Hi! Can you tell what the new junior high chapter is about if you don't mind? Why is Eren depressed? It's weird seeing older Eren in high school setting haha. Thanks.
Hello there! Thanks for the question because you reminded me I still had to read this chapter.
The synopsis: Shingeki Chuugakkou ended with Eren being able to complete his first year of middle school. It’s been 2 years since then, and he has finally started high school.
Points to pay attention to:
How have Eren and friends changed in high school?
Will Levi, Hange and the other upperclassmen appear?
How will the Marley cast make its appearance?
Will we ride this success and make a “Shingeki University”, “Shingeki Vocational School” and “Shingeki Office Workers” mangas, too? (We won’t)
The first chapter is divided into two parts: Eren hilarious fluff and Marley shenanigans under the cut. Spoilers for the chapter and for the Shingeki no Kyojin main manga.
The chapter opens with Eren and friends’ middle school graduation ceremony. Eren is apparently angry at Reiner, Bertolt and Annie for not keeping their promise to attend his same high school. They enrolled in a different school, Marley Academy. He’s happy, though, that he won’t have to deal with titans anymore.
However, after starting high school, his mood gets worse and worse. He suffers from Burnout Syndrome. Basically, fighting titans was his only purpose in life. Now that he has lost this goal, he has become depressed.
To the point that he can’t walk by himself anymore, he doesn’t even attend classes, so Mikasa and Armin have to drag him around in a cart because he’s too heavy. At this point, Mikasa has had enough of this and decides to search for a new life purpose for Eren.
In her mind, “food = being able to live” so she takes him to a restaurant and orders him a Cheese hamburger, since it’s his favorite dish. Unfortunately, Eren is reminded of how his hate towards the titans was born (they ate his cheese hamburger).
He can’t bring himself to eat, he wants to meet a titan so bad he starts trembling. Armin comments on how much Eren resembles a girl who has been rejected by her crush.
A wild Sasha appears (tiny unexpected mikasasha moment), so they leave the hamburger to her.
Then it’s Armin’s turn. He decides to bring them to a cat cafe (where Connie is working part-time), because pets should heal hearts, right? The cats also seem to be naturally attracted to Eren.
Aaaand, it seems to work, Eren starts playing with the kitties!
Eren: “Ki..kitty…so cuuute…” awwww
Armin again thinks about how much Eren is acting like a girl. (smh this manga…)
But when Eren gets bitten by one of the cats, he’s reminded that titans used to bit humans, too. It’s not a success.
Then they walk by a park, an annoyingly pompous Jean makes his appearance and tells them to ditch Eren and become his fans. Mikasa immediately declines and Eren finally gets up for the first time in a month just to kick Jean in the face, lol.
Anyway, every attempt is futile and they give up on finding a new life purpose for Eren. While Armin complains that he should have gone with RBA to that famous high school because their own school has too lax rules, Erwin and Nile (teachers) walk by. Apparently, Erwin got transferred to Eren’s high school.
Historia then contacts them, letting them know that something is happening at Marley Academy. She doesn’t know the details, but Ymir sent her a photo of a titan hovering above RBA. Eren finally gets up on his own two feet. Ends of the first part.
The second part starts at Marley Academy. Ymir is there and she doesn’t know why, lol. RBA ignores her.
The situation at Marley Academy though is quite…disturbing. Since RBA+Ymir are basically transfer students (Marley Academy is a complex of buildings that nurtures kids from kindergarten to university and students generally start here since kindergarten), they’re shunned by the other students. They have to wear an armband that differentiates from others, their class is out in the open and they generally have to undergo a harsh type of education. They’re also called “demons” by everyone, their homeroom teacher Magath included. I’m skipping the details because they actually made me uncomfortable…
Ymir, after just one hour, wants to contact Historia and change school. Reiner stops her. They broke Eren’s promise so they can’t go back to him. It’s a matter of pride, so they should just endure it until graduation.
We gets a small flashback of the moment Reiner told Eren about his decision of attending a different school. “Are you saying that you want to break our promise in order to go to a good university? So you can get a nice job and help your family…?” And yes, this is the reason. It’s the same for Annie and Bert.
Things are a bit different, though. We were led to believe Eren was angry at them, but that’s not the case! Once Reiner explained their reasons, Eren, at the end of their graduation, apologized to RBA and told them to give their best at their new school. Reiner can’t accept the idea of giving up, even though Marley Academy is overall terrible, because he doesn’t want to let Eren and his other middle school friends down.
After various shenanigans, a new transfer student is introduced. Another “demon”, a titan. Porco! Here he is nomming on Bert’s head…uhhhh wow
They don’t know what to do, but suddenly Ymir speaks up and tells she contacted Historia. Eren is coming to save them.
The splash text says: “It’s time to fight for the sake of your friends”
