Recently Ive heard a lot about an anime called Attack on Titan or as its known in its japanese name “Shingeki no Kyojin”. People are calling this one of the best animes to come out this year, the music is amazing etc. Even my best friend told me that I HAVE to see this show. Well with all that hype I decided to check out the 8 episodes that are out. What do I think? Well Ill be honest…The hype is not wrong! Attack on Titan is certainly one of the most amazing animes Ive seen in a long while. So here I am writing a sort of mini review on the series as it is right now. Now Im going based only on the anime and not the manga so I don’t know what happens past episode 8.

Story – In Attack on Titan the world has been devastated by a human like race of giants known as the Titan’s. The Titans are near invincible and don’t eat humans for survival but just for the fun of it. When the Titans arrived on Earth they pushed the human race to near extinction. The remaining species built a society surrounded by 3 walls: Maria, Rose and Sina. For an entire century the human race experience peace…until the year 845 when a 50 meter high Titan crashes the Maria wall. Enter Eren, a boy who wants to see the world outside of the wall and wants to join the Titan fighting force to see it. Eren is accompanied by two friends: Mikasa, whose silent but a powerful fighter and Armin, a weak boy with a strategic mind. When the 50 meter titan attacks the other titans invade the city within Wall Maria and Erens mother is eaten in the crossfire. Feeling an immense rage against the Titans Eren swears to kill every last Titan to avenge his mothers death. While I find the revenge plot overdone the drama created in the story is fairly strong. It calls back on the fear of what would happen if humans were no longer the superior species much like in alien or giant monster movies and amplifies it. Also I find the dramatic moments in each episode really carry their weight. Just watching the first episode will leave you in tears where it takes some anime a whole season to do it. The story for this anime is solid right now and I cant wait to see how it develops

Characters: I am pleased to report that these characters have personality and good character development and are not just ecchi bait! Eren as a main character starts off weak but he gets better with every episode, growing his cause over the years he spends in military training. Armin also develops nicely, becoming more confident in some areas and become an even smarter strategist in the fight against the titans. Mikasa is by far one of the best characters in the show to date, having a dramatic back-story and becoming one of the most nimble fighters that the military force has to offer. She even ranked top of her class in training and has since killed off multiple titans. The side characters are also fun and unique like Sasha Blouse, who has a good heart and a big stomach, Jean Kirstein who, while having selfish motives, can be a selfless fighter and Annie Leonheart a lone-wolf fighter just to name a few. Even characters who get eaten by Titans get development until their demise which gets you attached to them even more. Overall the characters are well written and the voices used for them are perfect, especially in screaming moments.

Music – Get your MP3 devices ready cause this anime has some absolutely amazing music. The intro song Guren no Yumiya by Linked Horizon gets your blood pumping and ready to see what happens next. The music playing when the Titans first attack the wall includes a full choir and orchestra and the scene when Erens mother is devoured will make your eyes shed a tear and your ears go crazy with auditory bliss. Every track fits in perfectly with the context of the moment and adds a unique twist on an anime’s OST. Id say hands down Attack on Titan has some of the best music in anime Ive heard in a long time.

Animation – The animation at times is absolutely impressive, giving the Wall and the Titans the right amount of scope and size they deserve. Traveling scenes on the 3D maneuver gears is fast paced and fight scenes range from mildly bloody to gore-fest! Even small things like blood splats feel like they’ve been polished out just for this show. My only complaint with the animation is that at times it goes into still shots like in Episode 3 and 8 but its honestly minor. Overall the animation is stylish and has nice polish.

Final Verdict – At the time of writing this review I can honestly say that Attack on Titan is hands down one amazing anime and should be checked out if you want to see something new. Its dramatic, funny, has great music, wonderful animation and a great plot. If those aren’t reasons enough to check this out then I don’t know what is. I look forward to seeing how the anime develops and eagerly await Episode 9.