Every standout mecha anime includes huge fights, melodrama, monologues, special techniques, and piloted suits of immense power. Notably, Attack on Titan contains all of these important features — but the mechs are swapped out for huge, biological entities known as Titans, which are summoned when a character is wounded or hurts themselves intentionally.
Attack on Titan contains a multitude of different genres within it, from historical drama to military fiction, but at the heart of this phenomenal anime are big Titans slugging it out with each other. Titans are effectively the mecha of the world Eren Jaeger lives in.
10 Attack On Titan Has Dramatic In-Mech Scenes
When watching a mecha battle, the focus is usually on outlandish moves, strong attacks, and environmental devastation that the mechs are capable of. The best mecha anime, however, take time to show the people within the giant fighting robots. Attack on Titan is no exception, often showing us the characters as they pilot their Titans and giving audiences access to their emotions and thoughts. This humanizes the battle, which often includes a monologue either spoken aloud or merely kept to the character themself.
9 Attack On Titan Features Sudden Betrayals
Mecha anime and political drama are cut from the same cloth, and there's no end to the amount of political scheming, backstabbing, and double agents in Attack on Titan. From Reiner and Bertholdt suddenly calling in their Titans for an attack to Eren's heel turn at the close of the series, there's more than enough allegiance shifting to go around. As the series progresses, it's hard to determine exactly where each character's allegiances will end up when all is said and done.
8 Attack On Titan Includes New Or Hidden Techniques & Abilities
When the fight has been dragging on, both sides are getting tired, and it seems the outcome is in doubt for the heroes of a mecha anime, that's when to pull out all the stops with a new power, technology, or attack.
From the first revelation that Eren controls a Titan to the concept of Titans passing on their memories to their new wielders, there's always a hidden ace up someone's sleeve — usually right when the situation calls for it, surprising even the other characters.
7 Attack On Titan Has Characters Inheriting Mecha Of The Past
A mech is special to its owner — they share a history, from all the battles they've fought and all the adventures went on. When a mecha is passed on to a new owner, it's a somber passing of the torch. In Attack on Titan, Titans are passed to a new user a little more cannibalistically but with no less pomp and circumstance, especially since the new owner of a Pure Titan gains access to the memories of its former users.
6 Attack On Titan Includes International Politics On A Grand Scale
From Gundam to Macross, mecha anime love to delve into the relationships between nations, planets, or even galaxies, and it's another area where Attack on Titan shines. From the monarchic society of the Reiss family to the war between Marley and Eldia, there's always someone working an angle for their crown, their nation, or their very existence. Like all good political anime, there's enough gray area and bad actors on all sides that it keeps viewers invested in the world as well as the characters.
5 Attack On Titan Features Lots And Lots Of Fodder
In an anime about huge machines of war, you have to show their power relative to an average person. In the world of Attack on Titan, audiences see Survey Corps members and commoners alike losing their lives to Titans frequently.
It never ceases to shock and horrify when a Titan eats someone or tears them apart as though they were paper. Fans also get to see the wide-scale property damage that these humongous, mindless beasts are capable of. Titans can destroy entire neighborhoods effortlessly.
4 Attack On Titan Has Many Rousing Speeches
When it's time for a showdown between good and evil, the last stand of humanity, or the futile charge into the maw of certain death, mecha anime heroes and villains love to deliver inspiring or terrifying speeches. In Attack on Titan, many of those speeches come from Commander Erwin Smith, but fans also get to see Eren Jaeger deliver some speeches of his own as the series goes on. Eren's speeches instill fear and respect alike in his colleagues and enemies. Sometimes, words are just as powerful as Titans.
3 Attack On Titan Includes Brutally Sad Character Deaths
Nobody should grow too attached to characters in a harsh, cruel world like the one Attack on Titan's protagonists live in, but it's hard not to grow fond of them as they grow and change over the events of the anime.
When tragedy strikes, however, it strikes hard. From Sasha's needless death to Erwin's sacrifice, the body count just keeps growing, leaving viewers cowering and fearful for the next beloved character.
2 Attack On Titan Features Visually Striking Designs
A good mech is instantly recognizable, like Gurren Lagann, Evangelion Unit-01, or Big O. Titans are no exception to that rule. From the shaggy hair and cruel mouth of the Attack Titan to the wicked maw of the Jaw Titan, the designs of the living mecha fans see in Attack on Titan are all unique and visually interesting. The designs also do a good job of conveying the Titans' strengths. The Colossal Titan's huge form, the Armored Titan's strong exoskeletal plates, and the Cart Titan's strange, quadrupedal gait all let you instantly know their function in battle.
1 Attack On Titan Has Many Good Old-Fashioned Slugfests
You can't have a mecha anime without battles, and everyone loves to see when two or more huge war machines fight it out. Attack on Titan delivers on that promise in the most jaw-dropping spectacles imaginable. When Titans clash, the world shakes, the area around them is decimated, and the roars of the Titans are heard for miles around. Brutal, violent takedowns, attacks from ODM-equipped Survey Corps members, and dramatic finishes abound in these battles. Each one is a sight to behold.
