Attack on Titan Episode 60

Attack on Titan Episode 60

The Other Side of the Sea

Attack on Titan: The Final Season has begun airing. And as expected, it’s probably the biggest anime of the year despite starting in December. I mean, I don’t think any other release this year crashed Crunchyroll, Funimation, MyAnimeList, etc.

Unfortunately, in part due to its popularity, this season’s release has been dominated by two opposing sides. There are those who are calling it a “10/10” and “the best anime of the century” on one side. And on the other, people calling it a “1/10” and a “terrible anime.”

That’s not the kind of thing you should expect from my reviews of these episodes. I am a fan of Attack on Titan. I’m also a fan of the studio that made this season, MAPPA, and I have been for years. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to blindly say it’s amazing. In reality, I felt that this episode was a 7/10.

Gabi from the anime series Attack on Titan: The Final Season
Gabi

Before I get more into the episode, I have one more thing to say to preempt these reviews. I’m not going to be including speculation as I normally do in episode reviews. The reason being that I’m all caught up on the manga, so I know what happens. Instead, I’m going to focus more on the adaptation itself.

With all of that out of the way, this episode was actually better than I expected it would be. You’ve probably heard the horror stories about this series’ production. And maybe after this episode, you’re thinking they were blown out of proportion. Well, we won’t really see the effects until later into the series.

However, overall I didn’t mind what I saw from this episode. I hate the OP, I’ll say that much. But the use of CGI for the titans wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. It’s passable as far as I’m concerned — though I would obviously prefer it not be used.

Battle for the Fort

Something I’ve seen a lot of people say regarding the first episode of this season is that “it doesn’t feel like Attack on Titan.” I think MAPPA’s done a pretty good job replicating the art style while including a lot of the detail from the manga — something that’s not easy.

But I don’t think the actual appearance of the series is what these people are referring to. I think they’re referring to the fact that this episode throws us into the middle of a war in a far-off country featuring characters we’ve never met. And sure, that’s not what fans of the series are used to at this point.

However, Attack on Titan is an interesting series because its tone shifts so dramatically between its different parts. What I mean by this is that the series has many time-skips, and there are generally major changes that come with those. Just look at the first three seasons; there was something like five time-skips in there.

Commander Magath from the anime series Attack on Titan: The Final Season
Commander Magath

This latest season takes place about three or four years after season 3 part 2 left off. You may have noticed that Reiner looks a bit different from how you remember him, and this is why. However, there are other differences that go beyond the time-skip.

As I already mentioned, this episode takes place in an entirely new country with a majority of the characters having never been seen before. The only characters we should be familiar with at this point are Reiner, Zeke, and Pieck — the Armored, Beast, and Cart Titans respectively.

The new characters are all either members of the Marley military or Eldians conscripted into the Marley military as part of their “Warrior candidate” program. Warrior is the term the Marley military uses for someone with titan-shifting powers, and the candidates are being tested to determine who will inherit those powers.

War Never Changes (Until It Does)

One of the major themes of this part of Attack on Titan that differentiates it from what’s come before is the idea that titans are becoming obsolete. Now, as you saw from the fate of the fort that Marley was attacking, titans obviously aren’t obsolete. However, the point is that as newer and stronger weapons are developed, the dominance of the titans is reduced.

Consider the canons mounted around the fortress and on the armored train. The rounds they fired could not only destroy normal titans in one hit but even pierce the Armored Titan. And that’s basically just World War 1 technology. Imagine what would happen to titans once weapons are developed beyond that point.

This is probably the biggest shift from the previous seasons that people will probably have a tough time adjusting to. Sure, there’s also a lot of new characters introduced throughout this season to keep track of. But I don’t find that too bad because I just don’t keep track of them.

Titans falling from an airship from the anime series Attack on Titan: The Final Season
Titans falling from an airship

If you’re someone who’s not really convinced about the direction the series is going in after this first episode, I want you to know that I think it might be the strongest part of the series. This episode may not have been the greatest, but there’s so much series and character development going forward.

Of course, there always has been series and character development in Attack on Titan. I think that’s why the series is as good as it is. But the development really ramps up from here as our main cast grows up and learns more about their standing within the larger world.

So while this season may feel different at times from what you’re used to, I think you’ll find that it’s still very much a continuation of the same story.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan episode 60? Do you like the new OP? I think it looks alright, but I hate the song and would have preferred less recycled animation. Do you think MAPPA has done a good job so far? And if you’re an anime-only fan, what are your predictions? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community. We have a dedicated Attack on Titan channel for the duration of its airing.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

4 Replies to “Attack on Titan Episode 60”

  1. Nice review! I personally love Attack on Titans, I’m even thinking about reading the manda because I have a serious adiction to this story.

    I think a strong point of the series is how the frontiers open and how a new whole world is presented. So for me it’s not a problem that completely new characters appears all of a sudden in the first episode of the final season. My expectations on how this ressolve are pretty high!

    Thanks for your content!

    1. Thanks for the comment, Mary. I’m glad you enjoyed the review.

      I completely agree with your opinion on how the world of Attack on Titan opens up with every new part of the series. I think that’s one of the things that keeps me coming back to it. It keeps things fresh by bringing in new characters, regions, and even ideas to the series. But at the same time, it still follows a path that can be traced back to the start of the series.

  2. I feel the same about the OP song. Didn’t hype me with the new season at all, it’s forgettable to say the least. I’ll be skipping this everytime for sure. The ED song is passable. Musical score is a rehash of something we’ve already heard before, mainly because Sawano is no longer the main composer, but Yamamoto is. Titan animation was lacking. Zeke didn’t look as intimidating as before jesus. I’m only watching because I want to see this series through the end, as all maga readers will. But overall studio changes really dictate the quality of a series. One Punch Man I’m glaring at you! Jeezz I’d rate the episode 5/10.

    1. I wouldn’t necessarily say that the studio change is to blame. It certainly wouldn’t help, but the real issues here are the production schedule and the artistic choices that have been made for this season. The animators are being rushed while also being asked to animate more detailed character designs than those used in the previous seasons. And in the next episode, you can see that they’re also using a lot of dynamic camera shots that aren’t needed but add a lot of work.

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