After hearing about the famed Attack on Titan from a lot of people--on B.net and at school--I decided to watch the first season on Netflix. Now that I've finished watching it, what did I think?
It's alright. It isn't great, but it isn't bad either. I do think it's [i]pretty[/i] good. There are some things I liked about the show, and some things I didn't like as well.
Let's start off with what I liked. Firstly, I really liked the three main characters, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, as they were very well developed throughout the course of the show. I honestly liked Eren and Mikasa more, but Armin was just as good. Secondly, the action is quite awesome due to how well it's animated; those 3D maneuvering devices are some really cool machines. Third, the music is [b][i][u]incredible[/u][/i][/b], whether it's Hiroyuki Sawano's score, or the tracks recorded for its soundtrack. Lastly, the topic of the horrors of war is very well explored in the show, with soldiers and friends being lost left and right, due to the titans causing their horrible deaths.
Now for what I didn't like so much. First off, all the side characters are really undeveloped and ready-made redshirts. Honestly now, what do we know about Sasha? She likes potatoes. What do we know about Levi? He's a badass fighter for the Scout Regiment. What do we know about Jean? He's kind of a whiner. What do we know about Marco? ...well...nothing in particular. Secondly, Eren being able to turn into a titan himself doesn't really make very much sense, because of how it's never explained over the course of the show; I admit that it is an interesting idea, though, having him turn into what he hates the most in order to destroy it. This brings me to my next point, NEARLY NOTHING is given any explanation, and when it is, it sounds like total bullshit. Seriously, does Eren really need to have a goal set for himself in order to transform into a titan? It's not like his hand can read his mind. Fourth, Annie being revealed as the villain was not a very good twist, imo, because, like the other side characters, she didn't get any proper character development. When she did, it was in the episode that revealed her as the villain, which was kind of a lazy, half-assed, and downright last-minute choice. Lastly, the pacing was pretty damn slow. You would expect an action series to move pretty fast, but a lot of the time the show spends is on unnecessarily added scenes that don't add much to the plot.
Overall rating: 7.75/10
It probably would have worked better if it was just about killing the titans without having to become one of them, meaning that if Eren were killed off when he was eaten by the old man titan, I probably would have given it a better response. For what it is though, it is pretty good, and I am pretty hyped about the fact that another season is in production, despite the long wait for it to happen...
[spoiler]inb4crapfedora
inb4wii-boo
inb4opisafgt
inb4racisthiroshimajoke[/spoiler]
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You pretty much just said what I thought of the show.