[Titlecard is from the fan-comic Attack on Frozen by rinboz]
Oh yes, I’m going there. I just couldn’t ‘let it go’. With that out of the way, we can get to the meat of the topic at hand. Why I reckon Attack on Titan, one year after watching it, doesn’t hold up for me as much as I thought it would.
I wish to stress the importance of one thing, I don’t hate Attack on Titan. I like the show and think it’s been a success in bringing people into the world of anime. It’s a polished looking series with plenty of characters to get behind, love and cry for over their deaths. It’s a brutal show with plenty of drama interspersed with violence and moments of high emotion, but upon rewatching it for a second time, I felt a little odd. I didn’t enjoy it as much. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling this way. I spent hours mulling the problem over and then it hit me. I had been oversaturated. The show had gone from a critically acclaimed dark horse to extremely bloated marketing juggernaut. Something which started off as a silent hit was now plastered over most internet message boards and on practically every street in Japan. It didn’t help that I had just started watching Knights of Sidonia, a similarly themed tale which is set in the depths of space which was conduced with more originality and style.
The above image was when I started to feel weird. A Colossal Titan selling a hot Japanese dish replacing Eren Jaegers’ shocked visage at the end of episode five. What happened here? Was this what the creator, Hajime Isayama, had imagined that his creation would spawn? Out of place commercial gimmicks? It didn’t help when we suddenly an Attack on Titan burger campaign at Japanese fast food chain Lotteria. Simply slap the Attack on Titan sticker on anything that’s larger than average and we got guaranteed success and sales from fans of the show. The merchandising for the show can also be described as tenuous. Anime News Network chronicles this perfectly with a list of twenty examples of unusual merchandise. Highlights include “Mikasa” perfume, emery boards/nail files with Levi’s face on them, masking tape, scrunchies and even a tea strainer and matching mug. Rather odd, don’t you think? These are just a few of the hundreds of articles for sale all across the internet.
So I imagine you’re telling me that all this doesn’t matter so long as the anime is successful. It deserves to be a success and it shouldn’t be questioned. That is completely understandable. If you like this show, then fair play to you. I respect your choices and am happy for you. I do not wish to denounce the opinions of individuals. This is my own personal account of how the show has now lost its edge and why I don’t wish to watch it again.
The Battle of Trost. Ten manga chapters stretched out over nine full episodes. That’s the majority of the first half of the show’s initial season. Little long, don’t you reckon?
Attack on Titan suffers from Dragonball Z syndrome in that things which should be covered relatively quickly are drawn out over a much longer period than is necessary. I understand that tension needs to be built and that padding out manga does occur and that you would rather have canon material rather than go too fast and resort to filler [I’m looking at you, Naruto and Bleach!] but when you have twenty five episodes instead of two hundred and five, you can afford to be a little faster in pacing. Granted, it’s obvious that the episode count will grow to around fifty [a rumoured release date of August 2015 has been mooted] or maybe seventy five if it’s lucky, but it’s still a little bloated. In a recent interview, the manga’s editor Shintaro Kawakubo surmised that the manga would end in the year 2017 or 2018. Isayama publishes three volumes a year, so it would be plausible that there are another nine to twelve volumes of manga to come from the author; a maximum of twenty six volumes. That’s long! Dragonball Z had a similar volume count and went on for nearly three hundred episodes whereas the total for Attack on Titan will be considerably less at its current rate of production. In short, pacing is an issue with the show. It has a lot of work to do. It’s not unusual to hear people not being as endeared to the second half of the show than they are of the first half. Also, the fabled key to Eren’s basement [which will reveal the true origins of the Titans] is covered at the start and occasional flashbacks, but is hardly mentioned in the second half of the show. This crucial cliffhanger is left unanswered in the anime [where most fans will have been acquired]. It’s an important plot point and it’s dropped!
This slow pacing carried on to annoy me and with each episode I felt more and more impatient. These feelings were slightly tempered at the end with the twist that occurred near the end of the first season [For those that watched] but the journey still felt a little long-winded in my opinion. Despite this though, it did capture the imagination of the public. People were in awe of humanity’s struggle against the unstoppable Titans and the bleak future our race had against these monsters. It inspired a whole new cosplay craze and got people into anime with its swift dub and broadcast on the US Toonami slot, its brief spell on Netflix and Funimation’s brilliant marketing push. The show triggered a spark in anime fans and thriller fans alike and companies turned that spark into a raging fire. Everywhere I look is see an advert for it or a new type of product or sale for the DVD or Blu-ray. I’m probably contributing to the fire with this very article. The show has gone from indie gem to an extremely bloated marketing juggernaut simply through word of mouth and marketing nouse. Something which started off as a silent hit is now plastered over most internet message boards and on practically every street in Japan. Another recent hit has done the same thing in the West; the popular Disney movie Frozen.
A truly colossal success in cinemas and now referenced on every single form of social media imaginable. There isn’t a day that goes by when someone isn’t mentioning it in some shape or form further spreading its influence. Again, I loved it when I saw it cinemas for the first time. It was a brilliant moment; Disney had finally cracked how to make a fully-formed 3D movie and pull itself out of the dirge it had been suffering since the early 2000s with its own animation studio. Its purchase of Pixar in 2005 had achieved its desired effect and pulled in over a billion dollars in the box office. However, it too has suffered from oversaturation. The premise based on the classic tale of The Snow Queen, the movie taught children and adults not to hide your problems from view, to not judge people on face value and that one is never alone; there is always someone out there who cares for you. All this wrapped up in a magical and uniquely Disney sense of charm and warmth. I adored this the first time I watched it. Then the song “Let It Go” became popular. Great! A Disney song is breaching the charts; I was proud of it and the work of Idina Menzel [the voice of Elsa, the lead character]. However, it was clear that the film was ripe for financial gain. This isn’t new with Disney films, but Frozen has taken it to a whole other level. So many song parodies and so many hours of air-time has ruined the magic for me. When I got around to watching the movie a second time, just a few months later, I was nowhere near as happy to sit through it. Then a third time came along and I switched off after an hour and skipped over the “Let It Go” song. I was done with Frozen. You might argue that it wasn’t written for me and that the story is aimed at children; but this is Disney we’re talking about. Disney transcends age barriers – everyone can enjoy a Disney movie and Frozen has something for people of all ages. So why am I sick of it? Well, it’s just too damn popular.
How can I say that? Too popular! How can being popular be a bad thing? Well, you know the old saying “Too much of a good thing?…”? That applies here! Frozen has been plastered over media platforms time and time again and referenced so many times that it has come out the other end looking very worn…and it’s not even a year old. This came out in November of last year! Feels like ten years ago, doesn’t it? Not one. Less than one. I never want to watch Frozen again; or at least not for a very long time. True, the film is wonderful and a really great Disney flick; but its media hype and constant ramming down my eye sockets has completely turned me off wanting to watch it. Attack on Titan is the same. I just cannot bring myself to watch it again or read the manga – the overhyping and constant barage of media and merchandising and references has become a major turn-off for myself and others I would imagine.
So what was my goal for this editorial? Well, I had some doubts about Attack on Titan as a long-lasting success. Will it still be popular in ten years’ time once the hype and merchandising push has backed off? When the critical analyses start to creep in and deconstruct the show. Put simply, I believe that Attack on Titan is low on substance and cannot sustain repeat watchings without issues rearing their heads. That being said, it is a bombastic adventure and the production value is superb; there’s no question there. It is a masterpiece to look at but its story doesn’t quite match up with the visuals. The marketing behind it is also questionable and rather tenuous and it has led to a rapid decrease in appeal for me. Eighteen months after its anime release, I’m kind of done with it. I can do without it, but I do not wish to stop people watching it themselves. If you like it, go forth and watch it! Enjoy it! I’m happy that you can, but for this reviewer it’s not so easy.
What do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts or do you have reason to counter them? Either way, I’m happy to hear! Leave a comment below and let’s start a debate!
![Bad Fanfiction Theatre: Ice and Snow [Part 2]](https://anifilereviews.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/is1-title-2.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
![Bad Fanfiction Theatre: Ice and Snow [Part 1]](https://anifilereviews.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/is1-title-1.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
Anifile: Anime Reviews 