Attack on Titan - The Review
If you’re
on the lookout for a new anime to sink your otaku brain into, Attack on Titan
would be it. As a matter of fact, I have no idea what rock you’ve been living
under if you haven’t already heard of the raving reviews of this anime. If you
haven’t watched it, don’t even bother reading this article. Just go find the
first episode and watch it. Now. Trust me. You will not be disappointed.
On the
other hand, if you’re like me and prefer to know what you’re getting yourselves
into before you jump on the bandwagon, then by all means. Read on. After all, I
can’t lie and say I don’t like my articles to be read.
Apart
from the fact that the English title of the anime seems to be worded in a
strange way (because in my head, Attack on the Titans sound better), 進撃の巨人 or Shingeki no Kyojin is a manga adaptation that, up
to date, has 11 subbed episodes and is still ongoing. You can read all about it
on this wiki but beware that there are heavy
spoilers.
The gist
of the plot is this:
Several
hundred years ago, humans were nearly wiped out by gigantic creatures that
appeared from out of nowhere. These creatures resembled the humans themselves
and were known as Titans, or Kyojin.
Literally.
They eat
humans, much like Luffy from One Piece eats meat. And we all know how Luffy
loves his meat. Whole or in pieces, bones and all. Raw. Apparently to the
Titans, humans are absolutely scrumptious. They won’t even touch animals.
In any
case, the surviving people managed to ward off the Titans by barricading
themselves within a large, seemingly impenetrable stone fortress with walls
taller than the tallest giant.
Over a
100 years of safety, humans became complacent thinking that the Titans will
never get to them. Either the creatures are immortal or they can live on
sunlight alone, and this leads to a theory that the Titans prey on humans not
as a food source, but because they can considering that animals outside the
fortress were left untouched.
And
because the story wouldn’t be interesting if there’s nothing more to it other
than the giants photosynthesizing beyond the borders of human civilisation, one
fine day, a behemoth of a giant appeared out of nowhere and came gate crashing.
When stone crumbled, so did peace.
It was
during this chaos that our teen hero and heroine, Eren Jaeger and his adopted
sister, Mikasa Ackerman witnessed the horrific scene of Eren’s mother being
eaten alive. And with their childhood friend cum sidekick, Armin Arlert, they
joined the military, the last bastion against an all out annihilation.
Now,
there are countless of tales where The End of Time as We Know It have been
showcased in many versions. We can never get enough of such gripping stories,
be it in the literary form or moving images on our screens. I’m guessing almost
everyone has thought about the end times via an invasion at least once.
But never
before, at least not to my knowledge, have we seen a version where giants are
featured so prominently. It has always been some alien creature, or zombies,
and there have been a lot of those zombie apocalypse in the media. Not
creatures that practically look like you and me, only times 100 in size, naked,
and with no reproductive organs.
That’s
what drew me in first - the mystery surrounding the Titans. What exactly are
they? Can they in fact be some form of human evolution? (If they are, I think
I’ll pass. I don’t wish to deal with the whole cannibalism thing, and the lack
of intelligence, not to mention the... nakedness, and oh, the overall creepy
factor because have you seen their faces??? That’s some creepy crap right
there.)
Also, you
don’t need to be a genius to understand the story because this is not sci-fi so
there’s no need to understand how weapons and technology work or how some sort
of complicated system in this world work. They have gone back to basics and
weapons include the usual array of swords and guns and cannons, and good old
fashioned strategy.
If you’re
the kind of person I am who doesn’t care much about how weapons work as much as
that they do work and they work brilliantly, then you’re good.
And then
there’s the emotional element because, hello, people are dying, being
eaten alive, screaming and wriggling worms caught in the prison of some very
huge teeth. The emotions brought out in this anime are rather
thought-provoking. And I’d rather not admit this but... well, I cried in the
very first episode. Yes, I did. Now forget I said that.
When you
watch it, at least before you get desensitized by the whole gory scenes, you
can actually feel the choking horror that these characters are feeling.
When a major crisis is happening, in this case when the environment you were
sure was safe becomes the worst place imaginable, you can put yourself in these
imaginary people’s shoes and know that something needs to be done and fast. You
will feel the sense of urgency, the battle not just against a threat to your
way of life, but a battle with your own paralyzing fear.
The biggest question will be: How much are you willing to sacrifice to protect your way of life? And that, I think, is pretty much the one question we, as humans, will always have to seek answers to.
All in
all, I think the creator of this story has done a good job in the emotions
department. Once again, if you haven’t gotten to this series yet, put it on
your must-watch list. And then come back and tell me how you like it.
Written by Deviliscious
No Comment to " Attack on Titan - The Review "