Attack On Titan: The Final Season, Parts One and Two, Reviewed

Season four of Attack on Titan, also known as The Final Season, has been a whirlwind so far.

Of course, given this is something of a review, there are going to be spoilers. So don’t read this if you haven’t caught up on all the episodes through “Pride” yet.

Given Attack on Titan is one of, if not simply the biggest, anime shows in the world (and it’s been running for almost a decade now) this final season comes as something of a big deal for Anime fans. While if you are a manga reader you might already know what happens in the end (I did read the manga at one point but fell off after the events of the previous season), for us anime only AOT fans, we’re still at the edge of our seats wondering what’s going to happen.

However, the final season seems to lag behind delivering everything that we wanted out of the anime. And that’s because of a few key issues with the storytelling.

Attack on Titan Over the Seasons

Back in 2014, when I saw season one of Attack On Titan for the first time, it felt like there was nothing like it in the world. The sense of dread, the incredible, concise world building, and the indelibly crafted action sequences quickly proved itself to be an anime that was in a league of its own.

However, it was apparent as soon as season two aired that the grandness and scale of the story that had been so deftly handled in season one was remiss. Part of the problem here might be the fact that so much time passed between season one and season two. It left AOT fans waiting on the edge of their seats, with many of them, myself included, flocking to the manga to get our fix.

By the time the anime did come out, it was hard to live up to the hype that four years of waiting created for it. Also, by that time, a good number of us, if not all of us, had already discovered what was hiding in Eren’s basement.

The Time Jump Sets AOT Season 4 Off On the Wrong Note

While the beginning of Season Four was certainly an adrenaline trip, once the dust settled, we were left with a group of characters who had grown four years older, but whose character development we hadn’t seen. Furthermore, complex new plots and subplots and political groups had emerged that had not been present from seasons one through four.

In many ways, the story that was AOT concluded in season three. The sense of simultaneous smallness and grandness that came from the idea that these people on this island were alone in the world, and that they were desperately fighting for their own survival against a seemingly endless world of monsters, is what made the story feel like something akin to ‘The Walking Dead’.

In the absence of this mystery, the story has succumbed to confusing politics, both between nations, and internally to Paradise Island as different factions battle it out to decide the fate of the world.

Only, given the recent reveal of these factions and conflicts, we’re simply left wondering – do we even really care?

Some Payoffs Are Too Little Too Late

Just like how we had to wait four years for season two to come out after season one aired, we also have been waiting a long, long time for certain aspects of the story to get resolved. One great example of this is the whole Annie getting let out of her cocoon sleep.

However, her release from the hardness hasn’t helped us to learn anything about her other than she’s really hungry for pie. Her release, which could have been a really cool plot point at one point, is pretty underwhelming given she’s now just one human transforming titan Eldian person out of many.

Eren is a Horrible Protagonist

While Eren has been our protagonist for several seasons, he’s always been a pretty crappy one. Despite all the power given to him, he was never a terribly strong fighter. Additionally, he cried a lot and needed to be saved by the likes of Mikasa and others frequently.

Now, as of season 4, he’s pretty darn powerful, but also something of an antagonist. With his latest move and intentions now clear, he’s also turned out to be something of a little Paradise Island Hitler who wants to kill everyone else in the world who isn’t an Eldian.

I guess we could’ve seen that coming. But still. As far as protagonists go, he’s pretty weak. As far as antagonists go – well there’s no protagonist to really balance against him so there’s that.

Mikasa is Basically Left Out of Things

We do find out some stuff about Mikasa via the truth about her family, the Ackermans. However, Mikasa as a person – who she is, what she wants – is still not developed. She remains horribly two dimensional, much in the way you would imagine a show geared towards adolescent boys would have trouble handling the complexity of a woman who is anything but two dimensional.

As it is, Mikasa seems to fit the protective girlfriend trope just fine, and the show seems to think that apart from that, she has very little self discovery to be done.

However, she has been letting go of her “must save Eren at all costs” mentality this season, so maybe she will do some self discovery later on. One could hope.

Final Thoughts on the Final Season of Attack on Titan

With all of that being said, Attack on Titan remains an entertaining show. And it has managed to overcome the fact that its big reveal was made in season 3. The story has had to deal with that fact and pivot, and in doing that it’s basically had to invent an entire new story. In doing this, it’s had to present a lot of new characters in just one season as well as a plethora of new factions and subplots that can be pretty dizzying even to long time fans like me.

However, there are some pretty great moments. These include seeing Eren actually not suck at fighting, as well as, my personal favorite episode, the one where we get to see the backstory behind The Founding Titan. Getting a first hand look at all that lore is a much more satisfying experience than all of the late game stuff revolving around plot points and characters that we’ve been introduced to only too recently to really care about.