Attack on Titan
One other series I wanted to try out before getting back to Crimson Hero. I heard a lot about this series when the anime came out earlier this year/last year. The overall reviews when the season aired varied for great to good but mixed, but I had already decided to give it a try and when the first volume of the manga was on sale I decided to read it first.
Overall I liked it. It's an interesting story and reminded me about last year's Pacific Rim. In Pacific Rim, large monsters (Kaigu) have started appearing in the near future and while the initial strategy is to use large robots (Jaeger) piloted by two humans, the Jaeger program has become too expensive and cities start to change to a new plan to build gigantic walls around the cities. It doesn't work, but the movie is great and I can't wait for the sequel.
In Attack on Titan, strange large humanoid monsters appear over 100 years ago and are referred to as Titans. Humanity again built large walls to protect themselves. The walls are 50m high, significantly higher than any known Titan. So they figured they were safe. Eden is a young boy who feels trapped and wishes to be able to leave the city. He plans to join the survey corps who go out into the world trying to collect information, though few return.
All of a sudden, a Titan (later referred to as the Colossal Titan) peers over the 50m wall and kicks in a hole allowing smaller Titans into the city for the first time in 100 years. Eden and his sister are rescued and brought into the next ring of walls, but he sees a Titan eat his mother in the meantime. It's a pretty gory/brutal series and I don't like gore in general, but it's easier to see when it is drawn as opposed to live action.
The main story picks up years later after Eden and his friends have completed training. Eden has graduated in the top 10 of his class which should allow him to chose any department he wants. Most people want to finish in the top 10 so they will be allowed to join the military police brigade, who are allowed to serve in the interior wall, the safest place in the city. Eden still plans to join the survey corps and clashes with some fellow soldiers in the meantime.
Before they can declare, the Colossal Titan appears at the second wall, which has served as the outer ring for the past five years, and again kick it in to allow smaller Titans to attack the city. Humans can combat the Titans. They have discovered a weak point at the neck that will prevent it from regenerating. The soldiers are trained to use Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear which allows them to fly around and sharp blades to slice to neck.
The soldiers are organized into different groups to try retake the area between the outer and inner gate, but the Titans are basically slaughtering them. The volume ends during this battle and on a pretty big cliffhanger. I'm not sure if I will read the rest or just watch the anime. The story is definitely interesting but I think the fight scenes will be much easier to understand animated versus static. Still it's interesting and if I watch the anime and feel I need to know more I will likely pick up more of the manga.
