Review by Frank Plowright

Attack on Titan moves at one hell of a pace. It’s apparent that Hajime Isayama worked out a near complete background to cast and situation before beginning the series, and the changes and revelations keep coming. Omnibus 5 ended with the entire social structure of the walled city wiped away and the military taking over, and before then Eren Yeager discovered there was even more to his ability to become a Titan than he imagined. Until now the story has been one of the Titans breaching what were thought to be indestructible walls and coming ever nearer the city, yet by the end of this volume an expedition has left the Survey Corps fully confident they’ll be able to repair breaches.

Isayama continues to draw people who seem to have survived on nothing but strong caffeinated drinks for the past five years, so many having a baggy-eyed, thousand yard stare to them. The men with dark hair are sometimes difficult to distinguish, but as this volume begins it’s Eren tied to rocks in a subterranean cave seemingly on the verge of being killed in the name of a family fued. As noted, though, events move rapidly.

For some while Eren’s mysterious father, research scientist Grisha, has been suspected of keeping secrets in the family basement, which is now out of reach due to the area being over-run by Titans. We do have a sequence, though, in which Grisha’s arrival in the city and his subsequent career are recalled. Other characters also undergo changes, none more so than the formerly timid Krista Lenz, who takes on a new role, while it’s also revealed that some members of the ruling elite have been altering memories.

This volume combines what was Attack on Titan 16, Attack on Titan 17, and Attack on Titan 18, originally produced in a smaller format, and Isayama’s storytelling wizardry is best experienced via what was the final of those paperbacks. Four chapters are very different in tone and intention, yet reveal much about the regular cast and about the city’s history. A mission undertaken to end the book doesn’t go as planned, and will continue in Omnibus 6.