asking the obvious question 'are we gonna die?', the dispair is palpable.

This Studio did it perfectly, the soundtrack chosen by them, the single tone, was perfect to make us feel the increasing stress in ... the air....Yes, palpable hopelessness, knowing bloody well they were going to die. Desperation, knowing that the more experienced and real Survey Corps soldiers died in a single shot, and they are next. Erwin's motivation and such a conviction, "we are all gonna die anyways, so give it a meaning, give everything in front of your dead comrades, because they gave everything as well for the livings". Hell, fighting is the only way to rebel against the cruelty of this world eh? Erwin, well you certainly did it until the very end.

This is the arc I think a lot of people were waiting for. The one with lots of answers. Seen folks complain for years about all the questions introduced with no immediate answers and I've seen endless memes about Eren never getting to that basement. Well we're here, we made it all the way to the sea even. But that's not enough. I think that's what Eren means at the end there, that they thought the sea would grant them freedom but in they search for freedom they only discovered that there's so much more out there. Like finally opening a door and then seeing ... a giant room in the other side. Heavy dose of perspective. It's not as simple as getting to the sea. There's so much more even beyond all we just saw.

Took them a year since Trost and six since Bertholdt and Reiner blew that hole in the wall, along with the heaviest road anyone could walk down, to get those answers. This season has some incredible moments. The Return to Shinganshina arc is pretty much pure hype. So many emotional moments in that battle. Erwin going out like the boss he is, your soldiers absolutely rage and fight commander. His speech about the living carrying on the will of the dead and trusting those we leave behind to fulfill our dreams is iconic. The man knew how to inspire. Armin sacrificing himself, only to come right back but still, his stand against Bertholdt is godly. Holding on for them, so they could see the ocean. Levi with his slice and dice of Zeke then having to make that hard call between the two. Levi gone through so much to have to sit there and choose like that. Then to just get ridiculed by Flosch of all people. Spinless bastard.

The basements secrets were the real treat of course. Humanity did not perish. Reading those words as I said before opens that door to a much bigger world. There's so much out there they don't know about. Eren finally tapping into his fathers memories opens even more. The plight of the Eldian people is a tragic one. Heavy symbolism to German Jews but used in a way that's sensitive to that pain too. Grisha's story rivals the main characters own in terms of just getting fucked over and over again. The man went through so much himself. Trying to use the Restorationists and Zeke ultimately blowing up in their face in such a cruel way. Zeke with his mother's lineage then connecting to Eren too. Grisha started this like Kruger said. His own speech on the wall deserving praise. You have to fight you have to get up and keep moving. Otherwise all the sacrifices people made for you would be for nothing. The actions we take have a cost, and they will get paid. It's our job to make sure they don't continue in the cycle of pain and suffering. It has to end.

Speaking about the production for a second the beginning did look rough. Eren vs Reiner and through the first three or four episodes was iffy ngl. Some moments were like wha. But, that being said all the later big moments to me looked incredible. The visual imagery and the action scenes, especially the slice and dice, were jaw dropping in some cases. Simply outstanding stretch for the second half. They soundtrack of course soared. Sawano knows how to inject that stuff into you and its one I now listen to often.

Overall this season was one as a manga reared I'd waited a while to see come to the screen and for a high majority I was not let down. So much has been answered and so many new questions raised. What Isayama did with this arc was completely flip Titan on its head. Took everything we've seen thus far and put it into it's true context. The venir has been lifted. They've reached the sea. The world is their enemy. Time to see what's beyond that sea.

Final Season hype!!! It's gonna be a sight to behold. The last two arcs ramp up the reveals and the insanity and the spectacle of it while keeping those engaging questions and character moments. Going to be a long wait but once we get there, be ready.

Despite and misgivings I may have this season is still the best to me. Titan has always been engaging narrative about humanity and survival but this arc brings to light the hidden meaning of it all. It's a true achievement in writing to be able to do something like this. 10/10.

I feel bad for people who dropped this show.

It’s been a long time coming, and with season 3 part 2 we’re finally at the part of the story where everything starts to fall into place, and the Attack on Titan that’s just action—terror—exposition/mystery—action is long behind us. People still like to pretend that it’s bad, or it somehow started badly… I get it, presenting so many unanswered questions and “random” twists for so long can start to look like bad writing… but it never was. Not when it’s become what is now.

The point is that none, absolutely none of Attack on Titan’s ... mysteries, questions, and reveals are pointless random twists. Each of them has untold relevance that may take a while to be understood, but have unbelievable payoff. The basement was never the endgame; but it was also never the unreachable, stalling tactic so many claimed it to be. My friend once said, and I quote verbatim, “This shit will go on forever. They will never get to that basement.”

Well, we’re here.

Humanity is closer to the truth than they’ve ever been, but the Titans won’t stop until no one is left to take a peek. There is, and has been, an anti-humanity undercurrent our heroes don’t know much about, and even with the advent knowledge of the Reiss family from last season, the scouts are only barely closer to the dangling sack in front of them. Always chasing, never winning.

That is… until the sack comes off.

This is the perfect tool for tension because not only are there true, effective answers behind the story’s mysteries, but they’re utilized in a way that leaves humanity constantly in the dark of the most crucial details. That alone is enough to keep the viewer engaged, but it’s because these mysteries have real answers that our heroes and their world develop into something removed from nonsense. This factors into the story’s themes of triumph over despair; the creation of the thunder spears, keeping the horses on the other side of the wall, playing off of the enemy’s motives… all of these are examples of the ability to adapt and overcome.

And then… we learn it’s deeper than that. It’s darker than that. Humanity’s terrifying ability to be sinister, be cruel, be violent and misguided, can be weaponized in more ways than just the power of the Titans. There’s a point to this struggle. There’s a reason humanity within the walls are in the dark, a reason that is a plea to the human condition. It may be shocking at first… but like all mysteries in Attack on Titan, there’s more to see.

This story, more than anything else, proves that sometimes what a series needs is time. It’s written in such a way that it begins with high-octane violence, somewhat flat characters, unsolved enigmas; and slowly answers those mysteries while developing its characters, its world, and its message by giving MEANING to its violence and showing (not telling) consequence. More things have relevance than we would have thought; little things like lines spoken in passing, background suggestions, numbers and images; they all play a part in crafting the bigger picture.

Attack on Titan was never the show where “anyone could die.” It was the show that gave purpose to sacrifice. Bloodshed itself may not be nuanced, but the anime’s themes definitely are.

The emotional effectiveness of the story, whether you’re invested or not (and by now, I’d say there’s a good chance you are), is nearly unparalleled. The voice acting this time around, especially around episode six and ten, is so well delivered it would likely put a die-hard fan to the test in holding back their emotions.

I’m sure the animation would be better without the uncomfortable CG Colossal Titan and horses and roof shingles (lol), and while I’d like to say it’s a non-issue because bad elements of the visuals will likely be re-done for the Blu-Rays, that doesn’t mean I didn’t have to suffer through Armin and Eren shifting animation styles, the strangely awful linework of some frames, and of course the gingerbread men on the roof at the end of episode five.

The score is, as always, a fantastic bit of composition, though sometimes awkwardly placed, I guess. The opening scene of episode 2 comes to mind; where Levi walks up to Erwin and the “APETITAN” theme is playing above his awkwardly loud and prominent footsteps. That being said, there are plenty of scenes where it’s not poorly done; episode seven’s after-credits scene, the basement reveal itself, etc.

AND THOSE EXPLOSIONS DID YOU SEE THOSE EXPLOSIONS? Episode three (literally) blew it out of the water. And the opening! A near-medley of all the themes beforehand, displayed over a wonderfully stylized bout of rainbow blood splatters to border-in credits, flash-frames of where it all began, slowed-down captures of 2D action in 3 dimensions, and images that harken back to previous openings. Contrast that with the somber ending theme (with frames of WHEN it all began, in basic training) and you’ve got something borderline bookended.

I have one more thing to say before we move on to the final verdict. There’s a reason this opening is the fastest, loudest, compile-y-ist it’s ever been. Because after this season, the show will change. It won’t ever be the same Attack on Titan everyone knows as the swordsmen in green capes zipping around giant naked people. It’s going to be something greater. The narrative up to that point is a necessary part of this story’s foundation, and once we get there you’ll see just how good it can get.

It’s like poetry, man. It rhymes.

But for now, this is what we have. And when we see the rest… well… there’s only one score greater than 9.

---
tl;dr
---
PROS:
- Plot developments (like mysteries and tension) have immeasurable payoff.
- Characters 50+ episodes in the making have been built into complex people with motives and altered worldviews (This goes for nearly all of the cast).
- The story, while engaging since day one, has finally gotten around to proving it wasn’t just wandering around in pointlessness. Themes are nuanced and concise, with a thorough and developed writing style.
- Voice performance is shockingly good.
- Music is fantastic.
- ANO HI JINRUI WA OMOIDASHITA
MIXED:
- Animation is either stellar or awful, with a few dips into CG. Direction is creative (Armin’s conversation with Eren, explosions, the opening sequence, etc.) but sometimes slow or downright inconsistent, with many instances of awkward linework and shaping.
- Sound design is occasionally questionable.
- I believe taking time to stew plot is a good thing, but it’s clear many viewers don’t agree with me. If you don’t want to wait more than 50 episodes for answers maybe you should look elsewhere for action and thrills, especially when those traits are increasingly overshadowed by story.
- The story’s true conflict is finally given context, and a lot of this context can be read very politically. You’ve been warned if this is not your thing, but I might also remind you to use your brain and think through what the story is actually trying to say before dipping out.
- The “twist” changes the story’s genre so dramatically that, going forward, it looks almost nothing like it used to. I believe it gives the story maturity; others may not.
CONS:
- ???

The inevitable 2, 3, or maybe even 1/10 review that makes it up on the top four will be where you can go to find your cons because I don’t see any. Trust me when I tell you the only reason to dislike this show is to try to look cool.

Humanity! We’re here. Honorable and brave, your sacrifice of waiting for six whole years has not been in vain, and we’ve taken a valuable step toward true victory!

Was it worth it?

Well…

I think the waves rushing over my feet is enough of an answer. And I hope all of you are standing with me. Because there’s more to see.

*points out to sea*

Is that where our story continues?

The Basement guys... My head was never that mindfucked... (Story)

RTS Arc is just perfect, end of story.

The music is as always OUTSTANDING.

Character development is cleary noticable and very well written. Especially Mikasa and her Squad.

What I also really like are the flash backs and also how the scenes are switching, pure professional work there.

... Enjoyment is cleary the best its just epic to watch this whole show.
The animations are by far one of the best (best example episode 17)
And japanese voice actors were on their very best in episode 18, its just unbelievable.

In my opinion the best series ever made.

*minor spoilers*
What makes a classic? Something that represents quality. Something that is unique, but nostalgic. Something that you can revisit multiple times, and discover something new every. single. time. Is Attack on Titan the modern anime classic that we've all been seeking? Will it stand the test of time? Who knows and, in all honesty, who cares.
To me, Attack on Titan is a classic because it is a masterpiece that's high-quality animation, storytelling, characters, and sound brings most works to shame, especially with Season 3 Part 2.

This story started with a boy craving revenge against what seemed like humanity's greatest enemy: the titans who ... trashed his hometown. But Hajime Isayama has been trying to tell us this whole time that this story was something so much more complex than that. Are the titans really the enemy or are people their own enemies? Part 2 of this season changes the pace of the whole story and gives us a whole new perspective on the titans.

'On that day, mankind received a grim reminder. We lived in fear of the Titans and were disgraced to live in these cages we called walls.'

While the opening line of this series still stands true to every character, we now see what that means to each of them. What is means to Erwin, to Levi, to Eren, to Reiner and Bertholdt, even to random members of the Survey Corps. The line carries the emotions, hopes, dreams, and ambitions of every character in the series. We are able to easily follow the story and care for each of these characters because of how well the story was built up right from the start. This season was satisfying and exhilarating to many because of how all that built up suspense was released in a single episode with the revelation of the secret in the basement and Grisha's story. Every scene and episode rewards us with another piece of the puzzle. However, even with all the pieces we have been given, we continue to guess at what is to come. The writer balances suspense and anticipation perfectly with reward, and because of that, the series is crazy enjoyable.

And do I even need to mention how perfectly the OSTs fit with each scene. Hiroyuki Sawano is a GOD and a master at sound tracks, but credit also goes to the studio for knowing exactly where to place every track and also where NOT to put music. Some scenes were perfect because of their lack of music which created a certain eeriness and made the scene seem more realistic.

The art really completed the series. The Wit Studio's animation of Levi vs. the Beast Titan laughs in the face of every other studio's works and that is an irrefutable fact. Everything from the very birds and the sky to the hair on the titan's head displays the insane level of animation. I'm not great with words but holy shit its good. I don't even need to say anything.

Is Attack on Titan a classic? Well it depends on your own definition of a classic. My score of 10 for this anime and this review don't even begin to show the impact this anime has had on the way I view every medium of art or the irreplaceable experience I've gained. Watch it and you tell me if its your classic, because it sure is mine.