Attack On Titan
Part One
Godzilla- sized zombies!
Release Date: 15 September 2013 | 15 | 325 minutes | £ 34.99 ( Blu- ray)/£ 24.99 ( DVD)/£ 39.99 ( Blu- ray Collectors Edition) Distributor: Manga Entertainment Director: Tetsurō Araki Cast: Yūki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, Marina Inoue
Attack On Titan is already hugely popular as both a manga and an anime. The anime suggests this may be more down to the concept than the execution.
In a far- future world, humans live in walled cities ( the backdrops look like medieval Germany), and are preyed on by Titans, grotesque grinning humanoids with zombielike cravings for human flesh. The story follows a team of young fighters, with the focus on a boy and his badass adoptive sister, who have terrible shared pasts. Swinging like Spider- Man on ropes and pullies, they take the fight to the Titans.
It sounds like a Pacific Rim- style monster romp, but Attack On Titan has a crude, cruel power. The story takes itself deadly seriously, with shock twists and reversals. The emphasis on teen trauma and fury is startlingly intense.
In other ways, Titan is flawed. The humans’ lengthy battles with the Titans are often stodgy and turgid where they should be electric and terrifying. The limited TV animation can be just too static to convey the epic action, while the storytelling is sometimes B- movie hackneyed. Yet the sheer power of Titan’s scenario, which pits enraged teens against revolting monsters, still makes this a landmark anime.
Extras: Two commentaries by the dub team. The Collector’s Edition adds a Making Of and short parody cartoons. Andrew Osmond
A live- action film version of Attack On Titan is also in production in Japan. It’s scheduled for release next year.