THIS MAN OWNS MY HEART ♥ ( )

I love Attack on Titan and I love Levi! Getting to see Levi's backstory, meeting his old friends, and seeing how badly the army treated him. It shows how much of an underdog he is and how much harder he had to work to be accepted. Though he never wanted it to begin with...

Not to mention you get to see a lot of familiar faces...like Eren's old drill sergeant, Keith Shadis. You know, the dude that split the potato with Sasha.

This spinoff has 2 volumes. ( )

This takes place prior to the original Attack on Titan series. Survey Corps squad leader Erwin recruits Levi, Isabel, and Furlan from the underground slums because he believes they have great potential. They trained themselves to use the 3D maneuvering gear that they stole, something that's difficult for many Survey Corps members to believe. Erwin alsoensures that the Survey Corps continues to get the funding it needs to head outside the Walls and try his idea to reduce Survey Corps casualties (the long distance enemy scouting formation). During their first trip outside the walls with the Survey Corps, Levi and his friends do awesomely, much to the surprise and annoyance of the regular Survey Corps members that hate them.

I'll probably continue on with this series just because of Levi, but so far this is kind of dull, and Levi and friends are a bit too amazing right from the get-go. Keep in mind, theyhave had zero Titan-fighting experience prior to their first trip outside the walls with the Survey Corps, and they handle an Aberrant perfectly.

Isabel and Furlan practically have “cannon fodder” written on their foreheads – one of the drawbacks of setting a spinoff prior to the original series is that you know which characters don't carry over. It's possible that they just decide to quit the Survey Corps at some point, but, considering the Survey Corps' high mortality rate, it seems more likely that they'll die tragically. I'm going to guess that a good portion of this series will be devoted to showing how Erwin manages to thaw Levi and earn his undying loyalty, so staying interested in Isabel and Furlan is probably going to be a bit of a struggle for me.

This has much nicer (prettier?) looking artwork than the original series, while at the same time keeping the same character design style (other than big-eyed Isabel, who looks like a refugee from another series). The linework is cleaner and doesn't look constantly heavy and dark. So far, I like it.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

I think it's probably safe at this point to call Hajime Isayama's manga series Attack on Titan a worldwide phenomenon. It has spawned successful anime adaptations as well as multiple manga spinoffs, a series of novels, and games, among other media. Most of those have been, or soon will be, released in English, too. When it comes to the side manga, I was especially curious about Attack on Titan: No Regrets because so far it has been the only explicitly shoujo offering to be included as part of the franchise. (I was therefore very happy to receive a review copy.) The short manga series in an adaptation by Hikaru Suruga of a Nitroplus visual novel written by Gun Snark and supervised by Isayama himself. The first volume of No Regrets was released in Japan, and then soon after in English by Kodansha Comics, in 2014. Kodansha's English-language release also collects the story's prologue chapter, which was included as part of Japan's special edition of Attack on Titan: No Regrets, Volume 1.

Behind Wall Sheena lies the royal capital and the surrounding city where those who are lucky enough are able to live in luxury. But below it all is the Underground, where outcasts and criminals live in slum-like conditions. It's there that Levi and his two comrades Isabel and Furlan call home, but they swear to one another that one day they will leave their criminal pasts and the Underground behind and live up above. Their chance comes in the form of Erwin, a young, talented, and devoted Survey Corps squad leader. Levi's exceptional vertical maneuvering skills have caught Erwin's attention and after some effort he has caught Levi as well. Erwin offers Levi and his crew a choice: join the Survey Corps themselves, lending their natural strengths to humanity's fight against the Titans, or submit to the Military Police to answer for their many crimes. The decision isn't a difficult one to make, but being forced to join the Survey Corps against their will doesn't sit at all well with Levi; he plans to have his revenge against Erwin.

Arguably, Erwin and Levi are two of Attack on Titan's most beloved characters. (Not to mention one of the pairings that I've most frequently seen shipped.) There's a certain intensity to their relationship in the original series--it's obvious that they share a history and a past with each other--which means exploring their origins and how that bond developed in No Regrets makes a good deal of sense. Personally, I've always found Levi and Erwin to be particularly interesting characters, making No Regrets a welcome addition to the Attack on Titan canon. In the first volume of No Regrets their relationship is a volatile and antagonistic one. It's an extremely important element of the series, but the manga also explores who they are as individuals, which is just as crucial. Each in their own way, both Levi and Erwin are intimidating and formidable men. Erwin may actually be the more terrifying of the two--he's cool, calm, collected, and incredibly calculating--but Levi's more obvious aggressiveness and propensity towards violence also leaves an impression.

In addition to focusing on Erwin and Levi, No Regrets features cameos from a few of the other key players from the original Attack on Titan and also introduces new characters, most notably Furlan and Isabel. Granted, seeing as this is still Attack on Titan and that No Regrets already has a considerable death count, there's certainly no guarantee of their survival. All of the main characters in No Regrets, and to some extent the series' side and background characters as well, have very distinct personalities which are exhibited through their facial expressions, body language, and individual manners of speech. Suruga's artwork in No Regrets takes its cues from Isayama's original series but in general is much cleaner and consistent. Story-wise, the series exhibits an excellent balance between political intrigue and action, including fantastically dynamic vertical maneuvering sequences. For the most part No Regrets stands fairly well on its own, although those familiar with Attack on Titan will get the most out of it. I quite enjoyed the first volume of No Regrets and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Experiments in Manga ( )