Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Attack on Titan.”
If I’m being honest, I’m borderline confused. Almost too much has happened these past three episodes of “Attack on Titan.”
There’s political turmoil, Eren is probably in another continent flattening it down and we finally see Annie’s titan in full form again.
No matter how confusing and twisted “Attack on Titan” gets, you can always rely on MAPPA to make the most incredible fight scenes.
The animation is so good that the fight scenes are starting to gross me out. They did not have to animate the bullet hole through Armin’s cheek. He has already been through too much.
Side note, why are they always doing Armin dirty? Remember when homeboy got burnt to a crisp?
Armin got burnt from sacrificing himself for Eren to obtain the Colossal Titan. He survived by obtaining the Colossal Titan serum.
Photo courtesy of MAPPA
Fast forward, the newly formed gang consisting of Marleyan soldiers, Annie and remaining members of the 104th Training Corps are all trying to stop Eren from committing genocide.
I refuse to talk about whether Eren is right or wrong in his actions. I will simply leave this up to the audience’s opinion.
Anyways, what makes this episode so much better is Mikasa obliterating every Yeagerist on the rooftops. I understand deeply why people are a fan of her.
Mikasa exploded Yeagerists and created a rain of blood.
Photo courtesy of MAPPA
The worst part of the episode was when Falco detached from his titan for the first time. There’s something about seeing a child experience the darkest thing possible that makes my skin crawl.
Falco detaches from the Jaw titan for the first time. He was warned not to turn into a titan, but did so anyway to save his friends.
Photo courtesy of MAPPA
For a show that is only 20 minutes, you have to jam-pack so much information. This is one thing “Attack on Titan” has done well so far. Each episode fits enough information that moves the story forward without feeling too forced. It always ends with a cliffhanger that leaves the viewer itching to see what’s next.
However, this latest episode felt lazy in using their time wisely. They showed freeze-frames of scenes rather than animating them to their fullest. I think the writers wanted to fit a more interesting plot line into the final episode in two weeks. That’s just a guess.
The final freeze-frame of the sky for 30 seconds was the shin kicker for me. Maybe 30 seconds is an exaggeration, but it felt way too long. I know I was supposed to feel a wave of emotions of self-sacrifice; I think it could have ended on a more exciting note like the screen turning black from the smoke.
A freeze-frame of the sky was held for around two seconds after the boat exploded.
Photo courtesy of MAPPA
Speaking of self-sacrifice, the “enemies to friends” vibes in this episode are heart-wrenching. Who knew the Marleyan commander and the Paradis commander would meet randomly outside the port? And team up to prevent a ship from Yeagerists killing their friends? And also die from this?
The commanders teamed up to blow up the ship of Yeagerists going after their friends.
Photo courtesy of MAPPA
The episode created well-rounded storytelling of the consequences of war. The complex themes such as moral conflict, death, sacrifice, etc. come in an important time as war is a prevalent issue today.
Tune in for the final episodes on Hulu at 3:30 p.m. EST on Sundays.
