How the Anime “Attack on Titan” Evolved

Attack On Titan is arguably one of the most popular animes of this generation. It became very popular before and after its release in 2013. The anime not only got a lot of attention from Japanese viewers but also became incredibly popular and well known in the US. Since the second season continuously got delayed and didn’t get an anime adaptation until 2017, the anime and the fanbase fell off and a lot of people forgot about it. That is until Season 3 aired in 2018 and people became shocked at the direction the anime took.

The first season of the anime became a hit right off the bat–anime expos and conventions became flooded with survey corp uniforms and content from the anime and fanbase was all over YouTube. That’s not to say it was the best season though, a lot of people thought that the anime got overhyped and overrated since a lot of the storyline and plot were confusing and had a lot of plot holes in the first season. I feel like the first season had a shaky yet stable foundation: some points were crossed off but not all and a lot of things didn’t make sense until you caught up with all the seasons. It was a good watch and there were some very memorable and important scenes, however, compared to the seasons to come this first season was very lightweight and kind of like a headstart. It introduced us to the main characters, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, and gave us an inside look at them as well as how it is to live closed off and behind walls and what happens when those walls are broken. It’s probably the least memorable season in the series when you compare it to the second and third seasons but it’s important and crucial to the anime. 

The second season aired four years later in 2017. In comparison to the first season having 25 episodes, this season only had 12. What I enjoyed the most about this season is that it focused on different characters and gave them storylines and importance so you didn’t know who was the main character anymore. It also explained some of the things that were confusing and untold in the first season. By far my favorite thing this anime has done was introduce a lesbian couple with depth and without it being sexualized in any shape or form. I was completely caught off guard as I never thought the anime would do this since it’s very rare to see these kinds of couples in other animes. Another thing that this anime did that I loved was introduce a nonbinary/genderfluid character named Hange. The author states that it’s up to the viewers to decide what they wanna identify the character as which is another rare thing in anime. This season had me questioning episodes and on the edge of my seat because I never knew what was going to happen next. In this show, they can kill off anyone or pull a plot twist anywhere and it was insane to see just how much the show switched up and how insane and great it got. 

Season 3 aired in 2018. Unlike the other seasons, this season aired in two parts, with the first being released in July of 2018 and the second part being released in April 2019. The first part of the third season felt entirely different, it felt like I was watching a completely different show. A lot of the first part of the third season did not show any titan warfare, but it was people versus people which was something a lot of people didn’t see coming. People fighting against people wasn’t very thought of since the audience was focused on titans, so it was surprising when the anime took a different route. This season, just like the second season, focused on other characters as well and showed the backstory of characters we didn’t pay attention to in the first season. I enjoyed seeing this side of the anime as it did something different that suited it. The second part of Season 3 aired in April of 2019, about 8 months after the first part aired. This part of the season was probably the most intense season we’ve seen for Attack on Titan yet. It was very similar to Season 1 because there was a lot of fighting and a lot of things starting connecting to Season 1. I feel like I couldn’t look away from the screen or I would miss something important. This season was probably my favorite just because of how good the fighting and the character’s development was. 

When I first started watching this anime I honestly didn’t really think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did, this show changed so much since season 1 and it only got better and better. It got my brain working which is something a lot of animes don’t usually do, it surprised me just how good it got. After this anime finishes it’s going to go down as one of the best animes of all time. It’s mind-blowing how it delivered amazing seasons continuously. I hope this show continues going down the road it’s going, I’m excited to see how Season 4 plays out; I hope we get the lingering questions we still have answered.