I've been an anime fan for over a decade and when you've been around the block so many times it's easy to think that you've seen everything this medium has to offer. It's understandable given the fact that just like any other medium, anime tends to settle in it's own comfort zone, padding itself up with over used cliches or pandering to current trends. As it stands many shows out there don't push the medium forward as often as they should. Being as jaded as I am, I'd forgotten just how innovative anime/manga as a platform can be. It's a platform that can be used
...
to tell stories which you really couldn't find anywhere else. I'm happy to say that Shingeki no Kyojin has reminded me just how versatile and ground breaking anime can really be.
I remember still back in 2013 when the first season of Attack on Titan released. As usual I waited for the entire show to air before binge watching the entire thing. I finished it in two days which was a first for me. I had never really finished a 20+ episode show as quickly as I did with Attack on Titan but the show was like a drug which always found a way to hook you in and make you come back for more. Of course after it ended I yearned for more and as we all know the show went on a bit of a hiatus for several years, something which really hurt the show's momentum being as anime fans tend to have short term memories, as a result it's popularity waned.
The show itself was something totally new for me, the premise was something I'm still not sure how the original author of the manga was able
to come up with. To this day I wonder what line of thought lead him to his resulting creation. The premise of pitting an embattled enclave of humans against what were essentially man eating zombie giants highlighted the uniqueness of the show but furthermore it included cool steampunk technology which was the only means our heroes had to combat this nightmarish menace. Characters often died and the stakes were real. Alas, the novelty sort of wore off with subsequent seasons but I could still rely on Shingeki no Kyojin to supply me with consistent quality entertainment. However, what the show was really doing was building up to this point.
Focusing a little bit more into the genre itself one can easily deduce that Attack on Titan is a fantasy show. Being spoiled by the likes of Tolkien, Frank Herbert and Ed Greenwood I usually hold the fantasy titles anime produces in low regard due to one reason: The lack of a compelling detailed setting. If there's a reason why I love Middle-Earth so much, it's because such care and detail was put into the creation of the world. There's a general trend shared between the worlds of Middle-Earth, Forgotten Realms, Arrakis, and Westeros being that the settings are host to different peoples with a clear distinction in cultures and individual motivations. When such care is put into the setting it becomes easier to suspend your disbelief, this is something that I think the vast majority of animes (and JRPGs for that matter) usually struggle with whenever they delve into this genre. Attack on Titan does something that I've never really encountered before. Initially it offers a grounded believable setting. However immediately the viewer realizes is that the world outside the walls much like humanity's enemies is unknowable, a complete mystery. As such everything is engineered in a way that your view of the world is covered by what are essentially horse blinders and as the story progresses the world becomes just a tad clearer. What makes this more compelling is that fact the characters are essentially on the same boat as you. As a result the viewer is as invested in their journey to find the truth to this world as much as they are. It's absolutely brilliant.
With that said, Season 3 part 2 was really is a turning point and general disturbance of the status quo for the show and if MAL charts are any indicator reminds us exactly why Attack on Titan has the stuff to become one of the great classics of our decade that will most certainly be revisited time and time again in the future. Without spoiling what happens during these 10 episodes we finally come to the realization of what exactly lies beyond the walls and the unique dynamics of the world. While the mystery is more or less resolved we're then hooked in by our anticipation of exactly how our heroes and the world inside the walls is going to deal with this new revelation, what actions will they take to ensure their survival? Funny thing how two episodes of this season are essentially exposition dumps but are done in such a way that doesn't feel ham-fisted or forced. Aside from the great story developments we get in this season we're also treated to a slew of awesome action packed sequences. The animation is more on point than it's ever been, the characters are as great as ever. One thing I also want to applaud is the mastery in how some scenes play out. Take for example when Eren and co are back in Shiganshina and walking towards the coveted basement. The build up to that scene was great, but the overall tone of that sequence was just superb. Everything from the music, art direction and even camera angles come together to craft one of the most uniquely compelling scenes I've seen in a long time in anime.
In general this season is a solid 10 for me. It's reminded me exactly why I loved the medium in the first place. As such, Attack on Titan is a must see for any lover of anime and even fantasy in general.
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Aug 17, 2019
I've been an anime fan for over a decade and when you've been around the block so many times it's easy to think that you've seen everything this medium has to offer. It's understandable given the fact that just like any other medium, anime tends to settle in it's own comfort zone, padding itself up with over used cliches or pandering to current trends. As it stands many shows out there don't push the medium forward as often as they should. Being as jaded as I am, I'd forgotten just how innovative anime/manga as a platform can be. It's a platform that can be used
...
Jul 17, 2011
Chijo de Yajuu
(Manga)
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Well I never thought my first review on this site would be about a hentai, but seeing that at the time of writing only two people on this site including me have read this manga. So I'll give it a shot.
The Bitch with the beast is a hentai manga which is a collection of short stories mostly portraying cock hungry sugar mommas getting it on with shotas, virgins or in some cases perverted men STORY- I'll start off with this. Story in hentai.....as we all know is often done poorly most of the time they only want to tell us how character 'A' mixes it up ... |
