Attack On Titan; The anime known by everyone and loved by most. "BEST ANIME OF ALL TIME!" some say. "BEST ANIME OF 2013!" even more preach. "WHY SO OVERRATED?!" can be heard in the background. Out of all those, what am I saying?
. . . IT'S PRETTY GREAT!
The PLOT:
The plot (because MOST wouldn't know, would they) can be summarized as the human race's fight against a threat of total annihilation. To add insult to injury, by ugly deformities that look like men. OH THE UGLY HUMANITY!
The plot is actually a pretty good one. Although it has obviously been used before, I haven't seen
...
any anime recently that have done it well. I have not read the manga yet, but so far through the anime, I have found hardly any plot holes that were probably placed unintentionally. The plot seems to be going on a great track.
One of the odd things I noticed was that was probably better seen with the element of suspension of disbelief is how they managed to go from guns to gas-powered, navigationally-controlable, FUEL SUPPLIED DUE-HICKIES. Your man-on-man guns don't work, huh? Why not try to make 'Anti-Titan' guns by improving the aim and get a sharper point on your lead-balls. You could've probably invented a modern anti-tank rifle before you created that 3D Maneuver Gear. What's the downside to a gun though? Two things:
1. You would have to sneak up on them by waiting until their back is turned before firing.
2. You wouldn't get those kick***, mind-boggling, eye methamphetamine of action sequences (Se graphics)
The plot is very engrossing, as the many questions presented by the plot usually present more and more questions that all lead to the biggest question of all: "What are the titans? Why are they here?How do they reproduce? Why do they kill when their metabolism seems to be like that of a plant (producer class metabolism)?" These are the main reasons that make the titans kind of creepy for me. A world filled with creatures that are superior to us whose reasons to kill is unknown and whose known information is selective and cryptic. As the story continues, we keep getting introduced to new forms and traits of titans, new phenomena, and new implied information. I would hate to be in such a world, uncertain of the enemy on the world in which our races reside in. It can be unnerving, which makes it great.
Simply put, the plot is great, although the suspension of disbelief is sometimes recommended. Not everything has to make sense to the greatest extent. It is very interesting, and is done very well.
ART:
WHAT DO YOU THINK? The visuals are OBVIOUSLY great and very well worked on. OR at least if you don't get too picky.
The basic artsy layout is a VERY detailed background on top of VERY rough characters. The background graphics could at some points by seen as overly done if anything, and are very appealing to the eye. The sketch-styled characters really make the background stand out (EVEN MORE). I will point out that if you watch the anime in top resolution (720p or 1080p), you may notice some mishaps on scenes that they thought could be made AMAZING with the implementation of epic-scaled graphically-programmed scenery that you could easily overlooked. These aren't really bad, for-say. To me, they are fun easter eggs. An example of that was in Episode 18, when the female titan ran directly above Eren; After the titan slid back, that computer-programmed tree top that it split from the bottom fell in the background in slow motion, seamlessly penetrated the ground with no resistance and no ground damage as if going through a mirage, and slowly fell with the ground unscathed. It's minor and short, and could be easily overlooked, but it is a sign that not EVERYTHING is perfect. Still, it was all great.
The titan design was usually pretty good and somewhat disturbing. They are supposed to closely resemble humans if they were left naked, dumb, and slightly deformed. At the beginning scenes, they do a great job, but sometimes they push the similarities too far. For example, what kind of barber decorated the combed back hair and policeman like trim on that titan.
https://plus.google.com/photos/113702628856249834897/albums/5926660628931882305?authkey=CNG_rqTU3Z74lwE
Along with that, what was up with that skeleton-like titan Levi was to fight. They are a little too UN-human, don't you think?
https://plus.google.com/photos/113702628856249834897/albums/5926672649429787201?authkey=CJ3boqb-18GsUQ
All in all, if you were to get really picky, you could name many flaws with the graphics, but the graphics are amazing when looked upon as a whole. GREAT! JUST GREAT!
Sound:
The sound was synched B-E-A-UTIFULLY to the numerous battle sequences throughout the show. I always enjoyed listening to the awkward and abstract sound effects. They all seemed like combinations of techno backgrounds, medieval themes, eerie sound effects, and opera. TONS AND TONS OF OPERA. Surprisingly enough, after the first half was released and people started posting the OST collection on YouTube, I actually got very bored with the random music, showing that the music was made well only after it was battle-implimented.
One odd thing that I noticed was the odd indian-like singing that was disturbingly placed in the background of random songs for no apparent reason. The first time that I noticed was in the ending of eighteen during the tense awaiting of the unknown to show up. It kinda made the situation awkward for me, and nothing else. The second time was in 23, when the super-loud and booming music could be concentrated on enough to hear the indian sound as the camera zooms away from the blonde whatshername. It was extremely easy to ignore, yet they still did it. It's probably just me, so don't worry about that.
Characters:
Here is where I think the anime could have done better, but not by too much. At the beginning, the protagonist is this little kid who always lost his temper on people he didn't find strong. Because HE was the strong one, right. That KID was the strongest little twelve-or-so year old shounen EVER, right? WRONG! He was very weak and was protected and boosted ego-wise by his (what I call indebted) friend whom he helped by sadistically stabbing a sex trader or two who stole her and killed her parents and giving her a pep talk to help her EPICALLY plunge the last guy's insides with a knife. The kid is very hatable, somebody who I halfway wanted to punch in the face for getting hostile to those he deemed weak.
At the ending of the first episode, his emotions turn from a hate for titans to a bigger hate for titans. Throughout the rest of the series, he gets a military position, increases his hate, and decreases his levels of sensitization. Then, he gets a new ability, increases his hate, and decreases his levels of sensitization. Then, he gets promoted, increases his hate, and decreases his levels of sensitization. I don't see any patterns there.
So, yeah. The series is centered around a character driven throughout the series by nothing more than hate. I don't always think that that is the world's best plot setup, but it does create for some good action sequences and dialogue.
Also, the many characters obviously do not provide for the best relationships between the protagonist and his comrades, but that is understandable, as there are obviously too many of them and most of them are to be nothing more than death counts. Honestly, one of the things that failed me was
(SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN UP TO EPISODE 13 OR SO. TO GET PAST IT, SKIP TO THE NEXT ENTER)
the emotional connection to Marco. When the guy found his friend Marco leaning on the building half-rotten and pale, he hardly recognize him. In my case, I didn't recognize him AT ALL! No, they did not make his corpse that gross. In fact, I probably wouldn't have recognized him if he was standing up in perfect condition and yelling "HERE I AM" in his great voice. This was supposed to be a scene of incredible emotional tole, but I couldn't recognize him because I had no idea who he was. He didn't have many speaking roles and blended in like any other to-be-killed grunt of the military. Still, I had to look him up on the wiki.
(SPOILERS OVER)
As you can see, I didn't the characters that much. Mikasa's bad***ery made me enjoy her, and Levi and his wife (yeah, right) were my close second favorites, but Eren was a huge pain. Yes, weakness had to do greatly with it. He improves a lot and becomes useful, but his hate-driven character is not my favorite.
Overall:
Despite all of this, I love the show and am sorry that the last episode of the season is coming next week. I loved the highly illogical Maneuver Gear for its flashy use. I loved the scenery for its epic detail. I loved the bad***ery present in some of the characters. I LOVED the cool graphics. The plot is by far my favorite part, and it is extremely gripping. My only problem was Eren and the I'm-a-dead-man soldiers. The production value was high, and it paid off. I am hoping for another season, because god knows he isn't going to escape the you-know-who, reach the you-know-where, and discover the you-probably-don't-know-what, and defeat the you-know-whom. Let us wait for the last week.
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Sep 22, 2013
Shingeki no Kyojin
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Attack On Titan; The anime known by everyone and loved by most. "BEST ANIME OF ALL TIME!" some say. "BEST ANIME OF 2013!" even more preach. "WHY SO OVERRATED?!" can be heard in the background. Out of all those, what am I saying?
. . . IT'S PRETTY GREAT! The PLOT: The plot (because MOST wouldn't know, would they) can be summarized as the human race's fight against a threat of total annihilation. To add insult to injury, by ugly deformities that look like men. OH THE UGLY HUMANITY! The plot is actually a pretty good one. Although it has obviously been used before, I haven't seen ... |
