Written by Sheena Fisher and Rachel Freeman
Attack on Titan Season 2 Finale, “Scream”
Sheena Fisher
Well, this season of Attack on Titan was quite short. But the finale overall was pretty crazy. We begin with Eren and Mikasa seeing the same Titan that ate Eren’s mother in season one. Both are too weak to attack. Luckily for them, Hannes appears and also recognizes the Titan for that fateful day. He swings into action by blocking a punch from her and begins fighting.
Armin and Jean are fleeing while the armored Titan AKA Reiner is still flinging Titans at the scouts. Jean gets too close to one’s impact and goes flying off his horse. Armin quickly moves into action to retrieve him, but the Titans are drawing closer and closer. While this is happening, Conny and Historia are also fleeing.
Historia and Ymir have a heart-to-heart moment I have to write about. In the last episode it was revealed that Ymir was going to be super shady and turn in Historia to save her own life from the warriors. The girls fight together to take down a Titan so they can escape. As Conny tries to get Ymir to follow, she decides to take off with Reiner and Bertholdt.
OK, back to our main characters, Mikasa and Eren. Hannes is still fighting and Eren is desperately trying to go into Titan form. Eren wants so badly to save Hannes, but unfortunately the tables turn and the Titan gets the upper-hand. Eren is biting holes in his hands trying to transform while Mikasa is trying to calm him down by confessing her undying love to him. I feel like she knows the situation is grim and they may not make it. But, guys, they have a super cute moment here. And it empowers Eren. Enough to take control. Not by becoming a Titan, but by directing nearby Titans to attack the Titan that ate his mom. At first I thought I was interpreting stuff wrong, but he does it again so the remaining scouts can retreat.
Many of the senior regiment are dead. A month’s time passes and the wall is declared safe again after people had to take refuge in an underground city. Levi is visiting Erwin in the medical ward when Hange and Conny arrive to share the theory of Titans being humans. They believe the Titans that attacked them were all from Conny’s village. This notion bothers Levi, but Erwin smiles. Very odd reaction. What’s even stranger is the ending screen. There is a man resting on the shoulders of the beast Titan.
Overall, I enjoyed this season because we got a lot of answers. Of course we got a lot more questions. The good news is that I’m seeing reports that season 3 will be out in 2018, so hopefully we don’t have to wait too long. Anyway, let’s stick with discussing this epic finale. Action, reveals, and closures. As for this episode, I am rating it a 9/10.
Rachel Freeman
Alright. Here comes my opinion. The negative Nancy. The critical Curtis. The gloomy Gabby. The pessimistic Percy. I’m all out of witty names. You get the idea.
I was not impressed with this season, especially compared to season 1. Not only was it half the length (season 1 was 26 episodes, while season 2 is only 12), but it also didn’t have NEAR the amount of action and soul-crushing death. And while yes, it’s the same way in the manga, the manga in this portion drags on as well. Just because it’s the same as the manga doesn’t mean it’s good. In fact, the creative team should have seized the opportunity to make positive changes in the anime. Maybe to some, they did, but to me, it wasn’t an improvement.
I won’t go into a detailed recap because Sheena already did that and I’d just be repeating her already splendid recount of important events. What I’m going to do instead is make a list of things I didn’t like and then bitch about them. I’m good at that. I’ll even cap it off at my top 3 grievances.
- In 12 episodes we got a total of 1 human-transforming Titan vs. Titan. That is absurd when you consider we now have 4 transforming Titans (Annie would be 5, but she’s still frozen) and they’re not on the same team. I saw a total of 1, because we got EXTREMELY brief fights and the final fight between Eren and Reiner, while epic, was short-lived.
- Lots of flashbacks, but none that actually explained anything. As much as I love Sasha, her backstory was totally irrelevant to this season. It would have been way more applicable in season 1 or perhaps even once we get into season 3. But not this season. If any supporting character should have gotten a backstory, it’s Conny. Because his village, his family, his past was relevant to the events that took place. Sasha’s were not. Ymir’s flashbacks with Historia were too long and her personal history, though incredibly interesting, did not actually tell us anything about why she is a Titan and why she is doing what she’s doing (she’s made claims, I don’t believe them).
- There was no “finale”, the show just ended. There is no indicator that this is the final episode of the season until the very end when you don’t get a next episode preview. Nothing is even remotely resolved, everyone is injured, Eren has a new power. It’s like if Dragon Ball Z ended for a year right when Goku turned Super Saiyan the first time.
Overall, given the positives from Sheena and my own negatives, I give the season a 7/10. The moments that were epic were truly epic, and that’s where the season gained ground for me. But compared to season 1? Didn’t impress.
