Jul 31, 2015
Of course, like most modern anime, Attack on Titan proves once more that popularity does not equate nicely to quality. I first heard of this anime perhaps one-two years ago, when it was gaining popularity in the school that I attend.
I put it off for a bit, until I began to notice just how this cartoon had proliferated. It was "hot stuff"; everyone had seen it. Skeptical of most mainstream things, as always I am, I attempted to watch it objectively. I remember seeing the first two episodes and the recap, but I might have seen more. In any case, my affair with this turgid
...
waste was fleeting at best. Never once did I manage to continuously view more than half of the series, that I am sure of.
Now, where to start with this show?
Perhaps I shall touch upon the art-style. I do not find it attractive, but I also suspect that element plays to the merit of the show in the minds of the many who proclaim to enjoy it. For that reason, I won't push any further comment about how the characters are actually drawn - I leave the judgement of that aspect up to one who wishes to see it. The true reason I dislike the art-style is the heavy usage of atmospheric effects. The animation has a hazy, colored lighting that is quite obviously an after-effect. I find it to be over-stylized, which is in line with the general overdone nature of this show.
Then there is the setting. I don't particularly care for the setting, but I don't quite hate it either. I find that the plot's justification for having human soldiers attack the Giants at close range to be weak at best. As of yet, I have not seen the justification for such a powerful technology as the maneuvering gear that the soldiers wear. From whence come such powerful motors and elastic rope? In any case, I find it easy to suspend my disbelief to oversee these minor weak points. So, neither the art nor the setting provides too major a hindrance to my enjoyment of this production? What does, then?
The anime has a horribly overdone story line. Subtle is perhaps the last word I would use to describe anything in this series. The anime attempts to portray a tortured youth. And how does it do this? With a myriad of disgusting scenes where eight year old children proceed to gore and murder their captors, where Giants -who, might I add, are practically caricatures for all of their hilarious joker-esque 'menace' - chomp and grind the body parts of parents, etcetera, ad infinitum. I have no problem with viscera or body parts. I do have a problem with it being overused as a "story element" and placed on a platter for us to oggle at. Do the production studios think us viewers to be such barbarians? Evidently -yes.
The hyperviolent, exaggerated past of our protagonist appeals to the adolescent audience that this show has gained so much traction with. Screaming, blood, contorted faces, and sickening volumes of melodrama assault this fetid mess of an anime in some attempt to portray a gritty, or unique world. Instead, I see this as something that an edgy fourteen-year old would look at and proclaim "masterpiece!".
Would it that this anime's only failing was it's loud pandering to an underage audience, but alas, under the superficial veneer of edge and emotion, lies a vapid plot. I have seen nothing in this anime to truly move me or make me think. Rather, it feels like a drug for the unthinking, a mash-up of mindless entertainment.
One thing that this anime has indeed succeeded at is attracted a large fanbase of hormonal teens who enjoy seeing the clustered roller-coaster of false emotion that is "Attack on Titan".
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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