Chapter 79: Perfect Game.
Setting up the amazing battle between the Scouts and the Colossal and Beast Titan in later chapters, Chapter 79 “Perfect Game” is another great addition to the Shiganshina arc.
Picking up with a fantastic panel of the Colossal Titan’s face as he destroys Shiganshina, the chapter immediately sets up the threat he poses, with even Armin having no idea how to beat him.
This causes him to hand over leadership to Jean and, in a last ditch effort, Eren tries to tackle Bertholdt at the end of the chapter… only to be kicked to the top of the wall.
On the other side of the wall the Beast Titan finally takes part in the action by throwing numerous rocks at the Scouts, killing many of them, all the while referencing Baseball.
While, this was darkly comedic, it is also interesting because it shows that wherever Zeke, the Beast Titan, is from they have baseball.
I wonder if we will get a twist like from The Village where it is modern day outside the walls but I think that would be jumping the shark.
Zeke referencing Baseball was not the only funny moment of the chapter though because Connie seems to become hysterical over how they cannot possibly beat Bertholdt, causing Sasha to slap him.
This is another thing I love about Attack on Titan because it manages to make you feel horrified one moment and laugh the next.
Overall, Chapter 79 was another good chapter that set up the epic next three chapters.
Chapter 80: The Nameless Soldier.
The first of the final epic three chapters of Volume 20, “The Nameless Soldier” was a fantastic chapter that really highlighted why I love Erwin so much as a character.
After watching the Clash of the Titans arc, I thought Erwin’s main goal was saving humanity no matter the cost but, with the Uprising Arc and this one, it has quickly become apparent that this is not the case.
Erwin actually does value his own life over others because he wants to see his father’s dream to the end, and all his talk about saving humanity has been him acting as “a conman” as he puts it.
This makes Erwin a much deeper character and when Levi decides to make the decision for Erwin, telling him to go and die for them while promising he will kill the Beast Titan, it was a powerful moment for both of them.
Unfortunately, this does not seemed to have ended well for Erwin because his suicide run ends with him getting hit in the stomach from the Beast Titan’s rocks.
Still, this development saw Erwin put aside his dreams for the good of humanity and was some excellent character development for him.
He also gave what I feel was the best speech of the series so far when he told the recruits it was up to them to give meaning to the deaths of the Scouts who had died before them and it would be up to whoever replaced them to giving meaning to their deaths.
It was also not just through Erwin that we saw the stakes of this fight because Mikasa got badly injured as well when she attempted to use the Thunder Spears on Bertholdt, only for his steam attack to launch them back at her and explode.
“The Nameless Soldier” was a great Attack on Titan chapter where Erwin truly shined with some fantastic development and where the stakes of this battle were truly shown.
Chapter 81: Promise
What an amazing chapter this was.
We got the potential death of Erwin, the surprisingly impactful death of Marlo, and the best fight of the entire series so far between Levi and Zeke.
To start off, it looks like Erwin is dead, having been hit through the gut by Zeke’s projectiles.
If he really did die then this was an epic way for him to go out but I do wish we had got some final moments with him.
The death of Marlo also really surprised me this chapter.
Not because he died but because of how impactful I found his death to be.
Marlo is a minor character so I never felt like I would feel emotional at his death, but seeing how he thought of Hitch and sleeping as he rode straight towards his death, only to get cut off as Zeke’s boulder blasted part of his head off was very impactful.
Then we have Zeke himself, who makes an interesting comment this chapter about his father.
I have been spoiled about who Zeke really is but it is interesting to see the groundwork being laid out and I wonder how the reveal will be handled?
After all of this, we not only get the best moment of the chapter but the best fight in the entire manga so far when Levi battles and absolutely destroys Zeke.
This was accompanied by some truly magnificent artwork from Hajime Isayama, who is really improving his style, as we see Levi hack Zeke’s Beast Titan apart in all its gory glory.
It gets even more disgusting when Zeke emerges from the Titan, only to get stabbed through the mouth by Levi.
This was so brutal and I hope it does not get censored in the anime, like some of the violence in the Uprising Arc was.
Unfortunately, before Levi could feed Zeke to someone by using the serum, the goofy Titan Shifter appeared and rescued him.
Then came the moment when Zeke yelled at all of his Titans to, “kill him!”
This sent shivers down my spine, even though I know Levi will probably be fine.
The chapter ends with Armin having regained his confidence as he and Eren prepare to face down Bertholdt’s Colossal Titan in what I knew was going to be an epic fight while Mikasa and the others went to fight Reiner.
Chapter 81, “Promise” was a brilliant chapter full of meaningful and impactful deaths, and had the best fight of the manga so far.
It is the perfect chapter.
Chapter 82: Hero
And I thought the last chapter was amazing.
Chapter 82 of Attack on Titan “Hero” is another brilliant chapter in the Shiganshina arc that really got the emotions flowing, featuring what may be another major character death.
The chapter starts off amazing, setting up the stakes by showing what Eren and Armin are fighting for as they are about to battle the Colossal Titan, with Historia, Hitch and Nile being seen elsewhere, showing all of their lives depend of this battle.
What follows are two amazing action sequences between Mikasa and the others scouts against Reiner, and also Eren and Armin against Bertholdt.
I really enjoyed the prelude to these battles as well, with Mikasa not giving in to her desire to help Eren and Armin so she can focus on her mission, showing character development.
Starting with the fight with Reiner, I will say this was a nail biting scene with a lot intensity because even Sasha got injured.
All looked hopeless until thankfully, Hange arrived to save the day, giving Mikasa the chance to finish off Reiner in a scene that felt very reminiscent of when she told Annie to fall.
I am so happy Hange is still alive but Moblit is nowhere in sight.
I hope he is not dead because he is a very likeable side character.
Then we get the fight between Eren, Armin and Bertholdt, which delivered on an emotional level as well as an intense one.
At first it looks like Eren falls of the wall by accident putting him out of commission.
This leads to Armin latching onto Bertholdt’s teeth with his ODM Gear and attempting to
withstand his steam attack, leaving him horrifically burned.
However, this is revealed to be all part of Armin’s brilliant plan because Eren uses this as a distraction to get behind Bertholdt and cut him out of the Colossal Titan, hacking off his limbs.
The chapter ends with him landing on a rooftop with Bertholdt, beside Armin’s burnt body and declaring Armin was always the bravest of them all.
This was an incredibly emotional scene that made me realise what the burned body was on the rooftop in that mid-credits scene of season three episode twelve.
Unfortunately, I have been spoiled about how this ends so I do not know if there will be all that much intensity since I already know what is going to happen, but I am still looking forward to seeing it.
“Hero” was a fantastic way to end Volume 20, delivering another five star chapter that makes me even more excited for what is to come.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 