ATTACK ON TITAN

As someone who’s a sucker for great writing, and thought the show was overrated when it first came out, I can now vouch for Attack on Titan’s status as one of the most well written, well structured works of fiction currently around.

The show is a testament to the notion that anime can bring you a story that can stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the modern age’s greatest literary output.

It’s one of those one-in-a-million TV adaptations, where-in you get into, get blown away by, read the source material without waiting for the next season, only to discover that the source material reaches heights the adaptation could only dream of. And then the adaptation catches up to it and delivers on every front, and them some.

Which is why it frustrates long-time fans, when they hear people say they dropped the series after season 1.

Attack on Titan was the first anime series since Dragon Ball Z to reach mainstream success overseas. And by mainstream, I mean “being mentioned in the same breath as the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones” mainstream. That’s just how popular the show was, when it debuted in 2013. And a lot of it can be attributed to how unconventional and “non-anime” the show felt.

The premise was dark as hell. The animation was out of this world. The music was award-worthy. The twists were mind-blowing. And to top it all off, it was released during a time when the zombie apocalypse craze was peaking; similar to what the show brought to the table with it’s Titan-eats-man premise.

But underneath all the spectacle, it felt one-dimensional to a degree, and people were quick to jump the gun and call it overrated. Nevertheless, the series became an absolute ratings juggernaut, while receiving critical acclaim, with more than it’s fair share of criticism also being present.

Enter season 2.

The 4 year hiatus between seasons 1 and 2 caused a LOT of people to get off the hype train, and while the audience for season 2 was not small by any means, it was but a fraction of what season 1 had going for it. The show switched gears and focused on the mysteries of it’s world, while also placing emphasis on the characters ; something season 1 was sorely lacking.

S2 had the same hair-raising action sequences, mind-bending plot twists and reveals, and also raised a plethora of questions, while setting the stage for the near-masterpiece season 3 would become.

Enter season 3.

Season 3 is by far the BEST and most acclaimed one of them all. It’s first part is a gripping political drama, while part 2 brings back the action from season 1, all while maintaining the narrative maturity that the show redefined itself to achieve.

All this resulted in some of the best episodes of television I have watched in recent memory. S3 delivered on EVERY promise that S2 set up, and completely changed the core genre of the show.

Titled “Hero”, it surpassed in rating the Breaking Bad episode “Ozymandias” - considered by many, myself included, to be the greatest TV episode to ever air.

All this was more than enough to bring back most of the season 1 casuals to the show, and marvel at how good it had become.

All that’s left, is :

The fourth and final season is right around the corner, as the story is nearing it’s final chapters in the manga. And having caught up with the manga, I urge skeptics and non-fans to believe the hype.

Because what started out as an annoying, edgy kid working to avenge his mother’s death at the hands of the Titans, has evolved into something far beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. If you’re someone who enjoys great fiction, you owe it to yourself to watch Attack on Titan.

And if the final season gets the same treatment the previous seasons have had, it will, without a doubt, go down as one of the greatest TV shows of the modern age.