“Attack On Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) Season 2” Anime Review: The Mighty Anime Behemoth Returns With Another Devastating Blow

★Writer: Richard K. Moe

“Eren Jaeger swore to wipe out every last Titan, but in a battle for his life he wound up becoming the thing he hates most. With his new powers, he fights for humanity’s freedom facing the monsters that threaten his home. After a bittersweet victory against the Female Titan, Eren finds no time to rest—a horde of Titans is approaching Wall Rose and the battle for humanity continues”. (ANN)

★Original Creator – Hajime Isayama (Attack on Titan Series)

★Animation Studio – Wit Studio (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Seraph of the End, The Rolling Girls)

★Chief Director – Tetsuro Araki (High School of the Dead, Guilty Crown, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress)

★Series Composition – Yasuko Kobayashi (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Casshern Sins, Shakugan no Shana)

★Music – Hiroyuki Sawano (Kill la Kill, Guilty Crown, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress)

Story

• The characters are all strong hearted, brave, and likable as before. 
• The characters, although some very powerful, feel human and relatable when thrown in life or death situations. 
• Side characters like Sasha and Conny are given much more depth than before.
• Even though some characters are show cased for just a moment, it’s hard to not care about them. 
• The goals and motives of the characters feel convincing. 
• The titans are frightening, horrendous, and down right creepy. 
• There are many different type of new hideous and scary titans. 
• Deaths are memorable and shocking. 
• Hopeless and stressful moments are written very well. 
• What a person would do to survive and how they react when thrown in a life or death situation is captured perfectly.  
• Things like resources and the layout of the battle field is thought about when fighting titans. 
• There are moments where the dialogue exchanges between the characters feel realistic.
• One specific moment that Eren and Mikasa share in Episode 11 is one of the most beautifully written scenes i’ve ever seen. 
• The solutions and outcomes are unpredictably exciting. 
• The twists and turns are mouth dropping.
• Every episode ends with you asking more questions and wanting answers. 
• The fights and battles are exhilarating and cleverly written.
• Episode 10 delivers some of the most moving and heart attack inducing moments of the show.  
• The conclusion of this season is amazing, breath taking, and emotional. 

Directing

• The cinematic camera work is awe inspiring. 
• Emotional moments, frightful moments, and even hopeful moments are thoroughly convincing. 
• Fear and horror is felt every moment the titans appear on screen.  
• You can feel the emotion of each individual character when they are faced against the titans. 
• Fights and battles are gripping and spine tingling.
• The tension that is felt in battles can be also found in the explosive arguments. 
• Heroic moments are moving and scream out worthy. 

Animation, Illustrations, and Character Designs

• The fluidity of the titans and corp fighters is spectacular. 
• Everything from the horrifying titans to the terrified townsfolk is illustrated in excellent quality most of the time.
• The characters facial expression’s are so detailed that I can feel every emotion they’re feeling. 
• From the trees to the skies, the scenery looks amazing.  
• The dark and bold lined character designs look wonderful. 

Music

• The opening theme, “Shinzou wo Sasageyo!”, by Link Horizon is another grand and heroic song, 
• The ending theme, “Yūgure no Tori” by Shinsei Kamattechan is an eerie yet beautiful song that perfectly captures the show.
• The background music is fierce and terrific. 

Story

• The first episode of this season does not feel like a first episode nor does it feel like a welcome back instead it just picks up right after where season 1 ended off as if it was apart of the same season. 
• The back tracking can throw off the fast pacing. 
• Although likable, some of the characters can be a bit flat. 
• There are moments that don’t feel entirely convincing due to how cliche they are or how they are executed. (E.G. Episode 4 has many moments that are meant to be intense and thrilling but come off as cliche and poor. Another example is in Episode 8, where there is a flashback of Eren, Mikasa, Armin as children that came out cliche and predictable. And even Ymir’s motive for saving a certain somebody is a bit too cliche and unconvincing.) 
• There is a big reveal in episode 5 that isn’t entirely convincing due to how nonchalant the scene is. 
• There are some slow and dull moments. (E.G. Episode 8 specifically felt slow and tiring due to it’s mundane story telling and flashback.)

Directing, Animation, and Illustrations

• There are moments throughout the show that have a bit too much still frame sequences to show case events. 
• There are some noticeable moments where the animation isn’t at its best. Specifically the middle episodes. 
• The CG colossal titan is horrendous looking and breaks the world’s immersion. 
• Not only does the colossal titan look atrocious in CG but the regular titans as well. 
• Character illustrations look noticeable odd in further episodes.

(Reference Source for “Behind The Anime” – Anime News Network)

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Google