Attack on Titan: Final Season – The Final Chapters Special 1

Rumbling Our Way to Freedom

Attack on Titan: Final Season – The Final Chapters Special 1 is the second-to-last episode of the anime. While this could always change, there’s supposed to be one more special episode after this. And from what I’ve seen, Special 2 is going to air in October.

Now, I was pretty surprised that they opted to do 2 special episodes to end the series. I figured that a single movie would have been better. I mean, just think of how much money that would have generated.

But, anyway, we’re getting 2 episodes, and the first covered 4 chapters from the manga. Special 1 started with Chapter 131 and concluded with Chapter 134. That means Special 2 is going to cover Chapters 135 – 139.

And, overall, this special episode stayed pretty faithful to the manga. Though, there are a few differences, as I’ll point out.

The opening scene of the episode with the young boys getting rumbled to death was pretty graphic. In some ways, the anime was more graphic than the manga. And in others, the manga was more graphic. But, one thing the anime skipped over was showing people from all over the world getting rumbled.

In the anime, we primarily see Marley getting rumbled. But, in the manga, we see people from various cultures around the world getting rumbled. Particularly, a Japanese-inspired culture. We also get to see people throwing themselves off a cliff to escape the wall titans.

These extra scenes don’t add too much other than showing the worldwide scale of Eren’s actions. And, as we saw in this episode, these aren’t actions Eren particularly wanted to take. In his mind, his hand was forced by the outside world. And now, it’s too late to turn back.

Cringe Romance and Hange’s Death

Let’s talk about the worst and best parts of the episode next. If you couldn’t tell, I think the cringe romance between Armin and Annie is the worst part. I have no issue with romance in anime. But, I can’t say romance is why I watch Attack on Titan.

In the manga, it was easy enough to skim over these parts. However, it’s harder to ignore in the anime. And that’s unfortunate because writing romance isn’t one of Isayama’s strengths. But, hey, I’m sure some people liked seeing Armin and Annie exchanging glances and blushing.

So, if Isayama isn’t good at writing romance, what is he good at writing? Well, as you’ll hopefully see in Special 2, he’s exceptional at writing terrible endings. The only people I saw defending the end of the manga were huffing huge amounts of copium. And I’m hoping the anime-onlies get that same experience.

But, the other things Isayama is good at writing are action scenes. And this episode had a pretty good one in Hange’s last stand against the wall titans. She decided to sacrifice herself so her comrades would have enough time to fuel the flying boat.

Of course, she chose to do this because it’s her duty as the Commander of the Scouts Regiment. Erwin sacrificed himself (and many of his men) for the good of humanity. Now, it’s Hange’s turn. And while her death may have not been as epic as Erwin’s, it’s one of the highlights of the final chapters.

The action aside, my favorite part of Hange’s death was actually what comes after it. Seeing Hange reunite with Erwin and her other fallen comrades after death was great. It illustrates how it wasn’t just one sacrifice that got us here, but many.

The Final™ Battle Begins

At the end of the episode, the final battle begins. Our heroes have (almost) all come together to take down Eren and stop the rumbling. Of course, there are some heroes who are missing. Annie, Gabi, and Falco are on the Azumabito’s ship.

Let’s just forget about them, for now, and focus on the others. Onyankopon is flying Mikasa, Jean, Connie, Levi, Pieck, and Reiner to Eren’s location. Where is Eren? He’s somewhere within the Founding Titan’s massive body. The issue is that they don’t know exactly where he is.

In case you forgot, Eren has multiple Titan powers. He has the Attack, Founding, Warhammer, and Beast Titans. The Warhammer titan is the problem for our heroes. Thanks to its power, Eren can transfer his real body anywhere within the Founding Titan. So, he’s not necessarily in the nape, as one would expect.

If our heroes can’t locate Eren, how can they stop him? Well, that’s where the Beast Titan comes in. You see, Eren doesn’t really have the Beast Titan. It’s more like he fused with Zeke after they both suffered mortal wounds. So, in a technical sense, Zeke is still the Beast Titan.

I know the anime didn’t explain this very well. But, you can get the gist of it from the plan our heroes come up with. If they can locate Zeke, they can kill him. And if they kill him, he’ll no longer be in contact with Eren.

Why does that matter? Because it’s through his contact with Zeke that Eren can use the Founding Titan’s powers. If they kill Zeke, the rumbling should stop. And if they want to find Zeke, all they have to do is look for a giant monkey hanging onto the Founding Titan’s body.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: Final Season – The Final Chapters Special 1? If you’re an anime-only, are you looking forward to the final episode? And if you read the manga, how does the anime adaptation compare? Personally, I prefer the anime. I’ve enjoyed the content of the Final Season way more in anime form.

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My review of The Final Chapters Special 2 is available now.