DISCLAIMER- This is a very honest review. You’ve been warned.
Right off the bat, the viewers are thrown into the second season with one of the worst transitions I can remember. I actually went back and watched the final episode of Season 1 followed by the first of Season 2 and was blown away by how disjointed it flows. So many unanswered questions (the walls, what exactly happened to Annie, how Eren feels about the whole thing) filled the air that I honestly couldn’t keep up with them all. It was a complete trainwreck. Possibly part of the issue is due to some changes in staffing regarding the anime, but it’s evident something went wrong. In this season, the viewers experience some short, but detailed backstory on Connie, Sasha, Ymir and others. Unfortunately, with the evident time pressure, it detracted largely from the story. The pacing is lethargic, often focusing on key battle scenes in order to create the facade that the plot is moving forward. It’s extremely hard to tell how much time is elapsing between various events, and as the final episode concluded, to have waited 4 years for what we got is embarrassing.
Possibly the most glaring inadequacy is the truncated 12 episodes this season. In an anime with such a large cast as this, it really isn't enough time to get the job done. For the sake of metaphoric comparisons I could equate Attack on Titan’s short run time to my own high school reunion. In essence you have two hours to talk to about 50 people, and before you know it you've relinquished a bulk of your time catching up with one or two people. This results in a speedy greeting for the remainder, or you possibly not talking to them at all. This is precisely what the writers were forced to do with much of the anime’s cast. Characters like Levi and Armin make mere cameos, and the season spends most of its time progressing a short amount of actual story. The plot also suffers, as events can’t be properly explained within the amount of time 12 episodes allots.
WARNING- SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH
The one aspect I can’t forgive from a writing perspective is how sloppy the Bertolt and Reiner reveal was. Similar to some complaints I had about Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, it seemed to come so far out of left field that it felt reactionary. I understand the manga already contained this part of the story, but the appearance in the anime seemed sporadic and unexplained. It’s one thing to leave your audience questioning and on suspense, but another to come off as contrived or “simply doing things because the manga had it here in the timeline”. I felt much more surprised at Ymir’s titan introduction since I completely forgot she even existed. She was made to be a one-off character in my eyes, but as she transformed, her relationship with Krista and ghostly appearances all started to click. Bertolt and Reiner just doesn’t make sense to me. Hopefully, this gets cleaned up in Season 3 but it would’ve been a lot more cohesive without as much perceived randomness.
OKAY, NO MORE SPOILERS! YOU’RE SAFE NOW!
The more Attack on Titan progresses, the bigger issues I develop for Eren. In the anime’s infancy I thought Eren could become more than the trope he seems to currently be fitting. Ah, the revenge-blinded hero that will do anything to stop his foes… I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this before! He’s transforming into an angstier version of Kirito. Instead of just being the best at everything he does, Eren often gets beat, whines about it, recovers and then Leroy Jenkins’ his way back into combat again. There’s no internal dilemmas, no monologues about how he’s feeling (sans one instance in this seasons when everyone’s getting attacked at the end), just a vanilla-scripted MC. At least Mikasa maintains some enigmatic qualities by not continuously shooting her mouth off with an angry case of tourettes.
If there is one thing the producer got right, it’s the action. Attack on Titan features some of the best choreographed fight scenes in anime, and Season 2 dials up the gore to 11. The emotions of the characters in battle are raw and realistic, with each spurt of adrenaline properly conveyed to the viewer. However, by saying this I also acknowledge how much the series is lacking in almost every other facet. It’s becoming that flashy toy kids play with for 5 minutes until they realize it only does about one thing. There’s no thinking involved, the foreshadowing is haphazard or non-existent, and it’s really unfortunate to see. With the budget this franchise has, it could easily hold the same uniform public praise as a show like Game of Thrones. The animation, story and characters COULD ALL BE EXCELLENT. But alas, we are left with luke-warm excitement and thoughts of how it could be better.
I hope I’m not the only one that noticed the cringeworthy CGI involving the colossal titan during the 5th or 6th episode. Certainly an example of CG done wrong. However, while omitting this error, the anime’s art style seems relatively intact. The color palette still consists of opaque shades of brown, gray and green, with special attention given to character expressions and action scenes. The shots of a parade of Survey Corps members stampeding on horseback, or the ominous backdrop of roaming titans still launches AoT into a league of its own in the art direction category. Action scenes are fluid and suspenseful, and the gore is still as ubiquitous as the first season. I can only hope that as the series continues and media technology advances, the art directors stay true to their roots in this series, because a style that so accurately emulates its subject matter can be hard to come by.
The music is epic once again. Linked Horizon returns to delight us with their fanfarish ballad to open the anime. “Sasageyo, sasageyo!” The remaining OST is fitting and seeks to emphasize the emotion present within its corresponding scene. Though, I will admit that I didn’t get the same sense of urgency or fear the background music portrayed during some of the more chaotic instances in Season 1. Nothing extremely offputting, but noticeable nonetheless. AoT’s seiyuus continue to impress with their grit and raw, emotional talent. Yuki Kaji’s resounding screams as Eren are evidence of his talent, and Hiroshi Kamiya is always smug and serious as Levi. I can only imagine how much fun the actors had when making this series, in terms of being able to use their full abilities.
With any anime, my level of enjoyment is the most important factor when determining whether or not I’d recommend something. For the bulk of AoT fans, the second season will “partially” fill the void that the last 4 years since the anime’s debut has left. For some of you, possibly the more analytical types, the flaws begin to pile up. An extremely short runtime, half-assed character development and transition issues from the first season all work against AoT in this installment. Personally I enjoy the series, the world it exists in and the action, but Studio Wit is going to have to give the next season a much better effort if it wants to ensure its fans stay hungry for more, and have a more consistent adaptation schedule. Delaying one of the most popular anime in history for the trainwreck (pun intended) Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress in 2016 isn’t a good place to start. AoT always gets my blood pumping with its suspense and enthralling fight scenes, but can it keep the consistency? Hopefully Season 2 is not a precursor for things to come...
Story-3
Characters-4
Art-8
Sound-10
Enjoyment-7
Overall-6.0
