Board Thread:Anime/@comment-5774380-20190701015956/@comment-27125793-20190701122051

Great episode. A fantastic way to end the season. It was appropriately bittersweet, edgy, and excelled at making me want more. I don't think I've ever experienced a stronger cliffhanger ending (even though, having read the manga, I'm fully aware of what is going to happen).

I'm glad nothing was left out, especially Floch's speech. I always felt that he was correct about Eren, how he always believed himself to be right. I also thought it to be something of a potshot at the 'never giving up' mindframe; where other shonen ALWAYS praise the trait, Isayama points out that there's a limit where, after passing it, it becomes childish stubborness and in no way a sign of strength or maturity. I always considered AoT to be something of a deconstruction of many popular shonen tropes, even thought it's not labelled or intended as that.

I'm SO hyped for next season, which is probably gonna be the final one. Fair warning, though I don't believe it to be a spoiler, the first quarter or third is pretty dialogue and character interaction intensive, and I hope the anime adaptation doesn't change that. One negative criticism I have towards the anime is its inclination to cut short or totally omit dialogue sections from the manga, especially ones important for character development. I'm aware the ones omitted during the Uprising Arc were done at the behest of Isayama himself (and I REALLY don't get why), but still, I hope nothing is leftout this time around.

Despite what the short and narrow-minded may think, AoT is not all action and it was never intended to be. The initial idea of humanity vs titans was done deliberately to mislead us into thinking it was going to be a straightforward black-and-white scenario, to make the impact when that changes all the stronger. However, many were so captured by that idea, that when things did change, they were unable to cope or accept. I can understand personal peferences, and there are plenty of action-packed shows out there for such people, but it still makes me a bit sad.