QUEZON City, Philippines – (Eagle News Service, June 19) – Humanity is in a tight bind. Driven to near extinction by the mysterious Titans, the remnant of humankind live inside massive walls. They are content to live placidly inside said walls, until that fateful day when the wall was shattered along with their peaceful existence.
And with that premise, the manga “Shingeki no Kyojin” and its spin-off anime series became one of the most popular manga/anime series, with fans all over the world.
The series began in 2009 and was written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is a certified commercial success, with 45 million volumes in print. The anime’s release also boosted the popularity of the series and it received critical acclaim for its atmosphere and story.
I must admit that I was late in starting with this series but was well aware of its popularity as it is always much-talked about by netizens in social media sites. And when I started, I just can’t stop.
Another sure crowd-drawer is the concept of Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, which is the first time I’ve seen in a manga/anime series. Using said gear, the defenders of humanity can execute amazing stunts when fighting the Titans – which means a lot of cool fight scenes.
Shingeki no Kyojin is not for the faint of heart. The series features many character deaths as well as violence and gore. It is definitely not for kids. But putting a positive light on the series, we can say that it is about the our struggle with what we might perceive as situations that are too big for us but if we soldier on with determination then we can win and fight again until we finally achieve what we set out to do in the first place.
And it is this life-affirming message that really had me liking Shingeki no Kyojin in the first place. Nothing is too big if you set your full heart on it. So start polishing up those kills and hit the ground fighting.
(ENS, written by Jay Paul Carlos and additional research by Vince Alvin Villarin)