Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20191108184732/@comment-35822279-20191108203129

I didn't really care for this chapter and felt it was the wrong move following last month's monumental chapter.

Pros:

- The ending was pretty strong per final arc tradition as it nailed the apocalytic vibe pretty well, had some stunning visuals (Ex. Is Eren turning into the Earth Devil?), and Eren's speech set the stage for the finale pretty well.

Cons:

- The flashback was ill timed and added nothing to the story only serving to kill the series momentum dead. The repetitive nature of this chapter was the main back breaker as it once again showed more misery porn to reinforce how screwed Paradis is, more of the when we were innocent type flashbacks, and more tragic Eren again. This stuff was already covered well when Eren (paraphrasing) said "If we kill everyone over there will we be free?" while crying & staring out at the ocean. That moment was more effective than any of the other flashbacks that have covered pre-Marley arc material in terms of examining the themes, narrative, and characterization of Eren whereas chapters like this repeat the same points while covering the same ground that this exemplar scene already did.

Other Thoughts:

- On the topic of the ending I will say that I do not a hundred percent believe that Eren is commiting to the bad route as many similar stories have swerved at the last moment and this series could possibly do the same so I just don't believe it yet. Ultimately I want Isayama to stay the course of having a downer ending mirred in moral ambuigity instead of "The Grand Deception" or a undeserved happy ending because the former is lazy & has been done to death while the latter feels borderline impossible considering how off the rails this war has gone.

Overall:

- This chapter definitely felt like a weak lateral move rather than moving forward in any tangible respect as it basically equated to Zod's speech from Man Of Steel mixed with a sterile flashback. This was easily the worst chapter of the last 10 and felt like a return to the weaker first half of the Final Arc complete with the narrative spinning its wheels, Mikasa & Armin going through the motions, Jean/Connie/Sasha being treated like props, and flashbacks of stuff that could have reduced by 20 or more pages (the only scene worth keeping in was Mikasa & Eren's brief talk). I don't mind a breather chapter like 120 but this was obviously Isayama spinning his wheels in order to have more time to iron out the real material in the coming months and as a result the chapter was pretty close to inessential to the wider narrative.