GOD EATER
God Eater’s start takes a ton of time, as it risks losing all of its fan following in hopes of doing proper world-building. However, it kicks it from 0 to 100 fast once done and grabs you right back in. As somebody who had loved the original games, I was excited to hear of it being adapted into an anime.
It was just a game that could translate well into an anime; honestly, the Aragami fights were something I always wanted to see in full animation. So now that I finally have watched was it the abomination I feared or the masterpiece that I wished for? I guess it’s safe to say that it lands right there in the middle, but there was more bad than good.
The year is 2071. Humanity has been pushed to the brink of extinction following the emergence of man-eating monsters called "Aragami" that boast an immunity to conventional weaponry. They ravaged the land, consuming almost everything in their path and leaving nothing in their wake.
To combat them, an organization named Fenrir was formed as a last-ditch effort to save humanity by using "God Eaters"—special humans infused with Oracle cells, allowing them to wield the God Arc, the only known weapon capable of killing an Aragami. One such God Eater is Lenka Utsugi, a New-Type whose God Arc takes the form of both blade and gun.”
The synopsis makes it seem like Lenka would be a pretty cool character; however, he is my biggest issue with the series. I have disliked his character throughout the entirety of the 13 episodes, except for that one part in the flashback episode. Ufotable’s decision to create a true protagonist, which was a concept never before in any of the God Eater games, would’ve been great if Lenka wasn’t so bad as a character.
He has no personality. He is an Eren clone from SnK, just like the series’ plot is a copy of Attack on Titan. Even his voice acting is so uninteresting to listen to; it’s like they put zero effort into his character. He keeps getting stronger as the show goes on without much explanation because of random occurrences, and he keeps getting promoted up the ranks too.
It was just a poor decision to make a character like him the protagonist; they should’ve picked one from the games from Lindow, Soma, Kota, Alisa, or Sakuya. If Lenka was the best they could’ve done, this is highly disappointing.
Speaking of the other characters, none of them were utilized or developed. Lenka steals most of the screen time away from them. Soma’s character isn’t developed at all. His harsh yet soft side isn’t showcased or is the reason for him working alone expanded upon. With Alisa, her entire character revolved around her PTSD in the series, which was built up well initially, but how it affected her was showcased so darn poorly.
Though for all I can say about this bad show, the series was still decent enough in my book. Maybe it’s because of my personal bias for God Eater, though I have made sure that it doesn’t alter my opinion. The story could have done a better job, but it pales compared to Attack on Titan, which it is heavily inspired by.
That being said, it does a few things which the games did not do. Such as the flashbacks with Johannes and Paylor were insanely insightful. They overuse these flashbacks, but they did bring a lot of depth on how the Aragami was created. They did a terrible job explaining what God Eaters are and where they came from, but they did a stellar job of showcasing the beginning of the Aragami apocalypse coming to fruition.
Most people definitely started this series due to their interest in the company that made it; Ufotable. They’re extremely popular among the masses for their Fate series of anime, but this is not that. Instead, this is something that, in my books, looks much better than Fate. The backdrops feel like a canvas painted with oil coloring, whereas the characters are these sharply detailed figures with natural polish to each of their movements.
It reminded me quickly of David Production’s masterpiece, Jojo. A lot of Ufotable fans were expecting something resembling the Fate series but were quickly disappointed. Me on the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the stunning and genuinely DIFFERENT art style. It’s honestly ridiculous how gorgeous the art and animation for God Eater is.
The detailing in the animation is going so underrated. I’m talking specifically about the lighting and the particle and water effects. They were designed to not just fit into the backdrop but be part of the overall frame. The characters and the monsters are just how I expected them to look in a high-quality adaptation of God Eater. What made this better was the fluidity in the animation, as it made the pretty moments all the more pleasing.
I can’t say much about the voice acting, but; ‘ultra-generic angst teen yelling and the absolute most tired of their life sounding adult actors’ should sum it up. The music is honestly quite terrible. It would have been much better if the series featured more orchestral music instead of the loud rocky guitar and drums that it keeps constantly bringing out again and again. It actually hurt my ears to watch the series by the time I reached the 10th episode.
To conclude this review, God Eater was a tremendously fun game, and the anime, while not overly disappointing, doesn’t bring much to the table. Starring a willfully bland main character and an underdeveloped supporting cast, God Eater’s story tries to do things differently to the games, and at some things, it passes, whereas at most, it fails. The animation is truly the saving grace here and the only reason to watch this series.
Please Like, Comment, Share or click one of the links below to read another post.
https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/random-thoughts-because-mondays-suck-1
https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/on-screen
https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/flashbacks
God Eater Official Trailer
