The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window

Recently, my friend and I watched an anime that popped up on my screen. The title itself peeked my interest before reading the plot, which, as a lot of anime has, supernatural elements, but it was also the style of the anime, with a crisp, more adult-looking style. The anime tells the story of Mikado, who works in a bookstore. He has a tendency to see eerie things, which, although unerving, he lived his life pretending nothing was there. Going about his daily tasks, he removes his glasses to see that very thing that has become part of his daily life: a stranger, Hiyakawa, who comes into the store, declares that it must be destiny, as the job he has come to do is none other than an exorcism of spirits.

The first episode itself peeked my interest further and was especially humorous to see how the two strangers interact with each other. Hiyakawa is an exorcist of spirits and a little odd in his manner by the way he talks, interacts, and presents himself, with little or no social boundaries. Mikado, on the other hand, has no experience in the field and unwittingly gets caught up in the exorcism that day. He has a rather emotional, susceptible response to his feelings regarding the exorcism of the spirit. Hiyakawa is not only obsessed with Mikado; he politley insists that he come work with him in exorcising ghosts, but Mikado comes to realize Hiyakawa is not all that he seems.

The story continues as they get involved with a detective in a triple homicide where three females go missing and only their body parts have been found. Hiyakawa has been asked to help in the investigation, aided by Mikado. Although the series has some romantic undertones, the anime itself focuses more on the murder mystery plot.

Written by Tomoko Yamashita, a female manga artist who published her stories from 2013 until 2020, A live-action film adaptation was released on January 22, 2021, and an anime television series adaptation by Zero-G aired from October to December 2021. Tricornored Window was her most successful series to date.

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Attack on Titan - Greatest Anime Ever Written

Attack on Titan is a masterpiece of writing, and it has achieved something no other anime has ever come close to. The story itself starts with three young Eldayen children who live in an open-air prison known as Paradise, which is surrounded by a massive wall, but their lives are terrorized by giants (Titans), who will taunt and kill them for no reason. All these people want is their freedom—the freedom to live their lives outside the walls of Paradise. So who are these Titans? Why are they there? What is their purpose? And where did it all begin?

Art by Waywayart

The debate alone on the First Titan (Founding Titan) and how it started was so simple yet complex that it started a world-wide debate on how, why, and where the strange organism came from that created the Titans, and this is only the back story to Attack On Titan. The story is very dark and really not meant for kids but in reality it fits in well with our own world today, so for context lets look at what Titans are and were they came from. 

So who was the first Titan?

2,000 years prior to Eren (Main character in the story). There was a war between tribes, and like all wars, it was the victims who suffered, as in ancient times most were taken as slaves. Ymir, a 10-year-old young girl, was one of many children taken after their village was destroyed. Fritz was the ruler of the Eldayens, who were only a small tribe at the time when he slaughtered them, then he made the children his slaves and had their tongues removed so they could not speak or scream.

One day she did the unthinkable and released some pigs from their pen in an effort to free them; however, when it was revealed that Ymir had done this, he ordered his men to hunt her down. Injured and alone, she took shelter under a large tree. Not realizing the soil was soft, she fell into a sinkhole filled with water. where a strange organism, a centipede-like creature, fused itself onto her spinal cord, turning her into a Titan (founding titan).

                                                                                      

Ymir was young and loyal to Fritz, so she returned with her newly found ability to serve him. For her loyalty, Frits took her as a wife, but only to produce children that he hoped would have this same Titan ability. He never really cared about Ymir; she was nothing more than a concubine to help his need for power and control. Then 13 years after she gained the ability, she died protecting Fritz after an assassination attempt on his life by Marleyan solders.

Fritz was so fearful of losing the Titan Power that he demanded their children eat Ymir's dead corpse to so enemies would never attack them but this was only about Fritz. He wanted them to reproduce and multiply and continue to eat the spines of their decedents13 years after they gained the ability, whether dead or not, he wanted to continue the blood line, and so it went on. Through Ymir's death, her decedents gained her power, which was split into nine titans, and her soul was trapped in purgatory. As the story progresses, it is clear that until all Titans become one vessel, only then can she be released from purgatory.

So who are the nine Titans?

The Nine titans were spawned by the direct descendants of Ymir and Fritz and were only held and used by the noble families of Eldia. They were known as the Founding Titan, Beast Titan, Attack Titan, Armored Titan, Colossal Titan, Female Titan, Cart Titan, Jaw Titan, and Warhammer Titan. 

The Nine Titans went on to destroy the ancient city of Marley to fulfill Fritz's dream of an Eldian Empire. For many years following their victory, they lived in relative peace. However, Eldia began to fall apart due to various nobles being in constant conflict as conspiracy and betrayal overshadowed the need for peace. Though the Founding Titans family tried to keep the peace between the other noble families, they started to turn on each other to control the other eight Titans, which eventually turned into the Great Titan War. 

So this brings us to today's events: the Titan War, which has been over for hundreds of years. The titans who roam the land wonder aimlessly, killing anything that moves with no motive or reasoning. So why are they there? What will happen to the people of Paradise? And how will it end? For the sake of spoilers, I will end it here for anyone who may come across this blog and who has not yet watched the show.

The story of Attack on Titans, written by Hajime Isayama, has sold over 140 million copies worldwide and has won many awards. The story has been told through the manga, which went on to become the greatest anime ever written. From the manga, anime, video games, and theme parks, people have loved and lived the life of Eldayen's and their journey through generations, seen through the characters we came to love and some hate. Their lives and stories can define and break you, and they teach us that our own world is the same in many ways. 

Posted by Valkiaria 

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