Think about a television show you would consider a masterpiece: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Wire. I would argue with that the fourth and final season of Attack on Titan is among those shows.

The Attack on Titan anime is based off the Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. Attack on Titan has been serialized in Kodansha’s monthly Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine since September 2009.

For the first three seasons of the anime, it was produced by Wit Studio. After a studio change, the fourth season is being produced by MAPPA. MAPPA has recently produced anime such as Jujutsu Kaisen and The God of High School. 

The show follows the character of Eren Yeager, and the evolution of his character as he grows older throughout the show.  The fourth season, however, starts off in Liberio. Liberio is a Marleyan city that contains an internment zone for Eldians. The Eldians, for the most part, are the primary focus of this season.

There are two groups of Eldians in the world of Attack on Titan. In the first three seasons of the show, we mainly follow the Eldians who are based on the island of Paradis. In the fourth season, we see the Eldians who live In Marley, specifically in Liberio.

Yeager, the protagonist,  is an Eldian from Paradis, and he sets out to take revenge on both the Marleyans and the Eldians living in Liberio. This is due to him having been attacked, along with the other Eldians on Paradis, by Eldians from Liberio, under orders from Marley. The Eldians from Liberio are titan-shifters, and are able to transform into titans.

Because of the titan-shifters attacking Paradis and destroying the wall that protected them from the outside, Yeager’s life was shaken up. He had witnessed his mother get eaten by Titans as a child. Titans, massive humanoid creatures who eat humans, are revealed to be transformed Eldians from Marley. The titans would usually be contained outside of the walls of where the Eldians of Paradis lived, but after the attack by the titan-shifters, this all changed.

That’s a base idea of what is going on. This season is about Yeager and his decline from an idealistic, bombastic hero, into a cold, dark, vengeful war criminal. Yeager in this season is ruthless and not afraid to do what is necessary to protect his people, and as it turns out, the entire world declares war on Paradis.

Yeager is essentially an anti-hero. His storyline leads you to question–should I be rooting for this guy? Depending on how you answer that, may impact the emotions you feel during the show.

Halfway through the final season, Attack on Titan is a dark and gritty show. It seems as if any chance at a happy ending is dead, and yet that is exactly what I desire sometimes in a show. This show is quite sizable in its length, but it is certainly worth watching and reading.

Overall, I would give this season a solid 10/10. I enjoyed the other seasons, and this one is no exception. The character design is great, and the animation is handled well for the limited amount of time the studio has had with this project. The soundtrack enhances the story, leading to an enjoyable experience. I would recommend watching this season, along with the entire show to anyone who appreciates great writing and great storytelling.

Attack on Titan is available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.