Attack on Titan, Vol. 30

進撃の巨人 [Shingeki no Kyojin] #30

by Hajime Isayama

ONLY HUMAN

To activate the true power of the Founding Titan that courses through his veins, Eren must make contact with Zeke, a Titan of royal blood. Though Zeke has escaped Levi and the Survey Corps, he's made little headway before the Marleyan military and its Titan warriors attack. Eren pummels his way through the Marleyan trap and past his former friends, but as the battle rages, he stumbles into a situation far beyond what his brother could have planned.

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2019

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

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down, the CRAZIEST, most mind blowing volume of the manga. 💀🔥
- Eren and Zeke’s adventures in the limbo (featuring creepy little founder Imyr);
- Imyr’s /fucked up/ backstory;
- revelation of Eren’s true intentions (I never doubted my son, nope, not even for a second);
- Eren being a cunning manipulator aka total badass and taking everyone off guard;
- that HYPE and DIRTY cliffhanger.
Conclusion: the fact that SnK is one of the best series out there has been proven once again. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este volumen es EREN en mayúsculas. Lo que aquí se ha liado no tiene nombre, me parece casi una obra maestra.

Estoy hypeado, ojiplático, casi que sin palabras, completamente impresionado de lo mal que me ha dejado este tomo. De verdad que aquí es donde todo cobra sentido y se concretan las cosas, conectando cada cabo sin dejar algo suelto.

Sinceramente con esta sucesión de plot twits me queda alabar a Isayama porque el largo y grandioso viaje que ha representado Shingeki no Kyojin ha valido la pena, sin duda alguna. Es una de las mejores historias que ha parido el manga. La manera en que maneja el estado cíclico del odio, envuelto con el adoctrinamiento y a los extremos políticos que se pueden llegar por seguir una ideología peligrosa. La libertad; el derecho a ser libres desde que nacemos y no vivir encadenados por nada ni por nadie. El foreshadowing e ingresar los caminos, los recuerdos y el tiempo como una variable que puede cambiar las cosas. Dios, hay que leerlo y lo digo muy en serio.

[aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!????? WHAT THE FUCK!?!?????

[Moha Dem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when you think this will go this way it goes the other way around.
This man is a Genius.

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

These last few chapters has been a mind-fucking trip

AND CAN WE PLEASE BE LET KNOW WHETHER LEVI IS DEAD-DEAD OR ALIVE SOMEWHERE WITH HANGE I NEED TO KNOW

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW// violence, cannibalism

This volume was enjoyable, but it was also trippy and super confusing. It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to rate this one and I may change my rating in the future.

[lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You are not a slave. You are not a god either. You are just a human being."

I remember the good old simple days when the whole plot was about titans eating humans now and then. The last chapters had me a bit confused, but chapter 122 broke my heart in true Attack on Titan style.

[˚₊‧⁺⋆♱ giorgia at scusastavoleggendo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could wipe my memories and discover this for the 1st time.

[Lucy Tonks (the invisible life of a reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was for sure my favourite. What the fuck just happened? I'm honestly mindblown. Things are slowly starting to tie together as I'm getting nearer and nearer to finishing this manga and I'm not ready for the end. I'm not ready to be done. I don't want to part with these characters, but my need for answers is too great. As much as I don't want it to be over, I need to know how it will all end and tie together.

[Rodrigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los primeros capitulos bestiales de lo mejor del manga, el último recordando la vida del padre de Eren y Zeke.

[Kenny Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guys.

I don’t exaggerate when I say that this is, like, a masterclass in long-form storytelling. THIS is the volume where mysteries that have been developing since the FIRST issue came out (a DECADE before?!?) are answered, and in an immensely satisfying way. Every page of this volume is stunning, packed with emotional depth, develops the story in fascinating, unpredictable ways, and offers perfect closure for questions that I was scared wouldn’t be answered, much less in as perfectly satisfying a way as they are.

This is one I’d the best stories I’ve ever had the absolute GIFT to read and watch and I’m so grateful it exists and I don’t CARE if I sound like a dorky teenage weeb for saying it because this 👏 is 👏 immaculate 👏. Think the last act of The Empire Strikes Back but with twenty times the depth, stronger characters, more thematic resonance, and genuinely heartbreaking reveals. God I love this so much.

(Also, I’m reading this on the Nook app on my phone, and the number of screenshots I have from just freakin’ perfect, beautiful pages is very many 😌)

Can’t recommend it enough man.

[Henk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Full Metal Alchemist, this higher plane of existence were a battle for the nature of the world takes place
The brief note I had on this part was what the f*ck

[Mahdiye HajiHosseini · Rating 4 out of 5]

اپدیت ۱۱ آبان ۴۰۰-
این ستاره چهارم رو فقط به خاطر بک‌استوری دردناک ایمیر اضافه کردم. واقعا قلبم رو شکست که قدرت عظیمش هم باعث نشد برده بودنش رو زیر سوال ببره. آزادی بیشتر از اینکه از بیرون سلب بشه از درون انکار میشه تو کل سری. همیشه برام عجیب بود که الدیایی‌ها اینقدر راحت پذیرفتن گناه اجدادشون رو به دوش بکشن و این submissive بودن و خودشون رو تو ضعف گذاشتن مثل اینکه یادگار ایمیره تو خون سلطنتی‌ها حتی زیک.
بذارید ارن دنیا رو نابود کنه دیگه ⁦ಠωಠ⁩
از اون طرف مطمئن نیستم هنوزم قضایای خاطرات اینده رو فهمیده باشم. به خاطر زیک تاثیر گذاشت رو گذشته یا از قبل میتونست؟ وقتی به هیستوریا دست زد آینده رو دید؟ یا خیلی گنگه یا من خنگم دیگه.
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[Alexandra Elend Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

“You’re no slave. You’re no god. You’re just a person. You don’t need to serve anyone. You can be the one to choose.”

My goodness, what even was that?

I'm for sure gonna need a bit more time to process some of the information that was just thrown at me. Not like I'm not already used to it at this point with this manga/anime but, still, this changes the whole game to such a great extent.

The amount of answers provided in this volume is so incredibly satisfying and so perfectly on time with everything that seems to be beginning now... Which doesn't means that it didn't add more questions at the same time, because of course, it added more questions.

“I… have always been this way. Ever since I was born.”

With the amount of theorizing I've done over this story, I suppose some of them were bound to be accurate, which felt amazing, even though they weren't 100% spot on. I feel satisfied with the way things are panning out and the tone the manga is taking - that truly doesn't divert from the original one too much - because it's a natural escalation of things.

Truly, seeing everything move slowly to get to the point where we are now has been so incredibly amazing and mind-blowing so the hype I have for the new circumstances is real and a bit more than what I can manage since things are so hectic and, well, quite honestly messed up and screwed for literally everyone.

Nice place to be at.

How in the world anything will get resolved enough for the story to conclude still eludes me but I have it in good faith that it must since the last chapter is already out.

“It’s okay, Falco! Your big brother is always going to be with you!”

To keep with the long-time tradition in which I cry all the time while enjoying this story I have to say that, yes, I shared a few tears with this volume because it was so freaking sad and hurtful. At this point is no longer fair, really, that I'm still hurting with it.

I was so shocked, on one hand, with what was happening because I did not think the story would go there. And on the other hand, I was just destroyed by it because I knew it was gonna happen and I tried to prepare myself for it but, well, no luck since I was not prepared for it in the least and it was as devastating as I feared.

Wonderful, way to move the story forward and I do love that is so completely unapologetic with what a war like this would mean and its costs.

I'm honestly so scared for the future if there even is one, and at the same time, I'm looking forward to it. Perfectly Shingeki No Kyojin.

“Because I was born into this world.”

[shirley ♡]

I have no words

[Aliyah ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kid you not, there were like 4 major plot twists in this one book alone like damn..... DAMN

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the manga finishes its final climax, I realize how much I truly love this series. My heart breaks for Eren and the rest of the cast, but unfortunately, I don't think there will be a happy ending.

[Yeferzon Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una completa Locura lo que ha sucedido en este volumen. Una de las revelaciones más impresionantes de toda la historia. Increíble.

[Anne (ReadEatGameRepeat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my god...just....oh my god

[Bahar meow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eren: "If someone tries to steal my freedom away, I won't hesitate to take theirs."

[fireS23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

جمع نمی‌شود دگر آنچه تو می‌پراکنی!(منظور گوینده در اینجا پشم‌هایش است.)

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ch 119-122

After a year since I read the previous volume, I’m picking this up again after AOT has been hyped once again due to the new anime and final season...

I’m still not understanding everything lol (especially Yelena and Onyankopon’s roles in all this) but Eren seems to be going rogue but still on our Survey Corps side, though he’s doing it in secret and in his own agenda.

Damn, but the Attack Titan having the ability to see the future!! Though I wasn’t too surprised haha since Kruger managed to recall Armin and Mikasa’s names in the past, so technically we already knew. Just that it’s being said explicitly and Eren used it to his own advantage to persuade Grisha.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well into the end story here....and motivations become a little clearer after recent turnarounds.

The never ending back story continues..

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An action-packed volume focused on major revelations that break the status quo and unveil cataclysmic truths about the world and the motives of key protagonists.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a volume this turned out to be, as the brothers are desperately trying to meet they meet resistance as Eren is shot down but then again they make contact and we learn of Erens true intention in the landscape of Ymir and we go through Erens memory and see for real what led him to be this way, as the Attack Titan can see through time, he was the one who influenced his father in the past to take the founder titan and we see Zeke shocked through those revelations and we also learn of Ymir and who she really was and as a slave even in this hellscape/her domain and Eren says he will end it for her and seems like thats how he gains the power of the founding titan and thus other titans in the walls are freed and thus begins THE FINAL ACT! Just wow this volume was amazing, so many revelations and more, it changes literally everything we thought we knew about the series in just such a fantastic way!!

[Nərmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay that must be the best volume of the manga. With the backstories and crazy Eren, the manga gave us full package of adventure and feels. The ending is epic and the time travel part is confusing as hell. Hyped for the next volume.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! THIS STORY IS SO GOOD.

[Aitor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este es el momento en que la serie se vuelve una obra maestra.

Durante más de 100 capítulos, casi 30 tomos, Isayama ha estado elaborando una trama compleja que solo ahora comienza a adquirir todo el sentido. Tras tanta acción, política, debates filosóficos y peligros de la propaganda y el adoctrinamiento, por fin se resuelven los grandes misterios de la serie. El inicio del tomo es prácticamente perfecto como preludio a todo esto. Cuarenta páginas de tensión en estado puro con un Eren tratando de llegar a Zeke y todos los obstáculos en el camino. El abatimiento doble de Zeke, el ataque infructuoso de Galliard, el rugido, ese Falco transformado, el sacrificio interrumpido de Reiner, el sacrificio de Galliard, el asesinato de Eren por parte de Gabi y, finalmente, la cabeza volante de Eren, todo lleno de tensión narrativa llevada con mano experta cuyo final puede venir por cualquier parte. Espectacular.

Pero es que entonces llegan los capítulos 120-122 y la cabeza explota. Bueno, primero toca a Zeke, así que otro punto importante. Es un poco casualidad que caiga justo ahí, pero puedo aceptarlo por todo lo que viene después. El inicio del capítulo 120 es una maravilla a nivel artístico, con todos esos paneles torcidos suspendidos en un vacío negro, partidos como fragmentos de cristales y, entonces, un portal luminoso que completa ese vacío. Por fin se explica lo de la niña que moldeaba a Zeke y sucede una cadena de eventos destacable. En primer lugar, se recontextualiza la frase de Eren que recita "porque yo he nacido en este mundo" como reafirmación de la traición a Zeke en busca de un futuro donde los paradiseños puedan crear un futuro "haciendo nacer" a nuevas generaciones. En segundo lugar, se visita el pasado de Grisha, rompiendo por completo las expectativas de adoctrinamiento de Zeke, y entran nuevos debates: el mal inherente al ser humano con Eren, reminiscente de la teoría de Thomas Hobbes; la imposibilidad de reescribir el pasado pero la búsqueda de un futuro mejor con el poder actual por parte de Frieda; los peligros de la libertad... Toda una serie de temas interesantísimos que dan paso al gran plot twist de la serie: el poder de la Coordenada.

La causalidad invertida, empleada en series como la genial Dark, puede ser una adición difícil a cualquier guion a causa de su complejidad. Sin embargo, Isayama, de forma magistral, centra la posibilidad de este cambio del pasado a través del futuro en una línea inalterable únicamente en la familia real, de manera que solo puede influir en la vida de una persona por generación. Además, la causalidad invertida no permite reescribir ninguna línea; como mucho, devolver cada pieza al lugar que le corresponde para que la trama llegue a ese punto futuro. Todo cobra sentido con esta técnica de vidas interconectadas por los recuerdos: Grisha viendo a Zeke, sus decisiones, el título del primer capítulo (que indica que todo estaba pensado desde el inicio) y su correlato en el 122, el beso de la mano de Historia por parte de Eren... y espero que, en el futuro, la influencia de Eren en el pasado de Ymir.

Además de esta maravilla, con esa complejidad tan usual en el manganime japonés (que no sé de dónde viene, la verdad) pero con esa coherencia tan inusual en la misma industria (que solo unos pocos como Yoko Taro pueden dar sentido), el tomo cuenta la historia de Ymir. El capítulo 122, además de narrarse casi exclusivamente con dibujos, mostrando así el dominio artístico del Isayama de esta época, muestra los paralelismos entre la Ymir del pasado y la del presente, ambas humanas deificadas por el pueblo. La escena de las hijas de Ymir devorando su cuerpo sanguinolento es verdaderamente desagradable y pone al lector de lleno en una situación muy dura para la familia real, que debe perpetuar mediante el canibalismo su línea sucesora.

Al final del capítulo 122, por fin, llega el momento que cambiará el resto de la serie. Aunque no termine de entender por qué Ymir ha esperado 2000 años en un mundo donde no pasa ni el tiempo ni el espacio, las consecuencias para con el futuro son brillantes. Entra aquí la mitología nórdica que tanto anunciaban personajes como Frieda o, especialmente, esta Ymir. Además de seguir las leyes del destino escrito nórdicas mediante la causalidad invertida, por fin se comprende la relación de esa mitología con esta historia: Yggdrasil, el árbol que da la vida (con un ser más que verosímil en lugar de esa tontería del Diablo), sustenta 9 reinos (los 9 titanes que dividen el alma de Ymir) con Ymir como su diosa progenitora, que además es asesinada y devorada por sus hijas, provocando así la gran guerra entre los reinos (aquí, la Gran Guerra Titán) hasta la llegada del Ragnarök, esto es, "el estruendo que arrollará el mundo". La relación con la mitología nórdica permite a la historia adquirir nuevos matices que vuelven el conjunto más interesante y, además, plantean posibles teorías no del todo descabelladas. Ahí va la mía: en la mitología nórdica, el Ragnarök provoca la reencarnación de Ymir, la supervivencia de únicamente dos humanos, la caída de Yggdrasil, la desaparición de los reinos y el surgimiento de una nueva era con tres espacios (Cielo, Tierra e Infierno). Así pues, en Shingeki no Kyojin, la guerra terminará y solo sobrevivirán un par de humanos (espero que Armin, un Levi que ya no pueda luchar para cerrar su arco y, como mucho, Mikasa), los reinos desaparecerán e Ymir se reencarnará en Armin, que visitará una vez más Yggdrasil para crear un nuevo reino. Por otra parte, es posible que Yggdrasil, de manera más fiel a la mitología, caiga y se termine el ciclo, pero una historia así parece improbable con la insistencia de Isayama en la estructura cíclica de la trama, cuyos pueblos solo generarán más odio y en el futuro seguirán peleándose. De manera alegórica del ser humano, me parecería el final más adecuado. Veremos.

Por ahora, que quede claro que este tomo es increíble y que, si los siguientes mantienen el nivel y continúan adecuadamente con los temas plantados por este, Shingeki no Kyojin puede convertirse en una serie brillante a partir de su segunda parte. Las viñetas finales, con esa línea temporal mostrada a través del dibujo del portal arbóreo y la transformación de Eren, muestran que Isayama se ha convertido en un narrador y dibujante muy bueno capaz de transmitir una historia compleja únicamente en imágenes. Qué ganas de leer el final.

[Sima ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

so close to the end, WOW everything is going insane, all the characters went from an innocent children to them having no choice but to kill and even betray! and the fact that everyone is brainwashed doing acts while being ignorant about the truths is just a straight-up catastrophe.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting chapter. It was good to see the background of Ymir and know a little more of what Eren's plan is...I really shouldn't have started this until it was completed. The wait to see what happens is driving me nuts!

2020 challenge: A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club (Foxen Anime...Note that this isn't my favorite vlog, but I do like it in regards to Attack on Titan. My favorite vlog is about figure skating and doesn't recommend books)