Attack on Titan: Before the Fall 2

進撃の巨人 Before the Fall [Shingeki no Kyojin: Before the Fall] #2

by Hajime Isayama, Claudia Peter (Translator)

Im Kerker der Inocencios geschieht Wunderliches: Charle freundet sich mit dem »Titanenkind« an und will ihm zur Flucht verhelfen. Und auch Charle selbst hat bald allen Grund zur Flucht.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Science Fiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2014

About the author

Japanese name: 諫山創

Hajime Isayama (諫山 創 Isayama Hajime, born 1986) is a Japanese manga artist from Ōyama, Ōita. His first and currently ongoing serial, Attack on Titan, has sold over 22 million copies as of July 2013. He has mentioned Tsutomu Nihei, Ryōji Minagawa, Kentaro Miura, Hideki Arai and Tōru Mitsumine as artists he respects, but stated that the manga that had the biggest influence on him was ARMS.

Reviews

[Mario · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this whole volume could fit in one chapter. The plot is moving really slow. And art style can be so confusing. At some parts I didn't know what the heck was happening.

I will read next volume, but if it stays like this, I don't think I'll be continuing on with the series.

[Mahdiye HajiHosseini · Rating 3 out of 5]

اپدیت ۱۲ آبان ۴۰۰-
چیزی که باعث میشه ادامه بدمش جذابیت درگیری ادمهای بدون مانور سه بعدی با تایتاناست. وگرنه کنده، چندان منطقی نیست و در مجموع هم پلات کلیشه‌ای و آبکی‌ای داره.
امیدوارم که با نزدیک شدن به لژیون گشت یه کم بهتر شه.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well the good news is this was better than volume 1. The bad news? It's still rough.

This volume focuses on the escape of our main hero. He's the titan boy we've all come to love and know. Just kidding. Anyway he escapes with his beloved blond cliche anime friend into the world to find a, you guessed it, a titan! Well shit, that can't turn out well right? He's just a normal dude going face to face with a titan.

What I liked: The pacing is far quicker and better IMO. I liked the idea of showing out the units got together again to make the guards. It's their pre-badass stage when they get their equipment so basically just a bunch of sitting ducks. Also was cool to see that even the main character can get hurt pretty bad.

The bad: Well, it's got some really rough art that I can't tell what in the fuck is happening! I also think the leads are pretty boring. One just kind of there, the girl kind of there, no one doing much. Also the mentality behind the main lead is dumb.

So yeah, it's more entertaining than the last but I'm still going 2.5/5 and hitting it with a 2/5 because I KNOW it can be better and that's the worst part of it. So come on Before the Fall! I'll give you 2 more volumes to prove your worth!

[Nocturnalux]

Did you think Eren was dumb? Well, think again: the lead in this one is way dumber.

Sweet heavens. It's a great manga thus far but why, oh why, would he do half of the things he does...and why does the Survey Corps go "explore" anything outside the walls with no actual gear!

What is the plan here? Seriously, what is the plan?

They all set out and the moment they encounter a titan they of course had to retreat, immediately, because no only have they yet to develop 3D maneuvering gear as I'm not even sure they know where to strike a titan in order to kill it.

So the idea seems to be, "We go out on an expedition outside the walls, you know, where the Titans are but hope we do not find one. If we do, we scramble like mad back to Wall Maria because we have no actual means- at all- of killing a single Titan. Sounds like a great idea, let's go!"

Erwin's maddest plans had a greater survival rate than this!

[Michael Schmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mag die Story, aber ich finde immer noch, es werden viel zu viele Panels unnötig verschwendet. Der Band ist echt dick und trotzdem passiert eigentlich zu wenig, weil man oft drei vier Seiten hat, die wie eine Fillerfolge wirken. Trotzdem freu ich mich auf Band 3 xD

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m hooked

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primer tomo me pareció interesante, pero en este me he enganchado del todo: me encantan los personajes protagonistas y toda la intriga y acción te hacen querer leer más.

[Elyia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa. This is crazy! But I'm really liking these characters.

[Amber Hetchler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much going on with the plot, but it's only volume 2 so I'm confident it will pick up the pace soon.
Also, the art style makes it hard to tell what's going on with the action scenes. Sometimes I had to stare at the panels for a while, head tilted slighly, eyes squinted in puzzlement. It's difficult to see through all the blood flying and blades swishing. Sometimes I never even worked out what was happening and just had to continued on and hope it would get cleared up for me later. And it did, so it's fine.
On to volume 3.

[P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Attack on Titan and this paled in comparison. It was just really hard for me to accept that anyone would believe that a baby was a "son of a titan" for real. or even metaphorically.

[kim song ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 Kuklo & Sharle thoo >_<

[Tasmina Begum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too many thoughts here really but I found that the art style was confusing for this second book and because of this the story did not flow as well as I wished it would. The plot was not heavy at all but I do like where it’s heading for the third book.

Like the first book, I find it interesting to see how things work 700 years before erens story and how they tackle encounters with titans.

I really love Sharle and Kuklo, they’re both amazing charchters with unique personalities! It does make me sad that they’ve both lost so much and Kuklo had to endure so much hatred from others. Also so happy that Dario died :)

Side note - Kuklo is definitely not a Titan but definitely not as normal as a human with that super hearing of his.

[Lukas Keil · Rating 4 out of 5]

17.8.25

[lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

i swear half of these pages were RAHHHH across the page lmao CMON I WANT THIS TO BE GOOD SO BAD i’ll still read the next books idc

[Judyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

~4/5

[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]

I am rather unabashedly enjoying this series. There was some more depth developed from the first volume, and while it’s violent and a little horrible, there’s also a shojo element thrown in that I’m just plain enjoying.

I’m a shojo girl at heart, so I’m looking for and liking the budding romance between Kuklo and Sharle, as well as the development of both of their characters.

I like the way that Sharle made the decisions for herself, and how she’s doing what she needs to, with working and bandaging Kuklo. I feel bad for her, with the fact that Kuklo has to leave for a while, and she doesn't know how to help.

I like Kuklo. He finally really sees who he is despite what everyone has always told him in this volume, and he also makes a big decision not to give in. I like his discovery, and look forward to seeing how he toughens up later.

We’re learning some interesting history about the survey corps, and I can’t remember if any of this is mentioned in the original series or not, but I’m intrigued to see where that goes.

The cliffhanger was rather mean, so I’m eager for the next volume to see what happens next. The novel version is being released soon, too, and I look forward to reading that quite a lot.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story
Things are kind of moving too slow for me. I think if I was buying this, I'd be disappointed and stop, but since I'm borrowing them from the library I'll give the next volume a go if they pick it up.

There seems potential for an interesting story here if only they'd get on with it.

Artwork
The artwork here is definitely better than the main series, but I'm still not blow away or anything.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is it like to be the alleged son of a Titan? Are you strong willed? Do you have heart enough to stand up to your oppressors? I thought this was really great and then the action came and then it ended.

Major sadness to wait for book 3, but so far so good.

[L. Petunia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't like this story for some reason. I think it's almost like what a typical shonen manga would be if it wasn't as clever and unique as the original Attack on Titan.

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense. Hopefully something goes right for Kuklo. But I just get the feeling that in these mangas life is just shitty in general.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series.

Cut from a titan's stomach after his cultist mother was eaten alive when he was still growing inside her womb, Kuklo bore the cursed reputation of being the son of a titan. He was locked in a cage as a toddler and treated as a circus freak to be paraded around. After years of abuse on the streets he was sold to the Inocencio royal family to become the plaything of their cruel son Xavi. Never taught how to speak or shown the love of another human being, Kuklo's life seemed destined to meet a gloomy end. That was until Sharle, the daughter of the Inocencio family visits him in his cell one fateful night and teaches him the warmth of another person.

Before the Fall takes a very different approach to storytelling than the main series. The high stakes action, intricate world-building, thrilling political undertones, masterful use of mystery and foreshadowing aren't really anywhere to be seen here. That's not to say the prequel is bad, it just tells a much more personal and self-contained narrative that serves to flesh out the lesser explored elements of the main series such as who was the first person to ever kill a titan, how the survey corps were formed and how the three dimensional odm gear they use to kill titans was invented.

The star of the manga in my opinion was Sharle. She threw away a life of luxury and safety to save Kuklo and rebel against the cruelty of her own royal family. She constantly puts herself in danger to confront the horrors of the titans, corrupt royals and rogue criminals. She uses her well-educated background to enlist herself in the service of a group of underground blacksmiths in order to improve their methods and create the technological foundation of the military gear that would go on to give humans a fighting chance against the titans. She was the backbone of the whole narrative and her influence had the biggest impact on the events of the main series. If not for her efforts, none of the characters in the main series would've ever had the means to survive. I also just really enjoyed her personality, the way she never discriminates against the lesser class and how she breaks free from the chains of her royal upbringing.

Kuklo was a decent character, but after he meets Sharle he mostly just feels like a generic Shounen protagonist. He's not bad, just mundane and doesn't really fit in with the overall complex cast, especially next to the secondary protagonist Sharle who ended up accomplishing so much. Some of the world-building doesn't line up with the main series such as titans being able to walk at night and them disappearing the second they're killed, but most of the inconsistencies were minor things that weren't enough to completely destroy the immersion. The limited scope of the plot and setting also made the pacing feel somewhat tedious at times because most of the drama is never taken beyond the walls of the cities, but it also made room for more personal time between the characters living out their daily lives together and really learning to put their heads together to help form a better world for humanity's last survivors.

Not nearly as good as the main series and it doesn't add that much to the world or overall story, but it's an enjoyable side story that gives you a better understanding of the basics regarding daily life in the walled cities and how the foundations of military power and titan-fighting capabilities came to be. It probably won't appeal to casual readers of the series, but it might be worth checking out if you're already a diehard fan of Attack on Titan.

***

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[mk · Rating 2 out of 5]

i have to start reviewing things so that one site will give me advance copies.

anyway.

it's fine, i guess. entertaining enough if you liked the main series. chronologically this predates the fall of wall maria. two volumes in and so far the characters are nothing special. the story itself isn't super compelling. the mcs deal with thinking he's not human is silly. of course you're not really the son of a titan my guy. also like, how is he able to be so mobile if he's been chained up for 13 years. makes no sense. and if you want to see a titan so bad then just go on top of the wall like ???? no brain cells happening anywhere. i'll keep reading the next few volumes since i bought them already because i have no self control.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

We continue the story from last volume where he has to escape and he does until he is attacked by giant worshipping zealots and it becomes an awkward situation to say the least but he and charlie escape and he wants to see the giants and their venture to the walls was interesting, he teams with Carlo until they are attacked by a giant and seems like there will be more casualties. What will happen next? Interesting volume, good premise and story, action filled, character mysteries there and Charlie looking gorgeous, also Kyokoro seeing himself as a human and the mysteries regarding him is becoming intriguing.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the action sequences very hard to follow. In some frames, I had no idea what was going on. That was a bit frustrating to me. The artwork could be more clear.

I liked the progression of events. It needed to happen. I don't think I could go through another full volume of Kuklo imprisoned. No further spoilers, but the way it happened was quite a surprise to me.

It ends on a cliffhanger (like they all do, usually), so be sure to have the next volume on hand to read for when you finish this one.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.75 out of 5 for me personally. I rly do feel bad for Kuklo throughout this one. He just wants to learn where he "came" from throughout the books. Even Sharle was deadset on helping him even if it meant leaving behind everything she knew to help him. I will say I hate Sharle's brother Xavi a lot.

[Charon Lloyd-Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing I wasn't expecting was the unintentional comedy thanks to Kuklo accidentally firing a flare gun and the reaction from the Survey Corps may have made me burst out laughing, also kudos to the author you're putting Kuklo through the wringer already, I ain't even mad.

[Emely Munoz-Avila]

The titan's son had managed to escape away on the carraiges for the expedition. He accidentally set off a flare gun which caught the eye of a titan. The titan charges for the soldiers and manages to take some lives. The titan's son manages to get in the hands of the titan and stabs it in the eye.

[alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still liked this one, but I felt like things didn’t really ramp up until the end, with Kuklo finally outside the wall and encountering a Titan and realizing maybe he’s human after all. Also wish that Sharle had gone with him. We’ll see how vol 3 goes!

[sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

this volume was fine. kuklo is pretty dumb and makes some questionable decisions, but i guess that’s to be expected of a boy who has spent his entire life in a cage. hoping that things get better in the next volume. i’m kind of losing interest, but i won’t give up on this just yet

[Ben Nealis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better then the first one. I persobally still have a few problems with the drawings because sometimes you cannot tell what is happening. Still a an enjoyable read if you want some action.