Or in this case, manga before the anime? I recently made a trip to the local library with the intention of taking out some graphic novels after the pressures of going to the bank made me feel too adult. By chance I came across the first volume of Attack On Titan, which I had heard a lot of hype about - although it was about the anime series. On a whim, I decided to give it a go, knowing it was going to involve more gore than I usually allowed myself to experience.
It was a surprisingly good read. I cared about the characters instantly, after seeing them interact and the trauma they went through together. Their fears and anxieties were real and I really wanted them to succeed. Especially Armin, that sweetie. There was just enough background information about the Titans to keep me engaged but not so much that I nodded off halfway through. Although there were a few pages of diagrams for the new technologies that I could have done without.
As for the first episode of the anime? Everyone says the book is always better than the film and my cousin firmly believes you should watch the film first, so it doesn't ruin it when you get round to the awesomeness of the book (I only followed that advice for The Secret Life of Bees and felt like a traitor to my bookish origins).
The first episode of the anime sticks pretty close to the manga, though it covers much less ground than volume 1. At the end of volume 1, we see Eren, Mikasa and Armin five years after the first attack in one hundred years. At the end of the first episode, we see Eren's mum getting eaten by a Titan. Yum.
The anime makes no attempt to change the fundamental core of the manga, which is a good idea when it works. It does in this case, probably because of the visual nature of manga. The animation of the series really enhanced the gruesomeness of the Titans as well as the drama of the attack. Some of the problems that I encountered with the manga had crossed over to the anime, I found. I still didn't like Eren much until he sees his mum get eaten and I still have no idea who Mikasa is to Eren. Friend? Cousin? It's not really clear...
Anyway, my verdict? If you really want to check out what Attack On Titan is all about, neither the manga nor the anime is any less impressive. I'd say go for the manga if you want to control how long you're dedicating to exploring the story and the anime if you're ready to commit to 25-minute episodes at a time.
The first episode of the anime sticks pretty close to the manga, though it covers much less ground than volume 1. At the end of volume 1, we see Eren, Mikasa and Armin five years after the first attack in one hundred years. At the end of the first episode, we see Eren's mum getting eaten by a Titan. Yum.
The anime makes no attempt to change the fundamental core of the manga, which is a good idea when it works. It does in this case, probably because of the visual nature of manga. The animation of the series really enhanced the gruesomeness of the Titans as well as the drama of the attack. Some of the problems that I encountered with the manga had crossed over to the anime, I found. I still didn't like Eren much until he sees his mum get eaten and I still have no idea who Mikasa is to Eren. Friend? Cousin? It's not really clear...
Anyway, my verdict? If you really want to check out what Attack On Titan is all about, neither the manga nor the anime is any less impressive. I'd say go for the manga if you want to control how long you're dedicating to exploring the story and the anime if you're ready to commit to 25-minute episodes at a time.
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| Not the Titan that eats Eren's mum, but still quite scary in the anime. |
I think Mikasa is a real strong female character. These days you get a lot of pretend strong female characters who know how to fight but all their logical thinking and awesomeness dissolves when faced with a/two good looking boys.
ReplyDeleteMikasa is strong in lots of ways, even when she loses everything, and that's no easy quality to portray without making someone look heartless. As well, they don't shy away from making her stronger (emotionally and physically) than Eren, who, in my opinion, is bat-shit crazy. I knew Eren was bat-shit crazy from the first episode. He ground his teeth a lot and had that bat-shit crazy look. Another major give away of bat-shit crazy people is their ability come across focused until faced with the actual thing they are supposed to be focused on. This is usually when every redeeming quality they've ever had gets smother by their of bat-shit craziness.
Up until now, I still consider Mikasa the heroine of the story. I won't tell you who she is because I don't want to spoil, but they aren't related so don't worry about those possible "incestuous feelings" that look like they keep cropping up! LOL
Also, I think I may buy this manga at the comic con. :D
p.s the jury is still out on Eren, a lot of people think he is cool, I'm just certain he's crazy. i.e I wud not be his frend if he lived in teh real worlds.
ReplyDeleteThanks for listening
Yeah he had that glazed look in his eye that signalled something was off about him - in both the manga and anime!
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