Bessatsu Shonen Magazine 04-2014
Previously on: Attack on Titan 54: Eren/Historia clone shows up again in Historia's dream. Rescue mission executed, Levi takes down a taller guy than him. A deal between the Survey Corps and Reebs company was established. The Central Military police guys are having a S&M party with Hanji and Levi. Erwin and Pixis negotiating about overthrowing the government!
So true.
Oh yeah, the chapter title Itami (痛み) means Pain (well, it's actually body ache).
Spoiler Alert! If you are gonna read this post, please read the actual manga first!
Warning! This chapter contains gore, graphic violence, blood and adult themes; torture.
Summary: We start with Erwin, accusing the King as the one who ordered for the kidnapping of Eren and Historia. Commander Pixis agrees for the assassination of the King however, he claims that he does not hold enough power to order his subordinates to fight with him. He gives Erwin a chance to speak his reason and if he is convinced, he will be the newest member of the Survey Corps but if all was for naught, he will have to take Erwin's life. Pixis argues that people would not see the purpose for the assassination of the King to be good enough and therefore rebels against them. He furthers this argument by explaining the purpose of Royalty; they are the symbol of humanity's hope, peace and security. Erwin rebuts this by saying that the grand master plan of his involves no killing. Before the deciding information comes, Erwin amuses Pixis with his past.
H8rz gonna H8!
Erwin's father was their local teacher. He asked his father a question forbidden to be discussed in public by the order of the King. His father couldn't answer it in class but he answered it back at home. He said that there were anomalies and logic holes in history books provided by the government. He told Erwin that Titan are made of people, and that the walls were made of Titans. The story Erwin just heard was jaw-dropping that he had to tell his friends about it. Later, soldiers asked about the origin of that story and found out it was Erwin's father. The government silenced Erwin's father to keep that fact from spreading. To keep the information from spreading, the King declared that any information about the outside world, forbidden. The reason they killed Erwin's father is for him to stop planting truths that could ruin the social hierarchy.
God rest his soul.
Erwin comes back from the flashback and continues with the astounding fact of Eren controlling Titan. This fact was the trigger that let the hounds to hunt Eren down and use him for protection of the rich and their statuses. This changes Pixis' outlook in Erwin's plans and leans toward them. This conversation was interrupted by a messenger delivering information that could greatly help their cause. Erwin promises no deaths and a few casualties.
Meanwhile, back at the S&M party hosted by Hanji and Levi; they have started to torture Sanes-san. The start of the torture session features no question and is all about pain. Hanji loving every second of this party while Levi prepares for what looks like an intense cavity search. The whole hideout is filled with Sanes-san screams of pain. The rest of the Survey Corps contemplate on their current situation.
The hiragana in this panel is the syllable "A"
The piece of paper from way back chapter 53 contains the plans for a coup d'etat. Armin, the defeatist that he is, speaks about the difficulty of their plan. He thinks of ways on how to get the masses on their side and help overthrow the current government. He comes up with a stupid plan that requires a death or two to frame the government for it. This humanly low plan is rejected by the whole group. Armin justifies his idea by saying that their enemies are humans that have a different idea, that they are not fighting for survival but fighting for humanity. He brings down morale further by saying that they might kill other people that have a different idea from them.
Mikasa is such a mom.
The torture party has been going on for a while now. Hanji has extracted all of Sanes-san's nails while receiving punches from Levi. Levi asks Sanes if the same was done to Pastor Nick. Hanji compares his nail pulling work with Sanes' and asks if it was on par with his work. With his words and Hanji's, this begins to be more like a vengeful act rather than an information extraction. Sanes speaks about how relationships, status and other things don't matter when protecting the peace inside the walls. He continues with asking Hanji and Levi about the peace they've taken for granted and how they maintained the peace through being the first correspondents to any conflicts. He begins to list the people who they have killed in order to maintain peace, one of them is Erwin's father and the other being Historia's mother. Sanes sarcastically orders them to be thankful for the things they do behind the scenes for the greater good. Hanji replies, thanking "them" for keeping brilliant minds and weapons from being created.
This was just... I'm sorry.
After a long conversation Levi prepares for the Q&A portion of BATSU GEMU (punishment game) with breaking the already crooked nose of Sanes! First question is; "レイス 家とは 何だ?" (Reisu ie to wa nanida?)" "What are the Reiss family?" Sanes denies that they are related to the Royal Family and describes them as only a noble family living in the sticks. With that, Levi asks the second question, "Are they the ones ordering the wall worshippers from doing anything near the wall?" Sanes didn't answer quick enough when Hanji pulls one of his teeth out. He says that he has never people enjoy torturing others and provokes them to hurt him more. This is turning more into an S&M party than a torture session.
Al Capone?
To help Hanji and Levi justify their torture, he calls this session a necessity as it is for the sake of justice. As if he's gone mad, he fully surrenders himself to pain and offers his life to the King. Sanes stands by his factions' action so far and has let go of hope. After Hanji and Levi leave the room in almost complete darkness, Sanes reflects and internally say goodbye to his comrades.
Sorry, this is just a dragging joke..
A familiar voice echoes, Sanes recognizes it as Ralph, his comrade that they have captured earlier. Ralph is seemingly obedient and has given the Survey Corps all of the information that he could give. Putting insult to his injury, Sanes hears Ralph's self-preserving side. The truth behind is that Ralph hasn't been tortured but has only been given a script to read naturally in exchange for his carotid artery not being slit. His acting was effective enough that it made Ralph look like a selfish human being that did not care about his comrades' life.The next day, Sanes speaks up and reveals that the Reiss Family is the real Royal Family. With this information now at hand, Erwin announces that his plan is executable in a clean way. Erwin plans to make Historia the new leader as she has Royal Blood running in her veins.
Oh BTW, information drop.
Likes: The whole chapter. Every information drop is just so good that this chapter almost feels like more than 60 pages.
I like how Erwin told Pixis of his past with his father and how he died in the hands of the Central Military Police. It also shows how ruthless they can be just to stop information from leaking. What story did Erwin's father tell him? How did he come to the conclusion that Titan are made from humans and walls are made from titans? I'd like to know more about the source of his information. Is it written down? From his grandfather? What more does he know? Too bad, Erwin's story was just about how his father got killed over that information.
Lil' Weezy
The Reiss Family being the true royal family? I kind of had the feeling that Historia's family was tied to the grand picture of authority. I just didn't know where she fits in this picture. Reiss does have a royal sound to it and her father was so secretive and had the Central Military Police escorting him. The question was, how high up Historia's father was in the social hierarchy.
Ralph's script reading. Oh he's awesome! Who would've thought that they were only going to torture one guy and not the other. Ralph is probably just as selfish as he sounds while reading that script because if you were truly to give your life for the king and for secrecy, you wouldn't be afraid to die and you would know that this script reading will make the other guy spill the beans. I'm sure it's probably a tactic that they've used before with the people they have silence. Still can't believe Ralph could just be afraid to die. Maybe he heard Sanes' blood curdling screams of pain that he was terrified at what they'd do to him. Enduring pain to protect information is kind of hard. On one hand, you'll feel an intense amount of pain for a long time; the other, the guilt of betrayal, the guilt of letting the torturers do what they want with the information. You are also not sure about the torturers keeping their promise. Will they keep their word or are they as sinister as their means to extract information? Let them torture you or speak up and possibly get tortured some more?
Reading Yaoi Doujinshi doesn't make you an expert with the male anatomy!
Torture scene, I'm not a sadist or anything but I love gore. This chapter, with it's bountiful torture scenes, just so good. Hanji's sadistic side is on full bloom and there're no signs of stopping. If it weren't interrupted, one of Sanes' balls would be crushed. Oh torture device, gives you the chills but you're fascinated at how the inventors of these cruel machines felt like as their inventions were used to hurt people. My love for the macabre just keeps adding up!
Dislikes: Too many words. I get that they want to use this chapter as an information drop but I feel like the chapter could have gone easier with the dialogue and focus more on action rather than speech bubbles.
I'm sorry this isn't funny... orz
Quirks: Armin's smile. He literally looks like someone who hasn't smiled all his life and tried to force a smile but it looked more like a smirk than a smile. He's just funny. Someone from the comment section in a certain video sharing website told me that Armin showed his true self in this chapter. I said that he was a defeatist ever since the story started. He didn't have any motivation at all and his makeshift plan was just a part of his attitude. I definitely want more about Armin's real personality and attitude towards this whole coup d'etat situation.
Eren's growing harem?
Predictions: Sanes tells us more secrets about the Reiss family and how they removed themselves from the throne and instead, become the puppet master. The false King might talk and say something that is unexpected because he looks bored of his life and doesn't have any kind of inspiration to do his job. He's probably gonna announce that he'll be giving the crown back to where it belongs; the Reiss Family. The Survey Corps would probably change hideouts again as the Central Military Police will be on the lookout for their missing comrades; either to protect them or to kill them as they have leaked information.
I can't say anything anymore. I ranted so much. I hope you read the whole post though. Tell me about your thoughts on this chapter? I would love to hear your opinions! Thanks! Mata Ashita!
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