Wow, welcome back to the front line titan lovers! The time has come to end things. We are finally watching the final season of Attack on Titan, and I got a feeling that not everyone is making it out of this one alive. If you are new to our coverage, this is the part where I explain to you that I’ve never been what you’d call a regular anime watcher, but something about this strange and at times horrifying has never failed to captivate me. And so now, as part of our 2021 Summer TV binge, we will secure ourselves in the trenches, while we long for the days of Omni-Directional Movement gear. Lets charge into Attack on Titan season 4, episode 1, “The Other Side of the Sea.”
1. Trench Warfare
Welcome back, huh? In this episode we saw basically zero of the characters we know and… love? Root for? The characters we follow anyway. Instead we are seeing things from the perspective of three Marley soldiers, Colt, Falco, and Gabi. There’s a whole early exposition dump to get us up to speed. There’s been a four year time jump, Marley is at war with our cast of characters in Paradis, and the war seems like it is coming to an end. Technology has jumped ahead in a big way, especially weapons and vehicles. Marley’s war strategy still centers around their Titan Warriors, and we do see two familiar titan shifters. I’m assuming we won’t have to wait too long before we get to see what’s up with Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Historia, Levi and all the others, but I am actually unspoiled for what’s ahead this season. Maybe this will become a completely new show!
2. NEW THEME SONG
You know I get excited when we get a new theme song but… boy, I haven’t learned to like this one yet. I guess. At first I was feeling its eeriness, and there’s definitely a strong war motif with all the visuals. But it doesn’t have any of the triumph or desperation of previous themes. Where the original opening was like power metal, this one feels more nu metal. But then with a dash of a Danny Elfman score for a Tim Burton movie. Everything is rainbow tinted though. I think I give the visuals a B and the music itself a D. Definitely my least favorite of the intro songs. I hope it switches halfway through, but “The Final Season” subtitle makes me think we’re stuck with this song.
The closing credits aren’t much better, certainly not as good as the unskippable closing track for season 3. This one has this discordant little noises underneath a decidedly bland main track. It all sounds too slick and overproduced. Oh well, I guess I’ll learn to use the ‘skip intro’ button.
3. World War T
One thing I always love in Attack on Titan is the on the ground perspective the story always strikes up to see the things that shape the lives on everyday people. This show never has the problem establishing characters; by the end of the episode I felt broadly attached to the new Marley soldiers. More importantly though, I learned some essentials in what the war effort looks and feels like. The uniforms, life in the trenches, the food situation, all sorts of stuff that gets skipped in a political intrigue.
The huge leap in military technology is making a huge difference to these soldiers, and part of me wants to know more. Was there like, a major breakthrough in metallurgy? Tanks seem like an obvious titan-destroying weapon. And the explosives all seem to be more high yield, some titans were getting vaporized from the shoulders up. The Marley armies also seem to have air support in the form of zeppelins, which can drop bombs and captives who transform into titans on their way towards the ground. There’s a focus on horror and on the desperation of the individual soldiers. This conflict has gotten way bigger and feels totally out of control, more so than it has ever felt when we were seeing people use 3D Maneuver gear and swords.
Continued below4. Heroes on both sides
While I don’t know any of the specifics of the story to come, I couldn’t help but live in the world as Attack on Titan occasionally made headlines and started conversation. People are definitely interested in the fascist themes, and I couldn’t help but notice them in the trenches. All of the new soldier characters are brave, with a strong sense of fanaticism. Gabi especially, wants to become the Armored Titan when Reiner inevitably falls, so as to better serve the Motherland. We root for her as puts on a disguise to hurl grenades at an enemy train, a risky mission that she approaches with wide eyed laughter.
But the the show is also particular about showing us other soldiers, like the ones wearing horrifying suicide bomber vests. When the commander stoically yells about the importance of their sacrifice, we’re given the miserable sight of their tears. These aren’t about-to-make-a-cool-brave-sacrifice tears; this is wretched despair. This dichotomy has always been what I liked about this show. On the one hand, it makes us really feel the pull of fascism, the appeal of throwing your trust behind brave leaders, and supporting a system that will supposedly produce them. But then we aren’t spared during the canon fodder that the war machine chews up. These people are turning to fascism because they are desperate for something to believe in, but they never walk away looking any happier. We’re meant to feel bad for these people, but we’re supposed to pity their choices, not respect them.
5. Hot Reiner’s Beard
I guess we have to talk about Reiner, huh? He’s always been presented to us as a big tough dude, but now he’s really grown into his role as the face of his army. It suits him much better than double agent or guerrilla fighter. My dude looks good is what I’m saying, with a stubbly goatee and cool goggles. And look at me talking about Reiner like I’ve ever really cared about him. I would have had him way low on my list of favorite Attack on Titan characters, but through sheer persistence, he’s lived long enough to become a really compelling villain.
With him is Zeke, who has been lurking on the margins of the story until last season. He’s Eren’s half brother, and responsible for a long history of misery. Zeke and Reiner are joined by Galliard, who has my favorite Titan design this side of Ymir, with a weird skullface lion form. We mostly see these three from the perspective of regular soldiers, who either worship or envy the heroic Warriors. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to see more of the inner lives of these three, especially Reiner, who has a lot of history with our as of yet unseen characters.
By the end of this first episode, the war seems basically over. Marley has steamrolled the opposition. But there are a whole bunch of episodes left in this so-called final season, so I doubt things are so simple. I’m looking forward to see how this show, which I haven’t been able to get off my mind since 2014, will finally come to an end! If you plan to watch along with me, welcome! I don’t even know what to dare hope anymore.
