There is no doubt that Attack on Titan was and is still considered by a lot of people to be one of the best anime shows of all times, but does it really deserve its position? And why is Attack on Titan so popular?
Attack on Titan doesn’t look that bad if you’re casually watching anime or just don’t care about literal elements, but it lacks a lot of important literal elements, including well developed character, good ways of revealing mysteries, flashback timings, etc.
1) Character Development
Most of Attack on Titan’s characters aren’t characterized and developed enough to be considered good. The characteristics and traits are messed up and contradictory in a lot of cases (though not most) and most main characters don’t have any real development. The protagonist, Eren Jeager, is an good example of a deformed anime protagonist.
Evidences:
*The most focused character in seasons 1 and 2 is Eren Jeager. However, the most focused character in season 3 is Levi Ackerman which is the best and most characterized character in Attack on Titan. The main reason for this shift is probably that the writer, Hajime Isayama, noticed the deformations of Eren and decided to shift the focus to a better character.
*Eren’s goal stayed the same and never really changed or progressed
2) Mystery
One of Attack on Titan’s genres is Mystery, which is very noticeable when watching. However, the way the facts are revealed isn’t good (at all). The facts might just contradict one another and each fact is just thrown away and forgotten in a matter of episodes. Introducing irrelevant facts and events is just not acceptable for an action plot like Attack on Titan’s.
Evidences:
*The end of each season isn’t connected well enough to the season after
*New things are getting introduced without resolving previous matters
3) Flashbacks
Flashbacks, if used right, are without a doubt a very powerful literally element. However, Attack on Titan had a lot of bad-timed flashbacks that help cause unnecessary confusion. These bad-timed flashbacks overrun and mess up the part of the plot they’re close.
Evidence:
*At the end of season 2, a lot of these flashbacks made episodes 9, 10, and 11 (in season 2) a real mess and they overshadowed the action happening in these episodes, as if nothing happened.
These are just some reasons of why Attack on Titan is overrated. As just a simple watcher, I wouldn’t extract all reasons but these are just the most impactful to me personally. That doesn’t mean Attack on Titan is a bad anime. Thanks to Linked Horizon, Attack on Titan’s first 3 openings are a few of the best and most hype anime openings of all time. Attack on Titan also stands out in its fast paced action and events.
But why is Attack on Titan overrated in the first place?
There are a few reasons for this:
1) The success of the Manga
When Attack on Titan’s manga struck the shounen industry in 2011, people were all hyped up for the anime. A successful manga doesn’t always mean that the anime will be as great even if they are both very similar.
2) The Animation
Although some animes might be better in animation, Attack on Titan is famous for its unbelievably vivid and action-based animation. The shifts in perspectives, the speed of the characters, and the transformations of the titans all stand out against almost all other animes in the same class
3) The year of production
When there are a lot of good anime released in the same year competing for which one is the best, their popularities are overshadowed by each other and they soon lose popularity. Attack on Titan, however, saw almost no competition in 2013. That doesn’t mean that 2013 didn’t see a lot of good anime it’s just that Attack on Titan took the upper hand and didn’t leave the other animes any chance to compete. That have to do mostly with the fans
4) The Hype
The impact of Linked Horizon’s first three openings of Attack on Titan is just very great to the extent that it created a sudden hype for the anime, symbolizing it as a very fast paced “quality” anime without any particular reason.
If you are an Attack on Titan fan, don’t be upset. It’s still acceptable if you like the series for the music, action, or any other reason. It’s just (generally) not the best but it can be the best for you, specifically.
In my opinion, Attack on Titan is overrated anime but it’s not the most overrated.