So late last year the western anime world has been abuzz watching the new anime series Attack On Titan. I myself finished rewatching it a few days ago and thought why it is so good and I like it so much. It is because it bucks the trend from normal or at least popular long running trends of Shounen nowadays (animes like One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Fairy Tale, etc). Admittedly shows like Berserk have many of these characteristics but right now it feels so fresh. Yes the weaponry is wicked but there are better things to like. Anyway here we go (remember just based on the anime not manga).
First unlike many shounen nowadays Attack on Titan is much darker. It has many more horror and terrifying elements in it. There is a lot more death generally (and quite brutal death at that), than just having an enemy knocked out. I can't imagine how it feels to be eaten alive. Some may just say it is more gorey but there are definitely elements within the anime that make it seem darker. For a start the animation and visuals themselves are done with a darker or less bright colour palet than most other animes. Characters are more often scared to the point of being frozen and singular bravity is not rewarded as often. Also there is very little comedy in the series generally, maybe a little here and there such as in the training camp.
This fanart really typifies the horror of the anime: http://chalii.deviantart.com/art/Attack-On-Titan-371314013
Further than this there was no comedically ignorant or useless character at which the other characters get angry at. There are no real pervy characters either. This was one of the more refreshing thing, because I feel I am more annoyed about them than the other characters. Although in saying this there are still are variety of characters that would find their way into other shounen: the brave to the point of being brash protagonist (Eren); the smarter strategist who is a bit cowardly (Armin); and, among other archetypes, the mysterious somewhat inhuman total badass (Levi). However one piece of the core group of characters seems somewhat out of place in other shounen. This is Misaka. Her strength and skills is not comical like elsewhere. In fact Attack on Titan even seems to slam the archetypes. As said before singular bravity and determination is not all that is important and we get the feeling if Eren, with his "shoot first ask questions later" mentality (a mentality a lot of shounen lead protagonists have) was to truly lead a group into battle he would get them killed quite quickly.
A very cool painting of Misaka. http://jxbp.deviantart.com/art/Mikasa-Ackerman-Attack-On-Titan-396926767
The main reason Attack on Titan is darker, grittier or more of a horror than other popular shounen is due to the enemy. Now this enemy and the aim of the heroes seem hugely different to other anime. Yes they are fighting their enemy to somewhat save the world (a common trope) but the enemy is not some evil human or rival, but then again it is not something that is totally novel or alien. The titans are not a new creation but something influenced quite obviously by our own images. The creator has said the titans were inspired by drunk mindless people. These mindless, aimless, base giant human that just destroy and eat humans for the sake of eating humans are not only terrorifying due to their aims and power but also the way they are presented. Some of them are just like enlarged humans but the slightly disfigured ones with bare muscles showing an ever persistant grin are just plain creepy.
Definitely the creppiest titan, the infamous Smiling Titan.
As I said the aims of the heroes is to, yes, ultimately save the world unlike other shounen, which just have saving the world as an excuse to have an awesome fight sequence, Attack on Titan really gives you the sense these people are fighting for survival. And this again comes down to the power and motivation of the enemy. They are not fighting some evil genius or some rival they are fighting the titans as a species. It is war, not just a brawl. This draws into another difference that makes Attack on Titan great and this is the anime's lack of emphasis on the individual, especially in relation to combat. We see in the many fights and even just from the training Eren and crew go through that (unless you are Levi or Misaka and truly exceptional) that taking down a titan is not easy task and individual battle is discouraged. No character is given a special set of clothing. They are all in relatively similar uniforms, unlike many other animes which connect characters with the smallest of physical similarities.
The main cast of characters the 104th Trainee Squad. Some of these die quite brutality but you can just see how uniform they are compred to other shounen.
The type of battle than is used in Attack on Titan creates a sense of tension not really found in other animes which give you a feeling of how will they succeed not if they will succeed. As said there is more death, second chances are not really a thing here. Many characters are given some screen time and personality and then killed. There is no extended combat where one combatant is knocked down then gets up and so on and so on. This idea that no one is safe is great and keeps tension high all the time. Also the victories in Attack on Titan never truly feel like victories. The characters never truly seem to be overpowered compared to their enemies because when the humans' aim is often just to save as many people as possible. This too creates that tension in combat. Of course this is all after the protagonist was left as dead for three episodes. Ultimately he did return but just the way he was left as dead for such an extended period really helped to give everyone a sense of mortality that brings tension to the series.
Another difference for me at least was the storytelling in this series, which I assume will break into a few more seasons. This first season or first arc or whatever, with the Female Titan didn't really feel like an arc. It actually felt like a piece of a larger puzzle. A lot of questions were left unanswered. What is in Eren's basement? What happened to the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan? Why exactly was a human working with the Titans? Nothing has been answered because although the Female Titan was stopped she presumably can not be questioned inside her crystal shield thing. So yes although in one way it feels like an end to a specfic mission it does not feel like the reset button has been hit. With a lot of shounen animes arcs could be put in any order because after an enemy is defeated it is like things return to normal until the next enemy arises. The story goes on and if you missed an arc the overall story and the characters would not be diminished. With Attack on Titan (and maybe this is just because it is its first season) it feels like there is deeper underlying plot that is still unravelling which I don't get with other animes like One Piece or Fairy Tail. Maybe this is also because there is such intrigue into the world which is just revealed little by little, such as when they go outside the city walls, that other animes don't have the luxury of doing.
What happened to the other special titans? Are they also Titan-Shifters? http://goruditai.deviantart.com/art/Attack-on-Titan-384008116
All this being said Attack on Titan trips over some of the same hurdles, namely what many would call "filler", inner or outer monlogues that delayed fights. All this does stop some of the tension it creates but really this is fine. Likewise it tried for a huge twist in revealing who the Female Titan was but this could have been easily guessed long before it was revealed. In the end I am happy such an anime is as popular as it is. I want more darker shounen, like this, like Rainbow, like Death Note. The repetitiveness of popular shounen like One Piece and crew are just not compelling for the 600+ episodes these series can go on for. So I hope Attack on Titan does continue but what I don't want it to become is some sort of mecha anime where Eren must just fight different Titan Shifters and the overall plot is not advanced. I hope it does have a definitive end after say three or four more seasons and also that other darker anime get made and become popular.
Thanks for reading, links for the anime:
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