The
anime adaption has adhered pretty closely to its source material so far. Titans are a little creepier with their
exposed teeth and bones, and deaths are more graphic, leaving a lasting
impression on the reader. It mainly
deviates in the arrangement of certain scenes occurring later or earlier in the
story. The placement of some sequences
seemed better in the animation. For
example, the training when Eren and his friends entered the military didn’t
come until much later in the manga compared to the anime. Therefore, the reader knows very little about
the other trainees—Jean, Reiner, and the rest of the top ten students—suddenly
introduced at the completion of training.
Hints and snippets of dialogue act to convey their attitudes and
devotion or lack thereof to the military.
However, you don’t get a full sense of their personalities until after
the first major battle in the story, which could diminish the investment you
have in their inner struggles. With that
said, their character development does come about quickly and in a believable
manner. The harsh realities of combat mold
their outlooks on life and death, making them realize what they are truly
fighting for.
One-dimensionality
in Eren and Mikasa are just as present in the manga as they were in the anime. I still argue that Eren isn’t as monotone as
how people describe him. He may seem
selfish and naïve in his desire to kill all the titans, but he carries out his
actions with sound motivations.
Surrendering without a fight is pointless; dying in battle is no
different than dying later beyond a wall.
His anger gets the better of him in most situations, which doesn’t
produce good results. Nonetheless, he
doesn’t reject learning from others and from his mistakes. He recognizes that he is a soldier and takes
orders. On the other hand, Mikasa is a
pushy type of character. Her incessant
need to be by Eren’s side is obsessive. Although
I find her attitude annoying, the reasons behind her obsession in protecting
Eren are explained. Her past is one of
my favorite scenes in the series. We
learn more about her cold, calculating demeanor, and we see some crazy actions
by younger Eren. While the main two of
the trio are physically strong and capable, blond-haired Armin is the weakest
of the group. He excels in the academic
portion of training but falters in actual combat capabilities. His development seems the most drastic out of
the trio; his self-confidence growing as his friends start to rely on his
strategic prowess.
Even
though some characters rub me the wrong way at times, personalities in general
are conveyed better in this. Their inner
thoughts are easier to explore on the page, while such instances would bog down
fast-moving animation. The reader is
able to go through the story at his/her own pace, and the progression of key
plot points feel fluid and precise. The
amount of near constant action may not be for everyone, though. Respites from tragedy are over in a few
pages, and the next life-threatening incident rapidly commences. The artwork could be described as a rough but
detailed style. An overdramatic feel is
attained through bold scratches and ragged edges, which add to facial
expressions and to a particular scene’s intensity. Hands and limbs can be a tad derpy looking occasionally with their proportions being inaccurate.
Written sound effects sprawl across the page, filling up panels with
little background art. Isayama seems to
focus on giving his characters more detail than surrounding art. That’s not to say that his backgrounds aren’t
easy on the eyes, but they’re much plainer than what would be expected.
Rating: Read it
*all images from ANN
Unsure how the rating system works? Look here.
No comments:
Post a Comment