Attack On Titan Blind Review (Part 2)

Attack On Titan keeps getting better

Attack On Titan is a series that keeps surprising me. Whenever I think I have a good idea of where the series is heading, it manages to surprise me with twists and turns that keep things fresh and exciting. And I’m happy to say the Female Titan arc not only surprised me, but provided me with some of the best storytelling in this material so far. Not only was this arc constantly engaging, but it was incredibly nuanced, providing without question some of the best characterization yet, as well as diving deeper into the themes that make Attack On Titan unlike anything I’ve ever read, is an arc that comes as close as perfection as the story has gotten thus far.

keeping an engaging plot

What Attack On Titan has proven to me ever since Trost is that it’s one of the finest stories in terms of story arc structure, and the Female Titan arc only exemplifies this. This arc very much follows the traditional three act structure seen in many pieces of story telling:

Act 1 is the set up for the arc, giving us all the exposition and introduction we need to kick into the story, which is followed by the first act turn, the introduction of the Female Titan. It shifts from what we thought was an arc about a test expedition, to an arc about the existence of the Female Titan and how the characters choose to deal with it. In the second act, this arc becomes somewhat of a horror story, with the Female Titan taking the role of a serial killer. The end of the second act comes at the end of Eren’s battle with the Female Titan, with our protagonist at his lowest point. The third act comes of course with the battle at Stohess, where it very much becomes the action story in the same vein that the Battle of Trost District arc was (well on the surface anyways). This allows the arc to explore a variety of tones and themes that keep it constantly interesting. This is truly such an arc that never has to worry about getting boring because of how much it has going.

This is of course, mixed with Isayama’s brilliant pacing. Isayama knows how to make it so there’s never a dull moment in his story. To show what I mean, let’s take the second act, which primarily takes place in one location, the forest. Usually the second act is what most story tellers struggle the most with, since it has to take up the bulk of the story (50%), and you can only fill it with so many plot points without it feeling unnatural. However, Isayama keeps the second act exactly as long as it needs to be. While the focus is Levi’s Group escaping the Female Titan, we shift from many different perspectives, some showing off the world such as the 104th Corps reaction to being completely in the dark, or that draw parallels to many of the stories themes, that being Erwin’s mission. If this was just Eren fighting Annie for 2 volumes, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting, but instead we get a chase sequence and then a fight, and the fight only coming after we get to explore Eren in different ways, as throughout it he has to make several moral choices, which is key to interesting character writing. As for the other two acts, they’re easier to nail down. Act 1 gives us personal stakes for this mission, as whether this mission succeeds or fails will decide Eren’s fate. We also get world building and more time to spend with Levi, who’s just great, and it sets ups mysteries. The third act is a great climax and resolution, giving the audience an exciting fight, satisfying payoff, as well as giving as new mysteries. Overall, this arc was an improvement over the already excellent paced Battle for Trost District, something I didn’t think I’d say so soon.

The Decay of Eren Yeager

This arc proved that Eren has progressed a lot from the beginning of the story, both in terms of as a character, and in character writing. Remember the moral choices I mentioned? Yeah well Isayama sure knows what I’m talking about, because he knew exactly how to bring the most interesting parts of him out this arc. One question Attack on Titan started to explore but never truly scratched the surface of until this arc was, “Is Eren worse than the Titans?” This question of course represents a broader idea in both the arc and in the story, but this thematic question is at the core of Eren in this story.

You may have heard that the most interesting character arcs come from putting what they want and what they need in the same, yet opposite directions. This means that the character will go on the journey of the story to get what they want, but their ultimate growth comes from choosing what they need to grow and become the best version of themselves over what they want. Of course this isn’t the end all be all, many stories have what the character accepting what they need being the ultimate key to getting what they want, but generally it’s a good rule to follow.

In this story however, what Eren both wants and needs are coated in a layer of gray. He wants to kill all of the titans, but he needs to learns to trust other people. Well in this arc that need is brought to the forefront, to the point where Eren even starts to acknowledge it, but we see how acknowledging that need only makes him regret it that much more. When he makes the moral choice in the right direction, while he is rewarded for it at first, the second time he is punished for it severely, which only deepens his lie, causing him to regress to the point where he convinces himself that the time he almost certainly made the right call was actually the wrong move.

In this, we see how the cruelness of the world is impacting him. He wants to make the right choices, but in this world, he is simply not allowed to, and if he wants to achieve his want, to kill all the titans, he realizes he will have to abandon that desire for true connection, which will, if he doesn’t realize he is deluded himself, will destroy him. We can already see how it impacts him in his final battle with the Female Titan at Stohess, where Eren becomes even more of a monster than she is. Again, the Female Titan, who was shown to be a serial killer chasing her prey just episodes prior, is shown to be less of a monster than Eren. It’s clear to me that Eren is going down a dark road, and as much as I hate to say it, I love every moment of it. It is such compelling character drama that I feel is only going to get better and more interesting as the story progresses.

One more note, I just want to praise the anime adaption even more for having Eren’s remaining shreds of humanity be the reason Annie seals herself, thus making the mission and lives lost near pointless, thus further reinforcing his lie, great touch.

The Female Titan – The Human Killer

For now I want to explore a point I made earlier, that the Female Titan arc is nothing short of a horror movie villain in this arc, and why that was a brilliant move. First from a narrative standpoint, it makes this arc really intense up until Stohess. The Titans have always been portrayed as something akin to savage animals, who just mindlessly devour their prey. So contrast that with the way the Female Titan acts, the moves she makes are distinctly calculated, distinctly motivated, distinctly… human. No better example sticks out in my mind than the scene where she just spins a lifeless body around on a string as she just stares at her next target pragmatically.

Throughout the arc her motives are kept a mystery, adding to this element of horror. We never quite know what she’s thinking, so even though I thought it was completely obvious who she was supposed to be (I mean who else could it have possibly been?), the why is always kept hidden. This allows her to be truly creepy when she wants to be, such as her first scene with Armin, where she just gives this icy stare as she lifts Armin’s hood.

This makes her terrifying, but that adds to the story’s theme of the terror of humans. While she is a Titan, her most terrifying moments are when she acts as a human would. While I admit I would’ve liked to see her motivations fleshed out a bit more by the time she was defeated, as seeing her cry left me with confusion which is not what I think the author intended me to feel, I still absolutely love the way her mysterious nature was handled, and I can’t wait to explore her more as the story progresses.

the grayness of human morality

Attack on Titan has always shown its conflict to be black and white, but this arc directly challenges that. This arc gives us three sides of that conflict, Eren, Annie, & Erwin. All three characters either learn or already show the idea of abandoning humanity. But what would cause someone to so abandon what makes them human? The answer, as I discussed in Eren’s section, is to set the humanity aside to achieve their desires. At the center of this arc is the idea that human morality and ambition are in direct conflict.

First, let’s look at Eren again and his character arc throughout this story arc. He goes from someone tired of being outcast and just wants to maintain basic human connection again, to someone who believes that desire is what got all his friends killed, and must throw away those desires in order to obtain his true goal. And what this arc teaches is that he is right. When both Eren and Annie make their fatal decision that backs them into a corner, it is their trust in others that lead them there. First, let’s look at Eren again and his character arc throughout this story arc. He goes from someone tired of being outcast and just wants to maintain basic human connection again, to someone who believes that desire is what got all his friends killed, and must throw away those desires in order to obtain his true goal. And what this arc teaches is that he is right. When both Eren and Annie make their fatal decision that backs them into a corner, it is their trust in others that lead them there. In order to achieve his ultimate goal, Eren learns to abandon human morality, and focus on his own goals. The way he beats Annie is by abandoning his humanity completely, and becoming a completely savage monster. In order to achieve his ultimate goal, Eren learns to abandon human morality, and focus on his own goals.

Annie also shows the grayness of human morality, but her she doesn’t need a character arc to learn this, she clearly already knows it. The reason she is so terrifying as an antagonist is because she is so human, that she ends up being more terrifying than any of the titans we encountered thus far. Isayama mentioned in an interview that he got the idea for Attack on Titan during an encounter with an aggressive, savage man, and he realized just how terrifying humans can be, and I believe this is the first arc this is truly on display. This raises the question, “Are Humans worse than the Titans?” A question that has no clear answer yet, but the most interesting perspective to this comes from Armin’s answer when Annie asks if she really looks like a good person.

“A ‘good person’…? I… don’t really like that phrase. I mean… that’s just what you call someone who acts in a way that’s beneficial to you. I don’t think anyone can act in a way that benefits everyone. Even if you’re being helpful to one person, you might still be a ‘bad person’ to someone else… so… if you’re not going to go along with this plan… that would make you a bad person to me…”

I believe this conversation represents Isayama’s view on morality too, that we base our morality around what benefits us. To examine this, let’s look at the character of Erwin Smith. Is Erwin as bad as the Female Titan? At first it’s easy to think, “of course not”, but why? Erwin is the one responsible for throwing all of those lives to the Female Titan, without even telling most of his soldiers, making them go on a far more dangerous mission than many of them anticipated. The reason you probably think Erwin is a better person, is because Erwin is on the side of the humans. We understand his motives are to benefit humanity, and that the lives lost under his orders are only to serve humanity. The difference between Erwin leading soldiers to their death, and the Female Titan killing those soldiers, is Erwin has a motive, and the Female Titan’s motive is unknown. But from a purely pragmatic point of view, you could argue that they are both equally responsible for the lives lost on that mission.

This is an aspect of Attack on Titan I absolutely love, the way it approaches the grayness of human morality. I love a good gray conflict and this story keeps delivering on just that. The way it deals with its themes in a nuanced way through complex, gray characters is just perfect, and a big reason why I love this story so far.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this arc represents what I consider the peak of Attack on Titan. Not only does it know how to keep things exciting, but we get our most interesting character studies yet, as well as some incredibly nuanced themes that keep the story deep. I didn’t even get to cover all the other characters I love, so before I go let me just go through a run down of the notable characters I didn’t get to mention:

• Levi is just awesome. He’s a very traditional stoic tough guy given a lot more nuance through his more emotional scenes. Easily in my Top 3 of the story.
• Mikasa is still cool, but she desperately needs more to do. I almost miss the times where all she would do was be in conflict with Eren.
• Armin keeps getting better. The last arc was great seeing his strengths as a person in action, but his conversation with Annie represents maybe the highlight of his character.
• I liked the section with Jean and Reiner, but Reiner don’t think for a second I trust you.

And that’s all for now. Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you all after Season 2.