Summary
Attack On Titanis a modern anime classic and, in the opinion of many, is one of the greatest anime ever made. The show ran from 2013 to 2022 and gripped many viewers with the spectacle. It became a show that created new anime fans and pleasantly engaged older ones.
As one of the mostpopular animeever made, there were a number of things that Attack On Titan brought to the table that made it standout from everything else that had come before (or since) and for a true appreciation of a legendary show, it would be helpful to look at some of these things.
10Sound And Music
The Sound Design And Music Of Attack On Titan Is Epic
Music and visual stories go hand in hand and a lot of amazing shows or anime are considered suchdue to the music. Think ofCowboy Bebopwith its funky theme orSamurai Champloowith what can only be described as incredible lofi. InAttack On Titan, the use of sound within the story is masterful, be it in epic moments of action, or quieter moments of tension.
The opening and closing themes were masterfully done, with many of those songs becoming classics in their own right. How many can forget the heart-pounding emotion that came with the first opening, ‘Guren no Yumiya,’ or the feeling of heaviness that follows ‘The Rumbling’? Attack On Titans' music is iconic and few do it as well as they did.
9Mystery
AOT Engages The Watcher
The secret to an engaging mystery is interest. If a reader or watcher doesn’t find what is being hidden to be of any great interest, then there is no great mystery to begin with. InAttack On Titan, themystery elementsare incredibly well done, crafting a narrative, world and characters that people want to know more about and understand.
It is due to this that less popularAttack On Titanseasons, like season two, are underrated. The drip-feeding of information that the viewer gets is just enough to engage them, and is more than enough to have them desire to go further and know more. The world is so intriguing that it almost forces the one engaging with it to discover more about it.
8Reveals/Plot Twists
Who Could Have Seen Them Coming?
Anyone who has watched enough anime would be able to pinpoint some prettyepic plot twistscenes that stay in the memory. For instance, most remember the one with Griffith inBerserkor the reveal of Aizen as being a villain inBleach. What made those twists so amazing was that no one saw it coming.
Attack On Titandoes something in that while there might be a suspicion that something is about to happen, one can never really grasp the magnitude. AOT has a few from the reveal of Reiner and Berthold or Eren’s Attack Titan’s true powers. These were twists and reveals that no one could see coming. There was usually so much going on that when people were hit with the twist, it felt like a gut punch.
7Characterization
Attack On Titan Created Memorable Characters
There are several iconic characters in anime. However, it isn’t very often that an entire cast is iconic. Usually, one of two characters are great and fleshed out, while the others are perhaps appealing in other ways, but not as deep. ForAttack On Titan, it features a large cast, but it feels like everyone is important and there’s a depth to everyone even when they might be considered a minor character.
That’s why the death of Sasha could hurt so much, or why Annie’s betrayal felt so hurtful. It’s why even though a person might hate Gabi, they had to come to understand her eventually. Every AOT character felt real, living and breathing, and this is an aspect of the anime that is perhaps overlooked in favor of more bombastic elements.
6World Building
There Are Few Worlds As Fascinating As Attack On Titan
A story can be good without a memorable setting, but it cannot be great without one. The world the audience is introduced to in Attack On Titan is bigger than it initially feels and the slow unraveling of that world is one of the things that make AOT so intriguing.
There are severalfactions and organizationsall vying for control, with their own agendas. From the Walldians to the Yaegerists, there were too many interesting groups. The politics of the world, the history, all of it made up for an incredible setting fitting for the AOT story.
5Tension
Attack On Titanhandles tension really well and is able to create moments where the audience has this sense of dread and anticipation at the same time. Some feel inconspicuous, such as a character walking down a dark corridor with the possibility of meeting a titan, to more memorable moments like Eren and Reiner’s conversation before the massacre.
That ability to grip a viewer as they fear the worst while being unable to tear their eyes away is something that AOT does quite competently. There are some shows that have that sense of tension, like the first season ofThe Promised Neverland, but this is more the exception rather than the rule.
4Main Character
Eren Is Memorable In Every Way
Ichigo fromBleachis a great protagonist, Midoriya fromMy Hero Academiais a great protagonist, but Eren feels like a standout. It might be controversial, but Eren is an objectively well-written character. Considering where the story starts, Eren’s development is nothing short of stunning.
Eren is by no means a good person, but that’s the thing, he feels like a person rather than an ideology, or standard. This is something that sets Eren apart in a way that not too many anime protagonists are able to replicate. The complexity of the character, his motivations and his final conclusion all come together to create something special.
3Plotting
The Sequence Of Events That Make Up The Story Is Masterful
One of the main driving points of every story is its plot. This is the sequence in which actions take place to create a cohesive story.Attack On Titandoes this better than most, taking the viewer on a journey of progressively higher stakes to the very end.
The story starts with a small revenge story in which Eren wants to eradicate the titans haunting his place of abode, but gradually the world widens up and one begins to appreciate the sheer scope of the conflict Eren faces. The story could have started with how the Titan powers came about, or the early history between the Marlians and Eldians, but it started instead with the story of a boy and his friends.
2Philosophy
Attack On Titan Asks Thought-Provoking Questions
Anime has always been a rather great medium forsharing and challenging ideas. Some do it better than other, andAttack On Titanis one of those shows that does it in a rather impressive way. Some shows beat one over the head with their ideals, but AOT asks about the true nature of war and challenges the understanding of an enemy.
One of the ways it does this is through Eren and Gabi. While the audience sees the story from Eren’s view and can understand his rage at the Marlians, fans were understandably incensed when Gabi killed Sasha. But, subsequently, people started to see how she must have seen things. This is powerful, and it asks a deep question that not everyone might be ready to engage with.
1Mass Appeal
Attack On Titan May Be Responsible For The Mainstream Nature Of Anime
Few people will argue that anime can be considered mainstream today. While this status cannot be solely attributed toAttack On Titan, it is difficult to look past its influence. As at the time the show was running, it became iconic both within the community and outside, regular folk were talking about it.
It did this by its stellar storytelling and its avoidance of some of the more questionable anime clichés. It is a show that an anime fan would recommend to someone who doesn’t watch, and is one of thebest gateway animeout there.
