Review of Attack on Titan

Dust has settled; the AoT hype, since season 4, has chilled to a murmur. I plan on catching up to reviewing all other seasons of this show, hopefully before the second part of the “final season” has released. Each season feels completely different from one another and this first season made the precedent of the potential an anime to become truly great. Before there was a 2nd season, a third season, a third season part two, and a “final season” that created so much controversy on its own, there was just this single season to leave us frothing at the mouth for more and becamethe most talked about thing that summer. But not everyone predicted it would be the most talked about anime of the decade.

Especially with hindsight on our side, it seemed obvious to me at the time that AoT would continue to be the next big thing. I also thought Re:Zero would be the next big thing but it’s relatively declined in conversation since the release of the first season. AoT however proved to have immense staying power, even in between the four year gap (something Re:Zero couldn’t do) AoT proved to be one of the most talked about show and biggest merchandise producers out there. Despite this reception, watching the show itself didn’t necessarily scream 10/10 for me. In fact it was one of the most lopsided and confusing shows out there and certainly was not the best show to come out in 2013 (that honor goes out to Silver Spoon 🥵😩🥰).

I’ll begin with the positives because despite my rating this is a really good looking show. The lighting effects for one are amazing to look at and it only gets better as the seasons go on. How the sun rays bleed between the trees and the way the water sparkles creates a nice contrast with the hellscape these unfortunate citizens have to live through. The manga has some of the worst drawings I’ve seen in a popular manga and almost resemble that of One Punch Man’s original artwork. The fact the same director who directed one of the greatest anime of all time, Death Note, was able to create make this anime look like this is a much needed resuscitation for the manga itself. The titans themselves do teeter on the edge of uncanny to the point you can be stricken with fear if you’re entranced with the show or you, or if you’re inviting a reluctant infrequent anime casual-fan you will lay witness to some unintentional comedic moments.

The music, although on the border of being considerably cheesy and is a super safe decision, works to its favor in being a classical, operatic orchestration. Not too much of the OST stands out nor is super memorable apart from the OP and ED, but that’s not to discredit it too much as each cut from the list offers something of substance; each number matches the tone of the show and not a single one feels out of the ordinary for the sake of something that would otherwise be heard in a isekai light novel adaptation. The music also happens to just sound better by default when comparing it to other shows at the time. The soundscape is pretty good, and with how the titans are portrayed in not just the eeriness their presence gives off, like a shark in shallow water, the idea of titans approaching the citizens inside the walls is legitimately scary from how the music heightens. Overall a very safe landing for the soundtrack.

The characters themselves are unremarkable overall. Erin comes off like a mixture of your everyday shounen protagonist with enough Sasuke edge to make him super cool at all times (not in an Emo way, because that’s out of style at this point, but like a badass mercenary-type since that’s a lot more timeless). There isn’t a single character that I’m enamored with and I don’t know if it’s because they all feel like a collective that each represent the tragic minds of those in the army or what but no one truly stands out aside from Erin, Mikasa (who is just a silent badass), and Armin (who is just a coward for most of this season). That’s not to take anything away from them as a whole, as they make up a large portion of the backbone for the series and at this point are the only characters that you are likely to root for and have any significant amount of investment towards at this point.

I ended up giving some connotations along the way of the positives but that’s a habit hard to break when talking about this show. The real annoying portions of the show are a large part to do with the pacing and over-the-top nature. In the first episode there is this cringy moment with a solider being stopped by an old woman asking about her son for his response to be him titling his head downward and another solider handing her the severed arm of what is pressured the only remanence of her son before she then begins screaming at the sudden truth. Comedy gold. In fact the entire first episode could be broken down to it just trying to make the audience feel bad for everyone and watch people suffer. The first several episodes feel this way, and although by the halfway mark you are finally seeing a bit of hope for everyone, it can be a bit of a challenge to appreciate if you want something that isn’t just seeing everyone die and get sad.

Like I mentioned briefly on the comedic value of the titans, some of which contort in certain motions that you can’t help but imagine the producers were told to “make these titans funny.” There is not enough time allocated to the military training like I would have liked. We only get a few episodes and not enough of that time in those few is given to strengthen the relationships with every character, including some of the side characters, yet there are close to 10 episodes to just a single titan outbreak. It all just gives off this uneven feeling.

Without getting into spoilers, there’s a really confusing and stupid moment in the show’s logic, and a first clear example of plot armor with Erin halfway into the show that involves a cannon. The decisions made by certain background characters and the ass-pull reveal of a secret in response to those characters is still one of the more confusing moments in the series and not at all something that’s properly addressed from my understanding even as the series slowly peels back more information on the titans and their power. You’ll notice the show does this a lot where it’ll introduce an element and not answer it until a season or two or three later. At the time it was frustrating not knowing why a big event or action took place for it not to be answered by the end of the season, but that’s how they decided to pace the show.

Anything I have to complement about this season is outdone by future seasons. This first season of AoT sets the foundation and lays it out way enough for the greater structure that this series would end up being. I think after this season you’ll know whether or not if you wish to continue watching and if this show seems to pack that punch you were looking for. I can assure you that there are better seasons, so even someone who was not impressed with this season ended up glued to the rest for the show by the second season. It’s a hysterical first season but if you can get over the hump then you’ll probably find something out of it as more secrets unfold and the story can actually begin.