Shingeki no Kyojin review

Paperluwu9
Apr 15, 2021
So, here's my second review. And since I didn't like much the way I wrote the Psycho-Pass review, I'll change it. I'll just comment through all the aspects of the manga without having a "separate category", where I rate every single one. So, let's get into the review of the almost perfect manga, Shingeki no Kyojin - attack on titan.
(Remembering this review goes only to the first 11 volumes from the manga. I will re-review Shingeki no Kyojin once the manga finished publishing)

Note: Sorry if it is a bit incomplete or short. I tried my best not to spoil also, so don't worry if you haven't read the manga.

Shingeki no Kyojin (or "attack on titan"), is a historical science fiction/fantasy seinen manga series with shounen aspects written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. Let's first talk about the plot, which is definitely the best and strongest aspect of the manga.

It's a shame I can't give a plot summary here, because I would like to get a bit into the details, and also, I really don't enjoy going on talking about the plot without mentioning at least the basics. But what can I do? Well, the story at first to me looked cool and interesting, but as it develops more and more, mysteries appear and unimaginable things are revealed. This is what Shingeki no Kyojin did best: creating so many unresolved mysteries at the same time that we get a lot more interested on the story and keep reading. The narrative is constructed in a incredible way, and everything make us feel the despair and fear that the characters are going through while fighting the titans, also another strong point of the manga that we didn't see in the anime.
The characters are also very unique. Every character is different in personality, decisions and even the fear they feel. Also, it seems that every single one of them has a special role during the story, or everyone has a mystery behind their background story and such. Of course there are those one characters which have a bit more depth or carisma than others (of course other than the main Eren, Mikasa and Armin), like for example Corporal Rivaille and Sasha Braus, whom I believe a lot of people liked since the moment they appeared. Of course the background of some characters aren't developed a lot during the story, but that can't be a flaw, since the manga has not ended yet.

All the concept of the story is well made and can be explained. Every single thing. That is extremely good for every deep story that I read, and what lots of not only anime and manga, but movies, games, novels, etc; lacks sometimes. Things need an explanation at least. And those explanations and the current revelations that pointed me from the opinion of Shingeki no Kyojin was a supernatural/fantasy anime to my thoughts that the anime actually goes much more to a sic-fi genre. However, again, since the story isn't finished and lots of things haven't been resolved, I can't be sure of the genre yet. And that's only my opinion, there are people who still believe the manga to be supernatural.

One of the best things that I found about the story was also the deconstruction of typical shonen or even fighting-central seinen. There are few cliches during the manga, and when those appear, they are really well-used to increase the emphasis of something that happened or what someone is saying.
And also, something that Shingeki no Kyojin does – or better, the author of the story – is the fact that it kind of doesn't care about deaths of characters, and that is seen very rarely in anime, as well as the censure, that is almost absent throughout the chapters. The deaths does not seem dramatic, but they somehow make you feel at least a bit of emotion, it doesn't matter who they were. But of course I won't get into detail on this part.

And, as the story isn't finished yet, I cannot give my general opinions on the ending. But I can only tell that I'm always afraid of endings when I read ongoing mangas or watch ongoing anime. I always think: "What if the ending is completely terrible? What if it ruins the anime/manga?" But , I here can say that I have high expectations that this manga will have a great and well-thought ending. I hope the author doesn't mess up during the ending of the series.

Well, now we go on to the art. Well, this is where the manga fails. The art overall is not good, that being because the artist probably is beginning. There are huge anatomy flaws on lots of scenes, proportion mistakes and such things. Also, the shading done in the manga is not the best, and I didn't like much the way Isayama inked the black parts of the pages, those being normally a bunch of lines. However I know that it may be hard to do 50 pages a month, so he probably does that to make it in time to publish. That being, the fight scenes including humans using the DMT aren't really well drawn, however nothing that disturbs the eye of those who read the manga.
But the flaws on the art are only for the characters (humans). The titans are overall pretty good and odd – on a good way – drawn and they vary much in forms, sizes and even their faces are almost all different from each other (some titans with beard, others with chubby creepy faces, and some of them are made to look badass – you that already read through good part of the manga probably know what I'm talking about).
Also, the art out stands on the scenarios, that are without doubt one of the best out of all manga I've read. It is definitely the most obscure and dark one of today's good manga, with the whole titan story and the mysteries that the plot presents to us. However, I still am not sure if the artist had his assistants draw part of the scenario or not. Even if that's the case, the creativity he had to design everything – the walls for example – is just insane.

The fact that the manga presents lots of mysteries is the key to its full enjoyment. You will keep wanting to read more and more, because, well, you want to find out what the freak is happening, and as more unresolved things appear together, you keep wanting more to read. Until you reach the manga's last chapter, and have to wait one month for it to be posted around in some website.
The enjoyment, unlike lots of other series, isn't made by the comedy, which is practically absent on the entire manga, and when it happened, of course it was on the calmest moments, where the characters could kind of just relax. And normally when Sasha's around, since she is that typical character on a serious story that is used to relieve a bit of the stressful atmosphere around the other characters, but that as well have her serious moments. The comedy is even funny, probably because of the lack of it.

Overall Score: 9.3/10

Shingeki no Kyojin is the best manga being launched during this time without a doubt, and it probably holds one of the best stories I have seen on an anime or manga. The manga presents only one flaw: the art. Don't get me wrong, I don't really think art is super important, however, for mangos with epic stories and intense, fast-paced fights, it is almost mandatory. It doesn't ruin the manga, not even a bit, because of the awesome story that it presents. Its enjoyment is outstanding, characters very good and almost everyone that I know who read the manga say to be one of the best from today's time and, of course, recommend it to others.

So, as a final speech, I strongly recommend to all of you Shingeki no Kyojin, both for the ones who want a more serious thing instead of constant comedy, cliche romance and nonsense fighting, and also, I recommend for the boys/girls who only read shounen. I suggest you to go read the manga, because most people who read and watch shounen will like this.

So, this was my review of Shingeki no Kyojin. Until my next review,
NuclearNecro-42, signing off, and going back to Ishimura.
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Shingeki no Kyojin
Shingeki no Kyojin
Autor Isayama, Hajime
Artista