Last year, the first part of Attack on Titan's final season was released. This was after a turbulent time for the show - with a new studio, Mappa, picking up the reins from Wit, and being left to adapt 16 episodes of what may well be the toughest sections of the source material in just a short space of time. That being said, myself and millions of others were cautiously optimistic to experience the next chapter of this fantastic story - hoping that it carried the same momentum as before. Be wary of spoilers for the first three seasons below, as I give my thoughts;
Season four begins four years after the fated battle of Liberio and the revealing truth of the titans and what lies beyond the sea - the supremely powerful continent of Marley, where the Eldians, the race of people who can turn into titans, are subjugated and kept in camps for their genetic heritage, and exploited for their titan capabilities. A group of young Eldians fight a war for the honour of inheriting a Titan-shifter ability, when Eren and the forces of Paradis enter the fray. However, they are not quite the same as last we saw them. What happened in the fours years leading to this encounter, and what can Paradis hope to do against an entire world that wants them dead?
What becomes immediately apparent is the narrative shift in the story - whereas the first two seasons of the show presented an escalating danger to Eren and his friends, where they are caught up in an escalating series of dangers and betrayals that present more questions than provide answers, or season 3 answering these as the bigger picture comes into focus, we now have a whole new perspective - that of Marley, and why they attacked the walls. This humanises characters that, just like Eren, we simply couldn't understand before without context for their actions, making them truly tragic characters that at this point are hard to even consider villains. Similarly, we can see how the characters we followed can commit acts that others would view as abhorrent, putting them in a new light.
Each character has their own motivations and agendas, making them, as cliched as it sounds, the heroes of their own stories, a stark contrast to the mindless, zombie-like titans that began the show, or even the Interior Police of season 3. This makes for some of the best characters I've ever seen in fiction, and I don't say that lightly. My standouts are newcomers Gabi and Falco, characters who reflect the blind anger of a younger Eren and the understanding of Armin, as well as the indoctrination of the youth by the Marleyan state and what happens when that viewpoint is challenged. That might be an unpopular opinion since Gabi is an almost universally hated character, but I think her character journey is the heart of this season. After all, I think we all have our own biases that we can't shift, showing that we are not as far off from Gabi as we care to think...
Generally, I'm not a big fan of time-jumps in shows. They seem to cheapen the characters by having a huge chunk of their development happen offscreen, as well as providing a set of new conflicts that the audience has no investment in. However, it is clear that season 4 is a direct continuation of the story, no matter the 4-year skip. The characters you see have developed naturally from where we last saw them, so it doesn't feel jarring when introduced to them - save maybe a few haircuts or character designs.
This arc of the show also introduces parallels to the beginning of the show, notably Eren's hatred of titans and the Marleyan hatred of Eldians, as well as using running motifs like the battle cry "Shinzou wo Sasageyo" ("sacrifice your hearts") and the cycle of revolution hinted at in season 3. This is done incredibly well, creating a new direction for the show to head in that also feels like a natural development - even if the jumps between the two perspectives of Paradis and Marley can be a little jarring to begin with.
The only problem with this is that a selection of the long-running characters have to become side-lined to fit all of this in - they are still present, but have significantly less relevancy in the plot than many fans would like, focusing instead on main players like Eren and Zeke. It is necessary in the narrative, but I hope for the next part that the original group of characters will all have their moments to shine.
There are also some threads that have begun to confuse me - the lore of the show has always been complex, that is one of the reasons why it has been so compelling, but I feel that one or two too many story threads and factions have been introduced. This isn't a massive problem, but when discussing it with friends and family afterwards, I have had struggled being able to explain some elements of it, leaving me to think it has become a little convoluted.
Additionally, the animation has been criticised by many, lacking the spark of life or dynamic energy of WIT studio's previous work - particularly when it comes to the use of far more CGI than hand-drawn animation in fight scenes. This was a problem that many had for the Colossal Titan in season 2 and 3, creating an uncanny effect as it cuts between the hand drawn and the 3D models that can look odd and weightless. I'd be lying if I said they weren't a significant improvement from WIT's CGI, but nothing compares to the hand drawn for me.
Regardless of this though, one of my absolute favourite battles of the series comes in season 4. Like the others, they span a few episodes, and detail a series of victories, defeats, character moments and shocking deaths, and with a fresh new environment to put it in, so for that I can only praise Mappa's work, even if that means having to overlook some of their shortcomings. The next part of the season, releasing weekly now as I write this, has already demonstrated a significant improvement in animation quality, so these animation issues could well have been down to time constraints to produce and air this season rather than a reflection of Mappa as a studio.
All in all, this season is a fantastic new entry into the Attack on Titan series, and while not without some teething problems passing the property between studios, it definitely lives up to the popularity built for the last seven years. I'll give it a 9 out of 10
9 OUT OF 10
SPOILER SECTION
I really like what they did with Reiner's character. Being the only member of the four Marley warriors to go to Paradis and return, he is traumatised, the only purpose in his life mentoring and protecting the upcoming Marley Warriors. It doesn't continue his split personality set up in season 2, but he is emotionally damaged, even about to take his own life and in complete despair when he Eren shows up. Only when the kids are in danger does his faith in himself restored, fighting for them and not Marley, a repeating theme with the Warriors in season 4.
Eren's change in character is certainly an interesting one. Now, we don't really know his agenda, only his rage from before has turned into a quiet resolve, willing to do whatever it takes, including the decimation of Liberio, an event that has eerie flashes of the breaking of Wall Maria in season 1, namely the horror of seeing one's home torn apart by the titans. The main difference here is that we know the characters attacking here, and so are torn between them and the carnage they are inflicting on Liberio.
As I said before, Gabi's character journey is one of the highlights of this season - she is clearly meant to reflect who Eren was - from her appearance to her anger that her friends can do nothing to quell. After killing Sasha, she had no remorse, but when she is taken in by Sasha's family, including the girl Sasha rescued in season 2, her worldview is slowly changed - the people of Paradis are not just the devils she has been indoctrinated to hate, and the Eldians living today are paying for the supposed crimes of their long-dead ancestors.
It is quite a poignant bit of character work - I've been in a similar mindset before, as well as spoken to people unwilling to budge in their ideologies, and just like Gabi it takes a lot of experiences to challenge that just to consider the merits of other ways of thinking. Sasha's father forgiving her is tear-jerking as well, demonstrating to Gabi the capacity for good the people of Paradis have, something really moving to see.
Unfortunately, Mikasa, Armin, Levi, Connie, and Jean are all quite absent from the main story, usually reacting to events play out than being active players. For some of them that is a continuing mistake, but for Mikasa and Armin in particular, this is quite unsatisfying - they fight in Liberio, show compassion to Gabi despite her killing their friend and get insulted and attacked by Eren, but aside from that, they didn't really push along the plot.
Zeke's ultimate Euthanasia Plan is quite an interesting one. Again, this isn't motivated by malice but by compassion, in many ways similar to Thanos in Infinity War. He doesn't want any more Eldians to suffer at the hands of Marley, and the threat of the Titans will be removed from the Earth if Eldians can no longer reproduce. I only wish this could have been forshadowed more before it was revealed.
The cliffhanger of this arc is great as well - the Marleyan forces invade Shiganshia, catching Eren and his forces unaware just before his plan can be put into action and the Scouts are locked up. It sets up a desperate battle between the factions, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.
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