Attack on Titan #15-18

 Attack on Titan #15-18

Originally released in 2010

Written by Hajime Isayama

Art by Hajime Isayama

Picking up after the first major victory over the Titans, chapter 15 flashes back to when the main cast were in training to become members of the military. (These flashbacks were moved to the first few episodes of the anime; I guess they figured that getting to know the characters took priority)

A lot of characters are introduced at once here, which can make it a little difficult to keep track of.  I know from reading One Piece for years that I shouldn't search any character names online, even to double check them, as Google's autocomplete will hit me with massive spoilers, so I'll try my best to remember them.

There's the core trio of Eren Yeager (who's not particularly talented but determined to kill as many Titans as he can), Armin Arlert (who's weak physically but very smart), and Mikasa Ackerman (who's extremely talented but seems almost passive).  Sasha immediately stands out for me; she seems like comedic relief (eating a potato in the middle of the officer trying to intimidate them), but she's a fun character.

Other members training to join the military include Jean (who wants a cushy job as far away from the Titans as possible, causing him to butt heads with Eren on a regular basis), Reiner (who's big and strong), Bertolt (who's even more passive than Mikasa, often deferring to Reiner), Connie (a boy who seems younger than the rest), Annie (a serious woman who seems traumatized to the point where the officer doesn't even try to intimidate her), and Marco (who's thoughtful and willing to put the goal above personal glory, causing most of them to feel like he'll be a great leader).

Cutting back to the present day, Marco's half-eaten corpse is found in the aftermath of the hole in the wall being plugged, which seems to say a lot about the cynical nature of this manga. (Or maybe it was obvious that he wasn't going to survive the flashback when he wasn't shown in the earlier chapters; it's been a while since I've read the first fourteen chapters) 

Eren seems to have issues with Mikasa.  They get along well enough, but Eren seems desperate to no longer have to be protected by her, which Mikasa views as an attempt by him to make it so they aren't separated.  Part of me feels like this is going to cause problems further down the line, like Eren doing something reckless to show that he doesn't need Mikasa's help.

As they burn the dead, some of them can't help but feel that all of their training was for nothing, as every victory comes at a massive cost. Marco's death serves to motivate Jean to join the Survey Corps. (the group that Eren is so deadset on joining, which goes out into the wilderness despite the risk of Titans) rather than following his plan to make it to the interior.

Eren wakes up in a jail cell, where he'd been in a coma for three days after his Titan transformation.  At one point, he had an idealistic dream to leave the walled city, see the world, and be truly free. Maybe he still wants to do that at some point, but right now, his goal is to kill as many Titans as possible, which may extend to genocidal extremes. (I'm not sure if this includes himself once all other Titans are dead; if his existence is any indication, it's possible that every Titan was once a human or could change into humans, but that doesn't seem like it will stop him)

Levi Ackerman, a captain in the Survey Corps., agrees to let Eren out of jail and let him join the Survey Corps., even if it's just to keep a close eye on him if he turns out to be dangerous. This is where the volume ends. The flashback felt worth including - even if not all of the characters who were focused on seem relevant (there are two other trainees, a woman who feeds Sasha food and a man who takes advantage of Sasha's hunger to make her owe him a favour, who I don't think are named, though maybe I missed something), it's still good that the series took time to flesh out the trainees beyond the core trio.