Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin Post-Timeskip

I'm in the middle. I really liked the simple survival story, but the war story Isayama is telling now is just as interesting.

From an anime only watcher's perspective. I find that a lot of people who aren't huge fans of the post timeskip storyline is partly because there is so much that isn't told upfront, so everywhere people look, there is a surprise, which can seem like sensory overload and quite confusing to keep track of.

I also think that injecting a plethora of new characters into the game this late, is really taking away from everyone else's enjoyment of the cast of characters we have watched survive and grow stronger from earlier seasons.

Plus I'm sure that a lot of people hate it because of the way Eren is acting and behaving, contrary to how he was previously.

I felt like the survival thing was cool for a while, but it had to turn into something different eventually. Humanity will always overcome threats, and it was only a matter of time before the Paradis islanders rose to the point that they are.

The war thing is a little jarring, especially with the very little given information concerning the timeskip (I don't want to get into the whole production thing, but the constant flashbacks and perspective changes do contribute to that in a negative way), but it makes perfect sense once you have things figured out; if you found out someone trapped you on an island with a bunch of monsters and a few walls, you'd want to have your revenge as well.

It's definitely evolved as a story, and I seriously doubt it would've lasted this long if Isayama hadn't changed focus in the way he did, since there's only so much survival thriller you can write before it gets repetitive.

Also, I kinda like the way Eren is now; he's been driven by revenge this whole time, and now that he has a solid target for it the power to enact it, he's grasping it with both hands.

I really enjoy it imo those different morals and perspectives are interesting and great subjects of debate. idk why people are saying that it doesn't feel like aot this was expected we knew that it would change from just simply killing titans. I think some ppl dislike this season because it has more dialogues +info and less action

Personally, I have no fucking clue what's going on. I'm still trying to figure out character motives. This part confuses me a lot but I don't really mind the story.

I think the story has a bit of a drop in quality, but not much that I would be bothered with it. And personally, I don't really care all that much

I just watch the show for the characters (Even though I said the character's motives were confusing). I just like seeing the characters I love from past seasons doing anything. Either Hange and the gang on an air balloon talking about... Stuff, or Levi doing Levi things. That's the most enjoyment I got from this, and that's really 90% of why I keep watching

My thoughts:

Chapter 131 = Peak Fiction
Chapter 137, 138 = I hope they get redeemed with 139
As for this ongoing season ->
Adaptation: 8/10
Story: 10/10

Hello, this is an anime-only guy

I like where the story has headed and it has only improved overall in my opinion. Eren's change from pre-timeskip to post felt real and is deeply interesting. I think the downside I could say is that I wish they didn't introduce so many new characters this late into the series. But other than that, the characters they have decided to focus on have yielded fantastic results (like Reiner for example). I am excited to see how it ends.

I'm an anime only;

I personally think the story has been heading in an incredibly interesting direction. When it comes to it, I have 0 complaints, except a massive one that I hope can get squashed in the next episode(s).

I cannot understand Eren's motivations.

His character has become really interesting, but I still do not understand what he's trying to achieve or why. What would be so important for him to justify his actions and behaviour thus far? I can only hope it will be answered before this story is over.

[Removed]

I feel like its probably more fleshed out in the manga, but as an anime-only, I find the change to be drastic. We don't really see Eren mature into the person he is now, which is a shame cuz his character growth from s1 to s3p2 is absolutely insane. It's kinda trickled in with the flashbacks, but with the insane fights that occur, I can see why someone might not pick up all the bits they need to piece the story together. Nonetheless, I still love the anime, and I hope the final season gets a p2.

yeah hi, im the second person to say they dont really like how its going

for me its for simple reasons, like TheIndianRemix mentioned, we dont see a lot of eren's change in personality and motivations, so it just feels way too drastic to make sense

also yeah. i'll fuckin say it. i'm a simple kid, i liked the simple idea of them just trying to survive against the titans and being happy (or, as happy as one can be in such a situation) and doing silly little research on titans! what can i say, my brain is too small

lastly, id say its because ive just never been a fan of things that involve war. like at all. id say code geass is the only exception to this, apart from that im not into war stories lol

I believe the story was meant to be headed this way. It was always meant to be. Like when we saw the walls are made of titans. With so many collosal titans, it would've been a waste to just let them standing there throughout the story. This also shows how both sides suffer in a war and both sides are never completely wrong. Eren using rumbling was a good move in the manga but I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of the idea of killing everyone outside paradis using rumbling. If Eren had decided to kill everyone except eldians it would've made a little sense to me seeing that they are the same subjects of Ymir. And the theme post time skip changed and it is now darker. But thinking that in situations like this, who wouldn't lose all of their humanity for saving someone important to them? I personally like the way story is headed.

I'm in some sort of middle ground. I think that where s3p2 ended for me kinda felt like a full ending. Obviously it left out a lot but I feel the series has peaked in a sense with that season and was the most satisfying and complete so far. Whats been shown so far has been good and theres nothing inherently wrong with anything thats happened so far. I just think aot is getting a little too big expanding its world without giving it all the time it needs for a more rushed feeling? It is getting more and more complex as the story goes but i feel a lot of the big twists and turns aren't as deep as previous seasons and feel somewhat surface level.

I don't want to say I'm not critical of the media I consume because I can analyze what I'm watching if I choose to. That being said, I'm not a hard viewer to please and I can never get on board the "hate train" that aot seems to get every once in a while ("aot is overrated", "[this character] is overrated", "mappa animation sucks" etc. etc.). So it doesn't really surprise me that I'm enjoying season 4 as much as the other seasons. I've always held aot close to my heart bc it was my first and childhood favorite anime. I feel the same way about the characters. I see so many people who are "team Paradis" or "team Warriors" but I honestly love them both. There are very few characters in aot that I actually dislike, aside from some of the parent characters who I would curb stomp any day.

Once I had finished season 3 I went to the wiki to read some lore 'cos lord knows aot is confusing as hell. Because of this I didn't get as much whiplash from the location change at the beginning of season 4 like a lot of people seemed to. The basic understanding that the kids on screen were Eldians from Marley, and that Marley was an enemy to Paradis was all the information I needed. And again, I was perfectly content with watching the new characters. I liked them immediately, and while I missed the old cast, I knew their late arrival would just add to the suspense.

When I hear critiques about the time skip I can understand where they're coming from, but in all honesty I'm loving season 4 and I really don't feel like bogging down my excitement for the show by getting caught up in the complaints about the story change. So it's not really a critique, but here's my opinion:

There are plenty of survival stories out there, and arguably good ones. But what set aot apart has never just been the basic concept of titans vs. humans or even the characters (who are written fantastically might I add). It was the worldbuilding and storytelling. You could analyze and critique the way aot does flashbacks for sure, especially in season one, but overall aot does a great job at withholding and feeding the viewer information. And I have to say, if aot was simply a survival anime that never pushed the concept beyond titans vs. humans I wouldn't be nearly as invested. The complexity of aot it what makes the world feel realistic. If I am to critique it in any way I will say this: aot is not a show that should be labeled as progressive or a critique of society (this is mostly in terms of racism), and I'll explain why. If any form of media is going to be analyzed as a societal critique, it must establish two things: number one is the problem, and second is the “solution,” or how the author tells the readers that the problem should be addressed. We are presented with many problems within the society of aot that resemble those in our own world, and this includes racism. What Isayama does do is establish the systematic racism within his world, but the way those solutions are presented are not an indicator of real world issues and do not align with the ways in which racism would be dismantled in reality. I love seeing people use anime as an outlet to discuss real world issues but aot is not fit for a discussion on racism, though I still see people try and attempt it.

TL;DR i'm an easy mf to please and isayama is a genius. aot would not have been nearly as good if it stayed a survival story.

God I miss the thiccccc lines

From the perspective of an anime aficionado. Many individuals who aren't big fans of the post-timeskip storyline don't enjoy it since there's so much that isn't revealed right away, so there's a surprise around every corner and ofcourse the rod reiss titan face is worth watching, which can feel like sensory overload and be difficult to keep track of.

I also believe that introducing a slew of new characters so late in the game detracts from everyone else's pleasure of the cast of characters we've seen survive and get stronger in previous seasons.