Anime

進撃の巨人 (Shingeki no Kyojin) or Attack on Titan is one of the most popular anime series this summer, and for a good reason! Its story revolves around mankind’s struggle against Titans, mindless giants who have an unsettling resemblance to humans and have caused so much death and destruction that survivors were forced to retreat behind walled cities to continue living.

The series itself is tightly plotted and beautifully animated, but what sets it apart from the rest is its complex, incredibly sympathetic cast. Eren Yeager, the main character, is probably the angriest, most bloodthirsty protagonist to ever be given the role of a ‘good guy.’ His defining characteristic is his intense hatred of Titans, and his desire to kill them all—but he’s so interesting because he’s so different from what people normally expect a protagonist to be. When he joins the Scouting Legion, a military branch who have been tasked to explore the world outside the walls while battling Titans, we get introduced to a huge array of interesting, believable characters—and since this is a series with an enormous body count, the fans watch each episode worried that their favorite might not make it to the next. (This is a legitimate worry—they really don’t, sometimes!)

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