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MANGA REVIEW: FTN reviews Attack on Titan Volume 1

January 30th, 2014 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Writer: Hajime Isayama

Artist: Hajime Isayama

Publisher: Kodansha Comics USA

 Attack on Titan is one of those post-apocalyptic world mangas, but it doesn’t feature cliché enemies like zombies or mutants. It has TITANS! No, not the Greek mythology kind, I’m talking typically 50 feet tall, man-eating, all muscle humanoids. Now, when I say “all muscle”, I don’t mean that these are just really tall hunky cannibals. These titans literally look as though they have no skin and that you can see straight to their muscles! How on earth do you fight beings like that?!

You don’t. What you do is hide behind some walls and pretend they don’t exist. You see, in Attack on Titan, all surviving humans live in a sort of…safe haven. They’ve built three 164 foot high, impenetrable walls so that the Titans can’t get in and destroy humanity. Now, the way I see it, safe havens in apocalyptic worlds generally have three outcomes: A.) Those inside the haven go crazy and resort to cannibalism, B.) The enemy gets inside anyway because the people are stupid (Quite honestly my favorite), or C.) Everybody lives and humanity is saved (But what fun is that?). Naturally, this manga goes down path B! Of course their little “impenetrable” walls were bound to fall to the brand new Colossal Titan! He’s actually TALLER than the walls, so he kicks the gate down, disappears into thin air, and lets all the other Titans feast and claim free rule over the city!

The protagonist of our story is Eren Yeager, a teenager who lost his mother when the Colossal Titan kicked in the first wall and is determined to get his revenge. The rest of the humans have given up on fighting the Titans, but Eren refuses to believe they’re invincible. Mikasa Ackerman is his incredibly strong childhood friend. As of right now, the story doesn’t shed much light on her past, but she is very protective of Eren. Eren’s father is a very shady character. He gives off that creepy “mad scientist” feel. I’m very eager to learn more about him.

I have to say, I very much enjoyed this first volume. It was a refreshing and edgy change from what I usually read, much more violent and grotesque. Oh and the cliffhanger at the end was brilliant! If I had the money, I would already own every volume released. The series is also an anime, so if reading isn’t your thing, you can just watch. I’m considering doing that myself after I finish reading it first. Attack on Titan is spreading like wildfire so I highly suggest getting your hands on a volume!

 

4 out of 5 nerds

 

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.