Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan (Japanese: 進撃の巨人, Hepburn: Shingeki no Kyojin, lit. "The Attack Titan") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from the gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as Titans; the story follows Eren Yeager, who vows to exterminate the Titans after a Titan brings about the destruction of his hometown and the death of his mother. Attack on Titan was serialized in Kodansha's monthly Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from September 2009 to April 2021 and has been collected into 33 tankōbon volumes as of January 2021.

Plot
The story revolves around a boy named Eren Yeager, who lives in the town of Shiganshina, located on the edge of Wall Maria, the outermost of three circular walls protecting humanity from Titans. In the year 845, the wall is breached by two new types of Titans, named the Colossus Titan and the Armored Titan. During the incident, Eren's mother is eaten by a Titan while Eren escapes. He swears revenge on all Titans and enlists in the military along with his childhood friends, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert.

During their first battle, Eren learns that he also has the mysterious ability to turn himself into an attack Titan, which draws the attention of the Survey Corps, intending to use his newfound power to reclaim Wall Maria. As the battle against the Titans intensifies, Eren and his companions fight to defend their land while uncovering the mysteries about the Titans, their own civilization, and what lies beyond the walls.

Why It Can Achieve Freedom

 * 1) An amazing premise: Soldiers use different types of technology against the man-eating giants called the Titans.
 * 2) It does subvert expectations pretty well, since the Titan shifters are being used as a weapon by the opposing country.
 * 3) Eren Yeager is an interesting and a well-written protagonist: after seeing how the Titans ate his mom, he vowed revenge that he will exterminate every single one of them. But after seeing the past about the Titans were slaves to Marley, he chooses to turn himself into the villain by obtaining the Founding Titan's power to commit mass genocide, while allowing his friends to try and stop him from killing anymore innocents, thus giving them long, happy lives at the end.
 * 4) Even the main antagonists are also well-written:
 * 5) * Zeke Yeager has a righteous plan to save the world from getting worse as time goes on.
 * 6) * Reiner, Annie and Bertholdt had to make use of their own Titan powers to gain honor, and respect of their own families.
 * 7) It uses the idea of how the cycle of hatred can have two sides of a country turn against each other.
 * 8) It also explains how different and realistic the themes are, and how much freedom means to many characters, mostly to Eren.
 * 9) It spawned an amazing anime adaption.
 * 10) Many unforgettable moments such as the Reiner and Bertholdt reveal, Erwin's charge, Levi vs Beast Titan, the Eren jacket scene, etc.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The art style back in the first few arcs hasn't aged well, that even Isayama himself admitted that he wasn't proud of how the style sometimes look disproportionate or less detailed compared to his current style.
 * 2) As iconic as the weapons (3D Maneuver gear, the swords, and the thunderspears) can be, they can look out of place and a tad bit futuristic in a setting that was supposed to be in the pre-1200s.
 * 3) Don't ask about the 2-part live action adaptation of the same name.
 * 4) The Rumbling part of the War for Paradis arc is disappointing, especially the ending. The extra pages of the final chapter also show Paradis being destroyed, thereby making all of the actions of Eren and the Alliance pointless.