Review of Attack on Titan

What would happen if humanity was no longer on the top of the food chain? How would we adapt, and how would our perception of the world change? Tetsurō Araki came to answer these questions with the release of his latest series. It is a tale of tragedy and revenge; of uplifting hope and crushing sadness. A love letter to the struggle of humanity and its destructive nature. This is Attack On Titan. Setting: The exact location and time place of AOT is unknown, but based off of the clothing, architectural style and character names it is safe to say that theseries is located around Germany and takes place during the 17th century. Humanity has locked itself away behind three impossibly tall walls named Maria, Rose and Sina. After the outer most wall, Maria is assaulted and damaged titans flood in, starting our tale of woe.

Story:
The story of AOT is quite simple, but not in a bad way. Yasuko Kobayashi (the anime writer) didn't over complicate the plot with half baked symbolism or conspiracy pandering. AOT knows exactly where it wants to go and doesn't waste any time getting there. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying the series is dull, far from it actually; I just find it refreshing to watch a show that doesn't spend the first half trying to convince about me how cool and artsy it is. I knew exactly what I was getting, and AOT never changed that. In addition to the narrative, the actual setting is wonderfully crafted. While removed from reality AOT never strays to far from the believable. Everything fits from a historical point of view; the powerful religious presence, the centralized political structure, the proper use of period weaponry. The only problem with the story its pacing. While fine for most the show it does tend to drag between episodes 10-15. The show presents our characters with a simple task that takes them far too long to complete.

On a side note I found a lot of similarities between AOT and the average mecha story line. While AOT is leaps and bounds over most generic mechas I couldn't help, but make some connections. Angry new-comer discovers hidden robot (titan power), uses robot to avenge loved one, fights others with similar robots, gets butt whooped, gets stronger, defeats opponent, rinse and repeat. I just thought it was an interesting notion.

Art:
I'll start off this section by saying that, for the most part, AOT was animated by a brand new studio with no other anime under its belt. Studio Wit is a surrogate of the well know studio Production I.G.; so its member clearly have experience, but until AOT they had never worked directly on a project as a singular group. So with this in mind it is literally astonishing how much quality this show has. Seriously, if Attack On Titan were a fruit it would be dripping with the succulent juices of grandeur. Most shows allocate their budgets to the most "important" parts of each episode, i.e. the action scenes. In turn this causes most of the scenes involving dialogue and plot development to come off as unimportant and lack luster; when in reality these scene are just as, if not more, important than the ones involving action. However, the animation for AOT never falters; each scene is given the same amount of care as the others. In addition, this show has an air of excitement about it. I could tell AOT was more than just another job to Studio Wit; they truly care about this series.

Not only is the animation beautiful, the art style itself is brilliant. The varying thicknesses of black borders around each character and object helps to add an increased field of depth during scenes of rapid movement. This creates a sense of urgency whenever the characters use their 3DM/ODM gear, only maximizing the excitement the show puts off. The art of AOT is perfect, literally.

Sound:
The OST for Attack On Titan should be used as model to teach young composers about the necessary elements that make up a great soundtrack. While not perfect, the OST hits every note it needs to, and then continues on to become even better than required. Even though all the tracks are great in their own right; a few of them managed to reach the "anime peak of greatness status". Those would include the two openings of the series. Which are easily up there with "Cowboy Bebop" and "Baccano!" (btw second opening is best....let the fighting ensue). Sound design on the other hand sits right at the average mark. Most of the sounds are over used, and were never that great to start. So, after a while it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. It works for what it is, but isn't anything to write home about.

As the astute reader you are, I'm sure you have figured out that I will always watch the English dub if available. So how is the Attack On Titan dub? The best way to describe it would be unique. I say that, because some of the voice actors Funimation picked require a certain taste. For example, Bryce Papenbrook choose voice Eren in a very forceful manner. It reminds me how most people sound when they smash their toe; jaw clinched with a slight growl in their voice. Personally, I rather enjoyed the English dub, but I understand that I am in the minority of this one. I would recommend to watch the first four episodes in dub, and decide where to go from there.

Characters:
In the character department I would compare AOT to the critically acclaimed video game "The Last Of Us". I understand that not everyone is a gamer as I am, but just bare with me here. The characters in both of these are as unoriginal as they come. However, they weave such a unique story and have such interesting development, that in turn, they become fresh and a great enjoyment to watch. Some of the development is a bit rushed at times, but it always comes from a natural progression and doesn't feel forced in the slightest. As any anime junkie would know, that is an accomplishment on its own; especially in this sea of generic rom-coms and forced love triangles. My main complaint is the lack of development for side characters. Some get their deserved screen time, but others only receive some kind of goofy quirk as to be memorable without actually accomplishing anything. We have potato girl (Sasha), bald dude (Connie) and freckles kid (Marco). I want to know their stories and what kind of people they are beyond their stereotypical traits.

Personal Enjoyment/Overall:
All flaws aside, Attack On Titan is one of the most entertaining shows I ever had the pleasure of watching; I can't wait of season 2 to be released. The action is exciting, the story is tense and the animation is beautiful. I give it a rating of Must Watch on my scale of recommendation.

Masterpiece-Best
Must Watch
Watch
Try The First Couple Episodes
Skip It
Run For Your Life-Worst

As usual I recommend you buy a copy, and help support our local dubbing companies and the anime industry as a whole. However, just taking the time to watch it is of greater importance.
As a final statement I recommend that you take my numerical scores with a grain of salt; as numerical scores are easily skewed and each person has their own understanding of the 1-10 scale.