Review of Attack on Titan

All seasons reviewed here. No Spoilers. Before I get into what makes this show so fucking good, I will say it is not without flaws. This show has some major flaws that not many people can get over. First and far most, the pacing is abysmal, at least for the first two seasons. The first season, while jaw dropping on first watch, is a pain in the ass to get through on rewatch. It just feels so slow. It doesn’t feel that slow in first viewing but when one battle takes 9 episodes, compared to so much happening in later seasons, it feels like aslog to get through. Then in season 2 it feels way too fast with so much going on. A part of this problem is the reliance on flashbacks (once again this problem goes away after the first 2 seasons). They introduce all the key players so fast and nonchalantly that you don’t have time to register that they’re important. You don’t even have time to know their names. And so when they suddenly become important to the plot, the show has to take a step back to explain who the fuck they are. Or they don’t explain it and their impact is less impactful. Most of this stems from not giving enough time in the training to get to know the cast. Another huge issue is expositional dialogue. There is so much explaining to do in this show and it’s all fantastic so it’s not a huge deal breaker, but there is just so much information that exposition becomes tedious. It doesn't help that even the themes are exposition. They’re really isn’t too much nuance in the show in terms of themes. Don’t get me wrong, the world, themes and characters are all incredibly strong so this isn't that big of an issue, at least for me, but to have your characters become philosophers in the middle of combat is kinda jarring. Those are my three main issues. Other than that, this show is a fucking masterpiece. I would say this show utilizes reveals and hype better than any other show I've seen. This is the most hyped I’ve ever been consuming a piece of media. It’s hard to talk about without getting into spoiler territory but I’ll try my best. This is a spoiler free review once again. The best part of this show is its hard hitting moments, in which there are many. Oh so many. These moments are complete perfection, and you know them if you’ve seen the show. There are so many throughout each season and they are some of my favorite moments in cinema. It gets me on the edge of my seat and cheering, yelling “holy shit!” and leaving me flabbergasted. Whenever I think about them I find myself rewatching the entire show. I’ve seen this shit at least 5 times all the way through by the time of writing this. Sometimes like twice in 2 months. It’s insane. Whenever I listen to the soundtrack, which is godlike by the way, I get so hyped, I get goosebumps, and next thing I know I’m watching the first episode again. These moments are what drive this show and give it momentum. They leave you stunned, change everything you thought you knew and leaves you wanting more. This show makes the best use of reveals I have ever seen. The story evolves after each reveal as you learn more and more about the world. The story sets up very interesting questions like, ‘why are the titans coming to kill us?’ ‘why do they die when we slice the nape?’ ‘what’s in that basement?’ and so many more questions. Whenever one is answered it just adds more to the list. Every answer is awesome and opens a whole new portal that you never even thought of and the show picks up so much. Like the first season that you thought was the coolest and most jam packed thing ever, was all just set up in hindsight. You’d never guess it because so much happens in that one season. It feels like half the story was already told and then they say ‘no, that was baby shit.’ This story is so complex with so many layers that it makes rewatches so worth it. You see all the set up, you see the answers were right in front of you the whole time and you never realized it. This is the greatest show to rewatch because there is so much detail that goes into every episode. This is the best put together story I have ever seen with so much set up and pay offs, so many reveals, twists and turns and so many memorable moments that leave you stunted and will stick with you the rest of your life. And I haven’t even started talking about the characters. Eren, Erwin, Armin, Jean and especially Reiner are all top tier characters, especially as the show progresses. I won’t leave any spoilers but season 4 Eren is one of my favorite tv show characters of all time. They all have so much depth and the parallels are insane. Actually season 4 is just perfect in every way. The proportions of this show are fantastic, they do a perfect job of establishing the biblical apocalypse and the hopelessness, dread and the pure terror of the Titans. The threats are perfectly established. The action is great, the animation is god tier, the music is fucking biblical, the characters are smart, the themes are thought provoking, the story is so fucking well thought out and this show is one of the best of all time.