In a recent debate on the Reddit platform, fans of
the “ Shingeki
no Kyojin ( Attack on Titan )” franchise have
discussed the reasons why the general opinion of the series is
experiencing a decline after the end of the anime's third season .
This change in perception has not only been observed in the animated
adaptation, which went from being produced by WIT STUDIO to MAPPA, but also in
the reception of the original manga.
The debate originated from a comment that asked:
- « What
makes Shingeki no Kyojin after the time skip unpleasant for some people? I
have recommended AoT to many people. Although most people liked it until
the end, a percentage showed some distaste for the series after season
3. When asked why they didn't like it after season 3, most of the
answers were that they didn't. they liked the political twist or that the
mysteries were solved. I'm sure this sub has some people who can
relate to that. What made you guys dislike Shingeki no Kyojin after season
3 ended? ».
Among the responses, several users pointed out the
drastic change in tone of the story as one of the main factors that
affected their enjoyment. According to comments, the series left behind the
focus on action and mystery to focus more on political plots and
ideological conflicts , which was not to the liking of all followers.
The debate on Reddit reflects a division in the “Shingeki no Kyojin” fan
community, with conflicting opinions about the development of the series in
both its animated adaptation and the original manga.
- « After
the time jump, Shingeki no Kyojin becomes a radically different
anime/manga. Now, in my opinion (excluding the last 10 chapters or so), it
gets even better once the time skip happens, but I can easily understand
how someone who really enjoyed certain aspects of the first half could end
up hating the second. Vinland Saga deals with a fairly similar problem,
but a little more extreme. Although both parts are excellent (with the
second half being arguably better), they feel so incredibly different in
content and tone, that a die-hard fan of season 1 could easily end up
hating season 2, because it's not what they thought they were reading. ».
- « I
don't know, the first 3 seasons were focused on Eren's point of view and
then in the last season, Eren had a radical change in the time skip, which
they didn't show until the end. He felt out of place. I also HATED how
they broke up the last parts. Having over a year between hour-long
episodes was miserable and would have been much nicer if they had released
it as a single movie or multiple episodes at once. "Basically, they
just built the hype for the finale and then lost it after waiting so long
for the next part ."
- « I
come from reading the manga. Once the mysteries of the world were
revealed, I found myself becoming less and less interested in the story.
At some point, even for a monthly release manga, I had to struggle to
finish a chapter, so I eventually stopped reading .
- « We
got a lot less of Eren's perspective. Personally, I liked season 4, but I
didn't enjoy it at all after the rumble started. Mainly because I didn't
like the idea of them teaming up to stop Eren and it felt like there was
no mystery or tension anymore .
- " The
story was (somewhat) well-paced before the timeskip, but after the
timeskip it felt like it was rushing towards the end ."
- « As
a reader of the manga, the time jump came out of nowhere in one of the
most anticipated moments in history. "It was disconcerting, imagine
finally getting what you were waiting for only for the next chapter to be
a completely different story with different characters, and there's not
even a mention of what happened ."
- « It's
a huge change of tone, to begin with. It also doesn't help that it's
counted out of order. Previous seasons might count one or two episodes out
of order, but the entirety of the first season of “season 4” is pretty out
of order with how it starts with the Marleyans already on Paradis and
doesn't show how they got there until halfway through. Eren acts
completely out of character up to that point with how he completely gives
himself over to eugenics, and it takes a little too long to reveal that it
was all a hoax. There's also this weak attempt at trying to make us
sympathize with Zeke, even though he's been, and continues to be, a piece
of shit throughout the series. Honestly, the first three seasons felt
really well put together and the last three “part” seasons felt really
thrown together. However, I must give them credit, nothing is more epic
than the scene of Eren emotionally blackmailing his father through a
flashback that should not be possible .
- « I
didn't like season 4 because a lot of it depended on Eren's reason and
motivation to change as a character and carry out his plan. And I think
that motivation revealed at the end was bullshit .
- " The
characters were much better before the time jump ."
- « Season
4 part 1 was great, the story peaked at that point, after that it started
to get weird and confusing with the world of roads and time travel, I
basically didn't like anything related to Ymir and the roads, it was too
absurd even for a show with a premise as absurd as Shingeki no Kyojin .
- « Abrupt
time jump, different protagonist, CGI Titans, bad release schedule
(anime), script armor (Levi), confusing ending (manga). "Not that it
didn't have its moments, but as someone who wasn't very emotionally
invested in Shingeki no Kyojin , I liked season 3 more ."
- « A
lot of people didn't like the change to super political things. I
absolutely hated the ending. It ruined the whole story for me .
Source: Reddit
