“Attack on Titan” is finally coming to an end after airing for nearly ten years. The first part of a two part finale aired on March 3, 2023 in a one hour block and the next part will air later in the fall. The release of the new part once again sets a standard of animation and storytelling unseen in most other shows. Despite being one hour, this episode felt like it was only 15 minutes long.

The animation of  “Attack on Titan’s” action sequences is incredibly impressive and unique. Oftentimes instead of cutting from one shot to the next, the animators will mimic the way a camera would track the characters as if it were in live action, creating an intense action that the viewer can’t bring themselves to look away from. This technique was used in Levi’s (Hiroshi Kamiya) fight against Kenny (Kazuhiro Yamaji) in season three of “Attack on Titan” and then animators have continued to use it flawlessly throughout season four and this episode. 

A complaint one could have about this episode and season four as a whole of “Attack on Titan” is its use of CGI for certain background elements and the titans. However, while many studios don’t use CGI properly–making scenes stick out like a sore thumb when compared to the beautiful hand drawn animation–MAPPA, the show’s animation studio, is able to effectively interweave it into the rest of the drawing, so the viewer doesn’t bat an eye and rather continues to immerse themself in the show. 

Where “Attack on Titan” truly stands apart from any other anime is its writing and storytelling. Every single character is written to have their own arc with specific motives and reasons for what they’re doing. This can even be seen in more minor characters such as Floch (Kenshô Ono) who has a very clear arc that his character follows, still making his story intriguing, even with the limited screen time. 

However, the standout character is obviously the series’ protagonist and antagonist Eren Yeager (Yûki Kaji). Eren’s development from this standard hero protagonist into a cold blooded villain is absolutely magical to watch. It’s always a risky move to turn a show’s protagonist into the villain but “Attack on Titan” executes it so flawlessly; despite Eren’s outrageous crimes, a level of remorse and understanding is still held for him. The viewer isn’t necessarily rooting for Eren, but they also don’t want him to fail.

“Attack on Titan” will go down as one of the greatest anime and shows of all time. This continues to be demonstrated in part one of its finale. Everything from the action to the story to the animation is done at such a high level that one can’t help but become engrossed in this work of art.