Review: Attack on Titan

Is it all hype?

It seems that every year there’s at least one new anime that emerges victorious over all the other seasonal releases.  People flock to it in droves as if it’s announcing meal time; cosplayers rally at conventions in the same costumes—clones everywhere!  And everyone talks about the different elements of the series for months, forum posts reaching 100s of pages for one thread.  Attack on Titan is one of those shows that stand proudly in a room while individuals crowd around it, asking endless probing questions.  Onlookers can only mingle in the foreground, getting curious as to why this new guy is so popular that they inevitably join in with the masses.  I blindly dived into this anime’s dystopian world to find a story filled with emotion and massive conflict.

Humans have nearly been exterminated by creatures called Titans—giant, man-eating humanoid creatures that appeared several hundred years ago.  Seemingly devoid of intelligence and their heights ranging 5-15 meters, they have wreaked havoc upon the human race, consuming everybody they come across.  A small percentage of humanity has survived by constructing a city enclosed by enormous walls.  100 years have passed without a titan setting foot in the city.  A boy named Eren, his foster sister Mikasa, and his close friend Armin behold a shocking sight one day.  A super titan taller than the wall appears.  The first wall is quickly destroyed, smaller titans flood into the city, and the trio must survive together in what has spiraled into a shaky future.  Eren vows to kill every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind.

A collaborative effort between Production I.G and Wit Studio, Attack on Titan is a 25-episode series adapted from the manga of the same name by Hajime Isayama.  People have hinted and complained that the anime adaptation takes liberties with its source material.  I’m unsure how much it deviates.  The gaping hole that is my bank account will not permit me to buy and read the manga.  I’m being serious—it has threatened to swallow puppies if I spend another dime on my entertainment passions.  Therefore, I cannot and will not be judging this series on that particular aspect.

From the onset, this show is not afraid to toy with the characters’ full spectrum of emotions and to invoke the same in the viewer.  In other words, be prepared for the following faces…

…because you’ll be seeing and making them a lot.  What I came to appreciate most in this show was its exploration of what soldiers undergo in war time.  I was surprised at the depths it took with such a topic.  Although a science fiction and fantasy setting stands as the series’ framework, the themes of loss, stress of leadership, survivor’s guilt, and responsibilities of command are handled in a mature, effective manner.  Holding a man’s hand as he fades from existence, trying to resuscitate a fallen comrade, being courageous enough to carry your fighting resolve into hell itself—these are very real events that soldiers endure.  War is brutal; war is often times cruel.  Attack on Titan delivers that message home with its intense, fast-paced scenes.

Some might be put off by the dramatic salutes and speeches.  Also, if you get frustrated by crying characters and offended by death rubbed in your face, I don’t imagine this being for you.  There are plenty emotional breakdowns throughout the story, but these displays serve their purposes in their respective moments, whether it’s a rallying cry or a traumatic outburst.  Admittedly, I snickered at a few spots when the characters slammed their fists onto their chests with enough force to crack bone.  Given the devastating situations Eren and co are placed into and the great Japanese voice acting delivering them, most of the emotions conveyed are believable.  A superb soundtrack enhances these sections as well—wild tempos fueling the action, or melancholic piano notes tugging on heartstrings.

The animation is top-notch with fighting sequences being extremely fluid.  There are occasional dips in quality, eyes misaligned and limbs appearing jelly-like in action scenes.  Such cases are negligible, however, not too distracting from the gripping visuals happening on screen.  Surrounding artwork is rendered with a lot of detail, and deep lighting and shadowing make the world stand out.  Character designs refreshingly adhere to the rules of anatomy.  Their outlines are interestingly drawn as well, being unusually thick.  This especially stuck out to me with the blonde characters, and I found it a tad off-putting in the beginning.  As I progressed in the show and saw it more, I eventually wasn’t bothered by it.  The boldness of the black lines meshes with the overall gritty art style; they assist in not letting the characters get lost in the backgrounds.  The amount of detail in the facial expressions also adds to the creep factor of the titan creatures.  They have a tendency to send shivers down your spine whenever they appear, wrinkles and sharp, scratch lines for shading around the edges of their mouths accentuating an unsettling grin.

With its plot going full speed from beginning to end, a handful of later characters and their back-stories get trampled, never really surfacing.  Hints and quick snippets of dialogue give the viewer enough of a sense of their histories to keep trucking right along, though.  Instead of the past defining them, their actions in the present act as a means to understanding their personalities.  The main character, Eren, is arguably one-dimensional in nature.  Yes, his incessant drive to obliterate the titans can be categorized as monotone, but it is influenced and modified by the many incidents he goes through.  Decisions made in the heat of battle cannot be determined successful or disastrous until their outcomes come to pass.  His goal and how he carries it out matures and refocuses numerous times as he learns what it means to be a soldier and a potential leader.

If I was going to label any character one-dimensional, it would have to be Mikasa, her driving force only being to protect Eren.  Her protective nature is borderline fanatical to the extent that she appears selfish in most cases.  The deftly placed back-story episode for her helped clarify her motivations, but what I thought was going to be her character development sort of vanished.  Poof!  It stops at a certain point, and we’re left with a person that hasn’t changed for about 3-4 years.

There are instances where exposition is told through dialogue, feeling out of place and tacked on so the viewer can play hasty catch-up.  Pacing can be a tad wonky at times, too.  One example is a chase scene where a titan is right at their heels and lives are in imminent danger.  Instead of remaining on this, there is a pause to do an explanatory flashback.  The flashback was relevant to establishing the character mindsets in the moment—I’ll concede that point—but it dragged on a little too long.  Some of the immersion and intensity of the chase diminished.

I’ve seen people complain about the abruptness of the ending, but it is what it is.  Many major questions are unresolved.  (What’s in the freakin’ basement?!)  Nonetheless, I can’t get that angry about being left hanging, because a second season was clearly planned from the get-go.  The huge popularity of this anime and the manga in Japan and U.S. pretty much guarantees another installment.

Attack on Titan was an emotional rollercoaster for me, and it delivered an enjoyable time that I would gladly revisit.  It didn’t overcomplicate itself, the plot remaining consistent, focused, and most of all believable within the confines of the story’s many elements.  Each episode builds on top of the other, ending with unexpected turns and twists.  The titans are genuinely eerie and fearsome, and the mystery of their existence is intriguing.  As in other popular shows, it has its fair share of flaws, but its expansive world and action provide an entertaining, addictive experience.  I’ll definitely be waiting in anticipation for its continuance!

Rating: Watch it

*all screenshots taken by me

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