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Kodansha Comics Adds Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, No Regrets Spinoff Manga

North American manga publisher Kodansha Comics announced at its New York Comic Con panel on Friday that it has licensed two spinoff manga based on Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan manga: Satoshi Shiki and Ryō Suzukaze's Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, and Hikaru Suruga and Gan Sunaaku's Shingeki no Kyojin Gaiden: Kuinaki Sentaku (Attack on Titan: No Regrets).

Satoshi Shiki's (Daphne in the Brilliant Blue, Kami-Kaze, Riot) Attack on Titan: Before the Fall manga is based on author Ryō Suzukaze and artist THORES Shibamoto's (Trinity Blood) prequel light novel series of the same name. Shiki launched the manga in the October issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine on August 26. The first of Suzukaze and Shibamoto's light novels shipped in Japan in 2011, and the third novel shipped in June 2012. The story of the light novel series takes place before Isayama's original manga and follows Anheru, a member of the Survey Corps who works in weapons development. Anheru is tired of seeing the corpses of his fellow Survey Corps members, and is working to design equipment that will allow humans to be able to kill Titans. Thus far, no one has been able to find out the weak point of the Titans, and so no one has managed to kill one. However, government conservatives think that fighting against Titans is unnecessary, and order the dissolution of the Survey Corps. Vertical announced earlier on Friday that it had licensed the light novel series. Vertical's light novel debuts in North America summer 2014, and Kodansha Comics will debut the manga version starting in spring 2014.

Suruga previewed the Shingeki no Kyojin Gaiden: Kuinaki Sentaku shōjo manga in the November issue of Kodansha's Aria magazine on September 28. The full launch of the manga will run in the magazine in November. The manga focuses on Captain Levi's past, including his first encounter with Commander Erwin and how he entered the Survey Corps. Nitroplus writer Gan Sunaaku (Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet) is in charge of the manga's scripts. Kodansha Comics will debut the manga in North America in summer 2014.

Isayama's original Attack on Titan manga depicts the battles between humans and the giants who now rule the world outside humans' walled enclaves. Isayama launched the series in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in 2009, and the manga now has 25 million copies in print. Kodansha Comics is publishing the manga in North America on a monthly basis until it is caught up with the Japanese releases.

Both Funimation and Crunchyroll streamed the anime version of the manga as it aired in Japan, and Funimation will release the series on home video next year.