IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
Hey, Attack on Titan is great.
The Attack on Titan thread
- Thread starter IncendiaryLemon
- Start date
Hey, Attack on Titan is great.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
The entire show can be undone with the question "How did they build the wall?". I know Hajime Isayama has an explanation, but I refuse to believe anybody thinks that's a good explanation. And everything I've heard just makes the rest of the show sound like a long descent into stupidity and plot contrivance en mass.
It's very well executed, I won't argue that it's a fantastic watch and there's great stuff in there, but I don't think Isayama has actually thought the story through at all. "Crap" is the perfect description for me; it doesn't deserve to be slated, but it does deserve to be criticised a little bit.
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
It doesn't really matter how they built the wall. Can you not just accept it's there are part of the premise? You're really focusing on rather insignificant details. To me, it's an incredibly entertaining action show, with some great looking animation and a bunch of good characters. Saying it's bad simply because it has a couple of plot holes is incredibly absurd.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
The entire show rests on a huge plot hole, right from the get go. It rests on you sincerely believing that they can't easily kill titans or distract them, but somehow they managed to distract/kill them long enough to build not one but three huge walls, and several huge cities. Whilst also ensuring that the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people that live within the walls don't get killed. The entire set up of the show requires you to buy into something ludicrously improbable and then proceeds to stack a series of ridiculous and quite frankly silly contrivances on top of the already precarious jenga pile.
As I say, it's well executed and a fantastic watch, but I don't know that I came away from it entirely satisfied. I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching it and I do still panic every 4 months or so, when I realise I forgot to buy the OVA and Amazon no longer has any stock left. I just wish it had more narrative coherence. Since I saw that article earlier, I've been trying to think of series that I'd have preferred to become famous instead. The only one I can think of is Blood Blockade Battlefront. Maybe ERASED, but that also struggles with it's ending. Mr. Osomatsu, perhaps, but then that's not really that different from any number of Western shows.
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
You'll find most really don't care, and I fall into that group. Would knowing how they built the wall make the show any more entertaining? No, not really, and as such, I honestly couldn't really care. In the grand scheme, it's rather insignificant.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
I'm not sure it is that insignificant, because a small part of my brain was sat there, every time a problem came up throughout the entire show, going "Couldn't you speak to the people that built the wall and ask them how they did it?".
I suppose you could argue that I'm taking the show too seriously or thinking about it too much. But the show keeps throwing pretentious monologues about death and it's meaning at me. You can't expect me to treat the show like The Fast and the Furious whenever anything happens and then like Saving Private Ryan whenever anybody opens their mouth, that's just silly.
Edit: Isn't there some **** about them forgetting how they built the wall or how to easily kill titans or something? I remember hearing it and thinking "Sure, they just forgot how to do perhaps the most important thing on the planet. Because that makes sense..."
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
I just think calling it crap for one thing most people wouldn't notice isn't justified in the least. I never would have even questioned the origin of the wall if you hadn't mentioned it.
I think a big part of why AoT blew up isn't just the fantastic action and shocks (which are great, even if I'm in a tiny minority of people who like its wonky political plot). It lets people into a fandom with various elements which are almost cultlike - you can dress up as a member of the Survey Corps, you can learn their salutes and organisational structure and feel part of something bigger. You can fantasise about being a Titan and running around eating people (it's not just me, right?). It's total fantasy, but you see the same kind of thing with Naruto and all of the kids dressing up as Akatsuki members or running around with village forehead protectors, and Bleach fans pretending to be captains or members of squads.
ERASED and BBB are both fantastic shows (and the latter in particular was robbed in not finding as big an audience in the west as it deserved; it was almost made for western success) but they lack that same kind of hook for fans to come together around. The characters are too individualistic and probably too mature - not to knock AoT because its older characters are some of my personal favourites, but there are a ton of kids of all stripes to work as beautiful self-insert templates.
(The wall thing bugged me but it was later more-or-less explained. Not saying it isn't stupid, but at least they didn't try to tell me they all sat there building this massive wall by hand and singing songs around camp fires for a hundred years while the wandering Titans just ignored them.)
Also the AoT opening is the opening of the decade. Probably the best opening sequence since Evangelion. It's iconic.
R
ERASED and BBB are both fantastic shows (and the latter in particular was robbed in not finding as big an audience in the west as it deserved; it was almost made for western success) but they lack that same kind of hook for fans to come together around. The characters are too individualistic and probably too mature - not to knock AoT because its older characters are some of my personal favourites, but there are a ton of kids of all stripes to work as beautiful self-insert templates.
(The wall thing bugged me but it was later more-or-less explained. Not saying it isn't stupid, but at least they didn't try to tell me they all sat there building this massive wall by hand and singing songs around camp fires for a hundred years while the wandering Titans just ignored them.)
Also the AoT opening is the opening of the decade. Probably the best opening sequence since Evangelion. It's iconic.
R
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
I wouldn't contest that, but I think Aldnoah.Zero is the better Sawano Hiroyuki score...
And for what it's worth, none of the plotholes in Aldnoah.Zero particularly bothered me, because I think it was obvious early on, that was just aiming to be dumb sci-fi fun, rather than anything meaningful. The only one I even particularly noticed was the whole Humans on Mars/Martians thing, which was just weird...
sniper_samurai
Railgun
Not really a plot hole. Its been further explained recently.
They are on an island and the walls were built before it was flooded with titans. The titans were placed outside to prevent the people, especially the Control Titan from leaving.
Now the country that subjugates them have sent in agents to try and claim the power of the Control Titan for themselves.
Now the country that subjugates them have sent in agents to try and claim the power of the Control Titan for themselves.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
So AoT has been going for 7.5 years and they've only just thought to explain the whole thing isn't predicated on a plot hole? As I say, it needs more narrative coherence...
That said, if there are no titans on the island, how did they get the titans to use as a building material?
thedoctor2016
Mushi-shi
It's really badly explained these past few chapters have been very disappointing I don't think the author knows what's going on anymore. I could drop it easily I have like 5% the excitement I had for it last year
kuuderes_shadow
Thousand Master
Otaku-san
Chuunibyou
It certainly had it's exposure, much like Nichijou's first OP had for then reams of splices to edits appearing on youtube representing different series, which is all well and good fun. The main difference between them is much like Rui said how viewers can feel apart of the fantasy and has stuck, shame Chrome Shelled Regios doesn't hold as much since I prefer their uniforms.
sniper_samurai
Railgun
Everyone inside the wall has the potential to be turned into a titan via injection as show with Eren.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
Genuine question -- How does anybody take this seriously? This is a whole new level of dumb plot contrivance.
Speaking for myself I don't take it completely seriously. I know it flicks between grim and ridiculous but it was like that from the very first episode (tragically realistic war set against a backdrops of gigantic naked people-eating monsters running around and comically incompetent leadership) so its unusual blend of atrocity and absurdity just works. Screw the live action films though.
Being up to date with the manga really does explain a lot. I'm not entirely sure it all makes sense and am looking forward to more anime so I can review everything I have read in context again, but most of the weird/dumb mysteries have been blown open by now.
R
Being up to date with the manga really does explain a lot. I'm not entirely sure it all makes sense and am looking forward to more anime so I can review everything I have read in context again, but most of the weird/dumb mysteries have been blown open by now.
R
bakum4tsu
Pokémon Master
Attack on Titan has plot holes? Yes.
Is it a great anime? Yes
Could it be better? Yes (like every show)
Do I still enjoy it? F*** yeah I do!!
One of my favourite anime of all time cause there's a lot of good things in it.
It has a really good OST, cool characters, tons of action and a top notch animation so what's there not to like?
Oh and characters die!! That's also cool. Some of them appear to be invencible but that's normal I guess xD
PS: I still have to read volumes 17 through 20 but so far is going well pretty well.
Is it a great anime? Yes
Could it be better? Yes (like every show)
Do I still enjoy it? F*** yeah I do!!
One of my favourite anime of all time cause there's a lot of good things in it.
It has a really good OST, cool characters, tons of action and a top notch animation so what's there not to like?
Oh and characters die!! That's also cool. Some of them appear to be invencible but that's normal I guess xD
PS: I still have to read volumes 17 through 20 but so far is going well pretty well.