When Titans Reveal our Humanity

7 reasons why I’m obsessed with Attack on Titans

« You must watch it » said my older brother during Christmas Eve, without letting me any choice.

He has always been a great influencer and I have to admit I’ve rarely been disappointed of his cultural recommendations.

So I did it, I watched Shingeki no Kyojin’s first episode. And it took my breath away for 24 mins straight. I was immediately immersed and overwhelmed by the helplessness of Eren and the humanity.

Two weeks later, I was waiting every weekend with excitment to see each episode of the finale season.

This suffocating atmosphere has taken a tremendous place in my thoughts, dreams and nightmares.

I’m now obssessed with the amazing depth of Attack on Titans’s characters, their stories, their dark and bright sides.

Why is it so captivating ?

As often in Anime, Shingeki no Kyojin is a philosophy anthology with the traits of an adventure, and endearing characters. But this one hit me hard.

I tried to dig into what really caught me in the Attack on Titans, beyond the adventure, the nobility of the quest, the music.

Here are the 7 reasons why I’m in awe of the Manga

1. In this world, one way or another you risk dying in the greatest sufferings, eaten by one titan. this gloomy situation brings out the purest humanity in the characters. The essence of our virtues (courage, solidarity, resilience) and flaws (hatred, selfishness, revenge).
2. The beautiful overview of what humans can do out of ignorance and a glimpse of how powerful knowledge is.
3. The change of perspective as we go by is awe inspiring.
4. Death is one of the main characters of the anime and somehow it makes you feel realize you are alive and fragile.
5. Livai
6. Armine
7. The reminder that I live in “Wall Sina” and enjoy everyday the basic sense of safety.

I’m thankful for this anime and for my brother’s advising me. The whole story is a hard philosophy lesson but an excellent one.We are living in a complicated world, — hopefully without titans but with many other opressing threats — and complicated beings.The temptation of understanding society through simplistic lens is powerful, after all we all love a good simple story easy to understand. Hajime Isayama’s horrifying story is a call for getting out of our comfort zone and stopping seeing our society it in black and white.

You must watch it.