Manga Review: Attack on Titan, Volume 8, by Hajime Isayama

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: October 2013

Volumes: 13+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 7. 9.

Goodreads Synopsis:

BLOOD ON HIS HANDS
The expedition outside the wall was Eren's chance to prove himself. But it failed, and the female Titan is free once more! With his squad dead, Eren faces a royal summons. Will Mikasa and Armin have to betray their king to save their friend? And can they discover the female Titan's identity before she kills again?

Review:

The first part of this volume was very thoughtful. There are a couple conversations between the characters about humans, good versus bad. It brought up some good points (particularly what Armin says), and it was really well done. And then…

And then something huge is revealed, which I had no idea about, and I was so surprised and excited and it was intense.

And then!

And then something even bigger is revealed, and it’s horrifying and mind-blowing and makes me uneasy just thinking about it. It’s something that, once you know, you can never not know. It’s horrible and terrifying, and I still don’t know how to handle it.

When it’s first shown, I didn’t fully understand it, and then they talked about it later. And I realized what it meant. And I’m sure I looked crazy to all the people around me (I was reading this at school, with people around), because I kept looking up and muttering “holy shit” to myself. I just couldn’t believe it. I can’t believe it. I’m horrified. And I’m utterly terrified on their behalf.

And the fact that this series can blow my mind in such a way, catch me so off-guard and horrify me in such a way that my stomach is actually uneasy, makes this such an amazing series to me. Amazingly well done. And a huge recommendation to everyone. If you haven’t read this series yet, you need to.

I know that there’s more to come, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.