Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 anime series cover art
Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

Overview

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 (Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3 Part 2 / 進撃の巨人 Season3 Part.2) is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the second part of the third season of Attack on Titan. Some would call it season 4, but I’m going to stick with season 3 part 2 since that’s the official classification.

Before I actually get into the discussion of this season though, I want to make it clear that I’m actually caught up on the manga — which is unusual for me. However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to (intentionally) include any manga spoilers in this review.

If you want a review/discussion of the manga after the point at which this season ends, complete with spoilers, let me know in the comments and I can definitely make that happen. But now that I’ve given my disclaimer, let’s get into the events of season 3 part 2.

Mikasa vs. Levi Ackerman from the anime series Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2
Mikasa vs. Levi Ackerman

This was the best season of the Attack on Titan anime so far, and that actually surprised me. For seasons 1 through 3 part 1 I felt that each season got worse, but season 3 part 2 blew that downward trend out of the water. It had a good mixture of the things I liked from seasons 1 & 2, and lacked the things I disliked in 3 part 1.

For example, the titans are back as the main antagonists, not the government within the walls (they were overthrown in part 1). I know that had to happen at some point, but I enjoy the battles against titans a lot more than against corrupt politicians.

This arc also included a lot of major events for the story, which I’ll get to shortly. Up until now, while there were some major events, they were mostly major revelations instead. The characters learned big things, but big things didn’t necessarily happen.

Major Developments

I’ll be going through these major events in the order in which I think of them, so they may or may not be in chronological order.

One of the biggest events as far as the story is concerned was when our heroes finally got to see what lay within Eren’s basement in the Shiganshina District. The information we learned from it aside (the existence of Marley), the entire series thus far was building up to this moment.

There was also the death of Commander Erwin, the leader of the Scout Regiment. Not only was his death a major blow to humanity, and our heroes on a more personal level, but it was also the highlight of the season for many, including myself. Erwin’s speech may just be the best scene in the entire series — and it didn’t need any crazy animation to achieve that.

Along with Erwin’s death we also have the death of Bertholdt, the former holder of the Colossal Titan. With his death, comes a new wielder of the Colossal Titan, that being Armin. And I just want to say that Armin has grown on me over the course of the series. He’s actually proven his worth.

There’s also one little fact I didn’t notice until it was explicitly stated. Remember when they made it to the ocean for the first time? Well, that was actually the first time any of our main heroes went beyond the walls. All of the other expeditions they went on were still within Wall Maria.

I feel like there’s one more major event I’m forgetting about, but whatever, you get the picture. There were quite a few major events which took place within this arc compared to the previous seasons.

Opening #5

I’m not going to make an entire discussion post for this new OP like I did for OP 4, but I still want to talk about it a bit. And the main thing I want to point out is how much better this OP was than Red Swan, which is what came before it.

I remember at the time of Red Swan the manga readers were all saying how that OP was perfect for when our heroes make it to the ocean. Well, guess what, they didn’t make it to the ocean during the arc Red Swan was the OP for. Also, I still think that was a bad OP for this series, even now.

There’s just something about Linked Horizon songs that just go well with Attack on Titan. It’s partially the the faster pace and heavier sound, partially the inclusion of German lyrics since that’s where a lot of the architecture in the series is based on, and partially the fact that it’s what many of us have come to expect.

Levi Ackerman as seen in the 5th OP from the anime series Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2
Levi Ackerman as seen in the 5th OP

If there was one thing I like which was kept from OP 4 it’s the rainbow behind the credits. However, this rainbow effect isn’t the same. In the first 3 OPs there were slash effects behind the credits, but OP 4 replaced that with ethereal rainbow effects. OP 5 adds a different spin on this by placing rainbow blood splatters behind the credits.

I think this is a great way to show the more hopeful tone the series is going in at this point, while also reminding us of the kind of world the characters are living in.

One major downside of this OP is that I hate the CGI Colossal titan. I get that the Colossal Titan is a big part of this arc, and that it’s often depicted using CGI, but it looks bad. The OP is supposed to be the place to sell the viewers on how good your series is, so don’t use bad CGI there.

Final Season

Normally I would have ended this review here, but it was somewhat recently revealed that there’s only going to be one more season of Attack on Titan, so I want to give my thoughts on that. And, it should be pointed out that apparently Studio WIT will not be animating it.

If I had to guess, Production I.G. will probably do it, but the truth is that as of right now we just don’t know. What we can assume, however, is that it won’t exactly look the same. I’m not too worried about that though, because this isn’t One Punch Man — Attack on Titan was never insanely animated in every scene.

What I’m more concerned about is what this final season means for the story. It’s one season, and it’s supposedly going to be coming Fall 2020, which is just over a year from now. And the reason I’m so concerned is because I’m caught up on the manga.

The manga probably isn’t going to conclude until around that same time. In fact, the anime might conclude before the manga, and that often isn’t a good sign. Does this mean we’ll have an anime original ending? I don’t know, but I’d prefer if it didn’t since I like where the story is going so far.

Schedule aside, I’m also not convinced one season is enough to finish the series. Season 3 part 2 ends with Chapter 90 of the manga. That means each cour of the anime covered 18 chapters on average. Currently we’re on chapter 120 in the manga, which means there are currently 30 chapters to be animated.

Sure, if the manga ends on chapter 126, or even 130, then a two-cour final season is plausible, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. I really feel like an entire season needs to be dedicated to covering chapters 91 – 119, and then another season will be needed to finish 120 onward.

It’s possible that they split season 4 into two separate parts rather than back to back cours. This would solve the schedule issue, but again, I really feel like one season isn’t going to be enough.

Conclusion

Overall I rated Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 a 9/10. Some would argue that it should be a 10, but I think there were enough small issues with it for me to safely keep it out of that top tier. For example, the reduced quality of animation and increased dependency on bad CGI. But like I said, it’s still the best season of the series.

If you enjoyed this review, click the like button ❤ down below. And, if you think I should review the manga as well, possibly on a monthly basis, then let me know in the comments. You should also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content.

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My review of the Final Season is available.

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