Manga How The Mighty Have Fallen(SPOILERS) (Revised)
I would first like to state that I am part of the Misaimed Fandom regarding Eren's actions. Also, most of this review will cover chapter 90/S4 onward, as most of my issues stem from there.
But before that, I have to say the show's best aspect have always been the fights and the tension during them. Most of the show's elements worked, like the characters, despite being rather generic. But due to being plot-driven and action-orientated, the lack of characterization and interactions are forgivable. The use of Flat Characters gaining a bit of depth and the cast's Fire-Forged Friendship helps attach you to them just enough. There are some Ass Pulls but certain ones I don't mind due to being heavily integrated into the plot afterward. The Plot Armor is egregious and contrasts with the attempt at Anyone Can Die, shattering my suspension of disbelief by the end.
As for S4 onwards, it departs from the action-heavy nature, being more dialogue-heavy and letting the characters have a bigger role. Nothing wrong with that in theory, but the cast consists of your stock shonen personalities with forgettable pasts, causing the dialogue between them, which tends to be As You Know, painful to listen to. It doesn't help that the Perspective Flip makes Marley's cast unlikable due to being dull and annoying. Reiner angsts so much that it feels emotionally manipulative, making him unbearable. His motives boil down to I've Come Too Far, but that usually works best for a Well-Intentioned Extremist, which he isn't.
The main cast suddenly growing an extremely heavy conscience about killing humans, after everything they've been through (like s3p1), feels like BS. There's a bit of moral grandstanding too, which can be irritating.
The main cast's Commander Contrarian attitude towards Eren's Necessarily Evil actions while they come up with no alternatives makes them Unintentionally Unsympathetic. The Marley cast is even more unlikable. And finally, the graying conflict devolves into having to choose between genocide of Paradis' inhabitants and omnicide of everyone outside of Paradis, resulting in So Bleak, It's Boring.
While I believe Isayama's intent may be anti-fascism, the story's presentation undermines that intent. The BigBad's morality revolves around freedom and ignorance which makes him sympathetic in comparison to Marley's cast's My Country, Right or Wrong attitude. Also, Isayama relies so heavily on the supernatural elements as Plot Devices leading to the lessons being Fantastic Aesops for me.
And finally, the ending. Not only is it Glurge, but it renders everything since the first chapter moot. The explanation given is not believable nor does it enhance the narrative. And the plot isn't even resolved. It's implied that a peace treaty may be signed, but I wonder how long that will last
. If not for that ending, I'd recommend the show despite all its flaws.
Manga Improves As It Goes On, Despite Glaring Flaws
I headed into Attack on Titan as blind as possible, with maybe one spoiler hovering around the back of my mind that was easily forgotten until I got to the rather early section of the manga it referred to. Went into it without any ideas, just to see what it was like.
I came across a manga that started off rather simple, to the point of being rather predictable with many of its twists and turns. I couldn't get myself to really be invested much because shocking revelations were clear to see early on. But then it came to what I want to call the second half of the manga — I cannot quite put my finger on 'where' this exact point takes place, but everything improved! It now feels like the early, predictable part with its revelations was merely part of a setting-up-the-world aspect of the manga, giving you a general overview of things, before it went to the meat of the plot. I actually ended up reading up to the current released chapters over the course of two days, spending hours upon hours just reading the next chapter, the next and the next because it had gripped me.
The artstyle is great, many characters are distinct in appearance to recognize immediately, the writing improved a lot, and while it went heavy on black-and-white early on, it focused more on gray.
There are only two big flaws that I would list for the manga.
The first is that the author has a horrible tendency to switch perspective to a flashback or suddenly starting up a chapter in a flashback, with little visual indicator of this. It can lead to making the reader feel lost — I personally would have preferred those flashbacks to be given a black background instead of the normal white, so as to keep a visual indicator of 'when' we are. This does lessen and improve later on, making flashbacks easier to tell apart to the current events.
The other is the annoyingly frustrating Plot Armor that every even remotely-distinct character seems to possess! No One Could Survive That!? Well, these guys can. Every time. Even when this got lampshaded for one specific character, it's still frustrating. It's easy to just not care if anyone seems in genuine danger because nine-and-a-half times out of ten, they will survive. By the time a 'main' character genuinely did die, the shock factor wasn't even there for me anymore.
Manga A Bumbling Effort
I watched both seasons of the anime. To me, the author began writing the series before working out the details. All he had was a basic concept: what if giants were eating people? This is not exactly a new concept; you can find plenty of this in "The Odyssey". However, this author decided to put a zombie spin on the concept within a steam punk setting. Unfortunately, his understanding of 1800s science and technology is lacking so his explanations contradict each other. For example, the Titans show every indication of being massive, and massive humanoids would not be able to run or jump as the female Titan does in episode 17. So...in episode 15 Hange claims that Titans are actually very light. This is an explanation that an 8 year old might have thought up but it doesn't work since the Titans clearly are not light. There is no explanation of how a huge body can just appear out of thin air when one of them transforms. Given the author's limitations, this probably would have worked better as fantasy with a magical explanation.
The character development is bad. Oh, there is an attempt in this direction but it gets flattened by both the mystery/conspiracy attempt and the larger context. Back when people wrote bad mysteries, they resorted to "the butler did it" to try to have a surprise. This plot does "your own teammates did it". The female Titan spares Armin but kills Petra and this makes sense because...well, actually it doesn't make sense. The character behind the female Titan would have to be schizophrenic to behave the way she does. The colossal Titan and armored Titan tear down the outer wall. Now, in a rational world, they would have shown up the next day and broken down both inner walls and everyone would have been killed. But, that didn't happen because...apparently the author wanted to continue with the story and couldn't figure out this detail. And, yes, it is sad that Eren's mother gets killed...but, in the context of the extinction of humanity, this is not such a big plot point. The author clearly does not comprehend the scale.
This is nothing more than an author's attempt to have a trendy, zombie/steam-punk take on fighting giants and he couldn't pull it off. The storyline is a mess after two seasons and will never get resolved beyond some equally ridiculous, half-baked explanations. I won't bother watching anymore of this.
Manga Interesting and Inventive but not without Flaws
Attack on Titan is what I would call an All-or-Nothing show. It has that odd way about it where being indifferent is an odd occurrence. It's either engaging or exhausting and there isn't much middle ground.
There's a lot nice that can be said about Attack on Titan, chief of which being that it isn't inclined to pull common punches with the audience. I'll start by simply saying this: people die. A LOT. I wouldn't call that a spoiler because it's pretty much the first thing you'll notice about the show. The common fighting style in the series used by the human characters is clever and engaging to watch, which is essential in a shonen series where there's going to be quite a bit of that. Monster designs are interestingly jarring and manage to be unsettling without trying too hard. It's a series I caught myself grinding through despite struggling to pin one element as 'great' and maybe that kind of ambient draw is the testament to a good series.
If the series has one real flaw to note it would be the pacing. There's no getting around the fact that the series, especially at the outset, is a slog. If you're someone who can't stand when anime fills time using copious amounts of sepia flashbacks to clips from last episode this might be a deal-breaker. Sadly this isn't helped by sheer repetition: those inclined to tell their liver they're done with it can probably make a vicious drinking game of just people looking scared and screaming. Mix in some hard liquor for every flashback to a certain scene in the first episode (you'll know the one) and you'll probably be at your intervention before the plot kicks in. It's a kind of inherent flaw really: when 95% of your cast is running around in the exact same outfit, in very similar scenery, even if things are progressing it feels slow. There's also a slight issue (varies by customer it seems) that the sheer amount of horrible stuff happening just starts to cheapen each occurrence.
In short, grit your teeth and bear through the first couple of events. If your still engaged then you'll find a series that's probably to your liking. If you're wincing every time the episode title card is formatted "[Event Title]: Part x++" by then, it's probably best to jump off.
Manga Attack on Titan....good start but it gets bogged down by many flaws
I think that Attack on Titan had a strong start. The stakes were shown, there's a good mystery, and PEOPLE ACTUALLY DIE (this is huge for Shonen).
But let's balance the Pros with the Cons here.
Pros:
Good start
Jean and Armin had great character development
Setting is original and creative
Cons:
Asspulls, Dear lord, the Asspulls. (Eren turning into a Titan had nearly zero foreshadowing and I heard that him controlling the titans was an Asspull too, the way Levi took down the Female Titan was an Asspull, and if I mentioned more I would exceed the text limit.)
The soldiers getting scared about actually having to fight Titans when they trained for that (I could get some of them being afraid but not every single one. Hell, even in the Survey Corps (which was basically made for people to fight titans i might add) has nearly every single person scared out of their butts)
Bad Foreshadowing (There are 50 meter Colossal Titans in the wall? Are you serious? What about that time the Armored Titan pushed through the wall? Why didn't a Colossal Titan fall out? Or maybe at least a skeleton of it? And do I even need to mention Eren? People cried when he died? THIS IS A SHONEN PEOPLE!!!!)
How come only Levi and Mikasa can get kills on titans but everyone else has to burn their asses off to even get a scratch?
Eren was better off without the titan powers. He is also a cliche Shonen protagonist (I understand his reasoning for being so but did he have to be so cliche?)
The entire choice thing when Eren was fighting the Female Titan. Let me explain, if Eren was saying that he made the wrong choice by not turning into a titan and saving Petra and the others (I dunno who the rest are) then he should have taken down the Female Titan quickly. This is to show how much of a mistake it was (missed chance for Character Development). He should not have LOST ANYWAYS which completely loses the entire effect of "making the wrong choice"
They actually expect us to care about forgettable supporting characters.
The titans devolve from threatening beings of nature to the biggest (possibly unintentional) source of comedy in the entire series.
Overall: The series is mediocre at best if you open your eyes and look at the flaws and balance them with the pros.
Manga The Only Enemy is Pacing >Revised<
There is a reason AoT is critically acclaimed; it has a unique and interesting setting, its characters are well-defined and compelling, the Titans are interesting and combat is exciting. Its only shortcoming? Pacing. AoT’s only noteworthy flaw is its consistent trouble juggling story progression with character development and exposition.
What I admire most about AoT is its loyalty to developing diverse, compelling characters. For those who have been keeping up with the manga, the progression of each character should be plain to see, and they always evolve coherently. We are provided plenty on each character's history, relationships, personalities and ambitions, my favorite examples being Armin, Jean and Levi. The problem with this heavy focus on characters is that it often intrudes on what’s happening in the narrative. Many times, exciting combat will be interrupted by whole chapters to focus on character development and exposition. While suspenseful, by the time the action resumes, the audience is removed from engagement. The most noticeable example would be the Female Titan’s Forest of Giant Trees encounter which gave several chapters of focus to Squad Levi before progressing her chase. Too often characters will need time explaining who they are before they show it later.
The world of AoT is also rich and painstakingly fleshed out from its history and politics within the walls to the everyday lives of its citizens and social classes. Once again, however, story progression is often put on hold to allow these details to be explained.
AoT has a winning formula of a cool setting, fights and rich characters, but the experience is burdened by its insistence on separating exposition from action. If Isayama could more often explain characters and culture through behaviors and subtlety rather than exposition dumps, the entire process would be streamlined, giving fans the smooth story progression they desire, starring the wonderful characters they adore.
Manga Ignoring Hype... Still a Great Yarn. And Read the Manga, Seriously.
If you've been around awhile you've probably seen this before.
Every couple of years an anime/manga comes out of nowhere and is the Greatest Thing Ever. This goes back at least to Neon Genesis Evangelion in otaku culture through Fullmetal Alchemist or Death Note, and can be seen with say HBO series. A Cyclical Trope of culture, those occasional Great Shows combining critical and popular acclaim. I guarantee every single one of them has hyperbolic exclamations of being better then sliced bread and being "overrated". Which is it?
Well a more reasonable person might realize that taking mindbogglingly awesome as a benchmark for success is utterly foolish. Likewise other people experiencing that shouldn't be held against a show. Fans are terrible people, especially you. We all know you have a favorite you do the same thing for.
And on that account Attack on Titan has some warts of course but does it deserve the hype... yeah actually it does. As much as anything ever will anyways.
I came to the show mostly to kill some time, having no interest in it. Yet as a watched it still managed to put a grappling hook in me. Probably from a solid cast of likable characters, mostly not named Eren who btw is psycho. Supported by the ongoing mysteries being revealed just right keeping you guessing, interested, and giving some epic replay value to the story. I've seen a lot of this before whether its the Big O or Nausicaa but I haven't seen it in awhile or quite this way so its very interesting seeing what tropes this will end up with.
That's not to say there aren't problems here or there. You can nitpick anything if you really try of course. I think worst though is that this series takes awhile to Grow Its Beard. I know exactly where too. By the time of the Spoon Scene I was fed up with "Eren on Trial", but from once everyone drops the Idiot Ball at the end of that, the beard grows in thick. And people stop being stupid.
Unfortunately this does happen fairly late in the anime which can warp opinion. I can only recommend going to the manga, where the art alone should make clear Hajime Isayama was still very much working things out. And there is so much more going on after the anime ends. And that makes second viewings far more interesting.
Manga This Seems Familiar...
I finally watched Attack on Titan. I figured, "The hype is starting to die down... I think it's safe to watch without fear of being mauled. After reading a few reviews, I determined the two types of people that watch this show. The OMYGODTHISISTHEBESTANIMEEVUR fans, and the people who acknowledged the fact that it was good, but WAY overhyped.
But I never read a bad review...
So I watched it, and I was impressed. The characters seem bland at times, and don't experience too much development, but the sheer uniqueness caught me by surprise. (The fact that a Shrinking Violet like Armin could host such a Badass fighter was amazing. The Titans are similar. Bland, but very unique (Also scary as hell). Not to mention the intense action scenes that are portrayed beautifully.
But halfway through, I noticed a distinct similarity do a different series from a while ago. An immense fanbase, overhype surrounding what can best be described as pretty good, a ridiculously memetic Opening song...
Does anyone see the similarities to Haruhi Suzumiya?
I did. And from then on, Attack on Titan became much more enjoyable to watch for me. Guren no Yumiya did remind me of Hare Hare Yukai if only in terms of sheer popularity and parodies. An interesting, but unusual (And sometimes confusing) storyline, and other similarities made this series stand out even more.
But in the end, Attack on Titan ended up falling short of the hype. The "unusual storyline" I mentioned is basically as follows: "Kill Titans. Learn more about Titans. Don't get killed by Titans." Now, to say this is the whole storyline is a ridiculous exaggeration, but the story is not this anime's strong suit. (Note that I haven't read the manga yet.)
Was it good? Definitely. Was it a "Breathtaking miracle that should be everyone's favorite anime?" No. Will I watch it when Funimation dubs it? You bet I will.
Manga Unique world-building, unoriginal protagonist
If you like really unique world-building, this is something to check out. The story is set in a neo-medieval world where Titans, which are basically giant zombies, have been stalking the last remnants of humanity outside of the last human city. Paranoia runs high throughout the entire story, and the desperate situation causes children (the main trio of Erin, Armin and Mikasa) to sign up as basically teenage soldiers/cannon fodder to fight the Titans.
The plot is best categorized as a military thriller, and the action scenes have the terror of The Walking Dead if all the zombies were Godzilla. Pacing in anime always bothers me, so I go into every anime expecting to have problems with it. The pacing in Ao T isn't as atrocious as I was expecting it to be because there are enough genuine plot twists to make it worthwhile. I also liked how the series expands to focus on more characters as it progresses.
There's something intensely likable about this story (anime and manga), even though it does have a major drawback. The protagonist is the most cliche part of the story. He has super powers, and he's still boring and one-dimensional. Even his mysterious dad and the mystery behind his powers doesn't fully save him from being dull. It's even more of a shame because the rest of the characters are intensely interesting and have actual motivations and stakes within this world. Mikasa is a bad ass, Armin takes a few shots at actual cleverness, and the other characters (there are lots and lots of them) in the military are well done as well. The best parts of this story are when it doesn't focus on the main character, which means that Eren was a poor choice for the main character.
If you're a casual anime fan, bearing with the slower pacing early on pays off. 3.5/5
Manga DBZ-Level Poor Pacing Really Hurts This
Attack On Titan is cool, but suffers from heavy-handedness in the War Is Hell Department, and horrible pacing.
If I had to sum up how this anime really is, I'd say it's got the basic shell of a Gundam show, An Aesop of The Hunger Games Mockingjay, and the stretched out pacing of a Dragon Ball Z arc.
The good first. The titans are freaking creepy as all hell. The Uncanny Valley is strong with this one. Those perpetual smiling faces and androgynous genetalia-lacking bodes are just eerie and disgusting. Each titan looks unique for the most part.
The fight scenes that they spend all their money on is also stunning. The titan battles are well animated and the moves are impressive.
The various body types of the characters in the show are welcome. Each and every character body has been modeled uniquely and with much variation. So everyone has a distinct look.
Now the bad: The plot is simple enough to follow: a town with several outlying rings is breached, and the Corps must find out about the titans and fight them. Simple.
The problem lies in the Anvilicious delivery of the War Is Hell message.There are preventable accidents and deaths abound in this series, because every warrior save for three are absolutely atrocious at their jobs.
They're trying to tell us that War is scary and people become petrified when faced with the End. ... Okay. I can buy that. But is EVERY SINGLE SOLDIER unable to act on simple commands? As soon as one bad thing happens, everybody becomes useless quivering masses of stupidity. It's a whole army of RedShirts. It makes no sense in a world where life is threatened everyday by invasion that people are this incompetent. One could Hand Wave this by blaming it on the Powers That Be and their incompetent ruler. I guess.
Either way, it's completely infuriating to watch. This is not an anime that deconstructs society or the human psyche. And people spend a crap load of time talking about nothing. About what they will do, what they won't do, what they wish they could do. An entire episode centered around people discussing the fate of a character, and then a speech of boringness followed.
All in all, not horrible, but I won't continue to season 2. 6/10
Manga Simply not for me.
For all the chances I've given it, I'm afraid this show's appeal fails to reach out to me. The premise and the setting have never struck me as more than blase, the characters either generic or unlikable—Mikasa in particular comes off more as Eren's co-dependent lap dog with no sense of self-growth or expansive perspective than she does an empowering female or respectable Mama Bear archetype to the protagonist—the humor (and characters relating to it) falls flat on its ass whenever it makes the idiotic move of attempting it, and the main weapon against the Titans, the Titan Shifters, is simply akin to mechs made of flesh and bone. Kinda pretentious in that regard.
The action feels more repetitive and drawn out than fast-paced or entertaining to watch, and while the scene of Eren in his Titan form going on a rampage against all the other Titans was admittedly awesome (as is the Armored Titan), I've yet to see anything else that intrigued me nearly that much in any of the action. Anywhere else comes off as a matter of just flaunting its animation quality with long-winded tracking shots and off-beat Spiderman. And no, I didn't enjoy the fight between Eren and Annie—it felt like a slow-paced clip show with unnecessary cuts every three minutes.
The pace is record-setting slow, and not on an episode-to-episode basis, I'm talking line-for-goddamn-line here. Dialogue that's obviously meant for dramatic effect comes off as a recap of things WE'VE already seen thus already know, making the discovery on the characters' parts a lot less intriguing to watch considering again, how un-engaging I find the characters.
My biggest problem however, is the namesake; THE TITANS SUCK. Some of the least intimidating, most buffoonish and contrived excuses for a collective antagonistic force I've seen in an anime. They have NO personality to their presence even with all those stupid memes and screen caps I see of them, and really, while their weakness makes some sense when taking into account their supposed origin as the Manga states, the problem then becomes how predictable it was.
Altogether, the series feels like a set-up with relatively little put into defining itself besides its crippling simplicity. When I first read the plot summary, I was wondering if editors forgot to put "black comedy" in the genre tags—part of me still is.
Manga I can't believe this crap.
Let me start off by saying that, at first, I adamantly decided against watching or reading this series due to the amount of hype for it. Come on, topping popularity charts in only a few episodes? That's a little ridiculous. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that it would no way live up to the expectation the fans had set for it. This conclusion was so wrong. Even though the first episode started out as surprisingly slow-moving and mundane, it was powerful. As the series progressed, it only became more so, and when the action and mystery were added, it made for a fantastic combination. The plot runs ridiculously deeper than it would be expected to. Every twist, no matter how expected it may be, somehow gets turned into a surprise. The characters are well-developed and unnervingly human, and none of them are quite what would be expecting. (Also the manga, while known for a questionable art style, is really pretty fantastic, and the further you read, the more stressful the story gets in the best of ways.) I cannot believe how much I like this series. This is absurd.
Manga Not As Awesome As Fans Say, But Damn Good Manga (NO SPOILERS)
A post-apocalyptic setting with giant zombies and some genuine strategy. Sounds awesome and, indeed, it is, with some good plot, decent characterization (save for Eren, who is rather bland)and an original setting which gives off a Bersek-esque vibe, and gore galore. Also, little to no Fanservice, which is a plus in my book.
The two main drawback are, however, in the storytelling department: namely the flashbacks which are all over the place (with little to no way to see when they change on the original, story-wise) and the art, which, while fitting for the Uncanny Valley Titans, makes downright impossible in the manga to recognize one character from the other (Mikasa and Sasha's only difference is really in their eyes). As a lesser nitpick, the author has been recently doing his best to tease the misteries and yet pulling back, making fans enrage (Chapter 46 is the most blatant example, with the characters adressing aloud the questions until now... and getting no answer).
The Titans are a mixed bag as villains, due to their Off Model design and behaviour, they stand the line between Nightmare Fuel and Narm, and, while some might have seen some of the biggest twists from a mile, later a few of them gets a great deal of characterization and genuine wonder of the bigger plots behind the character's (well written, if not generic) struggles, with the only one really bugging me being Mikasa's backstory of (almost) rape when she was a child. A bit too clichéd, in my opinion. But again, my only gripe is with Eren, whose only main trait is his desire of revenge for the Titans and, while he is getting some Character Development, he is still rather dull.
As of the anime, while i have never seen nothing but the excellent openings, has an excellent animation and, from what I heard, makes small tweaks to the story, which either improved the story or are subject to a Broken Base.
Overall, Attack on Titan is an action packed and clever story with rather genuine twists and very plot driven, although at the expense of most of their characters. Being very plot driven, avoid getting the plot twist spoiled beforehand, or they'll detract from the enjoyment (which is why I avoid saying anything about the plot per se aside from Mikasa's backstory). If you are not adverse to gore and darker plots, check it out, but if you are squeamish, beware.
7.8/10.
Manga An eerily intricate gem.
Shingeki No Kyojin (SNK for short) is a rather unique series in its genre, and for good reasons. While the fundamental Shounen plot points are ever present (main character is center of something horrible, vows to fulfill a quest that will most likely take him the entire series to accomplish), the series quickly grabs these concepts and uses them in witty, interesting ways to craft a richly-woven story.
The story is set in a world where Titans, large and abnormal humanoids, have almost driven mankind to extinction. The remaining humans live within a single, walled territory where they are protected from the Titans that dwarf them both literally and figuratively. After a colossal Titan opens up a hole in the wall, Titans raid the district offering residence to main character Eren Jaeger, whose mom is eaten by a Titan. Vowing to exterminate every single Titan in existence and becoming the hope of mankind, Eren and his adoptive sister Mikasa, alongside childhood friend Armin, aim to join the military.
The story is host to a broad cast of characters, many of which are realistically portrayed, making them relatable and go through equally relatable character development as they attempt to survive in this beautiful, yet cruel world. Main character Eren starts out as somewhat one-dimensional, but soon goes through his own developments, gaining credibility as the story progresses. The story makes excellent use of its plot elements, the universe it has crafted, the characters and so on. As the mysteries of the Titans and the world are unravelled, shocking revelations and plot-twists quickly follow each other, yet all of them make sense, are cleverly foreshadowed and drive the plot forward and rarely, if ever, feel forced.
Being a shounen, there is ample action and my single critique is that the manga's artwork is not the most clean and fight sequences can sometimes get a bit overcomplicated in the way they are drawn, though the manga improves vastly over time. The anime is nothing short of beautiful in its fluid animation and colourful art.
This series is rather graphic and somewhat dark, which one must take into account before picking it up. If that is a plus for you or at the very least not a problem, I strongly recommend this as a must read. You won't be disappointed and will soon find yourself yearning for the next chapter/episode.
Manga Brilliant and Addictive
Shingeki no Kyojin is an amazingly written story with a very dark premise and a lot of action. This is definitely not a series for the faint of heart, especially those with fears of man-eating giants that don't even have the decency to kill you before they eat you (sometimes). The story keeps you guessing as it progresses, there's a new reveal that completely destroys what you thought you knew and makes you wonder just how far the rabbit hole goes. The characters are very relatable and you really do want to see them succeed. What makes this series unique however is the protagonists very rarely ever win a battle. Every mission the cast engage in usually ends in a blood bath, but it's not without purpose. The gruesome deaths we witness just cements how high the stakes are in this story, and the determination of the protagonists to push forward is very inspiring.
Another unique thing about the cast is they are rather three-dimensional in comparison to a lot of anime and manga I've seen. Where I expect some characters to be completely flat jerkasses or emotionless bastards, there's always something that really makes you like them. The series also makes a point of establishing that no matter what you see on the outside, the characters certainly feel and act human deep down. This makes it really heart breaking when you see characters you like die in the line of duty, and only makes you want to see the good guys succeed all the more, which serves to make their victories so much sweeter.
tl;dr, This series is a must-read/watch. If you have a weak stomach or a phobia for cannibalistic slasher smiles, give it a miss. Otherwise, give it your full attention.
Manga Amazing
This series shows us the possibility of not just shounen, manga or anime, but animation. A smart, well thought out and well written series like this does not come that often. Each of the characters feel real and have their successes and their failures. It takes a concept and runs with it, creating a series of action, drama and horror. The plot is so well done and unique, that you have no idea what is going to happen. Although admittedly that manga's artwork is not the best, the story makes up for it. The fear and sympathy you feel for the characters draws you in. Especially for the anime, with its high quality and smooth animation. All in all, do not miss this series if you can handle dark stories. But I expect with the ridiculous popularity from the anime, after the anime ends a new anime series will start once they have enough chapters. I feel it might have the popularity to rival One Piece and Naruto, the only thing stopping it from having long running animes like those two is that it is a monthly series.
Manga Dark but enjoyable (Spoiler-Free Review)
Attack on Titan is a well-known name in manga and anime, and while certain parts of the series are controversial(not just the ending), it's still high quality enough that it's well worth your time.
The most I can say about the plot without spoiling anything is that it's about the supposed last bastion of human civilization, a massive civilization with three layers of defenses, being besieged by mindless man-eating giants known as Titans. Much of the plot is about uncovering the long-buried secrets of the world, and gradually learning more about the setting is one of the most entertaining parts of the story.
Speaking of the setting, it's a rich and surprisingly complex world. The tone of the series is realistically dark and cynical, showing that a common enemy is not enough to get humanity to put aside their differences and band together.
The series features quite a few exciting action scenes, which generally eschew flashy techniques in favor of intelligent use of strategy. Battles often feature brutal violence and copious blood and gore, and generally end with significant casualties even for the winners, fitting the dark yet entertaining nature of the series.
The cast is quite large, most likely due to how many characters die in the course of the series. While the main characters often have vices and virtues and develop over time(Jean, for example, grows from a selfish young man who wants a cushy position to a capable leader), many others, especially the red shirts who get killed off, are relatively forgettable. While the main characters are less likely to die than the secondary characters, Isayama usually wisely chooses to kill off main characters when their deaths will have noticeable impacts on the plot.
While the manga's art is so-so, especially early on, the anime does a noticeably better job with the visuals. The anime also has an excellent soundtrack, including memorable opening and ending themes that do an excellent job of capturing the themes of the show and the characters' beliefs- "Guren no Yumiya," the famous first opening, evokes Eren's desire to wage war on his enemies.
Since my reviews are almost always spoiler-free for the benefit of the uninitiated, and Attack on Titan is best enjoyed by going in blind, I won't comment on the ending, save for noting that while it's controversial, I personally thought it was OK. Rather than tell you what to think about it, I recommend that you watch this series, get to the end and form your own opinion on the way, because Attack on Titan is a worthwhile experience.