Review of Attack on Titan Season 3

Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin if you prefer) is a series i have a very odd relationship with. It's first season is actually the show that properly got me into anime as a whole (i'm not counting things like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon etc) and though over time as i watched more and better shows my opinion on it began to change and while i still enjoyed it i began to see things i didn't really like in the series, character and pacing issues in particular. It's second season however while it had a very strong first half, it's second half and ending left a verysour taste in my mouth. So when it came to the 3rd season i was not very excited going into it but was still willing to give it a fair try. And I can honestly say that... This is the best AoT has been without a shadow of a doubt i really liked S3 and while not perfect it certainly reignited my interest in the series. But without further adieu let's dive into the review.

So S3 picks up pretty much after the events of S2, i won't bother summarising as if your reading this you've likely watched both prior seasons. As opposed to prior seasons which were all "Titans coming gotta kill em" this season focuses on the corruption within the government as well as the history of the royal family and a few key characters. My biggest gripe in S2 was the lack of forward progression in the story. Yes there were a couple of big reveals but nothing that really progressed things, things started and ended in the same place or at the very least it was a tip toe forward. S3 thankfully has tons of forward progression, reveals, plot twists and answers to questions we've had since the first season. This coupled with some really good character development throughout this season have really helped elevate the story for me. However not everything is perfect.

(Some spoilers ahead)

My biggest problem with the story is that in the initial setup is "Eren's been kidnapped gotta rescue him" for the 3rd goddamn time. Like if it was spaced out more i wouldn't mind too much, but the fact over all 3 season Eren has been kidnapped and rescued in ALL 3 seasons is honestly a bit of a joke. Also a particular scene in one of the later episodes which would've been a great scene, if not for the edgy dialogue. Like maybe that one is just me but too me the it came off as super edgy and kinda took away from what would've been otherwise a great scene. Also this isn't really a positive or a negative but still something i want to comment on. In the final episode there is a mid credit scene that is... interesting to say the least. It appears to be a flash forward to an event which will happen in S3 part 2, it just seems odd they'd choose to tease this since they've never done it before. Again not a positive or a negative just something i found odd. But regardless overall i feel that S3 has had a particularly strong story.

Art has always been one of AoTs strong points. The show has always looked great and this season is no exception with Wit Studios really pulling out their A game in terms of art and animation with everything looking smooth slick and really really good, particularly in the action scenes. Outside of that the show still looks good no real complaints with the art overall

Sawano is on the soundtrack that's all i need to say... Fine i'll elaborate. Sawano once again pulls put his best for AoT. Like the man only really has one style, but he does that style so well that it doesn't really matter, pulling out some amazing tracks including a rap track that was used during one of the major fight scenes that I STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND, that was really damn good. Outside of the soundtrack the overall sound design is well done as always and the voice acting continues to be good as well.

The characters of AoT have always been an interesting topic to me. Lots of people love them however I've always found the characters of the show to be rather weak. Not all of them mind, characters like Armin, Erwin, Jean, Hange, Levi as well as a few others are very well presented characters however i feel quite a lot of the characters have honestly been rather weak, either not getting any development or just being their to be killed. However S3 actually has a lot of really good character development for a few key members of the cast. For starters Eren... EREN ACTUALLY HAS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OH MY GOD FINALLY... Seriously prior to this season i HATED Eren. All he really did was yell, get captured, yell at people when they tried to explain stuff to him, then complain that he doesn't understand anything. However in S3 he actually has development as a character, ending this part of the season in a different place than he began which has slightly improved my opinion on him, i still don't really like him but it's a good starting point. Historia, who is the main focus of the arc also greatly benefits from development. And aside from a couple moments i feel fell flat she grew into a much stronger and more interesting character. There were some new characters introduced but the only real stand out was Kenny who serves as one of the antagonists and he is just such a fun character, i mean he's basically a steampunk cowboy you don't get cooler than that, but his story is also interesting and adds a lot more lore to the AoT world which was really cool. That all being said a lot of the newer characters introduced felt like filler characters to either be killed off or not do much regardless, a problem AoT has had for a while. And another problem i have comes from one particular character. Mikasa... now wait a sec, overall i think she is a decent character, a strong heroine who's backstory is interesting (even more so with some revelations made in this season) but her obsessive protective nature over Eren i think honestly detracts from her character. I get why she wants to protect Eren but it's just played up far too much and their was a scene towards the end of this season, where Eren and Historia are having a conversation after everything that had happened, Mikasa walks up does her scary eyes and takes Historia away. It's played more for laughs but i just really didn't like that scene and it detracted a bit from Mikasa for me. But overall i do feel that the character work in the season was very strong, stronger than it had been.

In the end, I enjoyed this season. It really rekindled my interest in AoT to the point i can say I'm legitimately excited for the second half of S3 next year. So if you've finished season 2 and still want more, i can say it only gets better here.