6 Absolute Reasons to Watch
Attack on Titan
Watching anime has become an absolute trend nowadays. To become the man (or woman!) of culture, you must have seen some of the best anime that the Japanese TV studios have to offer. And in this article, we’ll cover reasons to watch Attack on Titan, one of the best anime (if not the best) aired to date.
Attack on Titan is a dark fantasy anime that captivates anime fans with its interesting concept. It was adapted from the manga, Attack on Titan, and the manga was released in April 2013. The popularity of the manga paved way for the anime to be produced and is now ongoing on NHK General TV in Japan and it can be watched on various streaming sites like Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Funimation.
Honestly, the only reason you should resist your urge to not watch this amazingly detailed anime is if you fear setting the bar too high for your future plan-to-watch anime series. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just a newbie watching anime or a seasoned fan rewatching the series, the Attack on Titan will blow your mind.
The Meticulous Worldbuilding:
The world of Attack on Titan is pretty grim. There’s plenty of tragedy and despair, which the series isn’t afraid to show. Hell, the first episode alone will ruin you. But that constant agony also has its moments of beauty. Artist/author Hajime Isayama is so good at balancing the epic with the horrific, making every hard-fought win feel tremendous. There is beauty in the struggle, and tragedy in victory. Yin and yang.
That’s largely because his universe employs real-world logic. Everything about the society in Attack on Titan makes sense. The characters act the way they do because of the lives they’re forced to live. There is no random fan service, or characters suddenly doing something because the plot demands it. A lot of shonen anime is guilty of this. That’s why I can never take a series like Code Geass seriously. It insists on mixing tragic, world-altering events like wars with stupid, fan-servicey bullshit like random ass shots in the heat of a life-or-death battle. And when an anime does this, your immersion is broken instantly.
Attack on Titan is all business. The setting, which is clearly inspired from the 19th century, shows remarkable attention to detail, from the architecture, to the clothing, the food and even the technology. There’s no dumb technological inconsistencies like in Naruto, where ninjas somehow have radios, TV screens, and video cameras.
The Epic Soundtrack:
What makes or breaks the success of a great anime series is the kind of soundtrack used. The Attack on Titan doesn’t compromise in this regard and delivers some of the best soundtracks we’ve ever encountered.
The choice of soundtracks used in this series will immerse you deep into the scenes. The soundtracks will make you feel like you’re the one going through the story arc; the chills and the goosebumps from the music makes each scene much more fascinating.
Great music adds a lot to a story. If you recall, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul were all excellent at this. They always had the right music for the right moment.
Attack on Titan is no different. Its soundtrack is fucking epic. It matches so well with its world, with its use of classical instruments and soul-rousing opera vocals. It really complements the dangerous situations the characters find themselves in.
Seriously, listen to this and tell me it doesn’t raise your neck and arm hairs:
Unexpected and Uncompromising Storytelling:
When Attack on Titan first came out in 2013, it became immediately popular with how grim it was. People got eaten alive on this show, in very graphic ways. This immediately established the tone of the story and let you know Isayama isn’t playing around. But it also had plenty of mystery. Numerous events and subsequent reveals messed with audiences. And with no quick answers to why all this carnage was happening, audiences were constantly on edge.
The long 3-year delay for season 2 of the anime didn’t help either. As a result of that hiatus, much of the hype and awareness for the series died down, in spite of the story actually getting better despite the reduced battles. And then, season 3 arrived, and a lot of the big questions were answered. Suddenly, things weren’t so simple. The series went from fighting thoughtless monsters to fighting other people who know things about why these monsters are here.
It was no longer about surviving a brutal world, but trying your damn best to change it for the better. And it was told so, so masterfully. Through a healthy dose of political intrigue, conspiracies, social upheaval, and of course, epic battles, the series has shown remarkable maturity and mastery of tone.
The age-old debate of Anime vs. Manga does apply in this series as well. But we bet there won’t be a single Manga fan who will be disappointed by the visual representation of the Manga storylines in this anime series. The producers of the series have done a great job in effectively portraying the story from the Manga adaptation with a few changes here and there. Overall, the storyline is quite unexpected with a lot of twists and turns. The Attack on Titan is full of shocking plotlines that will get you hooked and make you come for more. If you are a fan of the GOT Universe and were surprised how the first season concluded with the death of Ned Stark (OOPS!, spoiler alert!), then you’ll definitely fall in a love-hate relationship with this series as well.
Protagonist:
At first, Eren isn’t the most admirable protagonist but as time goes by and as his character developed, fans realized that he is indeed a profound protagonist. He started the series as a kid with so much hatred that most fans didn’t actually like. But if you continued to watch the series, his perspective on season one actually made him who he was during the later seasons. His drive to become free was constant throughout the story. Although there was a bit of issue regarding his perspective, like not minding the consequences of his actions, he was fully aware that he isn’t a hero but he still wanted to give his people the freedom they deserved.
The story of Attack on Titan revolves around the characters living in three concentric walled cities to protect the rest of humanity from giant beings known as Titans. Even though the main protagonist of the series is Eren Yeager, the series justifies the use of other characters by balancing out their own stories in the plot. Every character serves a unique purpose to the story and also makes a way for great character development. With new characters being introduced after every few episodes, get ready to face a wide range of emotions from admiration to infuriation in this emotional rollercoaster ride of a journey.
Dark and Violent Plot:
It shouldn’t come as a surprise as the series is a rather dark fantasy set around human-eating monsters. Attack on Titans is in no way intended for children. This might not be a plus point for all as not everybody goes around in search of dark and violent content in a series. But if you don’t mind a little-to-moderate gore action, this series will be worth it. Apart from the man devouring Titans, the gruesome world of Attack on Titan also includes some human villains which makes the plotline more intriguing and keeps you emotionally addicted to the series.
Lastly, the plot keeps on evolving. Isayama did a great job in creating Attack on Titan’s world and he took this to his advantage in making interesting twists and mysteries that further developed the plot. Not only was the series about man vs monster, but it also contains geopolitics that thickened the plot even more. Despite Attack on Titan being a fantasy series, Isayama did not remove realism into it. Oppression, freedom, and nihilism are some of the themes that helped the story convey the idea that in life, one must constantly push forward. Despite tackling cruelty and misery, the plot also wanted to give the impression that life can be beautiful especially if people work together.
Unforgettable and Epic Action Sequences:
The epitome of this anime series is its wildly popular action sequences. The plot revolves around our main characters taking on the gigantic Titans, so it should come as a no-brainer that there will be a lot of fight scenes involved in the series. Ever had the urge to rewatch a particular fight scene from your favorite show or movie like Iron Man vs. Hulk showdown? If yes, then the fight sequences from this anime will surely take you to that point to notice and admire the detailed work put into the animation, which brings us to our next point.
The quality of animation is the reason why people choose to stick to the animated series. No matter how good the storyline is, if the quality of any series sucks, then nobody’s going to invest their time in that series. Speaking of which, Attack on Titan delivers the best possible animation to its viewers. From stunning visuals behind action scenes to the attention-to-detail in the whole storyline, the quality of animation speaks for the worldwide success of the animated series.
This concludes our list of reasons to watch Attack on Titan. We hope that the article helped you decide to watch this amazing animated series. If you are interested here's a trailer for you.
