Attack on Titan is a horror fantasy Japanese animated series created by Hajime Isayama, based on the manga of the same name. Set in a fantasy world where humanity lives within territories surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as Titans.

Season(s): Season 1 (2013), Season 2 (2017), Season 3 (2018), Season 4 (2020)

Plot: The story follows the adventures of Eren Jaeger, his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, and his best friend Armin Arlert whose lives are changed forever after a Colossal breaches the wall of their home town. Vowing revenge and to reclaim the world from the Titans, Eren and his friends join the Scout Regiment, an elite group of soldiers who fight Titans.

One of the best things about the series is its story. Not only is it an interesting story but there are a ton of plot twists and subplots intermingling. It’s anything but predictable. There are so many different ways this anime goes that it’ll surprise you. There’s a lot of character development and some interesting backstories. But perhaps the best backstory is that of the Titans. It’s a great story with a lot great moments, a lot of sad moments, and with the season currently continuing its third season there’s still so much left unexplored. (4 out of 5)

Characters: The series features a lot of characters both deep while a lot of them are canon fodder. The main cast consist of Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, and Mikasa Ackerman. Honestly, Mikasa is the star of the show next to Levi, both who have the best moments of everyone. Eren’s an incredibly flat character in the beginning but does undergo a pretty strong developing arc. Also, Armin was frustrating as hell in the beginning. He was completely useless as a character (often making me wonder why he was in the military at all) but he is better developed towards season two.

I found a good majority of the supporting characters not interesting. There are some exceptions such as Commander Erwin Smith, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, and Marcel Galliard. There’s a scene early in the first season where before the scouts begin the operation to plug one of the holes caused by the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan, they ask for volunteers and they only get a handful do. The first guy to volunteer gave a really good reason. He said he’d risk his life because he didn’t want his daughter to get eaten by a Titan. This is one of the few times I’ve gotten a good motivation from any of the characters. (3 out of 5)

Animation: The animation style is actually pretty damn good. It blends the hand drawn art style with CGI which we see a lot of nowadays in anime. The character designs are great and the city and landscape look good. I like the gleam in the characters’ eyes. The CGI itself is utilized well especially when the characters are flying through the air at high speeds. The action sequences and fight scenes are incredibly fast paced. Whether it’s a battle of man against titan or man against man, the action is great.

The Titan designs themselves are really diverse. Even if they’re plan looking, their size, shape, level of detail, and physical oddities are quite diverse. Some are larger than others, some smaller. Some seem almost normal, some horrendous, others are plan goofy looking. The Titan on Titan action is great and incredibly destructive. (5 out of 5)

Score: Honestly, I thought the music was actually pretty good. It has diversity, and rhythm but doesn’t come off as pretentious instead building upon important moments. The intro for the first season is the best; it’s fast paced, action packed, and definitely sets the pace for some human against Titan action. I would like say that I was pretty impressed with both the English dub and the Japanese dub. The voice performances on both ends were really, really good. (5 out of 5)

Writing: Hajime Isayama has clearly outdone himself with the series. Perhaps the most impressive element of Attack on Titan is the world building. Everything from the walled in cities, to the politics, to the titans themselves help construct a very immersive world with an interesting history and locations. There’s the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment that allows the characters to flying through the air and to combat the Titans. It’s an awesome looking weaponry that allows some really diverse action sequences, both in terms of its strengths and limitations.

The anime is quite dark with lots of violence and bloody deaths but hardly any gore for a show about people being eaten by giants. This show’s a horror through and through and when the Titans are doing their thing eating people, it’s quite horrific. During these attacks or epic battles, things can get pretty damn suspenseful.

One of my biggest issues of this anime is how stupid the technology is. Most of the time the scouts are fighting Titans with VMEs, rifles, and cannons. You’d think that after a hundred years behind the wall, they’d developed airships or better weapons. I admit that the Titan biology doesn’t make any sense but of course, a little research into the Titans reveals a lot of interesting stuff not explored in the show. (4 out of 5)

The Verdict: In the end, Attack on Titan is just a phenomenal anime. I had few problems outside of some of the pacing and the characterization. However, the story, world-building, characters, action, voice acting, and animation make this a superior anime. Attack on Titan gets 4 out of 5.