Review of Attack on Titan

Obviously I'm a little late to the party, but since the hype has long died down, I think it's be good to come back to this series, re watch, and give a retrospective commentary. So if you somehow don't know: Attack on Titan, or Shingeki no Kyojin (Marching Giants) is an anime based on the manga of the same name by Hajime Isayama. It tells the story of the last remnants of humanity, who are confined behind massive walls in order to protect them from gigantic deformed humanoid creatures called "Titans". In order to combat the Titans, humans developed 3D Maneuvering Gear (there's a few differentnames depending on the translation, but it's those giant toasters you've seen strapped to cosplayers' hips if you've been to any sort of geek/anime convention in the last five years). The story follows Eren Jaeger, a boy who definitely hates Titans, his friends and comrades as they work to uncover the secrets of the Titans' mysterious appearance over 100 years ago.

The Good:

Both the soundtrack (insert songs, bgm and opening themes) and the sound design are phenomenal. While there's noticeably some stock sounds one hears anywhere, the roars of the titans, knowing when to insert the sounds of their thundering footsteps, and when the show is dead silent for a particularly intense moment are all spectacularly done. As for the music, well, I'll admit I'm a bit of a shill for Sawano Hiroyuki (Ao no Exorcist and Kill La Kill), I think the man's a genius. One thing that was somewhat lost in translation from page to screen was the sketchy art style, and while to many, myself included, this was a relief, it also stripped the titans of some of their uncanny-valley creepiness. Sawano's score definitely helps make up for this loss. My only disappointment was Kobayashi Mika's insert song. I found it forgettable. Which is surprising since Sawano and Kobayashi are the duo that made "Don't Lose Your Way" and "Me & Creed". Although I believe it may be because of AOT's wide use of lyrics/insert songs. There's so many lyrical pieces that even Kobayashi's sort of gets lost in the fray.

As I mentioned before, the art was definitely cleaned up for TV. Again, I do think this is overall a good thing as it makes it so much easier to see what's actually happening. There's quite a few reused frames and shots, and the occasional awkward bit of CGI, but where the show really shines are in its action tracking shots of people soaring through city streets on their 3DMG's. It's simply breathtaking at times, the only downside being this is where most of the show's budget seems to have gone.

One final note on the good is fan service. Namely that there is none. Now I don't have a problem with fan service in anime, I think it can be great. Just look at Konosuba and Kill La Kill, both of which are among my favourite anime of all time. But there's a time and place for it. Too often I lose interest in an action series because of an abundance of gravity-defying mega boobs, or the ever hilarious "oops I accidentally walked in on the female protagonist while she's naked/showering/getting dressed, take your pick" trope. There's none of that here, and it's very refreshing. Now it's not by any means a great feminist victory or anything, and there is a kind of racist scene discussing selling a child into sexual slavery (by the bad guys, that is). But the men discussing that do go on to get very, very dead, so kudos I guess.

The Bad:

The writing. Both the dialogue and actual plot and themes are pretty rubbish. Very little of what comes out of characters' mouths sound like things actual people would really say, save for those screaming about how scary the Titans are. Now the anime may not be entirely to blame for this. The manga is Isayama's first shot at a serial, and it really does show. Deviating from the manga would probably only lead to massive backlash as it does in many cases, and again its not really the director's or writers' fault. While one of the writers (Seko Hiroshi) has experience with changing up an adaptation, as in the case of Mob Psycho 100, both the director and another writer (Araki Tetsuro and Kobayashi Yasuko respectively) worked together on the well received and mostly faithful Death Note anime. I believe they did the best with what they had, and as noted above, both the sound and visuals were very well done, the two things that really differentiate an anime from manga.

I prefer to keep reviews spoiler free, so I won't get into the plot too much. I will say Isayama has subverted expectations and developed the threads of a decent mystery story, but again, dialogue and themes are a garbled mess of a dumpster fire. Characters are always monologuing both internally and externally about the futility of life and their struggle, and spewing military propaganda, changed at the drop of a hat for whatever the situation demands. Some characters are seemingly faced with their own faults and how they hold them back or get people killed, but they end up never really changing. Of the three main characters it's only Eren's childhood best friend, Armin Arlert who seems to have any sort of character development throughout the 25 episode season. Eren's recklessness and blind rage get him in trouble more often than not, and is only saved through the magic of plot armor, without ever having to grow and learn as a person. Mikasa's Mikasa. She's cool. I think she's either going to be a very slow burn character or Eren's doormat. What will be interesting to see as the series goes on will be how far is she willing to follow Eren. How far is too far? Her dedication to Eren can be a bit weirdly obsessive at times, but it's also admirable.

The Ugly:

I honestly don't think there's anything genuinely awful about the series, other than that Eren is the shoutiest, angriest anime protagonist I've seen in a while, and he isn't very likable. Sure one can admire his drive to overcome the Titans, but it seems to purely come from a place of hatred and rage rather then a genuine desire to make the world a safer place for humans. And hatred and rage make for much better villains than heroes.

One final note:

The themes of the show have been pretty controversial, and in the manga where the anime hasn't caught up to there's even been some downright awful symbolism used. However, I do believe it's important to look at all media with a critical eye, and that something doesn't become so popular without a tiny kernel of something that resonates with people. Whether that thing is good or bad, it's important to understand why it's good or why it's bad. So while yes, later in the series there's antisemitic imagery imagery and metaphor used, the author intent isn't necessarily the only interpretation of a work one can find.

6/10. It'd be a 7 for the ost, but the bad parts really drag it down. Don't forget to watch the OVA's for Mikasa's abs.