What do you think?
進撃の巨人 Before the Fall [Shingeki no Kyojin: Before the Fall] #4
L'attaque des titans - Before the fall, Tome 4
A VILIFIED EXILE
After escaping what should have been certain death and defeating a Titan outside the walls, Kuklo and the Survey Corps make it back to the safety of Shiganshina, where the Military Police are waiting to arrest him for the murder of his former master Dario. But there will be no trial and no execution for the Titan's son. The MPs have a much crueler punishment in mind...
After escaping what should have been certain death and defeating a Titan outside the walls, Kuklo and the Survey Corps make it back to the safety of Shiganshina, where the Military Police are waiting to arrest him for the murder of his former master Dario. But there will be no trial and no execution for the Titan's son. The MPs have a much crueler punishment in mind...
184 pages, Pocket Book
First published December 9, 2014
About the author
Hajime Isayama
703 books4,844 followersJapanese 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
August 11, 2019
This was a lot better than the last 3. This one basically has our main hero in prison at the start, meet a fellow prisoner, and then thrown out into the fields to have them eaten. It's a survival game but for once it's actually scary for this book and you worry who will die. The ending slows down and there's still a bit too much weak dialogue, but pacing and excitement were better this volume.
May 5, 2024
Exiled to a near certain death Kuklo and a new companion..Cardinal..who he has an unexpected connection to try to avoid Titans..
Help is at hand though...
Help is at hand though...
December 20, 2017
A lot of filler in this one. It was a bit boring, but Cardina seems like a candid character :)
I really enjoyed reading the extra, 'Sharle's Shiganshina Diary'- it was very amusing.
I really enjoyed reading the extra, 'Sharle's Shiganshina Diary'- it was very amusing.
February 20, 2017
Well that was fun...and super terrible. A lot of almost dying scenes.
August 29, 2021
Oh god I'm binge reading these at a stupid rate help.
April 30, 2015
Kuklo and Gardina best duo hands down
October 7, 2024
First look at ODM gear! I’m also wondering if we are going to see them learn to kill titans at the nap of the neck?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2021
Lots of action in this one, and I'm quite interested in seeing how they learn to use the device!
April 8, 2015
~4/5
Is it just me, or do these books go by super fast? The page length is average, but these books take about half the time to read. I guess there’s less words and more action, but it seems ridiculous. It just makes me want more.
The beginning of the volume featured Sharle, trying to save Kuklo. And then we get Kuklo, locked up and mistreated, and then being thrown beyond the wall. He makes a fast friendship with another inmate, Cardina. And together, they make a plan to get back in the walls, with a little help.
I don’t want to talk too much and spoil the plot, but it was exciting. It’s very close, and death is definitely present. I like Kuklo, a lot, and I look forward to seeing what happens with him next. I hope we get to see him and Sharle together again, as it’s been a while, and I kind of love them. It was so sweet the way he worked hard to get back to her, and was relieved to hear that she was okay. My romance-loving heart just eats that stuff up.
The previous volume left me feeling meh, but this one has me all excited again, and I love it. I can’t wait for the next one.
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
Is it just me, or do these books go by super fast? The page length is average, but these books take about half the time to read. I guess there’s less words and more action, but it seems ridiculous. It just makes me want more.
The beginning of the volume featured Sharle, trying to save Kuklo. And then we get Kuklo, locked up and mistreated, and then being thrown beyond the wall. He makes a fast friendship with another inmate, Cardina. And together, they make a plan to get back in the walls, with a little help.
I don’t want to talk too much and spoil the plot, but it was exciting. It’s very close, and death is definitely present. I like Kuklo, a lot, and I look forward to seeing what happens with him next. I hope we get to see him and Sharle together again, as it’s been a while, and I kind of love them. It was so sweet the way he worked hard to get back to her, and was relieved to hear that she was okay. My romance-loving heart just eats that stuff up.
The previous volume left me feeling meh, but this one has me all excited again, and I love it. I can’t wait for the next one.
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
July 28, 2020
اپدیت ۱۸ آبان ۴۰۰-
این جلد شروع جذابیته. کاردینا یه شخصیت زیبای باپتانسیل جذابیت بصری و غیربصری اضافه کرد.
هنوز هم سیر وقایع جذابیت سری اصلی رو نداره اما ورود لحظه آخری خورخه و دستگاه معجزه آفرینش میتونه نوید بخش جذابیت تو پلات باشه.
امیدوارکننده بود در کل برای اینکه با علاقه بیشتری ادامه بدمش.
فکر میکنم سری پیش تا همینجا خوندم.
این جلد شروع جذابیته. کاردینا یه شخصیت زیبای باپتانسیل جذابیت بصری و غیربصری اضافه کرد.
هنوز هم سیر وقایع جذابیت سری اصلی رو نداره اما ورود لحظه آخری خورخه و دستگاه معجزه آفرینش میتونه نوید بخش جذابیت تو پلات باشه.
امیدوارکننده بود در کل برای اینکه با علاقه بیشتری ادامه بدمش.
فکر میکنم سری پیش تا همینجا خوندم.
December 6, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.
Cut from a titan's stomach after his cultist mother was eaten alive when he was still growing inside her womb, Kuklo bore the cursed reputation of being the son of a titan. He was locked in a cage as a toddler and treated as a circus freak to be paraded around. After years of abuse on the streets he was sold to the Inocencio royal family to become the plaything of their cruel son Xavi. Never taught how to speak or shown the love of another human being, Kuklo's life seemed destined to meet a gloomy end. That was until Sharle, the daughter of the Inocencio family visits him in his cell one fateful night and teaches him the warmth of another person.
Before the Fall takes a very different approach to storytelling than the main series. The high stakes action, intricate world-building, thrilling political undertones, masterful use of mystery and foreshadowing aren't really anywhere to be seen here. That's not to say the prequel is bad, it just tells a much more personal and self-contained narrative that serves to flesh out the lesser explored elements of the main series such as who was the first person to ever kill a titan, how the survey corps were formed and how the three dimensional odm gear they use to kill titans was invented.
The star of the manga in my opinion was Sharle. She threw away a life of luxury and safety to save Kuklo and rebel against the cruelty of her own royal family. She constantly puts herself in danger to confront the horrors of the titans, corrupt royals and rogue criminals. She uses her well-educated background to enlist herself in the service of a group of underground blacksmiths in order to improve their methods and create the technological foundation of the military gear that would go on to give humans a fighting chance against the titans. She was the backbone of the whole narrative and her influence had the biggest impact on the events of the main series. If not for her efforts, none of the characters in the main series would've ever had the means to survive. I also just really enjoyed her personality, the way she never discriminates against the lesser class and how she breaks free from the chains of her royal upbringing.
Kuklo was a decent character, but after he meets Sharle he mostly just feels like a generic Shounen protagonist. He's not bad, just mundane and doesn't really fit in with the overall complex cast, especially next to the secondary protagonist Sharle who ended up accomplishing so much. Some of the world-building doesn't line up with the main series such as titans being able to walk at night and them disappearing the second they're killed, but most of the inconsistencies were minor things that weren't enough to completely destroy the immersion. The limited scope of the plot and setting also made the pacing feel somewhat tedious at times because most of the drama is never taken beyond the walls of the cities, but it also made room for more personal time between the characters living out their daily lives together and really learning to put their heads together to help form a better world for humanity's last survivors.
Not nearly as good as the main series and it doesn't add that much to the world or overall story, but it's an enjoyable side story that gives you a better understanding of the basics regarding daily life in the walled cities and how the foundations of military power and titan-fighting capabilities came to be. It probably won't appeal to casual readers of the series, but it might be worth checking out if you're already a diehard fan of Attack on Titan.
***
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Cut from a titan's stomach after his cultist mother was eaten alive when he was still growing inside her womb, Kuklo bore the cursed reputation of being the son of a titan. He was locked in a cage as a toddler and treated as a circus freak to be paraded around. After years of abuse on the streets he was sold to the Inocencio royal family to become the plaything of their cruel son Xavi. Never taught how to speak or shown the love of another human being, Kuklo's life seemed destined to meet a gloomy end. That was until Sharle, the daughter of the Inocencio family visits him in his cell one fateful night and teaches him the warmth of another person.
Before the Fall takes a very different approach to storytelling than the main series. The high stakes action, intricate world-building, thrilling political undertones, masterful use of mystery and foreshadowing aren't really anywhere to be seen here. That's not to say the prequel is bad, it just tells a much more personal and self-contained narrative that serves to flesh out the lesser explored elements of the main series such as who was the first person to ever kill a titan, how the survey corps were formed and how the three dimensional odm gear they use to kill titans was invented.
The star of the manga in my opinion was Sharle. She threw away a life of luxury and safety to save Kuklo and rebel against the cruelty of her own royal family. She constantly puts herself in danger to confront the horrors of the titans, corrupt royals and rogue criminals. She uses her well-educated background to enlist herself in the service of a group of underground blacksmiths in order to improve their methods and create the technological foundation of the military gear that would go on to give humans a fighting chance against the titans. She was the backbone of the whole narrative and her influence had the biggest impact on the events of the main series. If not for her efforts, none of the characters in the main series would've ever had the means to survive. I also just really enjoyed her personality, the way she never discriminates against the lesser class and how she breaks free from the chains of her royal upbringing.
Kuklo was a decent character, but after he meets Sharle he mostly just feels like a generic Shounen protagonist. He's not bad, just mundane and doesn't really fit in with the overall complex cast, especially next to the secondary protagonist Sharle who ended up accomplishing so much. Some of the world-building doesn't line up with the main series such as titans being able to walk at night and them disappearing the second they're killed, but most of the inconsistencies were minor things that weren't enough to completely destroy the immersion. The limited scope of the plot and setting also made the pacing feel somewhat tedious at times because most of the drama is never taken beyond the walls of the cities, but it also made room for more personal time between the characters living out their daily lives together and really learning to put their heads together to help form a better world for humanity's last survivors.
Not nearly as good as the main series and it doesn't add that much to the world or overall story, but it's an enjoyable side story that gives you a better understanding of the basics regarding daily life in the walled cities and how the foundations of military power and titan-fighting capabilities came to be. It probably won't appeal to casual readers of the series, but it might be worth checking out if you're already a diehard fan of Attack on Titan.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
My Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/SorbelloHorror
My Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/michael.sorb...
February 10, 2018
Finally! I can get behind this series now!
I was struggling to get into this prequel series of Attack on Titan, and I believe it is because it just needed to take it's time to establish the setting and characters of this time period. I was just feeling impatient and unjustly comparing it to the punch the original Attack on Titan throws in it's first few issues.
I'm not completely sold on Kuklo and Sharle as characters, but I did really like Cardina. I love his sass and dismissal of what others think, and beat to his own drum. I like than him and Kuklo have partnered up because I think they are foils for one another, and I am enjoying that character development.
I also love that we are getting hints of the present Survery Corp of Eren's period. I am also enjoying the hints towards the latest reveal in the Attack on Titan story line that unless you are caught up, you wouldn't even notice.
They are establishing this series as it's own while cleverly and delicately tying it together with the orginal series.
I was struggling to get into this prequel series of Attack on Titan, and I believe it is because it just needed to take it's time to establish the setting and characters of this time period. I was just feeling impatient and unjustly comparing it to the punch the original Attack on Titan throws in it's first few issues.
I'm not completely sold on Kuklo and Sharle as characters, but I did really like Cardina. I love his sass and dismissal of what others think, and beat to his own drum. I like than him and Kuklo have partnered up because I think they are foils for one another, and I am enjoying that character development.
I also love that we are getting hints of the present Survery Corp of Eren's period. I am also enjoying the hints towards the latest reveal in the Attack on Titan story line that unless you are caught up, you wouldn't even notice.
They are establishing this series as it's own while cleverly and delicately tying it together with the orginal series.
November 22, 2017
I'm still not a huge fan of the art. At least the plot is picking up a bit. Kuklo finally makes a friend of a fellow prisoner. Along with other prisoners, they are exiled outside of the wall, which means certain death at the hands of Titans. Amazingly, Kuklo and his friend survive, and with the help of another, they escape within the wall again. Quick read.
October 2, 2021
This was definitely better than the previous two volumes. It included more story rather than action. Which made the story progress a bit more further. It made me look forward to seeing more involvement of the survey corps woth the main characters. However the main character is mostly spending his time in a jail cell or almost getting eaten by a titan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2022
Why I love this book.
This book has potentially so I have given it 4 stars I think the way it show the things they use in attack on titan like at the end they show the vertical manoeuvring gear at the end to show that they haven't learnt about the weak spot show how much effort and time went into this book.😀
This book has potentially so I have given it 4 stars I think the way it show the things they use in attack on titan like at the end they show the vertical manoeuvring gear at the end to show that they haven't learnt about the weak spot show how much effort and time went into this book.😀
November 30, 2023
Wooow!!! “The device”
Muy buena introducción del aparato que todos conocemos, me están empezando a gustar bastante estos tomos.
No me enganchan los personajes, salvo el gran capitán y su padre “el héroe”.
Muy buena introducción del aparato que todos conocemos, me están empezando a gustar bastante estos tomos.
No me enganchan los personajes, salvo el gran capitán y su padre “el héroe”.
August 6, 2017
the EMOTIONS the PLOT the SUSPENCE IS EVERYTHINGGG. The expressions are drawn so well and the style is so good yet the plot just keeps rolling
May 9, 2018
In Volume 4, some of the plot is finally beginning to come together.
January 3, 2019
The book haved amazing action
April 28, 2019
1.25 stars.
May 3, 2021
Well I never thought Cardina to be a good guy though. I like him.
Ps: Kuklo is a Cat!
Ps: Kuklo is a Cat!
August 28, 2021
Still enjoying it. 😉
October 1, 2021
Ahhhhhh
Fue increíble!!!!
Quiero saber más de esta historia
10000/10
Fue increíble!!!!
Quiero saber más de esta historia
10000/10
Read
February 3, 2022so that was the-device 😏
March 6, 2022
18/50
June 26, 2022
THE TENSION IS REAL
July 9, 2022
En este tomo ya la cosa cambia, me encanta la acción, emoción y temor. Es un tomo que tiene de todo un poco y se vuelve adictivo. Amo el nuevo personaje y adoro la nueva amistad que se forj
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews