A baffling ending to a unique shounen.

<center> Note; This review contains spoilers for the whole manga, read at your discretion.

Attack on Titan is probably one of the most popular shounen released in the last decade, releasing multiple anime seasons that are regarded as masterpieces in the anime community, multiple spinoffs and being regarded as one of the more "unique" shounen in the manga industry, and winning multiple awards.
Isayama has truly managed to create something a novice mangaka would love to do, and i respect him truly for getting me so much into manga, which i normally wouldn't do.
From the bottom of my heart; Thank you, Hajime Isayama.

However, this doesn't mean the series is excempt from criticism, as i am extremly dissapointed with the last arc which has made me lose expectations for any series i ever read. Truly, it is without a doubt, one of the worst endings to a series that would have easily been seen as a masterpiece by the anime community, but instead, it bumbled into a complete mess.

Story;
The premise of the series has always been a dark one; Humans that are oppressed by the big bad Titans that threaten their lives. In the life of a soldier in SnK, there are 2 paths for you to choose; You either die, or live to see another day. This was enough for me to keep reading, as i haven't read much dark-shounens before this, and my motivation to keep reading was even higher when we got to see our main protagonist, Eren Yeager, which suffered a huge loss in his life when his mother died to a Titan. From here on out, the story would be one about the emotion, oppression, humanity and freedom. The trauma Eren Yeager faces changes him completely, and its not just one interaction; its many, which i though to be kickass. Many plot-twist and arcs later, the story changes completely after Return to Shiganshina ends, as it is revealed exactly what the Basement is about, and it changes the tone of the series completely; one of humanity's never-ending war against itself. The foundation used early in the series manages to make sense later in the story aswell, which makes it all so much more interesting to re-read it all, and the series manages to completely become one of morally grey atmosphere. Combined it with the fact that many substories in the story reaches into the themes of the story, for example Gabi, Hanji, Reiner and Historia's subplots, the manga is without a doubt one that deserved recognizition for what it was.

However, i can't say the same about the last arc, which turned into a mess. The so-called Alliance grouping up didn't make sense, as there were multiple people who have been fighting each other becoming allies instantly was weird, especially when we see Annie, who quietly joins the group by eating some pie and being regarded as one of the "good" ones. Seriously, this is the same character that slaughtered Levi's squad way back and we expect to like her now? Well whatever, maybe im nitpicking over the fact that the world is ending, so il let it go for now. However, it doesn't excuse the fact that the serie's tone goes from being one of the most morally grey stories to one that is "good vs evil"...as if we don't know why Eren is doing all of this. He isn't destroying the world because he hates everyone outside of Paradis, one example being the time he broke down infront of Ramzes. He isn't destroying the world because its the only way he can do it, as he can sacrifice Historia and be done with it, but that would lose all the tension from the story! So why does he do it? Nobody knows, even Eren himself literally doesn't know, which is quite literally so stupid. Combine it with the fact that there is some impressive deus ex going on with how Armin can just talk to the dead Titan shifters (what kinda asspull is this), Eren killing his own mother, a random worm appearing that is the cause of the Titans but suddenly dies off-screen without being shown, the relevation about how Ymir Fritz loved King Fritz which simply doesn't make sense, considering she got tortured, got chased by dogs and had her tongue cut and finally, literally nothing being achieved by Eren's concious decision to kill 80% of humanity that just shows that he we was nothing but a complete phony. Oh yeah, everyone lives peacefully after aswell. Seriously, what the fuck went wrong? What was Isayama thinking with this ending, that the little things in life matter? It just doesn't make sense, both plot-wise and thematically, and is very unsatisfying.

Characters;

Eren Yeager; Humanity's last hope, Eren Yeager's character development was probably shounens best character development which caught me in a loop of sorrow when i read the last chapter. From becoming a suicidial blockhead to a calm and redeemed warrior knowing that his enemies don't have a choice and thought logically, it all came back to square one when he mentioned how much he loved Mikasa. Its pretty crazy that i have to mention this because some people will get the wrong idea, as i have seen this happen literally everywhere else but; I don't hate Eren Yeager because he cries alot and he is emotional. Hell, if you take a look at my favorite character list, you should without a doubt see what kind of characters i love, but with Eren Yeager, it has literally 0 sense when he starts crying over Mikasa which came out of nowhere. The same character that disrespected Mikasa during Marley Arc and WFP by making her feel bad about herself and questioning whether she actually likes him or its genetics, and not even taking the time to talk to her, is the same character that literally says "I don't want Mikasa to be with another man"? It's disgusting, pathetic and it makes 0 sense. Litteraly the only interaction which can be seen as positive was when Hannes died and he wrapped her scarf around her, but it would be very weird for it to be romantic considering Hannes got munched. Hell, Eren has more chemistry with Armin then Mikasa, and thats saying something.

Armin; After the timeskip, i am distraught over what Armin was supposed to be, but i completely lost respect for the character after Alliance was formed. Its so stupid that he hasn't tried talking it out with Eren after Alliance was formed, and his mindset was very narrow which made 0 sense. Eren's goal for the Rumbling was for his friends and his people's freedom, but Armin over here thinks genocide is pretty bad and shouldn't be done no matter the context. I guess Isayama was portraying genocide is bad at all costs, which is why he reminded us all the time, but alas, its whatever. What irks me so much more is when he learns about why Eren went through with it, this is what he says;

Enough said there.

Mikasa; Her best development was in Battle of Trost District, and after that, she plummets into a side character which reminds us she likes Eren every 2 minutes or so. Yes, she might care about other characters, but her character development is literally focused on the entire character of Eren Yeager and his actions, so to see that she kills Eren after coming to terms with the man she likes actually is, its all fine and dandy when a couple of pages later, we learn that she never really moved on, even after she has a husband and kids. I don't hate her as much out of the big 3, but the bar is very low for these character conclusions.

Other side characters; Honestly, the only ones i can say ended on a high-note is Floch and Erwin...rest in peace my beloved bretherens, you did not get done dirty.

Art;

Quite literally all i can say here is that Isayama has definetly improved his art immensly, even if his art was quite shitty at first. Still tho, i'd say he has good art now, even if faces can be quite a bit of a problem, i still like his art and some pages look incredible.

Verdict;

I couldn't be more sad when the last chapter got leaked. I was hoping it was all for naught and it was a prank by the leaker, but ofcourse, it was all real and i could not be any more dissapointed. I've watched/read my fair share of shounens and while i think alot of them might be considered by some a bit bad and weak, i genuinly could not believe what in the actual fuck i was reading with this series. Isayama has definetly upped his game up during the whole series' serialization, but what happened in the last arc? Was it for money, was it for relevancy or was this truly what he planned all along? I won't know the answer myself, but one thing i will know is; I will keep my expectations low when i read new stuff, which is very sad to know. I am still grateful for what Isayama has created, but i can't be arsed to discuss this series with other people, especially since i considered myself a fan before. Now that is no longer the case.

Goodbye SnK.