Attack on Titan (2017)

[進撃の巨人]

Volume 22

Author/Artist: Hajime Isayama
Publisher: KC Magazine

Synopsis:
Grisha Yeager's secret journals reveal the truth about the world while Eren experiences his father's memories firsthand.

Story/Characters:
Well, I was eager to learn more about Grisha's backstory and this volume delivers big time. Now, if you're not a fan of talky chapters, this volume is going to be a little rough for you, but if you like me were intrigued by all the worldbuilding that was kicked off last volume, you're going to enjoy having the entire context for the series turned on its head. And, hey, we also get a title drop after all this time. We get the reveal of Smiley's identity, which is a huge bombshell, and we get a look into Ymir's past (our Ymir, not the original Founding Titan) from her letter to Historia. Floch isn't likely to win any friends, but his complaints aren't entirely groundless. Going back to Historia, it will be interesting to see where the new plot thread with her leads. Best of all, though, as the cover reveals, our gang gets their long-held wish fulfilled. Things are bound to get dire in the near future, so a moment like this is really nice.

Art:
Because there isn't much action this chapter, Isayama's best qualities don't have a chance to shine. He continues to be rather off when it comes to subtle facial expressions, but the more dramatic stuff is sufficiently impactful. I realize the practical reason for making the cell bars transparent during the confinement scenes, but it looks really weird and bothers me a lot for some reason.

Other:
Sweet. We're continuing the high school AU from last time in the fake previews. I'm really digging goth Mikasa.

Conclusion:
If the reveals of the previous volume had you hooked, there's plenty of new information to satisfy here. However, if you're not a fan of how the picture of the world has changed, this is only going to be digging deeper into the hole. Though it's a very dialog-heavy volume, there's so much good information here that I'm quite pleased and more than happy to recommend fans add it to their collection.

Rating:
Own It