BoJack Horseman Final Season Part Two Review: You do the Hokey Pokey and you Turn Yourself Around.

And so one of the greatest animated series of all time has come to an end.
What a wild, depressing, existential ride it has been.
Why Netflix decided to pull the pin on BoJack Horseman I will never understand but I am at least thankful that they gave creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and the other writers enough time to end the show right.
And end it did, with the second half of season six bringing an end to the character arcs of BoJack (Will Arnett), Diane (Alison Brie), Todd (Aaron Paul), Princess Carolyn (Amy Seradis), and Mr Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tomkins) amazingly.
All five of these characters get great sendoffs that fit their storylines well.
As set up in the first half of the final season, many of BoJack’s past misdeeds catch up with him, especially the death of Sarah Lynn.
One thing I believed coming into this second half was that BoJack would have truly changed for the better and try to make amends for all he had done.
Well, now I can see that I clearly overestimated BoJack because he is still the painfully flawed, yet somehow still sympathetic, character he has always been.
We even learn some disturbing facts about some of the things he did that honestly made me feel a little guilty for sympathizing with him.

downer moment — Only BoJack could give horses a bad name while still being sympathetic.

But the way his story ends is perfect for him and can even be viewed as a punishment of sorts.
Then there is Diane and Princess Carolyn who both get fantastic endings as well that left me very touched.
As for Todd, he continued to be as insightfully wacky as ever in the conclusion of his story, making the simple nursery rhyme of the Hockey Pokey inspirational.
The last of the main cast in Mr Peanutbutter, who I was honestly concerned about in the first half of the season.
I thought they were backtracking on his character arc but, thankfully, they follow through on it in this half, giving him a satisfying conclusion as well.
Then there is Hollyhock, with the way her relationship with BoJack developed in the wake of her learning about his horrible actions being realistic, yet heartbreaking.

pete repeat — BoJack and Hollyhock’s relationship does not really have a resolution but that’s the tragic point.

As well as the characters, many of the episodes are incredible as well, especially the last two.
The fifteenth episode, “The View From Halfway Down” is actually pretty horrifying at times and is easily one of the show’s best episodes.
And then there is the finale, the perfectly titled “Nice While It Lasted”, which wraps up all the character arcs and ends on a note that hits you right in the feels.

There is a lot to love about the second half of the final season.
However, sadly, it is not perfect.
I, for one, was disappointed about how various characters got sidelined.
This is most obvious with Gina who it felt like the show was hyping up to be one of the people who exposed BoJack.
However, she and the trauma she suffered from her experience are never brought up again apart from a blink and you’ll miss it moment.
But, even though I was disappointed by this aspect, there is still so many amazing things about this final season and BoJack Horseman as a whole.
In fact, I think there is only one thing that I can say that will sum up my feelings about the show having ended.
BoJack Horseman is gone and everything is worse now.

My Hero Academia Season Four, Episode Fifteenth, Smoldering Flames Review: Is This Attack on Titan?

With the Overhaul Arc officially over, “Smoldering Flames”, the fifteenth episode of My Hero Academia’s fourth season, kicked off the next arc by introducing an important villain.
As Gran Torino and Tsukauchi succeed in capturing the warp villain Kurogiri, they unwittingly stumble across All For One’s most faithful servant, Gigantomachia.
I’m sure a lot of people got Attack on Titan vibes, due to the naked giant with a radio around his neck having a striking resemblance to that series’ Titans.
Along with this, I am also sure that a lot of people would have recognized Gigantomachia because this is not the first time we have seen him before.
There was a brief tease of him around the end of season two when the new members of the League of Villains were being introduced, and he was seen more prominently in Kirishima’s flashback during the “Red Riot” episode this season.
Although, many people may be expecting Gigantomachia to have a big role given this introduction, I’m afraid to say that this was yet another tease because there are still a few arcs to go before the massive villain becomes important to the story.
Next to Gigantomachia, the second most exciting thing about “Smoldering Flames” is the new OP “Star Maker” and ED “Shout Baby”.
I would say that both of these OP’s are way better than the ones for the Overhaul Arc with both of them having great examples of symbolism and foreshadowing for future events.
My one criticism of the OP is that I wish we had seen more of Gentle and La Brava, who will be the two big villains (although not-so sinister ones) of this arc.
Back to the episode, the rest of it is pretty standard with a few good laughs.
The best of these comes when Iida orders the rest of Class 1-A to leave Deku and the others alone, until Deku says they are fine, which Iida uses an excuse to scream that he was so worried about them while shaking Deku.
We also get the beginning of Bakugo and Todoroki retaking the provisional licence, along with Inasa and Cammie, who is definitely not Toga this time.
There is also Present Mic who provides some good laughs like always, with his repeated jabbing of Baukgo’s head and deciding to grab some coffee to get away from All Might and Endeavor’s conversation, which will happen next episode.
The one bit of the episode that I feel drags things down a bit is the repeated showing of events that we have already seen.
For example, there is an entire scene where Deku basically reflects on everything that happened in the Overhaul arc, and we are shown the whole thing in a quick flashback, as if the director thinks we did not watch the last 15 episodes.
Overall though, “Smoldering Flames” is another good episode of My Hero Academia that may start off tense but ends on a light hearted note that the rest of the season will most likely follow up on.
Unless, of course, we actually get the Pro-Hero Arc this season as well.
We are shown images from that arc in the OP so here’s to hoping it is not a tease for season five and we will actually see this storyline at the end of the season.

Marriage Story Review: Incredible Performances.

I honestly thought that after Joker there was no 2019 film that could provide a performance that would rival Joaquin Phoenix’s.
However, after finally watching Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story on Netflix, I can say he now has some stiff competition.
Every single actor does an incredible job in this film, which follows a couple going through a divorce and trying to make things easy for their son, only for their divorce proceedings to escalate.
Both Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are flawless as Nicole and Charlie Barber and are natural Oscar contenders, especially Driver who blew me away in so many scenes, like the one where he gives an impassioned song.

Driver sings — The scene where Charlie sings in front of a group of his friends is my favourite of the film.

Again, if Joker had been released any other year then Driver would have an Oscar in the bag with this performance.
Complimenting the actors’ performances is the character writing for both Charlie and Nicole, with the film showing both of them to be flawed people who the audience can sympathize with and decide who is more at fault for the failure of their marriage.
And it’s not just the actors that are great but the cinematography as well with both long, extended takes and quick cuts being utilized to for dramatic and thematic effect perfectly.

cinematography3 — The closing of the gate shots coming together to create a fantastic scene.

Baumbach did an amazing job directing this film.
The only minor criticism I can think of is that it did take me a little bit to relate to Charlie and Nicole because of their celebrity status, which initially felt slightly alienating.
But, this issue I was having did quickly dissipate because of how the story and character arcs played out, along with the great the performances and cinematography so I can hardly fault the film.
Marriage Story is an emotional, highly crafted film that is definitely one of the best of the year.

My Hero Academia, Season Four Episode 14, Bright Future Review: A Loss for the Heroes and a Gain for the Villains.

Coming into My Hero Academia’s fourteenth episode of season four, “Bright Future”, I was very excited to see the adaptation of two fantastic scenes from the manga that had me feeling very different emotions.
However, unfortunately, while one of these scenes was perfectly adapted, the other lost a lot of its impact.
This scene is the League of Villains’ attack on the police transport that is taking Overhaul away.
After they stop the transport, and Dabi and Mr Compress kill the sand hero Snatch, Shigaraki and Compress amputate Overhaul’s arms, leaving him quirkless, and steal his quirk removing bullets.
The reason this scene is a downgrade in comparison to the manga comes down to censorship.
The moment where Compress amputates Overhaul’s arm is shot in a way that removes most of the violence, making many viewers not even realise that Compress had taken Overhaul’s arm.
As for the death of Snatch, if you missed Dabi’s comment about him probably being dead, you would have no idea that Snatch was killed from being compressed in the fire because it was done so tame.
Maybe they should have added a scene of Dabi crushing the compressed ball with Snatch in it to make his death more clear.
I was also a little disappointed that some of the manga panels did not make the cut.
Other than these instances, though, the scene is still done well, with great voice acting, especially from Koki Uchiyama who voices Shigaraki.
And, even though I was slightly disappointed by this scene’s adaptation, the adaptation of Nighteye’s death could not have been more perfect.
Everything from the voice acting, to the music is handled so well to the point that it almost made me tear up.
Shin-ichiro Miki does a great job as the dying hero, who makes amends with All Might and Deku, before telling his protege, Mirio, that he will be a fine hero and to keep smiling for a brighter future.
The moment the life fades from his eyes is emotionally palpable and a sad end to a very dark arc.
Thankfully, Nighteye’s hope for smiles will be fulfilled with the rest of the season because the upcoming Cultural Festival arc is very uplifting compared to the Overhaul arc’s darker tone.
I have watched the trailer for the second part of the season and it looks like it will be just as well as adapted as previous scenes in the season.
All in all, “Bright Future” is another good episode of My Hero Academia.
Yes, the adaptation of the League of Villains is a real downgrade from the manga, but the Nighteye death scene more than made up for this with its emotional weight.
Anyway, now that the sad times are over, we can move on to the happier times with the next arc, which I am really looking forward to.

The Irishman Review: Amazing De-Aging Effects in a Long Film.

Martin Scorsese has had a long career of fantastic crime dramas from Goodfellas, to Casino, to The Departed, to many more.
As such, coming into The Irishman, I felt like I was going to see another riveting film on par with many of his prior movies.
Honestly, though, this expectation may have been a bit naive.
That is not to say that The Irishman is bad because it is certainly a good film, but there was nothing about it that made it feel like I was seeing something new.
The most impressive thing about the film is its fantastic de-aging effects, which allows the characters played by Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci to age across the decades that the film depicts.
The only problem I had with the effects was that sometimes the actors’ eyes looked a little off but, Aside from this, it was flawless.

The de-aging effects of *The Irishman* are so good that I cannot tell you at what time De Niro has no effects done to his face.

The Irishman follows the crime fueled life of Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a man who “paints houses”, a euphemism for murder in the criminal underworld.
Under orders from his friend Russel Bufalino (Pesci), Frank eventually comes to know and befriend the leader of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).
The film then follows these three characters through Frank’s experiences in the criminal underworld and the fatal effects these experiences have.
For starters, the three actors all do a really good job with their characters, especially De Niro and Pacino because I could really feel the bond that their characters had.
The friendship between Sheeran and Hoffa, and what it ultimately culminates in, is the most interesting part of the movie for me; even if the outcome may not be true to life because no one really knows how these events really unfolded.

de niro and pacino — While probably not true, the way Sheeran and Hoffa’s friendship pans out in the film is tragic.

Another impressive thing about The Irishman is how it goes about portraying Sheeran’s supposed murders, with them often being quick and realistic, lacking an over dramatic feel, although this works in the film’s favor.
However, despite these good things, I still cannot say The Irishman is anything spectacular.
For one thing, the film is way too long, coming in at 209 minutes.
The over three hour runtime was not exactly warranted and I felt quite a few scenes could have been condescend or cut.
Also, as I said, The Irishman does not really add anything all that new to the crime drama genre.
I felt like I was watching just a typical crime film rather than one directed by Scorsese.
Still, the film is enjoyable and I would recommend it based off the great performances and amazing de-aging effects.
If you don’t mind the over three hour runtime then you should give it a watch.

My Hero Academia Season Four, Episode Thirteen, Infinite 100% Review: Exceeding The Manga.

I remember reading the fight between Deku and Overhaul in the My Hero Academia manga and being absolutely blown away by it.
The creativity and intensity of the battle was just incredible and I could not wait to see it animated.
Well, that finally happened with episode thirteen of season four, “Infinite 100%”, and I was even more blown away than when I first read it.
Talk about exceeding the manga.
Everything was just incredibly done this episode, from the voice acting, to the animation, to the music.
I would actually say that this is now my favourite episode of My Hero Academia so far because of how emotionally epic it is.
The scene where Deku successfully grabs Eri is just magnificent with the fantastic OST MightU playing as he grabs her.
The greatness of this scene continues as Deku moves so fast that he can’t even be seen, and the resulting shock wave created by his speed happens in a spellbinding silence.
From here, the fight gets more epic as Overhaul merges with Katsukame in a last ditch effort to get Eri back.
Realising that Eri’s rewind quirk allows him to maintain One For All at 100%, Deku takes on his foe at full power in what can only be described as a slaughter.
Seriously, despite Overhaul’s strength he did not lay a finger on Deku who punched him to oblivion in what has to be the series’ greatest animation so far.
With Overhaul defeated, the episode ends with Nighteye realizing that Deku has changed the future he saw, leaving hope for All Might.
Along with Deku’s great fight with Overhaul, there is also a lot of development for the villains as well, with Toga tricking Uraraka and the other heroes to ambush Overhaul at the beginning of the episode.
We will see more of the League next episode in a scene that will be very intense and I am eager to see how it will be animated.
As for Overhaul, we also finally got to see what his full plan was and it was pretty ingenious.
He basically wanted to use Eri’s rewind quirk to create a bullet that could get rid of quirks and a bullet that would restore them, which they would sell both to the heroes and villains, creating a monopoly that only they could control.
Just one problem.
It would mean they would have to experiment on and torture an innocent little girl.
This fact is established pretty disgustingly, as we see how Overhaul began his experiments on Eri when he was trying to figure out what her quirk was,
Thankfully, the boss of the Hissaikai is not as monstrous as Overhaul, being horrified at the man’s callous nature.
Sadly, this does not end well for him because Overhaul uses his quirk to make him catatonic when he refuses to follow through on this plan, leaving Overhaul free to experiment on the girl.
Eri really has the most tragic backstory in My Hero Academia.
First she accidentally kills her father with her quirk, then her mother abandons her, and then she is tortured and experimented on by a complete monster who wants to use her for his own gain.
Well, now that she has been rescued, we can hope to see happy times for Eri.
There is one scene in particular in the upcoming Gentle Arc that I am especially looking forward to.
However, before we get to the happy times, we have to go through more loss in the next episode, which will certainly make for a sad viewing experience.
Overall, I would say that “Infinite 100%” is now my favourite episode of My Hero Academia with its fantastic fight scenes, character growth, music, voice acting, and animation.
It all just comes together to create a flawless episode.

Jumanji: The Next Level Review. Another Fun Time at the Movies.

Funny story.
As I was sitting through the first twenty minutes of Jumanji: The Next Level, an audience member in the row in front of me turned to the guy next to him and asked, “hey, this is Jumanji, right?”
He must not have seen the first film and not realised that the teenage characters would become the video game ones so thought he wandered into the wrong movie.
In any case, I’m sure the guy was glad not have walked out because of this mistake because Jumanji: The Next Level is a good time that is about on par with the first film.

the next level.jpg — *The Next Level* is just as good as *Welcome to the Jungle.*

Directed again by Jack Kasdan, the sequel continues to follow the adventures of Spencer (Alex Wolff), Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), Martha (Morgan Turner) and Bethany (Madison Iseman) after Spencer goes into the game willingly and the others mount a rescue.
Unfortunately for them, the busted state they left the game in leads to some unforeseen consequences, most prominent of which is Spencer’s grandfather, Eddie, and his estranged friend, Milo, also being sucked into the game.
Taking on the roles of their Avatars, Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Franklin Finbar (Kevin Hart), Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), and Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black), the characters set off to rescue Spencer and save Jumanji again.
One of the things I really enjoyed about the film was how it went in new directions to shape the story.
Rather than a retread of the first movie, Jumanji: The Next Level tries different things, resulting in various hilarious scenarios.
The best of these is definitely Johnson and Hart playing elderly men stuck in heroic video game characters’ bodies.
This results both in many fantastic comedic moments and also a lot of growth for the two characters of Eddie and Milo.
These two elements combine with a joke at the end of the film that left me howling with laughter.

his whole left side is shutting down — There are so many great gags with Eddie and Milo being stuck in their Avatars’ bodies.

Another improvement from the first movie is the villain, who this time is Jurgen the Brutal (Rory McCann).
In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the villain was very forgettable to the point that I can’t even remember his name.
Granted, Jurgen is not much better here but the film knows this because, with the exception of the game cut scene that introduces him as the threat, it only places Jurgen in scenes with the characters.
The villain of the first film had entire scenes to himself that did not work, so only placing Jurgen in scenes with our main characters is for the better.
What is not for the better is some of the directions the story takes.
Like I said, I do like a lot of the new routes that are taken in this film but there are a few that just don’t work.
The biggest example of these is a storyline involving a horse that ends with revolving a character’s arc poorly.
I honestly imagined this character’s story ending another way after the movie was over and I thought it was way better.

The horse storyline is definitely the weakest of the film.

But, despite this problem, I still find the film to be a solid sequel that people will have fun with.
Jumanji: The Next Level is an enjoyable film that makes for a fun time at the movies.

My Hero Academia Season Four Episode Twelve, Unforeseen Hope Review: A Dark Future.

For an episode titled “Unforeseen Hope”, My Hero Academia’s twelfth episode of the fourth season is almost anything but hopeful.
The heroes just seem to get kicked down every time they get up this episode, with Overhaul utilizing his quirk in the most unique and disturbing of ways.
He actually destroys his and Nemoto’s bodies and then fuses them together to create an even more powerful form.
This goes to show not only how powerful Overhaul is but also how cruel he is, especially in comparison to the League of Villains.
Despite not being good people, the League actually do care about one another.
Overhaul, on the other hand, appears to not be capable of empathy at all, throwing his allies away like pawns and using them for his own gain.
This is taken even further with his treatment of Eri, as a flashback shows he cruelly dissembled and reassembled her every time her body got too tired to handle the experimentation.
Honestly, Overhaul is giving All For One a run for his money in terms of evilness.
Still, you cannot deny his intelligence in using his quirk the way he did, which even allows him to defeat Nighteye’s foresight, mortally wounding him.
Nighteye, a character who can literally see into the future, being defeated by Overhaul shows how much of a threat he is.
Not only this, but Nighteye’s foresight also predicts a dark future, as the hero says he saw that Overhaul would kill him and Deku before escaping with Eri.
Along with this, we also got more of an insight into Nighteye’s reasoning for not using his quirk, as he believes that by using it on All Might he has condemned his friend to a horrible death.
However, despite all this misery, I do suppose the episode title is right in one way as Deku promises to change the future and save Eri.
It will be hard for him to do so, though, because he will have to contend both with Overhaul’s over powered strength and his emotional manipulation of Eri, as shown when he uses Nemoto’s quirk to guilt trip her into coming back to him.
Poor Eri.
I just want to wrap her up in Lemillion’s cape and never let her go (epic foreshadowing).
In any case, alongside the great fight with Overhaul, we also got more insight into Rock Lock and the League.
Rock Lock’s development shows us why he was so tough on Deku and Mirio because he has a kid of his own and was just looking out for them.
As for the League, it appears they have made a new plan to make Overhaul “cry like a baby”, as Toga put it; something I will be very interested to see.
The episode ends with the party literally being crashed as Ryuko, Ochako, Tsuyu, and Nejire smash through the ceiling using the Eight Bullets member Rikiya Katsukame.
Overall, “Unforeseen Hope ” is another great episode of My Hero Academia.
My only big criticism is that I feel some of the shots of Overhaul’s new form look a bit off animation wise because of how static he is, which really drew me out of the action and drama.
Other than this, though, “Unforeseen Hope” is a crazy episode that is sure to lead to an even crazier one.

His Dark Materials Episode Eight, Betrayal Review: Worst. Parents. Ever.

Before coming into the final episode of the first season of His Dark Materials, “Betrayal”, I read a YouTube comment that went something along the lines of “poor Roger.”
After reading this, it was pretty apparent that my suspicions from the cliffhanger of the previous episode, that Asriel wanted Roger for a very dark reason, would turn out to be true.
And, all I can think after watching the Jamie Childs directed finale, “Betrayal”, is that Lyra has the worst parents ever.
Seriously, I have no idea why I thought Asriel would turn out to be a good person when he is in love with Coulter; you know, the woman willing to sacrifice children to get what she wants.
It only makes sense that Asriel has the same ruthlessness to achieve his goal, which turns out to be the case when he murders Roger in order to open a bridge to the multiverse.
James McAvoy does a fantastic job as Asriel in this scene as he tries to justify his actions to Roger while he is about to murder him.

Roger says that Asriel looked at him like a hungry wolf and that was definitely the case.

Both he and Coulter are fascinating in their ruthlessness and hypocrisy, willing to kill many children to achieve their goals while remaining adamant that nothing must happen to Lyra.
It is this hypocrisy that leads Coulter to refuse to follow Asriel into the multiverse because she wants to find their daughter.
This makes it ironic that Lyra follows Asriel into the multiverse immediately afterwards to stop him, separating her again from Coulter.
Honestly, Asriel leaving Lyra at Jordan College was the only good thing he ever did for her.
As well as the fascinating aspects of Asriel and Coulter’s characters, another interesting feature is the explanation of why the Magisterium fears Dust, believing it to be the cause of human sin.
Asriel wants to escape from the grip of the Magisterium, which is why he sacrifices Roger so cruelly.
Before this, we did get more scenes of Roger and Lyra bonding to make his death all the more tragic because we can see how good of a friend he was.
The scene of Roger’s demise is expertly handled with the acting from both Dafne Keen and Llewin Loyd, and the sound design, giving it an extra emotional punch.

The tragedy of Roger’s death is sold by the great shots and editing as well.

As for Will, his role is almost as important with his entry into Lyra’s dimension being built up right up until the two enter the bridges at the end of the episode.
This was a nice case of editing for the end of “Betrayal” and opens up some interesting directions for the second season to go with both characters exploring the other’s universes.
The two are definitely linked.

into the multiverse.jpg — Both Lyra and Will entering the multiverse at the end of the episode sets up their journeys in season two.

Now, for the issues I had with the episode, which is mainly down to a few things that did not make much sense, like when the armoured bears showed up out of nowhere to help Lyra and Iorek.
I’m pretty sure they did not come with them in the previous episode so when did they get there?
Also, Roger definitely distrusts Asriel so it does not make sense for him to follow the man so willingly.
Then there is the lack of Lee and Serafina because it felt like they were set up to return and help Lyra this episode but they were nowhere in sight.
Overall, though, “Betrayal” is a fitting finale for the season that ends a lot of character arcs in a satisfying, yet tragic, way.
I am certainly looking forward to the second season.

Attack on Titan Chapter 125, After Glow Review: Uprisings Are Brewing.

After Chapter 124 of Attack on Titan, I was interested to see how Hajime Isayama would use Annie in the story but was slightly skeptical that he could make me care for her after she was gone for so long.
Well, he just proved me wrong again because Chapter 125, “After Glow” provided more insight into Annie’s past, putting her relationship with her father in an entirely new light.
As I expected, Annie encounters Hitch who, after some persuasion and threats, agrees to take Annie to the battlefield.
Along the way, Annie answers Hitch’s question about why she killed so many people to achieve her goal.
Annie reveals that, like Reiner, she is the offspring of an affair between an Eldian and a Marleyan, which resulted in her being cast aside.
The man we previously thought was Annie’s father adopted her in order to force her to become a warrior so he could become an honorary Marleyan.
Having never known love, Annie viewed all life as meaningless, including her own, until the day of her departure.
Realizing he was wrong and that he sees Annie as his daughter, Mr Leonhart breaks down and begs Annie to come home to him.
This being the only love Annie has experienced causes her to focus on returning to him to such an extent that she is willing to kill hundreds if not thousands to do it.
She says she would do all the terrible things she’s done again if it helps her get back to her father.
All of this information really helped me understand Annie a lot more than I had previously, and painted her in a flawed yet very relatable light.
However, as Hitch points out, if the Rumbling succeeds then Annie’s father will be killed.
Speaking of, the chapter then cuts to Mr Leonhart himself in Liberio where he and the other Eldians try to convince their Marleyan guards that the Rumbling has been activated.
However, because of their racism, the Marleyans believe this may be the start of an uprising so place them all under arrest.
Remembering Annie’s promise to come home, Mr Leonhart fights back using his martial skills and looks to be setting the uprising that the Marleyan guards feared happening into motion.
It will be interesting to see if such an uprising has any effect, especially considering Eren’s plan to destroy the world.
A part of me is now wondering if Eren broadcast his message to all Eldians to start these uprisings across the world.
Unfortunately, Paradis looks prime for uprisings as well, or at least a civil war.
At the beginning of “After Glow”, Eren releasing the wall Titans is revealed to have accidentally killed probably hundreds of people from falling rubble.
This has caused quite the divide in Stohess, with some commending Eren and some condemning him.
All of this infighting can lead to nothing good, with a part of me wondering if this will tie into a bittersweet ending for the manga.
Eren could succeed in destroying the world, ending hatred for Eldians, but a new cycle of violence begins between those who worship him and those who despise him.
Either way, it is pretty chilling to see Erwin’s heroic catchphrase of “dedicate your hearts” being turned into a cult-like chant.
And then there is Keith, who tells the recruits who are now on his side to wait for their chance to make a stand, preparing them for their own uprising when the chance comes.
Along with this, Keith’s scene also shows how great this chapter is at transitioning, with every scene being connected somewhat.
When Annie talks of her father the scene cuts to him, when Mr Leonhart attacks the Marleyan guard and a shot is fired the scene cuts to Keith hearing a gunshot, and when Keith stands up the scene cuts to Armin sitting down.
During this moment, we get what is definitely the most intense scene between Armin and Mikasa in the manga.
Armin is at his breaking point and Mikasa feels lost, asking what she should do and what they are going to do about Eren.
Frustrated at this, Armin tells Mikasa to think for herself, yells at her that they don’t have time to focus on Eren, and finally reflects that Erwin should have been revived instead of him.
Armin saying this pretty much foreshadows that he will eventually prove he was the right choice and I can’t wait to see how he will prove this.
As for Mikasa, her character development in this final arc is the best she has had so far.
I’ve always liked Mikasa but there have been a lot of missed opportunities with her character, especially in the Uprising Arc.
So, her developing by slowly becoming more independent and moving away from Eren is great.
At the end of the scene she even notices her scarf is gone, which was probably taken by Louise and will come up again later.
We then get probably the funniest part of the chapter when Gabi says her goodbyes to the Braus family, before she and Armin go to rescue Falco.
Kaya tells Gabi that her name is strange and Mia is better causing Gabi to comedically exclaim, before the two embrace as a goodbye.
Now, a lot of people appear to be criticizing Armin for trying to help Gabi save Falco but I think it makes perfect sense because it is the best way to get the warriors on their side and end the conflict on Paradis.
If Connie kills Falco then they can kiss their chance at peace goodbye.
Connie only cares about bringing his mum back, though, which is understandable.
Still we can see from the look on his face as he takes Falco to Ragako that he is conflicted but the memories of his mother strengthens his resolve.
Although, it is pretty weird that Falco is not tied up in this scene.
He was at the end of Chapter 124 and it would be safest for Connie to transport him like that.
Even if Falco does not know he is a Titan Shifter, he will quickly catch on when Connie tries to fed him to his mother and fight back.
Also, Falco does seem a little too trusting of Connie here, taking what he told him at face value immediately.
Did he learn nothing from being manipulated by Eren in Liberio?
On the upside, Falco has no memory of killing his brother when he transformed so him learning this should create some great and tragic character development for him.
Along with this, Falco seems to recognize Connie, even though Connie doesn’t know him.
Now, this could just be Falco recognizing Connie from when he and Gabi got on the airship, but I actually think this is pointing to him getting Ymir’s memories.
And, if my prediction that him and Connie will run into Historia is correct, then this could have a huge impact.
Either way, I highly doubt Connie will succeed in feeding Falco to his mum because Armin and Gabi are on their way to try and talk him out of it.
Just as they will have to stop Connie, it looks like Jean and Mikasa will have to stop Floch as well who reveals he knew Eren’s plan and places all of the volunteers, including Onyankopon and Yelena, under arrest.
I am surprised Floch didn’t just execute them all there because he must know they will cause trouble but, thankfully for whatever reason, he decided to hold off on that, only executing one of the volunteers who fought back.
And what an execution that was because it is one of the goriest deaths in the entire manga.
The bullet from Floch’s gun rearranged the man’s entire face, with his jaw becoming unhinged.
We can see that Floch feels no remorse for killing this nameless volunteer because he then happily tells Jean that they are free and he is now a hero.
Jean actually seems to momentarily be happy about this until he sees the look on Onyankopon’s face and hears Floch say he can go back to being “the arrogant bastard you were.”
Here’s the thing Floch, Jean is definitely not that person anymore and will most likely take a stand against you.
I see Floch as what Jean could have been so a fight between the two seems highly likely.
Let’s just hope Jean doesn’t get himself killed in that fight.
In any case, upon arriving on the scene, Mikasa questions Floch about the whereabouts of Levi and Hange, only for him to say Zeke killed them.
Isayama may as well have inserted the “why are you lying” meme because the end of the chapter proves Floch is a liar.
As Pieck and Magath look at the airships fleeing Paradis to warn the rest of the world of the Rumbling, Hange appears behind them with an injured Levi in tow, calling him “a completely harmless man who failed to die.”
It will be interesting to see what Levi’s role to play in the finale is with how bandaged up he is.
Some have speculated he will be turned into a Shifter but I have already established that that this is the last thing I want to happen.
It would be way more interesting for him to struggle with his injuries.
I do wonder what Hange’s plan in talking to Pieck is, though, and how she plans to convince them to help her out.
She certainly took a big risk by showing herself to them.
I smell a team up between the warriors and scouts coming.
It would be very exciting if this did happen because then we will see many characters interact for the first time.
Overall, “After Glow” is a solid chapter of Attack on Titan.
There is not a lot of action but superb character development that could eventually lead to a plan to take the fight to Eren.