"Attack on Titan" part one was directed by Higuchi Shinji and stars, Miura Haruma, Hasegawa Hiroki, Mizuhara Kiko, and Hongo Kanata. All of these actors are well known in Japan and I love all of them with my full heart. I knew that even if this film was a flop that at least I get to see Haruma in a new project. Yes, I didn't go see this film just because of the series itself. The cast was al so a huge deciding factor for me as a viewer.
The plot of the live action film takes a different path from the manga in story pacing and character development. The main story for both manga and film in a nutshell is people who are forced to live inside of walls because of monsters called Titans who threaten to kill the whole human race. None know where these beings came from only that they kill humans for no reason. Some Titans have more sense than others while many of them don't know their head from their ass. A group of people called the Survey Corps is created to protect their home from the Titans who come near the walls. The story follows these select individuals.
One of the biggest noticeable things about the plot is how fast it progresses especially in the beginning. Your looking at one scene one minute then there's a complete time lapse and the film pulls it off like everything is alright. I understand that the director has a set amount of time to get through the story but it could have been done smoother than what it was. The result was very bumpy and my head was still spinning afterwards metaphorically speaking. The plot does a great job on introducing the threat which is the Titans in a horrific fashion that will leave you curled up in your seat but this isn't the "Attack on Titan" that hardcore fans know. The original motivation that drives the plot in the manga is deleted and a new motivation is create that changes a beloved character's personality and takes her out of the film all together until a certain point. From here the film becomes a romance/horror/comedy party kept on balance by the actors and actresses's performances. These elements are already in the original series so it was nice to seem them be apparent here as well.
The way the film was shot makes me believe that this is the Japanese version of the "Attack on Titan" universe. Their home inside the walls looked like a regular traditional Japanese style village with mostly Japanese people walking around going about their daily lives. I think this was on big conflict with making this live action film and it being based of the manga. In the manga the main characters are all different races that have come together because the Titan outbreak forced them too. Only one character is asian and she is the last of her kind. Japanese directors ofcourse want to make this film as Japanese as they possible can. It's being marketed to a Japanese audience before its being marketed to a foreign audience. If the people in the series's country of origin don't like it then foreign countries are less likely to see it. The issue is that Japanese people love creating stories about foreigner characters but still want to keep a Japanese feel to them. Human racial biochemical makeup doesn't work like that but I'm not going to sit here all day discussing this topic because anime and manga isn't real anyway. A lot of things that made the original series great had to be cut out just so Japan could be nationalistic with how this version of "Attack on Titan" would be perceived. The director decided to set the story in Japan which makes sense since its an all Japanese cast but this leads to another problem, Character names and origins.
Haruma plays a good Eren for this version of Attack on Titan. He was given a script and acted it out the best way that he could. This Eren's motivation for killing Titans and the Manga's version are strangely different because of plot changes. I could feel right away that all of the main character's motivation was that they didn't want to live inside the walls anymore. This is a very good solid reason that works. Its just that the reasons in the manga were much more deeper than this. Haruma puts he's own emotional edge on Eren as a man who frustrated with his everyday life inside the walls. He starts to rebel by starting fights at work and is just an all around hothead character. Mizuhara took the character of Mikasa and formed her to fit a women she could actually act out. She plays the same kind of characters in many of the other projects she been in. I don't hate her as an actress but they would have needed someone else with way more talent to play the complexed emotions of the manga version of Mikasa. She did well showing that she care deeply for Eren but certain events messed up everything. The trait that was kept from the Manga is that she wants whats best for Eren no matter what. Hongo was a downright weird choice for an actor to play Armin. This actor is the symbol of all things weird thanks to the characters he's known for playing in Japan. I can't imagine him playing a character that doesn't have a mental problem but he pull off Armin good enough that its believable. Its really hard to shake that weird vibe he's know for though. The rest of the side characters are entertaining at best especially the ones that are taken right out of the manga and kept the same without changes. Hardcore fans seemed to enjoy these characters the most. Levi was not taken out of this film but just had a name replacement to make him seem more Japanese. Hasegawa plays captain Shikishima who might as well be Levi. I wish they had just kept his original name even if it didn't fit the setting of Japan. It could have even been a nickname. Hasegawa is such a talented actor. I loved the chaos he brought to both films. He's just badass but I don't want to go into my thoughts too much because he really shines in the second film.
I was afraid for the graphics of the Titans at first because creating visuals that will do the whole series justice is not easy. What I saw in the trailer looked good but that was just a part that was shown. The finished product wasn't bad at all for Japan. There're certain Japanese films with special effects that look cheap as hell. Like something a amateur youtuber did in his mother's basement then there're films that have breath taking special effects. Its not the Japan can't make special effects as good as Hollywood, Japanese creators just be on that lazy bullshit sometimes.(funds also play a factor.) The Titan effects were in the middle. They didn't look cheap but it wasn't breath taking either. At least I wasn't taken out of the story until the real people in the naked suits started running in to attack. I tried to hold in my laughter but it came out anyway. Once you get use to what your looking at, its still horrifying all the same. Those Titans are the next trait that can never be altered in this series. Everything went from nice and calm to horror film really quick when the Titans made an appearance.
"Attack on Titan" received a bunch of backlash in Japan and State side. Harsh opinions have been thrown left and right like this film is a punching bag. Some people like the film while other people don't. Many hardcore fans of the series will talk till they can't talk anymore about why they don't like this film. They then try to make other people not like this film just because they didn't like it. I agree with some of their opinions especially if you expected the film to be identical to the manga. I can't understand why we all have to like and dislike the same things just to validate a person's opinion. If you hated the film then I'm alright with that. Hating the film and stating that the anime/manga is better does not make you more of a fan then anyone else. We all have our own mindsets. My thought process will be different from the series's hardcore fans as I'm a huge fan of Japanese cinema. My drive to see Haruma and Hongo in a new movie overpowered the fact that the original story was butchered. I do consider myself an Attack on Titan fan but I don't go hard for the series like a lot of my peers. This version of "Attack on Titan" should be considered its own ark or story that has nothing to do with the original story. Just because something says "based off" doesn't mean the product will be the exact same as the story its based off of. Anime and Manga fans can't seems to get this concept through their heads. Not the Japanese fans but the foreign ones. Putting this rant aside, I liked the film for what it was. Its not the best thing since sliced bread but check it out if you like Japanese cinema. A person who has never read or watched the original "Attack on Titan" could watch this film and still enjoy it. No strings need to be attached to the original. If you want to check out the anime and manga then go for it. I'm sure you will enjoy every minute.
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