The first impressions I had from Shingeki no Kyojin was that of amazement. This didn't happen because of its storytelling, but because of the animation technique: the stylistic features are completely different from other popular shônen. It's incredible how this aspect in its own sets an unique setting of a time and place that reminds us of reading an illustrated medieval book full of fantastic tales. Until we discover that this story happens in the future.
In no way this could be a flaw, quite the opposite. The gaps left in our mind that questions how the humanity got to THAT point doesn't only urge us to bigger curiosities about that universe, as well as effectively transcends genre clichés. We're watching the future, and it doesn't even resemble those dystopian sci-fi stuffed with robots, startling skyscrapers and pollution occupying the whole frame. Yet, it's still a dystopian one.
And if Shingeki no Kyojin kept setting that diegetic cosmos through this, I would be in heaven. But sadly the anime made the apparent choice to reminds us of the horrors of this twisted fantasy appealing more to the gore than these minor (and richer) details. Honestly, this isn't even a problem... in the first episodes. But after half of the show, we can gather some friends and play the drinking game with every irrelevant character that got into hysteria/despair and is killed in such an awful way.
It gets tiring how hard the anime reiterates over and over and over again the dreads caused by the Titans, even if that is totally clear in the mind of any spectator that has watched the series for more than 2 episodes. This is something that affects even the narrative in the action scenes: there's so many well-designed combats (really, the animation design here is simply perfect and this gets even better on the stunning physical battles) that can't reach a top quality level of direction and screenplay just because there's a parallel editing in the way with all these bloodbathed sub-plots or "origin stories" which would be very welcome in another moment, in another way.
Maybe here I get to the point where most people would disagree with me, but I'll say it anyway: these background plots are totally useless for character development. When very effective, they can lead us to an extremely mushy speech that trigger only the "determination" off of those envolved, such a recurrent and cliché mechanism of the genre as a whole. And I will always & forever affirm, as long as it is necessary, that background stories and bizarrely eccentric characteristics -- like "the girl that eats too much", "the maniac cleaning addict", "the fanatic about strange creatures" -- ARE NOT ENOUGH for character development.
Knowing their stories, which traumas they have overcome, and what are their peculiarities are absolutely basic steps in the CREATION of a persona, but this isn't in no way sign of a rich development. What is mostly important to us are the lessons they confront and who they became after these events. Of course, we're talking about a first season and some characters may still have a better and more reasoning growth (which I particularly root for since Eren and Misaka were very much the same from the beginning to the end). But what about those who died only to keep the horror flux of the episodes? It was almost methodical the movement "X character's in danger -> Y character profusely odd and out of line comes to save him -> Y dies as a hero -> X gets into a hysterical looping questioning his service and life in battle." Subverting our expectations is something that works, but not when it's accomplished in such a repetitive and systematic scheme that, once again, just gets in the way of the action flux which would be perfect without these emotionalisms that belongs to other moments.
Anyway, for the depicted universe which alone is very interesting, for the amazing score that contemplates the atmosphere with its bells that sends us right to a Renaissance era-like vibe (that of a future society in search of new beginnings and sciences) and for the stunning animation drawings, I can say with ease that this first season at least urged me to keep seeing more of this tale, even if I'm more interested in the world those characters live in than in their journeys (so far). And, because it ended better than it started (the battle beyond-the-walls is the highlight of these 25 episodes), the hype for the sequel is high.
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P's RATING:
Succintly sayin', Shingeki no Kyojin is almost perfect. I mean... It's a minutely fantastic animation.
The storytelling keeps you instigated, always anxious to know what's gonna happen in the next episode. And it's even better since it lets us create our own theories, because it doesn't give us the information as easily as it seems. I just can't say it's a plain masterpiece for 2 reasons:
> There's so many unnecessary fights and irrelevant characters dying all the time just to highlight the Titans as hideous creatures. At some point, it just got tiring.
> The most relevant female character is totally submissive to the male protagonist. She's extremely strong and skilfull, but doesn't fight for herself. *sighs*
It's worth mentioning that in some moments the anime shows how the humans can be as monstruous as the villains, depicting social/political situations that makes us think "WHAT THE HELL THERE'S MONSTERS 30 FEET HIGH EATING PEOPLE AND Y'ALL STILL SUCCUMBING TO CAPITALISM". This makes me think that we'll never change regarding economical foundations. And if this was to be our own future (just imagining/), things like that would really happen.
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F's RATING: 59/100
P's RATING: 92/100
MEAN SCORE: 75/100
onwards!
