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This is my first and probably only review I’ll write on this site, but I just had to say something about how fantastic this series is. Spoiler-free.

Attack on Titan is easily one of the best stories of modern times. It is filled with glorious action, brilliant plot twists, and delves into themes such as war, death, corruption and existentialism.

Character-wise, Attack on Titan has an incredible cast, each with their unique motives and ideals about the current situation. Isayama is a huge fan of creating morally grey characters; there are no true heroes or villains in this story. And this is why the characters are so ... great, because they realistically respond to the bleak world they live in. Heroes must sometimes be evil for the “greater good”, and this is demonstrated numerous times through the Survey Corps. Similarly, villains are not simply evil for the sake of it; Isayama likes to emphasise this idea through the use of flashbacks for noteworthy evil characters.

The action in this story is, simply put, absolutely insane. Whether it be humans against titans, humans against humans, or titans versus titans, Isayama has no trouble in creating massive hype for the fights, most notably, the Return to Shiganshina arc. By the end of every chapter in this arc I was just in awe of the epic clashes and tense moments involving fan-favourites such as Levi, Eren, Armin, Erwin and Mikasa.

Of course, there is more than just action in this series (despite it being the main reason why the majority of people get into the series), and this starts to manifest during the Uprising Arc. This is when you start to ask yourself a million and one questions, and think about what’s really happening. Where did the titans come from? What is Grisha’s role in this story? What’s in Eren’s basement? What is the Reiss family hiding? These are the types of questions that make you so engrossed in the series, and with every answer came even more questions, so there was always more to learn about this strange world Isayama has developed.

Finally, the way that this series transforms from a mysterious survival story into a deep, complex and extremely well-written narrative on warfare is just amazing. A certain chapter later in the series marks a significant shift in the story, and from this point Isayama seriously steps up in everything; art, character development, worldbuilding and drama. It completely changes the dynamics of the plot, and it’s almost like an entirely different story to everything before it, but definitely for the better.

Best thing I’ve ever read, 10/10.