Manga Review: Attack on Titan: No Regrets #1

Spoilers Below

Attack on Titan: No Regrets is a side series to the incredible and ground breaking Attack on Titan series that has become a huge phenomenon in Japan and the U.S. While the main series focuses on the characters of Eren and Mikasa, No Regrets tells the back story of the series’ most popular character ranked by fans, Levi, the member of the Scouting Corps with the shady background.

The graphic novel starts with a quick summery of the setting and the circumstances. The book tells you of how what’s left of civilization is contained behind 3 walls within each other to protect from giant man eating monsters called Titans. You are also shown the underground city, a failed attempt made in the past to hide from the Titans under the ground. However that plan had been abandoned so the underground is a slum where even the military doesn’t often go.

The main character is Levi. Levi is a rather cold and emotionless dweller of the underworld who is the de facto “leader” of a group of vagrants. Along with him is the rough and excitable woman Isabel and the more thoughtful and calculating Furlan. This story opens with the three slum dwellers being chased though the underground using the high wire maneuvering gear used by the military. Levi soon realizes that these are not just ordinary soldiers following them and before long they are captured by what turns out to be members of the military scouting coprs, the branch of the guard that ventures outside the gates and directly battles with large Titans, often with tragic results.

The perusing scouts are lead by Erwin Smith. Smith roughs up Levi and asks him not only where did they get their equipment but also where he got his training to use it so well. Isabel tells Smith that they learned the skills on their own to survive in the underground. Smith makes the group an offer, either join the Scouting Corps and have their past crimes ignored, or be turned over to the military and face punishment. Levi agrees to join the Corps.

The next chapter focuses mostly on Levi and his friends in their first days of training as well as their plans that they have hatched. Levi of course dazzles his superiors with his skill in the maneuvering equipment, and Isabel shows off her skills in dealing with the horses that the Corps ride into battle. Conflicts develops not only between those from the underground and the “proper” military members, but also between Levi and Furlan as they both have separate goals now that they are above ground. Levi wants to kill Smith while Furlan has concocted a plan to steal something from the military and escape. It’s not really clear what he is looking after, all we see is that his plan isn’t going along as he had hoped. There is a bit of a subplot that is brushed on briefly about a councilman wanting to dissolve the Scouting Corps all together, and how Smith will use whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen. This however is literally solved with a turn of the page with no explanation whatsoever.

Levi and his friends are then sent on their first trip outside the gates with the Scouting Patrol. Some friction bubbles up between Levi and some of the members of the Corps, but that is erased quickly with the arrival of two Titans from the woods around them. One of the giant monsters goes after the supply wagons but is stopped by Levi and his friends. Quickly deducing it’s movements Levi has Isabel and Furlan attack the knees of the giant and when it falls to the ground Levi puts and end to the monster with a blow to the back of the neck, much to the surprise of the trained military soldiers around them.

The next section of the books is strangely, the prologue of the story. The quick chapter takes place in the underground shortly before the first chapter as Levi and his friends are shown walking through the underground and have an encounter with a con man on the street. Levi deals with the man by using the maneuvering gears to launch himself up and come down kicking the man right in the face, knocking him out. As Levi and his friends leave we are shown that Erwin Smith was standing in the crowd and saw the entire episode play out.

The books is a quick read. Since it isn’t dialog heavy I breezed through the entire thing in less than 20 minutes. It doesn’t rely on previous knowledge of the main series and actually lays things out for the reader just fine. I’m only familiar with the English dubbed TV series, and haven’t even met the character of Levi yet and I could follow along just fine.

However this book has some things really going against it. What was the point of putting the prologue at the end of the book when those events didn’t happen to much before chapter one anyway? It’s not very long so putting it at the beginning would have set the pace and the mood better. The other big problem is the scene about changing the councilman’s mind about trying to abolish the Scouting Corps. It is written as a major event in the chapter and features a great back and forth between Erwin and the commander of the military about what the corps mean and what lengths Erwin would go to make sure they aren’t dissolved, only for you to turn the page and it’s all resolved. No back and forth dialog, no real explanation, just “I can’t believe the Councilman changed his mind.”

Those big issues aside this books does a great job of introducing these characters and showing their personalities and relationship to being forced into the military. Hints of their plans and motivations are made so you want to read more to know more of the details and see where it all leads. Don’t expect this book to play out like the TV series does. You don’t see your first bit of Titan action until 2/3rds the way through the book. This book tends to be more character based and less on the gore and action that the main series is known for. Will that change? I don’t know. Even with the big problems it has with it’s storytelling I would still get the second volume to see where this story goes.