Attack on Titan is BEYOND a Masterpiece | Video Essay

so i watched my first anime and attack on titan i mean wow just wow this may be one of the best pieces of storytelling in writing i have ever had the pleasure of watching from the characters to the plot to the soundtrack to the voice acting to the animation to the [ __ ] everything attack on titan completely surpassed any expectations i have while also creating entirely new expectations for anime in general a little too high to be honest like i watched other animes after aot and some were really really good like dead note for example but it was pretty much impossible to match attack on titan i also do not read the manga so i have very little idea what's going to come with season 4 but i can say i am extremely excited and before i begin there will be spoilers in this video so if you have not watched attack on titan please do yourself a favor and watch it do not ruin the experience for yourself leave this video right now and go watch attack on titan i promise you will not be disappointed alright let's begin never have i seen a show but so much meaning behind every episode every scene every single piece of dialogue there's this rule of storytelling if a scene can be removed and the story remains unchanged then it should be attack on titan takes that rule to its fullest potential from the first episode the first scene this story already knows how it must end and because of that everything that happens happens for a reason everything that happens comes full circle sometimes seasons later in season one marco's death a seemingly unimportant and forgettable death ended up gaining so much meaning a season later same for every hidden line of dialogue bartlett and raynor speak throughout season 1. we don't see any fight because it's cool we see it because episodes later we see the exact same style in the female titan here's an example something that seemed meaningless on first watch but well you'll see foreign [Music] my point being i would be hard-pressed to find a single scene in 59 episodes of this show that doesn't have to be there because of this the story never loses momentum and because of this attack on titan creates one of the best mysteries in storytelling i have ever seen maybe it's just me but mysteries aren't something you see a lot nowadays especially in tv shows so it's not something i've been exposed to a lot but a well written mystery can keep a viewer keep on wanting to watch more keep wanting to reach that goal of learning the truth you become as invested as the characters are in learning the truth attack on titan builds up that mystery it forms a thousand questions in every viewer's mind where you just won't feel complete until they're answered and then after building it up for so long it does but the way it does uncomplicated simple but also incomplete our questions are finally answered but all the while also forming entirely new questions and you'll notice with three seasons of build up the answers we got caused no plot holes none because again everything that happened was done with the ending in sight everything that was done was done for the purpose of that ending an ending we haven't even reached yet and then there's that one element that isn't exclusive to mysteries but is definitely most effective in them an attack on titan definitely puts them to full force plot twists the plot twists in this story are some of the most defining moments in the show i mean there are some twists that maybe could have been hidden a bit better like come on who didn't think this was any but then there are the twists that nobody sees coming that completely twists the show in a new direction and if there's one moment in particular that shows this then i think we all know what i'm talking about bear hole no rainer's reveal to create the most effective twist possible it has to be set up in the most effective way possible it has to be the only possible eventuality it has to be the only thing that would make sense that's subverting expectations the thing with scenes that subvert expectations is that they should be expected subverting expectations doesn't mean you just randomly flip what the audience was expecting which a lot of shows tried to do subverting expectations means from day one that was going to happen it was the only logical eventuality it should have been expected the only reason we didn't expect it is because we didn't want to bear hold and rainer's reveal should be a teaching tool on how to properly subvert expectations from episode 1 this was planned and so it was hinted to multiple times you were given clues multiple times it should have been expected and yet i was still shocked that's how you subvert expectations i didn't like attack on titan at first it was my first anime and i take my preconception as what anime is as a whole clouded my judgment but i think that's because attack on titan fit into that conception at first it seemed like everything i expected going into anime a story about some annoying hero who's gonna save the world from scary monsters mostly just fights no depth no complex teams lame boring character development now even describing attack on titan like that is just funny but i stopped watching and two weeks later i didn't really have anything else to watch so i started back up on it and i still didn't really love it until the female titan arc the female titan arc is when it fully hit me that this anime isn't what i thought it would be and it happened in different ways first off it's when i realized that this wouldn't be as simple as a story about killing the scary monsters that there are titans that are actually human it's when the question started popping off in my head it's when the mystery began second it's when i realized that it wouldn't be as simple as a hero saving the world aaron trusted his team and they all died aaron turned into a titan and lost i thought this story was about a hero saving the world from scary monsters i realized that these aren't just scary monsters and that this story has no heroes attack on titan only builds on this through the second and third season by creating strong themes through its amazing cast of characters specifically the man himself erwin smith and armin but mostly irwin irwin is the living embodiment of the themes in attack on titan irwin smith is not a hero irwin smith never saw himself as a hero he would put not only his own soldiers on the line but he would sacrifice hundreds of lives of citizens for just the chance of the slightest bit of information erwin smith was not a hero i know he all hit flock but he isn't wrong irwin is the devil but he was necessary this story shows directly tells us what makes a person who has the power to change the world they must be drunk on something they must be after something something insatiable that creates their entire life purpose for aaron is freedom for armand seeing the world and for erwin it's learning the truth of their world from his childhood seeing if his father was right and then they must be willing to give it up they must be willing to lose that goal that they based their life around to create the necessary change the something that one is drunk on is what drives them forward is what allows them to see death all around them and stay sane keep pushing on but when the time is right that thing that drives one forward is what holds them back from doing what is necessary which is why they must be willing to give up what always drove them irwin and armand embodies his team beautifully erwin had the power to become the devil because of the gold that arose when he was a child learning the truth it's the reason he was able to never give up never lose faith when the leaders before eventually gave up and gave in he was drunk on something and they weren't from when we first meet armin we know his goal he wants to see the world specifically the sea so sorry um [Music] and when aaron turned into a titan both these characters saw a path to their goals and their drive became even stronger but on the eclipse of it all the final battle the one that would decide if erwin and armin would be able to reach the goal they've been waiting for their entire lives they both reached a point where they got to decide the goal that meant everything to them or humanity and in that moment irwin and armin were able to create change because they were able to sacrifice on opposite sides of the wall both characters created the turning points in the battle irwin created a plan sacrificing himself to cut the beast titan and armin created a plan sacrificing himself to kill the colossal titan in turn sacrificing their goals their goals are what drove them to that point but in the end they created change because they were willing to give it up now why did levi choose armin to live on over irwin thematically it makes sense the goal that drove irwin was reached the basement the truth was right there in the city armin's goal was more armin's goal was not nearly complete armin wanted to leave the walls he wanted to see the world there would still be something to drive armand forward but not for irwin but really in the end it was a single character's choice in the end leto wasn't trying to make the smart choice or the logical choice because in the end he saw irwin as his friend and he couldn't bring his friend back into hell forcing him to retake on the role of the devil that humanity needed it was finally time for erwin smith to rest there is so much i could cover with aot i mean every aspect of this anime is amazing but since i am most definitely making a video when the season is over i didn't want to go too deep on characters whose stories are still yet to be finished especially aaron we're definitely gonna wait on erin look art is subjective so everyone has different tastes different opinions different views on it and i do my best to analyze every aspect of a story so that i don't only give my opinions but i also explain why i have them but still not everyone is going to agree with me i'm saying this because i've been introduced into the anime fandom and if there's one thing they do it's argue about what the best anime is so when i say something is the best or amazing it's my opinion keep that in mind with what i'm about to say i don't think i've ever used this word to describe a show before but if this last season can give this story a satisfying conclusion to the large number of characters remaining while sticking with and building more on these amazing themes then i can say without a doubt that attack on titan will achieve perfection i can't wait

Channel: MediaRoom

Views: 278,727

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Id: rpA_NLIQoDg

Length: 13min 18sec (798 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 25 2020