attack on titan is one of the best manga series ever made. There are many different adaptations such as anime and live action movies. While the anime would become the most popular of all attack on titan adaptations, the live-action films did not receive the same success.
However, that doesn’t mean live action movies weren’t good. While there are a lot of differences between them and the anime, the movies introduced things that weren’t in the anime and even improved a few things.
8 Better: The Titans are scarier in the movies
Although the Titans are a major threat in every adaptation of attack on titan, they are much scarier in the movies than they are in the anime, which makes the movie feel more like a horror than a fantasy. Because the movies are live action, it’s much scarier to watch them eat people and cut them open.
When they broke into Monzen, Shiganshina’s movie counterpart, the fear felt by Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and the rest of the humans was much more realistic than in the anime. The scene was much more graphic and people were doing everything they could to get to safety.
7 Worse: World building was better in the anime
In the anime, most of the people of Paradis believed that only titans lived outside the walls. However, the Survey Corps eventually discovered the truth when they read the books Grisha Jaeger left behind. There were many other people in many other countries, most of whom hated the Eldians for the way they had been abused for centuries. Eren eventually goes to these other nations as the Course begins.
In the movies, however, Eren learns that the Titans were created from a military experiment gone wrong, resulting in the transformation of many people. The government used the titans to gain more power within the walls, which Eren hoped to end peacefully.
6 Better: Normal Titans were a primary threat
One of the things that fans really liked at the beginning of the anime was the fights between normal humans and titans. However, once Titan Shifters and corrupt governments became an important part of the story, normal Titans weren’t as relevant.
The movies change this, as normal titans are the main threats all the time. While there are great antagonists in them, the movies continued to show normal Titans in ways that the anime stopped doing after its first two seasons.
5 Worse: there weren’t that many Titan Shifters
The reason the movies were able to focus more on normal Titans is that there weren’t as many Titan Shifters in them. There were only three Titan Shifters in the movies, with Eren being the only one to also be in the anime.
The other two were Shikishima, a mix between the Armored and Beast Titans, and Kubal, the heir to the Colossal Titan. Most of the Nine Titans were completely removed and none of the Titan Shifters passed on their power to another character.
4 Best: Eren transforming into a titan to fight titans for the first time
While the anime did have some surprising plot twists, the first few were very predictable, like Eren’s transformation into a titan. The first movie did a better job of surprising the audience with this reveal, at least for those who didn’t already know that Eren was a Titan Shifter.
As the pace grew faster, fans watched as Eren was eaten, only to emerge from the Titan that devoured him moments later. Revealing that people could become Titans through this was better than showing Eren in his Titan form fighting on the side of humans. The audience was able to suspect what was going on while only the characters were in shock.
3 Worse: the battles weren’t that epic
While the fights in the movies were good, they were nothing compared to the fights seen in the anime. From skirmishes against normal titans to epic battles between soldiers and warriors, fans were enchanted by the anime’s action.
As the anime follows the manga much more closely than the movies, the final battle will most likely be the same as in the source material, which was one of the most epic fights in anime history as Eren fought against warriors and soldiers. This final battle was much better than the final battle in the second movie.
two Better: Shikishima is a great character who is only in the movies
Levi and Zeke are two of the most beloved characters in anime. While the two are enemies who have fought each other multiple times, bringing them together as one character essentially gives fans Shikishima, a character who only appeared in the movies. He was Eren’s brother, a Titan Shifter, and humanity’s strongest soldier.
While he originally appeared to be a quirky hero, he was eventually revealed to be one of the main villains. He wanted to break down the walls, allowing the titans to kill off most of the human race, so he could rise to power. Shikishima was one of the best villains in the franchise.
1 Worse: many of the existing characters are not that good
While there are some good characters that only appeared in the movies, the characters that come from the source material weren’t as interesting as they are in the anime. The movies changed Eren a lot and he was the sole protagonist in both, instead of becoming an antagonist like he did in the last season of the anime.
Mikasa, Jean, Armin, Sasha, and many other beloved anime characters weren’t as well received by fans either. Many fans preferred the anime versions of these characters over their film counterparts.
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