Review by Frank Plowright

Until this volume the concerns of Attack on Titan have been relatively straightforward, even if the deeds and reasoning are more complex. That changes here.

Attack on Titan Omnibus Volume 4 ended mid-combat following the revelation of further traitors. Naturally enough, that’s seen through to its conclusion as it played out in Attack on Titan 13. It’s surprising, contains some distressing disclosures, and leaves uncertainties about allegiances. Thereafter, though the series takes a turn.

Until now the Survey Corps have operated outside the central city where the rulers devise policy. As the Survey Corps have been the focus, it’s meant that Attack on Titan has concentrated on a succession of battles against the giant Titans. Although it’s been a learning curve for both the Corps and readers, it’s begun to seem as if writer and artist Hajime Isayama was heading toward repetition. The bulk of this book, though, concerns political manoeuvring punctuated by small bouts of action in which the Titans are relegated to an unseen background threat.

We’re treated to speculation about why it is that Eren is considered so important despite having to be rescued time after time. In fact, the volume ends with Eren once again held captive. If the theorising is correct, though, it explains a lot of what’s been happening, and Isayama is smart enough to have Armin consider a natural extrapolation of the theorising that may otherwise have not occurred to readers.

However, in what’s quite the ensemble outing, it’s Erwin Smith, Commander of the Survey Corps, who emerges as the central character. He’s the only one with the clout to step right into the political fray and hold his own. There’s a magnificent sequence played out in front of the King, and smart plotting all the way through, making the change of tone as effectively thrilling as the battles beforehand.

If preferred in smaller volumes, the final two-thirds of the content originally saw print as Attack on Titan Volume 14 and Volume 15.