The Titans are Back!: Attack on Titan Re-review

Greetings, people of Earth!  Welcome back to week two of my month of re-reviewing.  This week, my next re-review on the anime super hit Attack on Titan.  The second review I’ve ever done, I had only seen a quarter of the series when I reviewed it back in May.  Having now watched most of the series, I can now give a more decent review.  So what did I think of Attack on Titan?  Well let’s find out.

Attack on Titan follows young Eren Jaeger.  Humanity is put in danger by giant human-eating creatures called titans when a new breed of titan breaks down the wall that has protected what’s left of the human race for one hundred years.  After watching his own mother get eaten by a titan, Eren and his friends Mikasa and Armin join the army to combat the titans.  However, they are thrown back into the fire after the same titan that destroyed the wall five years earlier returns again and does basically the same thing, break down another wall.  The new trainees are forced to fight the titans now flooding in with little experience in real combat.  Many of these trainees die in this fight, including Eren himself.  However, the tide later turns when other scouts discover another titan who is killing other titans.  The surviving scouts use this titan to their advantage and are able to push back the rest of the titans.  Shockingly, though, it is later revealed that Eren is this mysterious titan.  Eren is suspected of betraying the human race and put on trial.  However, the court exempts him of his crime and he joins the Survey Corps.  From here, the plot chronicles Eren’s struggle in learning about his new abilities as well as Mikasa and Armin’s journey when they themselves join the Survey Corps.

The last time I reviewed this, I gave Attack on Titan four out of five stars.  Honestly, I believe that the show still deserves that rating, so even to this day, it stays the same.  Much of the positive things I’ve said about the show also still stand.  Animation and plot are both excellent and well done.  The concept is probably the highlight of the series, though.  The entire idea of Attack on Titan itself is something unique and unheard of.   Now even though much of the positive aspects of the show stayed the same, much of the negative aspects of the show still stayed the same as well.

When I reviewed Attack on Titan, the biggest issue with it was the plot.  Why?  Pace.  I found that the plot put in so much detail and moved so slow that it was tedious and boring.  This is still a problem.  I won’t deny that Attack on Titan has a great story, but I will argue that it could’ve moved so much faster.  There was also one other issue that the show had that I didn’t mention in my first review.  The first episode is a rush.  It’s very thrilling and dramatic and draws you into the rest of the series.  From there…well, I don’t know what happened.  The excitement gradually drained from the series as it progressed.  I was a little disappointed by this.  The fact that the first episode acts as a “pull-in”-being that it pulls you in-and lets the energy die as the series progresses makes it look as if the only good episode in the series was, well, the first episode.  In the end, I felt this affect made the entire series boring, and it was what eventually made me lose interest.

Now, I know I’ve said some things about this show that may upset some fans.  I kind of expected that.  But still, no show is perfect, and this one is no exception to the rule.  Besides, my thoughts on the show are my own opinion.  Still, I recommend it anyway.  To watch Attack on Titan,  you can check sites like crunchyroll.com and funimation.com for all the episodes.  The series is also out on DVD in English, so you can buy it where ever anime is sold.  Toonami-Cartoon Networks late night Saturday programming- has also been showing reruns of the show at 11:30/10:30c. Well, that’s all I have for this week.  Be sure to stay tuned for more!  Also, be on the lookout for an announcement on Flashback February-the first event that I’m doing this year-because that will be coming up very soon.

-Hanime on Anime

If you want to read the original review, here's the link: Fee, Fie, Foe, Fom! The Titans are Coming! (Attack on Titan)