Attack on Titan: Titans Take Over

Before we get to into the actual review portion, here’s a quick synopsis of the series.

Attack on Titan happens in a horrifying and shocking reality where the rest of civilization live in urban areas secured by enormous walls. In this world, there is a military association. They help shield mankind from dangerous giant beings called Titans. The story follows three close friends named Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert. Their life is pretty normal until two huge titans named the Armor and Colossal Titan break-down the wall of the city. After the kid’s city is being ambushed by titans, Eren watches his mom get devoured by a titan. Years after the attack on their city the three friends join the military. Eren swore for exact retribution on the Titans.

First off, the cast that you are introduced to in this series is absolutely incredible. There is a numerous amount of fascinating characters, all with different and unique inspirations. The four characters that are most talked about our Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi. The main protagonist, Eren isn’t your most traditional main character. He may have the determination and drive like other protagonists, but his anger and complaints towards life, in general, makes the viewer less than impressed sometimes. Mikasa, on the other hand, is different. Unlike other female characters, she is a force to reckon with. She is incredibly strong and isn’t overly sexualized like other female leads. Armin is viewed upon as weak-willed and useless. Little do people realize that he is the brain behind the operations that went down in the series. He is a tactician, not a fighter. Lastly, we have Levi. Levi is easily one of the most beloved characters in Attack on Titan. He is a quiet bad boy with a massive amount of warrior talent.

When it comes to action, this anime doesn’t lack at all. I found the action to be energizing, quick paced, and easy to watch. I was captivated and focused during the duration of most episodes. It was always crazy to see humans fighting and flying around like spider-man. Though I do love this anime, it does give The Walking Dead vibes sometimes. Even if your the main character or not, anyone could die at any moment. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily, but it’s just not a new or fresh idea. Even with that thought in the back of my mind, seeing different types of titans throughout the series was an incredible feeling of peril. Even when there was downtime away from the Titans, I still felt a sense of urgency amongst characters knowing any day could be there last.

The music in the series is spectacular. Every song in the anime was put to good use. I never felt the soundtrack was overwhelming or underwhelming. Each song was chosen perfectly depending on the situation at hand. But, the one track that does stand out the most is the opening song for the first half of the anime. Usually, when you’re watching the fifth or even sixth episode, you usually skip the intro. However, for this particular opening, I always watched and listen to it. That’s how amazing it was. It really gave the feeling of what this world was really like and what the characters were about to overcome every episode.

Two of my favorite arcs were the Battle of Trost District arc and the Female Titan arc. These two arcs demonstrate why the anime is really good. The second story arc of the Attack on Titan series, the Battle of Trost District is where you feel distraught the most. Immediately after Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and their friends graduate from the military camp, the members are thrust into fighting titans as the Colossal Titan appears at Trost District and breaks through the Wall. During the battle against the Titans. Some graduates including Eren get eaten by titans in the process. When Eren gets eaten by one the titans he soon learns of the mysterious power deep inside him that allows him to turn into a titan himself. As for the female titan arc, you feel a sense of optimism at first but the further you get into the arc you feel defeated. Eren is set to Levi’s Squad as an official member. Along with some of his friends, he gets ready for a very dangerous mission to go outside the wall. Little to their arrival outside the wall, they encounter the dangerous and mysterious female titan. It is slightly hinted after we find out that Eren can become a titan, Armin suggests that the armor, colossal, and female titans are also humans as well. Hints about who the female titan could be were thrown out through the second half of the anime that most audiences oversaw.

As much as I love Eren’s drive to demolish the titans, Armin’s dedication to seeing the outside world, and Mikasa’s love for Eren, I never felt more than that. Inspirations are nice, but I feel like that can only get you so far in a story. Do I love the characters? Yes! Do I feel they can achieve more? ABSOLUTELY! I feel this is where the anime lacks the most. Attack on Titan wants you to sympathize for characters being eaten by titans but having little development on minor characters, I didn’t feel anything at all. Also, constantly hearing random characters say they are doomed and they’re all going to die is extremely annoying at times. All this does nothing for the plot at times and stretches it out in an awkward way.