Last year I was in a comic shop and had a talk with the owner. He said he never read a manga in his life but he believes he should really read Attack on Titan because it singlehandedly saved his shop from bankruptcy. Apparently in his 20 years of running a comic shop he has not seen one thing sell as well as Attack on Titan.

Poor Isayama, I really hated his art at first but once I watch and read his interviews he acknowledges that and his self-esteem was so low. He was rejected 20 times if I rmb it right. He was ready to give up. He was just a young man from a countryside coming to the capital to pursuit his dream. So glad he didn't stop trying! And his art has improved DRAMATICALLY. This man is a legend. I felt bad for mocking his art skills.

I'm so tired of AoT being reduced by its action scenes and visuals. There's actually really great character development. Especially Eren, who's the typical shonen main character until he realises that in reality you can't save everyone with the power of love and friendship.

"No character development" "Easy to tell hero from villain" "Simple plotline" *Laughs in Uprising, Return to Shiganshina, MARLEY and Final Arcs* Oooh, this video has somewhat aged rather poorly.

"Let's look at the human characters" *shows Annie*

Hearing that bit at the end about Attack on Titan's characters and story makes it pretty clear that this was made well before season 3 started airing

"You don't watch Attack on Titan to watch the characters develop or the plot slowly unravel" Me **having seen season 2 and 3 and now caught up with the manga**: Well, buddy, do I got news for you...

that's so strange lol because I thought the character progression was extremely intruiging and a huge reason I liked the in-between moments. Every character is shaped and affected by the events. Eren becomes less hot-headed and less confident as he sees himself failing over and over, Armin realizes how smart he is and gets the confidence to become a vital force of the team, Jean realizes that living only for himself is inadequate and becomes more and more selfless as time goes on, I think tons of characters are very compelling. They might not be complex, but they have enough color to make it a great cast to follow. Another reason I love it was because it completely breaks the conventional anime stereotype of Big fight ->hero is losing->hero gets power-up->everything is okay. The only power up the hero's got was eren's titan power, but even that was quickly shown to be not unique and a trait that the antagonists also had. This once again made eren the weakling. Battles involve everyone's expertise and even after working together, sometimes a won battle is just a battle where they hold off the enemy for a few more days. There's such a realism to the conflict that you truly don't know who will win in any given arc.

"In a sentence or two, its very easy to tell the basic story or conflict of AoT." *Looks at latest Chapter* Ha! Nice joke.

Levi: Im captain Levi. *fangirl screaming* Eren: What was that? Levi:Ignore that.

It's a shame this video is pretty outdated. AOT has seriously progressed into a fantastic show and saying that the characters don't have any depth and all it is, is spectacle is objectively not true anymore.

I like how he said "definitely not him" about Armin it shows how we saw him and how that changed alot after the last episode "hero"

I feel bad for the people who won't let themselves enjoy SnK just because other people do

Sounds like you haven't actually followed too much of the manga or that you are generalizing to only the casual viewer, but that does a great disservice to the strenghts of the series, the Mystery, the world building and the character development is what kept people interested in the manga even at it's earlier points where the art was weak (altho it has improved a lot).

AoT has an amazing Narrative. Every Arc has a completely different feel to it.

Am I the only the one who thinks aot is getting the Naruto treatment because it's popular among newbies? AoT has a stellar plot too which anyone who has read the manga knows very well, but because of its overwhelming popularity it gets a lot of shit from the established fandom. Recently I've been getting that from people who never watched bnha but shit on it since the hero academ- I mean Crunchyroll awards. Seriously, mainstream doesn't make it bad, bad makes something bad.

I'm so glad you share the pain of the awfulness that is Irish television.

I can't agree that people don't get into AoT for the story/plot. The story development in the latest manga chapters is amazing, and was amazing in earlier chapters as well. Ones that haven't been animated yet. The world has evolved in a way very few probably guessed it ever would, and it's incredible. There has also been very in-depth progression for several characters recently, I won't say which, but Isayama has evolved a lot as an artist since this series' inception. It's an entirely different beast now and I feel a lot of the points made in this video once held water, but can't anymore.

"It's not really something you watch to see a narrative slowly progress" *Laughs in manga*

I don't think many of you notice how most of our characters are teenagers. Also, they are not equipped with the knowledge of our world, but their own. Also, they are trained to fight, meaning, some more complicated traits are bound to be left behind. Look at it this way: As they mature, their emotions and personalities do so as well. So that's why I don't have a problem with 'characterisation' as some like to put it. The first big emotion they are faced with at the beginning is fear, and reasonably so. THEY ARE STILL CHILDREN FFS.

I'm the type of guy that hates to jump on bandwagons so i held off on watching AoT for almost it's entire first season. Then one day i was really bored and told myself "may aswell give it a look"...Holy fuck did i almost miss out on this amazing show.

Not sure if you've read the manga, but the series' third arc, "Uprising", kinda fixes a lot of the story issues people bring up. It marks the halfway point of the series where things start to get much more political and complex. Over the top fights and emotions are still there, but I feel like it marks a change for the series and takes it from "pretty good" to "great".

Eyepatch Wolf: "Attack on Titan is just good action and fist pumping moments" Literally everyone who read the manga: *laughs in spoilers* Note: I haven't read the whole manga myself, but even in S2 alone AoT shatters the notion that it's just bombastic action, plus S3 was just a masterpiece

Season 1 was good because it was a giant spectacle. Season 2 was even better because it had more character development and also started to explain the mystery behind the titans. You can even see the history of the titans during the end credits. Also it's plot twists made you re-think who exactly is the enemy in this show.

SASAGEYO SASAGEYO, everybody sing SASAGEYO !

I feel like the main reason why attack on titan is so popular is just simply the idea it's so original

Why is Attack on titan so popular? Because it's awesome.

I’m not buying the “people like it because big scary monster zombie threat” the character development and storylines are very complex and every arc lives up to its hype and then some; you can also tell the writer really thought out the story from start to finish rather than making it up as he goes along; the little hints he throws in there, conversations that seem meaningless all end up being important/making sense when you find out the twist at the end, but what really drew me into this show in season one was that it’s different than any other anime, no one is safe there’s no magical solution to every problem sometimes in life you’re just completely and utterly fucked and no power of friendship will save you if you’re completely fucked

Damn. Am I the only one that got attached to the deeper lore of the series? That is the main reason I read the manga to this day.

What makes Fairy Tail so trash?

>any real character development Lmao. He doesn't know......

You're dead wrong, character development and narative progression is what i watch the show for and it delivers.

I feel like you missed a lot here respectfully Mr. Eyepatch. You focused too much on the details and forgot what actually makes it interesting, which is the MYSTERY -What are Titans -What do they want -Who's a Titan who's not -WHAT THE HELL IS IN EREN'S BASEMENT. The mental the games that the show plays with you, as well as you trying to figure out these mysteries (kind of like a crime fiction) and the insane plot twist you get, is what makes it truly popular.

I really want him to revisit the series again. It's become something completely different and it's kinda of insane.

When he says we’re not here for the narrative. That statement aged really well come season 3 and 4.

Reminder this video is outdated and observes aot in a simplistic way, like a typical shonen. It doesn't do it justice, especially since the Marley arc wasn't when coming out yet.

Attack on titan easily has some of the best animation of recent anime

Your high school and college essays must've been fire 🔥.

snk was always good, but holy shit the places it goes as the story carries on are absolutely insane. the recent arcs are some of the best manga/anime i’ve ever experienced.

I’d love to see you revisit AoT in a new video, looking at how much the show has evolved season after season. Especially now where we’re close to its end.

YES!!! I agree that Hiroyuki Sawano did an amazing Job on the soundtrack!! battle music is soo amazing!!

What I really like about AOT is the sheer despair it plants in your soul, especially at the various death scenes where even the ones considered brave break and beg helplessly. I find it really realistic and easy to relate to...Also the anime has done a pretty good job enhancing that factor, you can see it clearly in their faces and their screams...shit is real and there's no escape, just like it would be for the average person if titans existed.

"Attack on titan is a series of moments... Something you don't watch for narrative or character development" Are we taking about the same show!?

"Often ludicrous plot twists" *shows Annie's reveal* Oh oh, bet someone is feeling really stupid right now

Have an edgy first episode so all the normies that thinks anime's only about cute girls and fanservice- could enjoy. Make it look 3x better than what you would expect with the same budget. Then end every episode with a

Touches on a few points but misses out the main two especially concerning why the manga was already extremely popular before the anime made it a world wide phenomenon. First is the mystery, holy shit the mystery. At no point in AoT did it feel like the author was making up stuff as he went along. Every time a mystery is revealed you can go back and find countless foreshadowings from chapters written maybe 3 years ago. It's simply a ridiculously well thought out and well executed mystery that slowly unravels in a way that shows like Lost promised but could never deliver. Second is character development. No idea what show/manga you were watching/reading but AoT has some seriously well written and three dimensional characters. Every character from the main three to the supporting cast to the so called villains feel like real human beings with depth. No idea what you were watching but AoT has a lot more than just blood and gore.

My favorite thing about this amazing show is that you confidently hook this up on a big screen without any fan service scenes

I strongly disagree with you about the Characters' development. Every single one of the main and secondary characters grow in a very unique way. You would have to see most of Season 2 to truly understand how well written this story is.

It's honestly all about the story. The characters are well defined and it does a really good job of dropping breadcrumbs of mystery about its world which pay off down the line. Pretty much every detail feels like it's there for a reason and has been thought out to fit in the story. Also, you can say the art isn't conventionally strong, but there's still no denying that the series still contains many very iconic visuals. Things like the uniforms, the Colossus titan, the regular titan, the walls and the mobility gear are all really interesting designs. Even though the art isn't the best and the animation is clearly done on a tight budget, it's not lacking visually.

I think a video just like this but covering what makes Fairy Tail so popular would be awesome, since a lot of rants I've seen of it fail to understand why other people like it.

As much as I like your videos and respect the efforts you put in your analysis, I rarely agree with you when it comes to Character analysis. I was barely convinced when you said One Piece were "extremely well-developed"(IMO character progression is the same as character development), or when you said that Hinata was an awesome character, in comparison of Sai, a "dull and boring character", when the first one disappeared post time skip and the second one evolved from a antisocial weirdo to a caring comrade in a touching way. This video makes no exception.AOT characters may seem poorly developed during the first season, but it's only because it was mainly a survival during the Battle of Trost, which lasts half the season at least. All we saw was just human beings (worst of it, 15 years old teenagers who just became friends !) struggling to survive, and it was pretty well done and heart wrenching in my opinion. There was no time for extremely complex personalities or backgrounds, and it wasn't necessary, because watching kids being heavily traumatized when they face the reality of their world was the best and only thing to do for a beginning. It's only after that beginning that we can go further on those character's mind, and the show did it successfully in the current manga, in season 2 and even during season 1/ first volumes, with great characters like Jean or Levi. Besides, following your arguments, I don't understand why you "enjoy" Mikasa, she's actually the one who is the least developed, and the anime portrayed her in the most "melodramatic" way. Annie has a great potential, but she disappeared from the story after volume 8/9, and even before she had very few appearances.

"Colossal Titan swinging his arm and destroying the armaments on Wall Maria." "Bruh that's Wall Rose, and this clearly shows how closely you've watched or studied the show."

Attack on Titan has some of the most amazing character motivations and developments I've ever seen. Erwin Smith and Grisha Jaegar. I rest my case.

When Super Eyepatch Wolf credits the anime's director but not the composer Hiroyuki Sawano ;(

Isayamas has improved A LOT. The current arc has better drawings than Naruto and One Piece. Btw. 3:40 Armin is the best written character in this whole series and he has the biggest balls & brain. Don‘t blame my guy!!

The artwork has improved dramatically but the narrative, man , it's one of the best out there.

12:06 boi is that a jojo reference? xD

I can tell that the people who dislike Snk is not because of the show itself, but audience and other factors that aren't relevant to the show itself. Yeah, it has a simple concept but it's not as if the concept is not explained. There is a lot of mysterys in AOT that people enjoy but also the characters that at first can be seen as annoying as hell, but when you look at it realistically, they have the right to be. If you had gone through those things, would you have done better? I love that vibe that it gives off and just because the people who enjoy it may not have the same ideals or you think are below you, doesnt mean you cant just sit back and watch the anime

This video badly needs a remake

theres so much more to AoT story then imagining yourself on a apocalyptic world

It's kinda hard to call it "melodrama" considering the situations they tend to be in.

Characters don't get development? I dunno, feels like a lot of people undermine some of the characters in this show. Like how Eren realizes to trust his comrades, but realizes its more complicated than that after they are killed by the female titan, how Mikasa learns to respect Levi after he helps rescue Eren, Ymir becoming much less selfish, Christa becoming Historia and the personality changes that come with that, the complete shift in personality with the traitors. Also, emotional outbursts and irrational behavior is a positive in my book. I'm tired of these anime with the calm, cool, collected main character(s) who never mess up or say something that makes them look weak. Real humans often release their emotions when they build up, and don't always say the right things.

This aged like milk

3:40 Really? Without Armin all the others would have died countless of times because he is the one who always comes up with the plans to get out of dangerous situations. When they were stuck at the HQ his idea to blind the Titans that surrounded them got them out of there. His idea of using Eren to conceal the wall was the reason humanity had its very first victory against the Titans. His quick thinking got Eren and Mikasa saved during the first attack on the wall. I love Armins character and can relate a lot to his self-worth issues. Being the physically weakest of all the characters he sees his life as disposable and yet he keeps going because he has one simple dream. Yet he is not this pure angel many people see in him. He flat out lies to Berthold to achive his goal, he kills another human being to save a friend only to find out that said attacker hestitated and he even suggests a false flag attack which shocks those around him. I am not saying he is the best character of the show but I really do enjoy whenever he is on screen.

I think you'll need to remake this video at some point because it is clearly outdated now. After seeing seasons 2, 3, and now 4, I don't think you can just call this a flashy one-dimensional anime with no character development. I think Gigguk's analysis of the series really hits the nail on the head.

I feel like now is the perfect time to make an update video on how attack on titan has evolved :)

Attack on titan is a masterpiece. Such a geniusly written series.

One of the thing that impressed me about AOT is how incredibly simple the story is at first. Humanity vs Titans Humans live within this three walls Three cute kids have their parents or guardians killed by Titans It becomes incredibly complex as it goes on. Everything becomes a huge reveal because has something complex going on behind it. Every encounter has a huge reveal behind it. But every encounter has a emotional twist, someone who you thought was too well developed to die right there is killed, or someone turns out to not be on your side. The battles are intense on very different fronts at the same time.

I'm a simple kind of guy - I see a Super Eyepatch Wolf video, I click the like button and enjoy life for a little while

Part of what I think makes AoT so popular is actually how large the cast is and how there is always going to be a character suited to everyone. For myself, I'm not even much of a fan of the show but Armin is my favourite character in anime of all time. He's such a fantastic character for me even if I don't enjoy the show or other characters so much. Having a character you love is always a great motivator for enjoying something (Armin's the only reason I'm watching s2!).

Was gonna comment that you should probably make another AoT video, because it's a fucking stellar show now. Then I saw your edited description.

Attack on Titan is one of the best manga, it is so breathtaking that it could blow Eren's head

I think it's popular because it pretty much shows what humans would be like if dinosaurs still existed, gives us a sense of relatability and peril

I hope that in years to come Attack on Titan is looked back on with more respect for what it accomplished, it's success managed to make it popular around the world and there are very few anime that have managed to achieve that level of popularity. Anime is really obscure around where I live and people who barely know anime know about Attack on Titan. The manga is currently at chapter 98, it is more than worth your time reading. I'd say that into the Uprising arc it becomes less about mindless titan killing in droves and more about understanding how the world works. There is another world behind the world of Attack on Titan that I've not seen done before very much in any other shounen.

I think the world of _Attack on Titan_ is probably the LAST place I would want to live in. The characters would probably view our world as "more safe" than their's.

I dropped the anime at episode 11th then continue watching it after six years. It's now my most favourited anime.

Love your channel... keep up the good work

The story is interesting but yes the first dozens of chapters made my eyes burn for a few hours. But the story was great, but wheres Boku no Hero? Still catching up cus chapter 139 came out. I want my DEKU!!!! Also still loving the vids, great perspectives on your favorite show like your Jojo vids. Good job and Good luck!!!

For me it’s the story more than anything else. The lore and mystery of its world, the plot twists and revelations, are incredibly interesting and captivating.

The show is like a lego set; that when you think you finished there's another part of the set that you've been building up a little only to realized it's a significant part and when it's all done and you compare it to the picture, you realize you misread the instructions and that was only part 1

also, another reason why aot is popular that you forgot to mention: levi. i fucking swear to god that the sex appeal of this guy to 13 year old girls worldwide is part of why the show is so famous. also, angst, cause we all love to see our favorite character in pain

only considering an anime/manga to be good if it fits a single, rigid mold is ridiculous. for e.g., the stop-and-go pacing of SNK is a device used to convey the waves of attacks and the suddenness with which they occur, and also serves to manipulate the audience/reader's emotions (e.g., how dissonant/casual/surreal the very recent reveal felt). isayama's use of literary devices like this (notably foreshadowing) is what makes his work compelling on so many levels.

And today, Attack on Titan's final season crashed cunchyroll and pirate sites with its hype

-Laughs in Season 4-… character development, yeah dude, none of that, haha, nope nothing, yup complete action, yipyipyip I know this was made 4 years ago but before I rewatched it and finished this anime I would 100% agree, not anymore, this is probably the best written anime ever made in my opinion, mainly for character growth and the general arc, it’s all deliberate. To me this started as a typical horror/monster story line and boy did that quickly change to something bigger and if anything scarier.

You talk about how the Titans take away modern societal worries but I think that this is completely wrong. There are multiple scenes where people are worrying about petty shit even while all hell is breaking loose. I kind of understand the comparison that you were trying to make with zombies but the wording used made me want to correct the misconception.

It really doesn't look that bad, Jesus.

I like it because of its psychological horror, which is really intense, and the way the whole society has to work together just to stay alive, even as they don't really want to.

This video is now obsolete. Came for the visuals, stood for the story.

People who don't like Attack On Titan have very good reasons. But some just make no sense. I came across a comment which said that it was more like a ptsd fanfic?

Unlike how Pretentious/Cynical/Drunk DigiBro has become over the years you're a good addition to the anime review community.

this video aged poorly, most of his critics about AoT fall flat when we consider what happened in seasons 2-3 and the madness going on in the Manga

Just wanted to point out when you mentioned around the 14 minute mark that sometimes the characters act rash or non sensical. Isn’t that more human? I agree that seeing a smart character solve a high-stakes issue with tactical methods can be very fun to watch but the feeling of characters acting by impulse instead of always having a deep monologue about the method they shall use to pick up a slice of bread can make you relate to them more or sympathise with the fact that they might be desperate. And then we can receive more katharsis from when they fail, which is indeed what SnK does. Of course this also may be seen as poor writing perhaps, but I think it really depends.

The Answer is obvious, its the awesome openings and soundtracks, they can even make a person taking a shit seem epic.

I don't think it's that easy of a cosplay, I'm pretty sure if I show up naked as a Titan, I might get kicked out ha ha

I don't get why every time some artist do unconvetional art style, every one bring up the argument that "he doesn't know how to draw"... Seriously, look at how he draw the humanoid figure in the corridor at 5:48 . The shadows, the angle... this is a extremely hard thing to do... Just to represent something in that view angle is hard enought. Putting this in a dark, moody ambient with just one light source is crazy... Most people simply cannot draw something like this. If you're feeling uneasy by looking at this representation, is not because he doesn't know how to draw, it's because he achieved exactly what he wanted to convey.

I don’t know why this video always pops up in my recommended just before a chapter release. And watch it every time to see how poorly this video has aged. Wolfy really needs to make an update video after season 4

He made some decent points, but he pretty much misses the biggest one: the mystery. That's what drove me to read the manga, and is also the driving force behind the first half of season two. Where did the titans come from? Who are the Armored + Colossal Titans? Why do titans eat humans? What lies outside the walls? The manga excels at creating these mysteries, and gives just enough subtle hints for you to put two and two together and figure it out yourself before it's actually revealed. Titan says "Welcome Home" to Connie? Connie says it reminds him of his mom? Well, you think, what if that titan *is* Connie's mom? Then you start thinking, what if *all* titans are actually humans? You're not entirely sure, so you keep reading/watching to get answers. [Attack on Titan's widespread appeal is what pulls you in, but it keeps you for its mysteries. It's what makes anime-onlys start reading the manga. It's the anime that makes you theorize who a certain character is, what happened in a certain event, or what's going to happen next. It keeps you on edge because there's so much foreshadowing and subtle hints that you pick up along the way that let you know that *shit's about to get real.* Decent video, but he misses one of the biggest points.

Ah dating shows. Just like the Titans themselves we can never escape them.

I watched this video and decided to watch AoT and frankly it was one of the greatest shows I have ever seen. Thank you for introducing it to me!

I'm never returning to Attack on Titan... Because you can't return to something you never left :)