Attack on Titan (probably) could have used more characters
For context I am 100% on board with cutting out excessive characters, reducing bloat, and streamlining the narrative. A lot of yall need an editor. If your plot revolves around looking for a McGuffin then we can get by with as few as 3 characters. See Indiana Jones.
In AOT, the author has two different plotlines in which the protagonists overthrown the government, once in Season 3 and once in Season 4. A plot involving a revolution to overthrow the government needs a lot more than 3 characters. These are incredibly complex, detailed plot points occurring across different locations with multiple moving parts.
The audience needs to see the perspective of the military, the existing government, politicians, journalists, and some stand in for the common people. And there should also be some perspective from neutral or apolitical observers who have no truck with either side.
AOT Season 1 has the fewest characters but it also has the simplest plot. S1 spends 9 episodes moving a rock from one spot to another. This is not a complex political thriller that requires a deep bench. Season 2 introduces more characters and ups the complexity but it holds together fine. Season 3 is where the balance starts to wobble.
AOT season 3 just barely pulls this off. Season 3 is fucking amazing and a monument to tight storytelling. But the narrative is held together with duct take and paper clips. The uprising is so tight that if we were to remove a single character from the storyboard then the logic starts to fall apart. There is literally no wasted space and no wasted characters.
Then we get to Season 4 and run through the same revolution plotline but this time it is Floch Forster overthrowing the government. You can tell that AOT has such a weak bench when they need to call on a nothing character like Floch Forster to pull off a coup. Floch is not a real character. He has no depth, no backstory, no buildup, no arc. He might as well be a cardboard cutout. AOT needed probably 3 or 4 extra well fleshed out characters with detailed backstories working in unison to pull off this coup and make it believable. It is just half baked. You can't tell me this nothing bozo and a few of his mates successfully arrested the government and replaced it with a new one.
How did the people respond to this coup? How are the elites responding to the coup? Why can't Historia stop Floch? We do get a bit of perspective from the military and how they are responding to the coup but a bit more POV characters would have been nice.
Are there historical examples of nothing randos overthrowing the government? Yeah. A Bulgarian pig farmer named Ivaylo overthrew the Bulgarian King and made himself King (1278-1281). In 1294, a hermit living in a cave became the Pope Celestine V and the most powerful person in Europe. It does happen. But in works of fiction, major plot points must be enacted by major characters.
TLDR: By Season 4, the complexity of AOT's plot outstrips the depth of its cast. The author leaves major plot points in the hands of C or D tier characters we know next to nothing about because the bench is so shallow.
In AOT, the author has two different plotlines in which the protagonists overthrown the government, once in Season 3 and once in Season 4. A plot involving a revolution to overthrow the government needs a lot more than 3 characters. These are incredibly complex, detailed plot points occurring across different locations with multiple moving parts.
The audience needs to see the perspective of the military, the existing government, politicians, journalists, and some stand in for the common people. And there should also be some perspective from neutral or apolitical observers who have no truck with either side.
AOT Season 1 has the fewest characters but it also has the simplest plot. S1 spends 9 episodes moving a rock from one spot to another. This is not a complex political thriller that requires a deep bench. Season 2 introduces more characters and ups the complexity but it holds together fine. Season 3 is where the balance starts to wobble.
AOT season 3 just barely pulls this off. Season 3 is fucking amazing and a monument to tight storytelling. But the narrative is held together with duct take and paper clips. The uprising is so tight that if we were to remove a single character from the storyboard then the logic starts to fall apart. There is literally no wasted space and no wasted characters.
Then we get to Season 4 and run through the same revolution plotline but this time it is Floch Forster overthrowing the government. You can tell that AOT has such a weak bench when they need to call on a nothing character like Floch Forster to pull off a coup. Floch is not a real character. He has no depth, no backstory, no buildup, no arc. He might as well be a cardboard cutout. AOT needed probably 3 or 4 extra well fleshed out characters with detailed backstories working in unison to pull off this coup and make it believable. It is just half baked. You can't tell me this nothing bozo and a few of his mates successfully arrested the government and replaced it with a new one.
How did the people respond to this coup? How are the elites responding to the coup? Why can't Historia stop Floch? We do get a bit of perspective from the military and how they are responding to the coup but a bit more POV characters would have been nice.
Are there historical examples of nothing randos overthrowing the government? Yeah. A Bulgarian pig farmer named Ivaylo overthrew the Bulgarian King and made himself King (1278-1281). In 1294, a hermit living in a cave became the Pope Celestine V and the most powerful person in Europe. It does happen. But in works of fiction, major plot points must be enacted by major characters.
TLDR: By Season 4, the complexity of AOT's plot outstrips the depth of its cast. The author leaves major plot points in the hands of C or D tier characters we know next to nothing about because the bench is so shallow.
Commentaires