Review of Attack on Titan
The first season of Attack on Titan puts fun into the center. This is a type of show you wouldn't regret binging on the weekend or recommending it to someone. Having finished it I now understand why so many people consider it the best gateway anime, even if it's not their favorite. It's addicting, it doesn't require much experience of watching anime or other media, and doesn't have taxing elements like a complicated world building or power system. The first cour is tightly focused around the protagonist, Eren Jaeger, who, in my personnel opinion, is the least memorable among the main lineup. He has pure unquestionablemoral views, his main goal is revenge, and even the anime says that he doesn't have any outstanding talents aside from the passion to become stronger. The latter cour, which switches between multiple characters and their different perspectives, fixes it, and for that reason alone I liked it more. The characters introduced in the second cour are more colorful and diverse than the first cour characters, where the majority of them are students. But in their defense, they also get better in the second cour, including Eren's mates, who initially gave me the wrong first impression. Many characters will die very quickly, nevertheless, the show isn't as gruesome or devastating as Made in Abyss for example, simply because their deaths are used to convey the omnipotence of the titans rather than the cruelty of the world.
The setting with the wall and titans is a clear reference to the Great Wall of China, where the Chinese also built a wall to protect themselves from the people much taller than them. Let's forget for a moment that walls isn't a reliable defense strategy; in order to stay fun Attack on Titan sacrifices the world building and dedicates a lot of attention to the fantastic action scenes. But the price of these action scenes is high and the anime pays for them with its pacing. The first cour is action heavy, nevertheless, it feels slow because the space between action sequences is filled with static, to be more specific - needless exposition through dialog. There are also summery sequences at the beginning of each episode that can last up to 3 minutes. The situation improves during the story orientated episodes, though. Another personal gripe: the show quite generously places glaring red flags like 10 seconds before that event happens, I understand this is a shonen and the target audience probably won't notice, but c'mon.
As I already mentioned, the battles with dynamically moving camera are breathtaking, can't imagine how they pulled that off in 2013. I also like the design of the titans, who are quirky and terrifying at the same time, and the visual style with muted colors and thicc outlines. The OPs and the EDs are just fine in contrast to everything else, but this a type of complain that it's good but not great. The ost is done by Sawano and his name says about the quality more than I'd ever say. It's also interesting to see the evolution of his style and "Sawano drops" in particular. But what's the deal with the names of the tracks, they are cursed, man.
Attack on Titan is a perfect balance between the captivating story and the colorful characters. It does everything to be entertaining, at that, it sets the foundation for the future seasons. However, there is still room for improvement, which, I hope, will be done in the next seasons.
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Watching the highly acclaimed, popular show way later it came out looks like a hipster's attempt to prove everyone they're not a hipster and they aren't afraid of watching mainstream. But in reality Attack on Titan caught my interest back in 2019 with the announcement of "the final" season. And I thought I just wait until the anime adaptation is finished, didn't expect it would take 82 years. Kept me waiting, huh.