Like many I only recently broke into the whole anime scene shortly after hearing the buzz around Attack on Titan. This is the very first anime series I've experienced so I judged it with the standards I would hold for any other none-anime TV series or movie.

The series has a fantastic start. The first 5 or 6 episodes completely exceeded my expectations - The music was great, the pacing, writing and directing was all near perfect, and the animation was well done. There were moments in this series that made me so shocked and amazed that I thought I was watching Game Of Thrones again. It also doesn't shy away from gore or sad themes, which is a plus. The actual concept of the story is extremely well realised, so I applaud the original manga for that.

Now, for the downsides. I am going to write more about this since everyone seems to be avoiding it. I'm not sure who said this anime has "excellent characters" but this is not right. The characters are VERY average. The main characters have SOME development, but generally remain the same throughout. The minor characters all seem to be 2D cutouts of your average teen drama with some exceptions. Character development, for the most part, seems to be exclusively limited to characters dropping on their knees, crying and doing an extensive monologue of past events, or what is to come. It may have worked well if it was used occasionally, but this technique is used multiple times every episode. There are some episodes which really seem to be fillers - one episode seemed to reuse a little too much footage from previous episodes, and another episode seemed to be jam-packed with voiced over none animated scenes. I felt like the last half of the series started dropping in and out of quality. You'll often find yourself - in later episodes - sitting through 13 minutes of stupid monologue only to get to the fully animated treats.

In conclusion, this is well worth watching. Plenty of "WTF" moments, emotional scenes and action in a well realised world. If you can look past the flaws I mentioned, you'll find a truly special experience.