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

[Mossberg Shotty]

I hate when I see this. We finally have a genuinely good anime, and all people want to do is tear it apart, even though most people considered it to be very good when it was first introduced. If you go back, picking apart every minor detail of course you're going to find some flaws. I thought it was and still is and excellent series that stand head and shoulders above most of it's colleagues.

As for why the discussion has died down, well... that's kinda what time does. It's the reason you don't still see people making threads about the ending of Mass Effect 3, or talking about how the Walking Dead was the best game ever (apparently). No matter how good something is, you can't expect people to talk about it consistently 100% of the time.

 

[Ishal]

It's the worst anime I've ever seen, bar none.

Characters are crap, story is crap, animation is decent at best. It's a fan service flesh mecha song and light show. No substance whatsoever, and I even hear the author changed the ending for it's first season.

It's everything wrong with anime.

Spoiler

Shingeki no Kyojin is terrible, no that's too charitable. It's garbage, no still too charitable. It's an abortion. It succinctly displays everything I can't stand about anime ever, and this is why it's so popular.

Before I start, I'll state the obvious that this is solely my opinion. On top of that it's an opinion of someone who doesn't have the highest respect for anime in general, and especially shonen.

Everything about AoT is stupid. It's hard for me to find a place to start, so I'll begin with the characters. If Kirito is just some stock shonen trope filled character, I'll happily grant it. But AoT's characters are no better, and they don't have an interesting setting to pull them out.

Eren: stock angsty hate filled teen with a chip on his shoulder cuz of his mom's death. Protagonist who does stupid stuff w/o thinking and is never in any real danger due to having his power to shift but when he is in "danger" he's saved by

...Mikasa: stock strong and silent type character. Female for otaku pandering and a generic combat machine when it comes to slaying Titans. No emotions so they can be discovered later in a lengthy flashback... because shounen anime. She protects weaker characters such as...

...Armin: Stock wimpy sympathetic plot device who's job is to sit on the sidelines and vomit exposition to the audience in the most pedantic formulaic way possible, because shounen anime!! And when not doing that get attacked or placed in danger to give the other two husks something to do.

These are the same stock trope anime cliches in so much anime, but OH NO!! It's different this time! It's different because the setting is "dark" and "bleak" and "Anyone could die at any minute!" I'm sorry, but that last one just cracks me up. This is a shounen anime, people. The only thing more certain than an obnoxious cast of characters surviving all the way through, or at least til the end, is death and fucking taxes.

Besides, if they kill off the characters, how do they expect to have EPIC FLESH-MECHA TITAN BATTLES??. Because that is what AoT is. Honestly, I don't even like anime that much and I saw this coming a mile away. It's not because I'm super good at reading into things, it's not because I'm super clever. It's because this show is standard shounen bullshit. I'll say it again. Do you really think they would pass up an opportunity to have titan's fight each other? Did you expect them to just fight them from the walls and on horseback the entire time? Jumping around with their cords or whatever it's called? C'mon people...

Unfortunately for how cool Eren is as this pointy eared titan, that "interesting" setting goes bye bye. It's a clever bait and switch. The world seems so bleak and terrifying, hope is pretty much gone. Eren is helpless... until we find out he and a whole bunch of others can turn into titans. That whole bit where the scouting legion returns and walks through the street with 1000 yard stares. The women runs up to them and asks if her boy died for something. The guy breaks down and says no, they're dying for nothing. It's hopeless. LOL JK!! Turns out the scouting legion are filled with a bunch of badasses who are actually really efficient at killing titans... because shounen anime!!!! I'm starting to see a pattern here... hmm...

Going a bit deeper into things not specific to AoT itself, but in other anime as well. Possibly the dumbest thing in all of this the child soldier angle with the protagonists. They're all really young when they join and are still kids when they are fighting the titans. It's something I've always had a problem with, but then again it's a cornerstone of anime and tbh I couldn't be more of a gaijin if I tried. The whole "enders gamification" is and has always been stupid. It's stupid in this, it's stupid in Ender's Game, it's stupid in Gundam (which I actually like) and it's stupid in SAO. But here's the thing, SAO side steps this because it's a video game setting where it's common to find a 15 year old. But in other anime we're just told "They're young!" "they're brains work with machines because blah blah!" it's just never adequately justified. It makes zero sense in most anime and it make zero sense in AoT. Individuals with more experience and cooler heads and years of experience could do a much better job. "But the titans ate them all!" yeah yeah, I'm sure...

But all this has a counterpoint in the character of Dot Pixis. The kids spend their entire time shrieking and caterwauling (except mikasa.. cuz no emotion, cuz designated female combat badass for otakus, cuz shonen anime) then here comes the aged field commander who is just SO in control of the situation he can afford himself little breezy comments. He's there to give the kids and others hope when the writer should have written himself into a corner with the amount of despair and hopelessness he's built up. But of course, Pixis is introduced with a snarky and witty "fuck the establishment" angle because he's obviously going to come running to save the little people. That's his way of being honorable... and it was delivered in such a way that a blow to the face with shovel would have been less forced.

You see, the problem with AoT and shonen in general is that it creates a set of stakes for itself and then casts a set of characters that are to take those stakes far too seriously - and then countweighs that with a team of happy-go-lucky asskickers who laugh in the face of danger.

In between we're presented with horrid comic relief characters like Sasha. Her only impetus in the series seeming to be hunger, but she operates on the same level as the rest of the cast, because shonen anime. All she does is complain about hunger pains the falls out of a chair. Hur dur physical humor.

 

[Radeonx]

Aside from it's ludicrously slow pace for quite a while in the manga, I think it isn't bad. Definitely not amazing, but there have been a lot of worse shounen stories made.

 

[sakesend]

Personally, I really enjoyed it when it aired and my opinion hasn't changed since. I'd never hail it as a masterpiece, and never did before, but I still feel it's a thoroughly enjoyable series with a fresh setting and idea. I thought I was going to start disliking it when Eren's ability to transform into a titan was revealed as it seemed a bit too deus ex machina for me, but I feel it was actually used quite well by then introducing other humans with different motives which opened up more questions as to the mysteries of the titans.

The characters are a mixed bunch, I feel I don't have as much ire for Eren as many others here, but I was never too fond of him. For me, Mikasa and Levi stood out most because, for better or for worse, I've just always had a thing for characters who are ludicrously strong but don't make a big deal it.

It's not perfect, but it was the first series since Gurren Lagann that felt it was forcing me to watch the next episode as opposed to me forcing myself to marathon through.

 

[ckam]

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

Spoiler: And then I hated it.

 

[ThePurpleStuff]

The series isn't perfect, nor are the characters themselves perfect. But I love it. I watched every episode and loved every one of them... minus the ending, but, I let it slide since the source material isn't finished yet. I'm waiting anxiously for season 2. My favorite character in the show is Hanji. I love how obsessed with the Titans she is, how crazy and manic she gets over Eren's titan powers, how much she wants to learn about and study about said Titans. Her heartbreak over hurting them despite how many people they've killed. She's so adorable and I hope to god she survives to the end...

I still need to read the manga and catch up on the current story, but so far I really hope all this build up won't leave to some stupid message (war,politics,environment, etc.) it would be so cliche and so uncreative I'd never read or support anything by the writers ever again.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

It was easily the best anime of its season if not in at least the top 5. It is also a strong candidate in any list for top ten anime of that year. There some other strong anime at the time but it destroyed most of the other ones in terms of quality. The 3d animation is pretty good and I don't know what people expected story wise from it. All it is as a show is a more violent Shounen anime. As far as the hype goes it deserves a large portion of the hype it got.

As for flaws the characters are a bit 1 dimensional and the future plots can be quite obvious. The pacing was fine for the most part until the end of about the Trost. It does have some other flaws but is still a solid show/work aside from those.

Admittedly, how well it was received is amplified by how poor the Winter 2013 of anime was after how strong the Autumn 2012 one was in comparison.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I still really enjoy it. It's a fun, enjoyable anime for me, one that's worth my money. There were anime that year that I liked more, but I would still put it on my top 10 anime of last year. I can picture myself in the mood to watch it and have a good time. I didn't have that pacing problem with it that everyone else seem to have, and I think everyone sorta overstates Eren's rage-y personality a bit, as I was perfectly fine with him and the rest of the cast. I found the second half to be rather suspenseful.

 

[gagagaga]

Turns out the scouting legion are filled with a bunch of badasses who are actually really efficient at killing titans... because shounen anime!!!!

This seems like an odd thing to complain about, especially given your complaints about child soldier earlier. Yeah, the Scouting League is pretty badass... because they've spent years outside the walls killing Titans.

Anyway, I liked AoT. Even if the director made things way, way too melodramatic to take seriously sometimes. I like that Eren is actually, genuinely fucking insane. Although I don't really get Levi's massive popularity? Well, I "get" it; he's a snarky, stoic badass... but at the same time, that's literally all he is. Unless you count his clean freak tendencies as deep insight into his character or something.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'm sort of outside what you're looking for, but to me that means even more, but I've NEVER liked anime. Seriously, I think the only Anime movies I ever enjoyed were Akira, Vampire Hunter D, and Ninja Scroll, but I found myself flying through the first season of "Attack on Titan" like crazy.

So yes, I definitely enjoyed it, enough to forgive some of the odder elements (like how the characters will launch into these 15 minute long monologues during battles). I just found the setting very unique, the Titans were interesting adversaries and it really made me want to keep watching to learn where they come from, etc. Overall, really good show.

 

[Drummodino]

I still think it's a great show. Yes it was slow at times and yes a certain character coming back to life felt like a bit of a copout. However, I love the premise, the action is top notch and while Eren can get irritating most of the characters are great (Mikasa and Annie especially).

Also while it was incredibly obvious who the female titan was, it's still a great storyline. I'm genuinely curious about how she got those powers and why she attacked the Survey Corp. So I'm eagerly awaiting the next season.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I liked it. The show has a fantastic setting and makes use of a ton of great ideas. I always looked forward to where they were going with the world next (EDIT: the battle tactics are also super sweet and engaging as well). That was pretty much the only reason I kept watching, though, as the pacing is absolutely fucked beyond belief. The Battle Of Trost seriously did not need to take nine god-damn episodes, holy shit. Could have been an amazing show if it didn't have the pacing of DBZ or Bleach. -_-

 

[Smiley Face]

I enjoyed it for what it is - I don't follow anime at all, so I was only aware that there was a certain degree of hype/counter-hype a year or so ago, not so much what any of it was. So I didn't come into or away from it with the notion that it was the best thing ever, but having seen it, it does some things really damn well.

The action is great, the art and music are both quite good, I appreciate the lack of fanservice, and I found the setting and general tone of the series to be refreshing and work quite well. On the other hand, the main trio are a bunch of walking archetypes, they LOVE their impassioned monologues, and a good deal of the plot obstacles involve overcoming the bafflingly stupid actions of people or factions. But these cliches which we've seen in plenty of other things aren't the point, they're not what you're supposed to enjoy about AoT, and I found it fairly easy to ignore them and enjoy what it did well, which was brave, heroic soldiers charging headlong into danger, and being slaughtered in droves. And jetting around-sword fighting against great flipping giants. Fun stuff.

 

[Animyr]

The premises is great--a seamless blend of historical fantasy, zombie apocalypse, and war story. The execution is competent, I suppose. I certainty found it enjoyable, but it comes up short of being great, the characters and pacing being the obvious culprits.

Also, the soundtrack is amazing. That was what got me interested in the series to begin with, honestly.

 

[Coakle]

Yeah, I still think Attack on Titan is a fun show to watch. My biggest draw is how the characters interact with each other and deal with an awful situation as it develops.

Anime hype is pretty cyclical based on the season.
It's gone Madoka -> Sword Art Online -> Attack on Titan -> Kill la Kill -> JoJo(I hope?) or Mahouka...

Attack on Titan talk just got drowned out by Kill la Kill. People tend to talk about the shows they're currently watching, that's got to be a large part of it.

 

[Hochmeister]

Loved it so much when the anime first came out that I read the entire manga in a week, which unfortunately killed any enthusiasm I had for the entire franchise.

It's a great setting and premise, but ruined by poor characters, pacing, and plot progression. I think the thing that attracted so much attention was that it was so different from the usual fare; it filled a previously empty grimdark hard fantasy niche. The anime also stopped before the plot went really sour, based on some of the comments here I suspect many people will be rather disappointed in season 2.

 

[FPLOON]

I feel the same way I did before when I was asked if I liked the show or not... I find the show cool and all that, but I probably would not buy it on Blu-Ray anytime soon...

Then, sometime later, my brain would start asking if people would hate the English dubbing of Kill La Kill almost like how the English dubbed clips of Attack on Titan made certain people wish that they were more like the abridged voices or something like that... since both series got popular even before the English dub were announced in the first place...

Finally, I tell my brain to shut up because, at that point, it just becomes a pointless thing to think about for some reason...

I now feel like marathoning through both AOT and KLK next week...

 

[michael87cn]

It was really good, but now it seems to be going the 'endless' route. Like Naruto and Bleach, it seems like it will never really get anywhere.

I don't really like the idea of having to wait 10+ years to see the end of a story.

 

[madwarper]

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.