review provided by Luther

Title: Attack on Titan Part 1

Director: Tetsurō Araki

Original Creator: Hajime Isayama

U. S. Distributor: FUNimation

U. S. Release Dates: June 3, 2014

Format: DVD / 12 Episodes / 300 minutes

Genre: Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Shonen

Age Rating: TVMA

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Synopsis:

When the man-eating giants called Titans first appeared, humans retreated behind massive walls. After a hundred years of safety, a colossal-sized Titan smashes through the defenses, unleashing a flood of giants and carnage in the streets. Eren Jaeger watches helplessly as one of the creatures devours his mother. He vows to kill every Titan walking the earth.

Eren and his surviving friends enlist to fight against the insatiable monsters. The future looks bleak, but there’s more to Eren than meets the eye: he may be humanity’s last hope against extinction. The Titans have come to feast. Anything can happen. No one is safe.

Commentary:

At first glance, Attack on Titan is an exciting new series; however, at its core, it is really nothing new. This is a series about a stubborn, hot-headed and somewhat incapable male protagonist, who, using determination and a special power, fights impossible odds. That description may sound familiar because it can also be used to describe many other shonen anime: Naruto, Blue Exorcist, and YuYu Hakusho to name a few. Attack on Titan Part 1 has only proven that it is another cookie cutter shonen series with overly excessive amounts of blood and gore.

Although the plot of Attack on Titan may be nothing special, I will admit that the show builds a vast and complicated word that I could actually believe exists. I also think that many of the characters are surprisingly unique, though the three main protagonists do fall flat to me because of how generic they are. So, even though Attack on Titan isn’t special, it certainly shows potential for a deep and complex story.

Another thing Attack on Titan has going for it is the visuals. It is a slick bold art style with fluid movements. The show also uses an impressive blend of standard animation and CG animation. When some shows use GC it can very obvious and rather jarring, but when it is in Attack on Titan, it is smooth and works with the standard animation to make intense and powerful action sequences.

Overall Grade: A-

Although Attack on Titan is far from unique, it has a vast and interesting world and it is excellently animated.