[spoilers for anime]

First off, just want to start this out by saying you have experienced nothing like this. The culmination of so many ideas, plots, ideologies, betrayals, etc has created, in opinion, one of the best stories of our time. Yes, this included all the other shows and movies I have watched outside of anime as well. Alright now that I've prefaced this, let's strap in because this is going to be a very long review...

I first was exposed to AOT through the anime and my first impression of it was, wow, this is a cool premise and holy hell, that's a lot of people I see dying. And my reaction didn't go much further than that. I liked the introduction of the characters and plot and thought, overall, the series was a fairly good watch. As for the characters, in the beginning, they were pretty one dimensional and because of this, the show had to rely on shock factor to keep me going. And in particular, I wasn't super fond of Eren. So for this review, I am mostly going to be addressing this point and explain how and why AOT is so good now because of the growth and development of Eren's character.

Currently, I am caught up to the manga (I'm writing this when CHP. 128 has been released) and all these thoughts I had about season 1 made me realize this is how it had to be. And don't worry I'm not gonna go into stuff the anime has not covered yet. Doing so would be robbing you of one of the most meticulously thought out stories ever. If you're confused about my statement about season 1, let me elaborate; when the series began we are introduced to this edgy little brat Eren. Now he's just had his town destroyed and his mom eaten in front of him and has sworn vengeance against all titans. Pretty cool right? Wrong. Eren from the minute he was introduced was a one-dimensional character whose only development came from his mom's death. But now let me tell you why it had to be this way.

Eren is a shounen protagonist born into a seinen world. He's a kid who hasn't properly developed his emotions and cannot deal with harsh realities and situations like an adult. I'll reiterate, Eren is just a kid who knows absolutely nothing. But slowly as the series progresses, new things are thrown at him by the harsh world of AOT and they force him to grow up.

First example (Annie): Eren, being the edge-lord that he is, only thinks about killing titans but what if someone close to you was one of them. This is the first of many times we see Eren questioning himself. When Eren realizes the Female Titan is Annie, he is panicked and cannot transform right away. I'm pretty sure in the manga he didn't have this moment as much but, Isayama (the author), I know works closely with the animators at WIT Studios and probably told them he wanted this emphasized. This panicked state of Eren finally showed us a new side of his, a more compassionate side that didn't want to believe someone he trusted could be a titan who's killed so many. But still, this isn't enough to break his will and he keeps moving forward. The seed has been planted.

Second Example (Riener and Bert): For us anime viewer, it's been years but for Eren and the gang it's only a couple of days since they find out about Annie and had to fight her. And right after this, we get the reveal of Riener and Bert as the Armour and Colossus Titans. Now for the initial breaking of the walls in Shinganshina, we didn't see Annie's Female Titan but the memory of the Colossus and the Armor has been burned into Erens memory. Now Eren has lost two more close friends and again has to call into question his ideals. However, this only lasts for a second as his rage is a much more dominating factor when it comes to this. Eren, who at this time, sees Riener as an older brother now feels this betrayal as far more substantial than to that of both Annie and Bert which is why he so easily loses control. Another seed is planted

Third example (Eren is not special): As we move into season 3, Eren is yet again captured, this time along with Historia, for the Reiss family to reclaim the founder. At this point in the story, I'd argue Eren's character is still a little flat but he's gone through so much that he's nearing a breaking point. I sure others thought this was also strange but remember back to season 1 when Eren realized he could turn into a titan. why did he not hate himself? Eren at this point was on a fixed mindset of killing the titan for his revenge. So why did he not hate himself despite being exactly what it was he hated? The answer is that Eren thought he was special. He had tricked himself into justifying himself being a titan because it allowed him to do more. Well, after Eren's captured he finally has this epiphany moment and realizes he's not special. He's not some shounen protagonist who was fated to be this world's savior. He's just a kid who's in over his head and has had this burdens of his father tossed onto him, as far as he knows at this point in the story (but not technically and I am not gonna elaborate on that because it's manga spoilers). The final and most critical seed is planted. At the end of season 3, we finally get to see Eren come out of his shonen protagonist shell and begin to take this world for what it is.

Now all these things Eren has gone through are beginning to finally weigh on his mind and are about to come forth. As season 3 of the anime ended, Eren while not having progressed in insane amount is about to as all the seeds that have been planted in him are about to grow. But unfortunately, that's when we get into manga spoilers. I'd love to talk about the manga because after season 3 of the anime is truly when Eren becomes one of the greatest protagonists of all time and makes AOT a classic that, in my opinion, can even rival One Piece ut I think I'm gonna leave it here as this review, which was more of a character analysis, is now stupidly long. My final comments would be please please please read the manga. Eren is a character who truly created a story in which he evolves with the ever so complex plot lines and politics. Overall AOT is a classic in its own league and Eren is the character who made it what it is.