Library Read // Attack on Titan, Vol. 8 by Hajime Isayama

BLOOD ON HIS HANDS The expedition outside the wall was Eren's chance to prove himself. But it failed, and the female Titan is free once more! With his squad dead, Eren faces a royal summons. Will Mikasa and Armin have to betray their king to save their friend? And can they discover the female Titan's identity before she kills again? ? ? PRAISE FOR THE HIT ANIME "A visceral and fantastically intense action/horror story." - Anime News Network ? "Japan's equivalent of The Walking Dead." - io9

Eight volumes of manga apparently equates to, so far, about one full season of anime plus an episode, about 26 episodes. That's 3.25 episodes per volume. With 12 total episodes in season two and 22 in the third, and excluding the current ongoing season, there are 34 episodes of story to get through in, following the calculated episode/volume ratio, about 11 volumes. I've only read eight of the already published 33, so either there has to be a massive ratio decrease along the way. And that would make sense because of the way publication to animation works, especially when a series is ongoing. I've also heard that the latest season of the anime takes place after a sizeable time skip. I don't know if that makes the case for or against finishing the anime before the manga. On the one hand, finishing the anime first, I'd, possibly, or likely, get rushed spoilers for the series and then have to go back, rancorously reading the manga, regretting the missed opportunities. On the other hand, finishing the manga, how disappointed might I be with a rushed anime? There's also the third possibility that I wouldn't be disappointed either way, but we'll never know how that might work out, will we? Long story short, I'm going to keep on reading, at least to the point where the manga catches up with the series. Once we reach time skip or wherever the manga and season four intersect, I'll reevaluate.

Vol. 8 of Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan kept the high-paced story going, but being more familiar with the anime, the pacing felt off. The slow build-up to massive revelations felt a bit rushed. At the same time, the reveal of bigger mysteries felt more impactful when read. I'm quite ready to continue reading because, unsurprising to me, the story is juicy. Because I can imagine introducing someone to the series with this volume and it going extremely well I'm giving this 5 stars.