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Shingeki no Kyojin = (Shadow of the Colossus + Evangelion) / 2

Well played, Shinobu Kaitani, well played. Bringing Liar Game back from hiatus as soon as it got the Baka-Raptor Bump. A brilliant strategy befitting the creator of Liar Game.

Or so I thought.

Liar Game’s scanlating group announced it would delay the latest chapter of Liar Game in favor of some other manga I’d never heard of. One could only assume this was a profound lapse of judgmeHOLY SHIT.

Any manga with sustained popularity despite character designs this ugly (detailed ugly, not lazy ugly or “artistic” ugly) has to be good. I must warn you, however, the manga occasionally pulls a bait & switch with the ugliness for moé.

SnK is about humanity’s last stronghold trying to fend off giants that have already devoured 99% of the world population. Unlike all the giants with feelings in other anime, the SnK giants aren’t “people too”; they’re uninhibited killing machines. The balance of fear and awe they inspire most reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus, though they’re generally not as majestic. I’m also reminded a bit of Evangelion, not because of some boring religious symbolism or coming-of-age subplot, but because it has giant monsters that are trying to kill everyone, which is the true meaning of Evangelion.

Current Grade: ++

(With +++ potential.)

29 Replies to “Shingeki no Kyojin = (Shadow of the Colossus + Evangelion) / 2”

  1. Oh god, I generally decide what manga to buy from the covers, but hey this is a trap!
    After this one, I’ll definitely give a look at the content as well… 😐

  2. “Any manga with sustained popularity despite character designs this ugly (detailed ugly, not lazy ugly or “artistic” ugly) has to be good”

    Read this and wondered which category DMC fit into.

    • The giant was just minding its own business when a wall defending mankind’s last city showed up and started breaking itself on the giant’s foot. For some reason the humans assumed this was all the giant’s fault and tried to kill it.

    • I suppose it may have won a few awards here and there, all of which are trivial in view of the Baka-Raptor Seal of Approval. Insert crappy MS Paint job here.

      Your body/mind has plenty of time to get ready. Releases are monthly, so it probably won’t finish for another decade.

  3. Hey Baka Raptor,so you’re finally back from hiatus from anime/manga is it?
    Anyways I recently got in to this manga and it’s indeed very good. I guess it’ll be the next hit like Fullmetal Alchemist (which has some similarities like the military theme). And the characters are great too,Mikasa is one of the most badass female leads out there.
    I was wondering why this series hadn’t caught your attention yet,but it seems I was wrong 😛
    And it’s definitely +++ material!

    • I’m only on hiatus from anime. Manga’s still on the table.

      Shadow of the Colossus and Evangelion were just the first two titles to come to mind. To cover my bases, I could probably cite FMA and Berserk as well.

      I blame it on the title. There’s nothing about “Shingeki no Kyojin” that grabs my attention. If they called it “Attack of the Titans” or something to that effect, I surely would’ve noticed it earlier.

      • “I blame it on the title. There’s nothing about “Shingeki no Kyojin” that grabs my attention. If they called it “Attack of the Titans” or something to that effect, I surely would’ve noticed it earlier.”

        Funny man.

        ———

        Also I noticed you compared this to Berserk. I’m guessing in terms of realistic art style and low fantasy, as well as ‘significant character’ body count, right?

  4. A friend of mine recommended this to me and I blazed through it in a few days. I should have known he saw it here. What really scares me is that on the phone with him, I also compared this manga to Shadow of the Colossus as well, except that it lacked the sense of “Wonder” and the “Grand” nature that Colossus has. This world is blatantly Low Fantasy, and the people live huddled in terror. Regardless, I’m so glad something like this is razing and plundering its way to the top of the sales charts. I’m so fucking tired of manga where all the characters get off scott-free regardless of what danger they’re in. I miss LOGH sometimes, where 87 people can be introduced in the first 5 minutes of an episode, you come to know and love around 47, and then 38 of the ones you gave a shit about died. That’s what I call war. Anyway, you’ve probably heard enough of all this before so I’ll get straight to it.

    I’m taking bets on the next 3 significant deaths, in this order; Christie, Reiner, and the Scout Commander.

  5. I read this after seeing your post and it wasn’t too bad. The art was a bit distracting but it’s not like it detracted from the story or anything. Anyway it reminds me of this new manga that’s out called Kamisama no Iutoori. It has a bit of the “artistic ugly”, but gets really good for some reason I can’t seem to grasp. Was wondering if you would check it out and see if it’s as underrated as everyone including myself believes.

      • Then you read the right one. I wouldn’t recommend cliche shoujo crap unless it reaches lengths of so crappy its funny or pretty okay. I must say my fav part of that manga has to be Amaya. He isn’t your standard bat shit crazy person, but instead has his own potential to be epic for the weirdest reasons.

  6. This sounds an awful lot like Gantz after it actually got a story direction going and with a whole less interesting concept.

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