In all honesty there is only one way to describe this season, and that is like sex, a wack first round, that was needed really, so that the second round is well… magical. Moral of the story, don't judge anything by the first half.
1st half
So, the first half of the season, was for lack of better words, average. Although it was important in explaining how titan powers are passed down, the history and lore of Mr Levi and the Ackerman surname, the pacing left us very underwhelmed at times. It felt a bit more like a political drama. The high point was the introduction of Captain Levi's uncle and the human on human fights were great at first but left us with a hunger a giant titan devouring humans could only fill. But it was what can only be described as a necessary evil, one that set up what could be, the best 12 episode run I've seen in a long time
2nd half
CAPTAIN LEVI YOU BEAUTY!!!!
Okay now that that’s out of my system I can go in depth about the second half of the season. From the start, it was action packed. The pacing was perfect as it never let you breathe. None of the important scenes and set pieces felt rushed and they gave enough time to all the very important characters.
The fight with Reiner was perfect and the introduction of the new artillery was a nice touch to show how prepared the scouts were for their fight. It also showed the tactical brilliance of Hange when it comes to fighting titans.
Erwin’s breakdown was chilling. The guilt of a man, who at the time probably felt like what he was doing was necessary, coming back to him right before his death, and the realisation that his dream , to see the basement will never come into fruition. Beautiful really. And Levi's answer to a man he respected more than anyone else, to say “give up on your dream, and die" is colder than a polar bears toenails (shout our big boi). That scene is important for 2 reasons, it shows us the true markings of a leader, because he knows the soldiers won't go flying to their deaths, if their leader isn't there with them, even if his own dreams and pursuits will be lost with them, and its important later in terms of the decision.
The cinematography and directing of the soldiers going to their deaths was utterly orgasmic. The soldier having flashbacks of his girlfriend as the rock collides with his skull is chilling. The change of narration to the soldiers last thoughts was a great change from just seeing the main characters views. The air shots drawn by the animators were beautiful and a great way to show the spectacle and size of what is occurring... which is really the end of the scouts as we know them.
And then we get to the man, the myth. The beast titan had been warned about him and he'd thought, what? One man? Well that man turned one of the most feared villains in the series into mince stew in a beautiful show of human skill that had my TL full of grown men crying over an animated male angel. And I was part of it. The fight choreography was (I mean it was drawn so I don't know if you call it that) was out of this world. I was absolutely livid though when that shit titan stole him away. I was waiting for Levi to end the man right there and then.
And now I think we get to “ the decision”. This is a bit of a hard one. Whatever way you look at it, Erwin was the one that had to be brought back. That’s just the most logical decision... and you'd think Levi would be the one to make logical decisions at times like that... but were we wrong. Although Armin is a very smart character, he doesn’t have the leadership or the combat strategies of the commander. The commander also needed to face all he had done. The lives he had sacrificed. Death was too easy for him. I mean he killed off all the scouts as his last act. Come on... he needed to come back.
The aftermath of the battle and the spoils of war were intense. I had to rewatch the last few episodes cause of the information overload. From the fact that another civilisation exists, to the history of the titans to the beast titan guy being Eren’s half-brother to the person who ate Eren’s mom, it was all an overload to the system. But I loved it. And it was chilling to see how little we didn't know... cause after the first half I thought we knew Everything. Weren't we stupid.
With the next season being the last season, the expectations are high, and we are hoping they don’t disappoint. I really do feel if they close it off well, Attack On Titan will have reached all time great levels in terms on anime. Standing up there with the death notes, and cowboy bebops if this world.
JUST DON’T PULL A GAME OF THRONES ON US YOU STUPID FUCKS.