Together with Naruto and Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan has been among the most well-known manga series for the past few decades. Each month, fans of this iconic franchise waited eagerly to learn more. But what’s it worth? Today’s Attack On Titan Manga full set review will answer that.
Table of Contents
Attack On Titan Manga Full Set Review: One Of Great Cruelty?
Synopsis
For anyone unfamiliar with the manga, it’s a narrative about how humankind — or what remains — has secluded itself within three massive barriers to defend itself from the giant monsters known as Titans, who prey only on people.
Story
Story-wise, for me, everything was good before the last chapter. However, many ideas portrayed throughout the storyline become weaker because of what occurs in the final arc.
Although the book’s early chapters were of excellent caliber, with obvious foreboding of upcoming developments and good theming, there’s no need to think about that afterward, as Isayama didn’t give stuff when he penned this final chapter.
It’s as if he was swapped up with a different author after chapter 123 because there’s a distinct shortage of vision in the story’s progression in the later sections, notably when compared to the initial parts.
The saddest thing is that the manga might have proceeded in different routes, only to choose the blandest and most foreseeable plot progression.
Throughout the last chapters, there is a recurring theme of carelessness. Due to how well-protected the individuals are by the storyline, the characters confront no actual danger given their circumstances.
As a result, many scenarios lack logic regardless of how implausible these events are, and the suspense is almost non-existent.
There isn’t much to say about the finale without giving away important details, but it served its purpose of destroying whatever framework the plot provided earlier.
Main Characters
Speaking of the 60 best completed manga of all time, Attack on Titan occupies an outstanding position. The plot revolves mainly around 3 young children, Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert. However, they are joined by an assisting ensemble of similarly miserable individuals.
Eren
Eren runs back to his mom during the onslaught of a giant — or “enormous” — titan over one of the 3 barriers of the town where they live.
She is discovered trapped beneath a mound of wreckage, powerless to escape. Seeing the titans flooding the city, a guard called Hannes forcibly drags Eren and Mikasa elsewhere, but not before the sad young kid witnesses his mom becoming a titan snack. And that’s only the start!
As the storyline progresses (and we’re heading into some severe revelations here), Eren is deceived by people he thought were his allies. Eren also discovers that his dad transformed him into a Titan and even forced Eren to feed on him.
Then he stares in horror as Hannes is devoured by the same monster that devoured his mom, and he discovers that the place he believed was the entire planet was actually a tiny island.
After overcoming everything, Eren has the authority to rule all titans, which drives him to conduct global slaughter. In the end, he eliminated nearly 80% of the entire planet’s citizens since he believed there was no hope that humanity would ever cease fighting with each other.
Mikasa
But if you assume Eren is the only person Isayama loves torturing, you’re mistaken! Mikasa is waiting in line. She has to see her family being mercilessly killed in front of her face and then being kidnapped to be traded by several strange criminals at such an early age.
After Eren saves her, Mikasa has her first murder around 10. From that point, she moves in with Eren and his parents until their home gets trampled on.
Later on, she, Eren, and Armin choose to enlist in the army since they have no better place to stay. She observes as the man she loves, Eren, gets arrested, humiliated, tormented, traumatized, and progressively slides into madness, only to return a couple of years afterward and inform her that he despises her and all she symbolizes.
At the climax of everything, she is obliged to execute him personally for the good of humankind by chopping off his head, a head she keeps holding between her hands as she drags him gradually towards his grave.
Armin
Finally, Armin, the tiny mastermind who is typically powerless in a muscular battle but whose fast brains have helped him and his comrades get away from countless dangerous encounters.
Armin’s story starts when his family is taken off to death as part of a cleanse to reduce the earth’s population following the massive titan’s onslaught, as resources were insufficient for everybody (what a nice civilization!).
He, later on, mentally torments his buddies. Indeed, he shoots someone at a point-blank distance and sacrifices himself in a raging flame to be reincarnated by devouring one of his previous classmates. In the end, he even destroys the whole town with his newly gained enormous titan strength.
Throughout the book, Armin has several mental outbursts. Not that the rest don’t, but his condition is more severe because of his pre-existing mental concerns.
Supporting Characters
Then there’s the supporting cast.
Reiner Braun
He is a guy from a foreign nation who is on a quest to enter the site of our storyline. Reiner bears the titan’s armored strength.
However, after 3 years of boot camp with the soldiers, he lost himself in the goal and suffered split-personality disorder. Finally, after returning to his hometown, the burden of what he’d committed became too much to handle, and he began to pursue freedom through death.
Krysta
Krysta — I mean, Historia Reiss, a lovely little girl raised on a ranch and successor to the planet’s royal bloodline, is also a person with a heartbreaking story. She encountered an older girl who was actually her sister, but her recollections are clouded, and she keeps forgetting about her.
The only images she’s allowed to retain are of her mom, who has zero love for her and instead kicks and screams, “Why didn’t I kill you?” whenever Krysta comes close to her.
And if this wasn’t enough, Krysta’s mom was tortured and killed in front of her bare eyes, and her final line is, “You shouldn’t have been put on this earth!”
Honestly, what’s wrong with you, Isayama? Is it necessary for you to write that? Krysta manages to conceal her actual origin by enrolling in the military under the name “Krysta Lenz,” where she meets another tortured soul, Ymir.
Ymir
Ymir comes from the exact nation of Reiner, but she’s not a warrior. She was actually brought there as punishment for imitating a deity in a strange religion imposed on her by several “cruel grownups.”
Ymir is eventually transformed into a titan and wanders pointlessly for the following 60 years until she runs upon one of Reiner’s friends. She instantly devours him, causing her to revert to the human figure.
She and Krysta became best buds (perhaps more, as the fanfiction authors might claim!) until Reiner and his companion Bertholdt disclose who they are, kidnap her, and get her killed by titan-munching.
As if Historia’s traumatic background wasn’t awful enough, the author drove her to bury her only true friend! How great is that!
Others
Like Sasha, Connie, and Jean, different characters suffer the same tragedies, such as getting tortured by titans and witnessing their family members and friends being devoured.
A few of them actually escape the attack only to be killed by an accidental gunshot (like Sasha). Later on, some other individuals enter the conflict, like Niccolo or Gabi. They are subsequently subjected to a comparable form of torture.
Even when the storyline finishes, the survivors find themselves in a society clear of giants but on the verge of war. He claims (via his figures) that “until there are either one or two humans left, mankind will never cease feuding with themselves,” which is a distressing lesson to leave behind.
Artwork
In terms of artwork, it’s a blended mixture. The artwork was first terrible and erratic, but as time passed by, it improved significantly; it wasn’t the finest of all, but it was respectable.
Unfortunately, the artwork got less cohesive after a specific period, with less care than the prior advancements. The shortage of work is also mirrored in the plot since the finest parts also possess the best artwork, whereas the worst-authored sections have terrible drawings.
FAQs
Where Does Attack On Titan Take Place?
The story unfolds mainly on Paradis Island (“Paradis” having a mute S is the French term for “paradise”), inspired by Madagascar.
Is Attack On Titan Appropriate For Young Kids?
Because of its manga-ish style, it could quickly be regarded as appropriate for teens or even early twenties, but it isn’t!
Its contents are inappropriate for kids, and the ideas it strives to portray are not appropriate for the younger set.
The manga’s storyline was undeniably engaging, but how it relentlessly pushed the concepts of despair, conflict, and suffering is distressing.
Is Attack On Titan Finished?
Yes.
After 11 years of publishing, the manga was completed. Indeed, Attack On Titan manga’s end date is April 9, 2021.
How Much Money Did Attack On Titan Make?
According to Anime News Network, the firm recorded total earnings of 8.426 billion JPY (approximately $75 million) and a net income of 201 million JPY (approximately $1.8 million).
Wrapping Up
I must confess that I used to enjoy Attack on Titan. And it became one of my top mangas for a time (I even bought the Attack On Titan manga full set and watched all of the anime episodes), and it was for a reasonable cause.
What Hajime Isayama first portrayed in Attack on Titan was an excellent plot complemented by complex puzzles and world-building.
And, although Attack on Titan has never become entirely without shortcomings, you could skip such flaws since the good overshadowed the bad. But what we’re witnessing in the ending chapters is a shallow, weak, and simply tasteless copy of what AoT once was.
However, this is only my perception of the series. As different readers got different tastes if what we listed above was your cup of tea, feel free to give the Attack on Titan manga’s full set a try.
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