In the past few years I have been finding less and less Anime that I want to watch, in fact I’m growing tired of the genre. I find that too many of the series are dedicated to children, or have too much fan service and disturbingly they  sometimes have a very young cast combined with too much fan service. A few weeks ago a friend advised me to check out Attack on Titan / (進撃の巨人 Shingeki no Kyojin), this series has been an answer to all my prayers.

The main character’s (from left to right) Armin, Eren and Mikasa

The plot is set in a world where over 100 years prior to the beginning of the series mankind has found itself under attack by a very powerful race referred to as Titans; they range from four meters tall to 15 meters in height and are nearly impossible to kill. Due to mankind’s continual losses against the Titans the human’s have retreated behind 3 massive walls that form up the last human nation, where they have lived in relative peace for the next century. At the beginning of the series a massive 60mtr high Titan appears and decimates Mankind’s first defences, this sets everything else in motion.

This series follows the progress of its main characters from young children to fully fledged members of the state military who are dedicated to wiping the Titans off the face of the earth.

Most of the cast

The animation is amazing; I wouldn’t expect anything less from this studio. One of the best features in the series is the 3-D Manoeuvre Gear (立体機動装置 Rittai Kidō Sōchi), this gear allows humans to move in a three dimensional pattern, using hooks and chains to move around the Titans and strike at their weakest spot, the camera does an excellent job following the characters when they are using the gear and gives a real fast paced view of the world, plus I kinda want one.

While the military looks very esteemed and badass with their gear and uniforms, the Titans on the other hand look absolutely terrifying, these colossal humanoids have an almost child look upon their faces that just makes them even creepier as they devour the humans around them, further adding to their creepiness, is their complete lack of expression and also the fact that they don’t need to eat, so no one knows what drives them to kill humans, this is what makes them truly terrifying.

Mikasa has become a fan favorite

So what we have here is a fantastic little series, zero fan service, fast paced action, political divide, a terrifying enemy and of course comradely, this is one of the best Anime’s I have seen in a long time, it’s a wonderful, if not at sometimes horrific yet compelling watch and I really advise everyone to go watch it ASAP.