(SPOILERS) See you later, Attack on Titan.

A week ago, I posted my review of the finale. I literally began writing it right after I finished watching and posted it 3 hours later. Despite how I felt towards the ending though, my thoughts were scattered and messy. And it made me think, “how did I really feel?” As a result, it made me rewatch the finale. There will still be things from the original review that I believe are still true and such, will simply be reused. But regardless, here are my (final) thoughts a week later and after a rewatch.

~Introduction~

Despite how I feel towards this final installment, which I’ll go into later, I’m not denying how special this series is. I have been with Attack on Titan since 2018, so it’s been with me for five years now. I remember how much I struggled to get through the first season and took a little break and then immediately binged season 2. And then season 3 happened and it was a marvel. Every episode hooked me, constantly grabbing my neck and dragging me to want more. Season 4 had its hiccups, both in its episodes sometimes, but more importantly its scheduling for the three year old journey. Regardless, this series is revolutionary, with all praise being absolutely deserved. Everyday when an episode of S4 came out, it was trending on twitter, which was a first for anime.
This review will SOLELY focus on this final installment. Without any further ado, lets begin.
Mikasa and the others are scrambling to find Eren and Zeke, yet their position is unknown due to the massive spine of the Founding Titan. As their options get more and more limited, they’re forced to do something none of them (except Pieck and Annie probably) want: kill Eren. For both the cast and viewer, it’s an awful thing, but it has to happen to prevent the entire world from getting rumbled.

~Pacing, Animation, and OST~
The pacing is concise and direct, and rarely feels like anything is holding it back. The animation, like most of the season, has been a bit all over the place, but when it shines, it’s the sun. The CGI is fluid and doesn’t distract you and the hand drawn animation easily mimics the animation of the Kenny chase scene from S3. The soundtrack? It HITS. Iconic tracks return and impact every single scene. But this is Attack on Titan, these things aren’t what make it really special.

~Characters & Writing~
This puts all the characters to their limits and man, is it a sight to behold. One of my favorite moments is when you see Reiner, the murderer of Jean’s best friend Marco, and Jean, a former bystander, having to put aside their differences because they know that despite the past history they unfortunately share. They have to do this together in order to win, after all,

It isn’t just them though, every single character has an amazing moment to shine, whether its in combat or dialogue--the Annie throwing Mikasa scene showcasing how powerful they are together when it was something we never got to see in Season 1, Reiner being an absolute unit throwing left and right hooks, and of course, one of my favorite characters now,

~Levi & Zeke~
Levi has been an absolute unit for the entire series, (besides S2), but man, he doesn’t play around in this installment. I’ve always understood why he did the things he did, even in season 3 when he chose not to revive Erwin, I understand. It may not not have been something everyone has the same reason for understanding, but I believe he did that out of his hatred and care for Erwin. How many people will keep dying to be free? How many people will live for the sake of killing others? It’s a cycle that would never end, and Erwin was someone who was ruthless enough to keep doing something like that to obtain what it was he always wanted. So, ultimately, Levi chose to give it to someone much kinder.
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However, Levi is still a very compassionate character. And this could be seen very much through his dynamic with Zeke, in a strange yet poetic way. Zeke, until this moment, was my favorite character. His mysteriousness and cockiness in addition to his backstory created such a respectable character for me and I could understand why he did certain things he did, especially during the moments with Grisha earlier in the season and in season 3. When he’s in the paths with Armin, which I talk about later, he realizes how all the small things like being able to play catch is what makes life important and worth living. These grand things everyone inspires to do, they all come with great struggles, but ultimately, we focus on seeing them through, regardless of how hazardous it may be. In reality though, we’d much rather spend time doing those little things because it’s what makes us satisfied. As a result, he reveals himself from a bone of the Founding Titan and decides to help the Allied Forces to defeat Eren, not putting up any sign or emotion, and what happens?
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Levi kills him, stopping the Rumbling.

My GOD. As much as I love Zeke, this was the only way to stop the rumbling and it made me so happy to see. Zeke recognized how pointless this hatred was and surrendered himself. And Levi immediately saw it and took the opportunity to take him out. Levi isn’t someone who forgives and forgets and has been like that. The fact that Zeke surrenders himself with deadpan eyes shows that he understands that he deserves to die. Without a doubt, it was my favorite part of the entire part.
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~The Rolling~

Now, it’s time for the problems I’ve had. For starters, this is the biggest and most dangerous event yet, so you think there would be alot of casualties, especially considering when Eren literally brings out the past generations of Titans to deal with the Forces, yet nobody really receives any serious injuries. Additionally, Levi literally LOSES a leg, which Conny even points out, yet Levi manages to zoom over and kill Zeke and even helps create an opening to defeat Eren. In fact, the entire fight against Eren feels kind of dull? For someone who wants to destroy the world, he isn’t really putting up any sort of fight. And then the last section happened and this is the biggest root of all my problems.

~The actual Ending~

A memory of something that never really happened occurs where its basically this alternative reality where Eren and Mikasa are far away from anyone else, a reality where Mikasa confessed the Rumbling never happened. Eren tells Mikasa that even though he only has four years left, he wants to live them all with Mikasa. To cast everything away and be free. But ultimately, Mikasa wakes up, knowing this isn’t possible. And as a result, Mikasa kills Eren. Holding his severed head, she gives Eren and Ymir watches--the curse of the Titans ending, with all of them vanishing from existence. The viewer can deduce that this happened because Ymir always yearned for love and seeing Eren and Mikasa is what ended the curse, but..it’s done in such a way that doesn’t really make sense? It’s something thats suddenly brought up and not fully explained and Eren and Mikasa’s relationship itself feels so one sided up until this last installment, especially considering Mikasa’s really been the only one showing how much she cares when Eren really hasn’t up until this point.
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Another memory occurs after this and it involves Armin. This one I have less problems with, but they still exist nonetheless. They’re children, discussing the event of what happened, going to different place they talked about as children, such as fiery lands (volcanos). Eventually, Eren and Armin return to the sea they once saw where they talk about the Rumbling. And this is what kinda makes Eren’s amazing character weak. Armin asks why Eren did it and what does he say?

“The Founding Titan made me do it.”
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Maybe it was just Eren being overwhelmed as a 19 year old from seeing all these things in the future, but Eren himself being the one to commit all these things and saying that it wasn’t his choice is so poorly done. Like excuse me? Didn’t you do it to protect your friends? To make sure nothing could ever hurt them and yourself ever again? I understand what Isayama was trying to say: violence is a never ending cycle. But when Eren says the thing in the image below, it’s very invalid. For starters, what if he did confess to Mikasa? Like in the dream we saw between them, they’re living a happy life and the Rumbling never happened. That showed us a possibility that could’ve happened, so Eren saying that everything always occurred exactly as he saw seems very false.
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Armin and Mikasa forgive him, which I can understand but also don’t. I understand they said this so it can be over with, but I personally wouldn’t forgive someone who committed genocide. The anime handles Armin forgiving him much better than the manga, stating that they both did awful things and as a result, they’ll both go to hell together, but to me, the ending is still not as strong. It’s not as bad as people say, but I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect ending either. It’s just..an okay ending. Besides this, I actually really liked Armin a lot in this installment. You see his guilt from surviving instead of Erwin impact him, acknowledging how weak he is compared to him and really shows how much he’s been struggling.
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~Conclusion~

I love Attack on Titan and it’s been a big part of my life. It’s the first time I’ve really seen something that I’ve grown up with have an ending, so it both scares and excites me when time comes for other things I enjoy. Nonetheless, it’s been an incredible journey, even if it didn’t perfectly stick the ending. Thank you, Attack on Titan.
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