Cameron Tarver

Lee Patterson

English 1A

22 March 2023

Greatest Anime Of All Time?

On the date September 9, 2009 the author and illustrator Hajime Isayama released the

first issue of his flawless manga Shingeki no Kyojin or as we know it, Attack on Titan. This series

officially became animated and released its first episode of season 1 on September 28, 2013.

This series that takes place in the year 845 is about the main character Eren Yeager’s fight for

survival in this dystopian society on the brink of extinction due to massive, mindless, man-eating

human-like monsters known as titans is a mixture of a dark-fantasy, horror, and post-apocalyptic

thriller. While this may sound like an odd mixture of genres and maybe an unoriginal story line,

Isayama’s ability to crush such assumptions is one of the few reasons why I believe Attack on

Titan is in a class of its own. In this essay, I am going to highlight what makes Attack on Titan

the greatest anime of all time.

Starting from episode 1 viewers were quickly made aware of the dystopian situation in

this dark-fantasy, horror, post-apocalyptic film. The world of Attack on Titan consists of all of

humanity living within 3 major walls which protects them from the Titans ranging from 3 to 15

meters tall which are at this point the main antagonist of the anime. Despite being surrounded by

titans, humanity could live their life peacefully due to the wall having been protecting them for

over 100 years. Humanity had the utmost faith in this wall up until the first episode an unheard

of, 60 meter titan kicked open the gate in the wall destroying the peace allowing the mindless

titans to storm in and feast upon the townspeople. Eren Yeager at the age of 10 storms to his
house to check on his family, then once he arrives he notices that his Mother’s legs are buried

under a pile of rubble. As Eren and his adopted sister, Mikasa Ackerman, use all their strength to

try and pull her out, they are approached by a massive 15 meter titan. The mother begs the

children to leave her behind but they refuse. A family friend approaches the scene and she

demands him to take them to safety and as he is forcefully fleeing from the scene, Eren watches

his own mother getting eaten alive as all of her blood is flying everywhere around him. This type

of tragedy in the first episode was a perfect way to get viewers hooked on what is to come next.

Isayama was able to draw all of our attention and feel sympathy for the mother even though we

haven’t even known her for a full episode yet. Which leaves us with the question of, how will the

loss of his mother affect him moving forward?

Immediately after episode one the anime takes a two year time skip to Eren Yeager

becoming 12. We are now beginning to see the impact the loss of his mother has had on him

which leads him to vow to kill every single titan. He shows his commitment to that statement by

joining the Survey Corps, which is a large group of beginner level soldiers training vigorously

until it is time for graduation. A majority of their training is focused on getting used to titan

killing gear powered by fuel known as “ODM Gear”. This gear consists of a grapple on each

waist that can essentially attach to almost anything which flings its user in any direction they

shoot the grapple towards. As well as being accompanied by two swords. During this training we

learn that the only way to kill a titan is to slash deep into the back of their neck unless they will

regenerate. In addition, Mikasa and his childhood friend, Armin accompanied him in his decision

to join the Survey Corps. Us viewers have witnessed great character development within just two

episodes. We have watched Eren go from being completely helpless in the sight of danger to

training in order to be able to fight back. A trend in this anime that viewers will eventually get
used to is that not everything will go how the main character wants and we are almost always in

a constant state of suspense. Which is one of the key features in what makes this anime so great.

The 3 friends have persevered through their training in the Survey Corps and are now one day

away from graduation. They are all in good spirits and celebrating, which only lasted for a few

moments when the unthinkable happened. The same 60 meter titan had once again appeared out

of nowhere and broke down the gate which allowed all the titans to storm in along with a titan

which is fully armored and seems to be intelligent.

Isayama always keeps his viewers on their toes by feeding us the most unpredictable

situations. The titans are once again feasting upon the townspeople and the fellow survey corps

members are being eaten and crushed to death. It’s starting to feel like a repeat of two years ago.

Eren’s lifelong friend Armin is about to be eaten and considering how tragic this anime is we

would not be surprised if he were to die to add to the character development of Eren Yeager.

Then out of nowhere Eren throws Armin away from danger and now it is Eren who is on the

brink of death. I personally am not worried because no anime will kill the main character in a

matter of only 4 episodes. But Isayama once again proves me wrong as we watch Eren’s arm get

bitten off and fly across the screen and Eren gets swallowed by the Titan. I could not believe

what had just happened. This is the first time I had ever seen an anime kill the main character, I

was in complete and utter shock. The emotions that flowed through my body when I had seen the

impossible was almost too much to handle. I had no clue how to react. This flow of emotions is

just what an anime needs to keep viewers like myself glued to my seat.

I am not the only person who believes in the greatness of Attack on Titan. There are

multiple people who will tell you the same thing I am. Kamal K from imdb.com agrees with me

as well. Kamal states , “I never enjoyed AoT more. It's great.This season has perfect balance
between storytelling, character development and action. Overall 10/10” In her review she makes

a wonderful point about how she enjoyed the pacing of the show. This is one of the greatest

features of Attack on Titan because it allows you to enjoy every episode without the story going

off track. The most popular anime like Naruto, One piece, and Dragon Ball are known to have

their fair share of filler episodes. For those that do not know what a filler episode is, it is an

episode or series of episodes that steps away from the original storyline and its contents do not

affect the show in any way. Whenever I watch an Attack on Titan episode I know the content I

am viewing is going to be extremely important every episode, there is never a dull moment.

Another dark-fantasy anime that has entered the anime scene is Jujutsu Kaisen. This

show has quickly become a fan favorite. It follows the typical shonen anime trend of the main

character having an inner demon-like being within them that gives them power. Even though this

concept is very unoriginal it brings into question, what is the cause of the anime’s success. Panos

Kotzathanasis from rottentomatoes.com wrote a review on the show saying “"Jujutsu Kaisen"

offers very little in terms of originality, and it seems that its success is based mostly on

impression rather than substance. The work done in the technical aspect, however, compensates

to a large degree” which I absolutely agree with. The success of this show is a result of its

phenomenal fighting scenes and the satisfying events that take place in these fights. This show is

a lot like Attack on Titan where the pacing is very good. But the difference is all of Jujutsu’s

Kaisen’s episodes are dedicated to pure action, while Attack on Titan has a balance of story

building, preparation of fights, and the fights themselves. For lots of people pure action is exactly

what they are looking for in a dark fantasy anime and this is the cause of the high popularity of

the show. But the lack of story building is what causes the gap in quality between Jujutsu Kaisen

and Attack on Titan.

class of its own. This dark fantasy anime will keep you entertained through great story building,

action-packed scenes, and mind blowing plot twists. You will be glued to a constant emotional

rollercoaster. I purposely only shared minimal information about the anime so you can see for

yourself what truly makes it the greatest of all time. You may not understand now, but if you

give it a shot I promise you’ll thank me later.