Attack on Titan was my introduction to the medium of anime - while I'd seen a few japanese animated films when I was younger, none of them stuck in my mind enough for me to form an opinion on it. This show changed all of that, and I'd gladly recommend it to anyone.
For those of you who don't know, Attack on Titan is an animated series based off of the manga comics of the same name, focusing on a boy called Eren Jager, a boy living in the outer circle of the walled off remnants of humanity. Outside these walls are the titans, mindless giants with only the instinct to eat humans. Eren is increasingly frustrated, feeling imprisoned like cattle to the slaughter, and longs to see the outside world with his friends, until one day two strange titans break down the wall, resulting in the death of Eren's mother and forcing humanity to fall back even further. Tired of pointlessly losing his loved ones and his freedom, Eren Jager enlists into the military along with his childhood friends Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, in the hopes of fighting back and uncovering the truth behind the titans.
That is the initial premise, although really it becomes far more complex and as the show goes on, evolving into very different storylines that never feel longwinded, but a natural development from point A to point B. I also like how the show gives itself enough time to fully explore each situation - if a battle happens, it often happens over more than one episode, making it feel like a true event in the lives of the characters, while time to examine the information they've learnt and lick the wounds they've received is also presented, allowing us to follow the characters every step of the way, discovering their motivations behind their actions, and with such an ensemble cast accompanying the main players, this is vitally important to making the show so compelling.
What I also like is the attention to detail when it comes to the worldbuilding, be it the designs of the buildings, to the battle strategies, to the nuggets if information threaded through the show that sheds light on how people live their lives in the walls, making it feel strangely immersive, creating a culture inspired by German history and architecture. Combine this with a musical score powerful enough to rival (and in some cases surpass) any Hollywood blockbuster, evoking a deep sense of nostalgia that alone can hook you in emotionally, and some of the best animation I've ever seen, and you get a show that hits all the right notes for a masterpiece.
It isn't completely perfect though - some key characters take far too long to get their backstories a satisfying development, making them out to be far more one dimensional than they actually are, something that is particularly irritating on repeat viewings looking at them knowing the bigger story. Additionally, it takes a good long while for some of the main questions the show presents to be answered, instead choosing to pile up more and more mysteries until it finally caves in and gives our answers, leading to a few pacing problems during the first and second seasons. This is a main problem in the first season, but it gets rectified down the line in seasons two and three, and I wouldn't wish for somebody to be put off by the wait.
What I really like about the characters is the moral ambiguity - while some characters are depicted as clear heroes and villains, that doesn't stop them from performing actions that paint them in totally different lights, be it for a greater purpose, a selfish interest or a hidden motive. Nobody is an angel or a devil, making for some incredible drama in the story, something that does persist throughout the show.
As for the fight scenes, well, they might be what is most iconic about the show, and for good reason. On many occasions, even now, it is hard to describe just how visually beautiful they are, tiny humans standing up to giants with the ODM gear, allowing them to grapple onto vertical surfaces, zip through streets and strike the enemies with their swords. The music amps up the action, and the story carries the weight of the lives of the characters every time they go into battle, leaving nobody's off the table.
I also really like how the show handles it's political themes, the dichotomy of religion and the state, political corruption, indoctrination, military sacrifice and tyranny. Instead of telling you who is right and what to think, it lays out every side, every argument and every consequence, making sure you know that not every soldier is bold and heroic, not every leader is overbearing and selfish, not every oppressive regime is motivated by simple evil, and not every revolutionary is motivated by the desire to do good, another refreshing change of pace from the increasingly stale and one-sided stories of Hollywood or other big name Western productions. I only hope that other storytellers can learn from Attack on Titan's nuanced example.
For me, Attack on Titan is everything a popular show should be - exciting, visually striking and epic, but also thought-provoking, meaningful and full of character. Because of my slight gripes with pacing in the early seasons, I'll knock off half a point, leaving Attack on Titan (seasons 1-3) with a score of 9.5 out of 10, and an absolute must watch.
9.5 OUT OF 10
SPOILER SECTION
Now that I've reached this section, I'm not sure where to begin, considering how extensive the story is. I think my favourite season is definitely season three. While the first season is what brought the show out into the mainstream, the four year break between it and season two lost a lot of the traction of the show. Despite this, however, the animation quality and storytelling only get better for me.
I especially like how in the first part of season three, there is fairly little titan action, instead giving a story arc to resolve the problem of the corrupt government that had been consistently hindering the efforts of the survey corps. Here, we get to learn the nature of the walls and the powers that control them - the Reiss family, the rightful heirs to the throne who pass down the Founding Titan from generation to generation, the entity who formed the walls and erased the memories of the people within them. The races inside the walls who weren't able to be controlled were either hunted down to near extinction, or served the lineage, and the Inner Police control the spread of information through intimidation, or kill those who could threaten the truth from coming to light.
Not only does this introduce the badass anti personnel mobility gear using guns instead of swords, but it gives us a strong motivation for Erwin - his father was killed because Erwin voiced his theory as a child, driving his motivation to find the truth of the world. He essentially becomes a revolutionary, taking down the government that killed his father, but he fully well knows that they knew what was going on, and although tyrannical, ruled with certainty. His coup was motivated by selfishness to serve his own ends, and he may well have put humanity in a more dangerous position. This arc also makes Armin kill an assassin, changing his perspective on what it takes to protect his friends and achieve his goals, and Eren realises that he isn't the one thing that ensures humanities victory, making him more humble and less of the purely aggressive hothead he was before, a much needed development for him.
Conversely, the worst arc has to be the one with the Female Titan, as I feel not enough happens in it, making it feel like the characters just join the survey corps, introducing a load of characters we don't know or yet care for, including Levi and Erwin, who are yet to be given tangible personalities, only to kill most of them off in a forest and keep the rest standing around in the forest, doing nothing except losing soldiers and arriving back in defeat. Only the final battle at the end is satisfying to watch, if only to see Annie be defeated, although even then she crystallises herself, removing the satisfaction of learning anything from her, making it seem like a complete waste of lives and effort.
Attack on Titan Key Battles (Best to Worst)
1: The Battle of Shiganshia (Season 3 part 2)
2: Kenny's Ambush (Season 3 part 1)
3: The Battle of Trost (Season 1 part 1)
4: The Battle in the Crystal Cavern (Season 3 part 1)
5: The Fight to Reclaim Eren (Season 2)
6: The Reveal of the Armoured and Colossal Titans (Season 2)
7: The Battle in Stohess (Season 2)
8: The Battle of Utgard Castle (Season 2)
9: The Forces of the Beast Titan (Season 2)
10: The Fall of Wall Maria (Season 1 part 1)
11: The Pursuit of the Female Titan (Season 1 part 2)
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