To be honest, I’m not a huge anime fan. As a kid, I watched Naruto, the Dragon Ball series, and Avatar: The Last Airbender (if you even count that as an anime). I watched Death Note as a teenager and really enjoyed it, but I never found another anime series that drew me in as strongly as the ones I watched as a kid. In fact, when I came across Attack on Titan several years ago, I stopped after the first few episodes. I thought, oh great, another silly anime about fighting and superpowers. Thank you, next.
But in January, a lot of people started recommending Attack on Titan to me, raving about how good the recently released season was. So with nothing else to do during winter break, and not even expecting to make it past the first season, I gave AOT a try. And wow, the hype was definitely not for nothing. I ended up watching the entire series up to the current season in just a couple of weeks. My For You page on Tik Tok has become nothing but AOT memes, fanart, and theories. Now, with no shame, I am determined to drag everyone down this rabbit hole with me. Here’s why Attack on Titan is a must-watch for everyone, from a non-anime watcher:
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The multidimensional characters. Every character in Attack on Titan has a purpose; a distinct personality; and meaningful personal goals, hopes, and desires (which you can’t really say for a lot of American TV show characters). Even though Attack on Titan’s story is really dark, the characters do more than just mope around or seek bloodshed. They joke around with each other, show each other friendship, camaraderie, love. The same characters who viciously kill “titans” (oh yeah, it’s gruesome) go out of their way to support others. You even see the comic relief characters become the most dependable in serious situations. Also, not everyone in the show is who they seem to be. Later in the show, you’ll realize that you don’t know some characters as well as you thought you did, which really adds a whole lot of suspense to the story.
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The action. The animators for Attack on Titan truly went above and beyond—in fact, several Attack on Titan episodes have the highest IMDB ratings of all time, right up there with Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. The experience of watching the characters fight using techniques that could never be recreated in real life is so incredible that I can’t even put it into words. Action scenes in real-life film and television are limited to the abilities of stunt doubles and CGI. With animation, characters can transcend the limitations of reality. The characters in AOT use omni-directional mobility gear, which pretty much allows them to swing and swoop around the environment however they please, as long as the environment is suitable. I can’t imagine these movements being recreated very well with real actors. Not only are the human fighting scenes cool, but the titan fighting scenes are insane to say the least. The titans are humongous, grotesque, humanoid creatures, so seeing them fight takes the potential for destruction to another level. And when you consider that the humans don’t even have any special abilities, the fact that they’re up against these huge titans puts you on the edge of your seat.
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The voice acting. There’s something so charming about how dramatic the Japanese voice actors make even the most mundane dialogue. You’ll find yourself repeating random lines from the show to yourself just because of how awesome they sound. I feel like Japanese voice actors aren’t afraid to go that extra step to add raw emotion to the dialogue. They aren’t afraid to sound ridiculous. Even if they do sound ridiculous, it makes the characters feel so much more real. American voice actors seem to be much more cautious, much more concerned about how their acting will be received by American audiences, who are used to a comparably limited range and expression of emotion. So if you decide to watch Attack on Titan, please do yourself a favor and watch the Japanese version with subtitles. You’ll thank me later.
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The high, high stakes. The need to survive is universal, so when characters’ survival is being threatened, your natural reaction is to get anxious for them. The titans are extremely scary and almost impossible to beat, and the people tasked with killing them are teenagers and adults trained to use primitive weapons and gear (compared to today’s standards). Basically, they’re told to be ready to die at any moment. Does that sound hopeful to you? Definitely not, but it inspires you to root for humanity. If that’s not high stakes, I don’t know what is. AOT is kind of like Game of Thrones; you don’t want to get too attached to any one character because the environment of the show makes it so that everyone’s life is constantly on the line. I think this is what makes AOT the most invigorating.
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The world building. The characters in AOT live in a city within 50-meter-tall walls that protect the citizens from titans. It is believed that the people in the city are the last of humanity, but the job of the Scouts, one of the military’s divisions, is to explore outside the walls to find out. I can’t say any more without spoiling the show, but just trust me when I say that it’s not a small world after all, and you’ll want to find out what’s out there as much as the characters do.
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The mysteries and the surprises. The show is full of mysteries from the get-go. What’s beyond the walls? What are the titans? Who are the titans? Why do the titans want to eat people? (Yes, you read me). How did everyone inside the walls get there? Who can you trust? The answers to these questions might keep you up at night. Even when you think you’ve found the truth about one character or situation, there is always a whole other layer of story behind it. Someone on Tik Tok said that whatever Isayama (AOT’s creator) was smoking, they want to know what it is. I do, too. That guy has a wild imagination. Humanoid creatures that eat humans? Geez.
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The morality question. This show has some really heavy and controversial themes of death, war, class, nationalism, among others. I like to think that it serves as a warning against certain behaviors and ideologies, but it’s still interesting how AOT brings multiple sides into question, forcing the viewer to have a moral conflict moment. You can see why a character would want to do something, but is it justified? Do the ends justify the means? Do the means justify the ends? Who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong? Attack on Titan really makes you think hard. Sometimes it even makes you hurt. I love that about this show—it makes you feel a wide variety of emotions, and your opinions will change constantly.