Attack on Titan: Season three, episode three, Old Story – Spoiler free and spoiler review: Backstories galore.

Spoiler Free Review:

The third episode of Attack on Titan‘s third season aired, giving us the backstory of both Historia and Erwin.
Compared to the previous two episodes of the season, this episode, Old Story, had a much slower pace because it was more character driven that action and story driven.
This is not a bad thing as the anime has been able to give us some truly fantastic character driven episodes, like season two, episode ten, Children, which is one of my favourite episodes of the series.
In comparison with these other character driven episodes, Old Story is a pretty good one that adds a lot of depth to the characters of Erwin and Historia.
Also, while I do not think this episode is as good as the first two of the season, especially episode two, I still found it be very enjoyable.
Along with delivering more background to some characters, this episode also had some revelations and made, what I can only guess to be, more hints for future reveals.
Old Story also reveals, more than any episode so far, what exactly our central characters are facing in this arc as it goes in deep with their foes’ levels of depravity.
My favourite character of the episode would have to be Erwin because, not only did he have a lot of good moments, but the reveal of his backstory also explained a lot about his character.
It also set up, what I think is going to be, a very good character arc for him this season.
Overall, Old Story was a good, if slow, episode.
It may not have had much excitement or even that great of a cliffhanger but it added complexity to more of the characters and set up future reveals.

Spoiler Review:

It seems like every character in Attack on Titan has some kind of traumatic past.
Eren, Mikasa, Ymir, and now Erwin and Historia.
The reveal of both of these characters’ backstories was really well done and both gave a great sense of their characters.
Historia’s was especially tragic because it showed how cruel her mother was to her as she even went as far to want her dead but, thankfully, did not have the “courage” to do so.
It could just be that Historia’s mother was a terrible person, but it seemed to me that, for some reason, she actually feared her daughter so, if that is the case, it will be interesting to see why later.
Even if she did fear Historia though, I still see this as no excuse of her treatment of her.
Historia is freaking adorable in these flashbacks and anyone that would shove a kid, let alone their own, for trying to give them a hug is cruel.
Historia’s past got weirder as it went on as well.
The day after Wall Maria fell, Rod Reiss came to get her, only for Kenny and the Military Police to arrive and murder Historia’s mother right in front of her.
What makes this scene especially strange is that it raises numerous questions.
Why did they want to kill Historia and her mother, why did Historia’s mother refer to Rod as “master”, why did Rod suddenly decide to allow Historia to be spared so long as she lived under a fake name?
I am sure all of these questions will be explained and I am eager to hear those explanations.
As for Erwin’s backstory, this gave me an even bigger sense of who he is because it is revealed he blames himself for his father’s death.
His father was a teacher who told Erwin that he thought the government was lying about history.
Erwin told his friends and the Military Police found out and so it ended with Erwin’s father being murdered.
This inspired Erwin to prove his father’s theory correct and it looks like that will be his main goal in the Uprising Arc.
He also had a really great scene, where he vowed to avenge Dimo Reeves, whose murder he has been framed for.
One thing that does have me concerned though is that Erwin tells Hange she will be in charge of the Survey Corps if he dies.
Hopefully this is not foreshadowing his death any time soon but this is Attack on Titan so you never know.
Then there is the revelation that in order to become a Titan Shifter you need to eat one.
I already knew this because it had basically been confirmed with the episode Children and it just needed to be stated by the characters.
However, all this being said, I did find a bit of a plot hole in this episode and this is what they did with the captive Djel Sannes and his buddy Ralph.
They locked them up in a cell but left no one to guard them.
If the two of them just happened to break out then Rod would know everything Sannes told Hange.
The ending cliffhanger also was not that interesting but the only reason I have a problem with that is probably because of how good the previous two were.
Old Story left me with a lot of questions, especially surrounding Historia, that I hope will be answered in the next few episodes.

Predictions:

In the preview for next episode it looks like the Military Police Officer that is sneaking up on the group is actually Marlow, Annie’s friend from when she was with the MP. You can see him being threatened by Jean, and Levi talking to him. I think he could be pretty important going forward since he joined the Military Police to try and fix it. If this is him, hopefully his story here will make me like him more because I do not really care for him at this stage.
Dimo Reeves’ son Flegel saw Kenny murder his father so could be the key to proving Erwin innocent. He also must have heard Kenny refer to Levi as an “Ackerman” so he will be probably be the one to drop the bombshell that Levi and Mikasa are related. We can see him being captured by the Military Police in the preview but it also looks like he will be saved by Hange and Moblit.
With the confirmation that you now need to eat a Titan Shifter to become one it looks like my grim theory about how Eren became a Titan is correct. Once again, I will not say it because I do not want to potentially spoil you, but I do think it will be revealed soon. Unless of course I am completely wrong about this.
Kenny is certainly living up to his serial killer nickname of “The Ripper”. Forget Levi, I think this guy has the highest kill count out of any character. He has probably murdered hundreds of people and I do not expect him to stop here. I dread to see what he will do next.

Attack on Titan: Season three, episode two, Pain – Spoiler free and spoiler review: The plot thickens.

Spoiler Free Review:

Wow, what an amazing episode this was.
After a really good season three premiere, I was expecting the second episode, Pain, to be an exciting episode but this just blew all my expectations out of the water.
I found Pain to not just be a fantastic Attack on Titan episode but one of my favourite episodes of the series.
It is definitely in the top 10 best episodes for me.
The episode kicks off with one of the greatest action scenes of the entire series, which is amplified by the incredible animation that is the best the series has ever given us as well.
The tension of this scene is highlighted by the conflict between Levi and Kenny, who are the standouts of this episode by a wide margin.
Kenny already seems like a character I am going to love to hate.
Pain does not just consist of action though, but emotional moments as well.
One thing I especially loved is that it makes it clear that not all of Kenny’s squad are evil and goes as far as to humanize some of them.
This all leads to some great character development from Armin, my favourite character.
Then there are the twists in the story and hints at future events, which are expertly handled.
I have said before that Attack on Titan has my favourite soundtrack of all time and this episode really shows why.
The score that is played just as the episode ends is nothing short of phenomenal and makes the cliffhanger of the episode all the more impactful.
We also finally got to see the outro theme this episode and, while I still have mixed feelings about the intro, I think this outro nailed it.
It is an amazing song and has beautiful visuals to go along with it.
Finally, it is interesting to note that every shot we got in the trailer for this season was only for the first two episodes so everything we see after this will be completely new, which is really exciting.
Overall, Pain was a fantastic episode that had excellent animation, action, music and character development.

Spoiler Review

The previous episode, Smoke Signal, ended with the fantastic introduction of Kenny and this episode picked up right from there with Levi fighting Kenny and his squad, who are armed with their anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear (man that was a mouthful).
As I said in my spoiler free review, the animation during this fight is incredible and it only gets better when Levi is cornered in a bar.
This scene really highlights how interesting both Levi and Kenny are as Kenny seems to really get a kick out of the violence he is causing and Levi shows how smart he is by shooting at Kenny, his aim based off Kenny’s reflection in a bottle of wine.
After Levi escaped came my favourite part of the episode when Armin had to shoot a member of Kenny’s squad to save Jean’s life.
Watching Armin’s guilt at having to do this and highlighting the woman he killed’s humanity by having her hesitate to shoot Jean, before she was killed, was expertly done.
This not only was great character development for Armin but also showed that not everything is black and white.
Then there are the big twists of the episode, the first coming when Hange tells Erwin that if they do not rescue Eren then he will be eaten.
I am pretty sure I know what this means since I rewatched season two episode ten, Children, but I will not say what because I do not want to spoil you.
However, I will say that, if I am right, it will lead to the biggest and most heart breaking twist of the series thus far.
Then there was the twist that Levi and Mikasa have the same last name, Ackerman.
This means the two have to be related so it will be interesting to see how this is explained, most likely through Kenny.
As for the final twist, the Military Police officer who murdered Pastor Nick, Djel Sannes, admitted that Historia’s father, Rod Reiss is the real king and King Fritz is just a figurehead.
This means that Historia is the heir to the throne but it also opens up some interesting questions, like why does the crown need a figurehead and who actually is Fritz?
The next episode does look very intriguing as well based on the preview because there it will go into the pasts of both Erwin and Historia.
This will be interesting because it looks like both Erwin’s father and Historia’s mother were murdered by Sannes in the past, based on what he said this episode, so I wonder if that will tie into it.
Still, for the second episode of the season, Pain was a fantastic episode and one of the best of Attack on Titan.

Attack on Titan – Season Three, Episode One, Smoke Signal: Non-Spoiler and Spoiler Review.

Non-Spoiler Review:

Attack on Titan is back with its season three premiere Smoke Signal.
I have been anticipating the third season for so long and am very thankful that we did not have to wait four years to get it, like with the second season.
Smoke Signal is a great first episode that really sets the tone for this part of the season, known as the Uprising Arc.
There were so many great and interesting moments in this episode, along with a steadily growing body count.
I do not know what is going to happen but it is very clear to me that this episode is setting up multiple reveals for the season.
The old characters are back and just as good as they were before.
My favourite character of the episode would have to be Historia, who is quickly becoming one of my overall favourites.
We even got to meet some new characters this episode and they really look like great ones.
The episode ends on a fantastic cliffhanger and the build up to this moment was amazing.
There is also an update in animation for the season and, I have to say, it looks fantastic and should definitely top the second season’s.
As for the opening theme for this arc, however, I have mixed feelings about it.
The opening, named Red Swan, is good but it does not feel like Attack on Titan and I doubt I will remember it as much as I did the first three openings.
Overall though, Smoke Signal was a great start to the third season and I cannot wait for the twist and turns the story will take in future episodes.

Spoiler Review:

There is so much to talk about from Smoke Signal but I want to start with my favourite moment of the episode, with Kenny’s introduction.
The build up to this scene was masterful, with Levi and side character Nifa talking about the legends surrounding him.
That is how you know Kenny is a big deal.
He is so notorious that he is considered an urban legend by many.
Kenny viciously proves his savagery as well, by killing Nifa with no hesitation and even tries to kill Levi.
There were other great moments throughout the episode from Hange subtly threatening the military police soldiers who killed Pastor Nick, to Eren’s failed Titan experiment.
Speaking of which, it was really disturbing to see Eren’s mutilated face when he emerged from the Titan and I wonder what went wrong with that.
As I said in my non-spoiler review, Historia was my favourite character of the episode because we got insight into her real personality.
She just looks dead inside and it is clear that she has been through a lot of trauma.
As for new characters, we not only got Kenny but a brief look at Historia’s father and King Fritz.
This raises more questions, however, as I wonder why Historia is so important, considering she is just the daughter of a lord and does not seem to be related to the king, at least from what I can tell.
Hopefully, we will get more answers in the coming episodes.
After watching Smoke Signal there is really only one thing left to say… KENNY!!!

Attack on Titan Season Three Trailer: Thoughts

The Attack on Titan season three trailer is finally here!
Attack on Titan has quickly become my favourite anime and I have eagerly been anticipating any news about the third season so I was thrilled to learn about this trailer.
Before I get into specific details about what I loved about this trailer though, I have to say, the animation for this season looks absolutely stunning.
I was in awe from just watching the trailer.
Now for the interesting things, which for starters was our first look at a new character, named Kenny, who has a connection with Levi.
I have been spoiled on who Kenny is to Levi but I am not going to ruin it for you.
Season three looks to cover the Uprising Arc from the manga, which I have heard is very different from the rest of the series because it is more political and deals with human threats rather than Titans.
From the look of the trailer, this appears to be true, with numerous instances of human battles, including an epic shot where Levi slices right through two people with a look of absolute rage on his face.
If this trailer has had made anything apparent it is that Levi is going to be very important this season, which is great because I really want to see why people love him to the extent that they do.
It also looks like Historia will be important this season as well because, for some reason, it appears Kenny’s group wants both her and Eren handed over to them.
Historia really grew on me last season so I am glad to see her get more development and it looks like she will also be hanging out with Eren a bit.
Speaking of Eren, did anyone else think his Titan form looked a little strange in the trailer?
Eren’s titan form looks a lot skinnier here, especially in the arms, to the point that I wondered if it was a different Titan for a few moments.
Who knows, maybe it is just a redesign?
Also if you look at one particular shot of Eren’s Titan form, it looks like someone is hanging onto his back while Eren tries to shake him off, which is interesting.
We got a few shots of Hange and Pastor Nick, Mikasa beating up some guys, and another new character who is sitting on a throne.
If I were to take a guess I would say this is the king, since it was established in the first season that there was some sort of monarch.
The one who really takes the spotlight in this trailer though, is Levi, with the trailer ending when he screams Kenny’s name in fury.
Overall, this trailer was great and has me very excited for season three.
Hopefully I will not get spoiled any more than I already have about events that are to come.
Unfortunately though, many surprises in season three, including character deaths, may not thrill me as much because I have already been spoiled about it.
Still, this does not change the fact that I am excited and cannot wait to see what season three holds for the future of Attack on Titan.