Board Thread:Manga/@comment-5774380-20160808233126/@comment-24407809-20160809015122

Well, let me kick this off by saying: HAJIME ISAYMA I CONGRATULATE YOU FOR FINALLY KILLING OFF AN ACTUAL CHARACTER (and not one of those cardboard cutouts in the background)... Although, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you decided to kill off your most well-developed, intriguing character first. RIP Erwin. Now, on to the nitty-gritty.

I have to say, when I first read this chapter, it didn't me, and stood out as kind of a disappointment and one of the lower points in the series, but after re-reading it so that I could write the wiki's summary for it, I found that I appreciated it a lot more than before (possibly because I had had time to cool down after the first reading). I plan to hit all of the major points of the chapter that stood out as positives and negatives, so this could be a long one.

So after the mediocre Falling Axe, we pick up right where we left off: in the middle of Isayama's own spin on Civil War (or BVS), which leads right into one of my knocks against this chapter:

Negative: Eren's excuses reasons for saving Armin: while it's true that Eren's examples of Armin's strategic brilliance are valid, it doesn't erase the fact that Erwin's contributions to mankind far outweigh them. His Long-Distance Enemy Scouting Formation cut down Survey Corps deaths exponentially, he was able to catch the Female Titan twice with his strategies (and she stayed caught the second time), and the Military Police would still be hunting Eren down for Rod Reiss if Erwin hadn't orchestrated the Military's revolution. So the argument basically boils down to "genius boy with potential to be a great leader someday" against "genius man who is a battle-tested commander with countless wins under his belt already".

Positive: Floch's speech about Erwin is gold. And I love how he stole Armin's "become monsters to fight monsters" line and upgraded it to "become demons to kill monsters" for maximum badassery". But all jokes aside, Floch is completely right. Erwin is the only human alive brutal enough to ensure the defeat of his enemies, and it is this brutality, coupled with his strategic mind, that makes him so much more valuable to the survival of mankind than anyone.

NEGATIVE: I've been harping on this for a while, but... this chapter just makes it too easy; Hange's survival. THIS IS NOT HOW EXPLOSIONS WORK ISAYAMA!!!!!!

Positive: The final sequence when Levi is deciding who to inject is great. I'm not sure why, but something about that entire sequence, with all of Levi's memories bombarding him, just really stood out to me. The art in that sequence also elevated everything to a visceral level. I don't think I have ever seen Levi emote so much in one chapter, and it's obvious Isayama went all out in that scene to make sure Levi's uncertainty was painted clearly on his face.

Positive: Bertolt's death is actually really well done (surprisingly). I realize that I'm one of the few people on this wiki who doesn't outright hate him, so I probably didn't celebrate like everyone else did when reading this scene, but I honestly think that there isn't anyone who didn't feel even a little sorry for Bertolt when watching his death scene playing out. Or at least, there won't be when I point this out: from his first appearance in the series, Bertolt has been portrayed as an incredibly meek individual who is constantly hiding in the background behind Annie and Reiner. This fact was even elaborated on in that flashback of him with Reiner when they were getting ready for the Corps to arrive in Shiganshina; Reiner has always been watching out for Bertolt. In a sense, Reiner has been Bertolt's legal guardian throughout the series, and has always been the one Bertolt could count on for support when he was in trouble. But Reiner isn't here now. And watching Bertolt beg for his friend to come save him as he is dying is somewhat haunting. It's like watching a small child begging for his dad to come save him when he's in danger. PS: To anyone celebrating Bertl's demise, I would like to read to you an exert from his will: "I, Bertolt, of the House Hoover, hereby declare that should I perish in battle, all of my Plot Armor shall go to my good friend Reiner, of the House Braun."

- Exert from the Will of Bertolt Hoover

Neutral: Obviously I'm not a fan of Isayama's decision to kill Erwin, but Levi's explanation for not choosing him sort of made sense. Not as much sense as letting Armin die, but it still sort of made sense.

Overall, I'd say this chapter was definitely an improvement over the previous one, but it still had some pretty blatant plot holes. But, I guess should expect as much at the moment, since Isayama seems to be going through a rough-patch with his overpowered plot armor, but hopefully this chapter is as sign that he's starting to get back on track.