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Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) manga thread of TOTAL SPOILER PANDEMONIUM

Erigu

Member
chances are this won't be done for another 2 years (and that's being generous).
I think we're pretty much at the half-way point.

Are the manga releases every month? I thought I had read somewhere that this next chapter would be delayed (so not Feb, but March). Maybe I read that wrong. Are the releases usually consistent?
It's a monthly series, I'm pretty sure next episode hasn't been delayed (February 9), and the pace of the serialization has been pretty consistent so far.
 

Mononoke

Banned
I think we're pretty much at the half-way point.


It's a monthly series, I'm pretty sure next episode hasn't been delayed (February 9), and the pace of the serialization has been pretty consistent so far.

Ah okay! Great then. Yeah, I figured we were about half way based on the author saying he wants to finish by volume 20. That's about 8 away. I guess I'm kind of bad at math (hence why I threw the 2 years thing).
 

Mononoke

Banned
Holy shot @ the last 2

I saw some "summaries" of the chapter, but they seemed like BS to me so I didn't post (or at the very least, very poorly translated). But from what I got, not a lot happens in this chapter.

The mission is successful and they capture Nick's killer (details on how is kind of confusing. I guess the people in the warehouse give the killer up, because they make a deal with Levi and the squad..or something). Anyways, they take the killer back to their hideout, and torture him to get info (the torture/him talking doesn't happen this chapter. It's about to happen).

Eren and Historia have a moment together, but it's a brief exchange. Both are sleeping in the hideout, and wake up and have convo. Eren makes a comment about how he didn't like who she was before (I guess implying that he likes her now? lol wut). And then SUPPOSEDLY, Erwin finds out that it's the King that had Nick killed, and is hellbent on getting Eren and Historia. That he won't stop until he gets them both. So Erwin says that they need to take out the king (this last part seems a little crazy, and I don't buy it. I guess we'll see). I guess they are torturing the killer to see who his informant was (they have a traitor in the army, since they knew where Nick was placed). (Fans are speculating it's Rico).

And then there is some other shit with the lady with black hair that Eren saw last chapter in his memory. Whoever was translating the summaries claimed she was Historias tutor, and has the ability to manipulate memory (there is a scene where she actually talks to a Titan...so I guess she's a coordinate?). < this last part is very confusing and muddled, and I'm not sure if it's actually real.

Like I said, I guess we'll know later tonight or tomorrow if any of it is accurate. I'm pretty sure some of it is (just based on the pictures we have). But you know, people like to troll all the time with summaries as the scans are coming out.
 

Mononoke

Banned
Guess the "Hanji is a guy" camp got a point this month.

It went over my head, but why do you say that?

My mind was actually blown that people thought Hanji was a guy. It never crossed my mind until I read online how it was this huge debate. Lol I mean, she clearly had breasts in the Anime. And even in the manga, she looked female to me? I dunno. Crazy that it's a big debate.
 

Mononoke

Banned
No feminine characteristics (completely flat chest) in that second to last shot.

Ah I see, hah.

I find it strange, because in the Anime there are shots where she definitely has breasts. But I dunno. Maybe the author is feeding off the fact that so many fans debate over what Hanjis gender is, and is making it ambiguous on purpose now. Either way, I guess I don't really care (unless he decides to make it a backstory element). I think Hanji is cool. Much better character in the manga too.
 

kirblar

Member
Ah I see, hah.

I find it strange, because in the Anime there are shots where she definitely has breasts. But I dunno. Maybe the author is feeding off the fact that so many fans debate over what Hanjis gender is, and is making it ambiguous on purpose now.
I would wager this is more "the artist isn't all that great" - she also still has the feminine hourglass in that page even though her top half looks like every other dark haired guy in the series.
 

Zoe

Member
Ah I see, hah.

I find it strange, because in the Anime there are shots where she definitely has breasts. But I dunno. Maybe the author is feeding off the fact that so many fans debate over what Hanjis gender is, and is making it ambiguous on purpose now. Either way, I guess I don't really care (unless he decides to make it a backstory element). I think Hanji is cool. Much better character in the manga too.

According to interviews and statements from Kodansha, he is making it purposefully ambiguous.
 

Mononoke

Banned
According to interviews and statements from Kodansha, he is making it purposefully ambiguous.

Yeah, I saw that. I don't know how I feel about that tbh. I think an artist should just make their work, and not adapt it to what fans are clamoring for. If he originally intended Hanji to be a woman, then so be it. Then again, didn't he also say he was going to change the ending? That the original was too dark?

So it seems like he's the kind of author that changes his work based on the feedback from fans. I dunno. I guess that's not always a bad thing. But it can definitely be bad (especially when you consider fans aren't exactly the beacon for good taste and knowing how to write things).
 

Zoe

Member
Yeah, I saw that. I don't know how I feel about that tbh. I think an artist should just make their work, and not adapt it to what fans are clamoring for. If he originally intended Hanji to be a woman, then so be it. Then again, didn't he also say he was going to change the ending? That the original was too dark?

So it seems like he's the kind of author that changes his work based on the feedback from fans. I dunno. I guess that's not always a bad thing. But it can definitely be bad (especially when you consider fans aren't exactly the beacon for good taste and knowing how to write things).

I don't know if he's bending to the fans on this though. Sounds like the dialog has always been ambiguous, it's just translators didn't pick up on it. Kind of like the Crona thing in Soul Eater.
 

Mononoke

Banned
I don't know if he's bending to the fans on this though. Sounds like the dialog has always been ambiguous, it's just translators didn't pick up on it. Kind of like the Crona thing in Soul Eater.

Yeah fair enough. I shouldn't make assumptions about what his original intentions were with the character. It never crossed my mind that the character was ambiguous, so at first I thought it was a joke that there was this big debate about it. But I can see why people legitimately think it's a thing.

At least for me, gender of a character really doesn't matter. So unless the author makes it a plot point, I probably won't think about it too much. I really do like Hanji regardless!
 

Gvaz

Banned
Yeah, I saw that. I don't know how I feel about that tbh. I think an artist should just make their work, and not adapt it to what fans are clamoring for. If he originally intended Hanji to be a woman, then so be it. Then again, didn't he also say he was going to change the ending? That the original was too dark?

So it seems like he's the kind of author that changes his work based on the feedback from fans. I dunno. I guess that's not always a bad thing. But it can definitely be bad (especially when you consider fans aren't exactly the beacon for good taste and knowing how to write things).

He's always been shifty on what Hanji's gender is. When you do an anime, it's not the main artist drawing everything, mostly it's a team of artists who copy his work and the mangaka just supervises.

I thought he was a guy until people suggested he might be a girl.
 

Mononoke

Banned
He's always been shifty on what Hanji's gender is. When you do an anime, it's not the main artist drawing everything, mostly it's a team of artists who copy his work and the mangaka just supervises.

I thought he was a guy until people suggested he might be a girl.

Well I saw the anime, then read the manga front to back. And I personally never thought of Hanji any other way. It wasn't until I started reading online and saw it was this REALLY big thing. I was kind of taken back lol

But yeah, that's just me. Seems like readers like yourself, thought Hanji was a guy on your first read through. So I'm not really one to judge, or say something is ridiculous. I just didn't expect it. All I'm saying. Didn't even know it was thing until I read about it. But I won't really dwell too much on it moving forward, unless the author decides to make it a plot point.
 

Zoe

Member
He's always been shifty on what Hanji's gender is. When you do an anime, it's not the main artist drawing everything, mostly it's a team of artists who copy his work and the mangaka just supervises.

It doesn't help that Romi Park does the voice...
 

Mononoke

Banned
The full scans are up now (they aren't translated).

Seems like the summaries earlier were pretty spot on. I guess we'll have to wait for the proper translations. But most of what I read seems to be right. Doesn't seem like a whole lot goes on this chapter though.
 

Mononoke

Banned
I think the biggest thing with this chapter is:

I. The lady in Eren's flashback in chapter 53 was a woman that would visit Historia.
II. This woman has the ability to make people forget memories (so now we can sort of confirm that psychic abilities exist in this world? I guess?)
III. The woman was showing Historia a book about a girl being nice to a Titan, and giving that as an example of how to be when you grow up (wtf is this book, why would there exist a book with pictures of a person being nice to a Titan? Is this lady a coordinate like Eren?)

The other interesting aspect of this chapter (if you take the translation as mostly correct), is that Erwin is planning to overthrow the government with General Pixis. This of course, makes me think the next 5 chapters or so are going to revolve around that (and not necessarily re-taking Wall Maria or about Bert/Reiner/Ymir (unless they show up to interfere).

Seems to me that the focus of the plot is going to shift to internal fighting within the city (with the King and the Wall cult). I guess it was inevitable, but if the fighting goes on for long stretches, it might be a grind if we don't get anything too substantial in terms of mythology and major plot movement. To be fair, it seems like there is a potential, given the Wall cult knows more than they let on, and the kings actions are strange. Anyways, I don't know what else to really talk about.

I think the ONLY other interesting aspect of this chapter, was the stuff with the Merchants, and Levi striking a deal with them. But I dunno.
 

Akito

Member
Uhm, you might not want to embed so many pages, especially not those with a watermark of a manga aggregator site, or even two in this case.
 

Mononoke

Banned
Uhm, you might not want to embed so many pages, especially not those with a watermark of a manga aggregator site, or even two in this case.

Alright, I'll edit it out. My apologies. In the future, I'll just talk about the manga, and not post anything. I seem to keep messing this stuff up. I already was pmd last night by a mod, and I thought he said that we could embed the individual pictures (I saved them and re-uploaded to imgur), but just not link to the site (that is an aggregator site). But I must have misunderstood. Like I said, I just won't post anything anymore.

All my stupidity aside, I'm curious what people think of the chapter. So I'll just wait for people to eventually read it and catch up and start the conversation. :)

Again, my deepest apologies. This is twice I screwed up. Now I feel really really bad, especially since the mod was so gracious to warn me and explain what I did was wrong.
 

Akito

Member
It's not that image embedding is not allowed but embedding too many for no reason is frown upon.
Anyway, I thought the chapter was ok, things are going a little too smoothly for the survey corps, they should extract as much as possible out of Sanes before things go wrong. I guess we know why Eren has some memory gaps, he most likely met her before. The king's appearance was less of a bomb dropping than I thought.
 

Mononoke

Banned
It's not that image embedding is not allowed but embedding too many for no reason is frown upon.
Anyway, I thought the chapter was ok, things are going a little too smoothly for the survey corps, they should extract as much as possible out of Sanes before things go wrong. I guess we know why Eren has some memory gaps, he most likely met her before. The king's appearance was less of a bomb dropping than I thought.

That's reasonable enough. I just feel bad screwing it up twice. But best I can do is learn my lesson and not do it again.

Anyways, I agree with your point about the king. It's strange how...docile he looks. Almost like he's depressed, or doesn't care. Even down to the way he's dressed (looks like he's in flip flops, kind of reminded me of The Dude). Something interesting to note, is that the wine he's drinking is the same wine that was in Castle Utgard.

But yeah, outside the Lady being able to erase memories (IMO this was the biggest revelation), this was definitely a chapter of broken up pieces, with not a lot to off of. I guess the next chapter ends the volume, so hopefully something big happens to move things ahead.
 

Dresden

Member
The king looked stoned. Probably a total figurehead at this point.

@Azula: don't worry about posting images, just be wary of piracy concerns. Images watermarked with the site in question falls under this.
 

Gvaz

Banned
The king looked stoned. Probably a total figurehead at this point.

@Azula: don't worry about posting images, just be wary of piracy concerns. Images watermarked with the site in question falls under this.

Why is that when the sites displaying it don't have any rights to what they're displaying anyways?
 

robox

Member
felt like too much stuff got crammed into the chapter and it was jumping all over the place. the story is certainly taking some interesting turns but it feels all over the place. i wish that isayama is a better story teller. that's what the editor is for, no?

is the king the same guy that pixis played chess with way back when? recalling that scene but can't be arsed to look it up
 

LogicStep

Member
felt like too much stuff got crammed into the chapter and it was jumping all over the place. the story is certainly taking some interesting turns but it feels all over the place. i wish that isayama is a better story teller. that's what the editor is for, no?

is the king the same guy that pixis played chess with way back when? recalling that scene but can't be arsed to look it up
The guy that was the judge? Nah, he was playing chess with some random rich guy I think..
 
felt like too much stuff got crammed into the chapter and it was jumping all over the place. the story is certainly taking some interesting turns but it feels all over the place. i wish that isayama is a better story teller. that's what the editor is for, no?

is the king the same guy that pixis played chess with way back when? recalling that scene but can't be arsed to look it up
Agreed. Looks like the story is about to come to the slow parts. Taking over the city could take ages. Especially since this comes out monthly. Could be the end of summer before we get back on track.

And Lord, when is the secret of what's in the basement going to be revealed. It's like, hey, the secret to understanding titans is in there, let's not go any time soon. Eren did look at his key today, so maybe there's hope.
 

Erigu

Member
The king reveal was kinda disappointing.
Then again... (episode 55 SPOILERS)
... he's not the real king.
Apparently, and as Erwin's late father had theorized, the reason there are no historical records predating mankind's arrival inside the walls 107 years ago is that people's memories were altered back then. They were made to believe their king descended from a millennia-old dynasty, and the true royal family was "disguised".
Erwin's plan to take out the current king without any unnecessary killings is to use that fact and make Historia queen.
 

belushy

Banned
Then again... (episode 55 SPOILERS)
... he's not the real king.
Apparently, and as Erwin's late father had theorized, the reason there are no historical records predating mankind's arrival inside the walls 107 years ago is that people's memories were altered back then. They were made to believe their king descended from a millennia-old dynasty, and the true royal family was "disguised".
Erwin's plan to take out the current king without any unnecessary killings is to use that fact and make Historia queen.

I haven't read chapter 55 yet, but just based on your spoilers....

It is kind of weird the story is starting to take a turn away from the Titans and focusing more on political stuff. I'm not gonna lie, I really wish there was some more stuff focusing on Annie, Bertolt, Reiner, and Ymir and where ever they went.
 
Not sure why we're spoiler tagging (was there a rule change?) but yeah, really wish they'd stop focusing on the more boring aspects of this. The series has one distraction after another to keep Eren from vaulting the walls and hoofing it in Titan form to the basement. At least make the distractions interesting.
 

Erigu

Member
Not sure why we're spoiler tagging (was there a rule change?)
The episode hadn't been translated yet when I posted, so...

really wish they'd stop focusing on the more boring aspects of this. The series has one distraction after another to keep Eren from vaulting the walls and hoofing it in Titan form to the basement. At least make the distractions interesting.
"Distractions"? It's all relevant. And we just had a massive titan battle.
 
First Annie, then Ape Titan, then Reiner/Bert, now the less threatening Monarchy that isn't going anywhere after 107 years. It's hard not seeing these as distractions when Eren was told his basement would answer his questions. Although I admit without him controlling his Coordinate powers it may have been a suicide mission earlier on, but still, I don't see a compelling enough reason now.

The home village has also been a pretty big tease as well. They just aren't answering the questions that are most interesting, no matter how relevant they are. I'm fine with this becoming A Game of Titans, but I think being thrown a bone isn't out of the question.
 
Probably because it's not the end yet? I mean... There's an order to these things.

I understand that, but this is the only development in the story that feels artificial or manufactured. Of the two options on the table, overthrow an immensely powerful and corrupt monarch or escape and avoid capture, which sounds easier? It just doesn't seem like this danger has any immediate threat. They're chasing Eren and Historia, if they aren't there to be captured nothing happens.

It doesn't take an Armin to figure they're taking the hard road for whatever reason. To me it seems like this is too personal for Erwin and no one is questioning his decision making. Maybe that's the point? But Eren is being a tool (nothing new) but for once it's not in line with his original goals.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
I'm wondering if anyone can help me figure out what chapter I left off on AOT, the last chapter I read the armored titan and the huge titan(forgot their names) kidnapped eren and they are talking in the giant forests and they keep teasing secrets but not telling shit.
I decided to hold off until it built up a few more chapters before I start reading again.
 
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