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 which was a easy contender for series best.

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 set the stage for the finale pretty well. I will say that I do not hundred percent believe that Eren is commiting to the bad route yet as while it is my prefered option for the ending I have been let down too many times by similar stories swerving at the last moment to believe it just yet. I am definitely still in the wait & see camp but the foundation is strong as long as Isayama stays the course and doesn't do a discount Watchmen style ending or a undeserved happy ending.

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 of the tragedy of Eren angle 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.

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. I don't have very much to say about it other than it 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 spinning 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).