Hangout Shingeki no Kyojin Hangout Thread

[Kaiten]

[sizept=7]Volume 1[/sizept] [sizept=7]Released: 3/17/2010[/sizept]

[sizept=7]Volume 2[/sizept] [sizept=7]Released: 7/16/2010[/sizept]

[sizept=7]Volume 3[/sizept] [sizept=7]Released 12/9/2010[/sizept]

[sizept=7]Volume 4[/sizept] [sizept=7]Released: 4/8/2011[/sizept]

[sizept=7]Volume 5[/sizept] [sizept=7]Released 8/9/2011[/sizept]

Shingeki no Kyojin
By: ISAYAMA Hajime
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Super Natural
Serialized In: Bessatsu Shonen Magazine
Mangaupdates

Shingeki no Kyojin is the hot new action series in Japan, well on it's way to becoming one of the most popular series in the country, surpassing many series better known internationally. Rejected by the editors of Jump, it has become the flagship series of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. If your a fan of Berserk, Vinland Saga or similar series, you'll like Shingeki no Kyojin.

Spoiler: Summary

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants.

Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Elen and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Elen vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind. ~Mangaupdates

New raws are posted every month on the 9th. Expect chapters to come out 24-48 hours afterwords.

 

[igotthegoods]

Re: Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

Awww, I was going to start this thread! Too slow, it seems.

Anyway, just got done reading the first volume. I had been hearing a lot about this, the new big thing that was rejected by Jump, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see its first release today. The art leaves a little bit to be desired, but overall I liked it a lot. I find the whole concept of the titans to be really interesting since their motivations are completely unknown at this point. What a cliffhanger ending, too! I can't wait to see how this continues.

 

[Koen]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I can understand that Jump (or shueisha) rejected this. I have read the first volume and I really don't see the hype. The art isn't the best thing I have seen but oh well, I can accept that. The story itself sounds promising. I like the idea that the titans have taken control and are killing humans. Humans have to hide themselves in cities surrounded by huge walls; AND there it stops.

The characters aren't appealing at all. I can't feel empathy for them at all because the character development is superficial. Flashbacks, dialogues, ideologies only aren't sufficient enough for a good development. All these aspects have to interact with each other and let it be that it is lacking an interaction to create a good character development.

As I said, the setting of the story is promising and has a lot of opportunities but what saddens me is that the story's progression totally fails. The pace is very slow and in a first volume you could at least expect a twist. Even a small turn of events would do enough and let it be that nothing happened except from holding off the titans who finally managed to break down walls after 100 years...

Positive: it can only get better after volume 1. The end of volume 1 is a true cliffhanger and it was probably the best event which relieved my scepticism. Volume 2 can make up things

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

Volume 1 lived up to my expectations, which were pretty high. I'd seen raws already (there still on my hard drive, actually) and had a pretty good idea what the art and characters would look like. I love the plot, there are so many avenues for great story telling open. I'm particularly interested in the fact that most Titans are male, they can not reproduce sexually, regenerate, and seem to hunt humans for pleasure rather than food. I'm also interested in what Eren's father injected him with.

Awww, I was going to start this thread! Too slow, it seems.

Anyway, just got done reading the first volume. I had been hearing a lot about this, the new big thing that was rejected by Jump, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see its first release today. The art leaves a little bit to be desired, but overall I liked it a lot. I find the whole concept of the titans to be really interesting since their motivations are completely unknown at this point. What a cliffhanger ending, too! I can't wait to see how this continues.

I liked the art. The rough, sketchy style reminds me of Biomega, Dorohedoro, and Freesia. It's really cool seeing a style more typical of alternative manga in a shonen series. His use of perspective was outstanding, not quite as good as Oda or Nihei, but still outstanding. The action was amazing, the titans devouring people was stomach turning, as gruesome as I could hope for.

I can understand that Jump (or shueisha) rejected this. I have read the first volume and I really don't see the hype. The art isn't the best thing I have seen but oh well, I can accept that. The story itself sounds promising. I like the idea that the titans have taken control and are killing humans. Humans have to hide themselves in cities surrounded by huge walls; AND there it stops.

The characters aren't appealing at all. I can't feel empathy for them at all because the character development is superficial. Flashbacks, dialogues, ideologies only aren't sufficient enough for a good development. All these aspects have to interact with each other and let it be that it is lacking an interaction to create a good character development.

As I said, the setting of the story is promising and has a lot of opportunities but what saddens me is that the story's progression totally fails. The pace is very slow and in a first volume you could at least expect a twist. Even a small turn of events would do enough and let it be that nothing happened except from holding off the titans who finally managed to break down walls after 100 years...

Positive: it can only get better after volume 1. The end of volume 1 is a true cliffhanger and it was probably the best event which relieved my scepticism. Volume 2 can make up things

I usually don't expect much character development from the first volume, some authors spend time on the characters others prefer world building early on. Isayama seems to fall into the latter. Since most of what I thought would be the main characters are dead now, character building might not have mattered. Mikasa hasn't had much of a role yet, so she's hard to judge. Eren might not be alive. Since the theme of the series seems to be bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, he would make an appealing hero.

 

[igotthegoods]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

@Koen - I agree with Kaiten on the subject of character development. I'm not so worried that we didn't get a lot of it in the first volume. Seems to me like he's taking his time with it, which is fine with me. Maybe you felt a bit disappointed simply because of all the hype surrounding it? When you hear such good things about something and then you try it out for yourself with those high expectations, it can often be disappointing if it doesn't grab you right away. I hope the second volume will change your mind, but ultimately it may just not be your cup of tea. I can also see why Jump rejected this, though. It certainly doesn't have the feeling of a typical Jump manga to me. Not that everything in Jump is exactly the same, but you know what I'm talking about. I'm generalizing. The formulaic shounen feel is definitely not there, which is a positive thing, imo.

@Kaiten - I should've been more clear in my previous post regarding the art. I actually quite like the style of the art (definitely see some resemblance to Biomega in there, which I love), but there were some inconsistencies with proportion that bugged me a little bit. I'm sure the mangaka will work out the kinks over the course of the series, though.

 

[Sama_al_Azraq]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

The characters aren't appealing at all. I can't feel empathy for them at all because the character development is superficial. Flashbacks, dialogues, ideologies only aren't sufficient enough for a good development. All these aspects have to interact with each other and let it be that it is lacking an interaction to create a good character development.

Well, at least try to read it to volume 2 or 3. If you still think it's not as good as your expectation, maybe it's just not your cup of tea. There will be more flashback later on, and you may change your opinion on character like Ellen, who even when he was a child, is definitely not normal.
The dream of wanting to see the outside world itself is actually from the author's himself. In an interview, he said that as someone who born and raised in countryside that surrounded by mountain, he wanted to get out of the closed world and see how the outside looks like.
I myself like Mikasa and Sasha the most in this manga, and from volume 1, there is really nothing about those two except Sasha stealing meat and a little bit of Mikasa.

I usually don't expect much character development from the first volume, some authors spend time on the characters others prefer world building early on. Isayama seems to fall into the latter. Since most of what I thought would be the main characters are dead now, character building might not have mattered. Mikasa hasn't had much of a role yet, so she's hard to judge. Eren might not be alive. Since the theme of the series seems to be bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, he would make an appealing hero.

I thought his name is Ellen, not Eren? In his blog, Isayama said that the name of the characters in the manga is based from German names (except Mikasa for an obvious reason). Is Eren a German name? Or Ellen name is not chosen as his name because it's normally name for female?

I actually quite like the style of the art (definitely see some resemblance to Biomega in there, which I love), but there were some inconsistencies with proportion that bugged me a little bit. I'm sure the mangaka will work out the kinks over the course of the series, though.

It's sketchy and the giant's arm looks unbalanced with their body sometimes, but what I like from this manga is the character's movement. Like when they flying about or the giant's fight, it feels dynamic and not just cool pics lined up one after another.

In the back cover of the tankobon, you can see a pic with unreadable words in it. The trick is to flip it upside down 180° and you'll find that it's actually written in katakana. Don't read if you don't want to get spoiled.

Spoiler: It says

Spoiler

キョジンノ
アットウテキ
ナセンリョク
ニナススベモ
ナクジンルイ
ハシンテンチ
ヘノコウカイ
ヲヨギナクサ
レタ
コノトキジン
ルイノホトン
ドガシメツシ
タガソノタイ
ハンハヒトド
ウシノテニヨ
ルノデシタ

巨人の圧倒的な戦力に成す術もなく人類は新天地への航海を余儀なくされた
このとき人類のほとんどが死滅したがその大半は人同士の手によるのでした
Unable to do anything against the overwhelming power of the giants, mankind forced to sail to the new land
At that time, almost all mankind extinct, but majority of them was done by the hand of human

キョジンノシュツゲンニヨリ
スミカヲウシナイニゲマ
ドウヒトビト

巨人の出現により住処を失い逃げ惑う人々
Because of the appearance of giants, humans lost their home and run about trying to escape

??ノコレタノハ
コウジョウブ
ケンリョクシャタ
チダケデアッタ

??残れたのは高上部権力者達だけであった
Those who left (survived?) are only people from high political power

コウカイハナンコウ
ヲキワメヤクハンス
ウガモクテキチニト
ウタツスルコトナク
ショウソクヲタッタ

航海は難航を極め、約半数が目的地に到達することなく消息を絶った
The sailing was extremely rough and around half of them passed away without ever reach the destination

シンテンチニハ
モトモトキョウ
ダイナカベガ
ヨウイサレタ

新天地にはもともと強大な壁が用意された
In the new land, a large wall already prepared from the start

シンタイリク
ココヲワレワレハ
シンセイナルモノ
トシテアガメル

新大陸ここを我々は神聖なるものとして崇める
New continent, we worship this land as a sacred place

コノカベノナカニハ
ジンルイノリソウガ
アルコノカベノナカニ
エイキュウニ
アラソイノナ
イセカイヲ
ツクロウ

この壁の中には人類の理想があるこの壁の中に永久に争いのない世界をつくろう
Inside the wall, utopia of mankind is exist. Inside the wall, let's build a world where there never will be conflict for eternity

I think from this we can be sure that there are more behind the giants. I took it as similar to Claymore, only while in Claymore the purpose is for weapon research, in Shingeki no Kyojin is to force human to unite using "people unite against common enemies".
With the kingdom being the most suspicious.

 

[Gottheim]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I thought his name is Ellen, not Eren? In his blog, Isayama said that the name of the characters in the manga is based from German names (except Mikasa for an obvious reason). Is Eren a German name? Or Ellen name is not chosen as his name because it's normally name for female?

I rendered it as "Eren" because I couldn't think of any Germanic male name even remotely sounding like it. And calling the main char Ellen sounded a bit awkward, so...

EDIT: That said, the cast does feature a guy who goes by the name of Connie. Changing it to Conny was all I could do to preserve some of his masculinity.

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I prefer the sound of Eren, a little more manly sounding. He had enough GAR moments that calling him a girls name would have been wrong

I can also see why Jump rejected this, though. It certainly doesn't have the feeling of a typical Jump manga to me. Not that everything in Jump is exactly the same, but you know what I'm talking about. I'm generalizing. The formulaic shounen feel is definitely not there, which is a positive thing, imo.

It certainly doesn't feel like modern Jump, no. It's a shame, just a few years ago they had a minor hit with Neuro, one of the freakiest manga shonen manga I've ever seen. Most likely Jump's current readers would have rejected Shingeki though, the magazine has gotten much more conservative over the last few years.

@Kaiten - I should've been more clear in my previous post regarding the art. I actually quite like the style of the art (definitely see some resemblance to Biomega in there, which I love), but there were some inconsistencies with proportion that bugged me a little bit. I'm sure the mangaka will work out the kinks over the course of the series, though.

Yeah, I was wondering. That is my one complaint too. All of a sudden arms will get skinnier as a giant swings them. He doesn't always struggle with proportion, so it isn't a big deal to me. Shingeki still is better than Dorohedoro where she (more than) occasionally draws there heads to small for their bodies

Well, at least try to read it to volume 2 or 3. If you still think it's not as good as your expectation, maybe it's just not your cup of tea. There will be more flashback later on, and you may change your opinion on character like Ellen, who even when he was a child, is definitely not normal.

I usually consider volume 3 the make or break for a manga, if it doesn't get good by then, it usually doesn't. I'm definitely looking forward to see how the plot progresses.

The dream of wanting to see the outside world itself is actually from the author's himself. In an interview, he said that as someone who born and raised in countryside that surrounded by mountain, he wanted to get out of the closed world and see how the outside looks like.
I myself like Mikasa and Sasha the most in this manga, and from volume 1, there is really nothing about those two except Sasha stealing meat and a little bit of Mikasa.

There was almost nothing about Sasha, she looks hawt though

Mikasa really interests me. From what I've seen it seems like she is really strong. She's the one who scared the bullies away, she was the one ordered to the rear guard. Very interesting.

It's sketchy and the giant's arm looks unbalanced with their body sometimes, but what I like from this manga is the character's movement. Like when they flying about or the giant's fight, it feels dynamic and not just cool pics lined up one after another.

The action scenes are definitely dynamic. I would compare to how Oda or Nihei draw action scenes, where there is a definite sense of motion. One of my favorite panels is when Eren drags himself up after getting his leg bit off to save Armin. Great panel:

 

[Mr. Prince]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I also reread the first volume this week when GWR released their version. I pretty much like this series since the first time I checked it out (June or July last year, I think) and can see why the huge hype is going on in Japan. I generally agree with most posts here so I won't reiterate the general tenor...

I thought his name is Ellen, not Eren? In his blog, Isayama said that the name of the characters in the manga is based from German names (except Mikasa for an obvious reason). Is Eren a German name? Or Ellen name is not chosen as his name because it's normally name for female?

Well, there is no such name in German. Though, I think his name might be "Ehren", which is the plural form of the German word 'honor'. Even though the Kana don't match the word 100%ly (I'd rather put a chōon in there, so エーレン), this would make another interesting combination with the family name Jäger, which is German for 'hunter'. So, put together it's "he who's passionately craving for honor" or something along the lines...


And as for Conny, it is a name that derived from Konrad/Conrad. I think one encounters it predominantly in former Eastern Germany... (I don't like the name, it has a certain vibe to it that's just yucky... xD")

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

It's about time that a language other than English got butchered by a manga

I kind of figured the author was going for a German or Central European theme. Besides character names like Armin, the design of the city vaguely echos the architecture associated with pre-modern Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic.

 

[Sama_al_Azraq]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

Maybe because I'm not a western, so Ellen as male name is not really weird for me, feels like variation of Allan or Allen. I'll call him Eren too for now, unless the mangaka give a different romanization later on.

I usually consider volume 3 the make or break for a manga, if it doesn't get good by then, it usually doesn't. I'm definitely looking forward to see how the plot progresses.

Volume 2 might be one of the turn-point in the manga, because in that volume the true meaning of the manga title appear for the first time. There may be some who like it, and some who don't.

There was almost nothing about Sasha, she looks hawt though

Ahaha, for me Sasha is more as a gag character than anything else...

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I'm really looking forward to volume 2. I want to see how the plot unfolds, learn more about the characters, and see who survived volume 1. I figured Sasha is more comedic relief after she showed up with stolen meat. I'm glad there's a character like Mikasa, it's rare to have strong female characters. It's nice to know she's not the type of character to be cheering from the side.

What I am really curious about is what will happen to Eren (no spoilers, I'll be patient ). Did he survive, if he did how and will he ever fight again, if he didn't how his death effects the course of the series. I feel like he did survive, though I am not 100% certain of my prediction.

 

[Crude]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I want to read this, but I have no idea how to download this series...

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

Have you been to Gantz Waitingroom's site yet? They require registration before downloads become visible, if that helps.

 

[Crude]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I admit that I'm being a little stupid/lazy, but it seems that after registrating there are all sorts of requirements before downloading. Guess I'll try again though.

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

If you are accessing through MU, make sure to click the website link. Register there. The forum link takes you to JCafe, who have quite a few requirements to download.

 

[saladesu]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

Gotta agree with Goodsy that the weird proportions in some pages really bugged me. It's kinda inconsistent in that some pages the art looks really good (like the page Kaiten provided), yet some other pages look like a totally different person drew it.

What I am really curious about is what will happen to Eren (no spoilers, I'll be patient ). Did he survive, if he did how and will he ever fight again, if he didn't how his death effects the course of the series. I feel like he did survive, though I am not 100% certain of my prediction.

It would kinda be odd to kill off the main character in the first volume, so I'm thinking he will live through this. Of course, this series could do something totally different (maybe this is why this manga is causing such a buzz! ). Anyway, if Eren is alive, maybe Mikasa will now go on a journey to find and save him.

Somehow this loss of limbs and all that is reminding me of Fullmetal Alchemist

 

[Kaiten]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

There is the possibility that Eren is not the main character. His past and the experimentation his father conducted might be the key to the story, with him gone it's up to the other characters to untangle. I'm probably over analyzing, he probably will live. If he does I wonder how he will compensate for losing an arm and a leg.

Kind reminded me of FMA. Ed loses limbs for trying to play god, Eren courageously sacrifices them for the sake of protecting his home and friends.

 

[thornofcarrion]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

I was like when that Titan ate Eren's mother. The main character is not very impressive. I mean the sketch of Eren is not so interesting. Some panels felt awkward. Overall the art is decent. It portrays the darkness of the plot.

I think Titan is something that was created by Humans as an experiment. I could be deadly wrong here. But something make me think that Eren father has to do something with this whole business. Eren is not dead, or eaten by the Titan. I speculate, his dad gave him something other than just losing memories. He, as a human, should not be able to match them one-one.

 

[Wocman]

Re: [FEATURED] Shingeki no Kyojin by ISAYAMA Hajime

Since people in the thread have already revealed what has happened to Eren? so far in the 1st volume. I feel that the loss of his limbs were purposefully done along with the flashback of him getting injected by his father. Meaning that maybe his father discovered the genes of a titan that give them their ability to regenerate limbs, and injected those genes into Eren along with maybe other titan abilities/genes? My speculation, but I hope Eren survives like some others want to believe and kicks some titan ass!