Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan by Wit Studio
Shingeki no Kyojin, also known as
Attack on Titan started out as a Japanese Manga written by Hajime Isayama, and first published on
September 9th 2009. The manga is still ongoing with over 10 volumes when eventually, a Japanese TV Anime Studio named Wit Studio, adapted Shingeki no Kyojin into a full fledged Anime TV Series which begain airing on
April 6th 2013. I simultaneously stopped watching Anime and writing Anime/manga reviews roughly 3 years ago. In that 3 years there has not been a single anime worth watching, that was until I was bored on a sunday and decided to watch Shingeki no Kyojin because I heard good things about it. After watching every episode I could get hands on in one sitting I decided to write one last anime reviewThe series follows the story of Eren Yeager, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert. After the outermost Wall is breached by Titans, including the 60-meter tall skinless Colossus Titan and the abnormally intelligent Armored Titan, and his mother dying in the resulting destruction, Eren vows revenge against the Titans and later enlists in the military, accompanied by Mikasa and Armin. Years later during his first battle against the Titans, Eren discovers that he has the ability to transform into a Titan at will. Seen as a threat to mankind by some, and as a ray of hope by others, Eren joins his companions in a desperate fight to protect what remains of their society while looking for answers to the mysteries surrounding the Titans, the Walls, and his own existence as well.Whats fantastic about this plot is that we get so little information about the world the story is set in. The show is called attack on titan but do we know where the titans came from? is there purpose simply to exist to eat humans? all we know in this story is that the humans are engaged with a war on titans, but they are struggling to even survive. Every episode borders on complete and utter hopelessness, the characters in this show are soilders and while they may look cute and funny many will die horrible bloody deaths. I have not really seen alot of animes that truly grasp the horrors of war, the show does not shy away from the violence and dispair, no it embraces it!. It is refreshing to see an anime where the consequences of peoples actions aren't just black and white, that the hero doesn't always save the day and not all their friends make it back home in one piece.
Eren Yeager: Eren seems to suffer a problem called "main protagonist syndrome", this basically discribes him as a character who vows to protect everyone, yet needs plot induced power ups to save the day because he lacks the physical aplitude to get the job done. Oh yes he shouts alot, like all main characters and his greatest ability in the team is his incredible mental fortitude. His personality is very one dimensional and is far from being unique from any other action orientated anime. Oh yes he slowly does change but it takes an awfully long time for him to grow as a person considering he is in a war enviroment.
Mikasa Ackerman: Mikasa follows a simular problem with Eren in that her personality barely changes throughout the story. Her constant need to protect her brother Eren is respectfull but gets kinda bored after a few episodes. What she does have going for her is that her skills as a soldier makes her one of the deadliest characters in the show. She kills titans every episode while other characters can even barely kill one. Her personality therefore is the calm and collected expert killer, which is cool because those attributes arent ussually seen in the main female protagonist.
Armin Arlert: Armin starts off the show as your basic coward who constantly is in need of protection because he cannot even protect himself. However out of the three main characters he has the best character development and is one of the best rounded characters in the show. He realises his cowardice is his weakness, but he never lets that stop him, what he might lack in titan slaying skills like Mikasa he was instead born to be a military strategist. Armin has the intelligence and instinct to make batte plans, and so thats why I think he is more important then Mikasa.
Captain Levi: Levi is who Mikasa wishes she could be. He is introduced as the silent, easily agitated overpowered character that you know will only get to have a few proper fights to show off his skills in the entire story. He is seen as the greatest soldier in the entire army combining Eren's unwavering determination, Mikasa's expert titan slaying skills and Armin's intelligence and thinking. Most people see him as the unbeatable badass character, but what I love is his honest attitude when it comes to commands in battle. He respects the chain of command even when he is uncertain of the outcomes, his loyalty and trust makes him the perfect soldier.
The animation of Shingeki no Kyojin is nothing less than amazing, proberbly some of the best animation I have ever seen in the past decade. Watching the anime almost feels like it is a really long movie, the production value of the animation is extremely high reaching a standard that all animes should aspire too. The anime is very fast paced and so the animation delivers on that with camera's viewing behind the characters as they soar in and out of the city landscapes in full detail. You will rarely see a flat screen from a scene, the colours are always vibrant and the lighting is excellent from day to night. I think the animation really captures the intensity of the scenes so well that it makes the whole experience extremely immersive.
This anime suprisingly has a very good soundtrack, the music is always really fast pace when a fight scene starts heating up making your heart thump. Yet when the characters are in a tight jam and it looks like all is lost the music really helps bring home the feeling that all hope is truly lost. The music when combined with the quality of the animation makes the whole experience watching Shingeki No Kyojin very cinematic, the music needs to be blaring from speakers for you to really get that immersive experience. The music always suits the scene and long since the episode is over you will always remember the catchy sound track guarenteed.
This anime was legitimately impressive considering I was going in knowing absolutely nothing about it. I think the story is really interesting and since we know so little every episode has the potential to end on a cliffhanger making you crave the next episode. The main characters personalities seem to take a long time to grow and really experess themselves unlike Armin. All the secondary characters get so little screen time and considering how many of them they are it is difficult to have any emotional attachment when they do or do not die. However what makes this anime worth watching is easily the animation quality and sound track, do yourselves a favour and watch this anime on the largest TV you can find in a blacked out room and you will get an incredible cinematic experience. This anime has been talked alot about recently and all the hype was well justified, watch it now.
Journal CSS by JurgenDoe