Review of Attack on Titan

Shingeki no Kyojin is one of the many anime, which has much more in it, than what is seen on the surface. Of course, it is more understandable, if you read the manga, because it slowly turns into a really complex, mind-blowing plot, but if you stick to the first season, it is already something great. It is brutal. With beautiful, outstanding animation, not totally anime-style, takes a little from western cartoons, it draws you in in the first moment. Look at the view of the city, the river, the clouds in the sky... even the forest in the rain. If the events that take placein these scenes weren't so brutal and bloody, it could be purely beautiful. The character animation is not that outstanding, but for example, the eyes are amazingly detailed. And the animators absolutely know, how good they are in creating eyes, because we get many close-ups on them, when they want to show a characters dreams, or emotional turmoil, or pain... So, the animation is purely amazing, while the story of the first episode is already shockingly brutal.

Absolutely in medias res, we just enter to this post-apocaliptic steampunkish world, and get to know the three main characters, and we can't even finish getting to know them, when the war feeling, the fighting and the horror starts. During the first two episodes, we get a picture of humanity as we don't want to know it. There are no heroes, we see how people react, really react, when faced with death, even those, who are capable of self-sacrifice, and could have beautiful moments, end up dying afraid. And after this beginning, you end up standing there with the need to watch it, because you are just shocked. And after this, brutality stays, there is a lot of fighting, blood, and death in the story, and still, it slowly changes. There is humor, the kind of soldier humor, that gets it's meaning from the fact, that the army is the main society we see during the story. There are strict rules, hierarchy, but also the friendship and trust between the young soldiers, and that's the base of the jokes, and loveable moments. And we are basically there at the duality of the series: it speaks so much about friendship, trust, respect, need for each other, and it is still shocking, scary and brutal. In the army, between the known characters there are beautiful relationships, but once you see the big picture, the political leaders, and see their corruption, there's the duality again. And this makes the atmosphere of Attack on Titan so unique.

The characters are mostly great. From the main trio, my personal favourite is Armin, who is basically the one, who has the best reflection on the events, but in my opinion the adult generation of the Survey Corps is full of amazing figures. I would take out Levi, but not because he is popular or badass (he is badass, but it's not the point), but because he's character is a total emotional wreck. If you see, how he reacts, how he thinks, what is he doing, you just realise, that this guy has chronical unipolar depression. He has a plotline, character development, and meanwhile, he perfectly portrays a big psychological problem. And he is not the only one. There are many characters, with unique personalities, realistic reactions, and understandable problems. My only problem is with the main character, who is quite annoying, and seems a little plain, mostly, because the others are so interesting.

And I have to speak about the soundtrack. There aren't so many japanese soundtracks in this anime, the songs are mostly german or english, but they are breathtaking nonetheless. I love listening to the soundtracks of this series, because they are masterpieces themselves. Also they help maintain the "german feel" of the story, which - now I read the manga - I understand, why is important.

And there are the names, the little clues for the future, and I will never end this review, if I keep on writing. I recommend Shingeki no Kyojin to everyone. There are people, who hate it, and I guess, there are only extremes in the case of this story: you either hate it, or love it. There is no in between, because it will have an impact on you somehow. Try to look beyond the surface, let the dark atmosphere and the happier moments trap you for a while, and you will most likely end up appreciating this story.