Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20180708204808/@comment-35822279-20180709064656

I thought that overall this was a merely okay chapter that was definitely an improvement over the last 3 chapters but still problematic in many ways.

Pros:

- It resolved most of the lingering threads left over from the Marley arc (why Eren went AWOL and Kiyomi),

- It paints a pretty clear picture of what the endgame is for the most of the parties involved in the story,

-Sasha got a pretty good sendoff with great touches like the little girl she saved being adopted into her family and Nicolo's interactions with Connie and Sasha's Papa being really touching even for a guy who didn't love the character.

Cons:

- This chapter overrelied on flashbacks as we got a flashback within a flashback within a flashback in this chapter which was clunky and lazy writing.

- Zeke's motivations making no sense in conjuction with his actions during the Paradis Island Operation as he could have easily sprung the Yelena plan far sooner (if he's being genuine in this chapter) as he had only 3 subordinates (Reiner who Zeke easily beat, Bert who was easy to control, and Pieck's Cart Titan which is a total joke) to deal with plus Rod and Kenny and on top of this he had the advantage of anonymity but still chose to be a complete and utter sociopath at every turn even though he basically held nothing but aces.

- Mikasa being basically Hizuru royalty was also a pretty lazy and hamfisted development as it is trying to give a stilted character development through a plot device rather than through meaningful dialogue or character interactions.

- Eren got the WHT which was a pretty lousy moment for me as it basically cemented the ability/character as being nothing more than a late game upgrade for Eren to receive even though he clearly didn't need it due to his only opponents of worth being Reiner and Porco who he has alredy easily beaten with the regular Attack Titan.

Mixed:

- Finally Historia's situation is a mixed bag for me as it has the potential to be either an interesting direction for the story or a massive backslide for Historia's character but it depends heavily on first who the father is and second under what conditions was the child conceived but these details were not revealed in this chapter and unfortunately I don't have faith in Isayama to handle this well as he has botched more than a few characters and situations in the last 4 chapters.