Attack on Titan

Review (S1 - The Final Chapters Part 1):

Recommended by literally everyone.

My fucking god. There was Assassination Classroom, then there was Death Note. These anime were potential top 1's that would finally surpass Demon Slayer. But they never did. And that's because I'm biased. I am a Demon Slayer die-hard. I didn't want something to be above Demon Slayer, and I was sure that any anime that would pass it would be so close to Demon Slayer that they'd almost be tied. But this anime changed everything.

Attack on Titan is now my favorite show, not just my favorite anime. Better than Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. It easily surpassed Demon Slayer S1 & 2, and will probably stay in my top 10 forever. Everything, and I do mean everything, was immaculate. The story in season 1 was very simple, everything was pretty mysterious and I was into it. I think S1 of AOT is comparable to S1 of Demon Slayer for me. Pretty basic with some cool moments. I think every aspect of the show gets better as it progresses, which is my favorite way of quality balancing in a show. When a show starts strong, but finishes weak (cough cough akame ga kill) it really disappoints me and pisses me off. AOT hasn't ended yet though, so I can only say so much. But what I will say, is that every aspect of my rating can be seen to improve over the course of this show.

S2 has one of my favorite moments. The Reiner and Bertoldt reveal was comparable to Tanjiro's first use of Hinokami Kagura. The music in E6 of S2 created a similar atmosphere of intensity. YOUSEEBIGGIRL is definitely one of my favorite tracks from the show. Let's talk visuals for a second. The visuals aren't Demon Slayer, but they are not far from it. The camera work is insane, the character design and the way they draw their eyes is beautiful, and the scenery is so well done that this show definitely gets the 2nd highest overall visuals on this list. The only bad visuals I can point out is that damn bell lmao. I think the story of S2 really started making me question everything and appreciate the depth of the show.

S3 was crazy. So much lore reveal, a heart-wrenching death, and overall a super solid season. This season also has one of my favorite fights, Levi VS the Beast Titan. That fight was so well animated, with Levi and the Beast Titan screaming at each other while Levi was slashing his nape. I think that scene is comparable to Tengen and Gyutaro trading hands for me. Of course, the scene in Demon Slayer visually is better than AOT, but the visuals in AOT still cannot be ignored for being insane. I also want to point out E1 of S3, with the insane camera work with Levi vs Kenny. That was also so fucking hot. I gave S3 a very high rating, but I think I might have rated it higher if I wasn't spoiled. Unfortunately on YouTube, I saw a thumbnail of Armin with lightning around him. This obviously revealed to me that he was the choice that Levi would pick. This scene was definitely ruined for me, but Erwin's final moments still were so emotional to me.

S4 was easily the best season. The consistency was very good, the story reveals were comparable to the Future Diary, and it used the one thing I love the most: Time Travel. Well not exactly time travel, but something very similar. The fact that Eren knew about everything ever since he touched Historia flipped this show on its head. I think that single reveal of the Attack Titan's power was so mind boggling that its enough for me to put the story of S4 at 10/10. As a matter of fact, I had to lower all the story scores on this list. TWICE. I also LOVE the parallel between Marley and Eldia, with both sides being mirrors of eachother. This theme is played out a lot in S4 and I think it makes the story so unique. Rarely do you see a story where you, the viewer, have to pick a side that seemed so black and white in the beginning. My friend who got me to watch this show said one thing when we went into it, and it's that S1 & 2 vs S3 & 4 are like completely different shows. Now, I see why. I also want to mention that S4's OP is the best in the show so far, and is my 2nd favorite anime OP ever right behind KICK BACK from Chainsaw Man. I also want to talk about how fucking PERFECT they did Hange's death. Like bro. I've seen some really cool deaths in anime, but NOTHING has come close to Hange having some of the BEST visuals in the show, LITERALLY BEING ON FIRE WHILE FIGHTING TITANS. That death might very well be the best executed death in anime for me. She literally was a trail of fire swarming around the colossal titans. It was SO good. The music at the last scene where everyone drops out of the airship was so hype, and I am extremely excited for the final episode. I've heard that is gonna be crazy.

All in all, this show was so fun to watch. I love the characters and their developments, the story made my jaw drop so many times, the music was so fucking good and emotional, creating an insane atmosphere, and the visuals were surprisingly good as well. The overall consistency was the best I've seen in an anime as well, so this #1 spot is very deserved. 

Also the best character is Zeke, his backstory, development, and titan are all insane I love it.

Review (The Final Chapters Part 2):

Okay so this is a bit weird for my list because this "season" was actually just 2 episodes but they aired super far apart. I am overriding the score of "The Final Chapters" with my overall view of both episodes that aired, but this review only covers part 2 (the one that aired in November 2023).

Ok, so I want to first say that it is an absolute honor to be seeing Attack on Titan finish. It's like seeing fucking Jesus Christ in the flesh. It's just something that I think is crazy that I am able to be alive to witness.

This episode, or movie, or whatever it even is, is by far the best thing I've seen in fiction. Everything in it was 10/10. No questions asked.

The story created even more layers, which I didn't even think was possible at this point, it gave closure to LITERALLY EVERYTHING, stayed loyal to the manga, gave my favorite character, Zeke, the absolute perfect ending, and gave literally every character the perfect ending. Not only does it have closure, but the entire message of the show with conflict and war shows itself in the post credit scene. This is easily the best ending to any series I have ever seen, it surpasses any time-travel anime, any reborn/rebirth ending, any ending where the main character dies, any ending where everyone gets closure. It doesn't matter, this show does all of them at once perfectly. There really isn't much else to say, it's just a masterpiece.

The characters were amazing in this part, with so many connections, developments, and overall closure. It just made the already amazing characters better. Every character got a perfect ending.

The pacing was amazing, with constant fighting, heart-wrenching moments, and important flashbacks. Usually flashbacks are boring, but this is AOT. Every flashback/slow talking scene is important and keeps me interested. There is so much depth to the story that not a single second can be ignored.

The music and audio were insane. They brought back a ton of great classic tracks and introduced some new great ones. Peak music and atmosphere building.

Finally, the visuals. I have said before that AOT has really good visuals, but that they don't come up to par with Demon Slayer (at least the ent. district arc). This final episode changed that. The visuals were absolutely nuts. I can't even describe how good they were in combination with the music and atmosphere, especially right when Mikasa was flying at Eren.

This was a perfect ending. Mappa did an outstanding job with this beautifully written piece of fiction.

pieck finger gonna im