Review by Frank Plowright

Allowing for the flashbacks Hajime Isayama loves, almost all of Attack on Titan 6 occurred either in or near a forest where trees grow to previously unheard of heights, and where the giant Titans are known to congregate. The location doesn’t change. A survey party have been sent to explore the area. Some are trapped in trees with Titans beneath, while others have captured the first female Titan ever known. Armin believes they’re an anomaly, and their behaviour indicates that like Eren, the guiding intelligence could be a human within.

Before taking that plot any further Isayama supplies some speculation via troops concerning the idea that some human intelligence may also be guiding all the seemingly mindless Titans. The Captain certainly suspects so, and is also almost certain that someone within his core group is a traitor.

While supplying plenty of action over Attack on Titan 6 and the opening chapters here, Isayama has also been dangling a conflict he knows all readers want to see, and that finally breaks out halfway through as seen on the sample art. Isayama loosens the forms when Titans are involved, and especially during combat sequences, which are blurry with distorted, angular figures, serving to underline their other worldliness.

Consistent throughout this volume is the necessity of following orders, something the survivors are able to do with ease, while the rookies find it more difficult to put personal aims aside when there’s the possibility of a victory. As with other survey missions, casualty rates are high, and there’s a nice comment toward the end from someone ignorant of what’s happened, and just concerned with the money spent on surveys.

This is another exciting and unpredictable journey, setting up something different for Attack on Titan 8. That’s combined with this in the slightly bigger format paperback Omnibus 3.