Attack on Titan: How do you feel about it now?

[deserteagleeye]

(disclaimer: I have not read the manga)
It's not perfect but I love it. I sometimes worry about where it will go because it might contrast with my current idea of where it is going. I especially despise most of the fandom's stupid perception of the characters and story but that can be said with anything as popular as this. I love everything that I've seen so far but I worry what they'll do with certain characters and story elements.

For example, Sasha Braus, or the potato girl. During the academy arc she was established as the cute hungry girl trope. Even characters from the show called her "potato girl".

And next there's Jean, the douchebag rival trope with a crush on Mikasa for a little chip on his shoulder. Also established during the academy arc.

You've also got Ymir and Christa who respectively have the tsundere and saintly trope and are usually together (which of course leads the fans to assume they're Yuri for each other.)

What I've gotten from this anime so far is that none of these tropes fucking matter. As soon as shit hits the fan these character traits break down and it's more of a matter of how they deal with the critical situation. Once they leave the comfort of their training school they immediately become traumatized from going into the field. Has anyone else noticed that Sasha is an absolute disaster now? Where's the quirky food-loving girl we used to know? She's fucking dead. All that matters is surviving now and she's barely holding on to her sanity.

And what about Jean? When was the last time you heard him fawn over Mikasa? That shit's not important, people are dying. And he's considerably less of a douchebag now and taking charge because he realizes there's no fucking point in douching around because every second is life or death.

I hate that people still hold on to these tropes they were initially given from the characters because the way I see it, those tropes were only made to be destroyed because they don't fucking matter and anyone that still refers to them by those tropes is missing the point. But then again, I've yet to see the other supporting characters get developed which is my main gripe with the series. I do believe this is what the writer's are trying to do but I could be wrong but I'd rather see for myself as the series progresses.

This is just a small aspect of what I find AoT so appealing though. I could go on about speculations about where the series could be going but I don't want someone who read the manga to totally debunk me. That would ruin the fun of it.

 

[deserteagleeye]

Spoiler

I'm a bit disappointed that Eren got rescued from the Armored/Colossus titans. If Eren had been taken to the Ape titan, maybe some of the mystery about him would be answered...

But, things have really gotten convoluted now they're trying to have Historia revealed as the real royalty and ascend to the throne.

You should probably note that that's a manga spoiler.

 

[Fox12]

It was, uh... alright. I guess.

I'm kind of hesitant to comment. I really don't care for anime (and it's not like I haven't tried) so I'm sorta the wrong person to ask. A lot of the things I didn't like were things that are standard in anime. A lot of the humour, the way the characters talk ("Eh?" "Ooh?" "Uh?" "Hmm"), the constant indecisive internal monologues. But I guess that's exactly what the target audience is looking for.

- Premise: Cool.

- Pacing: Fucking incompetent.

- The way the script portrays genius (usually relating to Armin): Shits me off something fierce. To be fair, genius or exceptional intelligence is really hard to portray in fiction. Attack on Titan does it by having characters make wild leaps of speculation and then have them always be right because the writer can do that.

- Erin: An irritating twit. I liked him well enough early on. Impotent rage from a small child is effective. It's poignant and sad. Or at I think so. But then he grows up (relatively speaking) and gets a rage-based superpower and suddenly I give zero shits and just want him to die so someone more interesting can have the spotlight.

- Which brings me to my main gripe. I feel that a huge, huuuuuge opportunity was missed with the fifth episode onwards.

They make us think Erin is full on dead. Dead as dead can be. And I thought that was brilliant. Here they are, setting up this kid as the typical angry boy anime hero who swears vengeance through gritted teeth every morning before breakfast, complete with an ADOPTED sister who totally doesn't want to fuck him. So we're fully expecting him to be the hero and do anime hero stuff. After a few episodes he throws himself into the fray as expected. And then fucking dies. Quickly and brutally and in a realistically unfair and arbitrary manner, as if to say, "Fuck you plot armour! Begone from here!"

"Holy shit", says I, "They totally pulled the rug out from under me! Expectations scattered to the wind! Now we're going to have the story continue without its nominal protagonist as the now guilt-ridden Armin and the quietly driven but aimless Mikasa have to pick up the pieces and keep going. And I'm right on board with them because I was expecting Erin to survive just like they were. My god, this might be the best thing I've ever seen from an anime!"

Except then he turns out to be totally alive, complete with super anger powers and suddenly we've plummeted back down to the murky depths of baseline anime.

Oh well. At least it wasn't riddled with fan service and panty shots.

pretty much my reaction. My opinion didn't change because it was never that high to begin with. I assumed Mikasa, who was far more competent, was going to take over. Watching her kill a titan withou gear would have been awesome. Instead we got a Deus Ex Machina, and the tension died.

I find it interesting that Gurren Laggen (spoilers) totally played this straight. Gurren Laggen was a comedy series, and completely ridiculous. It was basically the Saints Row of anime. Then, eight episodes in, the main character fucking dies. In a comedy. "He'll come back" I said. He didn't. It was effective because it was unexpected, and clashed so well with the silly nature of the show, as if to say that, in real life, shitty things happen for no good reason. It helps that Kamina, the major character, was the stereotypical "I will win through force of will" guy. Except he didn't, and everyone suddenly had to deal with that.

 

[neoontime]

Well, I thought it was an OK show ? until I saw this:

Spoiler: And then I hated it.

That was a really crappy review though. It mostly critiqued the show in every point it's not like other animes while constantly comparing it to not necessarily good anime conventions. It's really obnoxious and and he ignores the main point of the storyline in finding the courage to fight despite impossible obstacles. I get the point he feels the show should change to a superficial anime like Gurren Laggan rather than it's different attempt at realistically fighting though despairity.

OT: I'll give this show points for having a pretty interesting world with a pretty complicated storyline. It's really slow but I'll give it that because I understand it needs time to get though all that. Still this adds to people assuming its just the writer not having a clear picture of what's happening. I'll give the writers the benefit of doubt cause I like the political side story to that mystery. However, people are kind of right with at least criticizing Erin so much. He really didn't seem to develop and I hate how they made him a psycho from the get go. Still they add some character to him and this can especially be seen in the lead up to the first female titan fight. Also, I hate how Mikasa is presented as some god-tier fighter despite being so new at the job. She puts all the experienced members to shame and it really just makes her look like waifu bait for the audience. If they can work more on the main characters and remind us more that this plot is going somewhere important, it be probably better than most animes this year. Still, I'm willing to forgive a little since they have so much on their plate with the expanding the large setting being one of the hardest things to keep pushing for the writers.

 

[gagagaga]

You've also got Ymir and Christa who respectively have the tsundere and saintly trope and are usually together (which of course leads the fans to assume they're Yuri for each other.)

Ymir's feelings have been confirmed to be romantic, at least. And at this point we might as well assume the same as Krista.

And that's pretty cool, honestly. A lesbian relationship in shounen that's treated seriously and not played for fanservice?

 

[hazabaza1]

They make us think Erin is full on dead. Dead as dead can be. And I thought that was brilliant. Here they are, setting up this kid as the typical angry boy anime hero who swears vengeance through gritted teeth every morning before breakfast, complete with an ADOPTED sister who totally doesn't want to fuck him. So we're fully expecting him to be the hero and do anime hero stuff. After a few episodes he throws himself into the fray as expected. And then fucking dies. Quickly and brutally and in a realistically unfair and arbitrary manner, as if to say, "Fuck you plot armour! Begone from here!"

"Holy shit", says I, "They totally pulled the rug out from under me! Expectations scattered to the wind! Now we're going to have the story continue without its nominal protagonist as the now guilt-ridden Armin and the quietly driven but aimless Mikasa have to pick up the pieces and keep going. And I'm right on board with them because I was expecting Erin to survive just like they were. My god, this might be the best thing I've ever seen from an anime!"

Except then he turns out to be totally alive, complete with super anger powers and suddenly we've plummeted back down to the murky depths of baseline anime.

Yeah this is what got me too. All the way up to episode 6 or 7 I thought it was consistently great, looking forward to the new week, and then came the twist.
I'm glad I stopped keeping up to date with it. Looking back on it now it seems like it's only been getting worse and worse.

Plus the actual art for the Manga is fucking awful.

 

[stroopwafel]

Attack on Titan started absolutely phenomenally. Infact it probably has the best opening episodes of any anime I've seen, with a highly intriguing and original premise. After that it becomes more traditional anime with 'flesh' mecha and kids on flying wires unleashing sho-ryu-kens on giants the size of skyscrapers. Still though, even if it could be so much more, I was entertained the entire season and was actually looking forward to a new episode each week(almost never have that with anime).

The animation was truly superb, the awesome action and fight scenes reminded me a lot of late 80's/90's anime and even the characters were likeable for the most part. So while I was hoping that the first few episodes would have been indicative for the entire season what we got was typical anime fair, but pulled off in the best possible way.

 

[AustinN]

I haven't watched it personally, but I have read up a bit on it. I've heard that some people are beginning to feel that the series is dragging out it's mysteries for too long. I don't know how much of that has to do with pacing and how much has to do with it being a monthly series though. I've also heard that some people dislike the direction the series is going, since it seems to be focusing more on the mysteries of the Titans, and not humanity fighting against the Titans. I've also seen accusations of the show following shonen conventions that it shouldn't really have to do, and apparently the anime is worse about that. Maybe for some people it was one of those shows that starts out unique, but then falls back on the same devices that so many writers seem unwilling to break out of.

But my guess is the reason people aren't talking about it as much is because it's in-between seasons. I imagine things will pick up when/if a new season starts. Perhaps it being a monthly series also limits how much people have to talk about.

The characters are very much a mixed bag. Some of them are interesting, while others just fit the cliché roles that a lot of anime seem to "need". I personally cannot stand Eren Jaeger and like many others feel that if he'd died off early on like it seemed he might, the show would probably have been a lot more interesting. Unfortunately he fulfils the equivalent of the "chosen one" role where everything seems to hinge on him, purely because fate assigned him a unique ability.

Going off topic a bit, why is that such a problem with anime? Dragonball, One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Fairy Tail, Attack On Titan, Kill la Kill, all series where the main character is considered less interesting than the supporting cast. What is it that makes it so hard for Mangaka to write an interesting protagonist? Sure, those characters have their fans, and the reasons why they're considered underwhelming vary, and it's not the only type of medium that sometimes suffers from this. But I find it strange that when it comes to popular shonen, an interesting main character is the exception instead of the rule.

 

[Auron225]

I think the hype died down for a very simple reason. The first season is over. That's it. Well, it may not be quite as popular as it was at first for one other reason...

Spoiler: If you haven't seen it, why are you even reading this thread?

which is that a fair few people didn't like Eren having the ability to become a Titan. They felt this detracted from the story.

Even given said development, I think it'd still be pretty popular if it the anime was still running. That's not to say its fame will resume when season 2 comes around - people do sometimes just lose interest between seasons. I think it will at least get a fanfare entrance when it comes back.

As for the manga... it's alright at the moment. It seems to be taking a very peculiar & risky turn with all the politics. It started out more as a Survival story which may well have been what interested people so trying to take this thriller-mystery route is questionable.

EDIT: One thing I do love about it is that no-one is invincible. People you don't really expect to die just get killed in gruesome ways and that's that. On a more negative & trivial note... I think the manga art looks shit. Seriously, most of the characters just look damn ugly.

 

[balladbird]

I thought my passion for the series had waned for the most part. It was epic, and worthy of discussion, but aside from the monthly chapters there's little new to think about.

...however, a few minutes ago AdultSwim played the first promo for the anime's debut on their toonami block (premiere date May 2nd) and I squee-d for longer than I care to admit, and immediately came to the internet to try to confirm I wasn't dreaming... so I guess I'm still a pretty big fan.

 

[kortin]

It's decent, but has far too much filler and tries way too hard to be edgy. If they spent more time killing titans, I would enjoy it a lot more.

 

[Ikasury]

how do i feel about it now? vindicated... when it first came out i said it was 'just another shounen manga' then anime, and oh look... its the exact same as all the ones we got nowadays, its only gimmick was the Titans and that quickly lost its luster because Eren's titan-mode-thingy isn't nearly as cool as actual giant robots, alchemy badassery or ninja-shenanigans... its trying to be 'too serious' while still being quite obviously childish was just droll in my opinion... it was just another par-for-the-course shounen to me...

besides, i think the only reason people cared or it got a big thing about it is Mikasa... didn't hear much about anyone or anything else 'epic' from it... and while she's... 'amuzing', i like to think this is what Rukia's doing now that Bleach Anime's done with XD good to see she's still got a job *snickers*

and is it just me or did their weaponry just piss you off? i love steam punk but those sword/holster/things were just overly ridiculous and in no way practical... like they went all for look but failing both in style and functionality -.-

 

[Samael Barghest]

When I first started watching it, it was the single most amazing thing to me. Since I couldn't wait a week for the next episode, I started reading the manga. Then I learned the difference between the show and manga and DAMN, it was huge. If I had to sum up the show in one word it would be dehumanization. How much of a monster are you willing to become to kill the monsters? Which didn't make a shred of sense due to the simple fact that it's only what shreds on humanity Eren has when he transforms that stops him from turning on people. Whereas, the theme of the manga was the polar opposite. How much humanity can we keep? How can we ensure that we work together to survive? And all that good stuff. The anime had changed scenes in order to make Mikasa a war goddess. There were things Eren had did in the manga that she was doing in the anime. Though I will admit, the manga is boring as shit right now. There's hardly any titans for a series called "Advancing Giants". Got a bunch of 15 year old kids committing treason because they don't like how the King is ruling his people.

 

[FPLOON]

...however, a few minutes ago AdultSwim played the first promo for the anime's debut on their toonami block (premiere date May 2nd) and I squee-d for longer than I care to admit, and immediately came to the internet to try to confirm I wasn't dreaming... so I guess I'm still a pretty big fan.

*does a spit take*
Are you serious??
*sees said promo*

Spoiler: Holy shit...

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!

*ahem*
This might change my opinion on buying it sometime in my future...

 

[Nazulu]

The hype died down because of no new episodes for awhile. Happens with absolutely every thing, well almost *cough* Half Life.

It's still one of the best anime's I've ever seen (and has one of the best soundtracks), certainly beats the hell out of Cowboy Bebop and Kill la Kill. It's pacing isn't as bad as so many make it out to be. Every episode moves onto different events, and while I find they over dramatise the characters at times and the main is cliche' as hell, they don't bother me that much, it's competent in most area's.

However, the most important thing is it's really damn epic. It always seems like there is no hope and the execution of the battle scenes are brilliant.

 

[Storm Dragon]

I liked it, and I have this ridiculous theory about the show. It's strongly hinted that the Titans are artificial life-forms, but no clue has yet been given as to the identity of their creator(s). So who do I think is behind it?

Spoiler: This guy right here.

This guy right here.

That's right, I'm totally suggesting that Attack on Titan, just like FLCL and Outlaw Star, is a prequel to Gurren Lagann. The series is set in the aftermath of the war between the Spirals and Anti-Spirals, and Lordgenome is in the process of driving humanity underground using the Titans, which are the precursors to the Beastmen. It all adds up.

-snip-

I just wanted to say that I love your latest avatar.

 

[Zeraki]

The production values are great, with some of the best animation I've seen in modern anime. And the soundtrack is probably the best and most memorable part of the show.

The story and characters are pretty weak though. When you have a show like this where you know everyone except for the three lead characters can and will die almost as soon as you meet them, it's hard to get invested in what bare bones development they get.

The only character that I really felt went through an arc was Armin, who I consider to be the best character in the show so far.

It's a good show, but it definitely focuses on spectacle over substance. There was only one twist that genuinely surprised me and got me excited for what was coming next. But that potential was wasted a few episodes later.

Spoiler: Pretty big spoiler for episode 5 and onwards

Seriously, how interesting would it have been if they actually killed off the main character and had someone else take his place? It would have been a great misdirect, and could have served to better develop characters who sorely needed it, like Mikasa.

I really liked seeing her have to come to terms with Eren's "death" and find the will to keep going. It looked like she was actually going to become the new main character... and then an obvious Titan Eren walks in and ruins it. Relegating Mikasa back down to overly obsessive love interest with not much in the way of personality.

The main reason the hype died down though is because the season ended. There really isn't anything new to talk about. I'm sure when a second season eventually comes out, you'll be seeing tons of people talking about it again.