Library Read // Attack on Titan; Volumes 12 - 18 by Hajime Isayama

Uncharacteristically, there seems to be a straight line (or no line rather) to continue forward in the manga. So instead of detailed reactions to each volume, to save time and effort, I will not my quick thoughts on respective volumes as I power through.

[I started reading these novels sometime between the evening of March 10th and the early hours of March 11th but I do believe I finished both volumes 12 and 13 in the early hours of the 11th.]

Volume 12

THE CHASE IS ON! Erwin and the Survey Corps desperately mount a rescue operation to take Eren back from the Colossus Titan and Armored Titan. But without the numbers to form up properly outside the walls, how can the humans catch up before they're all slaughtered? Just whose side is Ymir on? And will Eren ever see his friends 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

Okay, so we see the story hit another peak, action wise and mystery of story wise. So many things are still unknown (at least at this point as I am actively trying to ignore what bits I do remember from the anime), so we’re just getting compounding mystery expanding in the midst of a wild battle. Character motivations are murky, I still hate Mikasa and the docile-yet-fierce trope she embodies, and I still don’t have enough answers to satisfy my interested in the plot, just more questions like a carrot dangling in front of my eyes. As a stand-alone read this wasn’t the best but as a continuation it’s still more of the same. 4 stars. There was also a death that was apparently respectively overplayed in the anime. That’s interesting.

Volume 13

NO SAFE PLACE LEFT At great cost to the Garrison and the Survey Corps, Commander Erwin has managed to recover Eren from the Titans who tried to carry him off. But during the battle, Eren manifested yet another power he doesn't understand. As Eren and Krista find new enemies, the Survey Corps faces threats from both inside and outside the walls. And what will happen to Ymir, now that she has decided to make herself the Titans' prize?

So we got some answers. So yeah for that. I feel like I’m picking up on subtle and less subtle differences, where the manga and anime plotlines diverge. So more mystery, which I don’t know is a good thing. Characterizations are starting to annoy me. Mikasa even more so, as Eren has always annoyed me, but maybe Krista/Historia too? I really am invested in this series for everyone else but those three. While I enjoyed some new developments there was nothing wildly crazy for me to give this a full 5 star rating, so I’m going with 4 stars again.

*Update (March 11): Because, apparently, a couple of volumes are available for reading, I will be snippet reading as many as I can in this post.*

---March 12---  

Volume 14

ERWIN'S GREATEST GAMBLE Commander Erwin has finally come to a decision: Putting their own wealth and position ahead of the survival of humanity, the royal government is no longer fit to lead. To execute their leader's most audacious plan yet, Eren and Krista will have to put themselves in peril yet again, and Armin, Mikasa, and the rest of the Survey Corps will have to turn from humanity's guardians into traitors. If they fail this time, they'll face not a Titan's gaping mouth, but the gallows...

I've got so much to do, always. So many plans made and never enough time to see them through as I'd like. But here I am, working on finishing these volumes. You take the small victories. This fourteenth volume of AoT (yes, we're abbreviating now) was like the thirteenth in that the plot felt rushed because yet-unknown plots are unfolding out of sequence and more questions are being posed. I'm really feeling solid that we're starting to diverge from the plotline as told in the anime. And I'm not surprised that it's felt rushed to me, especially considering that the anime pacing was off. Volume 14 correlates to the third and fourth episodes of the third season. I can't outright discount this volume because a lot of key information is divulged and presented, but it still felt rushed. This is possibly my least favorite volume but also one of my favorites. Another rounded 4 star read.

---March 13---

Volume 15

FUGITIVES AND PRISONERS Hange's interrogation of a Military Police squad has revealed that Krista (a.k.a. Historia Reiss) is the true heir to the throne. The Corps quickly moves to enthrone her as queen, but a homicidal MP leads a squad that abducts Eren and Krista and throws the Corps into disarray. With Erwin arrested and the Survey Corps on the edge of dissolution, are Levi and Hange finally out of options?

I really had the impression, from whispers on the internet grapevine, that the pacing of season two and three were wildly off with respect to the manga volumes. And that might be because of its following the ratio of about 3-4 manga chapters to an episode. Volume 15 ends to correlate to about the fifth or sixth episode of AoT season three, the 43 episode. Following the ratio, volume 15 should have correlated to  at least episode 45 and close to episode 60. Having watched that anime and now reading the manga, I think the manga's going too fast. Or maybe it's a loss in translation? Because I'm still very confused, and I have questions. But I imagine that's part of the point. To leave me wanting more explanation. It seems February might have been a global reading slump month, but I also don't know why it's taken me so long to finish this volume (actually I do, I've been doing other stuff, but still, I could have read it faster). Anyway, 4 stars, again, from me.

---March 14---

Volume 16

WHAT WAS HIS FATHER'S SIN? Captured by Rod Reiss, the rightful king, Krista and Eren finally have their memories back. What exactly happened to Eren, and what was the crime his father committed? Meanwhile, the Survey Corps desperately hunts for Eren, while at the same time seeking to legitimize their military coup. As the situation inside the walls comes to a head, the mysteries of the world of the Titans seem on the cusp of being solved at last!

The tea has been spilt! The nuance of it all! One majority bloodline. Boo diversity. Genetic mind control! Finally we're getting to the parts the anime had not yet touched! But really, just one group of Asians? One yet unnamed Asian bloodline? Okay, I guess? So that was a volume that flowed really smoothly. So smoothly that I sped through it. I was a bit surprise once I reached the end. And possibly, for the first time, we see a subplot explained better in the manga than the anime ever could. The history of Reiss family and the Ackermanns, etal, all the details I don't remember being touched upon in the anime, were so fantastically explained. Because it read so easily, because I now hate Krista/Historia a bit more, and a bit more earnestly and earned at that, I think I'm confident giving this volume 5 stars.

Volume 17

ESCAPE FROM KING TITAN Thanks to Rod Reiss, Eren finally knows the terrible truth behind how he acquired his Titan powers, and the depth of his father's crimes. The king orders his daughter Historia to kill Eren and restore the power of the Titans to its rightful place, but she chooses her own selfish path: survival. As the cavern crumbles around the Survey Corps, Eren must make another last-minute decision, with the lives of all his friends in the balance. 

Finally threads are coming together. We are seeing story cohesion and getting a firmer sense of the big mystery underlying everything. That is to say we still know little, but we're learning what we don't know in more definite terms. We're also back to the humanity vs. titans story at large, backing away from the human in-fighting behind the walls. This volume didn't have crazy reveals and that pacing wasn't crazy fluid, but I enjoyed it. 5 stars from me.

Volume 18

AVE MARIA The Survey Corps has overthrown the Royal Government and swept away the tyranny of the king. The next step: Move to retake Wall Maria, with the helpf of a newly-discovered metallic ore and Eren's miraculous Titan hardening powers. But as humanity pulls together, its enemies also unite beyond the Walls... now that the Beast Titan has joined Reiner and Bertolt, what havoc will they wreak?

Thankfully there's a hold for the next volume, so here ends the binge. At least this one.  It’s been interesting to see thus far how character portrayals differ from the anime to the manga. Erwin isn’t as strategic or cunningly presented in the manga.  Armin is more of a willing schemer and less of a confidence lacking genius. The anime, being able to expand on characters, does, building emotional and sappy backstories to heights unseen and not needed in the manga.  This was a strong volume but also a build/support type of volume, one where we're building towards the next story apex. 4 stars from me.