Review of Attack on Titan

Araki tries, but it's too heavy a burden. The staff occasionally offers exciting sequences, but all in all it's just a boring looking seasonal. The backgrounds are effective only until the foreground kicks in making visible its dullness. Thick outlines only emphasize the cartoonish nature which clashes with whatever realism it strove for. What is even the point of photorealistic scenery if it's accompanied by horridly placed crowds and uninspired shot composition? With so many stock buildings, clouds, trees, and whatnot populating the screen try counting the number of hand drawn objects in any given scene, it's quite disturbing. To see this being universally praisedas well animated baffles me. It barely fucking moves! Am I watching a different show from everyone else? Having glimpses of fluidity throughout doesn't equate to being cinematic, not by a long shot. Even the drawing is fairly erratic. I appreciate the epicness Sawano's soundtrack brings to the table as usual, perhaps the only aspect I thoroughly enjoyed. As for the rest, tryhard content that forces every point it tries to get across. The amount of circumstances transparently built to make Eren a victim, Mikasa a badass, and Armin a brainiac is insane. Not to mention the "subtle" foreshadowing which most people seem to freak over. Characters are mere cogs and the pacing is all over the place. Isayama exploits the premise for temporary tension at the expense of planning ahead, a path known to lead authors into devising convoluted explanations and informing them via tedious exposition, all contributing to a rather anticlimactic ending. The wonders of writing to a demographic that craves for immediate gratification at every turn. In sum, edgy schlock.