[Standard spoiler warning. This will be a review of the anime series, Attack on Titan, and will cover details that you may not want to hear. It is also going to be a bit graphic. If you don’t want to know, you should stop reading now]
A couple of years ago I was at a convention and I saw a couple of kids in costume wearing odd little jackets with feathers on the back. I felt a bit old realizing that anime and pop culture have continued to move on and that I hadn’t kept pace. I’ve seen the same costume over and over so I finally asked and found out it was from the anime show Attack on Titan. I’d heard the title before and knew a little about it. Supposedly it had extremely graphic violence but beyond that I didn’t know anything about it.
Last month Netflix released Season 1 online so I decided to take a peek. They weren’t kidding. The show deals with the struggle of humans versus giants known as Titans. These are carnivorous giants that attack humans and eat them. Little to nothing is known about them but humans have been forced to live behind giant walls.
Essentially the series is a “coming of age” story following three friends that survived the initial attack of the Titans and have vowed to gain revenge on the giants by joining the military. Throughout the season the characters have introspective monologues reflecting upon their back stories and contemplating their fears and faults. Each character is forced to look within and find their particular strength to fight the giants.
During the story line the characters find out that some of the Titans are actually human beings that turn into these mindless monsters and cause this havoc. One of the main characters finds that he has this ability and struggles to control the Titan for the benefit of mankind.
This is the superficial story of course. The deeper meaning behind the story didn’t become clear to me till I watched the last episode of the season. The story is actually a parable concerning contemporary terrorism.
In the first episode we are told that humanity has enjoyed 100 years of peace. Within five minutes the peace is shattered by the Titans attacking. The mighty defenses that the humans have relied upon prove to be worthless against this type of violence. Very precise parallels to what America experienced after 9/11. In the blink of an eye the myth that America was immune from being attacked was shattered and we were left reeling.
The parallels don’t stop there. Just as terrorists attacks come to unexpected places at unexpected times, the Titans attack without warning and each time they cause terrible damage. Also there is the hidden aspect of ordinary humans being able to turn into Titans comparing to the fact that we can’t tell who might or might not be a terrorist.
In much the same way that our security apparatus is overreacting to the threat, the military in this series becomes more and more paranoid and repressive in the treatment of its citizens.
The final parallel that I see is in the reaction of the characters themselves to the sudden threat thrust upon them. 9/11 forced a generation of young americans to re-examine their relationship to their country. How would they react when faced with an enemy bent upon their destruction? What was more important? Their personal safety or the safety of the nation as a whole? What does it mean to be an American?
Attack on Titan is definitely not just a kid’s cartoon for more than one reason. If you can get past the gore you will find a deeper story that is worthy of any literary fiction novel.
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