It’s been a long while since I’ve been able to binge a TV show, and I definitely thought that after university, that ability in me was long lost. Turns out, I just had to find the right material. I’ve been enjoying ‘Attack On Titan’ for a few weeks now, and my excitement for the culmination of the story has only been building. So it took me 3 and a bit days to finish these last 30 episodes!
‘Attack On Titan’ Season 4 starts in a very different place. We’re across the sea now, in the nation of Marley. We’re given a backstory which explains that there was once a race known as Eldians, who are the descendants of a girl named Ymir, who could turn into a Titan. They therefore all have in their genetic material that ability. The Eldians of old became an empire terrorising other nations, including Marley. In modern day, however, Marley is the aggressor and has enslaved Eldians, whom they use to become Titans in an attempt to destroy the Eldians living inside the Walls on Paradis Island. Are you with me so far? Well, it turns out that our group of heroes has not only found out about the outside world, but they’ve managed to make it there. Eren comes up with a plan to take revenge on the people who have caused all this pain and destruction in his home nation. His attack on Marley naturally triggers a revenge response, and it feels like deja vu as Shiganshina is the place where it all goes down. Mikasa, Armin and the remaining Scouts have no choice but to follow through in the only way they know best: to fight. Can Eren finally bring peace to his homeland? And will his friends find the happy endings they all dream of?
This season was the culmination of one of the most impressive TV shows ever, and I have to be honest here, I was so, so nervous. Over the last few years, there’ve been a number of highly rated shows that have botched their endings, and I didn’t want ‘Attack On Titan’ to go the same way. On that front, there was some good news and bad news. The good news is that this final season was phenomenal. I mean, look at the score I’ve given it; it could not have gotten better. ‘Attack On Titan’ in general covers such complex themes, asking questions like what it is to be human, and why certain things happen to certain people. We watched through 89 episodes the story of three kids, Eren, Mikasa and Armin, as they navigate through chaos and tragedy to find a remnant of normality in their lives, trying to bring peace to their childhood home. It’s something that every single human would fight for if those circumstances were thrust upon them. It also covers the nature of indoctrination, and in this season, there are certainly parallels to be drawn upon our own human history, looking no further than the situation in Gaza, which is a perfect example of how certain populations of people can be dehumanised. We’ve seen each of the characters grow and change, and at the end, I couldn’t pick a favourite. I suppose that’s what brings me to the bad news. This show, and this season in particular, will make you cry like nothing else ever has!
30 episodes for a season is a big risk. With the way our brains have gotten used to a lower level of concentration and reduced intelligence, for a show to have 30 episodes in a season, they know viewers are going to get hooked. The animation for this season was actually done by a different studio, MAPPA, who are also responsible for the animation of ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’. I could tell there was a difference in style, and I’d argue that for the plot of this final season, they were the perfect animators. The theme songs for this season were both excellent. They took no chances for this show. Overall, I can’t imagine ever watching anything like this again, and I sobbed when I finished the season finale. It was the understanding that I would never again experience ‘Attack On Titan’ for the first time!
Rating:
Story: ★★★★★
Character Development: ★★★★★
Animation and Visual Style: ★★★★★
World Building: ★★★★★
Enjoyability: ★★★★★