The new anime Shingeki no Kyojin– Attack on Titan, has started airing on April 7 2013. Before it became an animated TV show Shingeki no Kyojin was a popular Manga series written by Hajime Isayama. The North American version of the television series is under Crunchyroll and Funimation, and I believe that if you go to both the Crunchyroll and Funimation websites you can watch full episodes there, or you can wait for the Blu-Ray and DVD release (I recommend you go watch the show now though).
The Manga series has been going on for quite some time now so make sure you check those out as well. You should be able to find it anywhere comic books and Manga are sold.
Should you watch it?
I’m going to start by saying yes, you should watch it, I highly recommend it. Although I must warn you that the anime is very violent so viewer discretion is advised. I absolutely love the directing of the show. I thought it was brilliant how they started the story off by giving you a look at the main character’s lives and personalities, then they gave us a glimpse of what the Titans were like and why they should be feared. As the show went on I never felt like it was dragging on too long or that it ever got boring. Just as I thought that their training was going on too long they brought something interesting into the show to keep us hooked.
The animations and camera angles that they use throughout the series is amazing. I was blown away when the main characters started fighting the Titans with their 3D gear- which is a type of advanced grappling hook that they use to traverse the city at high speeds and to reach the Titans. The amount of detail they put into how they draw the characters and animate them is beautiful. For example, some shows will draw the characters in great detail but will have horrible animations; other shows are drawn like Jellybeans (you know what I’m talking about) but will have really nice animations; I think that Attack on Titan combines both art forms into one amazing anime experience.
There are a few still frame shots where they just show a picture of the characters instead of actually animating it and I first thought that tactic was a bit lazy, but later I got used to it and realized that those shots capture key moments that happened in the Manga and you can see how the director of the show was really inspired by the comic books. Even though the show has a few still frame pictures, I think that they make up for it with story quality and intensity. For more than half the season I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. I really can’t say how much I love the combat scenes in this show.
The way they fly through the city, the way they portray the Titans, the way they use their weapons and 3D grappling gear; it is all amazing. I also like all of the characters in the show and how they built up their personalities and individual skills, and how every death of one of their friends affects the entire team’s moral. It really feels like the situation is grim and that the Titans are a threat to take seriously. I won’t give away any spoilers but I must say that the show does have a lot of twists and turns, and it takes a lot of huge risks with the main cast of characters that I never saw coming.
If you haven’t started watching Attack on Titan yet, I highly recommend you give it a try.
