Yay, I am so late! Granted, I did not want to watch this series while it was still airing. I know that I would have suffered. I can tell you this because after watching six episodes straight, the site I was watching it one refused to play episode 24. I went all Rogue up in this sh*t and after twenty minutes of absolute frustration, I finished the whole series. Ladies and gentlemen, Shingeki no Kyojin a.k.a “Attack on Titan” (for all you english lovers.) I digress, I prefer the Japanese title.
Let’s get started:
Synopsis:
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| Levi Heicho and Eren’s Rogue Titan |
Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a colossal titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind. (MyAnimeList)
Overview:
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| Good-looking… |
The popularity of this series is something to seriously behold. Behold, I went to many, many sites looking for the top animes of 2013-14, and good luck not finding SnK in the top, at most, six. Sixth was the lowest I have seen this show ranked. I could tell you how much I just…wanted to find out what is such a big deal about this show. By the time I actually started episode one, I already knew the whole story. Damn, these spoilers and the a**holes who post them! Thus I went on youtube, and watched the season finale battle between Annie and Eren…and I was scared out of my mind. Man, that much gore. I am not someone difficult to scare and I swear that those titans were going to eat me at night. I promise you that I dreamed of that. However, I decided to pick it up, the whole time anticipating the arrival of the Colossal Titan (not out of excitement mind you: more like get it over with already) and then Eren’s mom got eaten, and my mind was like the heck? the whole time. There was a lot of blood, and I am not accustomed to so much violence. I did not particularly know how to react. I told myself that I cannot continue.
Then I found myself watching episode 2. That’s when I finally could not continue.
It was fear of blood, and giant naked humans that eat people that completely stopped me in my tracks. It was honestly disturbing and nightmarish, and someone who had the ability to think up such a premise is an honest genius. The plot is original, a never before seen, and the shows had as many cons as there were pros. How did I pick the show back up after like, five months of dropping it?
The shipping between Levi and Eren.
I know, I know. People are going to come at me at every possible corners. I am a yaoi fangirl, and I admit, Levi is ridiculously good-looking. So I was listening to some of the steamiest drama CD’S, hoping that this fandom will one day be cannon, but hey you can always dream. But honestly, that is a gorgeous fandom. But it wasn’t enough. What finally got me to watch the episode was the video of Eren looking like Atlas whilst holding and blocking the hole at Trost. Selling point. Two days later, I finished the whole anime and contended to watch it again, most likely my favorite parts. This review will be different form my usual ones. I know that this site did not state that I was watching SnK, but hey, I got too caught up.
I will be dividing this show into cons and pros, with the pros outweighing the cons of course.
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| Ike, Atlas! |
Cons:
If I started to developing the plot, this review would be too long. Thus I am hoping that the ones who read this review, already knew the story AND watched it. Otherwise, you will be spoiled rotten. But the plot itself left a sour taste in people’s mouths. But this is isn’t about other people. Granted, this show’s biggest flaws rests on the pacing itself. Here is one great example: It took an ENTIRE episode for Eren to snap back to his senses in titan form and carry the boulder accordingly. AN ENTIRE EPISODE. Ridiculous, unequivocally. But I digress, albeit slightly, to say that watching Eren wake up was seriously epic. But I was halfway though abandoning this thing, or skipping the episode entirely but I forced myself to do it. The characters were going yadda, yadda while Eren was dreaming about being under his comforter. Seriously, it makes me think, was he aware of what was going on? Did he do that on purpose? I know that the titan form was controlling him, but still. The way he answered Armin before the fire consumed the background and him coming slowly awake made it seem as such. However, I thought that the plot was simple and easy to understand and the long-drawn out battle against the Female Titan was perfectly paced. It would have been funny if it had ended in three episode. The Female Titan was a formidable foe, and for some unknown reason, I had a high watching her rip people dead. The plot to me was unpredictable, I mean the only reason why I knew that Annie was getting ambushed by Armin was from some Youtube video. Apart from that, I would have been generically surprised by Armin steadfastness.
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I don’t know about you, but Eren’s titan form is actually beautiful….
That is, compared to the other ones. |
This show has way TOO much talk. The Levi Unit said one million words before they started to awesomely slash the Female Titan around. I get it! You’re going to kill her! You’re going to make her pay! Etcetera, etcetera, I get it! Get to the slashing already! Eren, yes, I know. She always seems like she is bored, and honestly, you are the only one who thought that she looked alive when she was kick-boxing. Can you please start punching Annie already? Dude, can you leave Erwin alone? There is a battle going on between two goddamn titans! Who cares if he committed treason? Lower your freaking gun, and send your troops to participate already. You little sh*t, the more you talk, the more people are dying! Levi, get your sexy hand out of your sexy coat, and insult-trash him already! Christ, way to fill up 24 minutes of an episode just to talk. Eren, I am so sick of this. Control that titan already, I swear to god. Armin, you should stab him even more. GET THE FREAKING BATTLE GOING!!!!! God…
Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, EREN, EREN, EREN, Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, ErenEren, ErenEren, ErenErenErenEren, ErenERENErenEennrnrnrnrnrnrrnnEREN!!!! Heavenly kryst, Mikasa we get it! We get it, you have to protect him! I am sorry, but do you speak Japanese?? Can you say any other thing?? This girl, per episode, is 99.999999999999999999% Eren and 0.00000000000000000000000000000001% talk. I don’t know, but Mikasa is so annoying with her Eren mindset, that if she is a badass, I don’t see it. All I know is that some scenes, she was shown to move faster than others, slash and survive the Female Titan, she was the top of her class and has extreme natural talent, and happens to be very pretty. Even Jean is jealous of Eren… Ockay, maybe she is a strong female lead, but I can’t stand her. If she can’t say anything other than Eren almost all the freaking time, when she actually says something relevant, it sound like ERENNNN too. I am not biased, nor cruel. I can understand the fact that he means a lot to her, as he is the only family he has left. But, oh boy, I can’t tell you how much I rejoiced when Eren told her to freaking back off. She is indispensable, I understand, but this girl needs serious character development. Even the people who died had had more personality than her!
I wish that the titans had pants. Just saying…
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| Thats a lot of abs… |
Currently disclosable information or information we can share so far… Picture this: Eren takes on Rogue Titan mode, and is running at the Female Titan at full speed,,,, and then BAM! Some weird ass information NO ONE cares about! There are some instances where I don’t mind them that much, but in moments like this? When the battle is finally picking up? I don’t like that!
One other problem that I had with this show are some of the still shots. The still shots are used to cause effect sometimes in this show. For example, when they were filling up their gas tanks. I almost panicked because that moment of bliss could have been shattered at any moment. Those scenes I don’t mind . Then there are the ones that I likes a little less. I mean, titans are eating the Female Titan and the slayers are going in all at once for a total bloodbath and at that very moment you decide to not animate this fully??? No. Just…no. People freezing at the most crucial moments. I am done.
Pros;
Like I promised, the pros will be longer. This show does live up this its hype. I am not someone who succombs to popularity, but in this case, I don’t regret my choice. This show is recommendable. I was starting to get tired of seeing boobs flying in my face all the time and panty shots at the most inopportune moments. This show was a breath of fresh air in this case. I like my characters wearing clothes. No stupid love triangles, No stupid jokes during battles (oh gawd, how can I take a fight seriously in this case??) and no harems.I cannot say it does not use the usual shonen genre clichés, but they are barely noticeable to me. Watching these guys use 3DMG, is hands down, one of the best *things* (I am lacking words, it’s that good) that I have seen on TV period. It seriously is. Watching them sail through the air, breaking the laws of physics, slashing at titans… you feel like you are in the scene. The camera angles captures the sharp turns and you even feel like the air is running through your hair. Isayama is as much as a genius as Nisio Isin. I think I found a manga author I like and respect.
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| My favorites, plus Jean. |
This show possesses incredible character development. Even Jean questioned his own character development. I am serious. The characters are not only amazing, but watching them grow is an enchanting experience. I LOVE Eren. He is my second favorite. I know people find him annoying, your typical shonen hero, but he takes hotheadedness to a whole new level. That level is so massive, the scale had him flaming while fighting Annie in episode 25. His passion, his fierce determination, his good looks… How can you not love them all? I cannot say that Eren does not have own faults, but his diligence and personality are easy to relate to. He grows psychotic (gleeful jump) when his rage climaxes and he couldn’t even control his own shaking hand in episode 21. No one is perfect and the characters of this show are full of flaws. Can I obsess over Yuki Kaji?? My goodness, his seiyuu spectacular! He captures Eren so perfectly, every emotion, every scene, every word! Listening to Eren rage is an absolute pleasure and Yuki’s voice is seriously beautiful. This man is the reason why I want to be a Japanese actor. Simply, unerringly, perfect. Usually, nothing is perfect to me, but in this case? Unquestioned. So, I already stated how much I 92% dislike Mikasa… Ah, yes!
Jean Kirschtein! This guy had the most prominent development of the whole show! He even wondered: he should have been the one slacking off like the Military Police during the battle within Wall Sina. But, what happened? You grew, that’s what happened. He is my third most favorite. This guy was a self-centered, jealous freak who wanted to be safe at all cost, as if the SnK world had any “safety.” He is very pragmatic, down-to-earth and he went from a coward to the one scoffing the ones lying around doing nothing. He cares about other people, and even Reiner told him that he was not himself anymore. I praise this guy’s growth. Watching him argue with quarrel with Eren at first was frankly entertaining and watching him accept Eren ideals was another win. Jean can understand other people well, as noted by the *cough* Marco and is a natural leader, which is not just informed. N.B: I coughed at Marco, because this guy seemed so… I don’t know what his point was. Eren and Jean were visibly distraught at his death, thus I take his horrid departure seriously.
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| Why would someone do that?? |
My fourth favorite? Armin. I am so exhausted, so sick of other people bashing Armin. I don’t know about these people, but if everyone was a badass in this show every thing would fall flat. If everyone was strong, and had brawns, had too much muscle. I never would have lasted all 25 episodes of this thing. Armin is weak, yes, but incongruously smart. He is so smart, it’s absurd. His voice actress, (yes actress) is effin spectacular. Armin grows from a whiny little c*nt to someone that is very important, I repeat, very important, in this show. For three quarters of it all, if Armin had not been around, the plot would have gone nowhere. AND THAT SALUTE!! My goodness, I fell in love with him that very scene! I have never seen anything so moving and he (and the actress) nailed it perfectly. If it had not been Armin, the Female Titan would never have been discovered, the soldiers would have died form lack of gas, Trost would never have been taken back. Armin is also female, and all those who ever realised it since episode 1 are incredibly stupid. This is not a no offence case. I did not find Armin to be feminine after all. The trio, Armin, Mikasa, and Eren, is perfect. Eren, hotheaded brave and stupid, Mikasa, the Eren Badass, and Armin the cute, meek and stupidly smart boy. Well done, Isayama, well done.
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This escape scene was the best. This is just
random by the way… |
My number one? Why, Levi of course! You always save the best for last, isn’t that right, Levi, Revi, Rivaille, and Levaille? Levi is cool, has a badass nonchalance about him, is small, smart, and is the world’s strongest soldier. He has nearly one expression, is violent, irritable, hard to approach, abrasive, and has a cutting tongue. I read somewhere that Isayama had planned to make him ugly, but he failed deeply. The Slant Eyes is very beautiful. In terms of handsomeness, he stands 20% above Eren. He knows that he is powerful, but his arrogance does not define him. To those who say that he does not care, and has no feelings, you are my favorite laughing stocks. The amount of emotion that I had observed emanating from Levi round him fairly as a character. He cares deeply about his comrades, and the death of his Unit took a toll on it. I realised it when he took out his fury on the Female Titan.
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| God, my ovaries. Levi, how do you do it? |
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Yea, this scene might have sparked the
whole Eren X Levi fandom |
He handed Ivan’s emblem to one of his guards for comfort, has shown a strong sense of responsibility towards Eren, going as far as to beat him to save his life and later asking for forgiveness. People said that he had no character development, but apparently he has a horrid back-story, thus his personality in the show is his character development. I like his insults. They suit him well. What did you want LEVI to speak like? If he was trained by the Thoat-Slasher Kaney (is that how you spell it?) I am pretty sure the the Kaney of the Throat-Slashing did not have a flowery speech. I don’t know, but if people love Senjogahara’s abusive tongue, what makes Levi so different? Corporal, (yes, corporal! Heichou means “corporal”)is a badass and him grabbing air spinning like a freaking beyblade is something to behold! I still wish for the whole Levi X Eren shipping…
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| WTF??? |
Other thoughts: This show is incredibly depressing. Humanity is pushed near the brink of extinction, and every victory is pyrrhic. You can steel rejoice though. No matter how gigantic their efforts, the victories are so eager, that when they do happen you rejoice like you have never done before. Those titans are seriously disgusting here are my thoughts on some of them. I just have to get that out of the way:
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| Irrelevancy…. |
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| No comment. |
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Out of all the titans in the show, this one scares
me the most! |
Phew, with that out of the way, (and Levi’s cleaning sexiness) this show raises so many questions and has such deep meaning that I don’t remember all of them. But there is a point raised that I cannot over look: the only way to fight a monster is to throw aside your own humanity. Which is absolutely true. You cannot communicate with an Italian speaking English, nor can you speak with a German using Indian. If you want to have your point across. you must speak the language of the monster. Commander Erwin Smith is a terrific example, right alongside Eren. Erwin is chilling: he is willing to sacrifice so many to arrive at the best possible solution, and Commander Pixis is aware that he can send hundredths to their deaths, going as far as to call himself a murderer. This show also shows that it is not only the titans that are the bad guys. The humans can be just as ominous. You can say that in this case, we don’t fully know who the bad guys. Just like we never know who wins, or when someone will truly lose. The emotions are so realistic, and there isn’t a moment where you can’t relate to the other characters. The humans shows that they can be as monstrous as the titans. The government is willing to send out hundreds to their deaths, because there were too many mouths to feed. Even while the humans are so close to extinction, they are far from working together. Their fears are so rampant they can stop thinking entirely, and bring about actions that can have even bigger repercussions.
Shingeki no Kyojin is a masterpiece. It does what no other show had ever had the guts to do. It is a beautiful masterpiece with a lot to offer. Please, please watch this show. the last paragraph is not developed, because I want y’all to watch this show. I had no regrets and enjoyed every moment.
This show receives a 9/10.
However, to say that it is one of my favorites? Nah, that would be pushing it!
N.B: this post is missing crucial information for a reason. I refuse to make it longer than it already is. I am missing the animation and the soundtrack because I am aiming for a fangirling post. Come back for that one!
Mindless Otakus 