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diff --git a/content/reviews/anime_manga/attack_on_titan_anime.md b/content/reviews/anime_manga/attack_on_titan_anime.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0242441 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/anime_manga/attack_on_titan_anime.md @@ -0,0 +1,82 @@ ++++ +title = "Attack on Titan (2013-2023)" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-06-09T17:10:00+02:00 +categories = ["reviews"] +draft = false +weight = 2003 +image_dir = "reviews/screenshots" +image_max_width = 765 +abstract = "My review of the anime" +rating = 3.5 +image = "reviews/covers/attack-on-titan.jpg" +reviewSection = ["Anime TV series"] +aliases = ["/brain-rot/anime/attack_on_titan_anime/"] ++++ + +_Attack on Titan_ may very well be the defining anime of this decade. +It started as a huge hit, then it faded into obscurity, just to return with a huge bang and end with huge disappointment. + +The premise is quite interesting: +pre-industrial age; humanity is close to extension, locked behind gigantic walls. +Outside lives the biggest threat man has ever faced - Titans. +Race of gigantic, humanoid beasts whose only purpose in life is to attack and devour humans. +We meet our main heroes - Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, just before the Titans breach one of the walls. + +The following 4 seasons differ in quality. + +The first one is interesting, but suffers from terrible narration where we are constantly interrupted by internal monologues. +We either learn what we already know, or random ideas are thrown at us. +The second one has no idea what it wants to be, and this is where viewership dropped sharply. +Then came the third one. +It seems to continue to downward trend from s2, but halfway through everything changes. +Without spoiling anything, _AoT_ stops being dumb fun and seems to become an intelligent commentary on human condition. +Before that, I was watching the series because I had nothing better to do. +After _this_ scene I instantly became invested and shocked. +Then the fourth came out, developing on what made the third great. +I was close to calling this a great series, but unfortunately it's all thrown out the window with the 2.5 hours long finale, which is almost entirerly one, long fight. +So much potential, such great buildup. +All wasted in the name of a boring action scene. +I don't remember when was the last time I felt so betrayed. + +The great part of _AoT_ takes a lot from history and great fiction like Dune. +We're seeing great idea one after another. +The story is full of interesting twists. +By the end, it's all meaningless. + +Story-wise, the only two redeeming qualities of this series are personal journeys of Eren and Gabi (introduced in S4). +Only their stories interest me. +Not that there is anything bad about the rest of the characters, they are ok[^fn:1]. +Run-of-the-mill anime characters. + +Yes, the series looks and sound pretty. +It's full of nicely animated action scenes. +But I can't stop comparing it to _Evangelion_. + +Both series start cool, but are not memorable. +Then they develop into marvels, pure greatest. +But _NGE_ never stopped being great. +After it gained actual meat, it developed it culminating in the greatest movie I've ever experienced. +Full of story, drama, meaning, and emotions. + +_AoT_ ends in _Iron Man 3_ - a prolonged, boring fight scene. + +And while the scenes shown during end credits return the series on its track, it changes nothing. +They nicely connect and develop the great ideas behind the _golden era of AoT_, but they should not be the one good part! +The ending should be it, as the way it happened is I wasted 2.5 hours filled with boredom. + +_AoT_ could have been great, but it is not. +It's an ok action series with huge unresolved ambitions. +If it was just a dumb action show, then ok - I would have some fun, then forget it. +It would fail in comparison of other shows we see now, like Jujtsu Kaisen, but it would be very much ok. +Unfortunately with added ambition, it ends in a huge disappointment. + +It was very close, everything was going great. +And then it hits a wall. + +[^fn:1]: Except of Armin who single handely ruins the first few seasons. + He is the character who is able to calculate probability to 4 decimal places. + I see this kind of characters all around modern anime, and every time I have to roll my eyes. + Remember how _Big Bang Theory_ was often describes at how "dumb people think smart people are"? + Yeah, that's Armin. + The same kind of bullshit ruined shows like Kaji or Code Geass for me. |