Review of Attack on Titan

Although its good entertainment, Kyojin is far from stellar. The story, after a great 1st cour, hits the familiar ceiling that all survival anime inevitably face. The story becomes repetitive, falling into the cycle where the characters run, fight and then reflect on the damage. There was no real plot development or revelations about the titans, and no matter how many characters-I-don't-care-about they killed, I felt indifferent. I felt that this anime tried to dress up weak story arcs and pointless characters with the amazing animation, which was sometimes over the top. There were times when I was sat in awe at the fights, but justas often times when I was thinking "wtf, he only bit his lip", or "wait, he only put a rock back in the wall". I also felt there were pacing issues in the second cour, with the painfully long expedition resulting in the introduction of new characters and last minute character development with only 1 episode to go!

That said, I did thoroughly enjoy the 1st cour. From the groundbreaking first episode to the amazing fixing-the-hole sequence in episode 13 (ott but I loved it!), I felt it did a great job at establishing the terrifying power of the titans and raising questions about their origins. I loved how the animators made the titans' movements fast and childlike; it made them grossly realistic and more frightening than if they had just been overwhelmingly huge. The sound was awesome, especially the 1st opening and ending themes that suited the show perfectly!

Hopefully the second season will answer the questions the first season failed to answer and no more time will be wasted by Eren's frustrating inability (by his own decision or not) to become a titan when his comrades are dying around him. Id really love to see Kyojin return to focus on the main characters and the mystery of the titans for season 2.