Attack on Titan Season 1 (2013)

Attack on Titan opens by delivering a shock to first-time viewers. The wall believed to be safe crumbles, and a character you’ve come to like disappears without warning. That shock is the driving force running through the entire series. Season 1 is the starting point — the season that clearly shows why Eren burns with rage against the titans and what he is running toward. The world-building is too deep to see it merely as a battle anime, and the violence and loss are too direct to read it simply as a coming-of-age story. That discomfort is what makes this work special. My rating is ★4.5.

What it’s about — A revenge that began when the wall fell

This anime, based on Hajime Isayama’s manga and produced by Wit Studio under director Tetsuro Araki, first aired on MBS in April 2013. The story begins with the premise that humanity has lived for hundreds of years inside three enormous concentric walls, threatened by titans. Eren Yeager (Yuki Kaji) has always yearned for the world outside the walls, but one day the colossal titan breaks through the wall and his peaceful everyday life ends. Having witnessed his mother devoured before his eyes, Eren resolves to join the Survey Corps, fueled by hatred and a thirst for revenge against the titans. Season 1 covers Eren’s training and enrollment and the first large-scale battle, planting the seeds of the questions the series will raise.

Direction — ODM gear battles and the voice cast

Wit Studio’s animation is at a high level from Season 1. In particular, the speed and dynamism of the battle scenes using omni-directional mobility gear left a strong impression on anime fans of the time. The eerie sense of menace in the titans’ expressions and movements was also well realized in direction. Hiroyuki Sawano’s music — especially the opening theme “Guren no Yumiya” — perfectly embodies the work’s atmosphere, and the contrast of the calm ending theme is also memorable.

Yuki Kaji’s Eren performance balances rage and desperation, and Yui Ishikawa’s Mikasa is cold yet clearly attached to Eren. Hiroshi Kamiya’s Armin seems cowardly at first but gradually reveals his own kind of weapon in a convincing arc. Marina Inoue’s brief appearance as Eren’s mother still leaves a strong enough impression to establish the story’s emotional foundation.

What the work says — Safety within the walls is imprisonment

Season 1 of Attack on Titan raises questions about freedom and survival. Safety within the walls is effectively no different from imprisonment, and humanity living there doesn’t know the truth. Eren’s rage is not simply the desire for revenge — it is also a refusal to live without knowing the truth. Season 1 doesn’t answer these questions. Rather it ends leaving more questions open. What the titans are, why the walls exist, and what the power Eren possesses might be — all of it remains open as the season concludes. That open ending becomes the powerful force that makes viewers continue to the next season.

Ratings & reception

It holds an IMDb rating of 9.1 from around 720,000 votes, placing it at the very top tier even among animation. Evaluation of Season 1 is particularly positive, with shock direction, fast pacing, and the freshness of the world-building cited as reasons. There are however criticisms that some episodes in the middle section slow down, and the fandom itself is divided over Eren Yeager as a protagonist.

Verdict

Attack on Titan Season 1 is among the finest debut seasons in modern anime. It is a work combining the freshness of the world-building, the polish of the combat direction, and a story that subverts expectations. The ★4.5 reflects the slightly dragging middle section and some loose world-building exposition. However, it is a work that can be recommended even to non-anime fans, and it has the powerful pulling force that ensures anyone who starts it will inevitably continue to the next season.

Recommended for

• Those who love intense world-building and shocking developments
• Those new to anime or wanting to start again
• Those interested in works with serious thematic consciousness around freedom, survival, and the limits of humanity