A spoiler free review of the hit manga and anime series “Attack on Titan”.
If you’re on TikTok and other forms of social media, chances are you’ve heard of “Attack on Titan”. It is an anime series based off of a Japanese manga created by Isayama Hajime. It may have confused you to see so many people talking about this show when you had no idea so many people in your circle of interests were avid anime watchers. But that’s the thing— You don’t need to be a fan of anime or an avid watcher of it to be a fan of “Attack on Titan”.
Many people were only introduced to anime after the lockdown restrictions led them to explore more entertainment options. A similar phenomenon could be said about “Animal Crossing”. The release of the Nintendo Switch version of the beloved game was released right as lockdown started allowing many people who would otherwise not know about the game, discover it and play it to entertain themselves while at home. Since the final season of “Attack on Titan” has been airing for 8 years with this final season only being its fourth, the anticipation from fans is high. This anticipation has been more rapidly spread through trends on social media.
Now, we understand why so many more people have heard about it, however, why have so many people declared their devotion to this series after only having been introduced to it in the last couple of months? Because this series is pact full of emotional moments that are partly “out of this world” and “eerily similar to this world”. Tragedy strikes on the first episode making some people re-think whether or not this series is right for them. But it’s that tragedy that also makes people want to see if justice can ever be achieved and eventually makes them ask whether justice is actually deserved.
As the show continues, there are surprises that are shocking but not enough to uncover the whole plot of the series. It’s this type of storytelling that allows the audience to look forward to being entirely blown away over and over again. This format also makes the audience weary of all the characters and their motives, we desperately look for the people who seem the most humane but also brave at the same time. We notice the differences between the characters who are very emotional to the ones who aren’t. Having very emotional characters makes them more relatable to us and it allows us to better understand human behavior. In a fictional world that on a quick glance looks nothing like ours, we watch it with intense eyes as if it were a part of our history or will be a part of our future.
During our worlds battle with a new virus, we thank “Attack on Titan” for showing us a world worse off with characters who are forced to grow stronger and put everyone else’s safety above their own.
