Review on Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)

I can't believe it's been almost 5 years since my last post. That just goes to show how long I've not watched animes or should I say, watched something which I felt the urge to write something about? I guess the latter is the main reason why I've not done anything to revive this dormant blog. Besides that, I've not been following the anime releases for a long time and there aren't that many titles which interest me these days so these are also contributing factors.

Watching Shingeki no Kyojin was not planned. In fact, I knew nothing about this. I was aware that a two-part real-life movie version starring Miura Haruma is due to be shown in Japan this year but this still did not arouse my interest in seeking out this anime nor the manga. Then I happened to see this anime available to watch on demand via my new cable TV service. Out of curiousity, I gave this anime a shot to see what the hype was about.

From this point onwards, there will be spoilers so if you haven't watched this and do not wish to spoil the fun, please skip this review.

Shingeki no Kyojin started off as the debut manga of Isayama Hajime in 2009 and there have been 15 volumes released to date. The first anime series was shown from April 2013 to September 2013 while there is a second season scheduled for 2016.

The story is set in the era around the Industrial Revolution where human beings resort to building high walls to protect themselves from titans which prey on them. There are three layers of walls i.e. Wall Maria, Wall Rose and Wall Sina which form the boundaries of the areas where the humans live in. Due to the fact that they have enjoyed peace for a hundred years without any Titan attack, people have more or less let down their guard and believes that peaceful days will continue forever. However, in the Shiganshina District, there is a young boy by the name of Eren Yeager who strongly believes that there is a better world beyond the walls and wants to join the Scout Regiment which goes outside the walls to do research and eliminate the Titans so that he can finally be free to venture anywhere he wishes. His best friend Armin Arlet also has the same belief as Eren while Mikasa Ackerman who was adopted by Eren's parents after losing her parents, tries to discourage him from doing so. One ordinary day, after an argument with his mother over his aspiration to join the Scouts, Eren and Mikasa are out on the streets when the Titans suddenly break through Wall Maria and launches a massacre on the residents in Shiganshina. Horrified to see what is happening, Eren and Mikasa head home to find Eren's mother being trapped under the rubble of their crumbled home. The kids try to get her out but are unable to do so. In the face of impending danger, Eren's mother asks a guard from the Garrison Regiment to bring the children away. Just as the three of them are leaving, Eren and Mikasa witness a Titan eating his mother alive. Eren is angry at himself for being unable to save his mother and arguing with her earlier that day but knows that with his current age and situation, there is nothing he can do against the Titans to avenge his mother. Eren, Mikasa and Armin join the rest of the Shiganshina survivors to retreat behind Wall Rose and the three of them join the Cadets in the hope that they can be part of the Scouts in future.

Broadly speaking, there are three main arcs in the anime i.e. the Shiganshina attack, the Cadets training and the Scouts Regiment. The Shiganshina attack set the foundation on what we would come to know about Titans and their threat on human beings while the Cadets training describe the three main characters' coming-of-age and how they mature in the face of their first major crisis in the Trost attack. The Scouts Regiment arc offers a deeper look into the Titans and an unexpected twist in the form of the Female Titan who has a big secret. Personally, I thought that the last arc was far more interesting than the other two but without them, the anime would not have seen a good climax in the final arc. However, my biggest grouse with the story is that there are quite a lot of things which were not explained clearly e.g. why and how Eren got his Titan powers, why Annie had such a love-and-hate relationship with her father and what caused her to become the Female Titan. I have no idea if this is due to the fact that there is a second season which will provide all the answers or the detailed explanations can only be found in the manga. As such, it is probably unfair for me to say that this is an incomplete piece of work. Until I've watched the second season, I think it's a bit too premature for me to write this off completely. Having said that though, I think I would have been more satisfied if there were some questions answered rather than having a whole bunch of question marks by the end of the anime.

Despite the anime having 25 episodes, the development of the characters were quite limited, even for the leads. Of course, there was time devoted to explaining how Eren and Mikasa developed their strong bond or how Eren and Armin are good friends bound by their common interest in venturing outside the wall to seek true freedom. It would have been more interesting to see more development of the supporting characters such as Levi, Erwin or even Jean because I feel like I hardly know them other than the obvious facts presented to us. I am guessing that the manga version will probably offer more than the anime which cannot spend too much on them. It does feel at times that the focus is more on the development of events in the story so characters' emotions and thoughts tend to be overlooked.

To be honest, after watching the anime, it leaves me wondering how the real-life adaptation can do a good job especially as it is introducing some new characters not seen in the original manga and would inevitably make some changes to the storyline since the manga is still ongoing. Moreover, I find it difficult to imagine how they can achieve the same fluid effect of seeing the Scouts using the ODM against the Titans as seen in the anime. I also wonder how the Titans would look like which would probably be dependent on the CG technology used. I guess I would have been more interested and optimistic about the movies if I had not watched the anime first. Nonetheless, to look on the bright side of things, I thought the anime was an OK piece of work on the whole albeit with some flaws so it has made me somewhat interested in reading the manga. I certainly hope that Season 2 next year will provide the answers I am seeking and in the process, improve my impression I have about this anime.