Japan Anime: Why Attack on Titan is a great Anime Adaptation

I finally went on a binge watch up to episode 23 of the anime series 'Attack on Titan' (or 進撃の巨人 Shingeki no Kyojin) and now I am understanding what the fuss is about.

For those of you living under an anime-culture shunning rock, 'Attack on Titan' is about humainty facing the brink of extinction by the invasion of Titans and a group of militia who fight back against the threat. *cough* Evangelion with giants *cough*

By no means is it a perfect anime, it and the original manga are flawed in some aspects, but Production I.G have made a great adaptation while staying true to the source material. It plays to the sources strengths while patching up the holes, and in fact, I would go as far as to say that it goes surpasses the manga.

 

Reasons why the anime is better than the manga:



Improvement in Artwork
To be honest, the original manga was poorly drawn. So bad that you couldn't even tell characters apart and the giants looked like doodles that you used to draw in the back of your math workbooks.
But check out what the animators have done with the characters:

Original Manga Art

Anime Art

I think the pictures speak for themselves. The anime looks fantastic. The quality is some of the best of a TV anime series. The grapple hooks are fluid and would make spiderman proud.
A honorable mention needs to be made to the battle scene between Captain Levi and the giant in Episode 22. Believe me, this scene alone is worth watching the anime for.

Improvement in Characterization
In the manga, characters came and went so fast that you didn't really care for them. The anime vastly improves on this. Each character, even sub-characters, are fleshed out with a backstory. It makes us care about their life at stake, raising the bar of emotional empathy.
Yes, it does affect the pacing. There are episodes that spend a good hefty half in explaining a character's motivation. But I feel that it's good filler. You only start giving a sh*t whether someone is about to become a human pancake when you know that pancake is somebody's son/daughter.

Sound and Color Adding Spice
This is a series that really benefits from its soundtrack and use of color. The metal-opera theme song provided by Linked Horizon fits perfectly with the western feudal setting. The color works on two levels, one to create the world, and the other to reflect the state of emotion. The main character Eren's rage is often accompanied by red or orange and victory or hope is accompanied by white.

It's a simple but effective trick (also effective at looking a lot like Alice Cooper)

I highly recommend the anime for everyone. From fans of the manga, to people who were put off by the manga, to people who had no idea about the manga (I would be in the category of 'people who weren't really impressed by the manga and don't really watch that much anime').

I have stopped reading the manga so I hope to be surprised with what comes next in the anime!