Board Thread:Manga/@comment-27321453-20200408113657/@comment-35822279-20200409192527

I guess I'm going to be the one playing devil's advocate in regards to this chapter.

Pros:

- The drawing was good especially the gore which was incredibly realistic & gruesome to behold.

Cons:

- When I rewatched season 3 part 2 one thing that definitely impressed me was how solid Floch was as a character. He was brutally honest to a fault and the pragmatist who said things like they are instead of how others wished they were which I think set him up perfectly as a rational counterbalance to many of the main characters emotional sides (Side note: props to his JP voice actor who was excellent). However I feel like his character has been botched in this arc as he has become a mindless one dimensional thug and honestly every time he opens his mouth my eyes roll into another dimension as he comes across as transparently psychotic rather than a person with a valid point. He isn't the rational pragmatist that the Yeagerists need to be a credible threat or valid counterpoint to the protagonists but instead has de-evolved into a heel who only exists to prolong the plot.

- The dialogue was also a major problem with this chapter & potentially the arc in general as it was flat, repetitive (four characters say "why are we killing each other!" or a variant of it), and preachy (Kyle Broflovski called he wants his "I learned something today" speeches back). When you are focusing extensively on characters like this the dialogue needs to be strong or else the story is a dud, that is a basic truth of storytelling (Ex. Better Call Saul & Breaking Bad are great because of the stellar dialogue writing). Isayama has written some great dialogue in the past especially in Marley but this arc has been nothing short of rough and it is telling that the best chapter of the arc was the one where barely anyone talked.

- I hated the revival of Daz & Samuel for the "why are we killing each other!!!" moment because A.) I straight up forgot who Samuel was and honestly thought he was Thomas who died in Trost, B.) I only remember Daz because he's a meme and looks like he was kicked by a mule, and C.) using left over cannon fodder for a emotional gut punch is beyond stupid and emotionally false to the core.

- Finally, I truly hate what Armin has become as he is just unbearably naive & whiny these days and I feel that his character has been in heavy decline since his revival. I can sympathize with his whole "boo to killing the human race" stance but he just feels like he is missing that intensity & will to fight that made him so enjoyable throughout the series and has de-evolved all the way back to Trost when he spent the majority of the time crying & whining which was fine then since it was the start of a character arc but isn't a great look this late in the game. I was intitially going to include Hange here but I'll give her/him a pass since it was setup back in Uprising and is at least logical & consistent with her character.

Overall:

- I have read this chapter a few times already and I dislike it more each time. I think the main reasons why I'm so dispassionate towards this arc & chapters like this is that the dialogue is rote for something that is meant to be character focused, the conveniences are making the arc feel disingenous & mechanical, the stakes are weak so far for an apocalyptic endgame, large parts of this arc feel like a rerun of Uprising, staying out of Eren's POV for extended periods of time feels like a mistake as everybody has been simply been reacting to him despite the fact that he is the primary driver of the plot, and most prominently the pacing has been nothing short of strange with some chapters coming to a grinding halt for no particular reason (123) while others speed through entire character arcs at the speed of light (Connie in 126, Annie's reintroduction to the core cast in the same chapter). I'm still trying to maintain optimism for the series and I hope that a big death or moment in the future will give the series a renewed sense of vigour like the three chapter trip to the paths did but for now I guess I'll just have to wait patiently for the series to improve as a whole or reach its next grand event.

- Side Note: I do think that the anime's incredible VA work and excellent music will solve some of these problems as it will make the duller moments more energetic but hopefully unlike RTS, WIT is not afraid of rearranging & rewriting many aspects of the arc to improve it (ie. combining chapter 123 & 124).