It was 7-8 years ago I first give it try and gave up, so I’ll probably not be able to give a great answer.
I think a major part was that I gave up just before it gets really good. It wasn’t until Eren started interacting with Historia that he got really interesting- I gave up just before that. Erwin and Historia carried a big part of that chunk of AoT- I gave up just before they really started to get some limelight. The most interesting plot at the stage I gave up was the Eldians- although we didn’t know that was their name then- and they disappeared for a big part of the plot there, and since it was a monthly series that absence really weighed heavily.
I also don’t think I was reading great quality versions of it. It would have been mangapanda or mangastream back then, and their scans and translations tended towards the shit side. Isayama’s art improved over time, but it was a bit sketchy early on, so combining that poor scans doesn’t make a great reading experience.
I think I also must have binged it too fast the first time without taking it in. I do distinctly remember not caring at all about any of the characters the first time round, so things like the Reiner reveal didn’t strike me hard. This time- perhaps because I already knew the twist so I was paying more attention to seeming side characters like Reiner- I really liked most of the characters. Like Armin, first time around I paid no attmetion to the guy, second time I saw that this guy is actually great.
Except Mikasa, who still bores me, but I can live with one out of the main cast not floating my boat.
Also I think there is just a great leap in quality once the Eldia/Marley conflict is introduced and Isayama starts dwelling on both sides of the conflict and characters like Zeke. If we split AoT into Part 1 and Part 2 with the timeskip, Part 1’s a 6, Part 2’s a 9 or a 10. It’s a surprising and welcome reverse from most manga where the quality actually improves coming up to the end, cause generally the trend is in the other direction.
I think a major part was that I gave up just before it gets really good. It wasn’t until Eren started interacting with Historia that he got really interesting- I gave up just before that. Erwin and Historia carried a big part of that chunk of AoT- I gave up just before they really started to get some limelight. The most interesting plot at the stage I gave up was the Eldians- although we didn’t know that was their name then- and they disappeared for a big part of the plot there, and since it was a monthly series that absence really weighed heavily.
I also don’t think I was reading great quality versions of it. It would have been mangapanda or mangastream back then, and their scans and translations tended towards the shit side. Isayama’s art improved over time, but it was a bit sketchy early on, so combining that poor scans doesn’t make a great reading experience.
I think I also must have binged it too fast the first time without taking it in. I do distinctly remember not caring at all about any of the characters the first time round, so things like the Reiner reveal didn’t strike me hard. This time- perhaps because I already knew the twist so I was paying more attention to seeming side characters like Reiner- I really liked most of the characters. Like Armin, first time around I paid no attmetion to the guy, second time I saw that this guy is actually great.
Except Mikasa, who still bores me, but I can live with one out of the main cast not floating my boat.
Also I think there is just a great leap in quality once the Eldia/Marley conflict is introduced and Isayama starts dwelling on both sides of the conflict and characters like Zeke. If we split AoT into Part 1 and Part 2 with the timeskip, Part 1’s a 6, Part 2’s a 9 or a 10. It’s a surprising and welcome reverse from most manga where the quality actually improves coming up to the end, cause generally the trend is in the other direction.
Lets watch the deserters now
