Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind der Jäger!
It seems that every year, there's an anime that no matter where you go, people are talking about in constantly. In 2011, it was the flawed but very good Mirai Nikki with it's surreal characters and it' intense plot. In 2012 it was Sword Art Online, which I'll give my opinions on another time since I have a LOT to say about that one. 2013 was no different, this year also had an extremely popular anime in the form of the animated adaptation of Hajime Isymiya's manga epic series Shingeki no Kyojin...or if you speak English Attack on Titan. What makes SNK stand out so much from every other anime? Well, let's jump right in!
Shingeki no Kyojin takes place in a fantasy world where humans are on the verge of being wiped out by beings simply known as Titans. Titans are shaped like Humans except they have no sexual organs, they have no need to eat or sleep and are - as the name suggests - very tall. They seem to have a driving goal to wipe out Humans, although most Titans bear no intelligence. Mankind has dwindled it's population to just over two million, and hey are forced to cage themselves behind three extremely large walls: The Outer Wall Maria, the Middle Wall Rose, and the Innermost Wall, Wall Sina. In the year 845, 100 years of living peacefully behind these walls, a 50 meter Colossal Titan appears out of nowhere and demolishes a Part of Wall Maria. Watching these horrific scenes are three pre-teen children: Armin Artlert, Mikasa Ackerman and the series main protagonist, Eren Jaeger (or, if you're a hardcore Manga fan, Yaeger). Eren's mother is devoured before his eyes, and he vows to kill all of the titans out of revenge of this event. The story follows our characters as they journey through training in the 104th Military Cadet's Squad all the way upto their graduation into the Survey Corps, Mankinds elite squad who are adept at Titan killing. In order to kill Titans, one must be proficient at using the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, a device that "allows humans - who normally move in two dimensions - to assume three dimensional movement" since their only weak spot is the napes of their neck. The story is filled with angst, betrayal, death, despair and some truly captivating moments especially towards the show's later half.
The characters in Shingeki no Kyojin are something that in of themselves are worth mentioning, although I am going to say this now: Don't get attached to anyone. People die in Shingeki no Kyojin.
People die a fuck tonne of lot.
George R.R Martin (The author of the Game of Thrones saga, for those inept with literature) would tell the writers to seriously calm the fuck down with the death toll in this show. It's safe to say that if you're the person who get's attached to fictional characters easily...Shingeki no Kyojin is not for you. But anyways, the characters themselves are pretty diverse. For the sake of keeping this review a modest length, I'm only going to mention the three main characters.
Armin Artlert
Armin is the typical weak character that's there to make the other main characters look bad ass, but unlike other show's where they stay weak and never develop, Armin becomes gradually stronger and becomes a real hero by the end. He's also - without a doubt - the most intelligent person in the whole series, with the possible exception of Captain Levi (who is mankind's greatest soldier). He's calculative, his predictions are spot on and his tactics more often than not succeed. His 3DMG Skills aren't the best, but he managed to graduate into the Survey Corps so he obviously has some talent with the device.
Mikasa Ackerman
Just let this picture show off why I love Mikasa so damn much
Yeeeeaaaah. She's borderline Yandere at times when it comes to her unnatural obsession with Eren, who she grew up with as her parents were killed right before her eyes. Mikasa is a Goddess of Awesome and Win. She has practically no flaws, get's top in her class with no effort and is extremely adept at killing Titans, even rivaling Mankind's elite.
Eren Jaeger
Eren is a typical revenge-lusting main character, although this aspect is sort of subdued by the time he joins the Survey Corps. He's always getting into fights, he barely got in the 5th best spot in his class and his 3DMG skills aren't shown off a lot. However, Eren's defining trait is his drive and determination to wipe out the Titans. He is never distracted easily and is alwyas focused, and I like that in these kind of characters.
Animaion-wise, Shingeki no Kyojin's art style is reminiscent of medieval Europe (particularly Germany, hence why many people have Saxon names) and it's very well stylized. All characters are outlined in a thick black which make them stand out from the brilliantly drawn backgrounds. The action scenes - particularly the ones that use the Three-Dimensional Manuver Gear - are fantastic. I have to give full credit to the animation team over at STUDIO WIT who took this on as their first project, and this is some result to come out with.
The music in the show is fantastic too. It's got very few tracks sure and is repeated a lot, but I'd rather one good piece of music that's constantly played over a few mediocre pieces that are just there for the sake of variety. The show's first opening.....do I need to comment on how epic it is, do I really have to? Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen (Guren no Yumiya) is absolutely amazing and you really gotta see it. The second opening is pretty good too, although it lacks the sense of urgency the first one has
Overall well....what can I say? Shingeki no Kyojin is a fantastic anime. It's filled with drama, badassery and so much emotional heartbreak that it deserves every praise I could give it. If I could find any flaw at all, it would be the replacement of the first opening, but that's not a flaw, that's just a nit pick. The anime is brilliantly scored and animated and you should definetely give it a view. It's available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation's website.
Story: 10
Characters: 10
Animation: 10
Sound: 9
Personal Enjoyment: 10
SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN (ATTACK ON TITAN) FINAL SCORE: 9.5/10
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