An Immeasurable Decline- Attack on Titan Season 3

 

It’s been almost 6 years since the first episode of “Attack on Titan” graced the Japanese screens and threw nearly the entire US anime fandom into a frenzy, with everyone going mad for the thrilling, raw anime.  The second season unfortunately did not get released until 4 years after the first season, when the craze had significantly diminished, and the second season’s 12 episodes did not resolve the story in its entirety, though thankfully did fill quite a lot of the plotholes and explain some of the backstory.  Thankfully, it was only a 1-year wait until the third season, but now, “Attack on Titan” is old news.  A has-been, with everyone having moved onto something else, perhaps “My Hero Academia.”  However, wanting conclusion, I had decided to continue the story, considering that the mangaka was so adamant on finishing up the series within a certain number of volumes.  So, did season 3 of “Attack on Titan” live up to the standard set by its predecessors?

 

 

Even from the opening theme, one feels the change in mood.  There are no longer rock tunes with brash, grungy lyrics, and instead the instrumental piece being used feels uplifting, calm, and optimistic.  There were instrumental tunes in prior seasons, but the overall mood in this opening theme, with calm piano notes, conflicts with the prior seasons’ tones, and is a pessimistic start to this season.  This feeling is exemplified through the appearance of the opening, which looks much brighter, shinier and glossier than its predecessors, and furthers the disconnect between the optimistic theme and overall pessimistic feeling from the prior seasons.  However, what is odd is that this shinier treatment of scenes extends only to some parts of the anime itself, with more detail and quality put into the shading and texturing, and other parts of the anime retaining the muted colors and more basic appearance from season 1.  The lack of color contrast from season 1 remains, with very muted beige tones, though the blues also do their best to try and lend it some contrast.

 

Character interactions feel rounded rather than angular, no more of that rough-and-readyness that it was previously known for, and somehow there’s a sense of tiredness, as if the show already knew what to portray to its audience and thus got lazy with writing.  Many of the character interactions just felt diluted, and the grating arguments and clash of personalities due to disagreements of old are all but quashed.  Sure, one can argue that after a period of time, one can expect individuals to eventually start getting along with each other.  However, it feels as if character development has plateaued, and even the introduction of new character Kenny, whose fighting skill beats even Levi and is the centerpoint to a few exciting fights, does only a little to bring excitement to the character roster.  The paucity of action sequences in this season relative to the first and to a lesser extent, the second season, do little to redeem the third season.  There was always a sense that the series got its personality by the sharp contrast amongst everyone, where the clash of tactics and motivations gave it flair, and by taking that flair away, it descended into blandness.  Combine this clash of tactics and motivation with the eternal struggle of surviving in a world with titans and battling them and one has essentially nailed the combination of what made “Attack on Titan” such a favorite in the first place.

 

 

What the third season is banking on, then, is its plotline, which unfortunately has also moved on from the simplistic “how do we kill titans without getting killed ourselves?” formula of the prior seasons.  Now, even though the second season delved into the part of the plot where humans can become titans, only part of the third season’s plot delves into this element.  Instead, the third season relies on heavy doses of politics at the expense of the tried and true “humans vs titans” formula and ends up making the series’ storyline muddled and confusing.  This complication could have been beneficial to the characters, but while season 2 elevated several secondary characters, season 3 tries to do the same but comes up short with the characters who do get promoted (mainly Historia).  Furthermore, this season has continued to let the main trio of Erin, Mikasa, and Armin wither on the vine.  Having the plot creak and groan forwards slowly gives the impression of a senior citizen trying to run a marathon or even just walk down the stairs, and just makes the series feel even more ancient than it actually is.  While the plotline does move forward steadily, answering some more of the questions from season 1 and 2, the drama and anticipation from years past has long since worn out, and it is seriously time to have moved on.  Get on with the story, reveal the entire plotline and story, like it should have been done ages ago.  As one is lugging himself/herself through the series, one can’t notice that the different mood as highlighted in the opening theme and character interactions carries over into the plotline, where the mood itself feels diluted.  There’s a sense of calm and balance, but the problem is that this is a series that was known previously for being raw and visceral.  Giving it this sort of treatment just feels wrong and almost insulting; like food being made less spicy to be more accommodating.

 

 

So where does that leave the third season of “Attack on Titan?”  Are there any redeeming features?  Well, it moves the series forward and because it uses its past glory as a crutch, the series is watchable.  But therein lies its problem: the series does not push the envelope whatsoever in regards to quality and even though it relies on past praise to get viewers to watch it, the series has been materially changed for the worse.  Whether this was done out of sheer shortsightedness or wanting to be clever, the bottom line is that the changes have stripped away many of the key components what made the past series great and still have not finished the story.  Continue watching if you so please, but this is now a zombie series, and is best enjoyed by going through the motions.  The end can’t come soon enough: “Attack on Titan” has since overstayed its welcome and used up too much of its goodwill, and season 4 better be the final one.