Attack on Titan 3rd Season: Part II

VivisQueen said:
Episodes 8-10:

Good, good. Glad this season finished decently. There were a lot of reveals - I think almost too many. At times to the point that the story seemed to unravel and trip over itself to explain everything through exposition. We had to go back a lot of times to make sense of the present. Random thoughts:

So, Eren has two Titans' powers, not just one. As someone theorised before, can he hold more than that? His mother got eaten by his stepmother. Yikes. So harsh. His Titan is called the Attack Titan - cool. And generally, Grisha's plot turned out to be more engaging in its own right than I'd thought. The anime looked prettier towards the end too, which is a nice bonus. Adult Eren's design looks weird to me, though. In that shot of the back of his head while he looks up at the sky, I was convinced I was seeing Prince Van from Escaflowne.

It could be that I'm tired from a lot of travelling recently, but the last three episodes left me more exhausted than excited. There was, dare I say it... too much? An avalanche of reveals. And this brings me to AoT's weakness. It sacrifices the characters for the sake of world-building and dramatic moral dilemmas. There's a lot of lore and I get the feeling the mangaka has totally lost himself in his excellent plot twists. The show would be outstanding as an RPG, where discovering the world is basically the whole point. But I will have forgotten Eren and his pals within two weeks. I'll watch S4, but purely to get closure on this very well developed story, not because I actually care what happens to the characters. (Except for Levi. I love Levi. Goddamnit I wish the story would make more use of him.)

Anyway, overall, it was a good season. I now need to find something more gentle and cerebral as a palate cleanser.
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Completely disagree with the statements regarding the characters suffering. The characters are able to develop quite nicely, they're not really "sacrificed" per se. The character writing in this past season (or, two, if you split the cours) has been a lot more complex than in previous seasons. Whereas the first season suffered from the main cast being generally the same shounen figures you'd find anywhere else, the 3rd season is able to take those character archetypes and develop them far further than I was expecting them too. Even Levi, who is mostly just a dark emo figure with an insane skill who's not really worth caring about unless you've watched the No Regrets OVA, is given more development through his encounters with Kenny and especially in the Midnight Sun episode. Even Erwin is molded into someone beyond the strategic commander of the Scout Regiment. Even with the infodumps, the characters were able to shine through, and the list of good character writing continues on.
 
Let's go to the beach!

Krista let Levi kiss her hand? lol

Ok, so cart and beast titan are still around, inside the walls I assume.

8/10 (very good) Season3 (1&2) were a step above the rest.
 
Sarcataclysmal said:
Completely disagree with the statements regarding the characters suffering. The characters are able to develop quite nicely, they're not really "sacrificed" per se. The character writing in this past season (or, two, if you split the cours) has been a lot more complex than in previous seasons.
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You're right in the sense that the characters have developed over time - their experiences, traumatic and happy, have transformed them from 2D to 3D personalities that are capable of multiple expressions. I'm glad you reminded me of bright spots like Erwin, because he is indeed well done considering how comparatively little time he gets. But the three leads are standard fare; there are so many teen characters that have undergone the exact same journey: the tortured-lead-who-learns-to-trust-and-rely-on-others, the brainy-sidekick-who-learns-to-lead-and-trust-himself, and the-girl-who-is-there-for-emotional-support-for-the-lead-but-has-no-journey-of-her-own. Levi is more 2D than the three leads, but he's a very effective one-trick pony: the stoic hero who pulls off being enigmatic when doing nothing, and then thrilling when in action. Funnily enough, that was actually Mikasa's gig until Levi joined the plot, then the plot stopped knowing what to do with her. What's lacking is dynamic development in Levi's personality, but he's interesting enough that I'll wait, likely fruitlessly, for it to happen. Either way, I'm convinced AoT won't be remembered for any of the characters, but for the world-building and lore and whatever memes can be excavated from its coolest scenes.
 
VivisQueen said:
You're right in the sense that the characters have developed over time - their experiences, traumatic and happy, have transformed them from 2D to 3D personalities that are capable of multiple expressions. I'm glad you reminded me of bright spots like Erwin, because he is indeed well done considering how comparatively little time he gets. But the three leads are standard fare; there are so many teen characters that have undergone the exact same journey: the tortured-lead-who-learns-to-trust-and-rely-on-others, the brainy-sidekick-who-learns-to-lead-and-trust-himself, and the-girl-who-is-there-for-emotional-support-for-the-lead-but-has-no-journey-of-her-own. Levi is more 2D than the three leads, but he's a very effective one-trick pony: the stoic hero who pulls off being enigmatic when doing nothing, and then thrilling when in action. Funnily enough, that was actually Mikasa's gig until Levi joined the plot, then the plot stopped knowing what to do with her. What's lacking is dynamic development in Levi's personality, but he's interesting enough that I'll wait, likely fruitlessly, for it to happen. Either way, I'm convinced AoT won't be remembered for any of the characters, but for the world-building and lore and whatever memes can be excavated from its coolest scenes.
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I agree Mikasa is rather... bland as a character, but Armin's revelation I think is a pretty good twist (despite not being a twist). Everyone expected him to be that one pussy kid that grew some balls later on the series but the fact of the matter was that Armin already had all the balls he needed-- since they were kids nonetheless. Of course, he does learn to "trust himself", sort of, that entire journey is way different from conventional shounen series; Hajime took that formula and gave it a bit of spice. And Eren's character is... I'd say he's the most genius character out of all of them. Yes, he's a very basic character archetype you've seen in My Hero Academia, Shakugan no Shana, Naruto-- but at that point, it all comes down to how it's handled. AoT handles Eren's character not as a shounen protagonist, but as a seinen protagonist. He starts out relatively bland, "Rawr Im gonna kill all of the Titans" in the first season. That's basically how he is for the first half. The second half of the first season begins to acknowledge a deeper side of Eren, one that isn't based on quick judgment and irrationality, but even then he's still rather basic. The 2nd season is where his whole being as a basic character is changed; he's more cautious, aware, and more empathetic with those around him. The third season emphasizes the tragedy in the world of AoT, but I don't' believe that's through the worldbuilding itself, I believe it's through Eren that we see how wrong a world this is. Eren's development from the bland shounen character archetype in the first season to a thinking, paranoid, almost-seinenly serious protagonist in the third season is truly a remarkable trip. The entirety of this season is littered with small directorial choices by Masashi Koizuka and Tetsurou Araki emphasizing how he feels and how he thinks. Eren Jaeger truly is the story of a tragedy, but tragedy alone is only shock factor unless you have a well-written character to go alongside it, and that's why I think Eren Jaeger is the most brutally honest character that could exist within the anime world, right next to the depression of Shinji Ikari.
 
VivisQueen said:
I was convinced I was seeing Prince Van from Escaflowne.

Anyway, overall, it was a good season. I now need to find something more gentle and cerebral as a palate cleanser.
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Cannot unsee. Actually, the best one that has aged is
Armin. He sorta lost that overtly dorky blond in a basement look

I guess I rode the wave of
reveals like a surfer finding a giant wave.
The age out process, the Naming of the Titans, and yes, the Step mom (who did say she'd find Grisha) But I did so week-to-week. I think it is a bit of an overwhelming thing if I had tried to watch more than one at a time. I guess I never liked to binge too much, probably just me.
I will say, this season re-kindled my interest in the series.

Pallet cleanse with the new Fruits Basket.
 
Yeah, with hindsight, I think AoT is better week to week rather than binged. On the other hand, I remember finding the cliffhangers so painful when I had to wait an entire week because they were just so damn good. The show just can't win with me. Haha. But really, I think maybe I come across too negative - I think AoT is excellent shounen. Just the main characters are not as original as they could be. All that world-building stuff you mentioned, the twists etc, it is all freakin' great.

And Fruits Basket, eh? I was wondering if the new version would be worth my time. Thanks for tipping me off. I'm currently palate cleansing with Yuri on Ice, Cardcaptor Sakura (yay!) and Carole & Tuesday. I just looked up directors I trust and started watching their most recent work. 2019 is really looking quite decent where shows are concerned.
 
VivisQueen said:
Yeah, with hindsight, I think AoT is better week to week rather than binged. On the other hand, I remember finding the cliffhangers so painful when I had to wait an entire week because they were just so damn good. The show just can't win with me. Haha. But really, I think maybe I come across too negative - I think AoT is excellent shounen. Just the main characters are not as original as they could be. All that world-building stuff you mentioned, the twists etc, it is all freakin' great.

And Fruits Basket, eh? I was wondering if the new version would be worth my time. Thanks for tipping me off. I'm currently palate cleansing with Yuri on Ice, Cardcaptor Sakura (yay!) and Carole & Tuesday. I just looked up directors I trust and started watching their most recent work. 2019 is really looking quite decent where shows are concerned.
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Oh, I might look into the new-ish Cardcaptor. Carole & Tuesday looks amazing (well the artwork/frame rate/character design)
 
VivisQueen said:
Just the main characters are not as original as they could be.
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To be fair the characters weren't ever meant to be "original", similar to Izuku Midoriya, who isn't at all original in any way but still works. It, again, just comes down to overall character writing, which excels in AoT's case.
 
the quarantine gave me the unforeseen opportunity to clean up my backlog, and therefore I finally managed to watch this show. Good story, well written and executed... some dumb decision along the way, but maybe that will be explained in the future as for example:

why in the world Titans would fight each other... it would be far more beneficial to band together and annihilate their oppressors
 
Damn this season has so many perfect episodes in a row.

"Perfect Game" - I swear Erwin can make anyone do anything with his inspirational speech's. Even when telling them straight up ya you going to die they still charge to their deaths. Not all gun hoe but realistically shitting themselves but slightly inspired and with understanding from his speech that this is the correct choice. All along he is having trouble accepting that he is about to die himself without realizing his goal when it is so close at hand. Then having to have levi tell him to give up on it all and just go die like he just did for the rest of the survey corp. He accepts that with smiles at that in the end, just amazing !

"Hero" - Armin "I didn't lose because i didn't run" sums up this episode perfectly. Everyone faced everything head on full force to the bitter end knowing the outcome. The only difference is Armin didn't have to be talk into it or coerced. He knew all along what he had to do and the outcome but still did it because that's who he is as a character at his core. The bravest of them all, a "hero". Then we have Levi being the absolute beast that he is and taking out all the titans himself and putting the fear into Zeke after wrecking him along with some stellar animation to back it up.

"Midnight Sun" - To save Erwin or Armin, the choice. The episode was so full of emotion and swirling feelings between the group on who to save. Even coming to blows with Mikasa raging out on Levi over the decisions. I got to say as a character i would have picked Erwin as he was just such a good character that you want to see more of in the future. While compared to Armin at this point was just alright, but he was starting to show how badass he can be in the latest episodes. I think honestly story wise though it was better to pick Armin. He was the man coming up with all the ideas that moved humanity forward and even Erwin was thinking of him as the future of the the survey corps. That and the fact that Erwin story has come to a good conclusion where Armin is still in the middle and getting good.

Its hard to pick the best episode out of these 3, but they are the best 3 episode's in all of Attack on Titan up to the finale part 2. Even all the other episodes were off the charts not just these 3. The backstory, character development, world building, action, animation and the way everything is starting to fit into place is just amazing this season.

At the same time this season was super depressing as well. With Eren and Armin going to die young cause of the titans and leave Mikasa alone no mater what. Then realizing at the end after all their sacrifices and all the fighting that they are no closer but in fact further away from the peaceful lives they want. As a new world unfolds in front of them that basically wants them all dead.
5/5 Great season had everything
 
Going on an AOT marathon and rewatching this....
Not going to lie, it feels like aot has gone downhill after Erwin died...
i remember watching this last season and i had lost interest in watching the rest (i also lost interest in the manga at some point when they arrived in Marley) (i mean i will still watch the following seasons out of curiosity but you get what i mean...)
 
How anyone gets past the MC being a whiny b!tch is beyond me. DROPPED. The story line is SO predictable. Here are some new people... BRUTALLY KILLED... rinse repeat... FOR at least season 1 to 3. Oh and let's not forget the MC CONSTANTLY saying how worthless he is despite them always needing his help to do anything.
 
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