Considered by many the anime of 2013, Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack On Titan) is the story of a world that lives in fear of gigantic human-like creatures appropriately named titans. In the anime's year 845 after a hundred years of relative peace, thanks to gigantic 50 meter walls surrounding the human cities, a colossal titan capable of even looking over the wall appeared. He and an armored titan destroyed the gates of the walls, letting the "smaller" titans enter, effectively ending the 100 years of peace. After 5 years, the protagonists, who lived the horrors of the attack, now a soldier and with his promise of destroying all titans is ready to fight.
Now I'll rate each category, I'll be as general as possible to avoid spoilers:
Story (9/10): The anime's story seems pretty simple at first; the titans are bad and the humans fight them. But there is much more mystery than that. The story presents you with a lot of questions early on. These many questions and the sometimes slow pacing are the only major problems of an otherwise well written story, which is very grounded and grim. If you are looking for a story of heroes, honorable deeds and happy endings, this is NOT what you are looking for. The story is very direct with this. You will see hopeless scenes of people, women, men, soldiers, eaten, dismembered, chewed and vomited by titans. Even kids getting squashed by falling debris. If a characters gets cocky and is suddenly yanked by a titan and eaten, no matter if he is a secondary character or a generic soldier, he is DEAD. He is not coming back. Thankfully there are exceptions, but these are very, very, very (very) few.Overall the story is very impacting and intriguing. There are high pressure inducing cliffhangers, screaming inducing action moments, pain inducing deaths, and disgust inducing deviant titans. All in all you'll may get the itch of reading the manga when it is over XD.
Art(10/10): If you see the manga it is very rough and sometimes difficult to grasp (especially in the action scenes). But the anime took this and transformed it into one of the most stylish, well drawn, and beautiful looking anime I've ever seen. The characters look amazing, the structures are very detailed, and the sky... awe inspiring. And dat animation! Sometimes I just saw the scenes with a dumb expression admiring the the fluidity of the action scenes. In summary one of the best looking anime of all time (no BS).
Sound(10/10): I've downloaded many opening and ending songs from different animes. I've never really being interested in the whole OST (Original Soundtrack)... until Shingeki No Kyoujin. The main themes were in charge of REVO from Linked Horizon, and he delivered in both openings. The anime is very...ah patriotic? Its just that this atmosphere of war and the protagonist's fierce will and dedication to the Legion gives the anime this unique military feel. And REVO captured this brilliantly with the opening themes. Both make want to stand up and make the military salute from the anime XD. The ending themes are pretty good too, but are not thematic like the openings. And then there is the main OST, the whole songs used throughout the anime... these are truly fantastic. The music is by Hiroyuki Sawano (also responsible for the Guilty Crown OST). This music amplifies the power of the action scenes (which do NOT need any amplifying) making for one hell of a ride. The voice actors are also a highlight, they fit their respective characters and deliver a very emotionally strong acting. All in all you won't have a single problem with this anime when it comes to sound.
Character(8/10): This is probably the weakest link of the chain. The characters of Shingeki No Kyojin are not masterpieces. More than one character fall into the annoying, or the I don't give a f*** you even exist category. But not all is bad. The most important characters don't fall in these categories and others that at first fell in them evolve for the better. So about the characters... some you have to give time, others are just downright likeable and awesome, and others... well... you'll wish they get eaten by titan (and some will) :D.
Enjoyment(10/10): The anime starts with breakneck momentum, you will instantly be trapped by the interesting premise and visuals, although it will lose some half the way, it will come back, and when it does, oh, it gets good. The anime's weakest parts are in the middle but the rest of the episodes will blow those moments away. Many episodes are worth rewatching, just to admire the amazing animation and actions scenes, all in all, you will be entertained.
Overall(9.4/10): This is a must see for everyone that enjoys Japanese animation. The quality of this series is unmatched, especially in the production aspects.
P.S: Once upon a time in the anime watching society, some "cool" guys who claim and are auto proclaimed otakus cherishing the word like some kind of trophy (I personally don't care about being called and otaku nor do I claim or boast to be one, I don't care, all I know is that I really enjoy watching anime), they decided that it will be cool to belittle animes that have hyped the anime community and have even reached outside it and attracted viewers that don't necessarily watch or know anime. Anime's like Sword Art Online have fallen in their claws and were stepped on by them, they who love to step on what they refer to as "mainstream" anime, as if the word was a cancer. I don't know if they suffer from hipsterism or something but they need to contain their disgusting urges to step on the products they claim to love just because more than just them love it. If you see an anime because you have seen the hype behind, don't come to it with you overly high criticism just because it is mainstream. I say this because I've seen Shingeki No Kyojin has received this treatment. Anyone who sincerely does not like the anime (because I know one anime won't be loved by everyone) has a right to say so, and I won't and can't hate on his/her opinion, after all it's his/hers. But don't hate on anime for the ridiculous reason I described above.
