WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Attack on Titan Episode 86, "Retrospective," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Attack on Titan has treated fans to a plethora of exciting fight scenes throughout its run. Whether it’s Levi’s cinematic sequence against Kenny and his Anti-Personnel Squad or Captain Erwin’s heart-wrenching last charge, it’s incredibly difficult to decide which battle is the best.
However, the show’s most recent episode, “Retrospective,” can easily be argued as this season's most brilliantly choreographed showdown, if not one of the greatest of all time. While MAPPA has been criticized for their animation style since they took over the production of AoT, this is without doubt some of their best material, and an episode that will likely change the opinion of many fans.
While Episode 85, “Traitor,” provided a glimpse of Annie in her Titan form, “Retrospective” gives viewers a clearer look at her battle prowess since she was last seen causing chaos in the Stohess District. Her Titan, along with Reiner’s, causes a catastrophic amount of damage to both the surrounding area and Floch’s band of Jaegerists. They can be seen biting, kicking and punching anything in their wake in an effort to defend Azumabito's mechanics, their flying ship and the boat that rests by the docks.
Although Titans have often been the showstoppers of the series, it’s the soldiers on the ground (or more aptly, in the air) that viewers will likely be unable to keep their eyes from. Mikasa, Hange and Connie all have some wonderfully terrible moments, in which they can be seen launching themselves from roof to roof in an effort to cut down as many Jaegerists as possible before their reinforcements arrive.
One particularly memorable scene shows Mikasa’s brutal takedown of half-a-dozen soldiers, in which she slices, impales and detonates those around her with ease. While Mikasa has exhibited her killer extinct previously, this might be her darkest moment to date. Fans will undoubtedly be caught up in Mikasa’s beautiful acrobatic display and her aptitude for combat; however, it is important to remember that the people she is fighting against were her former allies.
This is quite a clever little trick by the episode's producers. By making their audience focus on the action at hand, they manage to manipulate viewers into overlooking the bigger picture of this so-called heroic behavior. Ultimately, this mimics the characters' experiences, in which they have become so engrossed in accomplishing their goals that they cannot yet process the consequences of their actions.
After using one of the Jaegerists’ Thunder Spears to detonate two soldiers who have already been killed, Mikasa stands still and allows the blood from their bodies to rain down on her in a moment of silence. This completely unnecessary act truly reinforces the horrors of war -- a theme that this season has consistently attempted to reveal. While Mikasa is in all likelihood contemplating this very notion, she quickly turns her head to face the next point of her fight, which brilliantly emphasizes how in battle, there is very little opportunity to consider the ethical dilemmas of one’s actions.
The choreography implemented within this scene (and others throughout the episode) has been carefully coordinated and manages to keep up a constant pace throughout the entirety of these battle sequences. Since there is so much going on in a short space of time, it would have been easy to make these scenes feel rushed or overly claustrophobic. However, everything appears to be well-timed, can be easily understood and flows so that every sequence is as enjoyable as the last.
The ODM gear theatrics are put on full display and are incredibly addictive to watch. This builds to epic proportions upon seeing Floch’s last-ditch attempt to blow up the ship that's docked in the harbor. He manages to weave through Falco’s Jaw Titan, parry Hange’s lunge and escape Peake’s jaws in an effort to fire his last Thunder Spear -- only to be thwarted by the gunfire of Gabi from the helm of the boat.
The combination of these stunning sequences, with a killer use of the show’s soundtrack and several sacrifices by characters, will likely go down in history as some of the show’s most memorable, and it’s clear that this is one hell of an episode. To give a definitive conclusion as to if it's the very best fight sequence yet is almost impossible, as every person will have their own preference. However, it will likely be on many people’s top ten lists for years to come.
“Retrospective” truly epitomizes why AoT currently is and will continue to be one of the most beloved franchises within anime. From start to finish, the show keeps audiences on the edge of their seat with its fantastic production quality, enticing battle sequences, plot twists and epic character moments. If this is indeed the best that viewers have seen so far, it probably won’t keep this title for long, as it seems that the next entries in the series have a lot more planned than many might expect.
