Review of Attack on Titan Season 3

By the time this season premiered, I had read and been keeping up with the Attack on Titan manga, so I knew already what to expect while going into this season. Season 3 covers the "Uprising Arc," which is an extremely different turn from what we have normally been seeing in Attack on Titan so far--humans vs. titans. This arc takes on a more political stance and looks at the relationships between humans living in the walls. This was one of the weakest arcs in the manga, and Isayama himself admitted he was not proud of it, which is why the anime changed up some thingsand moved events around. I had no problem with these changes, and while a lot of people like to throw down on this arc, I have always enjoyed it, and I was glad to see a lot of people enjoy this arc as well.

As I said before, this arc takes a drastically different turn as the plot becomes highly political with a planned coup and royal family drama. While there is less titan activity in this arc, there are still elements of mystery to be explored, well-animated fight scenes between humans, and a strong character arc for Historia.

The animation continues to be excellent, the characters become more complex as their backstories are explored, and Sawano continues to put forward an excellent soundtrack. I know there was a lot of backlash over the opening to this season, as it was not done by Linked Horizon, but the opening tugs at the heartstrings and showcases the innocence our characters have lost all too quickly over these past few seasons. For these reasons, I think "Red Swan" is still a wonderful opening and is necessary for a season that focuses a little less on titans.

The Uprising Arc is by no means my favorite arc, but it is still an enjoyable and necessary arc that lays the groundwork for the upcoming arc. The first half of season 3 is obviously weaker compared to Season 3 Part 2, but it is still an enjoyable watch and continues to build on and improve this franchise.