Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20200308161511/@comment-35822279-20200309153954

This was a uptick in quality from the lacklustre quality of the last volume as I did enjoy the slowburn approach to the characterization found in this chapter as the result of sound dialogue & the reintroduction of many long standing character conflicts.

Pros:

- After the last chapter botched its tone with a strange Avengers style teamup and awkward interactions between characters like Annie & Connie, it was nice to see a proper amount of venom seep back into this alliance. Yelena & Pieck roasting the party was especially great and it was nice to see characters like Annie & Reiner interacting with the Paradis crew in a more natural fashion rather than rapid fire exposition dumps that skimped over the animosity present in both groups. I will say though that Magath went a little too "triumph of the will" for my tastes since I thought he was better than that based on his interactions with Willy and would have a more nuanced perspective on things.

- Yelena being a person who lied & cheated her way to the top riding a fake noble cause was a great little piece of writing as it was well set up in her interactions with Pixis who saw right through her and is also painfully accurate to the real world were many bleeding heart revolutionaries end up being just as vapid & power hungry as the people they replace.

- Focusing on Jean was nice since I have felt he has been underserved since Liberio as he has been merely reacting to Eren's dark turn and it was great to see his perspective regarding the recent events & to wrap up his plotline with Marco. Definitely getting the feeling though that he'll die fighting Floch which will either result in the death of Floch (ie. they kill each other) or Floch standing down & realizing how insane he's become.

Other Thoughts:

- I didn't have many actual problems with the chapter itself as it performed its function fairly well (characterization + transition). I still have some lingering doubts regarding how this story is going to wrap up but the series is still an entertaining journey & I think if the ending isn't the best I'll probably look back on it similarly to Watchmen TV edition which had a meh ending but many standout moments along the way and was ultimately something I really enjoyed.