AOT Review

I don't really think there are many spoilers here, but here's your warning.

I recently finished AOT season 4 part 2. TBH, I think the first and second season were not very good. It seems like in these first two seasons, character development only happens post-action or as necessary for the plot. This leads to the effect of making a simpler story, as characters are less rich and serve the plot more. I think this flaw runs throughout the show, but feels especially forced in the first two seasons. I also think that in these two seasons the plot was paced too fast: it just felt like the story was a collection of movies, not an integrated series. I also didn't understand why if Erwin dreamt of knowledge so much, why didn't he just go straight to Shiganshina after learning of the journal there? Instead he did many other plots like the female titan.

The characters also seemed very rushed. The show just kept introducing characters and then having them killed, then showing some memory of a meaningful time with them. This led to the effect of me confusing characters like Petra and Historia. However, this does have the effect of making the show feel more realistic. The short-lived characters and introduction of background/secondary characters really makes the world feel like there are other people with full lives too. Although, the poor character development as I mentioned above somewhat counteract this. I do have to concede that this effect can't really be pulled off as we can't just have tons of episodes solely for developing character. I think this realism is a big theme of AOT.

For a show about fictional titans, I think the show really pulls off a pessimistic realism. The show is very blod with deaths, showing that no character is really immune to dying reducing the feelings of plot armor. Even things that seem too coincidental are explained later, which are very nice details. This realism also extends to the characters. After season 2, characters stuck around longer and we got to see them develop a lot more as well as a shift in focus allowing us to learn about these other characters. In this way, we got to see motives and desires and they are were very realistic. For example, taking a pessimist view of humanity there would be very few selfless people, and that is reflected in the characters. The show also mixes in perspectives of common people, really emphasizing the idea that the world of AOT is full of real, rich characters with their own whole worlds. A prime example is the father before the battle for Trost. The show is also very exciting, as this realism allows for "plot twists"/surprises to feel unexpected yet feel so obvious after the reveal.

Overall, I'd really recommend it.