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

GG-Duo

Member
If you like Lost or 20th Century Boys' type of WOW SO MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN then you should read it. I thought they were just writing this manga as it got along, but the recent revelation shows that there's some longer term plotting going on...

Some of the early chapters are pretty exciting to read, since the author establishes the dystopian world and the humans' sense of dread by killing her characters in gruesome ways. but otherwise it's kind of a difficult manga to enjoy. half of the art looks like ugly garbage. and all the characters look the same. and the main character is a weakling most of the time.
 

Kurita

Member
I'm glad to be kind of dumb when it comes to foreshadowing, nearly all the twists blew my mind :lol
And yeah, the formula described by duckroll doesn't bother me, actually I like it.

But hey, opinions! Still one of my favorite mangas atm
 

MCD

Junior Member
I'm glad to be kind of dumb when it comes to foreshadowing, nearly all the twists blew my mind :lol
And yeah, the formula described by duckroll doesn't bother me, actually I like it.

But hey, opinions! Still one of my favorite mangas atm

It's one of the best manga in recent times. It and Vinland Saga makes me one happy reader every month.
 

hteng

Banned
fucking man, this series, i watched the first episode and went through all the manga chapters in like... 5 hours, the series is pretty bleak, people die every chapter and it's fucking awesome. The art originally put me off, but it's very raw/rough, it's very suitable for this kind of story.

if you all like this sort of manga, i'll recommend "knight's of sidonia" it's equally bleak but it's not as violent.

NWspL5K.jpg
 
LOL

Maybe it's just the incredibly low expectations I have for shounen in general, but I don't have a big problem with the storytelling in the manga. I mean just the fact that the author has a clear enough plan from the beginning to put in all that foreshadowing shows me that he has an idea of where he wants to go with the story.

That isn't exactly that uncommon in shounen.
 

fushi

Member
Damn, that's quite amazing. Really great deductive skills on his part.

So, in a way, the reveal about Reiner makes more sense now given all the context. But the way it was shown was still lame as hell. And why were they doing an undercover op for 5 years when their only mission was to "wipe out all the humans within the wall"? If the only explanation is that they got close to the others, then why on earth are they now doing battle with everyone?

And so on. Maybe there is an explanation for all of this, but at this point, I just feel frustrated.
 

Defuser

Member
I totally forgotton about something. Didn't the first chapter stated Eren's dad help save a town from a plague? Conducting a experiment under the guise of vaccination.
 

duckroll

Member
I think that any recent experiments in the world can only be responsible for human-titan hybrids. There is still the much larger question of where the titans originated from and how it all started.

- We know that the titans have been around for MORE than 100 years. Exactly how long seems to be kinda vague.

- About 100 years ago, the 3 major walls were completed. We now know that these walls were constructed by a chain of titans who then used their hardening ability to seal themselves in.

- The church knows exactly how and why this was done, and are willing to protect the secret with their lives. They feel it is more important than anything else.

- Only with the start of the manga did human-titan hybrids start appearing. I think we can safely say that Eren's dad is behind the science which allows for that, and it's likely related to his research on the world and titans at large, which might or might not include the origin of the walls, the secret of the church, and the true nature of the titans. All this "truth" is supposedly hidden in the basement.


I think that the "titans" themselves might be a foil in the story too. They're not really the true enemy, other than the natural threat they have because they're mindless and they eat humans. The story really seems to be more about "us" against "them" on a more human scale. The humans behind the walls represent a sort of forced unity of people who are clustered together under a common rule using the guise of protection. Their fear of the world outside the walls force them to adapt to living under a common flag.

There are hints that there are actually many different cultures of people who lived independently, only to find their territory and beliefs being subjugated because of the "threat" of the titans. The only reason this works is because people truly believe that there is no human life beyond the walls. But now we know that there is. There is intelligent human life out there, living among the titans somehow, and they retain their humanity. That alone is a huge threat to the entire worldview within the walls.

So what do these people really want? Why are they sending their people to spy within the walls and to make themselves enemies of all humanity? Maybe it is to free them somehow? What if the walls are not for protection, but are fences? The humans within the walls are cattle maybe? Forced into the barn created by titans, allowed to breed and multiply for a century, before they are harvested for a feast? Maybe the human-titans are trying to save them by causing enough disruption to create a change, even if it costs so many lives?
 

fertygo

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";53373195]Did I make a new thread about it?[/QUOTE]

No one make trending adaptation anime though.
 

remz

Member
I think, at this point, a few things are obvious:

1) Every titan is a human. That's why cutting out their necks kills them, because there's a human inside of them. At the same time, it seems clear that most titans are not consciously and intelligently controlled by the human "pilots."

2) Reiner, Berthold, and Annie are doing what they do at someone else's behest, and they obviously feel the massive amount of murder they've committed is justified by whatever their goal is.

My theory is that the titans are some kind of advanced biological weapon gone horribly wrong, but we'll see.

My thoughts is Bio-weapon of some sort too, but it seems weird that there'd be so many human piloted titans that are basically braindead wandering around aimlessly. Maybe the dumb titans are different from the human piloted ones? Why do they eat random civilians anyway?

And where the fuck is Eren's dad? His wife dies and he still doesn't come back?

I'm more interested in the church and whatever government is running the show and why. The whole "the wall is actually a fence" theory is interesting, especially because Eren basically says it back in vol.1 but I don't think it'll turn out that way
 

Fergie

Banned
There was also that woman survey corp, who meet that weird Titan, earlier in the manga.

Although I like the story, I do think the non-stop human to Titan revelations are getting too much, makes it seem even more mad. Especially that hairy ape like Titan.

I'm loving it so far though.
 

Erigu

Member
I was wondering if there might be several generations of giants, some kind of a cycle (with the beast giant being from an ancient one, perhaps? and Ymir from an earlier generation than the spy trio?). Might help explain Eren's dream at the beginning (and the title of the very first episode)...

I'm not so sure the walls are 100 years old either. If you decipher the legend on the cover of the manga volumes, it says something about the walls already being there to shelter mankind when it was fleeing the giants (and there's the possibility that legend isn't even about what happened 100 years ago either, but something older).

As for what the spy trio is trying to so... It's all about "going home", but it seems they were looking for the opportunity to find themselves outside Wall Rose with Eren (hence their decision to finally risk it all in the recent episodes). Could they actually be trying to reach his father's hidden room? Eren has the key and knows where it is, which would explain why they need him alive. And maybe it's no accident the initial attack from 5 years ago occurred right after Eren's father mentioned that secret and showed the key?
 

Branduil

Member
I was wondering if there might be several generations of giants, some kind of a cycle (with the beast giant being from an ancient one, perhaps? and Ymir from an earlier generation than the spy trio?). Might help explain Eren's dream at the beginning (and the title of the the very first episode)...

I'm not so sure the walls are 100 years old either. If you decipher the legend on the cover of the manga volumes, it says something about the walls already being there to shelter mankind when it was fleeing the giants (and there's the possibility that legend isn't even about what happened 100 years ago either, but something older).

As for what the spy trio is trying to so... It's all about "going home", but it seems they were looking for the opportunity to find themselves outside Wall Rose with Eren (hence their decision to finally risk it all in the recent episodes). Could they actually be trying to reach his father's hidden room? Eren has the key and knows where it is, which would explain why they need him alive. And maybe it's no accident the initial attack from 5 years ago occurred right after Eren's father mentioned that secret and showed the key?

Maybe, but I don't know how they would know Eren's father showed him the key. It's fairly obvious he has something to do with the titan-humans, though.
 

Suen

Member
So how many chapters do you guys think it will take till he reach the fucking basement? It's annoying.
 

Jarmel

Banned
fucking man, this series, i watched the first episode and went through all the manga chapters in like... 5 hours, the series is pretty bleak, people die every chapter and it's fucking awesome. The art originally put me off, but it's very raw/rough, it's very suitable for this kind of story.

if you all like this sort of manga, i'll recommend "knight's of sidonia" it's equally bleak but it's not as violent.

Holy shit that art looks awesome.

Oh and the way the flashbacks are handled are so annoying, mainly the training arc. Instead of doing what any sane person would, mainly showing the training arc and then the second attack to give a bit of space and develop the characters, he instead goes for a second attack arc and then goes into the flashbacks which halt the pacing of the manga entirely. It feels like an amateurishly directed version of LOST in this regard.
 
If Eren's dad shows up inside the wall it may be the case that he is the hairy titan. He seemed pretty sophisticated so it seems fitting that he would be able to speak in titan form if this is the case. But then I would think that he would have known about the 3D gear since he did live inside the wall for some time.

The hairy titan also climbed the wall on his own in chapter 38/39. So any new character encountered on the way to the basement may be the hairy titan in human form (if not his dad).
 

Jarmel

Banned
If Eren's dad shows up inside the wall it may be the case that he is the hairy titan. He seemed pretty sophisticated so it seems fitting that he would be able to speak in titan form if this is the case.

The hairy titan also climbed the wall on his own in chapter 38/39. So any new character encountered on the way to the basement may be the hairy titan in human form (if not his dad).

Nope as the dad would be familiar with the Gear.
 

Branduil

Member
If Eren's dad shows up inside the wall it may be the case that he is the hairy titan. He seemed pretty sophisticated so it seems fitting that he would be able to speak in titan form if this is the case. But then I would think that he would have known about the 3D gear since he did live inside the wall for some time.

The hairy titan also climbed the wall on his own in chapter 38/39. So any new character encountered on the way to the basement may be the hairy titan in human form (if not his dad).

I don't know who the hairy titan is but I'm pretty sure it's not Eren's dad, LOL. It seems to be someone who hasn't been part of the human civilization inside the wall.
 
I guess so.

I figured Eren's dad should be showing up at some point, but my suggestion doesn't really have a leg to stand on given what little we know of the hairy titan so far.
 

TommyT

Member
I thought this thread was bumped meaning there was a new chapter... Alas, my hopes were dashed as those of everyone finding out everyone else is a titan but never realized it because they were HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
 

duckroll

Member
I thought this thread was bumped meaning there was a new chapter... Alas, my hopes were dashed as those of everyone finding out everyone else is a titan but never realized it because they were HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

This thread isn't for new chapters. It's for people who hate the manga to whine about it and talk about how terrible the writing is! At least that's what Branduil told me!
 

Branduil

Member
Oh I don't have a problem with his plan. It's not a poorly planned manga. It's just awfully written. The direction of the actual narrative is just so bad, it makes the events less enjoyable and more annoying to read. All I can think of now is "oh, he's doing THAT again, lame." every single time he pulls the same formula:

- short time skip
- vague details about how the situation has changed since the timeskip to keep the reader in the dark
- show some scenes of supporting characters talking to each other about something, this might or might not be out of context

- present the new OBJECTIVE of the characters
- the characters go about on this objective

- SURPRISE THE OBJECTIVE IS A NARRATIVE FOIL, IT DOESN'T MATTER OR IT WAS A PLOY BY THE CHARACTERS ALL ALONG!

- flashback to the point just before the time skipped period
- show the main characters talking in detail about stuff the reader knew nothing about because of the shitty narrative style the author likes to use
- suck all the tension out of the events because it's not REALLY a surprise or twist, because it was planned all along!

RINSE. REPEAT. x9999999999999999999999

Looks like the anime was made for you then, since they seem to be shuffling stuff around.
 

duckroll

Member
I was reading this part late last night and had to do a double take... the way it was presented was so... casual? I didn't believe it at first.

HEY EREN SUP, OVER HERE. Did you know, I'm the Colossal Titan, and he's the Armored Titan? Wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!
 

Usobuko

Banned
I thought this thread was bumped meaning there was a new chapter... Alas, my hopes were dashed as those of everyone finding out everyone else is a titan but never realized it because they were HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

If you can read chinese, it has been released ;)
 
Theory:

All titans used to be humans.
If they spend too long in titan form, they end up losing the ability to transform back into human and become dimwitted fools.

Examples of titans on the brink of no-return is that titan that in the flashback spoke of Ymir (a human-to-titan-and-back transformer). Clearly he was too long gone to remember how to transform back, but he retained some reduced form of speech (probably triggered by the human form that reminded him of Ymir, who presumably is a Titan leader).
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
HEY EREN SUP, OVER HERE. Did you know, I'm the Colossal Titan, and he's the Armored Titan? Wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!

Hahaha yeah... there are parts of the story that are good, but that reveal was just... meh. The part before it with Ymir was kind of boring too I thought. I feel at times the author just needs to get on with it. Quit teasing shit like the basement, or why Anna etc wanted to kidnap Eren... I just want to know already.
 

duckroll

Member
Hahaha yeah... there are parts of the story that are good, but that reveal was just... meh. The part before it with Ymir was kind of boring too I thought. I feel at times the author just needs to get on with it. Quit teasing shit like the basement, or why Anna etc wanted to kidnap Eren... I just want to know already.

99D77UE.gif
 

Suen

Member
The basement is the hairy titan.
At this point of the story I'd accept this

I was reading this part late last night and had to do a double take... the way it was presented was so... casual? I didn't believe it at first.
Yeah I agree on this. I didn't feel there was any surprise or excitement to it. It all felt so natural, wasn't exactly a shocking revelation.
 

Branduil

Member
It also kind of mirrors the sensation of a post-battle haze where you're not fully cognizant of everything going on around you, if you want to be pretentious about it, LOL.
 
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