Review of Attack on Titan

Chances are, you have heard of this show before. 'Shingeki no Kyojin', or 'Attack on Titan', is an incredible show which was what got me into anime and writing, which seems like so long ago now. Without spoiling anything, 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is set in a world unlike I have seen ever before. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, due to the sudden appearance of 'Titans', which are giant naked people who eat humans. The remaining humans built three huge 50m tall walls circling each other, and survived for 100 years of peace with the titans unable to get in. The world of attackon titan is genius. It is so simple when written down on paper, but as I always say, it is the execution that counts. Not execution like killing someone, but as in what you do with the ideas that you have and what you do to present the story you want to tell. The original creator of 'Shingeki no Kyojin' crafted this world carefully. Not much suspension of disbelief is required to view 'Shingeki no Kyojin', because of how realistic it feels, even though it is set in a fantasy world. There are so many rules solidly implemented into the world and it uses real life science sometimes and ideas too, making it feel as if it could take place in our world. Besides the world building itself, the story is very exciting too, and you will never find yourself feeling that 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is predictable. You can never predict what this show will throw at you. Over the years, a criticism of 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is that the pacing is bad. While I don't necessarily disagree with this, I think the pace that the original creator decided to go with when writing this series really helps to make it feel even more unique. And besides, when I watch shows, I don't usually find that bad pacing is ever really an issue, unless it is just going unbearably slow. But don't worry about the fact that this show is fast paced. The creators make sure that the world of 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is very easy to understand very early on.

The animation in 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is the best I have ever seen. Certainly for 2013 when season 1 came out, it was years ahead of other anime, and thanks to amazing direction from 'Tetsuro Araki' and some very talented animators working at 'WIT', I feel that most anime today still do not reach 'Shingeki no Kyojin' quality animation. Of coarse, that is thanks to a massive budget given to this show, but that does not change the fact that the animation in this anime still blows my mind to this day. Blending 3D backgrounds with hand drawn characters is very difficult, based off of what I know, but I don't understand how Studio WIT can do it so well and make it look so good. Thanks to the amazing animation, the action in 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is the best I have seen in a show from the time of writing this review. It's just so cool all of the time and so satisfying to watch.

'Shingeki no Kyojin' has my favourite soundtrack of all time. Well maybe equal to 'Lord of the Rings'. 'Sawano Hiroyuki' is truly a God for creating such a detailed and vast soundtrack. It really brings everything to life even more and I listen to it all of the time. Like seriously, I hope they paid him a lot for being such a genius. The openings are amazing too. 'Guren no Yumiya' is so damn good. The animation that goes with it is stunning, and the song is just incredible. It is done by 'Linked Horizon', and every single time I hear it I cum everywhere. I am not joking. Like I will just be sat watching the opening and then oh shid well time to go clean my trousers (joke). The second opening is great too, made by the same people.

The characters are very good. Season 2 develops characters much further than is done in season 1, but this is a review of season 1. There are numerous memorable characters in 'Shingeki no Kyojin'. Examples are 'Erwin Smith', who is such a bad-ass that he makes me hard whenever he is onscreen (Joke). 'Levi' is a fan favourite, but to me gets more interesting as the show progresses. I think what 'Shingeki no Kyojin' does best with its characters is creating great character designs with great and distinct personalities. Even though at the time, the original creator probably felt he could not rely on the development of his characters to make them memorable, but rather everything else about them like designs and personalities, he does improve in later seasons with that aspect and I think gains more confidence in his storytelling ability in regards to this aspect.

Finally, what I think the show could improve on is its characters really. They do improve in later seasons, and characters that you do not here much of suddenly get tonnes of screen time and development. Also, I think the world of 'Shingeki no Kyojin' is almost perfectly created, but the story that takes place in the world could have some more emotional aspects to it. I never felt too sad when watching 'Shingeki no Kyojin', even though it involves a lot of people dying. However, again, this problem is fixed in later seasons, particularly the 3rd season.

Overall, what an amazing show. It is unclear how much of an effect 'Shingeki no Kyojin' has really had in the anime industry, but based off of its immense popularity and success, I think we assume it has had a large impact over the years. I love this anime, it is so fun to watch above all else and really is a great example of how anime is not for children all of the time. I give 'Shingeki no Kyojin' a 9/10, for incredible world building, extremely high quality music and animation, and for being so exciting and enjoyable.

Thank you for reading my review of 'Shingeki no Kyojin'.