Attack On Titan: A Lesson In Diverting Expectations

Attack On Titan is in its final season, with the final chapter of its manga set to be released this April, and in revisiting the series from the beginning, we realize that if there is one thing that the franchise is able to do well, it’s subverting expectations. With each season packed to the rafters with surprises and brutal story beats that helped the story of the nation of Marley and the Children of Ymir be told, there’s no better time than now to examine how the shocking moments of Attack On Titan helped form the series.

What was the most shocking moment of Attack On Titan for you? Has the story of Eren, Armin, and Mikasa rised up the ranks to become your favorite anime series of all time? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Titans.

A Slow Build

When you watch Attack On Titan from the beginning, whether with a re-watch or for the first time, it’s clear Hajime Isayama had the entire story in his head before he had created the series. The first season is able to establish the main characters of the Survey Corps, while throwing in a number of curveballs that drag audiences further into this world, but presents almost as many questions as it answers, if not more so. The end of the first season sees Annie revealed as the Female Titan, along with the shocking revelation that Titans are held within the walls, while still slow-playing the secrets of the nation that has been tormenting Eren and company. 

What Did Armin Know And When Did He Know It?

Some of the biggest surprises that would fool audience members were revelations that characters had already known beforehand. For example, with the revelation of the true identities of Reiner and Bertholdt, Armin and company had already figured things out for quite some time prior to the episode, unbeknownst to the audience. In Hajime Isayama’s dark epic, characters are far more intelligent than viewers might believe, revealing that they have a better understanding of what’s going on than one might think. 

Blink And You’ll Miss It

Speaking of the big reveal of the Armored and Colossal Titans’ identities, the way that Reiner and Bertholdt revealed who they were was depicted in such a way that you might have missed it. The camera in the anime scene doesn’t even focus on the Marleyian warriors spilling the beans to Eren Jaeger, interjecting their dialogue with that of Hange and other members of the Survey Corps. Isayama is a master of surprises and the reveals are unlike anything else in the world of anime, helping propel Attack On Titan to new limits. 

Death Is Cheap And That’s Ok

The world of Attack On Titan is a dark one and death is an ever-growing shadow for all parties involved. The loss of characters can happen in an instant, or take place completely off-screen with the case of Eren’s father Grisha, but the impact remains the same. Most recently, Sasha’s death took viewers by surprise, not with the food-obsessed soldier being struck down in the heat of battle, but being shot by Gabi, the young warrior candidate from Marley who simply let a bullet fly into the crowd of Survey Corps members. It’s a dark world that Isayama has created but everything feels earned. 

Characters Change Accordingly

Eren Jaeger has changed pretty drastically during this latest season, striking out on his own to attack Marley and eventually raising an army of his own to essentially take down the military using the banner of “Jaegerists”, but this progression makes sense for Eren’s character. Eren started his journey by swearing revenge against all the Titans, promising to eradicate them all following the death of his mother, but as Jaeger learned more about the world, his tactics changed accordingly. Though Eren certainly isn’t making the right decisions, they are understandable ones for the journey he has been through and Isayama has created an anime character in Jaeger that has rarely been seen in the medium.