Attack on Titan Chapter 52 Review – “Krista Lenz”

Attack on Titan Chapter 52 Review – “Krista Lenz”

Before I start this, I’d like to make it clear that this review is essentially a trial run. If I can keep up with reviewing both Bleach and Attack on Titan, as well as the weekly Top 10s/Anime Reviews, then I will happily do so. However, if it turns out that doing all of that will be impossible, then I’ll stop reviewing AoT and focus solely on Bleach and my other weekly articles.

Inside the safe house, Levi is investigating how clean the place is, much to Eren’s annoyance. He then goes on to remind everyone present about their task – namely, blocking the hole in Wall Maria. Armin summarises the plan for everyone, saying that they intend to use Eren’s Titan form to plug the gap by having him harden his body, creating a huge statue that seal the hole. Assuming Armin’s plan were to work, it could theoretically be completed within a day.

God dammit Eren, you had one job.

Levi and Eren both agree to try this plan, but Zoë wants to do some experiments with Eren, presumably to ensure that he can actually use the ability first. Due to recent events, the cities have been getting rougher, and the peace won’t last for much longer. Despite the urgency of the situation, she still wants to keep Eren hidden for the moment. This is revealed to be because Pastor Nick was murdered.

In a flashback, it’s shown that when Zoë heard the news, the Military Police prevented her from entering the room where Nick was killed. The two members also mocked her, pointed out that investigating the murder wasn’t her area of work, and were generally being obstructive. However, when she was about to leave, she lied to them, telling the two soldiers that she was unaware that Nick had ever belonged to the Wall Church. She then continued to spin a lie, saying that he had been a friend who had fallen on hard times, and that she had made arrangements for him to use the room.

Strange minds think alike...

Leaving the two soldiers, Zoë confirms her subordinate’s suspicions that Nick was murdered by the Military Police, and says that the two soldiers tortured and killed him. Back in the present, she blames herself for his death. Armin asks how much he revealed before he died, and Levi asks how many of Nick’s fingernails were missing. When Zoë replies that all of them had been removed, Levi says that he most likely didn’t reveal anything, as people who refuse to talk would remain silent no matter how many fingernails were removed, but other people would talk as soon as one was removed.

"Getting real tired of your shit, Levi."

With this information, Levi states that there are two possible options: either they come out before getting betrayed, or come out by killing those who are betraying them. Zoë then declares that they should use both methods at the same time. Later, Connie is telling Eren about how he believes Ymir to be a horrible person for lying to him, when Krista argues with him and says that Ymir lied to protect Connie’s feelings. Eren then reflects on how Krista has changed since she told them about her past.

Or you could just tell everyone you're gay. Or am I misinterpreting?

When she was young, she helped out on the ranch where she was born, and her mother never did any work. When she learned to read, she noticed that in every story she read, the parents always showed love and affection towards their children. Given that she never spoke to her mother, she had no experience of this, and it’s shown that she had no friends either. When her mother was reading a book once, Krista went over to her and attempted to hug her, at which point she was thrown away. Afterwards, her mother asked why she hadn’t killed her, and walked away crying.

We here at OtakuNuts do not condone child violence. We do, however, find it hilarious.

A few nights after Wall Maria fell, she was visited by her father, Lord Reiss, who told her that she was going to live with him. When she was walking to the carriage, she heard her mother scream, and realised that they were surrounded by men. It appears that they were there to hurt Lord Reiss by killing Krista and her mother, and when her mother realises this, she denies being Krista’s mother. Realising that there’s no other way, Lord Reiss agrees, and claims that they aren’t related to him. For whatever reason, they decide to kill Krista’s mother anyway, and she dies wishing that Krista had never been born. Just before they were about to kill Krista, Reiss proposes that she be moved far away to start a new life under another name. At this point, Krista finishes her story.

Meh. Darth Vader did it way better.

Whilst this chapter did advance the plot, and filled in a few gaps in Krista’s backstory, it didn’t interest me as much as the previous chapter, and it seemed to lack momentum when Krista had her flashback. This was especially annoying considering that we had just learned that the Titans sighted inside Wall Rose had once been human, and it would have been interesting to find out more about how and why that happened.

Given that Nick is now dead, it would appear that there’s no-one to tell the characters why there are Titans within the walls, as it seems unlikely that Krista would know about them given her upbringing. The fact that the cities are slowly falling into chaos probably means that the squads will have their hands full, meaning that the heroes are pretty much on their own for the most part.

Why not? That's the British answer to everything.

As for predictions, it’s likely that the next chapter will involve Zoë and Eren experimenting to see whether or not Eren’s Titan form can turn to stone, and chances are there will be some problem that hinders his ability to do so. Hopefully we’ll see more of Levi and Erwin, as their part of the story seems to be revolving around how the inhabitants of Connie’s village were turned into Titans, and that’s currently the part of the story that I’m most interested in.

Confirmed Human Death Total: 158 people.

Good Things:         The interactions between the squad members.

                                The mystery involving Nick’s death.

                                 Most of Krista’s backstory explained.

Bad Things:             Lack of momentum towards the second half of the chapter.

                                 Krista’s flashback took up too much time.

                                        

Manga Rating:        5/10

ClayDragon:









ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at kyleroulston1993@gmail.com. The alternative is his Skype account at kyleroulston1993. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics. Accept no imitations.