Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin): Anime Series

     Everyone has been telling me how great this series is so at long last I’ve given it a shot. First off, the opening sequence for the first thirteen episodes is one of the most amazing I’ve ever seen. It was reminiscent of old 90’s cartoons where the opening for a show got you pumped and ready to watch. Seeing the soldiers run around on rooftops and soar around their enemies with their Omni-Directional Mobile (ODM) gear is visually stunning. The intense music in the background only enhances the visual treat.

The story starts off incredibly bleak. Monstrous humanoids called titans have decimated the human race and everyone now lives within three concentric circular, fifty meter walls. The military is divided into several factions based on their duties (the Military Police, the Recon Corps, etc.), despite their efficiency, they rarely make progress against their deadly enemies. They get attacked, they fight with cannons, muskets, ODM gear and swords to repel the siege and they go on surviving.

Titans are extremely strong and able to regenerate virtually any wound. Their only weakness is a small spot at the nape of their necks that, disables their healing ability and kills them permanently when struck. The humans have studied this for a long enough while to be able to hold them off fairly well, until things drastically change.

Suddenly two new kinds of titans, dubbed abnormals, appear and render the first of the walls useless, causing the death of one fifth of the human race. The three main characters of the story, Eren, Mikasa and Armin, witness the deaths of their loved ones which motivates them to join the military. Things get pretty intense and the result of Eren and Armin’s first mission is pretty shocking. There are early hints that this series is far from typical, but that’s the point that really got me watching.

To continue without too many spoilers, something happens with Eren that completely changes the status quo of everything before it. Soon the plot stops being about fighting titans and more about learning about them. There is a pretty decent plot twist that leads to a very epic final battle, but there are so many questions that are left unanswered. There are a lot of teases to what’s possible and a lot of plot points that make a followup inevitable.

This is a pretty good series. A lot of people made it seem as though this was an absolute must see and one of the greatest anime titles ever, but it falls a little short. It is of very high quality and I don’t have many complaints, I just can’t consider it the greatest until I get a followup. I need to get the answers to those many questions this series brought up: Where did the titans come from? What’s the deal with the colossal and the armored titans? Who was the female titan working for and what was their purpose? Will they be able to get her out of her prison? What’s in the cellar?

That’s just a fraction of things I want and need to know in order to love this more. I do find it fairly strange that this series seems almost American in its pursuit of almost seasonal release. Most anime series I’m familiar with tend to tell a story straight through. I can say that I am looking forward to the next installment, though. Just give me more ODM gear sequences, preferably with Captain Levi.

Jonathan Jones

Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.