Geographic and Cultural Influences

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 86 actually gave us something I complained about not having just a week ago. In my Episode 85 review, I mentioned how I’d like to have a world map so we could visualize how the rumbling would progress.

We didn’t get an entire world map in Episode 86. But we did get a map of the continent that includes Paradis Island off to the northeast. When you see the placement of Paradis compared to the mainland, it’s easy to understand that Paradis’ relation to the rest of the world is based on Japan.

Japan is an island off the northeastern coast of mainland Asia and was culturally isolated for a very long time. Of course, the actual civilization on Paradis Island is based on Germany, though.

And, before anyone comments it, no, Paradis is not based on Germany they’re supposed to represent the Nazis. I’ve seen a lot of people thinking that Eren is supposed to be like Hitler, and that’s simply not the case.

Yes, there are a lot of parallels to World War II in the series. But, Marley is the country based on the Nazis. They’re the ones who keep Eldians in guarded camps and want to eradicate them. The Paradis Eldians are the oppressed and Eren is the embodiment of their negative sentiment.

Eren and his followers are those who want to seek revenge for their oppression. However, as you’ll notice if you’ve been paying attention, they’re now the antagonists of the series. The heroes don’t want to commit a vengeful genocide.

You could also view this story as having parallels to sentiments in Japan after the United States used nuclear weapons against them.

Falco’s Jaw Titan

There were a lot of exciting things that happened in Episode 86. We had Mikasa, Jean, and Connie all fighting against the Yeagerists (Twitter only cared about Mikasa). We also had Shadis and Magath giving their lives to save the world (more on that in a bit).

But, I’d say the “biggest” part of the episode was the reveal of Falco’s Jaw Titan. More people seemed to care about Mikasa doing literally anything. However, I did still see a lot of people commenting on how they liked the Jaw Titan’s design.

So, of course, I have to come in and mention how I actually dislike Falco’s Titan design. But, before you call me a hater, I do think his Jaw Titan looks cool. It’s just that I don’t think it’s a good design for his specific Titan.

Perhaps you noticed that Falco’s Titan has hands and feet that look like a bird’s talons. And perhaps you also noticed that the jaw of his Jaw Titan looks a bit like a bird’s beak. His name is also Falco, which is almost the word falcon, a type of bird of prey.

Basically, Falco’s Titan design would be great if he was the Beast Titan. It has animal characteristics, albeit different ones from Zeke’s Beast Titan. But, having animal characteristics is kind of the Beast Titan’s thing. Up until now, that’s the only Titan we’ve seen like that, and its name implies that to be unique about it.

Falco’s Titan design is definitely cool and unique. I mean, most of the other Titans are pretty boring. Though, I’d still have to say that the Warhammer Titan (did you forget that one?) is still my favorite — the manga version of it, specifically.

Shadis and Magath

I’ve always liked Shadis and Magath. Well, okay, I didn’t really care about Shadis at the start of the series when he was just the commanding officer of the cadets. But, once he became a recurring character, I really enjoyed him.

Magath is a character I enjoyed right from his introduction. I liked his initial interactions with Gabi during the siege that the Final Season began with. Back then, even though Gabi was only a Warrior candidate, Magath was wary of sending her on a dangerous mission into no man’s land.

It’s hard to say if Magath felt bad about using child soldiers back then and if that’s why he was hesitant. I think it was more so that he didn’t want to lose a promising Warrior candidate, which I believe is what he told Gabi. But, we now know that Magath does regret using child soldiers and the power of the Titans in general.

Shadis and Magath are effectively the same character. They’re the ones who trained our heroes and villains — Eren and Zeke being the villains, and everyone else being the heroes. And yet, they never met until it was time for the two of them to give their lives.

While I do like that they opted to go out in a (literal) blaze of glory, it has to be said that Shadis probably shouldn’t have gone along with it. I understand Magath’s reasoning. He’s atoning for his sins and he has knowledge of the ship so he can destroy it.

But, there was no reason for Shadis to die other than, as he puts it, he was looking for a good place to die. Even with the Rumbling happening, Shadis still could have made a difference. He still could have helped civilians in need.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 86? Do you like Falco’s Jaw Titan design? And are you sad to see Shadis and Magath meet their ends? Let me know in the comments.

Also, I believe there’s a break next week before the final episode of this part of the season (not the end of the series).

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.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman 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 Episode 87 is available now.

Battle for the Flying Boat

In my review of Episode 84, I mentioned that the “flying boat” was just an airplane. Well, it turns out I was wrong. It’s literally a flying boat. As Onyankopon explains, it’s a boat that has detachable wings (and propellers, which he didn’t explain).

Anyway, the flying boat is one of those things you wouldn’t really think is all that important. They have ships, so why do they need a flying boat? Well, a flying boat is just a lot more practical for what the heroes of the world are trying to achieve.

As Hange guesstimated, the Wall Titans have already made landfall on Marley. They’ve made it beyond the ocean to the next continent. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve ever actually seen a world map in Attack on Titan. But, let’s just assume Marley is the next closest landmass.

The problem with ships is that they’re relatively slow. If you’re going to cross an ocean, a plane — or flying boat — is going to be far faster than a ship. And considering that the Rumbling is currently happening, time is of the essence.

But, even if there was a ship that could travel across the ocean faster than the flying boat, our heroes would run into another problem. How do they deal with the moving wall of Wall Titans? A flying boat can just soar right over them.

Yes, 3D-maneuvering gear exists and could be used. But, while scaling the Wall Titans in this way definitely seems possible, then what? Are they going to slice the napes of all of them? They can’t hop down onto the other side; they’ll just be crushed like the rest of the world.

Saved by the Titans

The Azumabito clan is important for three reasons. First, they’re the allies of the heroes of the world. Second, the flying boat technology is theirs. And third, they’re the distant relatives of Mikasa. That last reason isn’t actually important, but it explains why Mikasa specifically wants to save them.

It’s the second reason that really matters at the moment. Because the wings of the flying boat are off (or folded away; I forget which), the engineers of the Azumabito are needed to prepare it to fly. If all the engineers are killed by Floch, the flying boat may never get off the water.

Unfortunately, these engineers, as well as Kiyomi Azumabito, are being held hostage by Floch and the Yeagerists. And, the flying boat has also been rigged to explode. So, our heroes can’t just charge in and kill everyone in sight. If they do that, they’ll either lose the engineers or the flying boat itself.

The solution Armin comes up with (it was probably Armin) is to act like he and Connie are on the side of the Yeagerists. They attempt to trick Floch into believing that the enemy Titans are fleeing and that they need to use the flying boat to catch up to them.

Honestly, I don’t think this was a great plan. It just seems way too suspicious. But, Floch took too long to realize this. By the time he did, Armin and Connie had made their way to the flying boat, and Mikasa and the others had launched a surprise attack to rescue the hostages.

But, even with the element of surprise on their side, our heroes would have failed if not for the Armored and Female Titans. Armin can’t turn into the Colossal titan because the destruction would be too much. So it’s up to Reiner and Annie to protect the Azumabito engineers by taking out all the Yeagerists.

Stained with Blood

At the end of the dock where the flying boat was being kept, Armin and Connie come face to face with two of their old comrades. I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember Daz and Samuel at all. It’s entirely possible that this was the first time they’ve been named — or even shown.

Regardless of whether we know them, Armin and Connie do; that’s what matters. They don’t want to have to kill their friends. But, after Floch alerts the other Yeagerists to the presence of intruders and traitors, Armin and Connie aren’t left with much choice.

Of course, Daz and Samuel didn’t have to die. They could have surrendered to Armin and Connie at any point. However, considering that they truly believed what Eren’s doing is right, that wasn’t going to happen.

In the end, it was Connie who killed both Daz and Samuel. I guess you could argue that Samuel didn’t need to be killed since he was already disarmed and restrained at that point. But, in Connie’s defense, there’s no guarantee that Samual wouldn’t have tried to fight back again.

Also, something I found interesting is that Connie thinks back to something Bertholdt once said about someone always needing to stain their hands with blood. Bertholdt believed that what he, Reiner, and Annie were doing was the right thing. And so, he accepted that he would have to stain his hands with blood in the name of world peace.

Connie is doing the exact same thing here. He believes that what he and his comrades are doing is the only way to save the world. And in this moment, we see him accept that he’ll have to stain his hands with blood in order to achieve that.

Conclusion

What do you think about Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 85? Can you think of another way to stop the rumbling that doesn’t require the flying boat? Are the Azumabito really that important? And should Connie have spared Samuel? 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.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman 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 Episode 86 is available now.

Jean’s Ideal Life

Apparently, Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 84 was a very polarizing episode online. I’ve seen people saying that it was the worst episode of the series. And I’ve also seen people say that it was a great episode. I think it was pretty average.

Generally speaking, I think the people who express these extreme viewpoints can be split into two categories. The former are those who just want action 24/7 — they probably also love Demon Slayer and maybe another shounen battle series if they’ve watched that much anime.

The latter are your Attack on Titan fanfiction writers/consumers. I see these types of a lot on Twitter. They’re obsessed with the characters at face value, but seem to ignore who the characters are beyond that.

If you’re wondering why the latter group would be obsessed with this episode, it’s because at the very beginning we get a what-if scene with Jean and Mikasa. Yes, that was Mikasa as Jean’s wife in his imagination. And if Jean thinks joining the Yeagerists is going to lead to a peaceful life like that, his imagination is almost as wild as the fanfiction writers.

Really, what do the Yeagerists have going for them currently? You could argue Eren is on their side. But he’s not concerned with what they’re doing right now. So that leaves the Yeagerists with zero of the Nine Titans and a bunch of new recruits who don’t really know what war is like.

All the veteran soldiers either got turned into titans or have joined the resistance. Could the Yeagerists really do anything if Armin decided to transform into the Colossal Titan? No. And that’s exactly why there’s no way they can come out on top, even if Eren succeeds.

Talking it Out

I’ll admit that the majority of this episode isn’t very exciting. It’s a lot of dialogue. And it’s a lot of dialogue that I don’t think really matters to the viewer. It’s important stuff for the characters, though. Imagine if we just skipped this episode and had everyone working together as if they’re best friends.

That would definitely be worse than including it. But, I do think there are probably better ways this content could have been covered. I don’t know what those ways are. I want to say show the scenes that were being discussed. However, that would just turn it into a recap episode.

I’m also not even sure if I preferred the anime’s or manga’s take on this content. This episode covered just one chapter, Chapter 127 (which seems to confirm that there’s going to be a movie after this season). The manga had blank backgrounds for most of the dialogue, so it was a bit bland.

I might have actually preferred the manga’s blandness over what the anime did, though. I can’t say I was a fan of the purple forest background. It just didn’t feel right.

Oh, also, the manga did show Marco’s corpse when he was brought up. I don’t believe the anime did that unless I missed it. It seems like an odd thing to leave out. But maybe MAPPA just didn’t want to waste time having animators redraw that scene in their art style.

This wasn’t just an anime thing, but I also could have done without Hange’s stew being included. I don’t think it added anything and instead just felt awkward and forced to show that “this is a real situation with real people.”

Seize the Port

Our heroes are currently on their way to the port where a “flying ship” is waiting for them. In case you haven’t figured it out, they’re referring to a plane. We even saw it in this episode, albeit covered by a sheet.

The only problem is that the port is crawling with Yeagerists, including Floch Forster. I’m kind of surprised Floch was smart enough to seize the port and take Kiyomi Azumabito hostage. He doesn’t come across as the brightest guy. He’s just a follower who likes to push people around with his borrowed authority.

I see a lot of people who apparently like Floch. I don’t know if they actually like him or just ironically like him. But I think he’s a pretty terrible character. He’s not memorable in any way (I forget he exists each week) and his whole personality is just that he’s a bad guy.

With that said, I do think Floch plays a decently important role in the series. As I mentioned in my review of Episode 83, Floch is essentially Jean’s Yeagerist counterpart. If Jean made all the wrong choices throughout his life, he would have ended up in Floch’s position.

But, I think you can still have a character who represents the dark path Jean could have gone down without making him as insufferable as Floch. Does anyone actually take Floch seriously as an antagonist? I know I don’t, despite the fact that he’s clearly capable of killing people.

I’m also not entirely convinced that Isayama had a good idea of what he wanted to do with Floch’s character. Like, what’s the endgame for Floch here? I can’t imagine any scenario in which he gets an end to his character arc that I find worthwhile.

Even if Floch did something crazy like kill Armin and take the Colossal Titan now, that wouldn’t solve the issue of him being a bad character.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 84? Do you want the series to be all action all the time? Or do you prefer to fantasize about the characters? Did the purple forest background bother you? And how do you feel about Floch? 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.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman 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 Episode 85 is available now.

A Hero to Be Proud Of

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 83 is the episode in which all of our heroes come together to save the world. Connie Springer is the only one who really needs to be convinced to put his own desires aside for the good of the world.

Sure, Magath and Pieck probably needed some level of convincing, as did Annie, I’m sure. But, my assumption is that they all pretty well understood the stakes. All three of them want to save people who are back in Marley. So it shouldn’t have taken too much convincing to get them to agree to help.

Connie is different because he’s the one who doesn’t care about anyone outside of Paradis. He only cares about saving his mother.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Why can’t Connie save both his mother and the rest of the world? Why does it have to be one or the other?” That’s a good question. Armin actually already answered this in Episode 82, though.

As Armin previously explained, the Marleyans (Magath, Pieck, Gabi, and Reiner) won’t team up with the Paradis Eldians if Falco is sacrificed. Falco being fed to Connie’s mom would be a dealbreaker — especially for Gabi and Reiner. And considering Reiner is one of the Titan Shifters, they don’t want to lose his allegiance.

I also really liked how Armin handled this whole situation. His gamble that Connie would stop him from sacrificing himself is something Erwin would have done. Armin’s always negatively comparing himself to Erwin. But in reality, he’s developed into a leader just like Erwin — even if he isn’t actually the leader.

Jean and Onyankopon

The Paradis Eldians and Warriors of Marley coming together to achieve a shared goal is pretty important. But let’s not forget that there are others in this alliance, as well. Specifically, I’m referring to Onyankopon. He’s not an Eldian nor a Marleyan.

And, for anyone who was thinking that Onyankopon was really going to be killed by Jean in this episode, consider what Onyankopon represents in the story. Onyankopon is the hope that one day people of all races and backgrounds can live together in peace. I’m not saying he’s unkillable in the story because of that. But there’s no way Jean would do it.

Last week, I explained how Jean is basically the self-insert character for the viewer. It would go completely against everything Jean stands for if he killed Onyankopon. Now, if it was Floch who was aiming his gun at Onyankopon, things could have been different.

Floch is basically an alternate version of Jean. He’s what Jean could have become if things had turned out differently. He’s the Jean who was radicalized against the rest of the world; the Jean who stayed within the walls and never met different kinds of people.

Moving on to after Jean rescues Onyankopon with the help of Pieck and the gang, we get the scene of Jean and Onyankopon in the river. When asked why he didn’t side with the Yeagerists, Jean replies that the “ashy bones” would never forgive him if he did that.

What does Jean mean by this? Well, he’s referring to all his comrades — including Pyxis — who were turned into titans by Zeke and then killed by himself and the other remaining soldiers. Remember, when titans die, their bones turn to ash.

Saving the World

At the end of Episode 83, Reiner is recruited as the final member of the resistance. Technically, we didn’t see him agree to join. But considering Annie, Gabi, and Falco are telling him to, do you really think he’s going to decline? This is also his chance to redeem himself for all the terrible things he’s done.

Now, what’s still unclear is exactly how this rag-tag team plans to save the world. That would involve stopping Eren and the Rumbling. Do they think they can talk Eren out of it? Do they think they can bypass Eren and stop the Rumbling without dealing with him? Or, do they think they can kill him?

Even with the Colossal, Armored, Female, Jaw, and Cart Titans, they’re going to have a hard time achieving any of those things. Eren has the Founding, Attack, and Warhammer Titans under his control. Oh, and he has an army of wall titans which are only slightly smaller than the Colossal Titan.

What makes even less sense to me, though, is what Levi plans to do. He clearly stated to Magath and Pieck that his goal is to kill the Beast Titan — Zeke. But, as far as I can tell, there are two major problems standing between Levi and that Goal.

The first is Levi’s current condition. He’s in no condition to fight. At best, he could probably blow himself up just as Zeke did to him. And, for all we know, maybe that’s exactly what Levi’s planning to do. Zeke was the one who killed Erwin, so I could definitely see Levi sacrificing himself for revenge.

However, the other issue is that I’m pretty sure Zeke is basically dead. Maybe you forgot, but he was hit with a few anti-titan artillery shells. And after that, he was at ground-zero for Eren’s transformation into the Founding Titan. We haven’t seen Zeke since then (outside of Paths).

I guess you could say Eren now has the Beast Titan and so Levi’s going to blow himself up along with Eren to kill the Beast Titan and save the day. That could work.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan Episode 83? Did you like how Armin handled the Connie situation? Are Jean and Onyankopon best friends now? And how do you think our group of heroes is going to save the world? 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.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month, as well as Key Mochi and Rob for supporting at the Senpai and Kouhai tiers respectively. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 84 is available now.

Annie’s Last Tour

Annie Leonhart is back in Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 82. Last week, I went over my theories for why Annie was sealed away for the majority of the series. This week, I’m going to take a look at her motivations now that she’s free.

Before that, however, let me just say how convenient it is that Annie was conscious the entire time she was within the hardening. Because of that, she knows everything that’s been going on thanks to Armin and Hitch. So there’s no need for us to get a recap dump while Annie’s being told what she missed.

I feel like most series would have used this opportunity to give us some not-so-necessary recap. And that still could have been done here. I’m just glad it wasn’t.

We still do get an exposition dump, though. The difference is that it’s Annie doing it, not Hitch. We learn about Annie’s background, how she was an orphan raised specifically to become a Warrior so that her adoptive father could become an honorary Marleyan.

That part of Annie’s backstory doesn’t really interest me, though. We already knew she was trained to be a Warrior from a young age. What’s important here is that now that Annie knows the end of the world is coming, she wants to return to her father as she promised she would.

Annie has no interest in the war that’s going on around her. She doesn’t care about Marley, Paradis, the Yeagarists, or even that Eren is going to trample everything under the Rumbling. And that makes her unique among the Titan Shifters. None of that matters to her.

The Rumbling Is Upon Us

A lot happened in this episode, even if it went by quickly. But, did you know that this episode only covered a single chapter? That’s right. This was all just Chapter 125. So either the anime’s going to need to pick up the pace, or the series isn’t going to end with the Final Season Part 2 at Episode 87.

I still feel like concluding the series with a movie seems like the most logical move. But, anyway, I brought up that a lot happened in this episode to illustrate that even though we’re in the end game of the series and the rumbling has begun, there’s still a lot of other things going on.

You’d think that the Rumbling would be the most important thing right now. But in reality, it’s more of a background occurrence. When Armin is laying out all the different things he has to think about, he even says he doesn’t have time to consider what to do about Eren and the Rumbling.

This scene of Armin in particular is great for many reasons. Obviously, it quickly highlights all the important events we should be paying attention to. But it also shows his growth as a character as well as how weak he still is.

It’s easy to forget that Armin is basically just a normal soldier. He’s not even the commander of the Scouts — Hange is. But with Hange and Levi missing, and Pyxis dead, Armin is the de-facto general of the Paradis military.

And on top of all the pressure that’s on him to lead the military, he still has to personally attend to problems, like Connie absconding with Falco. Oh, and he’s the Colossal Titan, which leaves him constantly doubting his self-worth and whether he was the right choice to inherit that Titan.

The End of War

Jean was effectively used as a foil character for Eren at the start of the series. And to an extent, he still has played this role even more recently. He’s always been the relatively average guy who can’t compare to the protagonist no matter what he does.

But, that’s also what makes Jean a good character. As much as edgy teens would like to compare themselves to Eren, Jean is actually the self-insert character for readers and viewers of the series. It’s okay to admit that maybe you aren’t comparable to the genocidal, time-traveling, Greek god of a man that is Eren Yeager.

To be fair, Jean still isn’t one of my favorite characters of the series. I’d actually rank him quite low. But just because I don’t personally like him that much doesn’t mean he’s not a good character.

Of all the Jean scenes I can remember, this scene with Floch is one of the best. Jean clearly recognizes that what Floch is doing is wrong. But he also views himself as just an average person. So what’s he supposed to do? Interfering will only get him killed.

That’s exactly the kind of stuff most people would think in this situation. I know, the keyboard warriors will disagree. But honestly try to think of any time you stepped in to stop even a minor injustice. If I saw someone trip outside I wouldn’t even help them up or ask if they were okay. I’d act like I didn’t see anything.

Jean is a good character because he embodies these kinds of feelings. Yes, every now and then he does something heroic. But despite what he’d tell you, he doesn’t really want to be a hero himself. He just wants to be normal, old Jean.

Conclusion

What do you think of Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Episode 82? Do you think Annie will be reunited with her father? How has your opinion of Armin changed since the start of the series? And are you more of an Eren or a Jean? 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.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma 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 Episode 83 is available now.