I forgot what aroused my interest in Attack on Titan (AOT for short) over Spring Break, but I decided then to watch the anime and it got out of hand. The characters, the backgrounds, and the stories were so intriguing that I couldn’t help but go through all three seasons in two months. As the characters revealed the truth of their world, my feelings towards the titans changed gradually.

(Spoiler Alert: some screenshots from the anime, summaries of the plot, and discussions of the AOT world setup involved)

To be honest, the first episode of AOT scared me a lot. The Colossal Titan pops out from the top of the fifty-meter-wall, kicks out a hole through the protective wall, and titans swarm into the city. There were people frantically running on the streets, people crushed by falling stones, and people too scared to move. With the solemn background music, it felt like the end of the world.

The creator of AOT, Hajime Isayama, made the titans, who walk upright with four limbs, share the general outline of humans, without being biological creatures. These human-yet–inhuman monsters create an unnerving feeling to viewers with this vague relation. Furthermore, the titans feed on humans just as we eat. They are made to remind us of the fear of being prey, one which we have long forgotten.

However, some people like the Survey Corps reject this fear, and explore the world outside the walls to learn about titans to fight valiantly against them, resulting in their high casualty rates. It is a visual feast to watch Survey Corps soldiers flying in the sky with their “Vertical Maneuvering Equipment” and slashing at the back of titan’s necks to kill them. They show us the power of the underdog, and my heart cheers at every titan they slay.

Nevertheless, starting from the middle of the first season, a change occurs. The protagonist Eren–who thoroughly hates titans– transforms into a special titan and controls it like a giant robot. When he transforms, he retains some of his human features like his hairstyle, similar to other human-resembling titans. In the second season, when two smaller titans wrestle each other, their actions resemble naughty children despite the absurdity of their interactions.

With some deeper analysis and the experience of having a comrade possessing this titan power, the Survey Corps concluded that all titans were once humans. Moreover, they soon learned that outside the walls of the Eldian people existed another race called Marley, whom hate the minority Eldians in their kingdom. They turn their opposers into “pure” titans through injection, who then can only wander in the wild and instinctively hunt humans, hoping to eat someone with special powers in order to turn human again. I felt hard to accept that ultimately, all the titan-fighting was only humanity rising up against and killing its own kin. This plot twist overturned the antagonistic roles of titans by telling us they are, too, simply pitiful victims. Again, it is made clear that humans are the greatest evil.

However, the Marley kingdom–the origin of evil–was also once oppressed. In their history, the Eldians were the first people who mastered the power of titans and used it to dominate other races. The Marley overthrew the Eldians, learned to use their enemy’s weapon for their own benefit, and thus became the new overlords. The Marleys were simply repeating history, using titans as the Eldians did to conquer and oppress.

Many Eldians inside the walls lost their life fighting the titans, but many Marleys and other races also died under Eldian titans. The causes and effects have mingled together as hundreds of years passed, such that it is hard to condemn any side for the start of all evil. Perhaps this realism is why I enjoy Attack on Titan so much. There aren’t any characters that are simply the villains–not even the titans. They all have their own justifications and can be praised if we just consider their perspective.

Before watching, I thought that humanity was suffering from titans. In the end, I realized that humanity is just suffering from humanity. Ultimately, there is no distinction between pure justice and evil.