If you remember one of my very first Odyssey articles, "Attack on Titan - It's all Hype", you might be thinking that I'm some sort of hypocrite for writing an new article advocating for Attack on Titan’s hype. But after watching the new season of Attack on Titan (or Shingeki no Kyojin), which just reached its season finale this past weekend, I think that Attack on Titan deserves more hype than it has actually received this past anime season.
I don’t doubt that Attack on Titan has a huge fanbase, nor do I doubt that there are large numbers of people dedicated to calling it trash. However, I do not think that Attack on Titan is being as talked about as much as fellow shounen series, My Hero Academia, or more ecchi series like Eromanga Sensei. Maybe that has to do with the fact that it has been four years since the first season of Attack on Titan, while My Hero Academia is finishing it’s second season after about a year since it first aired. At the same time, One Punch Man is getting a second season sometime soon after debuting a year ago.
So it is no surprise that the Attack on Titan hype-train is no longer as full, since a lot of anime fans have sated their thirst for awesome fight scenes and beautiful animation by watching other anime series. Which, honestly, is kinda disappointing. As someone who criticized the first season, I am very impressed at how good this current season is (and how I binge-watched every episode of this season until I caught up and was forced to wait until the next episode every week).
I started watching anime sometime in the middle of my freshman year of college, which was the end of 2014, meaning that the first season of Attack on Titan had been long over by the time I got to it. When I actually started watching Attack on Titan, I thought the introduction was so slow that it took me a few months to get the motivation to actually finish the series. I didn’t really hate the show. I liked the animation, there were several scenes that were memorable, and the concept was very interesting. I just did not understand why everyone was so in love with Attack on Titan.
It was because of my dissatisfaction with the first season that I did not immediately start watching the second season. However, now that I am at the end of the season, I regret not immediately logging onto CrunchyRoll to watch because I am just enthralled with every episode.
Because the first season of Attack on Titan dealt with world-building and character introductions, this season of Attack on Titan was immediately able to jump into the action and suspense, giving me exactly what I wanted from the very beginning. I also saw why people were so in love with some of the secondary characters like Ymir, Christa, Sasha, Bertholt, and Reiner. The focus moved away from Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, and I was actually given reasons to care about these complex and tragic characters.
So, if you still have not found the time to watch the second season of Attack on Titan, I highly suggest that you make time, especially before school starts in the fall. As someone who was kinda “meh” toward the first season, I was blown away by the second season and am willing to wait any length of time if it means that I can get the same kind of quality of animation and storytelling again in a third.
