Holy shit what a ride, my head is swimming so I had to make a post. Spoilers within.
I watched the first season a long time ago and then never finished it. Now in 2026 I decided to go back, and ended up watching the whole thing in a few weeks. I feel overwhelmed and a bit sad, like I wont watch anything like this again for a long time, or maybe ever.
What an absolutely brutal show, every victory is so hard fought for and laced with tragedy. The amount of grief and anguish you witness the characters go through and then end up feeling yourself as a viewer is powerful stuff.
I see AOT as an anti war story, and a bleak one at that where despite all that happened and was sacrificed, the conflict reignites and rages on in that cruel world. The parallels the story draws with nazi germany and its persecution of the Jews in WW2 can be heavy handed in some respects, but I am glad that in times such as we live in today where the sins of the past are so easily forgotten, stories like AOT can act as a grim reminder of the folly of war.
I cant get over the way story escalates from season to season, the way the world gets bigger and bigger with every twist and reveal. Along with the time skips, and the characters growing up covered in scars, its truly something to behold. Its the sort of bold story telling you rarely get to see.
The way the show made me love some characters, then hate them, and then ultimately forgive them is crazy. There are so many superbly written characters, some of my highlights are Reiner, Margath, Erwin, and Floch. Eren is a great tragic character too, his arc from an immature zealous recruit to a jaded PTSD addled and cosmically broken soldier is compelling. I love his line at the end about just being an idiot who got a taste of power. It really rams home the anti war messaging.
I loved the ending, it makes me sad that so many people didn't like it. It reminds me of how many people didn't like the last of us 2 and how that ended. Its deliberately challenging tragedy, and if you expected it to be anything else after what came before it I don't know what to tell you. I will concede that the Ymir plot was a weak point, but I do admire that the story attempted to transcended space and time.
There are truly horrifying moments of body horror too, I was stunned multiple times. When Rod Reiss' titan finally lifts its head after dragging it miles through the ground, holy shit! And Armin's burned corpse, fuck me.
The soundtrack also absolutely slaps, I was literally pumping my fist when the music swelled during the final battles of season 4.
I'm sad its over for me now, but glad to have a new entry in my top 3 anime of all time along side Berserk and Cyberpunk Edgerunners. Allow me to indulge myself here and shit on Frieren, I fell for the hype with that show and ended up hating it. It started so promisingly, I thought I was in for another all timer but it lost me after 6 episodes and the mage exam ending was absolute shite.
One last thing, I really liked that the rumbling titans had tiny little feet otherwise they would have poked out of the bottom of the walls.
Thanks for reading, I would love some recommendations for some AOT analysis videos to watch and decompress to. And maybe an anime to watch next. Dedicate your hearts!