Unfortunately, that is no answer for that because it's still an on-going debate. I fear the author may go a "Bleach" route and capitalize on spanning. the series for as long as he can to keep readers/viewers wondering.

I think Isayama (the writer) is a much better plotter than Tite Kubo (and I'm one of the few who still really like Bleach). I didn't get into the manga until I watched the subbed version on Netflix but so far AoT is pretty well plotted. No asspulls and there is a lot of foreshadowing and he says he's going to finish in three years (which considering the series is a monthly rather than weekly is not that bad). Whether that continues to be true.....

On one hand I'm glad that they didn't go the Bleach route and continue the series with filler (which killed that show) until it caught up with the manga and didn't go the original FMA route and create their own off-shoot storylines/ending when they went further than the original material (though in retrospect with FMA: Brotherhood which was the original manga ending, the two FMAs are an interesting experiment in storytelling with the same characters), BUT given they are just talking about producing season 2 of AoT in Japan now it may be 2016 if Toonami brings it to the US (and a lot of that depends on how the rating were this go around). So a lot of viewers who don't read the manga (and won't) are just going to be left hanging. 

I mean it's a pretty unsatisfying ending as it stands. Anne turns to crystal and reveals nothing and there's Titans in the walls, yo.

Annie has always been one of the more interesting characters to me because unlike some "villains" she never shows her hand. No James Bond speeches, no gloating or tragic soliloquys. A lot of her personality both as a human and Titan are shown through visual cues (which the anime did her no favors with - with the crazed laughing at her reveal instead of a single curt smile and mostly cutting her look of horror from the manga-in Titan form- when accidentally killing those civilians in the Wall Church, which is a big deal considering she was fairly cold-blooded and cruel in killing soldiers). Small things like the fact that it was Titan Annie and not Eren who avoided the civilian population in the Stohess fight and her fear and desperation as she's climbing the walls are the reasons many view her as anti-villain and not just a villain (that and the child soldier thing - she did enter the walls as a child back when Eren's hometown fell). The flashback to her father is the only mental clue we ever get into her thoughts and

she's still crystal as of now in the manga

even though she got a visual novel dealing with her short time in the military police it didn't tell us anything new about her motivations (and I'm not even sure its supposed to be canon).

Then there's the Titans in the walls which is a blink and you miss it afterscene in the credits but becomes the next great plot point/mystery in the story (and will presumably play that role in Season 2 whenever we get it).

Very frustrating. On the plus side, I thought the English dub was very good, and I rank it next to the Japanese version in terms of which I'd rather watch. 

Edited November 3, 2014 by Mr. Simpatico

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