Attack On Titan 4 Episode 28 Review: A Long Look At The Past And An Ending Which, In Reality Is Just A New Beginning

Stars: Josh Grelle, Yûki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa

Director: Hidekazu Hara

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

The time has come that we have all been waiting for. The second part of Attack on Titan Final Season has officially ended. The last episode took a very long time: after an interval of two weeks, “The dawn of humanity” caught the audience by surprise, delaying the usual appointment by an hour and thus generating a good dose of discontent, almost comparable to the one born on the occasion of the first episode last January.

Meanwhile, news had already made its way that has upset all expectations: the finale of Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 will arrive in 2023, dismantling the rumors concerning a hypothetical final film. It seems that “wait” was the word of the day. We didn’t have much news of episode 87; the previews of the previous one, in fact, had not shown revealing scenes, if not a flashback of the meeting of Eren and Zeke in Marley. Nevertheless, and already aware of the absence of a real ending, we asked ourselves this question: after so many weeks, will we finally see Eren’s face again? The answer was not long in coming.

Attack On Titan 4 Episode 28 Review: The Story

The episode is perfectly divided into two parts. It opens with Mikasa who, traveling to Odiha with his companions, finds himself reflecting on the past and above all on Eren. His voiceover introduces a first flashback showing the first arrival of the Research Corps at Marley. After a short series of almost comic sequences, full of lightness, unpublished scenes allow us to perfectly frame those events that, at the beginning of the fourth season, we had taken for granted. An important conversation between Eren and Mikasa represents a real point of no return. He already shows the first signs of a great and mysterious change, thus deciding to move away from the group. It is precisely here that the second part begins, of which the young Jaeger is the fulcrum, and in part the narrator.

Finally his plan appears clearer than ever, bringing to light dialogues and actions that we already know in part, but whose true essence we had never tasted. The last few minutes bring us back to the present, with an unforgettable final sequence, with a strong visual and emotional impact. From this “last” episode we never expected a true progression of the narrative. In fact, it immediately shows itself as a great transition chapter, acting as a bridge towards what will be the real final development of Attack on Titan. The expedient of the long flashbacks has often enriched and completed the great puzzle that represents the entire work of Hajime Isayama, managing to give an answer to the endless questions that fans have always asked themselves in the course of this intriguing and compelling story. Once again, therefore, a blast from the pastallows us to reveal many background that, until now, we could only imagine, thus eliminating the illusion of not having witnessed a real step forward.

Attack On Titan 4 Episode 28 Review And Analysis

After a long time, attention is once again focused on the character of Eren, and we can finally delve into the maze of his thoughts and intentions. Let ‘s face it: young Jaeger fooled us all. Episode 79, a fundamental turning point, had literally turned everything upside down. Eren’s plan was now clear, precise, yet something was missing. His old companions, following the unleashing of the Roar, have spent most of their time asking themselves a thousand questions: what drives him to act like this? Does he really want to destroy humanity or does he have something else in mind? He can still be trusted. How far will you have to go to stop it? These are questions to which none of them, so far, has been able to give an answer. It is precisely here that episode 87 manages, at least in part, to give us confirmation.
With unprecedented scenes with a strong emotional charge , we are shown an Eren who, by now, does not have much to hide. In his words but above all in his looks we can see all the hatred he feels for humanity that has taken everything away from him: family, companions, freedom. An enemy that has threatened and oppressed the island of Paradis for centuries, causing destruction and death. “The only way to break the chain of revenge created by hatred is to wipe out from this world the history founded on the grudge and the civilization to which he is attached”.

But isn’t a colossal march that destroys the world beyond the island itself an act of revenge and hatred? If indeed his goal is to allow his companions to live happily and far from the enemy threat, it is unequivocally an unhealthy vision of doing good. Not even the words and pleas of his “accomplices” are ultimately enough to distract him from his disastrous and lethal plan aimed at his controversial purpose. Now we just have to wait to find out what will really happen. In this episode the animation returns to show its strengths in expressing strong emotions. The attention is immediately focused on the faces of the characters, full of expressiveness as they have never been so far.

One scene in particular sees Eren mutilating himself in the trenches before posing as a war veteran. It is certainly not a surprise, but the focus on every single detail and on every expression of him makes this moment central and essential. It is a mirror of pain and suffering that comes out through a face distorted, gruesome and full of that same hatred that has brought him there and that will push him far beyond all imagination. The numerous flashbacks mean that the settings are very diversified, and all those color palettes that we have seen so far now alternate and interpenetrate, giving the episode a new and unique aesthetic. The final sequence, set in the present, departs from the rest of the episode, giving free rein to the grandeur of a ‘which, this year, has truly reached an unprecedented peak. Among countless plays of light and sensational movements, “The dawn of humanity” ends, giving yet another proof of a Part 2 able to surprise us not only from a narrative point of view.

Seeing how epic the previous episode was, this chapter of Attack on Titans is somewhat watered down, especially considering that it is the one that closes this second batch of episodes. Perhaps it would have been rounder to have finished the second part in the previous episode and leave this as the beginning of the final part, starting with a more transitional plot that prepares us for everything that is to come.

Despite the fact that it seems to know little, the episode brings many interesting things to its main plot, not only in Eren’s part, but also in Mikasa’s, as we discover certain events that perhaps could have changed completely the current situation if they had happened otherwise. Or at least that’s how Mikasa torments herself with it in his reflections. The last minutes of the episode should also be highlighted, which make it very clear to us that the final battle is about to begin and that things can only get better from this point on. The bad thing is that we will have to wait until next year to find out…

Attack On Titan 4 Episode 28 Review: The Last Words

Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2 ends with episode 87. An episode that, in fact, does not proceed too far with the narrative, but which represents a fundamental point of reference for resuming some important outstanding issues. Hajime Isayama’s great puzzle is slowly taking shape, but there are many questions that still remain unsolved. The final scene somehow manages to satisfy what will be a very long wait. With a now grandiose aesthetic and animation by Studio MAPPA, “The dawn of humanity” momentarily puts a stop to this second part of episodes that, until the end, have been able to capture the.