If there was ever an anime experience that would leave you needing
therapy, marathon-watching Shingeki no Kyojin is it. Perhaps this is the
best way to watch this series; by the end, you'd be so emotionally
exhausted and mangled, you'll know what total despair is like. Not since
Berserk have I seen an anime capable of utterly destroying... hope. Yet
in spite of its soul-crushing hopelessness, Shingeki no Kyojin is
entirely about hope. Without it, mankind would have nothing.
In this world, giants roam the land. These "titans" (as it's been
anglicised) prey on human beings. They are brutal, violent and
unstoppable. Their arrival is as mysterious
as their motives. They do not eat to live. They do not eat anything
else. They consume human beings and vomit them out. Humans have become
worse than livestock on the food chain. At least sheep or cows are eaten
for a reason. There is no discernible purpose for why the titans eat
humans. They just do, and living with this fear and confusion behind the
giant walls of the last known stronghold is the dwindled population of
all of humanity. They've been able to keep the titans out for over a
hundred years. Life in a cage, but life nonetheless.
Shingeki no Kyojin begins with the protagonist Eren Jaeger questioning
whether this kind of life is worth it. Freedom does not mean breathing
boxed in, awaiting death. That's not life and he vows to use whatever
power he has to fight the titans. With him is Mikasa, a girl adopted by
his family, and his friend Armin. While Eren is strong-willed and rash,
Mikasa is calculated and fierce and Armin is thoughtful and
soft-hearted; the trio play off one another's strengths and weaknesses
in order to survive. And this anime becomes a war for survival.
Eren makes for a dependable protagonist. He carries the series well,
despite having some "shounen hero" tendencies but perhaps his enthusiasm
is necessary in a world where people drop their swords and flee in the
face of danger or who opt to police within the safe walls of the rich
inner cities. However, Mikasa is probably the show's great hero.
Powerful, naturally gifted and determined, she carries Eren whenever he
falls. As he is her only family, she is terribly protective of him. She
lives entirely for him, and this may seem to be the only detriment to
her character, but her loyalty to him is understandable when you learn
of their past. Armin will be nobody's favourite off the bat. Wimpy,
small and unable to fight, he has developed his intellect instead. The
other characters are well-crafted and have distinct personalities
(though they are just as many "Who's that again?" ones as well). Some of
the stand-outs are Levi, a very short, extremely experienced and
talented captain, Sasha, a girl who seems to gladly choose getting
punched in the face by her superiors if it means she can get a potato,
Annie, who like Mikasa is very strong and capable, and Jean, a spoiled
and cowardly soldier who eventually becomes someone whose growth you can
possibly be proud of. It's easy to like them... but maybe it's not
entirely wise.
One of Shingeki no Kyojin's characteristics is that nothing and nobody
is safe. It is not afraid of itself. It does not shy away from
brutalising its audience or characters because honestly, this is a
horrible place and time to be alive. It constantly reminds you of human
mortality and fragility. Some people might tell you "don't get attached
to anyone". Sound advice, but you won't take it. The characters in this
series are constructed so well that you will root for them as they pick
up their swords and then cry out in disbelieving grief as you see them
crushed like a mosquito. Blood and then silence. It's not entirely right
to say "nobody is safe" as plot-immortality applies to certain
characters and that is quite evident. Although the anime is going to
make you doubt yourself.
Gone are the anime physics where someone can go flying into a wall and
can get up without a scratch. If someone flies into a wall in this
anime, that's it. Game over, man. Game over. This is no anime for
children; it is a complete bloodbath. It is not afraid to show you
crushed limbs, torn-away faces, stinking, steaming bones, people's necks
being snapped like chickens. It doesn't shy away from letting you hear
screams of people facing their last moment on earth.
But it's not the violence alone that will sock you hard ones to the
stomach -- it's the story itself. The concepts behind what is presented
and also actual events will have you reeling. The second arc of this
anime more or less will have you screaming "NO, IT CAN'T BE". Because
you simply don't want to believe what you're seeing or who it involves.
The entire series will have you holding your head wondering what is
going on. The characters themselves don't really know, and you share
that confusion with them. Shingeki no Kyojin's story is by far one of
the most creative and well-crafted in modern anime history. It has the
right tone, focus and content. It develops surprisingly at every turn.
This is an anime you cannot necessarily lay out a trajectory for in
terms of what is going to happen. You take every episode like it is
tomorrow -- you ultimately cannot know what can or will happen.
Visually, it boasts some finely animated fight scenes, especially when
the soldiers use their gear to go "flying" through the city. This gear
is pretty inventive and can be likened to Spider-Man's web-slinging. The
soldiers train to be agile and precise using this gear as it catapults
them through the air. The best users of this know how to manoeuvre
throughout a city block, across a titan's back or across the sky as
though it were their first nature. The animation makes sure to keep you
on your toes during action scenes, angling shots to keep momentum or
knowing just how close to do a close-up for the best effect. The dark
lines and general colourlessness of the art style keeps with the tone of
the overall series. However, you can see where budgetary shortcuts were
had, and while nothing to deter from the series, it is not quite
perfect. Music-wise, the sound builds on the horror and the dramatic
tension, and while some tracks are certainly recognisable as you watch
on, they aren't entirely memorable.
Shingeki no Kyojin is all about experiencing it. You can have time later
to think about what's happening or to theorise, but there is no time
for that in the midst of watching. There are only held breaths, churning
stomachs, wide eyes and feelings of absolute horror. There are times
when humanity seems to be getting somewhere, where you think, okay,
there's a chance now. Hope. It exists somewhere, as small as it might
be, hidden in the depths of crushing losses and corpses and city rubble.
It's there, and that's what Eren and his friends will give their lives
to find.
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