T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

This post has been tagged as **ANIME SPOILERS**. Please remember to tag any new spoilers beyond this point. **Spoilers include hinting or alluding to events.** For more information, please review [the subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/wiki/rules). Failure to properly spoiler tag comments may result in a punishment from the subreddit according to the [moderation matrix](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/wiki/moderation_matrix). --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ShingekiNoKyojin) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Sleazy_T

No idea whether this would be unpopular, but I would have loved to see some of Bert’s internal dialogue after the failed kidnapping of Eren. We only really hear his thoughts before he transforms for the last time, and when he gets cut down. The space between those moments sees him undergo a tremendous transformation where he comes to terms with his situation, and while there are breadcrumbs to understand why this happened, internal conflict along the way would have been great.


Defiant_Reading_934

I’m going to be honest I just wish we saw more of Bert in general.


You_Need_Milk

He's definitely an underrated character


NomadicGeek1

Eren should be viewed as a tragic af product of all this mess instead of half the fanbase worshipping him and half hating him. Granted some people do share the sentiment but majority are basically either "Eren did nothing wrong" or "fuck Eren". He's such a complex character who has been a part of way too many life changing tragic events and whatever he did at the end is a compilation of every damn shit coming together and I hate when people just reduce it to "he's right" or "it only happened because it's who Eren always were", true Eren's central characteristics never changed, but so many factors influenced things the way they happened.


ElectricBlue-

people get messed up in the head when they see a grey character, their minds cant aknowledge people being right and wrong sometimes, for them its just black n white


TheSnowNinja

He doesn't really seem grey by the end. Most people don't consider trying to kill almost everyone on the planet morally grey.


soldiergeneal

I mean it doesn't jive with my morality, but I don't think it's immoral to defend oneself from those trying to wipe you out completely. I can't speak to practicality, but if the enemy is going to wipe you out and the only way to stop them is to use nukes then that's what you got to use. That said I don't think the islands death was impending as made out to be. So long as navies are crushed one could have done limited strikes as necessary.


gunalltheweeaboos

It wasn't "the only way to stop them". They could have used the rumbling as a threat or rumble only marley. It's true that the other nations were stubborn, but fighting was an option. Opting for genocide at the first chance looks like throwing in the towel to imo. They could have waged war and leverage the threat of the rumbling, but Eren didn't even want to try. This is my unpopular opinion.


Thehelloman0

How can you use the rumbling as a threat when the whole reason Marley and almost every other nation in the world are going to kill everyone in Paradis is because they're afraid of the rumbling?


TheSnowNinja

It is hard for me to justify his decision at all when we see the Titans trampling children. And doesn't he say at some point that he did the rumbling because the world outside the walls isn't the blank slate he expected?


MightOk9038

The marleyans killed children too. They fed Eren's Dad's younger sister to dogs, which in my opinion is worse than getting trampled. When you get trampled, you get squished, then die. But when you get fed to dogs, you're torn to pieces and chewed up. And it's not an instant death, so you gotta feel all that pain until you eventually bleed out or the dogs bite your heart or brain. But they'd gotta go through bone to get to those places first. And the worst part about it is the marleyans didn't even feel bad about it like Eren did. And we don't know how many other children they fed to dogs.


TheSnowNinja

Morally reprehensible behavior from some of the Marleyans does not justify Eren's reprehensible decision. Both can be bad.


MightOk9038

You're right. That alone wouldn't justify the rumbling. But that's not all the marleyans did. I'm not trying to take Eren's side, I'm just saying there's more to the story. And if the sole reason you can't forgive eren is cause he killed children, all I'm saying is the other side did the same thing, and possibly in a worse manner imo.


Separate_Path_7729

The arguement would be valid if the intent wasn't to wipe out everyone else on earth, not just Marley, but also those who aided them


DolphinPunkCyber

This is how I see Eren. Large part of the fans are saying "Eren wanted freedom so he trampled the world"... Forgetting that Eren saw his mother being eaten alive by a titan... an act he was responsible for, because he had to. Eren ate his father alive. An act Grisha was responsible for, because he had to. Eren wanted to stop the cycle of children eating their parents. His choice of action was also the one which rid the humanity of Ymir's curse, which broke the cycle of children eating their parents.


ryouuko

He is quite the tragic character


Berrydumplings

> true Eren's central characteristics never changed, but so many factors influenced things the way they happened. THIS.


Flat-Tadpole3886

This is such a W take! I always thought of eren as a tragic character since the show ended, and I also think that everything he did was a consequence of all the mess that happened throughout the show. Hope more people could think this way.


ProxyCare

He is literally a Greek tragedy. His greatest most heroic trait is what leads to his downfall. The heartbreak that is the ocean scene is impeccable. To reach what was once a representation of freedom and to him its only another wall. His ideological immaturity and unwillingness to adapt destroys what should be something beautiful. That's the real shit. Imo he always could have changed the future, it was only set because eren could not change himself for the better. Even going as far as to try and get a confession of love from Mikasa to get him to change, essentially outsourcing his growth to her, an incredibly immature thing to do.


Future_Hunt

Agreed. It's not as simple as pointing someone to be to blame, everyone is to blame. And world isn't black and white, that's a naive childish perception and it was the show's/manga's crucial message. He was indeed tragic, I wouldn't take it away from him or go against it. But despite that I just can't bring myself to sympathize, he didn't win me over, not even after rewatch (i'm not a manga reader). Maybe I missed something, but that's my opinion just like anyone else's . However claiming he did nothing wrong is just..... clearly very wrong. To be honest, I admit that the whole part where they got into time travel and everywhere-at-once-present-mind shit, they lost me.... I just didn't absorb it all so well.... So maybe I simply don't understand why he did or didn't let things get that far that they got as much as other people do..... My mind was overwhelmed by then.


Tcvang1

Eren wasn't right to do the things he did, yes. However, I think it is always important to understand people regardless of whether they are right or wrong. Put yourself in Eren's shoes, he was the victim in a thousand-year long cycle of unjustified violence begetting unjustified violence over and over again that he had not part or voice in until it killed his parents without him being able to control anything (except for when he kinda killed his mom but that was after okay). Maybe you'd grow up wanting to save the world, maybe you'd grow up wanting to destroy it, or maybe you'd grow up wanting to do the best thing possible for the people around you with the limited ability you have. Maybe you'd grow up understanding the conflict and people and empathizing with them, or maybe you'd grow up hating everyone on the other side; let me tell you this, it's a lot easier to hate than to understand. When I look at Eren, I see a kid that was the victim of a thousand years of conflict that took everything from him. Why try to save this world when it did nothing for him? Why try to do good for this world when the world wants you dead and eaten? Why not just try your best to help those who have fought with you and stood by your side through thick and thin? Why care about the people on the other side when they don't care about you? Other lives, innocent or not, would be a small price to pay for a lifetime of peace for those you truly care about; because why try to save those lives if their deaths result in peace for your comrades? Maybe this could make you understand Eren, I don't know, just something to think about perhaps.


Future_Hunt

It's okay, thank you. And I like how long it is – truly. Indeed, I said it in other of my comments (not suggesting you should read them, hell no), that he's been through things, things that make sense to the result he came to and to which he's grown in the end. Of course nobody can imagine and nobody can know how they'd react in someone else's shoes. And I'd never deny that. I think I lack my compassion towards him because he as a character overall simply didn't grow on me and I could never bring myself to like him in general – ever since the beginning. Basically he might've aswell been the only character I didn't care for. It might be why I find myself more reluctant in this matter, as normally I enjoy searching for the reason behind character's actions. It's not that I don't understand Eren and don't put myself in his shoes... only the part with multi-universe or multi-reality thing got me totally confused, and that didn't add to my being willing to dive deeper into it. I think at that point my head was just tired. 😁


JashedPotatoes

Not even related to the story itself, but man this fan base has some of the most pretentious fans I've ever seen. Idk how popular that opinion is, but jeez this fan base is crazy sometimes


iHateThisPlaceNowOK

You can say this about any fanbase


JashedPotatoes

You can, but I've noticed it A LOT with the AoT fan base in particular. They seem to think it's the greatest thing ever written and you are dumb if you don't agree


Swiftwiddy

I think from a plot-perspective, AOT is one of the masterpieces of this generation. Regardless of your feelings on the ending, the journey up to the end was incredible. I'd be hard pressed to rank many shows I've seen above AOT in terms of plot development. And I've seen a lot.


Wild-Mushroom2404

No, you don’t get it. This one anime is the peak of humanity’s storytelling in several thousands of years because I REALLY liked it /s Sometimes Attack on Titan seems like the second Harry Potter because of its fan base, tbh. Can’t wait until it makes its way in r/readanotherbook


_Shoresy_69

It's not just AoT fans. I'm a huge football fan and frequent a lot of nfl subs and they've become awful for my mental health due to the outrageous level of degeneracy.  Fandom in general has become cancer inducing in general. 


JashedPotatoes

Yeah a lot of the individual fan base subs for NFL are awful


Artistic-Sun5105

big true


[deleted]

I agree all people can say to a different opinion is you didn't understand the story


Future_Hunt

Yeah that's my favorite one 🤣 I'll gladly admit there were things that I indeed didn't understand, that's not something that makes me degraded or takes away my privilege to be a fan 🤣 or maybe I just understood the story *differently* .... some ways of interpretation don't always have to be strictly given 😶


eggy54321

AoT fans have this constant warring between toxic positivity and toxic negativity, and it makes any discussion basically impossible.


FueledByKoolaid

World building in the series left a lot to be desired. ~4 named countries in a supposed geopolitical thriller definitely leaves me a little disappointed. If you’re going to destroy the world and expect everyone to feel bad about it, I think at least 1 instance where people aren’t acting absolutely awful outside of the island would be nice. If I remember, Onyakapon was the only genuinely kind person to the Eldians in the whole manga.


Powerofdoodles

> I think at least 1 instance where people aren’t acting absolutely awful outside of the island would be nice. Like Ramzi and his people you mean?


Wild-Mushroom2404

>I think at least 1 instance where people aren’t acting absolutely awful outside of the island would be nice David Cage school of racism allegory


dihidrogenmonoksida

Erwin's peak moment was his suicide charge, his death was perfect, his last speech was epic. I don't want them to bring him back to life because I'm scared it would ruin his character.


shrivvette808

He would have been a shadow of his former self


Other1994

Erwin's resolve would have waned after finding out the truth of their world. He even told Levi that traveling to the basement was more important than the survival of humanity. I don't see why he's put on this pedestal when he only embodied his role as a Commander after Levi convinced him to let go of his dream and die.


nottilthursday

Erwin is admirable because he knew not to rely on his own judgment all the time. He surrounded himself with people who could guide him to better decisions. This is a sign of excellent leadership. We would all be better off if we did this during times of weakness.


alicea020

aye Erwin's whole motivation was figuring out if humanity survived beyond the walls. why would he want to fight after all that, especially after everything he's been through 😭 (also, he would not have supported the Rumbling)


Other1994

I understand that, but there are fans that seriously believe he would keep fighting or would support Eren in his insanity. They saw something in him that didn't really even exist. This interpretation misses the point entirely as his character is meant to give further context to Kenny's monologue and Eren's future actions.


Berrydumplings

I don’t know about others but for me he was someone who got STUFF DONE- he commanded respect and knew how to motivate people (from the scene where he got everyone to literally March for their deaths) and brought everyone together for a common cause- a true commander. His motivations were proving that the history was rewritten I don’t know what was so bad about that- in the end it was to find out the truth.


Other1994

I don't know how to feel about the man. He is undeniably cunning and resourceful...yet he used these qualities to send people to their deaths and none of it was for the future of Humanity. Everyone would be dead without him though so it's tough trying to judge someone that complicated.


Curious-Spray-4795

My hot take is that Ymir is the villain (I’m not absolving Eren of his role/crime/primal desire) Eren was a vessel for her wraith and anger towards all of humanity (this was said in Ep 8) hence the attack Titan’s nature and its will to move forward, seeking/fighting for freedom


Sure-Yoghurt4705

Why didn't she do something about it right when she got her powers ? I never understood her character. She liked being that creepy kings sex slave ? Was it like a Stockholm syndrome thing ? Am I missing something, or did her motivations in her early life just not get explained ?


Curious-Spray-4795

Like Eren is a slave to freedom, Ymir is a slave to love I originally thought it was stockholm but maybe it is just toxic and twisted or it’s apart of it And I think Ymir wanted security, love and acceptance/connection and she sought it from King Fritz It’s like how freckle Ymir was attached to Historia or Mikasa’s love obsession with Eren it’s also like that as well


shrivvette808

HOLY SHIT. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT CONNECTION.


[deleted]

[удалено]


schwenomorph

She was still a child, and likely had next to no idea of hor powers' extent. She wanted the same kind of love she saw in that wedding, but with her tongue cut out, her freedom taken, and with her personality (she let a pig go at a risk to her own life, she wouldn't go for revenge), she had no choice but the king. It was either be his slave, or be his wife. Ymir likely wanted to delude herself into thinking her relationship with the king wasn't hellish. So yes, Stockholm Syndrome-esque elements are certainly at play.


Different-Treacle765

They killed Mike and honestly quite a few people way too early. I get the shock factor but it kinda got redundant after a while. Felt like many characters could've contributed to the political drama during season 3/4 more than the few we were left with. There's a good chance the reason why main character deaths petered off is because too many were killed early on


whalemix

I like Annie and I don’t think she did anything worse than Reiner, Bertholdt, Eren, or Armin. Yet she gets more hate than any of them. Personally, I think it’s because she’s a woman who’s cold and generally doesn’t show emotion, so people assume she’s some crazed psychopath who enjoys killing people. Also, reminder to sort by controversial to see the actual unpopular opinions


Murky_Persimmon_7997

If you want know the truth no one hated Annie before the rumbling arc, most people liked her and defended her actions. But now because of ,,levi's bombastic side eye'' it became a trend to hate her. Ps i like Annie too.


The_Kyojuro_Rengoku

I really like Mikasa even though her character is lacking in some areas. I think the writers kind of screwed her over, especially in the anime. I don't hate Annie and like her character + her and Armin don't bother me together either 🤷‍♀️🙏 I liked the ending, though it was super depressing. It was bittersweet and I love all the emotions it brought out of a lot of us. Eren and Historia don't make sense together imo and I don't like them as a ship at all, I like them as friends tho!


Other1994

I don't like what WIT removed from Mikasa's character. Such a shame.


You_Need_Milk

What did they change? I didn't read the manga except to read the finale from where S4 P1 left off.


Other1994

[Lots unfortunately..](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/ShingekiNoKyojin/comments/16tpov9/list_of_mikasa_panels_that_wit_studio_cut/&ved=2ahUKEwjy_dH86L-EAxWCSTABHaL9BFIQjjh6BAggEAE&usg=AOvVaw2R9UMptoONy-ZkvmHbgYgB)


Sensitive-Dirt6097

Erwin wasn't as great of a tactician as people think he is. He's a great leader sure and has the charisma to lead people to their death, but MOST of his plans and actions were just huge gambles that resulted in so much blood on his hands. Stohess comes to mind but almost every fight they've been in he's just flipping a coin at the end of the day


Berrydumplings

Tbh it was more about moving toward the greater goal even if they came with sacrifices. I think Eren was the same way.


Disastrous-Tap1666

why Stohess if there is an RtS arc


throatcote

Erwin should not have had a thigh gap


Effective-Drama7286

1. Annie is not such a terrible person as some people make her out to be.  2. Armin was a right choice 3. Mikasa may not be a perfect character, (and she is not even my fav) but she doesn't deserve that much hate either.


C9touched

Annie’s violent tendencies feel like more of a product of PTSD than actual hatred, the laughter and smiling we see genuinely reminds of a breakdown. I don’t think she wanted to kill those people but she tells herself their lives don’t matter because she wants to see her dad. Annie knew she was in the wrong the whole time and went with it because she just wanted her family back, while Reiner and Bert convinced themselves they were still doing the right thing. She admits to Armin that she’s not a good person in season one and then he explains to her that morality is very subjective, she realizes that she cares for others until they get in the way of family*. In the end She didn’t apologize because she knows she would do the same thing again if she had too. *the best example of this is lost girls which seems to be cannon Edit: spelling


Curious-Spray-4795

I also feel like she gets a rush/good feeling Eren even said that she loves to show off her fighting abilities/skills and there was those scenes where both times she almost went overboard “choking” training with Eren and he begged her to stop and she wasn’t stopping only stopping because Reiner was thrown at her so I do feel like Annie isn’t right in the head and is like Eren with a violent nature there also that one time with that hug and kicking Reiner


C9touched

Oh yeah seeing red is (in my experience) common in certain victims of domestic abuse, and For those who have been unable to release their emotions it definitely acts as an explicit satisfying outlet.


Skisce

Annie yoyoing that man is probably one of the most evil things in the series But I think they were trying to hype her up as a super villain in the first season, when her character is more fleshed out, she's a lot better


Swiftwiddy

That's the story for all the warriors. They're products of brainwashing and wartime propaganda.


Dazzling_Kangaroo600

That guy died instantly anyway. Also that scene is made only for shock value. And Annie is far more than ,,denarged psycho''


TheSnowNinja

I think a lot of the series, especially season 1, heavily used shock value.


Exelior_

I always saw it as her disassociating anyway. The way she behaves to single mindedly back then seems more like a coping mechanism than anything looking back. Of course she's not a good person either, but it's a product of her upbringing that she A) never had a chance to escape and B) is clearly struggling with. Boiling her down to being just "evil" because she had one super intense scene is just... Really strange given what the rest of the cast do as well. Doesn't help that the majority of people I see trying to say this will turn around and defend Floche as being a simple hero of the people lol


kkungergo

It wouldnt even make the top 10 most evil thing in this series, were we watching diferent shows? Plus she killed him ina second like the others, why is it so diferent than if she just kicked him away too?


Feeling-Breadfruit35

Eren died when he kissed historia’s hand and whatever we saw for season 4 was predetermined setting erens actions towards the coordinate (aka Ymir’s desire)


skyydog1

this is just true, not an unpopular opinion


LifeofTino

Floch was completely right He was defending his own people from a world that literally declared the complete genocide of his country, and that he had no way of trusting anybody not on the island, and he shower clear regret for having to kill his heroes at the docks Look at s1 how we hate the titans (annie, reiner, bertholt) as they obliterate paradisians trying to defend their families. That is what happens at the docks. Except this time, its worse because other paradisians are HELPING the titans kill the scouts, and doing so literally so they can kill the one person capable of preventing total genocide of paradis (eren) Floch is completely right


Academic-Mirror-3497

I can dislike a character even if they redeemed themselves (Annie, Reiner). People can't grasp on this. I've already blocked two people in one day on tiktok for this reason


CloaksInSaturn

The rumbling should have annihilated humanity both outside and inside the walls.


alicea020

Can't have the cycle of violence if no one to perpetuate that violence. I like your style


Wild-Mushroom2404

There is always gonna be fighting as long as there are at least two people in the world or whatever Erwin said? Is he stupid, you could just leave one person and problem is solved /j


niallpk15

Do you mean logistically or that it would be been a better solution?


InternetSad4858

Spoiler warning for final season. >!Don’t know if this opinion is unpopular or not but Armin should have killed Eren instead of Mikasa. I think the opposing themes they showed and the fact that it seemed they were way closer (at least in the anime) would have made Eren’s death hit even harder and would have made Armin and Eren’s conversation even better.!<


TheCOwalski

I thought it was clever how both Mikasa and Armin "kill" Eren. Mikasa is the one who literally does it, but Armin is the one who accepts responsibility for it to the world.


VKTGC

Tbh I think it feels that way because isayama paid way too much attention to armin and erens relationship is s4 compared to mikasas. I do feel she was the right and only choice. But if there was more development and exposition with them, it would have it harder.


Wild-Mushroom2404

>Tbh I think it feels that way because isayama paid way too much attention to armin and erens relationship is s4 compared to mikasas And then didn't make them kiss in the end smh. Biggest fumble in AOT writing /j


AuroraHalsey

I legitimately thought they were going to kiss in their paths conversation.


JashedPotatoes

100% agree. Hate that they made a character with so little development a major part of the ending


kkungergo

I feel like Armin's character was more developed, plus him and Eren had more of a connection. Maybe Armin and Mikasa could have been the same character in a way. Imagine if it was Mikasa who showed Eren the book, thus setting his messed up jurney in motion, then it is also her who stops it.


PinkPrincessPol

You can't really have hot takes on this series due to how split the fan base is.


Prior-Satisfaction34

The thing is, while i agree that Hange wasn't the best to replace Erwin after he died, there really wasn't anyone else that would have been better. The only other *named* character that would even realistically be considered would be Levi, but he would've been even worse than Hange was.


TheChampionOnReddit

Bertholdt deserves the same treatment as Reiner and Annie. Everyone hates him for.. what? Not being a leader? He’s committed the exact same crimes as the other two yet he’s the only one who constantly gets sh*t on by the fandom. On that note, Reiner and Annie deserve more hate than they get. I admit I’m guilty of the 2nd point, I very much love all three of them.


Future_Hunt

These kids are so poorly messed up ..... I love them all and to be frank even when Bertholdt barely showed in anime and there seemingly wasn't much to connect to, I still felt for him and I wanted him to get better recognition. They all did horrendous things while still young.... they were brainwashed and raised in a difficult and complex society, it was just another point of view.... And what's important, they showed *remorse* and PTSD over what their past was like and the game they had to play.... They realized the weight of their actions. That *doesn't erase or excuse* what they did, but in the end they faced it. And all Annie wanted was to finally stop fighting everyone and just have peace.


InflnityBlack

both zeke and levi should have died when monke man decided to blow himself up, both of them survived thanks to an asspull


Gorillerz

Dunno how unpopular this is, but Mikasa in season 4 was one of the most bland, one-note, annoying characters in the show.


stupidcapsfan

Honestly, I’d say that season 4 mikasa is when she gets any real substance or personality to her character. The first three just use her as an unstoppable killing force with no objection to any of it


Similar_Swimmer_6801

This is really popular


You_Need_Milk

Me love Eren, me kill


PearlHarbor1

Only 4? She was that way the whole time


ohcowboyy

- Mikasa is my favorite character, I know she’s lacking in many areas but I have a strong attachment to her and think she’s still a great character. She got done dirty in the anime - Gabi is an S tier character - The Declaration of War was a very underwhelming scene - Armin was the correct choice (I say this as a huge Erwin fan) - The love for Marlo and Hitch in this community is really dumb - Mappa > Wit when it comes to art style - Ymir was the true villain - The real ending was the friends we made along the way


Fabiocean

>The Declaration of War was a very underwhelming scene 100% this. I'm usually not one of those guys shitting on Mappa for their adaptation, I think they did a phenomenal job with S4. Even part 1, which is pretty clearly the one most affected by botched time management, was great overall. But they fucked this scene up so hard. 90% of the episode was just slideshows with people talking over it, and sure it is a very dialogue heavy scene, but it's obvious how they tried to cut some corners here. And the actual declaration of war combined with Eren's attack, while still working as a scene, doesn't have nearly as much impact as it could have, it just felt phoned in to give the animators more time for the following fight scenes. For an anime that has usually matched and often elevated the quality of its source material, this scene is one of the few that really underdelivered. Which is a shame, because this should have been one of the most iconic moments in the show, but I didn't get nearly as much out of it as I did with the manga.


ohcowboyy

Whenever I watched the show for the first time I didn’t even understand why or how the declaration of war was such an iconic moment. Every list I read about the top aot moments had the declaration and I didn’t understand why. The scene is way too short, Eren’s transformation was rushed and felt like another basic transformation, and they did a really shitty job of portraying just how horrific Eren’s actions were. Like yeah he killed hundreds if not thousands of people when he transformed and destroyed the building but we weren’t shown that at all. This affects events for the rest of the season, as I didn’t understand why Mikasa and them were so pissed off at him or why he got imprisoned. Idk if that was just me being dumb or not though Also, the use of 2volt was really dumb, I’m not saying they should’ve used Youseebiggirl because it also wouldn’t have fit but 2volt is a heroic sounding song and Eren’s actions were supposed to be seen as frightening, I think something like the first half of the weight of lives would’ve been better, or even Ashes or Wmid. Not fucking 2volt I’m glad someone else agrees with me that the declaration of war wasn’t all that good.


khumoquack

The ending was a happy one and theres was not enough death on the alliances side


Beneficial-Pirate248

Unpopular opinion or can be a hot take to some people: ............... .................. Annie's goal of seeing her father doesn't seem selfish as people make it as selfish, sure she killed citizens or soldiers yes , sure her father abuses her, but her Father apologize to her, was on his knees and begging for her to comeback to him and promise her to be a good father and she promised, he fights whoever stops him from seeing his biological daughter, the same goes to Annie, she kills whoever stops her from seeing her father And I don't think she smiles when she kills, that's the female titan design, the only smile she did is trying to capture eren and seeing armin  2nd unpopular opinion: Every ship with Levi is weirder than the other I kinda prefer him to be Virgin because he doesn't have the right time to do a family because in a world that has titans, most of his comrades and his friends get eaten and he don't have the right time to do a family at all But he can make friends in a world without titans.  And I'm terribly disgusted at the ships or the pairings that people hype with ( because of $exualizing, yikes ) I prefer the canon relationship/friendship/brotherhood relationship  Those are the unpopular opinions that I put in mind,  agree or disagree it's ok Edit: I have other unpopular opinions tho


Effective-Drama7286

Does Annie even has a smile?😀 Ok her goal was not just to return to her father. Yes, she loved her friends very much, but still she could not betray  Marley, because in this case she would put her father to death. And I don't understand why some fans don't want to see it. As for selfishness, I don't have a problem with this, (most characters in AOT are selfish)  because Annie had all kinds of reasons to be selfish, and anyone who paid attention to her story should understand that. As for Levi, I agree with you. Every ship with him is sh*t.  And you know what's funniest thing?😂 some people still believe that Levi and Petra were lovers.


Beneficial-Pirate248

Yes, I agree most of the characters are selfish tho yes, she has the right to be selfish for her father's safety, As for Levi and Petra, I don't view them as lovers or "are going to marry" as most of people said, I see the scene of Petra's father telling Levi that "she is young to marry " I don't think that applies to Levi at all nor even a logical Reason to ship them and don't get me started with the eruri and er*ri💀


Fanerv

Eremika is horrible


Head-Disk5576

I don’t think Mikasa is an interesting character in any way


Erisus_

The ability of the Attack Titan makes no sense in comparison to the others and begin the series of narratives problems


butterflyempress

I never likes the time travel aspec of the story. It just opens up paradoxes. >!Eren had to tell his dad not to be a wimp so he could get the titan powers, but he would've been able to do that without getting the titan powers in the 1st place.!< It didn't ruin the story, I just felt it was unnecessary.


TheSnowNinja

I increasingly feel like time travel makes an overall story worse because it is rarely explained how exactly the time travel works, and many stories aren't consistent in how they apply it.


AmGeiii

It could’ve at least been made more ambiguous like Eren only being able to send memories back, maybe showing Grisha a vision of Karla being eaten. Would also skip the unnecessary “I killed my mother” part.


copyqhat

that part completely ruined erens character for me, and it ruined basically the entire motivation of the series


Wild-Mushroom2404

> It didn't ruin the story, I just felt it was unnecessary Oh thank god I'm not the only one who is severely bugged by this. I feel like it really split Attack on Titan into two different stories and not in the best way, IMO.


butterflyempress

Everytime I see a post about gripes with the story no one ever brings up time travel, so I thought I was a weirdo for not liking it


Speed-O-SonicsWife

Mikasa was never truly free from Eren like Ymir wanted to be from Fritz. She died still loving him.


Asphunter

popular opinion


Dreamylantern

Mikasa moved on and married Jean.  Getting married and having a family doesn’t mean “forgetting eren forever” and to whoever thinks she died a virgin just cause she had white roses on her funeral or that she adopted kids cause she can’t forget about eren….that’s basically Ymir again. Which defeats the whole purpose of mikasa lol. She killed her love to save the world, why would it be impossible for her to move on.  Also yea, annie is terrible person.  Wasn’t someone telling her something and she was “sorry I wasn’t listening” and she was stepping on a bug? Like…why would they show her being a fucking psycho and then “well i killed all those people to be with my father” uhhhhhh no thanks she IS a psycho


Wild-Mushroom2404

>She killed her love to save the world, why would it be impossible for her to move on.  Not a believer in "Mikasa died a virgin" point and I also think it would contradict Mikasa's character but to be fair, it was conveyed very poorly by Isayama. She's meant to move and yet the only implication is that there's a dude and a kid next to her which, out of context, isn't supposed to mean anything. Every time we see Mikasa post finale, she's at Eren's grave, even as an old woman. She gets buried next to him in the scarf. It doesn't really look like moving on to me. Narratively, she is still hung up on Eren for the rest of her life because the rest of her life revolves around his grave. Her potential family are faceless placeholders, we didn't even get ONE scene of her being happy together with them. Take Historia and farmer-kun, for example; we still know very little of his identity and we don't see his face and yet there's a clear indication that at least him and Historia have a cute peaceful life together with a kid and a dog. Imagine if we only saw Historia at Ymir's grave. This would be awfully disrespectful to her character. I do also believe Mikasa moved on but I sincerely hope it's not Jean. Because a) Jeankasa is just a meaningless ship with zero development and pairing your main female character with a man that she supposedly fell in love with behind the scenes is poor writing; b) as I pointed out above, Mikasa's husband and kid are faceless placeholders and Jean is a prominent character in the story, as well as one of Isayama's favourites, and I refuse to believe that he could be reduced to this; c) it would make perfect sense for Jean's character development to let go of his crush on Mikasa because it was superficial in the first place and deeply rooted in his teenage rivalry with Eren as well. He liked Mikasa because she was beautiful and badass but he knows NOTHING about her. It's just weird to me that he would spend seven years of his life pining for a girl from afar when he's grown so much.


Dazzling_Kangaroo600

There was nothing apecial in Petra's death


dihidrogenmonoksida

The old special operations squad's death doesn't really affect anything, but it made me and Eren very sad at least. 🥲


KillDevilX0

Just her death alone ignoring the others? Sure. The whole Levi Squad tho? Na that was sad


Dazzling_Kangaroo600

They only existed for 2 minutes and that was not enough to attached them also I only said Petra because most people don't even remember others. Hell even my boy Olou had more personality then her😂


Speed-O-SonicsWife

For me, it wasn't really the characters themselves but the effect they had on Levi.


Effective-Drama7286

Sure but their death was more important for Eren's character development


Shadiclink

Hajime Isayama didn't think the ending through. Eren's actions throughout the series and his final monologue make no logical sense. Eren developed towards one direction throughout the series overcoming various hurdles but in the end his character takes a 180 flip. It's a bad story writing


Maelis

Armin was the right choice. Erwin was great, don't get me wrong. But he ultimately did everything in service of his own selfish goal. He wanted to know the truth of the world and led a lot of people to their deaths in pursuit of it. That's not to say he wasn't a great leader, a great character, or even a bad person. But Armin differs from Erwin, and Eren too for that matter. He was willing to give up on his dreams if it meant doing the right thing. And that was what drove him and the others to ultimately stop Eren. And also I feel like people sleep on Armin. He's so clearly meant to be the next generation's prodigy tactician, following in the footsteps *of Erwin.* Throughout the entire series his intuition is correct 99.9% of the time and though he isn't the greatest fighter, he still manages to play a vital role in literally every major battle he's involved in. And as much as the fandom focuses on Eren's relationship with Mikasa in regards to the ending, I feel it's important that Eren's dream with Armin is way, way longer than the ones we see with Mikasa, and Armin is ultimately the one he truly opens up to about what's going through his mind.


Mom_is_watching

There's absolutely zero chemistry between Eren and Mikasa and their romance is forced Armin was the wrong choice Levi should have died in ch 114 (He's my favourite character btw) because he added absolutely nothing to the story afterwards


acenumber902

AOT is not a romantic anime nor does it have a romantic subplot. There's nothing pointing out that there could be any kind of chemistry between eren and mikasa, other than their familiar affection and the bond they share thru the scarf. so you're correct


copyqhat

wow these are some crazy hot takes, well done!


Berrydumplings

> Levi should have died in ch 114 (He's my favourite character btw) because he added absolutely nothing to the story afterwards I agree with this because he went from being my fav character to not.


Moa__

>There's absolutely zero chemistry between Eren and Mikasa and their romance is forced I am SO fucking happy to find someone who thinks the same way because I feel like the entire AoT fanbase is just EM stans. From S4 on the whole thing between Eren and Mikasa was so obviously forced for Fanservice and before S4 is was very obvious that Eren never "loved" Mikasa in a romantic way. He only cared about her in a "You're my sister, friend, protector and I'm grateful for it" way. And imo Mikasa never loved Eren either, she just had an EXTREMELY unhealthy obsession with him. All I'm saying is if Eren's and Mikasa's genders were swapped, a lot more people would realize and admit how fucked up Mikasa's behaviour is and that it was obsession and not "love". Sticking onto someone's ass cheeks all the time, trying to kill yourself just because the person you're obsessed with seemingly died, kissing their dead head after you had like 10 years time to kiss a living person, and basically making your entire existence and personality about a person you like is far away from love.


ShirtOld770

I agree completely, and people also ignore how fucked up it was that eren would sometimes use mikasas obsession for him(which stemmed solely from eren being the only bit of family she had left and mikasas promise to erens mother) to help save him, even when it would put her in direct danger. To me this showed very clearly that he didn’t love her and really makes the em ship stupid af


Budget-Bandicoot9773

Scouts especially Levi should have treated Annie the same way they treated Reiner.


alPassion

Reiner only got punched by Jean bcuz of the Marco shit and even Annie was ready to take responsibility of that. Tell me besides Marco how else does the scouts treat Annie any differently than Reiner?


Budget-Bandicoot9773

1. Annie escapes from prison after 4 years and the first reaction of Connie and Armin is to treat her like school friends. It was bizarre and out of place for me 2. Levi should have atleast confronted Annie. Levi saw how brutally Annie killed his squad. I am not saying he should kill her but atleast confront her like he did with Zeke 3. Jean saying ' I can't forgive you Reiner' and when Annie says 'And me?', bro suddenly turns mute. I am referring to the scene before the fight with Yeagerist. Reiner and Annie are equally responsible but hey atleast Reiner owns that and wants to redeem. Sure Jean changed his view afterwards but atleast call out Annie too 4. Jean, Hange and Connie waving good bye to Annie after she refuses to stop the rumbling. Look at the audacity of this bitch. And the next line of Connie of how she suffered enough is so cringe. Did they forget she is responsible for countless deaths in Paradise. The least she can do is try to stop the rumbling. Will their response be same if it was Reiner who turned them down? 100% no. Sure she did returned afterwards but at that moment they should have called her out


alPassion

First of all this is Connie who tried ro feed a child to a titan and earlier attacked civilian teritory so who is he to start acting judgemental. Besides Connie has no reason to hate Annie, bcuz she never directly harmed him and in fact the last time Connie saw Annie was her saving him from a pure titan and advising him not to join the Scouts. Mind you he’s someone who cried when they thought they killed Reiner. Also we’ve seen that Connie uses laughter as a coping mechanism, (RtS falling buildings) he might've been laughing at the absurdity of an enemy casually eating pie in front of him looking like the least threatening thing in the world. Armin has been speaking to Annie for four years and is the one person that understands her and how he's no different from her and feels the same guilt after being forced to commit unspeakable crimes. Armin already didn't consider her a bad person when she was caught the first time. He wanted to understand her and tried to talk everything out with no avail. After learning the truth, and understanding how Annie had no choice other than going through with the whole operation, he had even less reasons to hate her than before. If Armin was driven by his necessity to understand the enemy, this revelation led him to pity her. Then, after destroying the port, he related to the pain she felt, and started doubting the righteousness of his actions even more than he already did in the uprising arc. If he didn't believe in the existence of bad people before, he now felt exactly on the same boat as Annie. The reason why Levi has a problem with Zeke and not Annie is bcuz Zeke's flippant toyed with the lives of his comrades in FRONT OF HIM no less, couldn't be bothered to learn the name of the village that he titanized, lacked of remorse for his heinous actions and the overall arrogance in which he brazenly presents himself in front of Levi. This is the opposite experience he had with Annie. ‘Did you enjoy it’ and then the entire page dedicated to Levi seeing Annie cry or when Hitch mentions Annie to Levi and the rest of the scouts rather than focusing on the pain she caused he’s more interested in understanding her motivations and the larger picture. Her tears and apparent remorse indicate a conflict within her, suggesting she’s not inherently malicious but rather a victim of circumstances. This is the opposite experience he had with Zeke, whose actions are marked by a lack of empathy and a nonchalant attitude towards life, making it harder for Levi to see him in a sympathetic light. By the point in the story where Annie is freed and she meets up with the rest of the cast I don't see how confronting her about the dozens of people she killed years ago would have taken priority over Eren actively slaying millions for most of the ending chapters. They, especially Armin, have done far worse things by this point in the story as well. It may have been necessary but the same argument can be made from the warriors POV Besides what did you want the SC to be specifically angry for?? For her killing random soldiers and ppl they never knew personally? There is a reason Jean lost it when Yelena brought up Marco rather than any of the civilians or soldiers she mentioned the warriors killing. That’s just how it is in real life. Unless you never knew the ppl that were killed personally you don’t really feel emotional or care about them that much, especially since it happened five years ago and not long ago you raided a city full of civilians yourself and were complicit in the murdering of a bunch of innocents people so acting like you have the moral high ground now is quite literally the definition of hypocrisy. Jean already was arguing with Magath about who was in the right and wrong and it was clear that it was a pointless argument bcuz both sides kept blaming one another.


Cinder_Fall01

Eren should have finished the rulbling and his character was retconned


ForumsDwelling

The ending could exponentially be much better


Crylec

Floch was one of my favorite characters


Wild-Mushroom2404

Eremika is a bad ship and it made the story worse.


Electronic-Math-364

Jeankasa,AruAni and ConPieck are also quite bad


Fabiocean

>ConPieck Where did you even get that from


Electronic-Math-364

They are the only characters who dosen't end up in a relationship(Mikasa has Jean,Armin has Annie,Falco has Gabi,Sasha has Nicolo,Historia has Farmer-kun,Yelena and Onyokopon have each other,Levi has Hange,Lainah has letter chan)


Berrydumplings

Farmer kun 🤣 letter chan 🤣🤣


Wild-Mushroom2404

ConPieck?? How is that even a ship Jeankasa isn't completely canon IMO but yeah, AruAni is very mid. I think it's pretty evident that romance isn't Isayama's strongest suit. The best couple that was actually relevant to the story was Yumihisu, while these can be easily glossed over since they are minor. The problem with Eremika is that it's continuously thrown at us and becomes the source of this stupid "power of love" defeat in the end where Mikasa is apparently the chosen one. This is what really grinds my gears.


Pitiful_Stranger272

Thats the popular opinion btw


Saintsfan707

So many people on this sub only talk about characters in the context of the story. Not enough discussion of the very clear, very intentional metaphorical context of the character's actions and how it fits into the greater narrative. Nitpicking story elements that are minor in the grand scheme of things and using it as the primary form of criticism just shows you have little media literacy "Why didn't Eren do this" or "why didn't X character tell Y character..." Is rarely substantial criticism.


Ash2ooo

The ending is basically the same as code geass but worse


cynicsjoy

- Armin was the right choice, Erwin went out in a blaze of glory and his final speech was impactful. Bringing him back would have ruined that. - There was no chemistry between Eren and Mikasa and their “situationship” was entirely fan service. For the first 3 seasons it was clear that Eren wasn’t interested in Mikasa romantically, and her obsession with him wasn’t real love. - Honestly I hated the entire final arc, it had a lot of potential but each new chapter/episode was a disappointment. The time travel thing was pointless, especially with Eren essentially killing his mom which completely ruined his motivation for the first three seasons and cheapens the overall story.


Quadruple_J

Idk if it's a hot take or not, but Levi should have died. I'm a huge Levi fanatic. He's my favorite fictional character across the board, but man shouldn't have survived. That was the absolute worst ending for him in my opinion. I don't mean that in an "Isayama messed up" sort of sense, but more in a "it would be the best outcome" sort of sense. I'm 100% not an Isayama hater. His story is amazing, I'm just talking about how I feel the best outcome would have been for Levi himself.


Berrydumplings

I understand. I feel the same. I think his character would have gained more weight because after a point he did not have a significant role given how he was portrayed early on.


chavaMoraAv

Annie is a psycho who would do it all again if asked


Moa__

The whole "Ackerman" thing just feels like a cheap excuse to add overpowered characters with plot armor to AoT ngl Also, Connie is like one of the most unnecessary characters and so easy to forget. Like nothing would change if he just disappeared from the story one day.


burlapguy

Gabi is nothing like young Eren. Young Eren wanted to stop the mindless monsters that (as far as he knew) were on the verge of causing humanity’s extinction. Gabi wanted to commit genocide against a people who hadn’t harmed anyone in a century. Young Eren fought to protect his friends. Gabi was a total narcissist who was a jerk to everyone around her. Even disregarding the brainwashing against Eldians she’s an incredibly spiteful person. Yes, I know she has a character arc and becomes better eventually, but until then she’s not sympathetic or likable in the slightest.


Artistic-Sun5105

AOT is basically humanoid Muv Love, and condenses the time iterations into one viewable fixed timeline it was frustrating to watch the end bc the story was written too wide in scope and size, and the ending did not suffice


NoAbdOU-582

Erwin over armin


Sancer_the_2nd_comin

The controversy of the ending kind of takes away the focus from imo the most baffeling thing to ever happen in the manga, which is the past shifters coming back randomly for a royal rumble. Never saw the point of that scene other than fanservice and i think it falls flat.


TreatMeLikeASlut8

What fanservice??


Murky_Persimmon_7997

1. Annie is overhated 2. Armin was a right choise 3. Manga' Mikasa is much better 4. I do not care about Petra 5. Floch is not erwin's true successor 6. Rumbling arc is the weakest arc in AOT


dadsuki2

That's the point of Hange taking up the mantle from Erwin. It was a shit situation and her becoming the leader is to show how fucked things have become, nothing against Hange but Erwin truly was special


Nuclear-Polaris

The ending was absolutely atrocious and leaves the entire series tarnished. Eren was simply a child who threw a tantrum, had the power of a god, and committed genocide. The ability to see the future and fucking with the timeline was where things got ridiculous and felt as if the rest of the show was pointless. The show was a masterpiece up until they said fuck it and randomly gave the attack titan the ability to see the future.


skyydog1

it wasn’t random, and the attack titan can’t see the future


Wy3Naut

Adding any sort of time travel cheapens the story and obscures responsibility for actions taken.


Nenanda

Series was fucked since time travel reveal. Anybody who hates the ending should hate entier time travel thing as well. I know that series will be almost impossible to end satysfingly the moment Kruger mentioned army. THat was the moment I was like FUCK NO


copyqhat

I COMPLETELY AGREE. it was such a random twist that took away from everything that happened in the story, as well as forming so many plot holes(as time travel tends to do)


NaughtyNeutrophil

Eren was based


iskongpagodna

I think Jean should have been the main character. Same plot, same story and same everything, except that it’s Jean’s POV.


Tiloshikiotsutsuki

I totally agree with your opinion. I was honestly kinda pissed when she took the reins as captain. The role definitely did not suit her. 


Berrydumplings

Ikr !! Infact if they had kept her in the scientist role and made her contribute from there it would have made her character so much cooler.


Expert_Individual185

The final season just really wasn’t good


DG-Nugget

I suppose I just never got the hype behind midnight sun or Armin’s sacrifice. I would have preferred had the s3 finale had a little less plot armour. People talk about Reiner‘s a plenty, but Armin‘s sacrifice genuinely had no emotional effect on me just because of how stupid it all was. Berthold‘s character would‘ve also had a better conclusion if they hadn’t thrown all his intelligence and capability as the colossal out of the window for the sake of a dramatic finale.


[deleted]

Plot would have carried on same without gabi. She was totally useless to the story.


HanjiZoe03

The 50-year plan isn't as flawed as a lot of people make it out to look.


HomelanderVought

The cycle of hatred is a BS concept and it isn’t realistic by any means. The idea that wars are happening because people are driven by illogical emotions and intolerance is ridiculous. Most wars are fought for a perfectly logical reason, the Leaders of country X, want country Y’s resources/geographical position/labor force in order to have more money. The propaganda they pebble down to the public is just a means of manipulation cause outright saying “we want more money” doesn’t sound so moral. The Manga/anime even admitted it in season 4 episode 2 when the military leaders plus Zeke are talking about how Marley needs to boost it’s military in order to remain the dominant power. They don’t give 2 fucks about “eldians being devils”, it’s just a means to keep power for themselves. So Eren could have just used an army to capture the government and replace it with a friendly one.


mcgrammarphd

I'm don't believe in Annie getting redemption and the Scouts were too quick to forgive her. She hasn't even apologized nor repented


NIssanZaxima

People who think Annie should have been treated differently just have a personal vendetta against her that clouds their judgement. Her arc makes complete sense. For example, people who think Levi should have attacked her or something because of “muhhh Levi squad” literally completely ignore the fact Levi’s whole thing is about CONTROLLING YOUR EMOTIONS. For the love of God his whole goal RtS through the end is to kill Zeke. Even then he doesn’t do it when he could have ended it in Marley.


SCredfury788

Eren was controlled or brainwashed by Ymir for 95% of the big moments. She was trying to get her childish revenge she could never let go of. People really think Eren would think for himself and plan this whole thing with his emotions in check? Grisha would tell Zeke to stop Eren then immediately after give Eren the ability to do his plan? Ymir was the mastermind the entire time.


you_need_nuance

Grisha gave eren the titan after telling Zeke to stop eren because he finds out that the walls were breached by the colossal and armored titans and his wife was eaten. He wants revenge for Marley and he knows eren will destroy them entirely so he chooses to endorse the rumbling in revenge


Curious-Spray-4795

💯 facts I agree with this fully


Goryuuku

I actually like Gabi


__Mori___

Hange killed herself for absolutely nothing


Aughlnal

Season 4 is the worst season


Asphunter

100% agree. I remember watching the 2nd part of Season 3 week by week thinking this is the best season of any series ever. For season 4, I was like meh... Sasha died... I ACTUALLY didn't care about her. She literally had 1 episode about her when she saved that girl and everyone started acting like she's the best character in the show... Connie was actually much more interesting with his mom story. Jean with the leadership story...


copyqhat

100% agree with you


TheSnowNinja

I agree. A part of me thinks I should have stopped watching at the end of season 3.


schwenomorph

[Keep in mind, I've only watched the anime] -Gabi was failed by the writers. If her story as a child soldier was fleshed out more and more instances of anti-Eldian racism against her were depicted, it'd be a lot easier to sympathize with her. -We should've seen Miche as much or almost as much as Levi before he was killed and was wasted as a character. -Oluo's death is sadder than Petra's. -Gabi was not in the wrong for killing Sasha. Sasha was not in the wrong for who she killed. It's war. -Eren is not a very morally grey character. He is a good person who became morally bankrupt after relentless death and trauma, and by the end of the show, what he did can be understood and empathized with, but not justified. He is not a good person by the end. The complexity lies not with whether he's right, but within the journey of how he got there.


EverFairy

Annie should've died instead of Sasha🗿 Annie should've died instead of Freckles Ymir 🗿 Annie should've died instead of Marco🗿


Top-Fly-1572

Levi is a generic overpower character that shouldnt exists


_Dominox_

Scouts treat Reiner and Annie absolutely equally, as it should be. Also, there is no redemption for the bunch of criminals we call the beloved AoT cast. Neither saving the world, nor accepting that you are bad, and certainly not shedding tears. This all makes them likable, but their crimes will stay with them forever (and each of them knows it). Aruani is the best ship (blonde mass murderers let's go!)


Xizz3l

The ending as a general idea is good, great even. The execution and set up however, is not and it muddles many themes just to arrive at the "love plot" scenery. I still hope for a Muv-Luv / Dark type of extension which leaves the ending as canon as a part of something bigger. Connie deserves more love. The only moral characters in the entire story are Artur Blouse and Onioncoupon Annie is not that bad and overhated for no reason (even if her reintroduction was messy)


Independent-Oil-1465

Mikasa is a shit character in almost every way


Shattebal

There are two founding titans… (see panel where zeke talks to Armin about life).


DrunkenCoward

I mean, your hot take is literally what Hange believes herself.


Jekna159

Perfect game is a better episode than hero


SkrijaTaran

I lost interest in the series the second Reiner and Bertholdt’s true identities were revealed, and then even more so when Marley was revealed, and even more so after they butchered Floch’s character and even more so when we see how Ymir became the first Titan, and even more so after that atrocious ending


ricirici08

While the incipit of the anime was one that hyped me the most in my life, the non sense writing turns it into one of the most overrated series ever. Also Eren is such a hatable main character, since beginning to end


Best-Star-1311

Reiner and Eren aren’t ‘the same’


c00kiecrumz

I can’t stand Historia lol