Plot (7/10): From the very start of the show, we can see a change in the plot’s direction. Rather than a war against the titans, it’s now a fight amongst humans themselves. There are now traitors, people who desire power, and even corruption, that, along with numerous betrayals, it’s hard to know who to trust. There are also major changes made to the structure of the plot. It’s less about mindless violence and killing titans and more about building a relatively complex and mature story. From the backstory about Levi and his relation to Kenny to plot reveals concerning the Reiss family, this season has been an exciting watch. However, there IS a lot less action in this sequel, so your enjoyment may differ depending on what you liked about the previous seasons. If you enjoyed AOT solely for its action and didn’t care much about the story line, you most likely not enjoy this season. For the rest of the fanbase, this season is a must-watch to gain further knowledge about the true details behind the walls (unless you are a manga reader ofc).
By this time you may be wondering, if I’m praising AoT’s plot so much, why did I only give this category a 7? Well, as much as I want to deny it, the show isn’t completely devoid of flaws. For one, the first few episodes were painfully slow and was just mostly people talking about some political crap. The actual plot behind it was actually very interesting but I felt the producers made the dialogue too redundant. Another issue is that many scenes often felt like they were purposely dragged out, sometimes to bring out emotions and suspense, and sometimes for no reason at all. A lot of the episodes can be pretty much described in 3 sentences or less so it felt kind of boring at times.
Animation (8/10): I do think season 1 featured much better animation but we got to see some cool animated fight scenes this season as well. A lot of the character movements do look awkward, so I can’t give this category a perfect score either. The Reiss Titan at the end was hilarious though.
Sound (9/10): Okay, I don’t care what people say, but I absolutely love the new op. It’s not intense like the others, but its got this beautiful and haunting and sort of sad melody to it. I also liked the amalee version of it a lot (I’ve listened to it like, 50 times), so I’m just gonna post it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqV0wtUh1w . The voice acting is as awesome as always, though it’s pretty obvious with Hiroshi on the job.
Character (7/10): This season focused a lot on building Historia’s character as well as introducing a new character named Kenny, both of which it did a wonderful job at. Following episode 7, Historia becomes a much more believable character as she shows determination and confidence in her decisions. For someone who was known for being one of the weak and naive characters in the series, this is a nice change in her character. Kenny, a cold-hearted killer who is also (spoiler) Levi’s uncle, is another important character in the series. Through him, we get more information about both his and Levi’s past and the persecution of the Ackermans. Some may find him a boring and generic character at first but his characterization goes deeper than that! Due to his tough circumstances, he lived a dark past killing people and desiring power, thinking the only way to succeed is to be on top of someone. His character slowly changes for the better as he befriends Uri Reiss, and learned about compassion and forgiveness. He still to an extent, remained ruthless and cold but as the show progresses, is able to show genuine care for others. This adds to his personality, making him one of the more realistic and interesting characters of the show.
The rest of the characters are basically your typical AoT cast. Levi has more screen time in this season, showcasing his indifferent attitude and badassery. Eren I was sort of disappointed with since his character felt a bit recessive in this season. I liked his personality in the first season but now he’s more of an angsty teenager who is constantly whiny and complaining about who-knows-what. Erwin is as awesome as before, displaying true leadership characteristics and a very calm attitude. The rest of the cast, though, don’t really matter now as they did before. They are still there but now they feel more like plot devices since they do absolutely nothing the whole time. This isn’t a bad thing as the anime is now putting its focus on different characters, and it can’t do that and develop the rest of the cast at the same time, but I wish that Mikasa and Armin could have had more screen time.
Enjoyment (8/10): Overall, this season of Attack on Titan is pretty lit and if you are a fan you should definitely watch it. Although the execution is not always top-notch this show is still amazing and will definitely hit you in the feels and make your heart race with excitement.
