Attack on Titan
Critical Approaches:
Content analysis:
'Over 100 years ago, a natural predator of humanity appeared: the Titans, giant humanoid but mindless monsters whose sole purpose of existence seemed to be to devour humans. There was an insurmountable gap in power between them and mankind, and as a result, humanity was rapidly exterminated to the brink of extinction. The survivors responded by constructing three concentric walls: Wall Maria, Wall Rose and Wall Sina, which graced them with a century of peace. However, one day a Colossal Titan far larger than any other seen before breached the outer wall, allowing the smaller Titans to invade the human territory and forcing the survivors to retreat to the inner walls. Eren Jaeger, a boy whose mother was eaten during the invasion, vowed to wipe every last Titan off the face of the Earth, and joined the military determined to exact his revenge.'
Content analysis:
'Over 100 years ago, a natural predator of humanity appeared: the Titans, giant humanoid but mindless monsters whose sole purpose of existence seemed to be to devour humans. There was an insurmountable gap in power between them and mankind, and as a result, humanity was rapidly exterminated to the brink of extinction. The survivors responded by constructing three concentric walls: Wall Maria, Wall Rose and Wall Sina, which graced them with a century of peace. However, one day a Colossal Titan far larger than any other seen before breached the outer wall, allowing the smaller Titans to invade the human territory and forcing the survivors to retreat to the inner walls. Eren Jaeger, a boy whose mother was eaten during the invasion, vowed to wipe every last Titan off the face of the Earth, and joined the military determined to exact his revenge.'
Semiotic analysis:
Each of the different military division badges symbolises different things. The Garrison military divisions main duty is to protect the citizens and maintain order within the walls, they prepare for an attacks and deal with civilian evacuation. Military badge contains two red roses, these roses have been symbolised throughout history as love, beauty, strength/power, wisdom and vanity, the meanings of love and vanity are evident in the fact that Garrison is comprised of men and woman from all backgrounds. As well as this the roses could represent blood which is theme within attack on titan. |
The military police regiment is the most prestigious, the function as the primary police force within the walls, maintaining order and working under the kings orders. The military police regiment badge contains the image of a unicorn, unicorns are known to represent magic, miracles, purity/virginity, grace, innocence and enchantment. Though the military police regiment consist of those who do not wish to fight or risk their own lives, so they hide behind those willing to sacrifice themselves for others.
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The final military division is The Survey Corps, also known as The Scout Regiment. They are most actively involved in the combat with titans, they have the most skilled and experienced soldiers they represent the hope of mankind. Their military badge consists of two wings overlapping, wings are a symbol of lightness, spirituality, the possibility of flying and rising up to heaven. As well as this wings represent lightness, spirituality regeneration, protection, travelling, dreams, impulse, movement, love and victory. Relating this to The Survey Corps they protect mankind, striving to achieve the dream of freedom, constantly moving towards their goal, love for humanity and victory.
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Structuralism:
Genre:
Attack on titan is listed an Action, Animation, Adventure on IMDB. Despite it being a popular anime in Japan, it quickly became known worldwide and is known within pop culture. There are many different reasons why Attack on Titan became a global success, reasons such as, the amount of gore and blood, it appeals to an older audience which may have viewed anime as childish before. Attack on Titan contains a wide variety of characters, Mikasa represents a strong female character who is willing to risk everything in order to protect protagonist Eren who finds himself putting himself at risk, this almost role reverses the stereotypical damsel in distress where the male character rescues the female. Attack on Titan lacks fan service, even with the amount of female characters, the shown doesn't try to portray them sexually, there are no shots of them where little to none outfits, they are represented as strong characters. Unlike many TV shows and Anime's, Attack on Titan isn't predictable, it constantly leaves the viewer guessing and on edge which always draws the audience in. Attack on Titan isn't limited to just the fighting of titans, it also looks into character development, emotional developments and manly the response to all people within their situations, you see the soldiers struggle to cope with what they've witnessed which helps make the audience connect and sympathise with the character.
Attack on titan is listed an Action, Animation, Adventure on IMDB. Despite it being a popular anime in Japan, it quickly became known worldwide and is known within pop culture. There are many different reasons why Attack on Titan became a global success, reasons such as, the amount of gore and blood, it appeals to an older audience which may have viewed anime as childish before. Attack on Titan contains a wide variety of characters, Mikasa represents a strong female character who is willing to risk everything in order to protect protagonist Eren who finds himself putting himself at risk, this almost role reverses the stereotypical damsel in distress where the male character rescues the female. Attack on Titan lacks fan service, even with the amount of female characters, the shown doesn't try to portray them sexually, there are no shots of them where little to none outfits, they are represented as strong characters. Unlike many TV shows and Anime's, Attack on Titan isn't predictable, it constantly leaves the viewer guessing and on edge which always draws the audience in. Attack on Titan isn't limited to just the fighting of titans, it also looks into character development, emotional developments and manly the response to all people within their situations, you see the soldiers struggle to cope with what they've witnessed which helps make the audience connect and sympathise with the character.
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As Attack on Titan is an animated series the production technology is used for the animation. Attack on Titan is known for it's animation style, during action sequences the camera follows the characters movements, this allows the audience to be closer to the action. These sequence take long periods of time to create, other than this the animation used is that which can be seen within most animes. It allows the audience to be more involved with this fictional universe, as well as allowing them to feel as if they are alongside the characters. |
Like most successful anime's Attack on Titan has a live action movie, which like most live action remakes, was not as successful as the original series. In order for the anime to make more money, live action remakes are often made in order to reach a bigger audience, to try and get those who don't want the anime into the franchise. As well as this, many successful and popular anime's will not only release an official soundtrack but will often release character songs as well. Character songs are sung by the voice actor and will often collaborate with other characters voice actors in order for the producers to make more money, though they haven't released character songs yet for Attack on Titan it has been announced that they will be released after the second season has finished airing.
Distribution:
Though Attack on Titan is produced in Japan, it has a global success and following, therefore the products are distributed globally. In the UK stores such as HMV sell Attack on Titan products, products such as DVDS, posters, badges, key rings, mugs, coasters etc. In America stores such as Hot Topic sell many anime products, therefore they sell Attack on Titan products like T-shirts, mugs, socks, jumpers, wristbands. As well as this, Crunchyroll an american online anime streaming website which allows people to watch most anime's, specially those recently airing in Japan for one set price a month. Crunchyroll not only allows viewers to watch the anime it also sells Attack on Titan merchandise, distributing it across america. Netflix which is available in most countries also has a wide selection of popular anime's, therefore Attack on Titan can be watched on phones, MP3 players, laptops, through game consoles and TVs. Attack on Titan had such a big market that they were able to create a game which was playable on all major consoles such as Xbox and Playstation and on PC, the game is available in Japan but also the UK, across Europe and the USA.
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Over the years anime has changed, it now has a larger audience that is global. Since the success of anime's such as Code Geass, Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Naruto, Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball Z and Neon Genesis Evangelion which all are anime's that aired around 1990 - 2008. These anime's then became success and known in the USA and UK, people then began watching more anime as technology moved forward the internet gave access for those in other countries to watch recent series. Now in the 21st century technology has advance, we are able to stream episode an hour after they air in Japan no matter where you live, it allows more people to have access to anime, as well as this social media has been a strong reason as to why anime has such a bigger audience. A small group may discuss a new anime, which over time will get a bigger following and then those on social media will see people talking about this anime and may look into it themselves, therefore giving it a growing following.
Above is the original scene in Attack on Titan, below is the parody in Osomatsu San.
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Attack on Titan aired in 2013 but is known as one of the most successful anime's of all time, it's unique plot and strong characters makes it so popular. Due to it's huge success other anime's have been released with similar concepts and styles, such as kabaneri of the iron fortress, which was released in 2016. It was produced by the same company and most of the producers of Attack on Titan worked on it too, the synopsis of the show is, a large group of survivors seek shelter while travelling on a train after their station was attacked by aggressive, undead creatures called Kabane. Similar to the concept of creatures which cannot be killed unless you hit their weak spot which is the same within in both Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, as well as this both shows have a male and female protagonist who are both strong and the best warriors. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was successful due to it's strong narrative and characters, however it did not receive the same success and recognition as Attack on Titan.
Attack on Titan has been parodied as well, in 2015. It features all of the same characters with their original cast, though the plot is very similar it is based inside a school and the story is altered to be humorous. As well as this Osomatsu San an anime which aired in 2015 had an episode which featured may parodies of popular anime's, Attack on Titan was the main one which was used, within the parody the main characters recreate one of the most famous scenes. |
Narrative:
Attack on Titan has an incredible strong narrative which is the main reason as to why is has gained huge success. The narrative is mainly single stranded, focusing on Eren and the battle between the soldiers and the titans. However it isn't limited to that, some episodes are focused around one character and their past, giving more character development and allowing the audience to understand the parts of the narrative that may not have been discussed before. It is often linear focusing on what is happening now, though there are often flashbacks to explain the narrative or to help the viewer remember parts of the narrative which may have happened at the beginning of the series. Most episodes end on some kind of climax, which keeps the viewer hooked and watching the next episode, a main example of that is episode 5 of the first season where the protagonist is eaten by one of the titans and the episodes ends there, which makes every viewer want to watch the next episode as soon as possible.
Attack on Titan has an incredible strong narrative which is the main reason as to why is has gained huge success. The narrative is mainly single stranded, focusing on Eren and the battle between the soldiers and the titans. However it isn't limited to that, some episodes are focused around one character and their past, giving more character development and allowing the audience to understand the parts of the narrative that may not have been discussed before. It is often linear focusing on what is happening now, though there are often flashbacks to explain the narrative or to help the viewer remember parts of the narrative which may have happened at the beginning of the series. Most episodes end on some kind of climax, which keeps the viewer hooked and watching the next episode, a main example of that is episode 5 of the first season where the protagonist is eaten by one of the titans and the episodes ends there, which makes every viewer want to watch the next episode as soon as possible.
Representation:
As discussed earlier Attack on Titan does not play to fan service, which represents the woman as strong and not as sexual object, it portrays them as equal to the male characters. As well as this Attack on Titan has characters with a range of heights, which are not suited to gender stereotypes for example, the strongest warrior, Captain Levi who is in his 30s has a height of 160cm, whereas Ymir has a height on 172cm making her taller than the other female characters. Within anime, most females are portrayed as short which makes them seem cute and adds to fan service, whereas male characters, specially those who are meant to appeal to female fans are often portrayed as tall to make them seem more masculine. |
After much discussion between fans wondering if Hange is male or female which cause many debates online, the writer of the manga Isayama confirmed that Hange in non binary and therefore in the anime adaptation of the manga, they were instructed by Isayama to avoid gendered pronouns when referring to Hange, or at least use he and she with equal frequency. To have a non binary character is rare, not only within anime but within any TV or film. To have a non binary character allows non binary viewers to finally have a strong character who they can relate to and look up to.
Attack on Titan also has homosexual characters, which were hinted at within the first season of the anime but have been confirmed in the second season. Characters Ymir and Reiner were talking late at night away from the rest of the group, Ymir says to Reiner "I was under the impression you had no interest in woman" to which Reiner replies "Yeah. And it doesn't seem like you have interest in guys either". To have openly homosexual characters within anime is also something which is quite rare, having openly homosexual characters allows those homosexual viewers to have character related to.
Attack on Titan also has homosexual characters, which were hinted at within the first season of the anime but have been confirmed in the second season. Characters Ymir and Reiner were talking late at night away from the rest of the group, Ymir says to Reiner "I was under the impression you had no interest in woman" to which Reiner replies "Yeah. And it doesn't seem like you have interest in guys either". To have openly homosexual characters within anime is also something which is quite rare, having openly homosexual characters allows those homosexual viewers to have character related to.
As discussed earlier, though Eren is the protagonist of the show, he often relies on others in order to survive. Mikasa who, though is portrayed as in love with Eren either in a romantic way or as he's the only family she has, isn't portrayed as weak and in need of Eren constantly rescuing her. She is a strong female protagonist who can hold her own and in reverse is often seen saving Eren, which reverses the damsel in distress role.
Disability is not represented in Attack on Titan, personally I believe that those with physical disabilities wouldn't have been able to survive within this universe, the show is very 'survival of the fittest' and I personally believe that anyone with physical disabilities would not have been able to survive. Mental disabilities is not portrayed either, though the show does often have characters experience bouts of depression and anxiety due to their situation and the gore and horror they are exposed to, it is not represented. In anime, disabilities is something that is rarely portrayed, often if a disability is portrayed it is a mental disability as that can be portrayed through dialogue more than visually. However physical disabilities is rarely touched upon, I personally believe it is due to the difficulty of animating such disabilities, though in the anime 'Trickster' a main character Ryo Inoue is often in a wheelchair due to an injury he got.
There also is an absence of race within Attack on Titan, all the characters are of white skin tone. Attack on Titan is set within 1500, it also is meant to be set around Germany the evidence in this can be seen within the character names. With this evidence I personally believe that due to the location of Attack on Titan and the era, the people would be of white skin tone. However, this means that those viewers of other skin tones and race can not have characters which they can relate to in respect to appearance.
References:
- https://www.themarysue.com/attack-on-titan-gender/
- https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4615/when-and-where-does-attack-on-titan-take-place
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan
- https://myanimelist.net/anime/16498/Shingeki_no_Kyojin
- http://attackontitan.wikia.com/wiki/Attack_on_Titan_Wiki
- http://aminoapps.com/page/anime/1410871/symbolism-in-attack-on-titan