Anime Hajime Review: Attack on Titan

Original Run: April 7, 2013 - September 29, 2013
Number of Episodes: 25
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Based on the Series Created By: Hajime Isayama

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Attack on Titan. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

A hundred years ago, the Titans appeared and brought humankind to near extinction. The few remaining humans now live surrounded by three gigantic walls.

Eren Yeager (voiced by Yuki Kaji) lives with his family and his two best friends, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Adler (voiced respectively by Yui Ishikawa and Marina Inoue). Eren’s greatest wish is to explore the outside world. But then, one day, everyone is reminded why they live in fear.

A titan of colossal size peaks its head over the wall, and with a powerful kick, it blasts a hole through the gate. In moments the town is overrun.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin manage to escape the city, but humanity is forced to abandon a vast swath of the little land they have left.

Five years later, the trio friends become three of the most skilled soldiers as they join the legendary Survey Corps. When patrolling the wall surrounding the city of Trost, the colossus titan reappears and once again blasts an opening into the city.

Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and their comrades must stop the titan advance once and for all.

Series Positives

Attack on Titan rocked the world when it was released back in 2013 and is, without a doubt, one of the most successful anime in recent years.

And Therein lays the fundamental question. Is this series actually any good? The short answer is, yeah, very much so.

To start, there is no other show that looks quite like Attack on Titan; it has a style uniquely its own.

The setting, the characters, everything was full of vivid detail. So much care and attention were put into this show, making it look fantastic, shot after shot, episode after episode.

The visuals turned every tense moment all the more nerve-racking, every triumph all the more empowering, and every death all the more tragic. Then there are the action scenes — oh my god, the action scenes.

Next, there were the characters.

Many shows put tons of effort into establishing their main cast, and success has been gleaned from that. A series can remain outstanding even if its supporting character isn’t as well-rounded.

Attack on Titan didn’t think that way.

Every character was terrific; every character was memorable. The leads — Eren, Mikasa, and Armin — had the most established backstories, but they didn’t need to be on screen to keep the story interesting.

The recruits of the Survey Corps went to hell and back time and time again. The constant struggle wore everyone down, and it was devastating to see everyone lose hope. But as a result, it was all the more meaningful when they kept pushing forward.

Attack on Titan was set in a time where humanity was at its absolute lowest, facing a threat that seemed unbeatable. No one was immune to the hardships of such a life. Each step forward was its own victory because it could’ve been the last thing anyone did.

One Titan was a threat, but rarely did anyone just fight one Titan. Ask yourself, “What would it take for you to move forward if death was almost assured?”

Call it corny; call it naive; call it whatever you want; I don’t care. Something in me resonated with this show, and I won’t deny that acknowledgment.

Series Negatives

Attack on Titan has earned all the hype and attention it’s received. That said, this wasn’t a flawless series.

The first half of the show was when the majority of the action occurred. This was also where much of the character development took place. And while these two story aspects were great on their own, they weren’t always balanced when mixed.

Often, a scene came and seemed to be building up to something with the potential to be excellent. And then BOOM — nothing. A character would realize what they were up against and hesitate. While realistic, it got old fast. These incidences brought a few episodes to a grinding halt.

Additionally, although The ending was great, getting there was a bit unexpected. And not unexpected as in “that’s cool,” but more lime “okay, I guess.”

The last few episodes of this series set up for an epic showdown. Then right before it was about to happen, one of the show’s most prominent plot reveals took place. Granted, I use the word “reveal” with a grain of salt.

Was Attack on Titan going for a grand revelation moment? I hope it wasn’t because it was easy to figure out what was going on damn near immediately. This was annoying but not the real problem. After all, this reveal could’ve been shocking had the story spent more time on a specific subject.

Yes, I’m being vague; I realize that. I am doing this because I don’t want to spoil anything. The point is, this show expected you to care about something it didn’t invest much time in establishing.

Final Thoughts

If this show doesn’t get picked up for a second season, not only will I be disappointed, but I will also be stunned.

I do try to go into each series I watch without knowing anything about it. That ideal wasn’t possible this time. If you watch anime, any amount of anime, you’ve definitely heard something about this show.

I came into this series expecting a lot, and I got what I came for. There’s a reason why this show grabbed the attention of the world.

Attack on Titan has earned a recommendation.

But these were just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you advise Attack on Titan? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

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