Could the ending have been better? Definitely.
Was it the worst ending ever? Definitely Not.
I tried my best to keep this review spoiler free, but I guess there are slight spoilers for the last chapter so I apologise in advance.
I feel like Eren's character was the most tragic in the series. He changed and also did not change at the same time after he saw everything when he kissed Historia's Hand. He had to do what he did for achieving peace, be it a temporary one. I also felt that the ending was realistic and most fitting. Wars, unfortunately cannot be erased completely. Where there is a society, there are bound to be conflicts. Humans have different viewpoints on various matters, they clash with each other for glory, land, money, religion, race and for anything and everything. The ending might feel Lelouch-ish, but if you notice Eren's character closely over the whole series, you will notice that the last chapter brought his character to a full circle. Everything went according to Eren's plans, in which he accounted for the happiness for the people closest to him while disregarding himself and majority of the people outside Paradis. Some things might have been explained better if the ending was stretched out in 2 or 3 chapters. Also Eren's conversation with Armin was heart-wrenching and beautiful at the same time.
Also, the criticism which I felt legit for the last chapter by most of the people in the reviews is that Stockholm Syndrome....seriously, Isayama-san, I think he could have done better with this one or could have just not included this in an otherwise masterpiece of a story. And the foreshadowing actually turned out to be true in the end about Helos and the Devil. The Great Titan War's history just repeated itself.
The bitter truth that those who died can never be brought back was portrayed again in the end. Levi's character was probably the best in the series and that was shown again in the last chapter. And it was great to see Armin and gang again after another time-skip. Felt sad for Mikasa though, but we all need to move on in life, we might get attached or shackled to a person or a moment, but we cannot live without moving on. Also the Yeagarists preparing for a possible retaliation from the world in the future just showcased for humans how transient the concept of peace is.
And moreover, people think that Eren is a simp just due to 1 panel, the last chapter’s main goal was to establish Eren as both a monster and a human, even he wanted to live a long and peaceful life with his friends and family but he knew the weight of the sins he carried, he regretted his actions but still moved forward for a brighter future for Paradis and established peace (no matter how temporary it might be or at what lengths he has to go to achieve this peace)
But, its also a fact that the first 123 chapters were just peak fiction, after that the story went sorta downhill but still stabilized by the end. People are rating the WHOLE manga based on the last chapter. We must not forget how thrilling "Return to Shiganshina" and "Attack on Marley" arcs were, also the Paths scene of Eren and Zeke was absolute genius. So, I think its sorta unfair to rate a whole manga just based on your feelings for the last chapter.
And due to some mistranslations, people have misunderstood that scene about Eren's mother in the last chapter, so I implore you to please read the chapter from the official site for accurate translations. Also the last 3 panels of this chapter were just for symbolism and not to be taken at face value.
Well, keeping that aside, I felt that the last chapter was fine, not exceptional by any means but not entirely terrible that people have started giving the whole manga a 1 or 2. Many promising series have had bleak or downright terrible endings like The Promised Neverland, Demon Slayer, Death Note, Bleach, Naruto, Mirai Nikki, Erased, Seven Deadly Sins, etc. But in my honest opinion, Attack on Titan's last chapter was okayish, could have been better and I might change my score from a 10 to a 9 later on.
What I have noticed is that most of the people expected some massive plot twist or a time travel or a time loop thingy or everyone dying in the last chapter, they wanted the story to go their way but when it didnt, they started hating on it.
So, now, felt very sad after the last chapter, it was bitter-sweet, left a void in my heart. I will try to read other mangas and watch other anime but I havent been able to find anything close to AoT at the moment. One Piece and Jojo have been pretty good at the moment and have been able to partially fill the void left by Attack on Titan. Thanks for this masterpiece, Isayama-san and thanks for reading my long review.
