Recap: Eren confronts Annie once and for all.

Gee’s Thoughts: This people, is what we’ve all been waiting for. The entire season of buildup and short intense bouts have just been a set up for the grand culmination of it all, ending with the brutal meaty clash of Titans. Dozens if not hundreds of people are killed in the crossfire and Eren and Annie are more than willing to tear each other limb from limb. Compared to the finale of the first cour, it looks like Production IG has let Studio Wit have a little more budget and it shows. This episode had some of the best kinetic action I’ve seen in a while. This episode is what every episode of Titan would look like in an ideal world where the studio had more than a shoestring and a few yen to work with. Luckily, the Titan finale ends in a typically Titan-esque fashion. Victories are Pyrrhic at best, humanity continues to endure its losses, but it continues to fight on. While Annie may have alluded interrogation thanks to some last-minute powers, humanity now knows there are other Titan shifters out there. It’s time for humanity to become the hunters.

That said, all is not perfect. In fact, a variety of confusing changes have been made to the finale that different from the manga, mostly to its detriment. I don’t want to be that guy who says the anime falters because it’s not a 1:1 recreation of its source material, but the way Studio Wit has decided to tell this part of the story is going to be confusing.

Note: The following is going to include spoilers from the manga up til the current point in the anime. I’m not going to mention anything that happens after this point, but you’ve been warned.

Unfortunately, it seems that Studio Wit had decided to go the rule-of-cool route with Eren’s fight against Annie. Let me reiterate this in case none of you picked up on it. Annie is a better fighter than Eren in every conceivable way. She has more experience as a Titan, she regenerates faster, she can harden her limbs, and she is likely one of the best CQC fighters in the entire world. In the manga, Eren handily loses, barely managing to even hit Annie in the first place. In addition, there is no rage-based powerup on Eren’s part. For better or worse, while it looked cool, I think it invalidates a lot of Eren’s development as a character. One of the big things is that as Eren grows accustomed to his powers in the manga, he becomes increasingly calm and mature in the face of adversity. Compare that to anime Eren who just gets really angry then gets stronger, basically becoming a 15 meter tall anime version of the Incredible Hulk. Hell, in the manga, Eren mopes for maybe two pages at most before stoically accepting the truth and transforming. Compare that to anime Eren who wastes an entire episode bleeding out before raging himself into his Titan form.

This is a bit of a thematic issue, because by this point in the manga, Eren reaches a mastery of his Titan form to the point that he can understand human speech and basic strategy. He directly works together with the other soldiers rather than just acting as some kind of berserker. Hell, Mikasa manages to reach Annie in time because Eren throws her at Annie. Eren isn’t the force that’s going to, “devour the world” as the anime implies. He’s a distinct asset that will aid humanity in its victory. I fear if they continue in this direction, it’s going to become increasingly dissonant with Eren’s actions later in the manga where he shows genuine intelligence while in his Titan form.

However, the most glaring issue is the stinger reveal of the Titan within the wall. In the manga, the hidden Titans are revealed the moment Mikasa dispatches Annie. In the anime, not a single character acknowledges this reveal. Based on what happens later in the manga, this is going to be very problematic. The manga’s entire plot up until its current point hinges on the fact that Mikasa knows there are apparently Titans hanging out in the very walls that protect humanity. Unless Studio Wit does some smooth retconning, this is going to be an issue in the 2nd season (and let’s be honest, Titan is most certainly going to get a 2nd season once there are more manga chapters to adapt).

Despite all that though, I still feel Titan is for the most part on the right track as far as adaptations go. The issues aren’t so major that Studio Wit can’t fix them later down the line. And as far as endings go, it’s obviously a setup for season 2. The conclusion of the Female Titan arc was the most sensible point to end things for now.

Final Impressions

Allow me to get this out of the way. Titan is not the perfect adaptation. In a few ways, it failed to live up to my expectations. The animation was severely hampered in a lot of episodes, characterization has been radically altered, and the pacing has been all over the place. However, the Attack on Titan anime also has one of the best soundtracks of the year and when it looks good, Titan was one of the best animated shows of the season. Characters, soldiers and Titans alike, move with the kind of kinetic grace and volume that I wish other anime could emulate. Whether it’s Levi being a human buzzsaw, Mikasa basically turning the 3D Maneuver Gear into a goddamn jetpack, or the meaty visceral blows of Titan-on-Titan combat, Titan had some truly shining moments. It’s only a shame there weren’t more.

Overall, as a Titan fan, I left this series pretty satisfied. While it never had a chance of living up to the lofty hype and expectations I set for myself when I saw the reveal trailer, it’s done an admirable job of translating the manga into something watchable. In addition, the benefit of the anime’s superior artwork and soundtrack made some of its moments even better than the manga. If nothing else, it’s really nice being able to tell the difference between Jean and Reiner, Berthold and Marco, and Armin and Christa. Count me in for the 2nd season whenever that happens. Considering it’s already on its way to being the best selling anime of the year, here’s hoping they’ll have a little more budget next time around.