Review of Attack on Titan

Shingeki no Kyojin a.k.a. Attack on Titan is one of those rare anime that grabs everyone's attention straight from the get go by being completely fucking crazy. From the very first episode it delivers the message that this series isn't really like any other, and that on a very large scale. Publically known as the best anime of 2013, a statement that might arguably be justified, however it's still not completely flawless. Story - 9/10: Honestly this is somewhat hard to rate given that this is merely the first season and the storyline is hence very much so unfinished, but from what there is thus far, Ican say that it is fairly predictable as to many of its unfolding events.

That being said you can mostly forgive that part, as the actual presentation is very good. Because of the sheer scale of the anime's setting and how cruel and relentless it is, Shingeki no Kyojin has a sense of epicness to it. You can see many of the plot twists coming way ahead of time, but in the end it doesn't really feel like it matters all that much.

Art - 9/10:
As far as the actual art style of Shingeki no Kyojin goes, I think opinions will vary quite a lot. When it comes to the characters themselves, it uses an extremely thick outline for their shapes which looks really strange but somehow works out alright anyway.

The titans vary wildly in how pleasing they are to the eye, but then again that's mostly not a matter of art quality but rather merely that some of the titans are in fact supposed to look retarded. That being said I personally could never really feel the same intimidation from them that I think the series was trying to deliver. More so than not they just looked like oversized, brain damaged humans rather than terrifying monsters of destruction.

What is really appealing is the setting itself. The world looks absolutely stunning, both when it comes to the city's infrastructure and the nature outside. There was even one particular moment in one episode where I had to pause the video just to confirm that it was in fact animated and not a real photo of nature.

Most impressive of all though is the animation. Following the eyes of a soldier flying around the city via cables looks absolutely amazing, and likewise the actual fight scenes are crisp and polished. The various sword techniques used in midair look especially impressive.

Sound - 10/10:
Apparantly someone thought that German theme songs was a good idea to use for this anime, and that person made a damn good choice in that regard. The OST of Shingeki no Kyojin is stellar, with some inredibly epic music throughout, and some extremely memorable opening themes. The ending themes aren't quite as amazing, but still not anything worth complaining about.

Quite frankly there isn't really much to say regarding this specific topic. The soundtrack does its job as well as you could possibly wish for, it's as simple as that.

When it comes to the voice acting you're not going to find a masterpiece in particular, however it still has a quite famous seiyuu cast that don't leave much to be wished for untouched. There is one problem though, but it doesn't actually lie with the casting crew itself but rather with the characters they're voicing. To be specific, for the vast majority of this show, I kept feeling that the voice actors were too good for their own roles. I'll talk about why in the next section though.

Characters - 7/10:
The biggest flaw of Shingeki no Kyojin is actually the characters themselves. Just about every top tier anime will have at least one iconic character that people can associate the series with. However with this series, there are none. Now this is not just because so many people keep dying left and right, but rather there is no single character that is actually all that interesting.

The protagonist, Eren, is in reality very generic. He's the typical hot-headed youth driven by thoughts of revenge while still always putting his friends before the mission. Very often you'll find yourself annoyed at how much of a blockhead he is when it comes to decision making and personality. His friend Armin is nothing special either, being the typical supportive character that wants to help his friends while in reality being fairly weak. The female lead Mikasa is a lot cooler as a character, but at the same time she's also very antisocial and quiet. Ironically this has led to the most popular person being a side character that's not even introduced until halfway through the series.

Point being, there is not really anything new nor creative when it comes to the characters themselves. They're not poorly designed, but it's nothing that hasn't been done time and time again before.

Enjoyment - 9/10:
Despite everything though, Shingeki no Kyojin is in fact very entertaining. It's a very unique and interesting concept, and the tempo is generally very high. Even when there isn't really any story progression it's still fun to watch, since the actual fight scenes aren't something you'll find in essentially any other anime, and they're almost artistic in the way they're designed. Since it's also one of those series that isn't afraid to break norms and kill off characters, you can never really take anything completely for granted even if many of the story plot twists can be seen coming ahead of time.

It doesn't actually have as many cliffhangers as you might expect, but rather the story arcs it has are extremely long. It often feels more like you're watching a movie in twenty minute parts rather than a tv-series, and because of that it really feels like a series you should marathon rather than watch episodic, regardless of your ususal preferences regarding that particular topic.

Overall - 9/10:
In the end, Shingeki no Kyojin is a quite memorable series not because of how good it is, but because of how much it stands out. It feels like a concept you'd find in an average Hollywood film, except it's done as an anime, and in glorious fashion at that. While it is true that opinions vary wildly regarding this show, like it does for any abnormal series, I feel like it's something everyone should at least give a chance. It might not be your cup of tea, but it also might be the best anime you've ever seen. Anything goes.

No matter what, Shingeki no Kyojin has established itself as one of the biggest Titans in the current anime era.