Attack on Titan – Big action, fast plot, shallow characters
It really seems like Attack on Titan has been one of the hottest new anime properties out there as of late. I stopped counting the amount of cosplay based on it at Emerald City Comic Con after the first few dozen. Until only a couple months ago, I’ll admit that I wasn’t the slightest bit familiar with it outside of the occasional meme or mention around the net. Since then, I have consumed both the anime as well as the manga up to the most recent chapter (56 as of this writing) and it turns out that I have some opinions.
I was coerced into watching Attack on Titan myself by some friends a couple months ago (editors note: Coerced? Really? It was beer and anime night. :P). They shared their enthusiasm for the show with me and my wife and got us to sit down and watch the first few episodes. After that, it was over to Hulu to take on a couple more episodes each night until we had watched all 25 of them. The art is crisp and the action is intense. That said, while I haven’t seen it done with giants before, the story is rather formulaic. It’s an exceptionally trope-filled journey down the familiar story of a headstrong and emotional protagonist following the most basic of hero’s journeys.
***Spoilers for the anime ahead***
Hulu lists the air date of episode 25 in September 2013. It’s been over 6 months, so I’m going to talk freely about the whole thing. The plot, on the whole, is compelling enough. That’s the thing about tropes, they’re familiar enough and have worked so well that people reuse them. Eren is, however, highly predictable in his role as hotheaded hero. Mikasa does the cold muscle thing with only very rare emotional outburst, and Armin is the most bookish source of wisdom with the expected lack of self-esteem. Add in the twist that Eren’s missing father knows so much about Titans that he also knows how to give Eren the power to become one and we’re set for a series that’s going to take 100’s of episodes to finally get back to where it started and reveal what’s in that bloody basement. I get the feeling that this is going to be a much longer series than many of the fans (especially those fairly new to anime) may be expecting.
By the end of the first season, all that we really know is that Eren isn’t the only one that can hulk out and smash things and that other people are generally better at it even though he finally manages to take down Annie. So, of course, that leaves the huge cliffhanger question of why. What do people have to gain by breaking down the walls and killing everyone inside? Frankly, I see this taking more than a few seasons to get through, especially given how little progress has been made toward taking back wall Maria in the manga to this point.
One of these things is not like the others.
Unfortunately, despite all of the time that’s being taken, the whole series leans rather heavily on the shock from gore and the trauma of constantly killing off characters that it seems to forget that characters need to be developed if we’re to care about all of it. Rivaille’s squad is possibly one of the best examples of this. Besides a couple episodes of superficial interactions, we know so little about this group (kill stats aren’t exactly character traits) that it’s hard to feel much for them when Annie ruthlessly smashes them while in the form of the female Titan. Frankly, I think the whole series suffers from an issue stemming from the massive scope of the cast. So many characters are introduced so quickly and with such shallow backstory that it’s hard to know who’s important and who’s just emotional fodder to be torn to shreds while screaming.
Even with those complaints, Attack on Titan is a good anime to watch for both newcomers and veterans of the genre alike. It possesses numerous classic archetypes for characters, creates a compelling fantasy world, and keeps enough action going that it doesn’t really suffer from slow periods. Another great part of it is the character costuming design. Even though you might expect it with the heavily military setting of the show, having all of the characters dress the same regardless of gender is huge. The show doesn’t get bogged down in the ridiculously popular go-to of short skirts and big breasted women. We should have known that Annie was going to be trouble; she was the only one wearing a hoodie under her jacket. The other Titans among their ranks aren’t quite as easy to spot. The story is well paced, if a bit shallow, and should provide enough hooks to keep viewers engaged.
As I’ve said, I have read the manga (Shingeki no Kyojin) to a point well beyond the end of the first season of the anime. I’ll leave those spoilers for later, but I will say that I’m interested in seeing how they move forward with the Titan that’s inside of wall Rose. If you’ve watched the show and don’t know what I mean, go back and watch for the post credits sequence of the last episode. I’m glad to see that there is such an accessible anime coming to the fore that people can latch onto and enjoy. If you’re getting a little edgy while waiting for season 2 of Attack on Titan, I suggest you check out Fullmetal Alchemist as well as the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series if you haven’t already done so. Or if you’re well versed in anime, please leave some suggestions for newcomers in the comments section!
