Attack on Titan, famously known as Shingeki no Kyojin in Japanese, is one of the top anime of the dark fantasy genre.
It is written by Hajime Isayam, It’s no doubt that the anime has gained a massive following from all over the world with its brilliant visuals and a swashbuckling plot.
Not to forget the characters, as they make the plot what it is. Attack on Titan Season 1 is all about Character development.
Apart from the violent gruesome barbarity, the Attack on Titan series reminds me of the ugly side of humanity.
Furthermore, the story reminds me of a dystopian world filled with creatures of the unknown.
Synopsis & Review
The story takes place in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. 100 years ago, humans were faced with adversity.
Giant man-eating humanoids called the Titans attacked the human population. Since then, humans have created giant Walls that protect them from the Titans.
The story of Season 1 follows Eren Yeager, the protagonist of the series, as well as Mikasa Ackerman who is one of the deuteragonists as children.
On a dreadful day for the people of Shiganshina District, were attacked by a large group of Titans led by two controlled Titans into the village.
They completely destroyed the village and countless humans were eaten alive.
Eren saw his mother get eaten by a Titan at a very young age. The trauma led him to develop a burning passion, full of vengeance to kill all the Titans and save humanity.
Attack on Titan Season 1 follows Eren who joins the Training Corps along with Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlet.
They eventually meet other trainees such as Jean Kirstein, Sasha Braus, Historia Reiss and Connie Springer who all join the Scout Regiment together.
Eren is a predictable protagonist. Like every grief-stricken hero, he’s on a path of vengeance and his motive is simple.
His trauma, on the same note, is not particularly unique as a whole, his story involves him losing his family, albeit in the most gruesome manner.
His mother being eaten alive right in front of his eyes and he was angry that he couldn’t save her. In addition to that, he assumed that his father died similarly.
As the Attack on Titan Season 1 progresses, Eren Yeager seems to be outspoken about his ultimate goal- to kill all the Titans as revenge.
In a similar context to the above paragraph, his attitude and goal are not accepted easily by his fellow squad members of the 104th Cadet Corps.
They don’t understand his desperation. Despite that, he made sure he worked hard to become a skilled soldier and his ultimate goal was to join the Scout Regiment.
Attack on Titan Season 1 has non-stop action and is very one-dimensional but is still very fun to watch and easy to enjoy.
The first half of the season shows his struggle to be understood and to be able to save the people around him.
Unbeknownst to him, he inspired his friends to join the Scout Regiment, whose main mission is to research about and hunt for titans.
That was the turning point for all of them. Faced with the gruesome realities of losing people and constantly being frightened, they try their best.
The characters in Attack on Titan Season 1 have realistic traits. Each character has traits we can all relate to, something we all see and experience.
They each went through experiences that made them who they are.
There’s not much character development for most of the characters in the first season and is slow-paced.
Understandably so, the pace picked up toward the end of the season.
Mikasa is protective and affectionate towards Eren and is ready to fight anyone who comes in their way.
Armin is a brilliant strategist but is a frightened cat when it comes to fighting the Titans.
He is too scared to take risks physically, contrary to his mind, which can calculate and articulate any mission into a success.
Levi Ackerman is the strongest soldier and fighter.
Despite him not being the main character, he is so famous due to his phenomenal skills and his undeniably good looks.
He probably has more fans than the protagonist himself.
There was one thing that stood out the most- each episode had an exciting twist, something unexpected either about the plot or the characters or the titans.
The shocking unfolding of events that carried through after the cliffhanger on Eren being a Titan was as exciting as the first time I watched the trailer of the series.
Conclusion
Overall, Attack on Titan Season 1 is worth watching to continue onto the next three seasons.
The characters do not have major developments but the plot makes up for the lack of characterization. The plot has a good number of twists and turns.
The nature of the titans intrigued me the most. They are nothing like zombies, cyborgs, magic users, or ghouls like Kazuki Ken, they are giant man-eating humanoids.
The story of the Titans reminded me of the series: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, where the evil creatures were essentially created by humans themselves.
