Though the anime series manages to retain most of the content from the manga, Shingeki no Kyojin’s anime has a habit of moving things around. For example, with Ymir’s backstory in the anime, viewers were told about her past throughout flashbacks just as in the manga, but it was revealed much earlier than in the manga version. The anime does this a few more times, moving up specific moments earlier than they were unveiled in the manga. The main reason for this seems to be to provide more answers for those watching the anime, which is not a bad thing—however, it does provide these answers or backstory with less of the context the manga includes.

If you love the characters from Shingeki no Kyojin’s anime, you may like them even more so in the manga! A few of the more popular characters from the series have more versatile personalities in the manga, including Eren, Mikasa, and Levi. Eren has a bit more depth to him and doesn’t act quite as foolish in some cases, as well as displaying more attentiveness to Mikasa. Mikasa, in turn, is less obsessive about Eren and spends less time simply screaming his name in stressful scenes. As for Levi, he has more of a sarcastic personality in the manga, being less cold and distant with his comrades. The anime adaptation seems to have approached with certain tropes for some of the characters, particularly in these three, to reduce the amount of time needed for fans to get to know them, but it does mean we miss out on some of their likeability from the manga.

Meanwhile, those of you that love Sasha may be sorely disappointed with her depiction in the manga. Sasha actually has less of an appearance in events for Shingeki no Kyojin’s manga. Many of her lines in the anime series are actually brand new scenes or taken from other, less noticeable characters. Sasha’s increased involvement with Eren and his friends can be traced to unexpected popularity. She wasn’t expected to be as well received by fans as she was, and so the creators of the anime made her more involved because they recognized that people liked her!

Surprisingly, Eren does not win his fight against the Female Titan in the manga version. Though he eventually manages to overcome her in the anime, Annie destroys him soundly in the manga, resulting in Mikasa and the rest of the Survey Corps stepping in to defeat her. She does crystallize herself after this onslaught, but it is not as much a result of Eren’s personal doing.

Of course, the biggest difference between any anime and manga is the ability to view characters actually moving along with the world. We point out the Titans here specifically because they are the terrifying monsters and source of many questions throughout the course of Shingeki no Kyojin. While their appearances are quite scary in the manga, watching them move and run after characters in the anime adaptation takes their horrifying nature to a whole other level! You really do feel as if you are a part of the victims’ terror—though, hopefully, you never will be!