Anime Reviews Reviews

Anime Review: Attack on Titan Season 1 (2013) by Tetsuro Araki

A great introduction to a series that never disappointed.

Since one of the greatest titles of the last decade (to say the least) just ended, we could not but deal with the title, starting from season one, which was released way back on 2013.

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For those not familiar with the franchise, “” is based on Hajime Isayama’s New York Times best-selling manga with over 100 million copies in print world wide, and tells the story of humanity’s last remnants, sheltered behind large “walls” in fear of the giant humanoid “Titans” who hunt them. When the wall is breached and Eren Jaeger’s mother is killed, the young man enlists in the Scout Regiment, the military’s front line in their war to reclaim humanity’s home, angrily declaring that he’ll kill all the Titans. The first season is essentially split into three parts, with the first one introducing the three main characters, Eren, Mikasa and Armin and the overall concept of the Scout Regiment through their training along with other cadets, an aspect that soon expands to the whole human army.

The second part commences after Eren transforms into a Titan, adding even more to the mystery surrounding their existence, while the repercussions of the revelation extend to all levels of the army, which is presented as a much more complicated entity that it was initially presumed. The fate of Eren, and the whether he will be used by the army against the Titans or killed takes a large portion of the season, in one of the most intriguing arcs of the series, which also introduces the audience to the various, frequently fighting factions, both in the Army (Scouts and Military Police) and outside of it, with the Church of the Wall and the merchants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_nGhYw0lrs&ab_channel=MangaUK

This great combination of thriller/horror, mystery, fantasy and drama is the one that gives “Attack on Titan” its rather rich context, with ‘s direction working excellently in the way every question answered sheds more light to what is actually happening, but at the same time, gives birth to more. This aspect also adds much to the characterization of the title, which is truly top-notch, while the fact that Araki allows his audience to get to know and empathize with the characters, frequently just to kill them a bit later, adds even more to the impact of the title. Lastly, the fact that the most terrifying fighter of the Scouts, Levi, reveals his abilities only after a number of episodes, works excellent for both context and action.

The intricate context, however, does not mean that the action aspect is neglected; on the contrary, both the attack of the Titans on defenceless people and the ones where soldiers fight against them are as brutal as they are impressive, with the concept of the steam gear that essentially allows the scouts to fly allowing for a number of truly memorable fights. The animation by , headed by , and finds its apogee in those scenes, as much as in the massacre ones, which are intricate as they are grotesque.

The character design, again by Kyouji Asano, is also of the highest quality, particularly in the conception and implementation of the Titans, whose unresponsive, child-like but utterly violent behaviour is captured in the best way. The humans occasionally look too much alike in their European appearances, but the number of them somewhat justifies this aspect, while the key players definitely stand out. The medieval backgrounds are also presented quite well, although the impression the combination with the character gives is that the latter are somewhat imposed on top of the background, in a visual aspect that seems somewhat strange on occasion.

“Attack on Titan” Season 1 is a masterful one and a great introduction to a series that never disappointed.

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

Panagiotis (Panos) Kotzathanasis is a film critic and reviewer, specialized in Asian Cinema. He is the owner and administrator of Asian Movie Pulse, one of the biggest portals dealing with Asian cinema. He is a frequent writer in Hancinema, Taste of Cinema, and his texts can be found in a number of other publications including SIRP in Estonia, Film.sk in Slovakia, Asian Dialogue in the UK, Cinefil in Japan and Filmbuff in India.

Since 2019, he cooperates with Thessaloniki Cinematheque in Greece, curating various tributes to Asian cinema. He has participated, with video recordings and text, on a number of Asian movie releases, for Spectrum, Dekanalog and Error 4444. He has taken part as an expert on the Erasmus+ program, “Asian Cinema Education”, on the Asian Cinema Education International Journalism and Film Criticism Course.

Apart from a member of FIPRESCI and the Greek Cinema Critics Association, he is also a member of NETPAC, the Hellenic Film Academy and the Online Film Critics Association.

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