This is my first review so please spare me if there are gramatical errors or if you think of me as an elitist.
Attack on Titan has been one of the most influential anime and for a good reason. It has got adrenaline pumping action sequences, suspenseful story, dark and terrifying titans, etc. But that was the case before season 3 part 2 came out. The basement mystery was finally revealed after the build up of 7 long years. And the show suddenly switched gears from Humans Vs Titans to Humans Vs Humans. When I first watched it in 2019, I thought it was the greatest
...
story of all time only to later realize its major flaws after rewatching it in 2021.
Spoilers obviously:-
First of all lets talk about the positives:
1. The writing style of Isayama still makes Attack on titan as riveting as ever. From character's motives and the lore of the world to some of the major plot points, everything has a certain mystery surrounding it which slowly unveals itself. The way Isayama adds a certain layer of mystery to everything and uses non-linear structure makes the series really engaging.
2. The grand themes the narrative tries to present are executed brilliantly through some character's ideals and some of the events in the story.
3. Eren has been a great character this season due the depth and motives he has as a character.
4. The color grading is able to create a very serious and brooding atmosphere.
5. Soundtracks are great and amplify the scene to a certain extent.
6. Strong Direction creates great moments.
7. Great performance by every Voice Actor/Actress.
Now with positives out of the way, lets talk about the negatives:
The thing that disappointed me the most and is a major flaw is the worldbuilding done regarding the outside world. The worldbuilding for the paradis island has been great but the outside world still seems like a one dimensional setting/location. From the outside world the only nation we have seen much about is Marley. And even in Marley we only know much about Liberio. The asian nation still doesn't seem to have much of a major role while the rest of the world basically seems non existent. Mid-east alliance, who are basically the reason why Paradis remained safe for four years is like a one dimensional plot device. There's nothing wrong with it being the plot device, but because of the crappy worldbuilding, Armin and the group's motivation to save the world basically looks too shallow and doesn't have much of an impact considering that every Marleyan we have seen in this show basically hates Eldians with all their heart and is ready to kill them. We dont know much about their cultures, history, religions, politics, etc making for hollow worldbuilding.
The whole subplot regarding Connie's Mom is filled with lazy writing. Connie doesn't have much of an impact or relevance in the plot, so him receiving character development after 3 whole seasons of basically being a comical side character wasting screen time comes off as boring. And the way it gets solved lazily only makes this subplot even worse. The Fast Travel from Ragako village adds an inconsistency to the plot as it just takes 2-3 hours to get back, considering it took 12-15 hours to reach there for Armin and Gabi.
The Pie scene: It's bad, not because Connie laughs but because Armin next says, "Its her first pie in years" after basically including Annie coming out of crystal in his list of things to be concerned about alongside the chaos in military in his mini-rant to mikasa regarding eren. Like annie is one of their enemies and him being so casual about it comes off as cringe.
The character designs look inconsistent with the animation sometimes looking stilted.
Mikasa is still a cardboard character with all her traits being wrapped up around Eren like her inner conflict, her whole character arc, her whole reason for living, her ideal life, etc. Like she does seem to be letting off eren but she doesn't posses much needed complex character traits as she is one of the major characters
All in all, this season of attack on titan is a disappointment in terms of quality. The soundtracks still remain as great as ever and Eren, Zeke, Reiner and Jean are still my favorites but the other aspects of the story are worse in quality than previous seasons.
Story: 7.5 - Pros:- Style, Themes | Cons:- Worldbuilding, Minor Inconsistencies
Characters: 7.3 - Great:- Eren, Jean, Reiner and Zeke | Decent/Bad:- Mikasa, Armin, Connie
Art: 7.2 - Pros:- Color Grading, Great Blend of 2D & 3D| Cons:- Inconsistencies
Sound: 9.6 - Pros:- Design, Direction, OP & ED, Voice Acting | Cons:- Some repetitive usage
Enjoyment: 7.4 - Pros:- Fight Scenes, Great Moments | Cons:- Cringe Moments, Tonal Inconsistency
Overall: 7.4/10
Mar 6, 2022
This is my first review so please spare me if there are gramatical errors or if you think of me as an elitist.
Attack on Titan has been one of the most influential anime and for a good reason. It has got adrenaline pumping action sequences, suspenseful story, dark and terrifying titans, etc. But that was the case before season 3 part 2 came out. The basement mystery was finally revealed after the build up of 7 long years. And the show suddenly switched gears from Humans Vs Titans to Humans Vs Humans. When I first watched it in 2019, I thought it was the greatest ... |
