This story is, to put it professionally, Bananas
I feel like a broken record saying Attack on Titan is an absurdly well plotted show. But with every arc getting crazier and crazier, it feels necessary to say it each time. So many crazy things happened this arc, several questions answered and truths revealed, but so many doors yet to be unopened. If this arc proved anything, it’s that this story never forgets. And it does this all while shifting gears from the Titan killing action we’ve come to know, to more of a political thriller. Does it work? This arc has it ups and downs for sure, but as I’ll explore, the Uprising arc is a bold, impressive arc, that is finding itself in the running for my favorite arc so far.
But First, the Anime and Manga
Normally I would end this review with my thoughts on the differences between the manga and its anime adaption, but the differences impact this arc so much that I feel its important to establish now. Because for the first time, I have legitimate issues with how the anime adapts its manga counterpart. This arc cuts out a lot of material from the first half of the arc. And while I have heard people say they prefer the anime’s snappier pace, I don’t think it was worth it at the cost of the careful character work done in this arc. And to best show my point, let me list some key characters who were better handled in the manga due to these changes.
My biggest complaint with Mikasa’s character is how she’s felt way too chained to Eren. Her personality is “protect Eren” and while I like her backstory, I can only tolerate so much of the same character trait. In the manga version of this arc however, I actually like her quite a bit, because here we focus more on her relationship with Levi. The two had some beef back in Season 1 during the Forest Battle due to a conflict over Eren, and it’s by comparing Mikasa in this arc we actually see growth from her. There’s a scene where Mikasa says she trusts Levi’s judgement, a pretty big character moment for her, again comparing it to the forest. This is her growth as a soldier, doing what is right and even becoming similar to Levi himself, shown even more clearly in the same scene when she tells her collogues it’s up to them to decide for themselves what they want to do. Cutting this is a pretty big blow to Mikasa’s character in the anime where it’s just cut and it removes the extra dimeson to Mikasa’s character. (Scene happens in Chapter 57).
But the biggest screw up in the anime comes from one cut scene, one which makes the character of Levi and Historia less interesting. It’s in Chapter 56 when Levi reveals Historia’s status as Queen. Historia goes in a state of shock, and refuses believing she is unfit for the role. Then Levi gets aggressive on her, to the point of picking her up and throwing her on the ground. The we get this line from Levi:
“I want to put an end to this recurring nightmare, right now. There are those who would get in my way, so I’m fine with playing the role of the lunatic who kills people. I have to be ready to rearrange some faces, because I choose the hell of humans killing each other over the hell of being eaten. At least that way, all of humanity doesn’t have to be damned.”
This line, this entire conversation, it’s so incredibly important (and frankly, just REALLY good), that cutting this one scene takes away so much from both characters. Historia gets more scenes cut that also impact her character, but this is the biggest scene to me. The second half of the arc is done really well, but after reading the manga, the anime adaption just feels really incomplete. That’s why this review will focus mostly on the manga story and not the anime’s.
With that out of the way… Politics!
Fun fact, the government in this world is corrupt, lies to you, and is never in your best interest. Oh and in the world of Attack on Titan too. So there’s two different politics games going on in this arc, one with Erwin & Co versus the Government, and the other being Levi Squad versus the Reiss Family.
Erwin’s struggle against the Government was less well handled to me. While we always knew the government was corrupt, it was never really talked about in the story much. But now it’s at the forefront of the story, and we know conflict is going to happen. The Interior MPs get involved in order to stop the Survey Corps from getting too close to the truth (good thing the police in our world don’t only exist the protect the interests of the wealthy elite, boy would that suck). So now it’s Erwin and some buddies versus an entire century of a corrupt system that has always been maintained power. It’s going to be a length, hard fought battle and… they solved it in one chapter. What?
Yeah so uh… that was quick. It’s not completely resolved in one chapter, they still need to find a new monarch and the ending implies a military state is probably not a good idea, leaving things open. But wow I sure was not expecting the overthrow Government any% run from Erwin, bravo. You can argue the rest of the arc the buildup for this, and this is the payoff, and even considering that, this is Chapter 11 of the arc. It’s not like this was discussed in the prior arcs, so really overthrowing the entire government was the payoff the 10 chapters of build up. That is not a lot for how grand this should be. It’s not like I was incredibly invested in this conflict anyways. We get Erwin’s backstory about how government bad and lying but that was it. I had nothing against these nobles personally so it’s not like I really wanted to see them fall. And since it was distracting from the more interesting A plot, I really feel like this plot was not done super well.
The more interesting plot comes in the Eren and Historia rescue mission, AKA Historia’s wacky family hijinks. Eren and Historia get kidnapped by Kenny Ackermann, Levi’s “foster father” (he wasn’t much of a father) and Levi Squad has to save them. I’ll touch more on this section when I discuss the characters, because they are what make this part of the story, but politically I still find it interesting. The Reiss family is mysterious, but they’re extremely powerful, ruling the world from underneath its nose. And as we learn more about them and their history, the more interesting it gets, while still leaving us with questions to be answered later. I can’t go too into it without discussing the characters, but this part of the story is great.
Finally, these two plot threads converge at the end. Erwin joins Levi Squad in their plan to stop the Titan Rod Reiss. It ends with Historia accepting her role, and becoming the new queen. Overall, this is still a really satisfying story in terms of the plot, even if the side plot is a bit messy, I still found myself enjoying and being blown away by a lot of it. So many things are revealed here, and this was the arc that really convinced me that Isayama never forgets, and he always has a plan.
Characters are Cool
While this isn’t the first arc the spotlight isn’t solely on Eren, it is the first he isn’t the main protagonist of. That honor goes to Historia Reiss. While her character arc here isn’t the most unique thing ever, it’s a pretty standard Royalty arc, but it’s the execution here that really matters, and it’s really good. It helps that Historia was a character who was already intriguing by Season 2, so this character progression didn’t feel unnatural or rushed. And her story is really interesting. While “don’t let others control you” isn’t a new theme, the story frames this morality is interesting, as at some point she says she’s willing to be an enemy of humanity if it means the ability to make her own decisions. This whole arc was really great and by the end Historia really ended up becoming one of my favorite characters.
But as good as she was, Eren was once again the highlight for me. Before this arc Eren was a character I was fascinated by, but wasn’t really emotionally attached to all that much. This arc changed that, and it all came down to the scene in the cave. In this scene Eren learns the truth about the fate of his father, and his actions against the Reiss family. And this guilt overcomes him, all while he is unable to speak, so we get these chilling close ups of his eyes that just show the agony he is experiencing at these memories. And it’s only made worse when he’s told if he his Father hadn’t stolen the powers of the Reiss family for him, humanity might’ve been saved.
Around this time we learn that Erwin might not be interested in the best for humanity if it means he won’t be around to see it, so you might wonder if Eren is the same way. But soon after Kenny allows Eren to talk again, and cuts his head allowing him to transform into a Titan. And then Eren just… gives up. The guilt is too much, even if they weren’t his sins, he feels responsible for all the deaths he could have prevented had he never been born. And then he wishes to die. This scene was phenomenal, it really showed a new side of Eren that had only been touched on before. He always felt responsible for the deaths of the soldiers on his missions, but here it breaks him. It was definitely the most emotional I got at Eren’s character, and its in the running for my favorite scene with him so far.
But they really best off each other. Maybe my favorite scene in the arc is the scene where Eren and Historia just get to talk to each other about their crazy lives and how far they’ve come. Their chemistry in this arc is sweet, they feel like real friends, and they help each other. Eren gives Historia the confidence she needs to be herself instead of her Krista persona, and Historia gives Eren the will to live. And their talk at the end at the farm was a great way to end the arc. Overall, these characters, both individually and separately, carried the arc for me. While this arc has other great aspects, this is what makes into a great arc overall.
Halfway done
This marks the end of the halfway point of the story. This series has been great, but I am really excited to see where it goes. The Return to Shiganshina arc is supposed to be fantastic, so I am pumped for that. As always, thank you for reading.
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