Shingeki no Kyojin – First Season Impressions

Season one of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) is over unfortunately. I decided to lump my thoughts on this anime so far into a post as I wait for season two to be announced and start airing. First up there are some spoilers present so if you do not want to read them stop right here then return once you are ready. Secondly, I have not read the manga very far; other than perusing the first couple chapters I resisted the urge to read ahead and decided to watch the series week by week to fully appreciate the story and any interesting plot maneuverings.

attack-on-titan-box

I  unintentionally withdrew from the anime watching sphere as I grew bored watching the majority of shows I decided to check out. Then Shingeki no Kyojin came along and reignited my anime flame. It was heavy on emotion with a detailed art/animation style and a first episode that is one of the best I have ever watched. That first episode laid a foundation for the first season to build upon. Finally an anime to pull me back in and with each passing week I looked forward to a new episode being released and chatted up each episode with a few friends also watching it. Shingeki no Kyojin has been well received and I would go as far as to say it has become wildly popular and shows great potential. The story, the characters, the setting. I found myself caring about some characters and affected by how they developed.

Eren is an idiot

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One of my only gripes about this series is my disdain for the main character protagonist Eren Jäger. I am not quite sold on his personality, he has no exceptional traits/abilities and I found myself liking him less and less as the season progressed. Bursting out of the belly of a titan was his high point but his only development was to turn into a mindless rampaging Sasquatch. I am just plain sorry for him because of the loss of his mother and being in the dark on why he can turn into a titan.

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Armin, Jean, Mikasa, Hanji

Memorable core Characters

  • Levi

Easily my favourite character I try to resist whipping out my pom poms and screaming each time he is on screen. He is like a mixture between Roy Mustang (Full Metal Alchemist) and Itachi Uchiha (Naruto) and there seems to be so much depth to his character. I just hope we eventually learn more about his background and motivations.

  • Mikasa

After her parents were murdered she was taking in by Eren’s family. That act of kindness seems to have made her Eren’s protector for life. I really like strong female characters in anime, there are not many fighters better than Mikasa so far but she does have her moments when she frustrates me with her emotional baggage and that annoying way she screams “Eren!” repeatedly.

  • Armin

If there is one character that has grown the most throughout the first season it is Armin Arlert. From spineless coward to tactical genius I mistakenly hoped he would have been the first of the main characters to be killed off. I foresee some kind of leadership role for Armin eventually, now if only he could actually use his maneuver gear.

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Will the Mindless rampaging Sasquatch ever learn control?

Dangling Plot Threads

  • Eren’s Father and the Key

Somehow, with the appearance of the female titan everyone forgot about the original mission. To get to Eren’s house to see what the key around his neck unlocks it is basement. Is it a weapon? Since is father was a doctor is it some kind of medicine to cure or make people into titans? Information on the identity of the remaining human titans perhaps?

  • Human Titans

It was made repeatedly clear that Annie is not the only human that can turn into a sentient titan. However, if are more, who are they? Is the colossal and the armoured titans humans hiding within the walls waiting for a change to strike another blow to humanity? Are there other titans yet to be revealed?

  • Titan inside the wall

The cliffhanger to end season one of Shingeki no Kyojin is a scene with the revelation of what clearly is a titan INSIDE the wall protecting the humans? Is the titan hiding there? Is it one of the mindless eaters or is sentient. Whatever the answer is its hiding place has been compromised and I am sure the survey and military corps will try to say hello.

  • Wall Worshipers
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Whats up with the super creepy wall worshipers. They seem to have gotten a lot of screen time in the final few episodes and I do not think that is a coincidence. however I can’t quite think of a way that figure into the story other than being mindless, fanatic, lunatics.

  • Who is the boss?

No seriously who is the boss? You know the guy (or girl) in charge of the entire human race, or at least whats left of it. Is it a king, a military person? fat corrupt imbecile? We have met a lot of captains, lieutenants, generals etc but we still have seen or heard mention of who the boss of all the bosses is.

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Wall Maria, Wall Rose, Wall Sina! All should be praised!

Conclusion and Share your thoughts

I like it a lot, I really really do but its to early to “love” it. As a fan of action packed anime with mature themes it is the best I have seen in a long time and it is a welcome breath of fresh air to distract from the onslaught of school themed anime, fanservice snooze fests, vampire/supernatural and pantsu/boob flashing anime girls. Season two can’t come quick enough, I’m just wondering if I’ll be able to get hooked on a similar anime while I wait for another season of Attack on Titan. Share your thoughts in a comment below or tweet me @jamaipanese. Feel free to recommend a similar anime I can watch while I wait!

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Hello there handsome. Why are you inside the wall?

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[evil]

One thought on “Shingeki no Kyojin – First Season Impressions

  1. I believe that Eren’s father made him a titan. I believe that the Titans in the wall were former human titans.

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