Library Read // Attack on Titan, Vol. 1 by Hajime Isayama

I wish I could say exactly why I decided to request the first volume of Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan. Or why I decided to start reading the manga. But I don't remember. Maybe I can't really pin it down. Was the combination of years of my sister-who-doesn't-even-watch-the-show-but-who-has-either-read-the-manga-or-knows-enough-about-the-manga telling me how wildly it differs and her gripes with it combined with the recent released final season? Is it an interest to learn what the big political metaphors are? From what I know of the author and his general terribleness (all learned through word of mouth and internet gripes about colonial and imperial themes), it's not the author himself. Regardless. One way or another, I decided to start the series. 

It really has been NetGalley that paved the way for my reading manga as an adult. I'd been wanting to only read NetGalley reads and not plomp on library loans to my load, but I'd figured the waiting list was a couple of weeks away, so why not. But then the notification for the loan came in and we were off!

From Overdrive's description:

In this post-apocalytpic sci-fi story, humanity has been devastated by the bizarre, giant humanoids known as the Titans. Little is known about where they came from or why they are bent on consuming mankind. Seemingly unintelligent, they have roamed the world for years, killing everyone they see. For the past century, what's left of man has hidden in a giant, three-walled city. People believe their 100-meter-high walls will protect them from the Titans, but the sudden appearance of an immense Titan is about to change everything. Winner of the 2011 Kodansha Manga Award (Shonen) and nominated for the prestigious Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize for 2012.

I'm all caught up on the anime, having watched a few seasons more than once, so what really through me was how different the pacing was. I mean, it makes sense. Filler has to be added and new scenes imagined for character enrichment. Still, this first volume was the equivalent of the first 3 episodes maybe? Maybe a bit more. The pacing of the exposition, the time jumps, the new sense - the original sense - of characters; reading the manga was a refreshing new experience in terms of this specific story.

Where I hesistate is two-fold. First, knowing generally different points of controversy surrounding the book, should I read this? Well, I think reading it knowing the context offers a more critical viewpoint. Secondly, to what degree is my enjoyment in the read affected by years or seasons worth of animated adaptation? I think I have to concretely approach this as getting either a different story that what I've watched in the anime or as a more intense version of a story I'm familiar, one I need to critically analyze. 

But I did enjoy this manga. I am quite ready to, as I can (thanks OverDrive), speed through this so I can watch the rest of the anime. If I do it that way and the anime ending is subpar, will I be upset? Possibly. But if I watch the anime before I finish or as I read, will the manga has as much impact? I don't know. We'll see. Another book to count towards trying to hit 150 books in the year in the next three days. I think I'll give this first volume 5 stars. I might even like it more than the anime so far.