Is Attack On Titan Worth Catching Up On?

 

Season 4 of Attack On Titan is going to be one of the most hyped and anticipated anime in the winter of 2021’s anime selection. Season 4 is also the last season of the anime adaptation. However, many people believe that AOT is a heavily overrated anime because it was not revolutionary in any sort of way. So, is AOT really worth catching up? Is this final season going to satisfy the hype?

Storytelling (Minor Spoilers)

AOT is set in an alternate universe where giant humanoid creatures known as titans terrorize humanity. Humanity shielded itself from the titans by building 3 layers of walls. We follow our young protagonist Eren Jaeger, who believes that the walls will not keep humanity safe forever. One day, the titans break through one of the outer walls and kill hundreds of citizens including his mother.

Eren vows his revenge upon all titans by slaughtering every one of them. Although this plot seems relatively generic and bland, the future seasons prove to have an increasingly complicated plot that changes in a significant way each season.

AOT season 1 was a relatively mediocre anime in season 1. There was a lot more exposition and plot being set up rather than directly jumping into an engaging plot. A lot of the harder to animate scenes were in 20 fps and it left many fans rather disappointed. However, season 2 performed much better in both of these categories. It provided a stable frame rate of 60 per second and the heavy exposition in the first season set up for an engaging story that had could not be paralleled at the time.

Season 3 of AOT drove hype for the series much higher as it built on the previous plot continuously engaging storytelling and a plethora of amazing animated scenes. What makes AOT such a good anime isn’t that it brings new concepts into the story. Rather, it builds upon its story and evolves it in ways you never expect. Much like Game of Thrones, you do not know what to expect in the story. A character can die at any moment of the series and the only thing the audience can do is move on.

Characters

The characters in AOT are perhaps both the weakest and strongest aspect of AOT. AOT does a good job establishing their characters and showing growth, even the side characters. However, no matter how they develop these characters, audience members are not able to relate to them. This is because many of the characters are cliche personalities and very one note. Whilst many others are unique.

Ashanty G., expressed that,” Most of the characters are quite bland and don’t really experience character development.”

One of the worst characters in AOT would have to be Eren because of how generic his character is. Similar to generic shōnen anime, AOT’s protagonist is thick-headed and loves to scream. Although newer anime watchers may not notice how overused this trope is, lots of experienced watchers dread protagonists like these. They are often very dimwitted and not relatable at all.

Although AOT does not have the best-established characters it still does a good job at introducing side characters. Unlike most anime, the protagonist doesn’t hoard the spotlight rather, all the worldbuilding and side characters do. Even though many of the characters don’t feel relatable they all share the fear for titans and are extremely realistic when it comes to each situation. What makes AOT so loved is because it is a series built of fear between characters and the author’s ability to kill any character at any point in time. AOT is well received because the characters feel real due to their constant fear of dying

Music

All of the music used within AOT is extremely well-composed. It does a good job at hyping the audience up for the episode and all the songs custom made for the anime. Touches like having German lyrics mixed in and a chant in the background of the singer makes the OP’s music all the greater. Some of the most well-known music from AOT include “Shinzou Wo Sasageyo” and “Guren No Yumiya” by Linked Horizon.

Is AOT Worth Watching?

Absolutely! Attack on Titan is going to be the most popular anime of 2021 by far, despite having strong competition. Mr. Boyd, AISG’s middle school art and filmmaking teacher, highly recommends AOT because of its realism. He says that the best parts of AOT were the ones where the characters freeze up out of fear. “The realization of a towering monster is traumatic and scary, so that’s why AOT is so realistic.”

War, politics, and action are all key parts of what makes AOT such a hype anime. No two seasons are the same and the story always feels fresh. So, if you have time during this winter 2021 anime season, I highly recommend watching this anime.