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Torquemadras posted:That's what confuses me - it really is a great manga, but you really don't notice its qualities unless you stick with it for a while. Yet it immediately was a big hit, cracking the sales top ten and what not. Being one of the flagship titles for a new monthly shonen magazine published by Kodansha probably helped a lot too.
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Jul 1, 2013 19:04
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Torquemadras posted:I'm still utterly mystified how this manga could have the success it has. It has a slow-moving, carefully planned out plot, a very bleak atmosphere, horrible art in places and rather bland backgrounds. How the hell did this become a bestseller so early? Pretty simple actually. 1) A very strong fantasy element. 2) Very character driven 3) Avoids major cliches; often challenges them.
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Jul 1, 2013 20:17
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I think that it's partly that it has similarities with the zombie genre while being fresh in that retains a functional large-scale society and so isn't as rooted in the cliches of post-apocalyptic fetishism. And it's partly because the Titans are legitimately surreal in the Giger or Dali sense, not drawn from existing pop-culture. And it has enough underlying substance to keep readers interested once the novelty wears off.
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Jul 1, 2013 20:20
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DrSunshine posted:If this was Battle Angel Alita we'd still be in ZOTT! People give Last Order poo poo for ZOTT but it's still an amazing read when you don't have to wait years for the next tankobon to come out. It's so amazingly over the top and well-drawn.
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Jul 1, 2013 20:50
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The ZOTT also has its moments such as showing what human life would evolve into through moving to other environments and through acceptance of technology. It's really interesting from a sci-fi standpoint in that regard. Then there's the martial artist crawfish cyborgs.
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Jul 1, 2013 22:55
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Captain Invictus posted:The ZOTT also has its moments such as showing what human life would evolve into through moving to other environments and through acceptance of technology. It's really interesting from a sci-fi standpoint in that regard. It also gave us quite a bit of back story on the BA setting, and it's finally over too! Which reminds me, I need to catch up on BA.
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Jul 2, 2013 00:33
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TheKingofSprings posted:Honestly, having just read the manga after being exposed by the anime and loving it immensely, I have to admit the progression of events seems a littlr slow to me after the first Trost timeskip. We've had the fight in Trost, a flashback to the trainee days, a fairly brief ill-fated excursion outside the gates, the fight against Annie, and then Eren trying to go patch the alleged hole in the wall and subsequently being hauled off to Sesame Street by Bert and Ernie after the big reveal on the wall. Just wait until the years long farming arc*. Finding the basement is just the end of the prologue. *Farming arc is legitimately awesome, but has nothing to do with the Titan fighting that you came to expect.
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Jul 2, 2013 00:36
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As far as how it gained so much popularity - probably all of what you said earlier. It is quite popular here in Japan. One of my students was humming the theme song in class and everything (called him out on it to his surprise) and everyone's got their 進撃の巨人 folders or keychains or what-have-you. And not just here, but also over in Taiwan, it seems quite popular. The anime shops were running episodes of it on their TVs or playing the theme song. I'm not sure it was because of any intense advertising campaign or anything, I think people were just drawn in by the first few episodes, and hooked after Eren "died" (even if the very next episode ruined that). Gyges posted:Just wait until the years long farming arc*. Finding the basement is just the end of the prologue. The farming arc is almost as good as the vampire arc.
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Jul 2, 2013 01:15
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The farming arc is just there to setup them developing extra super muscles so they can punch Titan Horses to death in the next arc. Pacifistic Punches.
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Jul 2, 2013 02:25
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Shadow0 posted:The farming arc is almost as good as the vampire arc.
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Jul 2, 2013 07:24
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Shadow0 posted:The farming arc is almost as good as the vampire arc. I know the vampire arc was well received, but I personally didn't care for it much. I mean, I can buy a 30 meter Dracula, but have him turning into a 30 meter bat was just a little much.
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Jul 2, 2013 08:19
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Jackard posted:I get the farming reference but what is this? Gantz. There was an arc that introduced vampires as a rival faction who were trying to kill the Gantz teams. Then after the next arc they were never mentioned again.
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Jul 2, 2013 08:47
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Begemot posted:Gantz. There was an arc that introduced vampires as a rival faction who were trying to kill the Gantz teams. Well it showed the main characters brother and his death! It made such an impact...
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Jul 2, 2013 09:12
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It was a Bleach filler reference. I have been meaning to read Ganz though. (I was torn between that and making a joke about them spontaneously learning to fly making the entire beginning part of the serious pointless [which would have been another Bleach reference])
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Jul 2, 2013 10:45
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I'd say this moves remarkably fast for a monthly manga, and faster than most weekly mangas move in 4 weeks (which is still fairly slow by serial publication standards). A picture may be worth a thousand words, but most of those words are purple prose which should have been edited out anyway 
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Jul 2, 2013 16:09
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Begemot posted:Gantz. There was an arc that introduced vampires as a rival faction who were trying to kill the Gantz teams. They did get two vampires to 'join' the main team, later.
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Jul 2, 2013 17:58
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Schubalts posted:They did get two vampires to 'join' the main team, later. Who promptly vanished off the face of planet after one or two missions, with no explanation whatsoever.
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Jul 2, 2013 18:32
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I'm not getting the reference concerning a farming arc?
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Jul 3, 2013 07:40
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Philosopher King posted:I'm not getting the reference concerning a farming arc? I don't think it is one really, more a joke that they are going to have to get to farming like crazy the second they can get the outer wall back. I could be wrong.
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Jul 3, 2013 07:46
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Philosopher King posted:I'm not getting the reference concerning a farming arc? The main character spent the next dozen or so chapters working on a farm. The manga became, in all seriousness, Farming Saga. And it was awesome. I'll punch out the horse of anyone who says otherwise.
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Jul 3, 2013 07:53
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Go read Vinland Saga and become obsessed with another monthly manga.
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Jul 5, 2013 00:04
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the wait for 47 is loving grueling. When do chapters usually come out?
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Jul 5, 2013 05:36
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The Blackest Goon posted:the wait for 47 is loving grueling. When do chapters usually come out? The scanlation for 46 came out June 6th, so probably pretty soon.
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Jul 5, 2013 05:38
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The Blackest Goon posted:the wait for 47 is loving grueling. When do chapters usually come out? The usually get released/translated around the 5th-15th of every month.
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Jul 5, 2013 06:21
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If I am watching the anime and have just watched the episode where Armin stabs into Titan Eren to talk to him, where should I start in the Manga. Are there any parts that I've missed or extra manga parts that I should read?
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Jul 5, 2013 15:24
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Capsaicin posted:If I am watching the anime and have just watched the episode where Armin stabs into Titan Eren to talk to him, where should I start in the Manga. Are there any parts that I've missed or extra manga parts that I should read? Start from Chapter 14. You didn't miss anything, although the manga did the trainee arc as a flashback, so you'll see that again.
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Jul 5, 2013 15:28
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Partial spoilers and pics from 47 are floating around right now, the full raw and early scans should be out within 48 hours if history's any indicator. I don't want to drop hints until there's more context for the images but it looks pretty good! More importantly this chapter also has the latest popularity contest results and Levi took first by a two-to-one margin over Eren and Mikasa who were in a virtual tie for second. Sasha, naturally, is fourth.
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Jul 5, 2013 15:58
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EDIT: My question was just answered, whoops!
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Jul 5, 2013 17:50
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Mio Bison posted:Partial spoilers and pics from 47 are floating around right now, the full raw and early scans should be out within 48 hours if history's any indicator. I don't want to drop hints until there's more context for the images but it looks pretty good! Just about what I'd expect from a manga popularity poll. Mikasa is cool and all, but she really needs to start actually doing something to be moved up in my own personal list. Eren is fun just for the fact that he is a loving nutcase. So many shounen protagonists are full of either "I'll protect my friends" burning spirit or angst, his gleeful hatred and desire to commit genocide really makes him great.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:11
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It's pretty impressive that Levi managed to crush Eren/Mikasa in the poll. With 90% of these polls it seems like the protagonists are glued to first place, even if they're not that interesting.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:14
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Prison Warden posted:Just about what I'd expect from a manga popularity poll. Mikasa is cool and all, but she really needs to start actually doing something to be moved up in my own personal list. Eren is fun just for the fact that he is a loving nutcase. So many shounen protagonists are full of either "I'll protect my friends" burning spirit or angst, his gleeful hatred and desire to commit genocide really makes him great. Something like.. being awesome and kicking titan asses like noone else? Cake Attack posted:It's pretty impressive that Levi managed to crush Eren/Mikasa in the poll. With 90% of these polls it seems like the protagonists are glued to first place, even if they're not that interesting. Its kinda weird to me. I introduced this manga to lots of friends and Mikasa is the favorite character of 100% of then.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:24
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The problem with Mikasa is that she's incredibly one-dimensional. She doesn't care about anything except making sure Eren doesn't get his insane-rear end killed. She doesn't care about killing titans, and she cares even less about the fact that she's good at it. Even Eren, who is basically a ball of psychotic loving rage, has a motivation outside of killing titans in that he wants to see the outside world with Armin. Mikasa lives for, and will inevitably die for Eren and that's boring storytelling.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:37
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This would be a more relevant point if Levi wasn't riding the fangirl train to glory on the back of shipping, paper-thin characterisation and being the other character who can kill Titans with swords.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:41
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Lestaki posted:This would be a more relevant point if Levi wasn't riding the fangirl train to glory on the back of shipping, paper-thin characterisation and being the other character who can kill Titans with swords. Even if it isn't a lot, and his badassness and fangirl popularity is what helped him clear the pole, that's a hell of a lot more going on than Mikasa has. Mikasa is one of the three main characters and she has had less characterisation than Jean has had.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:59
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e: had to happen eventually. Quote =/= edit.
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Jul 5, 2013 18:59
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Vincent Valentine posted:The problem with Mikasa is that she's incredibly one-dimensional. She doesn't care about anything except making sure Eren doesn't get his insane-rear end killed. She doesn't care about killing titans, and she cares even less about the fact that she's good at it. Even Eren, who is basically a ball of psychotic loving rage, has a motivation outside of killing titans in that he wants to see the outside world with Armin. Man, if Mikasa dies I don't know how Eren will manage to get angrier. You definitely wouldn't want to be within like 5 square miles of him when it happens though, 'cause I'm pretty sure he's just going to turn into a nuclear bomb of rage.
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Jul 5, 2013 19:13
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Gyges posted:Man, if Mikasa dies I don't know how Eren will manage to get angrier. You definitely wouldn't want to be within like 5 square miles of him when it happens though, 'cause I'm pretty sure he's just going to turn into a nuclear bomb of rage. I often wonder, "how can someone be so angry? Can he get any angrier?" Somehow, anger finds a way. edit: Asura's Wrath spoilers I suppose if you give a goddamn about that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGTA3Q0UBhk&hd=1&t=440s Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Jul 5, 2013 |
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Jul 5, 2013 19:57
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Prison Warden posted:Levi does have more to him though. he's kind of a general rear end in a top hat in attitude, but cares deeply about the men under his command. He is loyal to Erwin, he is willing to take a gamble on Eren's titan power and will even back Eren up against authority, while being willing to kill him if neccesary. I'm aware of all that but I'm not sure it really amounts to much. Levi has no arc- he is just the badass mentor to Mikasa and Eren. He has no character development to go through because he is already a perfect soldier. His flaws don't matter to the plot, either- he is abrasive but his men loved him regardless and his attitude never gets him in trouble because he's too talented for anyone to care. And I think you guys are oversimplifying Mikasa. The Annie arc is of interest here- Mikasa ignores Levi's warnings and instructions to focus only on saving Eren and aims to kill Annie. This is in line with her earlier speech about how she's stronger than everyone else- she's actually pretty arrogant. After Levi gets hurt in that scene to cover for her, Mikasa reflects on her actions during the battle against Annie in the city and vows to 'take responsibility' and stop Annie. She is aware of her talent and periodically rouses herself beyond her personal interests to consider her wider responsibilities. I don't think she's a particularly deep character, but unlike Levi, she has genuine flaws that impact heavily on the plot and the potential for a real arc lessening her dependence on Eren and focusing on the bigger picture. We'll see if that story ever actually gets told.
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Jul 5, 2013 20:43
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New Chapter is up http://mangastream.com/read/attack_on_titan/47/1974/1
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Jul 5, 2013 21:22
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"Seeya, motherfuckers."
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Jul 5, 2013 21:33
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