Latest Attack on Titan manga update has fans reeling (because of course).
It has been recently revealed that a new chapter of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) is going to be released. The reaction to the news has been controversial: some fans are excited to get more detail about their favorite manga, and some just want the series to finally end for good.
The ending of the manga sparked a lot of controversy back in 2021, and the later released additional pages didn't help: it looked like nothing could satisfy the fans. This time, however, there's hoping that the new chapter will not raise that many questions because it seems like it's not going to be connected to the manga ending; rumor has it that the new pages will include a backstory of one of the Attack on Titan characters.
Before discussing fans' speculations and expectations, here's everything we know about the chapter.
An insider claims that it's going to have 18 pages, all illustrated by Isayama himself. The title is rumored to be "Bad Boy", and the story will revolve around the childhood of a certain character. The release date is set to April 30, 2024, and the first part of the story draft might become available at the end of October 2023.
The news about the name of the chapter and it being about one character drive fans to a logical conclusion that one of the Attack on Titan boys will be given more attention by the mangaka. But who?
Looks like the first choice of the fans is Levi.
It goes without saying, that this character is one of the most popular AOT boys, and he's always been a fan favorite, so he would be an obvious choice. Moreover, fans mention Isayama talking about a spin off for this character about a year ago, so it might finally come true. However, some feel like it might not be correct. Levi has already received a lot of attention in the story. We have seen a couple of flashbacks with his childhood, we know some details about his upbringing, and A Choice With No Regrets OVAs explain how he joined the Survey Corps. So even though fans would be super excited to see more of Levi, they feel like it would be unnecessary.
Another obvious choice is Eren, but just like with Levi, this character doesn't need any extra attention. First of all, he is the main protagonist of the story already, so there's no need to make the new chapter about him, and second of all, the boy has received plenty of recognition, and we know a lot about his childhood.
All of that led fans to the idea that Erwin might be the protagonist of the new chapter.
This undoubtedly intricate and complex character has never got the attention he deserved, and we've been given numerous hints that there's something more about him. Moreover, his father definitely knew something about the truth of the world, but we never got the chance to see what it was exactly. We know he was a history teacher, and he might have gotten all his information and ideas from the books, but there still may be something else. And even if we're not just speaking about possible mysteries that the Smith family might have known, we can't deny that gaining more perspective on Erwin's character and upbringing would be immensely curious.
Despite the new chapter being called "Bad Boy", some fans believe that we shouldn't only focus on the male half of Attack on Titan. It might be a clever ruse with the goal of confusing the audience. Some people suggest that Mikasa has all the chances of becoming the protagonist of the chapter. The girl has got a peculiar tattoo on her wrist that was mentioned quite early in the manga, but omitted until season 4 in the anime. The tattoo symbolizes her mother's clan, and reveals that the girl is related to the Azumabito family. This detail wasn't given much attention in the series, so fans think we might get more insight into Mikasa's origins and her mom's story.
Hange seems like another fan choice for the protagonist of the new chapter. Despite this commander not being a boy either, fans feel like this character might be an excellent choice for the spin off. Hange has always been extremely interesting, and fans agree that learning more about this character would be a fantastic idea.
There are also a couple of less likely choices. For example, some readers hope that the story would go deeper into Armin's childhood, but even those who would really love to see that, don't really believe that it's really possible. Armin is neither a bad boy nor a mysterious character, so there's probably no need for new pages specifically about him.
Some humorous and sarcastic replies to the news include the farmer Historia married and her child, but we think we can all agree that these ideas should be mentioned in comic contexts only.
No matter what the truth is, we just have to wait until 2024 for now to see the entire chapter, and hope that whatever the choice of the main protagonist is, it will add more detail to the story and give us one last chance to come back to our favorite world.