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EP. REVIEW: Attack on Titan

If you're taking it at a surface level, sure it seems like unnecessary drama. But within the context of the series (and future events), it makes perfect sense and sets up SO much for Eren's character arc.

Meanwhile, Armin's dream is a lot more vast, has a lot more to deal with the FUTURE and is less of a curse and burden on him than Erwin fulfilling the questions of his father.

Like what for example? I don't see how Eren's character arc would have been any different without this particular drama.
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But that's just a bag of boring old shounen "the kids are the future~" clichés, there's nothing original about it at all...

Personally I feel that the execution and juxtaposition of Armin's dream of the future and endless possibilities to Erwin's chained-to-the-past ambitions of his father was done particularly well.

It sets up that Eren is willing to forgo the "logical" steps and procedures to "save humanity" in order to prioritize Armin

Personally I feel that the execution and juxtaposition of Armin's dream of the future and endless possibilities to Erwin's chained-to-the-past ambitions of his father was done particularly well.

And how was that surprising in any way or told us anything new about Eren? Of course the shounen hero would priorize his friends over "humanity"...and knowing Eren's character, did anybody seriously not expect this?

^LOL! They could have given it a try at least?

I'd agree if Erwin would have been around the same age as Armin, but it's pretty "regular shounen"-like to sacrifice the adult for the kid, even if it doesn't make sense. logically.

but you're discounting the point the series makes that choosing Armin isn't the choice that humanity would make at large.

Wow, one after-credit scene and we're already making sweeping pronouncements about fascism and antisemitism, and wringing our hands about how "problematic" this story is/could be. Trust me when I say, as a manga reader, it is 1. way more complex than you can probably even guess, and 2. not at all pro-fascism or militarism. If people think AoT is anything but strongly against fascism then they haven't been paying attention.

After all of these years, I have faith that Isayama's story is building to a message that's more humanistic than “Soldiers Good, Foreigners Bad”.

But this is where I toss in a big "however!" For all of its problematic indulgence in the spectacle of warfare, I've always argued that Attack on Titan is a complex work that examines the follies and horrors of war just as much as it lionizes soldiers who fight on the front lines. AoT has proven more than willing to examine the psychological and societal destruction that comes from blind nationalism and unquestioning devotion to a corrupt hierarchy in the past. After all of these years, I have faith that Isayama's story is building to a message that's more humanistic than “Soldiers Good, Foreigners Bad”. At least, I really hope that's the case. With fascism on the rise all over the world, I absolutely understand why some folks might not want anything to do with a series whose themes are so irrevocably concerned with glorious conquest. It's easy to see how Attack on Titan's allegory could be interpreted as an attempt to re-contextualize real-world atrocities in a way that provides too much space for fascistic ideology to flourish.