Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City Volume 1

I’ve always found myself having a very love-hate relationship with Attack on Titan. It’s a series that I took interest in because of the anime adaption but it’s never been one that I could really get into as I’ve never found it to be that well written. Despite me reading the manga monthly on Crunchyroll and enjoying it, my fondness for Attack on Titan never really grows. That doesn’t mean I don’t find the story interesting because I do, and that’s why the Attack on Titan novels excite me as much as they do. Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City Part 1 is perhaps the best Attack on Titan story I’ve sampled in a long time and shows how much better the overall story is when the characters are written well.

The story of The Harsh Mistress of the City is based around two childhood friends known as Rita Iglehaut and Mathias Kramer. Our two characters are from vastly different upbringings, with Rita being the daughter of an apothecary and Mathias Kramer being the heir to a merchant association. The two form a strong bond as they learn from how the other lives their life, with Mathias coming to realise that perhaps the lower classes aren’t quite as bad as he originally assumed and Rita realising that there are things she truly wants to protect in life because of Mathias. Our story takes place in a town known as Quinta, just after the beginning of the main Attack on Titan tale with the breaking of Wall Maria. Mathias has been safely evacuated behind an inner wall, while Rita, now a trusty part of the Garrison regiment, is facing off against the Titans as the rest of the town attempts to escape.

Unfortunately, with the Titans closing in, evacuating doesn’t work and as a result the town of Quinta is closed off until some of the pesky Titans outside the town’s walls are dealt with so that the people can get out safely. With all but the most rookie of the Garrison soldiers killed off while protecting the fleeing townsfolk from the Titans, Rita is left to keep the peace in Quinta as commanding officer – a task which quickly proves quite difficult when you’re not someone cut out for the role. Meanwhile, Mathias worries for Rita’s safety and devises a way to get back into Quinta.

The thing that shines through most with The Harsh Mistress of the City is that both Rita and Mathias are really strong and likeable characters and react how you’d realistically imagine people would when put into this kind of situation. Neither wants to be the big hero who saves the day and kills all the Titans, like Eren for example. When push comes to shove all they want to do is do their best for the people. Mathias doesn’t feel he’s suited for taking over the merchant association he’s destined to inherit but as the story progresses, and we see how he reacts to the people around him, it becomes clear that, yes, this is the right fit for Mathias. Likewise, Rita doesn’t feel like she’s the right person to be commanding the Garrison soldiers, even if only temporarily, but again it’s made clear that ultimately this is the job for her.

Up until now I haven’t mentioned the artwork in the book and this is for the simple reason of there not being a great deal of it to comment on. Although the novel is a 360 page book we’re only treated to three pages of art, and sadly none of them are really anything exciting. With Range Murate providing the illustrations for The Harsh Mistress of the City I was hoping that he’d have chosen to draw a few of the action scenes scattered throughout the book or chosen to try his hand at drawing up the Titans themselves. Instead we’re shown Rita as a child, Mathias, and another fairly simple drawing of Rita nearer the end of the volume. I can only hope for a little more diversity in the next volume as I’m sure that Range Murate could provide much better work than we’re given here. It’s certainly not bad by any means but it’s nothing to write home about either.

Despite being somewhat simple in nature, the story presented in The Harsh Mistress of the City is a compelling one. By the end of Part 1 I was left feeling excited for Part 2 and wanting to see how everything wraps up. This is all undoubtedly due to the story being written by acclaimed author Ryo Kawakami, as neither the original Attack on Titan, nor the other two spin-off novels were as strong. This story is perhaps also the most accessible to newcomers of Attack on Titan as you really only need a basic grasp of the original story to be able to understand everything that is happening. I couldn’t recommend it to people who have never read or watched Attack on Titan before, but provided you’ve read the first volume of the manga or watched the first couple of episodes of the anime you’d be safe to give this novel a shot.

Overall I think The Harsh Mistress of the City has left off in a good place. Things have started to get tough for our characters and although I have a good idea of where the story is going to go next, I’m invested enough that being able to predict the twists doesn’t put me off wanting to read more. The novel has ended up making me care for Attack on Titan a lot more than I previously did, which is certainly a welcome result. Existing fans and newcomers to the series will both find something to enjoy here and thus I’d happily recommend that everyone give it a shot.