Attack on Titan Part 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Attack on Titan Part 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

The Incredible Hulks.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 29, 2014

When does a related meaning for an adjective end up subsuming the original noun on which the adjective is based? Well, here’s one example: titanic has come to be understood as a synonym for disaster, especially when it’s capitalized and referring to the famous British ocean liner which came out the loser in a misconceived interaction with an iceberg. But of course titanic initially only referred to size, courtesy of the Titans, those behemoths of Greek mythology who were the children of Uranus and Gaea. There’s a certain “titanic” (in its disastrous meaning) aspect to Attack on Titan, but it’s a calamity forged by honest to goodness Titans, gigantic humanoid monsters who are seemingly on a snack run of sorts and who find actual humans the perfect material to nosh on. Attack on Titan began life as a manga but soon matriculated into the worlds of both visual novels and anime, becoming something of a phenomenon in several Asian countries along the way. Perhaps unexpectedly, the franchise even stirred up a bit of controversy due to its militaristic content as well as a perceived subtext where the noble Japanese are being invaded by marauding interlopers, a perhaps none too subtle reference to the Chinese. The series follows the initial travails and ultimate adventures of three kids who have been living a sequestered but safe life within the confines of a series of huge concentric walls humans had erected a century earlier to put up a supposedly impassable barrier between them and the mysterious species known as Titans. The three kids are Eren Yeager, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their frail young friend Armin Arlert. While Eren has had dreams of joining a so-called Scout Troop, a coterie of adventurers who venture outside of the human encampment’s walls in order to track and learn about the Titans, the fact is that neither Eren nor his comrades have ever actually seen a Titan—at least until one fateful day which sets the series into motion. A huge, glowing red beast of a creature suddenly appears towering above the outermost wall of the encampment, and soon chaos rains down upon the human population when the wall is breached and a whole tribe of Titans begins charging through the so-called Shiganshina District, the area where Eren and his friends had lived their whole lives. In the ensuing destruction, Eren’s mother is killed, and suddenly Eren, Mikasa and Armin are forced to confront a terrifying new reality where the relative security they had enjoyed up to that point seems like a cruel joke of memory.

The perhaps curious resistance to this show in certain quarters due to its supposed militaristic bent seems odd given that in even the first few episodes the so-called “glamour” of battle is shown to be a largely futile and terrifying affair. Though young Eren idolizes the Recon Corps that goes out into the great wide world beyond the walls enclosing the last vestiges of humanity, he’s brought up short when a returning group is badly decimated, bringing along literally the remaining pieces of some of their fallen comrades. Later, when Eren and Mikasa are rescued by a soldier named Hannes, Hannes confesses his own “cowardice” when coming face to face with a Titan. Even Eren’s predicament—he pretty much sees his Mom getting tossed down the gullet of one of the giants—seems to argue against any putative pro-conflict stance.

Attack on Titan covers a lot of ground—both geographically and temporally—as it continues to depict the lives of Eren, Mikasa and Armin in the wake of the fall of at least some of the walls protecting the humans. There’s a certain shōnen-esque quality to some of the schooling Eren and his friends undergo in order to hopefully be able to fight the Titans, but the series delivers a series of truly surprising developments as early as just a few episodes in that may completely stun some viewers. Without spoiling too much, there are completely unexpected plotlines involving Eren once he does make it into battle with the Titans which first seem to amplify the oft-stated point that “war is hell”, but which then have a rather unique and exciting turn that I suspect few (other than those already familiar with the franchise) will see coming.

This first volume of episodes ably sets the stage both for the expected battle elements but perhaps more importantly for some of the admittedly convoluted backstories that weave together the lives of (especially) Eren and Mikasa. The series is surprisingly visceral in its depiction of life and death (there's some fairly "adult" material concerning refugees and lack of food, for example), though it must also be admitted that there’s a perhaps unintentional humor to the Titans at times, since they often appear to be giant sized versions of the Village Idiot, with dunderheaded grins and a kind of goofy ambience. But the terror depicted in the faces of the villagers and, ultimately, the fighting forces belies a more serious intent to this really interesting and well done anime.

Attack on Titan Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Attack on Titan is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. In doing background research for this review, I was frankly surprised to see that some Japanese fans had issues with the animation style of this anime, evidently feeling it was crude and too basic looking. I humbly (or maybe not so humbly) disagree. There's a painterly majesty to a lot of Attack on Titan that pops extremely well in high definition. Some of these scenes are intentionally soft looking, as in scenes where Eren is in some glorious fields before the Titans attack, but overall things look nicely crisp and well detailed here, with good, sharp line detail and a nicely vivid palette. Some of the animation almost resembles etchings at times, with intentionally roughhewn line detail that makes (to give just one example) tears flowing from an eye into a kind of zigzagging waterfall.

Attack on Titan Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Attack on Titan features the original Japanese language track delivered via Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and a rather good English dub delivered via Dolby TrueHD 5.1. You can't really go wrong with either of these choices, and in fact it's kind of fun to either toggle or revisit scenes with the different soundtracks to hear the variations in voicework. There's no doubt that the 5.1 English track is by far the more viscerally immersive experience, with fantastic effects like the thundering Titans marauding through the human encampment sounding much more ominous than in the 2.0 iteration. But there's surprising clarity and nuance in both of these tracks, with dialogue and effects presented cleanly and without any problems whatsoever. The score of the series is notable (sorry) as well, with a number of Carmina Burana-esque choral cues that add a lot of punch to the soundtrack. Dynamic range is extremely wide throughout the episodes included in this first volume.

Attack on Titan Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Episode 3 Commentary features ADR Director Mike McFarland along with voice actors Bryce Papenbrook, Trina Nishimura and Josh Grelle.


• The Making of Attack on Titan (1080p; 52:34) is a surprisingly in depth piece that gives a lot of behind the scenes action at FUNimation as the English language adaptation was prepared.


• Episode 13 Commentary features Mike McFarland along with voice actors J. Michael Tatum, Scott Freeman and Clifford Chapin.


• Chibi Theater: Fly, Cadets, Fly! (1080p; 47:10) is a series of shorts detailing adventures of the Cadet Corps, in chibi form, of course.


• Eyecatch Gallery (1080p)


• Textless Opening Song "Feuerroter Pfeil Und Bogen" (1080p; 1:34)


• Textless Closing Song "Utsukushiki Zankoku Na Sekai" (1080p; 1:31)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:43)

Attack on Titan Part 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not quite ready to deign Attack on Titan an outright masterpiece, for there are a few occasional stumbles the series makes in its opening gambit, but there's no denying this is one of the more interesting premises for a series in a long time, and the good news is that the creative staff behind both the original and the FUNimation dub seem to be taking some of the more disturbing elements of that premise seriously. Eren is a compelling character, and once a really surprising development crops up a few episodes in, he becomes even more compelling. There's still some work to do to fully integrate the rather large cast into the overall scheme of things, but this first baker's dozen of episodes provides action and even occasional thought provoking ideas to muse upon. Highly recommended.