Shingeki no Kyojin

Where to begin! Maybe by saying that this is my first review on MAL and that English is NOT my native language, so I apologize in advance for any mistake I may make!

Attack on Titan, or Shingeki no Kyojin, is (atleast for me) AMAZING. The first season of the anime got me back into anime once again back in 2013. Once that ended I jumped immediately on the manga, and boy, was that a good choice! It now sits in my top 3 manga of all time!

Story 10: Amazing and thrilling, never boring and simply one of the most complex and well written story in the medium. What starts off as a simple shonen with giant naked monsters that eat people, gradually evolves overtime as every secret of the world is discovered, evolving in what it is now, 123 chapters is: a post-apocalyptic war-psychological thriller and a Seinen (it's no longer a shonen, sorry).

Art 8: well, let's just say that if I had written this review after the first 40-50 ish chapters, I would have given this category probably a 5 or a 6, but even in it's artwork, Isayama has developed immensely. Is it the best? Of course not. But the evolution is indeed breathtaking. Try and compare chapter 1 with chapter 123 and you'll see

Characters 10: just like its story, AoT characters develop as the secrets are revealed. After the recent chapters, Eren is my 2nd favourite character of all time, just behind Guts from Berserk, And that says it all, since he wasn't that special for me for great part of the story.

Enjoyment 10: few series have given me this kind of feelings. Hype, sadness, hope, feeling of betrayal and so on. Simply breathtaking.
Isayama, you genius!!

Overall 10: it's a must read

This story is not survival horror, sure, it might be up to chapter 50 or something but from there, the whole thing just becomes "let's make shit up as we go". They established nothing from before, and shit just starts popping up from nowhere, this is introduced, that is introduced, basically, the setting is minimalistic, the twist is that, ha, there is even more settings you knew nothing about! Okay. So instead of working what we got, we get mountains of expositions on what everything is. That's what make the story so terrible, other than the abrupt tonal shift.

I want to say I am pissed that they literally made up a bunch of shit that has no establish connection to what was already presented, but honestly it's kind of hilarious how it went from [POTIENTIAL SPOILERS] minimalistic steampunk survival horror to full-on modern world borderline Gundam storyline about spies and war with a segregated race that can pilot the Gundam with a lot of other shit introduced to fix up plotholes regarding why they aren't fighting back despite being oppressed and presented with powers. [POTIENTIAL SPOILERS END]

The characters are also so dull when one character was said to have died, I went "meh" meanly because they were given no real personality and was inadequately developed. I really don't care about them after they changed the theme from "struggle for freedom for humanity" to a goddamn war story with even more shit being made up along the way. I heard AOT's original story got leaked or something because I can really see why. Shame, the first half was mysterious and good.

PROS
-Epic Storyline
-Awesome action scenes
-Shounen main character tropes demolition of a protagonist. Epic supporting characters like Levi, Armin, Jean and Erwin.
-Excellent world building and mysterious atmosphere
-You never know what is gonna happen next
-Gory
CONS
-Sometimes slow pace
-Many characters die before being well developed, while others feel like wasted potential (Mikasa)
-Early chapters are not very well drawn

Overall: Attack on Titan is an epic manga that gives you the chills every single time someone screams "Change to 3DMG". There is a good reason why it is such a popular manga both in and outside of Japan. It is an excellent manga if you are starting to read manga, since it shows people that manga is not only for children. The slow pace might turn off some people, but it pays off with nice character development and immense action scenes that will leave you craving for more.

If i was reviewing this a few months back, i'd call this manga a masterpiece. However during the latest chapters, its been extremely disappointing with how the story's coming together. First off what the fuck is up with Falco? for some reason whoever planned this arc decided that Falco's jaw titan could fly!? because well of course he can; not only is this dumb it completely breaks the boundary set for titans. Also as of the latest chapters, the titans under Eren's control can fight back?? Like come on! he has the founding titan but apparently, the titan shifters of the past can turn of him. With all of this its also confusing what Eren's true motive was, i mean i always believed he had good intentions but damn does he even have a plan? or is his push foiled by a kid and his magical flying titan? coming near the end its an absolute shit show, that im not looking forwards to.

Sorry for the bad grammar, im still new to writing.

Its been a while since I read this manga so this wont be the most in depth review. Its starts off as a "generic" manga with generic characters. (good drama and really addictive tho) The gore and the way the author draws the titans really sets it apart. As the story progresses (mainly towards the end) the author just stops giving a fuck about the audiences feelings and does some really controvercial things to make a great story. The character arcs are some new shit that ive never seen before in manga. He does this mainly to make a point about war and hatred. However, it doesnt necessarily take the same pacifist route as other shows like The Vinland Saga. It shows a more nuanced and complex resolution that i wont give away here.

Pros:
- the most original fantasy world of this day and age with great execution
- Complex characters with understandable and realistic motives
- Cohesive and gripping story from beginning till the end
- You can notice art developing significantly through entirety of the title (both quality and originality)

Cons:
- Main Character for the first half of story is one-noted and annoying
- There may be too much coincidences even for supernatural fiction

It's a shame and a blessing that this manga got also one of the best anime adaptations. It's not obvious choice which should you pick first.

There is huge chance that this series may become your number one even if you have read Death Note (I'm really trying to fill the review and not to bore you)

A modern classic through and through.

A story where you can tell a lot of things have been thought about by the author in 2009 for a payoff that delivers on it's promises, opening the mystery box in 2019/2020 giving you the answers some have waited 10 years for.

A masterful build up of the story, world and characters.
This manga excels in the story and characters department, showing you a world that grips you and draws you in.
You want to know more and the story drip feeds you just enough so you may ask even more questions.
The answers don't disappoint.

One of the only mangas I would rate a 10/10, altough the art in the very early chapters is a bit dated, the art in the past few years has been godly.
If you're not reading this and then watching the anime conclusion when it airs, you're seriously missing out on a brilliant story told by a very talented and competent writer.

I am aware that I hold an unpopular opinion in saying that AoT is not some untouchable masterpiece, but I'm not a mindless hater and I have my reasons for why the series doesn't work as well for me as it does for other people. Before I start the review, I will give a bit of background on my experience with AoT. I started with the anime, which I first watched in either late 2017 or early 2018 (I can't remember), and thought that it was a very good series, particularly season 2. I then watched both parts of season 3 when all of their episodes had aired, and thought both of those were also very good. Then about 6 months later, I decided to read the manga, and I did not enjoy it some much, but I'll go into further detail later. From here on out, there will be spoilers for everything up to chapter 136.

Story - 7
This is a hard score for me to give, as at some points I think it's great, and at some points I think that it's pretty average, so I'll just average it out and give it a 7. I think that the first 30 chapters or so, are rather basic. I don't think its bad, but I don't think its overly good either. I would say that from the start of season 2 to the beginning of the Marley arc is when AoT is at it's best, for me anyway. My favorite moment in the series is the Reiner and Bertholt reveal. I don't really know what it is about it, but it works really well for me. I think it might have something to do with the way that it is written. It's not just 'Reiner transform, grabs Eren and runs away', but the way that Reiner openly tells Eren that he is the Armored Titan just makes it so much more interesting to me.

I find the story to be the most interesting when the mystery of Eren's basement is in play, and the overarching goal is to go down there and see what Grisha had down there. I enjoy this question being in the series, but the answer that is given just felt kind of lame to me. I know that what I am about to say will annoy a lot of people. I do not like the Marley arc. I will now explain myself why.

To me, Marley doesn't have what I enjoyed about AoT. Marley just feels a bit bland. Willy's speech and Eren declaring war were good moments, but that's about all Marley has for me. To me, Marley feels like a part of a different series. I just doesn't fit into AoT, but that is just my opinion, and I know many people love this arc, and I wish I could as well, but I just don't.

After the Marley arc, I think that it does get better, but it doesn't reach the heights that it previously reached. For most of the arc, I'd say that it sort of sits around a 6 or a 7. Although this is pretty good, it just feels disappointing as the final arc of AoT.

I can appreciate how well Isayama planned out AoT, with things in the first few chapters coming back now and making more sense, like Grisha talking to adult Eren in chapter one.

A very minor thing that I don't like about AoT, and it is VERY minor, is about the titan names. How come the people of Paradis called all of the titans by their actual names. Yeah the Female and Armored Titans are obvious, but Colossal, Beast and Attack? Judging by what they called the others I would have thought that they would have called the Colossal and Beast Titans the Skinless and Ape Titans, or something more like that. I have no idea what they would call the Attack Titan, but that just feels like and odd coincidence as well.

Art - 6
This is another mixed bag for me. I think that the art itself is pretty good, but I'm not really a fan of the scratchy art style. The series starts off with art that's not particularity good, but that's fine as lots of series will get better as they go on, and that applies to AoT.

I think that some of the character designs are good, but some aren't so good. Personally, I don't really like how some of the characters look now, post time-skip. I think that both Mikasa and Connie just look weird now. I think its the hair, but they just feel slightly off to me. I know that this is a very minor complaint, but I don't really have much to say about the art.

I do like the designs of the titans. The titan shifters for the most part have got good designs, I'm not a fan of Ymir's titan though. Something that I thought of before, I'm not sure if other people have said this before, but anyway. All of the titan shifters share the same hair color as their titan, but Zeke has blonde hair, but the Beast Titan is brown. Is it just a coincidence that all of the others share colors, or is it a mistake. I don't know if this has been addressed, but I thought I would mention it either way.

Characters - 6
In my opinion, the characters in this series are pretty weak. To me, most of the characters are very average, with a few that are good, and a handful that are bad. I would say that characters like Connie, Jean, Sasha and Hange are all fine, there's nothing particularity good about them, but likewise, there is nothing really wrong with them. I like Erwin, Levi, Reiner, Bertholdt and Zeke. To me, these are the most interesting characters in the series, by far. Reiner, Bertholdt and Zeke are all interesting, as they're the 'villains' of the series, but they're not evil. They're just following orders. The way that they're all written is good as well, as they all have different responses to their missions. Levi and Erwin are both pretty interesting. I do think that Levi is a bit overly popular, as he is kind of just the generic 'cool guy' for a while, but I do think that he has a lot of great moments in the series. Erwin is also kind of generic, as the 'intelligent leader', but he also has great moments.

I would just like to say here that Gabi is terrible. I don't know if I'm supposed to care about her, but I do not care at all. She is just Eren v2, and I know that Isayama did this on purpose, but I just don't like her. While on the topic of Gabi, I'll talk about Falco, or more so, the Jaw Titan. I do not understand the Jaw Titan's powers. If I am miss remembering something, then that's my bad, but I just don't get why Falco can fly, but Ymir and Porco couldn't. Like is said, I might just be forgetting something, but it confuses me. Other than that, I think that Falco is another fine character.

Now, onto the main trio. In my opinion, some of the worst main characters of all time. First off, Mikasa. One word: 'Eren!'. She has no personality. She is just a mindless machine with the sole mission of protecting Eren. And after she stops doing this, she is possibly the most bland you can get with a character. Next up, Armin. I don't really have anything to say about him. He is just kind of there. He has some good moments, but I don't really care for him too much, although he is the best out of the main trio.

I have a lot to say about Eren, so I'll start at the beginning of the story. He starts off as an immature little brat. He sees a titan eat his mum, he wants to kill them all, sure. This is a fine motivation, but it takes him WAY too long to understand how unrealistic his goal is. During the equivalent of season 3, whatever chapter numbers that is, he is better, although that's not exactly hard. In this time, he is fine, not really much to say about it. Now, onto another unpopular opinion. Post time-skip Eren is still bad. Yes, it is interesting to have him become the villain of the story, but his actions feel strange. He decides to kill every human outside of the walls, a goal that I just don't understand. Yes, the Marleyan military has been transforming people into titans and sending them to Paradis. But what about all the innocent people? Does he not realize that he is doing the same thing as the people that he hates? He is killing innocents and causing people to hate the people of Pardis, the exact same thing that Marley did. I can see why people would like Eren, but I think that his absurd idiocy is too much for me to ignore. I simply cannot say that he is a good character.

Enjoyment - 8
I would say that my enjoyment of the series is very up and down. It starts off as a 5, becomes an 8, drops back down to a 5, and goes back up to a 7. I'm not really sure what else to say here, so I'll just leave it at that.

Overall - 7
Overall, I like the series. Hopefully you will be able to see that I have solid reasons, and won't just call me an AoT hater. Because I'm not, I like parts of it, and I dislike other parts of it. Yes, Isayama is a good writer, but it is impossible for everyone to like everything, and I accept that I am in the minority when it comes to AoT.

This will probably be my only review. I wanted to explain why I think Shingeki no Kyojin is one of the greatest things that could have ever happened to this universe. I chose to review the original manga rather than the anime because I wanted to review everything as a whole. Although the Shingeki no Kyojin manga eventually spawned my favorite anime of all time, I also don’t know how Season 4 will turn out with MAPPA, as well as the actual ending for the manga. I am looking forward to both regardless, and for a very good reason. I will try my best not to spoil anything major in this review. Also sorry, I will be referring to the anime heavily, even though this is a manga review.

Story: 10/10 Attack on Titan was one of the first anime I saw, because it was so popular— I wanted to see it desperately at the time because of a Netflix autoplay preview that showed Eren’s mother dying. At the time, I was unaware of the typical shonen norms. So apparently, this story of a boy wanting to kill all the titans after the death of his mother... was pretty generic. However for me, from the get-go, let me just tell you I thought this was an absolutely brilliant idea. The story does start out very typical. Kill the titans, they’re bad because they eat humans. Slowly, it unfolds into something much more grander. It starts out with the reader being introduced to the mystery that are the titans— where did they come from, and why do they eat the people living inside the walls? The manga up till the end of chapter 33 (end of S1) focuses on the worldbuilding, like the Survey Corps and locations. The story, I would say up till the end of chapter 50(end of S2), centers around figuring out the identities of various titan shifters, as well as the strengths and abilities of titan shifters; although this is elaborated on throughout the series. Season 3 of the anime(chapter 51) is where the manga takes a crazy turn, and reaches new heights. The reader doesn’t recognize it as Attack on Titan immediately. I was doubtful of this at first, and didn’t like Season 3 part 1 because of the direction the story took. However, now I can say Isayama’s choice to emphasize the humane aspect of his fantasy world was the right thing to do and resulted in unexpected thrills. The lore was fleshed out even more, and by the end of S3 Part 2 it was unbelievable how much the story had changed. It goes from cool fantasy action to political intrigue + cool fantasy action. An amazing move on behalf of Isayama. That’s another thing- ONE MAN is coming up with all of this. I’ll let that sink in.
The amazing thing about the story is that it’s developed so well that by the time you get to S3 part 2, it’s all action. And it WORKS. Isayama wrote the story so well with hints here and there that he basically set himself up to do whatever he wanted in S3 Part 2. As for Season 4 of the manga, the politics are heavy, as are the titans. Still Isayama manages to bring new aspects to the table in terms of Titan lore even as recent chapters have been releasing. It’s been glorious to see how the story has changed from a mystery to a political thriller, while maintaining a strong fantasy world.

Art: 9/10
The character designs throughout the series are fantastic, some of the best I’ve seen. The Titan designs are incredible, and I am a fan of a certain “jaw-dropping” one that will make its appearance in Season 4 ;). One thing I will say is that art in some panels can be hard to follow, specifically in action sequences towards the beginning of the manga. The art is a bit messy at first. However the art has improved over time, not surprising since the manga had been around for 10 years, so I would expect some change in the art. Isayama draws the locations and many panels really well later on, and I remember many scenes vividly. I was happy that Wit Studio’s anime adaptation remained consistent in terms of character designs though. Despite this, Wit did leave out a bit of gore present in the manga, which I prefer. Blood and gore doesn’t harm a story, but Wit just chose not to include it probably to maintain the age rating. Another thing I will say is that a certain design for an intelligent Titan shifter changed in S3 part 2, but I actually liked the anime design better. The new design for that Titan actually carried over into the manga after S3 part 2, which I was happy about. Props to Wit Studio for suggesting that as the new design.

Character: 10/10
So now I’m realizing maybe I should’ve mentioned character designs here. Ah, shit, I don’t know. Anyways, all the character designs in the entire manga are on point, especially for Eren Yeager in season 4. I love his hairstyle. Not only that, but I have to say Eren Yeager is one of the greatest character studies in all of anime. He is more well written than Fullmetal Alchemist characters. As a matter of fact, he is perfectly written, and all of his actions have understandable motives. Then of course there is Levi Squad, which is the best group of friends anyone could possibly wish for. Then there’s Levi, who’s a fan favorite and quite popular on MAL. I’ll admit I didn’t expect Isayama to do what he did with Levi in S4. Drastic time cuts for Levi in S4, but I think S4 really is Eren’s season, so I don’t mind. Another thing about the characters is that no one is really a villain, or at the least the characters are set up that way. Isayama really tries to convey that, and the supposed antagonists of the manga are as well developed as the protagonists. For this reason, Attack on Titan has a palate of memorable characters. I know I glossed over a lot of characters but I think these are the highlights.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I don’t know what to say for this section. I guess I will talk about one of my favorite aspects about this work: the action. ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Better than I could ever hope for. 100% believe nothing in any medium will come close to what Attack on Titan did with its action. The characters are utilized perfectly and UNPREDICTABLY in every fight. The action is so cool, it’s realistic, and SO imaginative, especially the Titan battles- but also the human fights. S3 and S4 have some of the greatest action sequences I’ve seen. S1 and S2 don’t disappoint either. The action choreography alone will cause you to enjoy the hell out of the series. It is so creative and imaginative, yet so familiar. I sometimes think that I would be able to think up of some of this stuff. Just kidding, there’s no way I can do that— but seriously it’s so damn good. The plot twists and reveals in the manga were among the best in any work I’ve read or watched. As a reader I had never experienced the sheer anxiety of waiting for another chapter to release. No series has touched me the way Attack on Titan has. Isayama, you are a genius, I don’t know how you could think of these many incredible fights/reveals in one series.

Overall: 10/10
I have no doubt missed a lot of stuff, even though I wanted to write a spoiler-free review. Maybe my review didn’t do it justice, but I wanted to share my thoughts on this masterpiece of a manga and one of my all time favorite works.

"Attack on Titan" is PHENOMENAL!!! There are MULTIPLE reasons why I LOVE "Attack on Titan"!!!


**THE REASONS BELOW AREN'T ORDERED BY RANK!!!**

1) Storyline - I REALLY like how Isayama creates a DEEP suspense within certain situations to get the readers hyped up about what will happen next and/or why the events happened in the series.

2) Diversity - In most manga and anime, we only see Japanese people with unnatural hair color( like the characters from series such as "Naruto", "Bleach", "My Hero Academia", and so on). However, "Attack on Titan" is FAR UNIQUE because Isayama ACTUALLY included black people and Middle Easterns!!!

3) Character Appearances/Traits - Isayama included a four-year timeskip in "Attack on Titan" and DRASTICALLY CHANGED some of the characters' appearances, ESPECIALLY Eren Yeager's. I personally LOVE Eren Yeager's character( development) because I can relate to Eren in certain ways and how his appearance changed THE MOST out of the other characters( from "Attack on Titan")!!! Eren Yeager grew his hair longer and grew some facial hair after the four-year timeskip, but he later shaved off his facial hair and tied his hair back when he returned to Paradis from Marley. (I SERIOUSLY DIDN'T EXPECT THE SHAVING AND HAIR-TYING TO HAPPEN!!!!) Other characters that received a DRASTIC change also includes Mikasa, Sasha, and Armin.

4) Additional Reason(s) - I also think that "Attack on Titan" has the most beautiful artworks and animations out of the other manga/anime that I've read/seen so far!!!

This is my first review ever. Also english is NOT my native language.


Shingeki no Kyojin also known as Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama is one of the most popular and best-selling manga of all time, it has an anime adaptation by the same name, tons of spin-offs and tons of yaoi fan fiction. Some may say it's a genius work of art, others may say it went too far. Judging by my score, you probably already know my thoughts on it.

The story revolves around our main character, Eren Jeager, in a world where the remaining humans were living surrounded by huge walls, to protect themselves from gigantic creatures, known as the Titans. This epic tale is about humanity's fight against the titans to regain the lost territory, while unfolding some of the secrets regarding the Titans along the way.

With such a simple premise and structure, but yet amazing story, SNK relies basically on shock factor to keep its narrative interesting and it's audience entertained, revealing more and more about its world and characters. The story itself is just amazing, world building is perfect, and the steam-punk setting makes it even better, the mysteries and plot twists make the story even more engaging to read. Attack on Titan's story is superb, I can guarantee you that some plot twists will take you by storm.

The characters are simple, but yet memorable. Their personalities can be pretty much resumed to stereotypes (the intelligent one, the energetic one, the cold-blooded one) but they do get proper development later down the line (most of the cast, not only the mains). The emotions of each character are perfectly translated, their goals are established very early on, each one of them has a tragic back story, making the characters pretty memorable. But what I really love about the characters are the plot twists regarding their past, which will shape their personality later on when the story progresses and justify some suspicious and questionable dialogue and actions.

I really can't comprehend what problems people have with Isayama's art, I really don't. The rough artstyle fits the narrative perfectly and, although i must admit that the art may look a bit ugly to look at, it does improve a lot, and it hasn't really bothered me in any way. People tend to say the art is horrendous, but they are just overeacting really.

Loved the series, one of my favorite manga of all time. Most of the plot twist were unpredictable and the way the story slowly escalates and the author reveals more and more information to us about the world and the characters, it becomes a really enjoyable series, and it's just getting better and better at each new chapter.

Go read it, if possible, it definitely will surprise you how amazing this manga really is, every about it pretty much perfect, and although it might have some flaws here and there, it will for sure be an amazing experience.

I'll try not to spoil anything in this review, and I'll use very general terms when talking about the story itself (including things not yet in the anime as of December 2020), but if you want to stay entirely unspoiled, this review might not be for you. But the general idea is that Attack on Titan is one of if not the best pieces of fiction out there, and a lot of that hinges on the story post-season 3.

Art: For the first few volumes, I'll be honest the art wasn't very good. At all. But seeing Isayama evolve as an artist is really amazing to experience. Of course even now, the art isn't even close to the level of something like Berserk or One Punch Man, but it's actually pretty good. One thing Isayama does really well is conveying action through chaotic, sweeping lines and sound effects.

Story: The story starts off with a pretty simple premise. The last humans have lived behind concentric walls for the past 100 years to protect themselves from the giant, man-eating monsters (titans) that live on the other side. Immediately this sets up a large amount of questions. What exactly happened 100 years ago? Where do the titans come from? Why are there no records of the history from before 100 years ago? What exactly are the titans? The story takes its time answering its questions, and with each answer, more questions pop up. You get the pieces of the puzzle slowly, but the pieces are entirely out of order. And once the pieces are all in place (or at least enough pieces to make sense of it), there's the question of how the image the puzzle shows should be dealt with. And that's where the story starts getting really amazing, and starts getting more philosophical, talking about the self-perpetuating cycle of violence and hate, and well as differing views on how it can be broken. This is complemented perfectly by the story's characters.

Characters: There are 0 characters in this series that I dislike as characters. Everyone has a role to play, and they all play it perfectly. This series also has, at least for me, the saddest death that I've seen in anime, which requires good characters. The character development is fantastic, with no better examples of this than Eren and Reiner, who move in such opposite directions but at the same time are so incredibly similar, and change massively over the course of the series while still feeling completely natural. That's not something that's easy to do in a story. And another thing that's not easy to do is to have a major conflict with many sides, but to have each side (except for one) actually make so much sense in their arguments that the fandom splits because of it. There are no "bad guys" in Attack on Titan (except for the aforementioned "one side"), just good people doing what they believe is right. And in some cases, they might even be right. It's a story of many different people reacting to a situation in many different ways, but you the reader can understand why each and every character does what they do.

Attack on Titan is ending in 3 or 4 chapters. Isayama showed a rough sketch of the final panel of the series about 2 years ago. I still have absolutely no idea how it's going to end, and there are still more plot twists to come (there's stuff from the first chapter that still hasn't been answered yet). If you haven't read/watched AoT yet, do it.

Exhilarating.
That one word captures the story line of Attack On Titan beautifully. Each chapter continues to leave me in awe and a craving for more, I eagerly wait each month for the next dose of a mind blowing chapter. I truly can not stress how much of a masterpiece this manga is and I urge everyone who hasn't already to read it. I myself was never a huge fan of Manga but Attack On Titan isn't just a manga to me anymore it's a part of me in a sense, the raw emotion I feel when reading it highlights the brilliance of Hajime Isayama's ability to write a good story and the characters and their personalities are so well executed that they feel like real humans that I and many others can empathize with.

At first glance you'd assume Attack On Titan was just another generic anime with an obnoxiously loud protagonist on his path for revenge but fuck me that is just the tip of the iceberg, one of the things I love about AOT is how realistic it is. What's realistic about 60ft monstrous beings with an appetite for human flesh? Well as the story progresses we as the audience face the grueling reality that the real enemy are humans with goals and desires just like everyone else, it'd be more accurate to say there is no enemy only people who were raised with different beliefs, and that's what makes AOT so hauntingly beautiful. It captures the true nature of human's and portrays everyone as grey rather than black or white.

This story is far more complex and intricate than many would assume based off the beginning chapters but I assure you AOT is anything but generic, it's a story that illuminates the harshness and the cruelty of the real world whilst still maintaining a level of humor to balance out the gore and death that will inevitably come. If I could I would erase my memory of the manga just to experience it again for the first time, but I can't so I hope whoever reads this gives AOT a chance because it's definitely worth it.

I'm not exagerating giving a 10/10 in almost every aspect of this manga.
Art is not really the forte of Isayama, even thought his style evolved over the years.
But when we talk about story and characters, Shingeki no Kyojin has a really rich universe, that transforms completely over its progression.

The final arc is completely the opposite of the feeling you get reading the first arc. You will begin loving/hating Eren Yaegar and will end hating/loving him.

It's totally worth it to keep reading, even if the begining feels a little like a cliché zombie manga. Every story note is gray, there's no evil, good or condemnable choice made by the characters, like in any other shonen, which makes the story more mature and grim.

If you're feeling a little hard to understand the action scenes, the anime adaptation is excellent.

2 years ago i’ve watched the first season of the anime and thought "damn, this anime is engaging as hell". So i went to watch the second season and i was a bit disappointed because it lost a little of its charm form the first one, i still liked it tho.

2 months ago i decided to read the manga from the very start. read it until recent chapters, and...

This manga is good... until a certain point. I'm sure a lot of people feeling the same way that i feel about this manga. it starts good as a "Zombie survival" manga, an actual good and interesting one. But then of course comes the moment where the author doesn't know where to go with this. I mean, how long can you drag this kind of manga? let me tell you - you can't. And that's what killed this manga. Those who've read this beyond chapter 86 know what i'm talking about.

Where is the build up to that chapter? I know that there are a couple of references here and there, but that doesn't considered a good build up. You can't just *Spoiler* switch the story out of nowhere like that and smile while saying "Nailed it". NO, NO, JUST NO.

Every thing that happens between chapter 50 something and 86 is a big pile of nonsense and a terrible excuse to extend the manga. And the stuff after chapter 86 made me hate the characters along with their stupid decisions. and the plot? well, everyone love politics in AoT yay - awful.

It's a shame that this is what the series turned out to be. Would i recommend this manga? well, yes, but you'll have to find out for yourself if this is what you're looking for, just don't expect anything. If you're looking for a series that is consistent and will not "betray" you, just don't read this.

Remember guys, this is just my opinion. If you think that my opinion is terrible then i think yours is too. :)

jk, this is my first review so kill me if you want to

The problem with most anime is that you often find a different turn of events than the show portrays. Attack on Titan, displayed some minor differences in the manga from the show, but nothing major that would really change the course of the show.

Before i put anything to rest. Don't listen to the ones that say that the story the manga is telling is complete nonsense from the main plot. It isn't. The manga after a certain point moves onto observe the bigger problems that affect the walled city other, and then demonstrates how the events are connected. Though it may be a left turn from the Main plot of "Get to the basement and see what's goin on down there." It notes the problems and other obstacles that get in the way of the scouts before they make their expedition. For example a suspicious new type of titan, and various other things.

Unbiased review:
The story is easily amongst the best I've ever read. Contrary to what I've seen a minor portion of the more casual readers think, the basement reveal is very well thought out & not an asspull, given the blazing trail of hints showered throughout the buildup to the reveal. Even past the basement arc, the story keeps building up tension & intrigue, despite most major reveals are already unveiled. Given this, it is evident the author seems to have a very good idea of the direction & conclusion of the story. The story is not flawless however; there do seem to be a few number of minor plotholes and questionable character decisions. On the other hand, readers wishing for a more apocalyptic world will be eventually disillusioned with the direction of the story. 10/10

Art: The art is unquestionably awful in the beginning few volumes, but gradually improves. My recommendation is two watch the first 2 seasons of the anime given that the source material is a bit of an eyesore. However, the author's drawing improves exponentially, and reading from chapter 50 is a smooth ride. 8/10

Character: Character development is stagnant in the first season and the corresponding source material. Characters having major roles in the story have no real development until their reveals, after which they are sidelined again. Character development slowly picks up from Chapter 50, albeit for select characters. Characters are on two extremes; either extremely well fleshed out or unknown.
Character development is a highlight of the latest arc, where almost all major characters have some personality shift. 8/10

Enjoyment: Depends on you're drawn to. If its the story, 10/10.
Characters, will vary (although start negatively).
Personally I thoroughly enjoy it.

Overall: 9/10

I'm writing this review, because upon looking at the manga initially on YouTube.
I laughed...
I cried...
I experienced something that changed my life...
In a nutshell, Shingeki no Kyojin influenced the way I will live for the rest of my life and not just in some half-assed way like any other show would. It legitimately moved me to make certain decisions, for better or for worse. In that sense, no other anime can compare, as no other anime has provided an equivalent reaction on my part.
Masterpiece!

sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks sksks

Attack on titan is in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written.

ART STYLE - 9

First, the art style. The art style plays a pretty big part in whether a manga is generally enjoyable. Ill say that at the beginning of the manga, the art isnt "excellent", but its definitely improved over time. At this point in the manga, the art is really good, and is what youd expect from a masterpiece. However, its no miura, so dont expect grand pieces of art for every frame.

STORY - 10

The story of attack on titan is second to none. The plot has developed immensely, while still keeping true to the original themes of the series. The story of the anime has always been unique and extravagant, but the way it has progressed now - to the final arc shows that the story is one of epic proportions. Attack on titan is more than a good guy vs bad guy shounen, and has complex social commentary, liminal space, casual loops, political schemes, social conflict and institutionalized racism and prejudice. - yeah bro, this shit is deep.

The premise, world building and tone are also phenomenal from a manga perspective. Its not generic, and follows a premise where the population of the world isnt sure about its true nature, allowing for so much freedom through the storytelling, which the creators definitely take advantage of. No one is safe and theres no plot armor, where even important characters are not safe from getting brutally slaughtered, they all follow the same rules of survival. if those are broken, well, youre fucked. it doesnt matter if youre the MC or a background character.

A victory for the protagonists might not even feel like a victory, as the series pushes you to consider right and wrong, and your perspective on morality. the viewer and the cast are left wondering what they’re fighting for, and at what cost. Who built the walls? Where did the titans come from? Why are the last remaining humans even in walls? Why is the government so shady, and of course, what’s in the basement? Attack on titan has delivered some of the best written surprises I have ever witnessed. The manga is literally so well thought through and written, that very specific events that happen in later parts of the manga are hinted to in the first parts.

Theres no fanservice, and no typical anime/manga tropes. While this is not objectively a bad thing, but the concept of fanservice doesn’t fit into the dramatic and extreme premise of attack on titan, where it might fit into more non-serious manga or anime like love or high school stories. This might turn some readers off, but i expect this to be a major + for most casual readers. Attack on titan is void of oversexualization, like the token girl with unnaturally large breasts, nor does it have the token perverted characters, characters overreacting and sloppy humor. Its very clear that the world of attack on titan feature no gender roles, as women and men both fight against the titans, where the males and females are equally badass. No one gender is shown to be any less or more capable than the other. The lack of tropes is something i especially appreciate as i have literally never enjoyed this in any other manga or anime and is my main gripe with franchises like FMAB, Haikyuu and Fire force.

CHARACTERS - 10

The wide cast of characters in attack on titan is fantastic, giving all characters a distinctive personality, not reliant of typical traits seen in most anime and even other series. All the characters feel real, everyone is complex and dynamic. Sure, the main character has a sad backstory, but almost every other character has a unique backstory of their own, making them not feel empty or hard to sympathize with. These backstories might be equally or even sadder, brutal and more impactful than that of erens. Armin is a smart problem solver, Mikasa has amazing physical capabilities, Erwin is a fantastic leader, jean has moments of brilliance, eren has… powers, and levi is a masterful warrior. Despite this, you don’t see levi or Mikasa swiping in to save the day singlehandedly, victory only comes from teamwork, from both the protagonists and the antagonists side. Mikasa isn’t invincible in battle, jean isn’t the typical douchebag shown in the show, Armin might struggle solving problems and Erwin isn’t always as self-righteous as he seems.

The character dont act like typical manga characters where you either cringe into oblivion from anything they say, or point out every other sentence as something NO ONE WOULD EVER SAY, because of bad writing. They talk like humans, act like humans, and face consequences like humans. The protagonist eren isn't safe from people either mocking him for his heroic personality either. The character development in the latter parts of the manga is fucking amazing, not only for the main protagonist, which im sure everyone knows because of the obnoxious fans who shout "duuude you have no idea bro eren is such a badass in season 4", but also for the other characters in the cast.

Also, the anime does a fantastic job of adapting the manga, but you already know that.

So I've just recently got into the boom of season 4, of course speaking of anime. I am not the type of a person who gets hooked immediately to what people like, but it got to me after a while and I've started reading manga, because I've heard it's further than anime, and I don't like waiting, so here I am reviewing it.

I've watched this series previously with my brother, back in 2014-2015, but it was from time to time, and I wasn't always on the same page with the story. Well, I am glad I caught up with this series. I thought this is just another edgy story, about a hero who becomes vile for a little or no reason at all, but damn.. How much was I dissapointed.

-- Story (9/10) --

Well, I gotta give a 9 here. Why? The story might seem boring at first, it's just another shounen type of thingy. Main hero wants to get a revenge, he has a goal and it seems he's the best in line to achieve it. After you see it, you want to drop this manga, but you don't. Be glad that you didn't.

The story gets better after those first chapters. Characters get development, and the story drags you into some sort of a mystery. First you think those creatures are monsters, but then you slowly discover that something is not right. As you follow through the story, you get to know what actually happens in the world of Shingeki no Kyojin, and it is truly worse than just some big titan monsters.

This story is tragic. It is entertaining, but it is also sad. People want to cut their own throats to actually survive, and they keep going with the cycle of death, not even thinking about peace in the first place. All of these people are all the same, but they still think that someone is worse or better, and it just shows how tragic it turns out to be for both sides. This is what I love about this story - it feels so real. Why does it feel so real? Because it is so close to situations that could happen in the real world. People not finding a compromise, when it's just one step away. I think many people can relate that story to our world.

I also think that many people can take a lesson from that story. Our life is not all about revenge, hatred, or other goals that are important for you - you, as a single person. We first have to forgive to break from a cycle. It hurts, it hurts like hell - but this is what forgiving is all about. About burying your own pride and accepting other people's mistakes. If we actually care about others, we got to stop thinking about ourselves for a moment.

This is what Shingeki no Kyojin teaches us. It shows us how tragic some of those decisions are. It shows us how many people we can hurt in an instant, not even thinking about it twice. And our mistakes are going deeper, and deeper with every second.

-- Art (9/10) --

I liked the art. There's nothing much to say about it. I love that this art is not in a constant, since it's so hard to keep a really good quality and stable releases. We occasionally get a really awesome and detailed panel, and that's fine.

-- Character (10/10) --

Okay, so this is the part where some of the people may not agree with me. But I got to say it - that Mikasa is rather one of the worst developed characters. It is rather a side character to just build Eren's development from one of the sides. She doesn't have her own character, it's just all about Eren. Kinda same thing happens with Armin, which is, I'd say, a really flat character.

Then why 10/10, you may ask? Well, this is because some of these characters are really exceptional and I got to give the author a big plus for that. If we ignore some of these flat characters and dig through to the characters like Historia, Eren, Reiner, Erwin, Ymir, Kenny Ackerman - and how deep and well constructed they are, we actually discover gold.

I don't want to spoil so much, but I'd especially want to speak about Reiner. This character is just next level among all of these. It's about all of these factors - his split personality, his motives, his character, his mistakes and his failure. He feels so real and relatable, that it is so hard to describe. What truly shows how amazing this character is, is how you actually feel about him throughout this series. First you don't know him, then you like him, then you hate him, and finally you understand and pity him. This is what actually shows that he is a great and well developed character.

I'd also want to point out Erwin, since I think that'd not be a huge spoiler here talking about his character. It's just how he really feels like an army's commander. How he feels human and at the same time it's almost like you can't grasp humanity in him. His development is amazing, his plans, his logic. Especially his development, where he gets through the episode of letting his dreams go, and actually sacrificing everything for the sake of humanity.

-- Enjoyment (10/10) --

I gotta say it, I may be a weirdo because of that, but I don't care - I've cried a lot while reading this series. I've cried a lot while reading Reiner's story, while getting along with some of these characters. This story is not really enjoyable, I'd not call it "enjoyable", because it is sad and tragic. It's entertaining, but at the same time it hurts you a lot. You see tragedy of each certain character and it really pains you. And it is intentional. But why? Because it teaches us a lot of things, for example how we should not let our hatred let loose just because of our own goals, or our own revenge. This is why enjoyment is on 10/10, because it's just a new whole level. This series doesn't just introduce a new world to us, a new story, threat, or whatever it is. It teaches us some really important things, and this is a big props for that.


OVERALL (9.5/10) - (rounding it up to 10/10 in main review's overall score)

I think this manga is something else than just a comic book. It's on the same level as the other series like GoT, Vikings, or whatever else it is. It may be a blasphemy for some people, that I am comparing a comic book series to series with real actors, but what does it change? If the characters feel real, if they show true emotions and if all of that is well written, why not compare it to something like that?