While Korean television dramas have been enjoying a peak in viewership these past months, Japanese anime has been consistent in churning out alluring animation and engaging storylines throughout the years. Anime has become a well-respected genre adored by millions of fans around the world.
Filipinos have had their mainstream exposure to Japanese animation in the form of titles like “Voltes V” and “Dragonball” which enjoyed significant airtime on television in the early ‘90s. Later titles pushed anime to the top with Philippine-release titles, with “Ghost Fighter” and “Samurai X” arguably leading the pack as the most popular titles among those releases. After that, hits like “Naruto” and “Bleach” conquered general fandom. (We know, we know. There are plenty more!)
Today, in the age of Netflix, people are discovering “Attack on Titan (AOT),” a title adapting the manga series launched in 2009. As the manga reveals that it will officially end its run this April 9, the anime is also coming to an end around the same time.
From a mainstream follower of anime, here are five reasons why AOT is worth checking out. Warning: Death, violence and gore are common themes.
Unexpected twists are plenty
The first viewing will provide one with the expected moments that are sure to elicit “oohs” and “aahs” from viewers. Watch out for all the historical detail about “humanity” that will be explained along the way. If you’ve already seen it once, watching the anime all over again will peel more details you thought you already knew but didn’t really. It’s a layer of stories worth revisiting time and again.
The soundtrack is eclectic
Sure, epic moments within the storyline are great. But to have these moments accompanied by orchestra-heavy, classical-influenced and dubstep-sprinkled scoring just elevates the whole experience, pushing viewers past the mere musical comprehension and into the ethereal.
The action scenes are intense
Yes, this article just mentioned AOT as an epic fantasy action drama. However, Wikipedia lists it under “Action,” “Dark Fantasy” and “Post-Apocalyptic.” Whatever the case, the action scenes rely on swift acrobatic movement and a lot of slashing. Have we mentioned that the majority of all this fighting is done by humans against man-eating giants?
It’s just wrapping up
Like previously mentioned in the article, there’s no time like now to enjoy an anime marathon. Every episode is approximately only 20 minutes long, and there are currently 65 episodes spanning four seasons. If you start now (and if you seem to like what you’re seeing), you might just be able to catch up and join the entire world in witnessing the epic fantasy action drama come to a close.
Nothing to lose
At the end of the day, “AOT” way does not live up to one’s expectations. That’s okay. But spending several weeks on the top 10 charts on Netflix Philippines as part of the most watched titles, it should at least make sense to try and understand the hype behind this anime. If there’s any chance you like it, it’s almost certain that you’ll love it. Now all fans can hope for is a justifiable ending to a manga/anime series loved by many.