Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-27125793-20190305112423

If I were an anime-only watcher, I probably would've rated it 8 or 9 out of 10. However, as a manga reader, I would have to give it a more disappointing 6. Fact is, the Uprising Arc is my favorite, and some of the main reasons are dialogue, characterization, the interaction between characters, and the moral ambiguity. It was complex, mature, and engaging.

The anime version dumbs it down and simplifies it in so many infuriating ways, I don't even know where to start. Levi's discussion with Reeves on the Wall, the 'bitching about problems' being a Survey Corps pastime, his willingness to rearrange faces for the sake of his goal, Armin's false flag operation proposal, and more.

Another that I was especially pissed off about is how they made Pixis agree with Erwin right off the bat, instead of including his reasoning as to why it would be a bad idea to rebel, leading to an inconclusive answer from him. The old man's always been one of those good guys whose judgment we trusted, and, along with Levi's threats to Historia and other scenes, his unwillingness to outright go along with the Corps gave off a sense of that they weren't all that pure or righteous either, and that rebelling was actually a bad course of action. Right and wrong weren't clear anymore (if they ever were).

It's not all bad. The action's good, the voice acting is splendid, and Kenny Ackerman is as badass and multifaceted as in the manga. Still, it does not make up for the deficiencies the studio made when they decided to cling too close to classic and overused shonen tropes and patterns, ridding it of a lot of its more seinen and sophisticated elements. From what I read, the critics were much more mixed with this season, too.

Opinions, please? 