Attack on Titan is over and I want to talk about it.

There is so much to unpack with this story that I’m not entirely sure where to begin. Actually, I do. Let’s go with fascism.

The controversy around AoT’s use of Nazi imagery and fascist qualities is as intriguing as it is annoying. Lots of people, including people whose opinions I respect, criticize the show or outright boycott it for this reason. I feel that take is a bit too immanentizing, especially in a fictional world full of alternate dimensions and magic demonic bugs that steer the history of mankind.

The main talking point these people flock to, something like a binary “is Attack on Titan a fascist show?”, is less interesting to me than the story itself and, secondly, the impact made by the use of this imagery and the actions of its main protagonist. Like, does stuff like this normalize historical fascism as an article of pop culture? Does it truly impact people, especially young men, and effect their outlook on life to have a protagonist lean so heavily into a strongman quality (“I’m the only one who is right and who can save us”)?

I think that’s a discussion worth having, rather than saying “lol, okay, nazi.” But in the main I’m drawn to Attack on Titan for the same reason I’m drawn to anything: storytelling and world building.

I binged most of the show last year, then took the last year off in anticipation of the finale. To refresh my memory I watched a rather good recap which was helpful, but also a bit illuminating. For summarizing the zany world of Titan in 20 minutes leaves one feeling…confused. How do those titans work again? And what’s the deal with the Founder and the royal blood line and Eren’s dad and that?

In short, the weaving and winding mythology of the show, and how it plays out for the characters of the main storyline, is well weird. However put into a macro perspective and shaken up like a snow globe almost any story can be made to look like this.

I recall a friend saying to me, back in day when we were all obsessessed by a particular island, “Do you ever try to explain LOST to someone and feel like you’re trying to explain the gospel?”

This was not meant in a weird evangelical way (“Hey, do you know who else defeated a giant smoke monster? Our Lord and Savior.”) but in a very intuitive one: talking about stuff that is so divergent from our day-to-day experience has a strange and almost spiritual tang to it. My beloved The Lord of the Rings is much more down to earth because it is, in fact, our world…but when you get into Maiar and Half-elves and ancient bloodlines it can become very odd and hard to explain.

In the end, a lot like LOST, Titan‘s world building falls back on the tried and tested use of mystery, oral history, and a good bit of fanciful mythology. And that’s okay. My delight in the series is not for its world building (though it is absolutely engaging and gorgeous, aesthetically), but its storytelling.

Good, rapid storytelling can overcome many plotholes and mythical exposition, and AOT does this very well. Think about the most nonsensical reveals you’ve read or watched. While you’re puzzling out what the hell is going on, the story moves on without you. You may feel deterred or annoyed. You may not even continue with the story. What AOT does so well is to shroud those challenging moments with huge plot twists and helpful exposition.

So if, for example, somebody has to eat somebody to get titan power because of something something Ymir, I don’t experience any kind of aggravation trying to remember what practical implications that has because the characters talk to the audience constantly. Normally this shit drives me absolutely crazy, especially with anime, but it works well in AOT. This is because the characters are often unsure themselves what it all means – because, again, the meaning and source of a lot of the “magic” of the show is left intentionally vague – but they give enough to each other (and thusly us, the audience) to go on. I never feel discouraged.

And if, even after some expository dialogue, I have no idea why they’re at this part of the wall or what the goal is with engaging a titan, I am presented with a glorious action sequence. I don’t need to know what’s going on if Levi is going all out like a hurricane made flesh. And the cherry on top is that so many episodes end with a cliffhanger, if not a huge and mind blowing twist.

The show also rarely feels off-balance because, even though there are several story threads being woven at the same time, the pacing and structure is just right. We get enough from plot A, probably with a lot of exposition, and finish our time there with an interesting hook to create momentum just before we cut to plot B. If we’ve forgotten what’s going on, the characters catch us up quickly. Is this a lot of hand-holding? Sort of, but apart from the immediate action there is a ton going on here, so the help is warranted.

The impact of a show with this much popularity is important. What does it mean for nerds to show up at a convention essentially dressed like a Nazi officer? Is Hajime Isayama pro-fascist or at least a pro-imperialist? These are important questions. So too are questions like, is Tolkien’s work racist? Does buying Harry Potter stuff mean you’re supporting its transphobe creator? And any other questions surrounding art and its artists.

It’s also important to take what meaning we can from a work, regardless of intent (which, by the way, the creator of AOT has been very cagey about) or implication. In Attack on Titan I see a human world of gray, of tragedy, of hope and light in the darkness. It’s a world full of people wound up in destiny and forced to wrestle with the choices of their predecessors and, ultimately, to fail.

The ending is weird and problematic and bleak and far away from anything we might expect from a mainstream story. F.D Signifier makes the point that we shouldn’t even have to question whether or not a work is even low-key fascist, and yet we do with AOT because even if Eren had only one choice the author wrote it to be so. It helps that the anime tweaked the ending, removing Armin’s infamous “thank you” and making Eren more contrite, accepting responsibility even if he is also simultaneously a victim of fate and the power of Ymir. Throughout all of this final act there is a struggle going on with the characters. What do we do? What can we do? What should we do? And what do we do if the people we love make terrible decisions?

Forget it, Jake. This is life beyond the walls.