Attack on Titan (2014)

[進撃の巨人]

Volume 15

Author/Artist: Hajime Isayama
Publisher: KC Magazine

Synopsis:
With Erwin being placed under arrest and the Survey Corps' numbers further depleted by the Central Military Police, the task of moving the rebellion forward falls to the new Squad Levi, but even in prison, Erwin is not without an ace up his sleeve.

Story/Characters:
I find it fascinating how Isayama can take seemingly incidental characters and bring them back to play a much bigger role in the story. We've seen it before with Reeves and Nick and now he brings back Marlowe and Hitch of all people. Anyway, it the aftermath of the messy dustup with Kenny's gang, our team doesn't get much time to work through the trauma before they have to push on. Erwin gets to show off his skills as the chessmaster, but the real highlight this volume is when Rod Reis plumbs the depths of Eren's memory and we get our first glimpse of what happened with Dr. Yeager all those years ago. Talk about your wham episode.

Art:
Things are pretty solid here. There's not much action to be had, but Isayama's art continues to improve. The very end of this volume, with the fragments of Eren's memory, though, those are some of the most striking panels I've seen in a while.

Conclusion:
Erwin's gambit is brought to its conclusion and what a glorious conclusion it is. We also set up the next thread of the story where we finally reveal what exactly happened after the fall of Shiganshina. There's enough punch in this alone for me to kick the rating up a notch. I can forgive people for not being entirely on board for this story arc (especially those who caught the chapters as they were originally released from month to month), but I'd say the payoff here is worth it.

Rating:
Own It