Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 1 (2018)

Anyone who started this season expecting a monster hunt is caught off guard from the opening minutes. In Season 3 Part 1 the blade is pointed not at Titans but at humans — and specifically at those who hold power inside the same walls. The Military Police who suppress the Survey Corps, and the royal family behind them, drive the story, and the stage of battle moves from open fields to dark cellars and council chambers. This pivot, from the threat of giant bodies to a struggle against a corrupt structure, makes clear that Attack on Titan was always aiming at something more than a survival tale. With that thematic leap in mind, ★4.5 follows naturally.

What it’s about — A Fight Moved to Cellars and Council Rooms

After Eren stepped one pace closer to the secret of the basement at the end of Season 2, Season 3 Part 1 tells the story of having to deal with the enemy within before pressing on toward that secret. The Survey Corps comes up against the truth of the Reiss family, hidden beneath the capital, and the fact that Eren’s Coordinate power is tied to royal blood is slowly brought to light. The arc known as the Uprising centres on infiltration, the theft of information and small-scale clashes rather than full-front battle. Within that, the confrontation between Levi and Kenny Ackerman of the Military Police works as the most intense axis of tension running through the whole part.

Direction — Close-Quarters Combat in Cramped, Dark Interiors

Director Masashi Koizuka takes the baton from Tetsuro Araki and assumes the direction of Attack on Titan from this season onward. The most conspicuous directorial choice in Part 1 is the recalibration of pace. Where Season 2 compressed information into a short runtime, Season 3 captures the psychology of its characters and the cracks in their relationships with a little more room. In particular, the scenes depicting the internal dynamics of the Military Police give greater weight to close-ups and dialogue, and this, paradoxically, redoubles the tension.

The clash between Levi and Kenny Ackerman is the most polished sequence of this part. The fight unfolds in a cramped interior without the maneuvering gear, built from fast cuts and meticulously designed movement, and it conveys the weight both characters carry within the frame. The very premise of fighting in a narrow, dark space rather than an open battlefield connects to the mood of this season — a struggle waged in the darkness of power.

Acting and characters — Levi Granted an Interior, a Powerless Eren

Hiroshi Kamiya’s Levi Ackerman is illuminated this season as a figure with a real interior rather than a mere combat weapon. The gravity that had previously been conveyed only indirectly, through the reactions of characters who admired or feared him, is now delivered to the viewer through his own lines and choices. Kamiya’s voice work modulates restraint and eruption with precision, and the moments he swings between fury and cold calm are especially striking.

Meanwhile, Yuki Kaji’s Eren spends this part colliding with his own limits. The scenes where he is abducted and made to experience helplessness show that his anger springs not from simple impulse but from the desperation of being able to do nothing. The performance behind Historia conveys the complexity of a character bearing the burden of royal lineage with real conviction.

What the series says — The Real Enemy Was Institutions and Power

The question Season 3 Part 1 raises is simple: what is the real enemy we are fighting? If the Titans are the threat beyond the wall, this part shows directly that a structure just as dangerous, or more so, exists inside the wall as well. The monarchy has concealed the truth about the Titans for centuries and controlled the populace, suppressing the Survey Corps and even attempting internal purges to keep that system intact. What Eren and his comrades fight here is not the Titans but institutions and power.

This structure becomes the foundation for stories that will grow far more complex later on. In the narrative design of Attack on Titan, where the enemy expands from Titans to humans and then to ideology, Season 3 Part 1 is a decisive turning point.

Ratings & reception

The Attack on Titan series holds an IMDb rating of 9. No Rotten Tomatoes figure could be confirmed. Looking at the series as a whole, Season 3 is consistently rated by fans as one of the seasons with the most balanced narrative density and combat direction. Part 1 in particular draws concentrated praise for its Levi-centred episodes.

Verdict

I give Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 1 ★4.5. By placing a clash with power, rather than with Titans, at its centre, this part raises the thematic depth of the series a notch. The duel of Levi and Kenny Ackerman, Historia’s awakening to her identity, and the exposure of the monarchy’s reality stack up in turn, building anticipation for Part 2 to its peak. The one regret is the reduced scale of combat; viewers accustomed to the giant Titan battles of Season 2 may find the early stretch rather quiet. But that quiet is engineered for the eruption of the back half, and that design succeeds handily.

Recommended for

• Those who prefer political narrative and conspiracy-driven structure to Titan action
• Those who want to understand the character of Levi Ackerman more deeply
• Those curious how the monarchy and the origin of the Titans connect within the larger arc