Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan (AoT) is officially wrapping up with its final chapter dropping this Friday, April 9. And with the manga and anime series’ huge success, it will probably be marked as one of the best titles in recent history.
But as with all the notable stories that came before it, Attack on Titan will surely leave a void for the fans who have followed the journey of Eren and the Survey Corps in freeing humanity from within the walls.
To help you address this void, we have rounded up other manga and anime series that you should read or watch next!
The Promised Neverland
Story by Kaiu Shirai and art by Posuka Demizu
Read a free preview here | Watch it on Netflix
The Promised Neverland follows a group of children who are being raised at a remote orphanage called the Grace Field House. Here, they are loved and pampered by the caretaker they call Mama. But this will all change when Emma and Norman, two of the smartest orphans, discover Grace Field’s dark secret: that they are being raised as livestock for man-eating monsters. Together with their friend Ray, Emma and Norman must plan an elaborate escape to save all of the Grace Field children that they consider as family.
Just like AoT, this manga series begins with the simpler premise of escape and survival. But as the story develops, readers will get to learn that there’s a long history and lore behind their mysterious situation. The manga has been adapted into an anime series which is currently on its second season. However, some characters and story arcs have been omitted in the anime adaptation.
Claymore
Story and art by Norihiro Yagi
Read a free preview here
Like Attack on Titan, Claymore is set on an island where humans are plagued by monsters that feed on human flesh. Instead of the humongous titans, however, the threats in Claymore are the so-called Yoma which are humanoid shapeshifters. To exterminate these monsters, a mysterious group known as The Organization created the Claymore– female human-yoma hybrids who have silver eyes and superhuman abilities that are on par with the enemy.
The series follows the Claymore Clare and her comrades as they try to save humans from the Yoma, but with the monsters’ blood in their veins, their powerful upbringing can also cause the downfall of their own humanity. The manga series Claymore has already been adapted into an anime series.
Battle Royale
Story by Koushun Takami and art by Masayuki Taguchi
Some of the most harrowing and emotional scenes in Attack on Titan are those that depict the brutal deaths of the Survey Corps soldiers, some of which are close comrades to the series’ main characters. If you’re looking for a similar kind of reading experience then check out Battle Royale. Although take note that besides the gore, the manga also depicts rape and suicide.
Battle Royale is a manga series based on the novel of the same name by Koushun Takami. Set in a fictional fascist Japan, this manga series is about a class of high school students who are forced to participate in the military’s Battle Royale program. They are sent to an abandoned island and with a random weapon for each student, they must kill each other until only one remains. Battle Royale has not yet been adapted into anime, but it has been turned into a live-action film.
Fullmetal Alchemist
Story and art by Hiromu Arakawa
Watch it on Netflix
Another dark fantasy series, Full Metal Alchemist is set in a world where alchemy is one of the most practiced sciences. When their mother dies from an illness, the young brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric try to bring her back using alchemy. Instead, the transmutation left Edward with a severed leg while Alphonse’s body is destroyed. To bring his brother back, Edward sacrificed his right arm and was able to tie Alphonse’s soul on a suit of armor.
After the incident, Edward is invited by Roy Mustang to become a State Alchemist and he is given prosthetic automail limbs. Edward and his brother would then spend their days searching for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone in the hopes that it could bring them back to normal. The manga series has been adapted into an anime series twice. Its more recent adaptation, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, is more loyal to the manga series than its predecessor.
Tokyo Ghoul
Story and art by Sui Ishida
Read a free preview here | Watch it on Netflix
Before the story of Eldians and Paradis Island was revealed, Eren’s titan form was a puzzling curse since it was the giant creatures that destroyed his hometown and killed his mother. In Tokyo Ghoul, the college student Ken Kaneki undergoes a similar dilemma when he becomes the same monster that almost killed him.
Set in a world where flesh-eating ghouls hide among the humans, Tokyo Ghoul begins with Kaneki having a date with a girl named Rize, who turns out to be a ghoul. Kaneki barely survives when she attacks him, but after he wakes up at the hospital, he learns that some of Rize’s organs were transferred to him, turning him into a half-ghoul. Now, Kaneki must learn how to survive as a ghoul who hungers for flesh, while trying to still fit in the society as a human. Tokyo Ghoul has also been adapted into an anime series.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Story and art by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Watch it on Netflix
One of the most popular and acclaimed anime series of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion is iconic for huge anime fans. Like Attack on Titan, it involves a war between men and monsters, with its ultimate fate falling onto the hands of a young man named Shinji Ikari.
In a futuristic Japan where gigantic monsters called Angels are ravaging cities, a special paramilitary force known as NERV has developed the giant bio-machines called Eva to fight them off. During an attack, Shinji’s estranged father who is also the director of NERV, forces him to pilot an Eva. Without training, Shinji’s Eva goes berserk and brutally kills the Angel. This begins Shinji’s journey as an Eva pilot.
‘Attack on Titan’ Prequels
If you’ve just finished Attack on Titan, you don’t necessarily have to drop the franchise right away. You can further discover the rich world of AoT with the manga prequels Before The Fall and No Regrets. In Before The Fall, a mother who was about to give birth gets eaten by a titan. The baby was then found on titan puke, and would grow up as an outcast due to people discriminating him and calling him the son of a titan. Years later, the boy would join the Survey Corps to prove that he’s on the side of humanity.
Meanwhile, No Regrets gives readers a glimpse of Levi’s backstory. It follows Ackerman’s younger years in the criminal underworld living with his two friends Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church. It also details how Levi met Erwin Smith who recruited him into joining the Survey Corps. As of now, only No Regrets has been adapted into anime. It was released as a two-episode OVA.
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