Eren Yaeger, the Attack Titan, is the protagonist-turned-antagonist-turned-protagonist and the final bossman in the final episodes of the “Attack on Titan.” | from X @AttackonTitanEn
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The “Attack on Titan” (AoT), the anime about, well, titans or giants has finally, finally, finally ended.
However, this great anime series should just have ended a few episodes ago.
For me, it seemed like the creators of the show wanted to milk its popularity so they have to drag it further and further that they even have to pick some concepts, perhaps subconsciously, from other shows for the grand finale which ended with the demise of Eren Yeager, a protagonist-turned-villain or antagonist-turned-protagonist, for this man vs titans, titans vs titans anime saga.
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Giants vs man
The concept of giants vs man, however, is not a new thing.
You can always turn to the mecha genre to see giant robots fighting each other albeit also having their special weapons, of course, to end their enemies.
But the closest thing, I can think of, to man vs giants thing is the anime series “Macross,” a mecha genre anime in the early 80s.
I mean not just one giant bossman to beat like in the final episodes of the first season of the anime “Is It Right to Pick Up Girls in the Dungeon?”, but a whole race of giants similar to the “Attack on Titan.”
However, don’t get me wrong. AoT is one great anime series.
It is, for me, one of the best animes created — it has a unique, deeper and dark storyline with twists and turns that can draw the interests of those following the anime.
It has a bit of everything, a tragic love story, a unique concept about an “Eldian race” who are the titans, and action, lots of action.
And for those, who have not seen the final episodes of AoT yet, there are spoilers ahead.
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‘Attack on Titan’. The Rumbling has began as the wall titans have been freed from the walls and are moving to areas outside Paradis Island to exterminate any living being there. | from X @AttackOnTitanEn
The power tree concept
There’s also always a tree somewhere that is connected to the the power to destroy or create a “new world.”
In “Attack on Titan,” they have that tree where Ymir Fritz found the worm that she bonded to become the Founding Titan.
In the final episode, it seemed that the tree near where one of the protagonists, Mikasa Ackermann, buried Eren, looks like the ‘tree’ where the Founding Titan got her power, which included the power to control all titans.
With Eren falling to the dark side and acquiring the power of the Founding Titan, Mikasa — Eren’s secret beloved — has no choice but to kill Eren — her also secret beloved — by cutting off Eren’s head and stop the rumbling or the rampage of titans, whose purpose was to end all the people outside of Paradis Island to create a place safe in the island for the titans to live.
With this, we can also draw comparisons to one of the best animes created — “Naruto,” in the Fourth Great Ninja War arc, where they faced, one of the most powerful villains of the anime, Madara Uchiha, who was able to gain the power of the Ten Tailed Beast and the God Tree, which bears the chakra fruit that gives the one who eats it godlike powers.
Naruto and his village, the Hidden Leaf, joined forces with other ninja villages to beat Madara and his group. One of the highlights of the Fourth Great Ninja War arc is the reunion of Team 7, made up of Uzumaki Naruto, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. Team 7, eventually, in a hard fought battle, beat Kaguya Otsutsuki, the one who orchestrated the war from the shadows to rebuild a world where she intended to rule.
Team 7 members — Uzumaki Naruto, Sakura Haruno and Sasake Uchiha — summons the powerful animals that they signed a contract with as they prepare to go into battle against Madara Uchiha and the 10 tailed beast. | From X @Naruto_anime_en
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Martial arts and AoT
But the uniqueness of the “Attack on Titan,” also stands out — that the writers even integrated judo and Brazilian jiujitsu (BJJ) moves in the fight scenes between the Attack Titan, Eren Yeager and the Armored Titan, Reiner Braun.
This was in episode 7 in Season 2 of the anime.
Brazilian jiujitsu experts and even an MMA fighter reacted in YouTube to the fight scene, analyzing the moves — as the two — Yeager and Braun — went to the ground to fight.
The experts pointed out the martial arts moves in the anime, and how it was done and should be done — identifying the move employed by Eren such as the “Close Guard,” and ending with Eren putting Reiner in a “Kimura Lock,” a submission hold in BJJ.
It was I believe unprecedented to have martial arts moves in an anime being identified, analyzed and, well, even lauded by martial arts experts in reaction videos.
Of course, integrating great martial arts moves in an anime is not new. There is the great boxing anime, “Hajime no Ippo,” where the main character, Ippo Makunouchi, accidentally learns and employs the Dempsey Roll to win boxing matches. The Dempsey Roll in boxing was a move popularized by boxer Jack Dempsey and, this move was often, used in the ring by former boxing champion Mike Tyson when he was in his prime and dominated boxing’s heavyweight division.
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Eren Yeager, the Attack Titan, turning into a villain and the final bossman in the last episodes of Attack on Titan. | Screengrab trailer of “Attack on Titan The Final Season”
Netizens’ comments
All in all, however, “Attack on Titans,” is one of the great animes made.
Here are some comments of netizens on a post by Time Anime of a video of “The Battle of Heaven and Earth. Levi + Mikasa vs Eren in the Final Season of AoT,” which was posted last November 5, 2023 on YouTube.
@realanimeir3172 says “It was a masterpiece 
that was ahead of its time. I didn’t read the manga and watched the anime.. Damn, how some people say the ending is bad. The ending was really good and of course painful. I’m not saying it’s a masterpiece. But it was really good.”
“I think Isayama’s main point was to show that no matter how hard you try to achieve peace, there are still some people with endless greed. that destroy peace. Humans can never be in peace with each other forever. Eren thought that by destroying the whole world he could live in peace and tranquility, but it only worked for a while. And in the end credits, they showed that Paradise was completely destroyed. And this show goes on forever. 
,” this netizen said.
Goodbye, AoT
“That Levi+Mikasa scene to go kill Eren is the best animated sequence in the whole show for me. Breathtaking,” according to @joOrd73
“Eren could’ve easily killed his friends if he wanted to. But he let them win,” says @wyndelleethespammer4497.
This netizen also said that “The Hallucigenia disappearing after Eren died was a bad plot hole.”
For @theodraws5599, “This ending is so terribly bad considering how good the rest of atot was.”
“Goodbye Aot 
❤️,” says @Metalsoldier117.
Go for the ride again?
Well, you may like or not like the ending of “Attack on Titans,” but one thing is for sure, it sure was a great ride, for a decade of AoT.
Well, one thing to do now is to go back and rewatch the whole thing and experience the AoT ride all over again.
