As big and strong the Attack on Titan fandom has come and always been, there has been a major celestial character favoritism battle going on for as long as the main rookie cadet squad was first introduced. Specifically, there are two major sides that you have to side with no matter what. Welcome to the Annie vs. Mikasa debate. And with no stretching up, both characters have their ups and downs. Shingeki no Kyojin: Lost Girls made a huge contribution to this debate while it focuses on Mikasa and Annie on a deeper scale, presenting more information on their past and rendering them as human beingswith their own dreams, motivations, and fears. - Story (7.5/10): Spanning 3 episodes, Shingeki no Kyojin: Lost Girls dedicates the first two for Annie, a character that we haven't seen much of, especially on the last seasons (2 and 3 as of now), which was a total let down. The one shot takes place the day before her exposal for the titan she is, peaking on her daily routine, and it just happens to be an interesting case where she has to look for some rich man's missing daughter. They did a great job not only showing the soft and actual human part of Annie but also gave us a glimpse of the thug life on the lawless streets of Wall Maria. It seems the world inside is even more corrupt and rotten than the other side of the walls, and having a fragile girl (as she referred to herself while fighting Eren on some training flashback) take over a case that would normally exceed the qualities of a rookie such as herself puts her at a real-world challenge, both morally and faithfully. The two first episodes flow nicely and fast until you realize you already made it to the third and last episode, which is centered about Mikasa as she pictures what it would have been like if her mother and father weren't assassinated, would she still have met Eren? would they still be that close of friends? It was a bit messy and complicated if you don't pay enough attention as they timeline conflicts can really confuse you, I didn't sign up for Steins;Gate class complicated shows, but I was shocked nevertheless. - Art (7/10): The animation in Attack on Titan was always a core key, and a great one might I add. Everybody would go praising how fluid and fantastic the visuals are, but honestly, not so much with this one. And I can excuse that for there were minimal action scenes to focus on. The art style was normal, but well maintained and consistent throughout the OVA, never lazy or blunt. I would argue that the “No Regrets” OVA had better flexing on the animation, but that's another talk for another day. But don't give up, the two or three satisfying punches do take a thing or two from that glorious cake of an animation. - Sound (7.5/10): I really appreciate their choice of ending theme songs, the first two, there was an original ending song with both visuals and sound, focusing of course on Annie and her outsider friends. But what really added nostalgia to the mix was the return of the fantastic ending theme song of Mikasa from the first season of the parent series. The voice acting was great, again, Attack On Titan's cast was always great on this one. Unfortunately, there wasn't any opening theme song to start off the hype, but it isn't always necessary. - Character (8.0/10): This is what kept the OVA going, Annie had some great focus, the spotlight brought out the best out of her and gave us some deep insight into her life, and some sneaky peaks on her backstory. Before this, I really didn't give Annie many credits and wasn't even one of my top favorite characters in the series, but this was a rank-changer for her to me. Unfortunately, Mikasa's episode wasn't as deep as Annies, it didn't add anything special, to be honest, we already knew plenty about her, she only seemed to display even more affection to Eren. - Enjoyment (7.0/10): Most definitely, my second favorite OVA of the series after “No Regrets”, I enjoyed the heck out of what Annie had to offer, but not much with Mikasa's. There are in fact few intriguing moments with Mikasa, making her as sort of having some mysterious supernatural powers, they did it before and here they are back with it strong. - Overall (7.4/10): If you're either of both characters fan (which you should be), you should give this a try, especially for you Annie lovers, it's for her, more than a just irrelevant episode because they manage to tell more about her than the entire series did so far.

I was surprised to see this spin-off actually transformed into an OVA. It was a nice addition to those of us who were, at the time, waiting for Season 3 of the anime to premiere, but, as Lost Girls is not a work of Isayama's, the storytelling and character writing certainly does not live up to its original creator. I enjoyed Annie's story much more than Mikasa's (even if Mikasa is my favorite character.) Annie's story felt closer to something Isayama would write. I think the author successfully fit in a short story between major canon events and kept Annie's character true to her nature. Thetwo episodes given to her surely helped. Obviously, with the same artwork, voice actors, and music, it by all means feels like an Attack on Titan episode. The "Call Your Name" girl version ending was well done and a delightful tribute. It is Mikasa's story that I am a bit more disappointed with. Her story is reduced to one episode, and it shows, as the pacing is more rushed. That being said, I don't enjoy Mikasa's story much to begin with. It is not a story placed in between canon events like Annie's, but rather an alternative universe headcanon that only exists to show again and again Mikasa's undying loyalty toward Eren. It is unfortunate to see that, considering she is my favorite Attack on Titan character. I would've enjoyed a story similar to Annie's for her, or better yet, at least see her also given two episodes for a proper adaption of her story. Lost Girls, while including two well-known female characters from the franchise, is obviously not on par with actual Attack on Titan episodes. That being said, it was still enjoyable seeing these characters in action in something different from canon, and with the continuity of the artwork, voice actresses, and soundtrack, it still manages to be a pretty enjoyable OVA for the franchise.

"Maybe it's because they don't know that once you lose something, you can never get it back again." Attack on Titan: Lost Girls is another OVA which feels integral to the plot and development of it's characters that I'm equally as amazed that it never got an official localisation. As Annie is my favourite character from this show I'm certainly happy she got an episode all to herself exploring a day in the life of her role in the Military Police. It adds much more to her character that is painfully glossed over in the main show for the most part and even provides the hints tothe great depth of her own story, even hinting at the then unknown twists from Season 3. It's just remarkable storytelling. While I do enjoy the Mikasa episode from this trilogy, it certainly didn't provide me with anything new but still was a great watch. As with most of Titan, it's equal parts visually gorgeous and emotionally heart wrenching. I cannot recommend this to you enough. "Sometimes you have days like this. Days where the most trivial little thing ends up getting you wrapped up in some big, annoying trouble. Today is a perfect example of that. So perfect, you could frame it and hang it."

A must-watch for AOT fans. This 3 episode OVA focuses on Annie and Mikasa and adds more back story and motivations to both characters. No spoiler synopsis: Annie's episodes focus on a detective case of a missing girl, and we get to see her backstory and motivation for why she wants to capture Eren. This backstory also shows the dark underbelly of their walled city, which we don't see much of in the anime. The only problem is it was too short and not flushed out enough. While Mikasa's episode shows her reason for wanting to follow Eren and why she sticks by his side. It's notas simple as portrayed in the anime and runs a lot deeper. I think this segment of the story is essential to gain a better understanding of Mikasa's character and motivations. Like Annie's story, the main problem is this 3 episode OVA is too short; thus, the pacing feels off/rushed. Overall, it's a solid addition to AOT's lore, and I would highly suggest it. 7/10

It's been a long time since I reviewed the first series of Shingeki no Kyojin. In that time we've gotten two more series, multiple films and OVAs. And since I've been reviewing so many rubbish OVAs recently, it seems an opportune time to remind myself that there are quality OVAs out there. Lost Girls is one that was bundled with the 24th through 26th volumes of the manga. I'll warn in advance, there will be spoilers for the first series of Shingeki no Kyojin in this review since they are a part of the OVA. Story: The first two episodes of the OVA follow everyone's second favourite Titanshifter, Annie, as she tries to solve a case about a missing rich girl so that her roommate will give her an opening to capture Eren. So, this is just before episode 17 of the anime. We get some glimpses into her past, her relationship with her father and how she trained. The third episode focuses on Mikasa during the battle of Trost when she believed Eren was dead. So, really early in the anime. It basically goes into her head and her private fantasy of a world where she might be able to be with her adoptive brother. Sweet Home Alabama intensifies. The two episode Annie story is really well done. It's compelling. Her investigation is interesting. It gives you a strong sense of her life in the Capital and her motivations. The Mikasa episode, in contrast, is mediocre at best. It's basically her getting into her own head and finding nothing of value. It could have been an opportunity to explore her relationship with her parents and regrets over losing them so young, but them being alive in her little fantasy is solely incidental and you barely see her interact with them. It's not interesting and it doesn't add anything because it's basically nothing in terms of the larger narrative and all it does is repeat what we already know about her character, or lack thereof. Characters: Annie really benefits from her story in this. We get to see facets of her personality that are normally hidden beneath her cold, collected exterior. We get a stronger sense of her motivations and how her upbringing helped turn her into the woman we see in the series proper. Mikasa's episode just highlights what a bland trope of a character she is. Which is unfortunate because this was an opportunity for her to be more than a generic action girl with a fixation on the hero who happens to be her adopted brother that makes her emotionally vulnerable. But that's literally all her episode focuses on. This is why Mikasa is rubbish. Art: You have to give Wit credit. They make this franchise in general look fantastic. The varied character designs look really good. The action flows well. Annie actually looks adorable when she eats a doughnut for the first time. And yes, it is an actual doughnut and not a misidentified rice ball. 4Kids doesn't even exist any more. Sound: Shimamura Yuu and Kitanishi Junko both give strong performances. Even Ishikawa Yui does well voicing Blanda. Certainly better than you would expect given the lack of character. The music is strongly composed. Ho-yay: There really isn't any. Christa and Ymir aren't in this with their adorable interactions. Neither are Levi and Erwin with their weird way of flirting that makes it clear they'll never admit they're flirting. Areas of Improvement: 1. This OVA would be better without the Mikasa episode. 2. If you must have an episode about Mikasa, at least give it some narrative or character significance. A story from her childhood that somewhat elevates her as a character so she's less boring. Or an aside about her activities during, before or after a battle that we didn't see before. 3. Stop pushing the idea of Mikasa and Eren as romantic interests. I get that Mikasa was adopted into Eren's family when she was nine and not born into it but that's still enough to make it creepy. Final Thoughts: Honestly, I would give the Annie episodes a solid 8/10 by themselves. The problem is that I also have to factor in the Mikasa episode, which is a 5/10, if I'm feeling generous. So, averaging it out, the OVA gets a 7/10. If you're thinking about watching it, I do recommend the first two episodes if you've seen the first series of the anime or more. But I'd skip the Mikasa episode completely because it's literally nothing.

Just to clarify, the first two episodes about Annie should be seen after watching Season 2 (or at least, it will make a more sense) and the last episode about Mikasa should be seen after watching Season 3 Part 1 (technically speaking but it's not a big deal as long as you've seen Season 1). I hope that's not too confusing. So there's some good stuff in these OVAs, mainly the Annie episodes. Annie playing detective and doing some great close-quarters-combat is pretty cool. Also she tells some low-lifes as they're cooking over a fire in the slum if they have a permit for a fire,which sounds like a modern-day UK joke, "Oi, you got a loicense for that fire?" It does a good job of having a fun, kind of pulpy detective story with her, but also seeing how she doesn't have the heart of gold to do the right thing, but clearly is looking out for herself and wants this case wrapped up neatly so it won't get in her way with her plans for the day after. It doesn't bring any normal sense of justice to the situation, but seems to bring some peace, even to people who don't really deserve it. It may be about as good as it gets for an OVA story that can't affect the main plot and isn't written by the main writer. The Mikasa episode was less interesting as it's a fatalist, alternate timeline of events between Eren and Mikasa's childhood had her parents not been killed, but all the main aspects of the beginning of Season 1 still happen. "Nothing good can last," says Stratmann in the other episode. It's ok enough, but I agree with another review on here that a focus on her grief with her parents would have probably fit better for the frame of the episode, but idk. That said, as it looked back on the moment where it seemed like Eren was dead and Mikasa was first feeling grief over it, in a shaded, desolate, ruined stone city, and then a spotlight focus on an apple, it made me wonder, is AoT a new/updated Death Note? I thought the first opening of Season 1 had a look and edginess about death and blood that reminded me of the OPs for Death Note. And the more mental focus of this episode, with memories and timelines mixing, that began to bring me back to that Death Note territory. They both have a quality of a modern myth to them with harsh critiques and examinations about humanity in them, and a very serious tone for good or ill. This isn't some grand thesis but just a thought I had. You could add this to the Japanese anime butterfly meme collection if anyone remembers that.

A decent AOT OVA to say the least. This OVA is centered around Mikasa and Annie's character. The event takes place around episode 16.5 The story was solid. Episodes 1 and 2 were good but episode 3 is a bit of a downer. It takes place in Mikasa' s "alternate reality dream" when she decides whether it is worth living without Eren. The producers do a decent job on shedding their character details and who they are as a person. The characters that cover most of the screen time are Mikasa and Annie but there are some side characters such as Hitch from the military brigade.The rest of the characters are one time characters and aren't introduced in the show afterwards. Visuals are very good as usual. There isn't much for the visuals producers to work on since there was barely any action in the OVA. It's pretty much in par with AOT season 1. Not a necessary OVA but still a recommended watch.

*This review is written by an anime-only and contains spoilers to all of Attack on Titan* "When something must be done, it must be done, no matter what." These three OVA's have been a white whale of mine for years. I'd seen them discussed online and some clips inevitably made their way to youtube but to finally see them as season 4 part two is airing... Lost Girls follows the story of two of the series strongest female characters. Annie Leonhart and Mikasa Ackerman, as they fulfill their missions and look deep within themselves for what motivates them to keep going. It's fair to say everyone knowsthat Annie is the female titan. But as I write this, she is still trapped in a chrysalis of titan hardened crystal deep beneath the military headquarters in the interior. We never go to see or hear much of Annie in her own words. Most of what we know about her comes from the other Marleyan Warriors and flashbacks. To see how she carries herself, cold calculating and brutally efficient. While all the while the trauma of her past actions, the things she must still do, and what will come of all of it weighs on her behind those cold unfeeling eyes. She's just as terrified as they all were. We see her distract herself with a dirty job the MP's have passed up on for a week as a way to steel her nerves before going and capturing Eren during the expedition in season 1. Conversely, much like Reiner and Bertolt, she's conflicted by the nature of her mission. She does start to see the Eldians of Paradis as people and even helps them escape fate in their own ways. All the Warriors were just kids. None of them truly knew what they were capable of, or what they were going to be doing. Mikasa's section covers a moment in her life that stretched out to eternity. Eren was dead, Armin was hurt, Trost was fallen. Alone, out of gas, and with one dull shattered blade at her disposal she faces down a 15 meter titan. Facing the end she unconsciously invents a different time. One where things could have been happier. This episode has major implications for the ending of the series. Unlike every other episode of the series including the other OVA, ONA, and ODA episodes this one is unnumbered. It features events that have happened in paths through the coordinate, but at the time of this episodes airing we didn't even know what that was yet. Specifically the season 4 part 2 opening calls back to a white butterfly Mikasa observes during this episode. These details along with the monologue Mikasa gives speculating on Eren's nature and what he will do once they finally reach the sea establishes a major risk to everyone that the series is just now facing in episode 78. Keep moving forward. Because you were born into this world.

Personally, I think emotionally, this OVA doesn't reach perfection like No Regrets, but it does provide value to perfect the characters. Here is Annie and Mikasa. In terms of art and music, I have no opinion, because I don't see anything special compared to the TV version, but the ending song of the story about Annie is too good. It's like a connection to the story, not just an ending song. I would really recommend this OVA to everyone, especially those who feel like learning more about Annie, and confusing watching Mikasa behave. This will be the most satisfying answer for these two characters. To be honest,I had high hopes for Mikasa before, but the more I watched it, the more disappointed I became, fortunately, this OVA showed me a part of Mikasa. And thanks to that, I understand her better than before. About Annie, this story will surprise you. I don't think there is such a strange and good story like this in AOT. The only regret is that Annie's father, I had hoped he was involved in the disappearance case Annie was investigating. I mean the relation between the two families. Hope Carly doesn't meet any titans. I am quite concerned for her fate.

I want to start by saying the No Regrets OVA is better. That doesn’t mean that Lost Girls is bad or anything. I’d consider the two as pretty close in terms of quality, no regrets is only slightly better. I think Lost Girls is actually really good that gives both Mikasa and Annie more spotlight. Considering we won’t see much of Annie until the final arc and Mikasa is a great character. It’s really good seeing more of these two. The OVA provides a hooking narrative with great sound design, animation and characters. The narrative of Lost Girls serves to give Mikasa and Annie more screentime. Annie’s story serves to show more of her time in the Military Police, specifically her investigating a missing girl so that her roommate can vouch for her being gone while she is kidnapping Eren. The story of an investigation within the Attack on Titan world is fresh and interesting. It’s nice to take a break from the ODMG fights against giant humanoids. Annie’s story has more insight into the poverty stricken regions of the inner walls. The world building isn’t as good as No regrets but it is still pretty good. Mikasa’s story is an alternative timeline where her parents never died. This timeline feels far more surreal and Mikasa is no longer as powerful as she normally is. The conservative views of blocking up the walls happens and it appears as though the colossal and armoured titan never attacked. The alternate timeline gets far more surreal and morbid as it goes on and you can only feel really disturbed. The only problem is that the only world building we get is the politics of blocking the gates of the wall. The sound design has downgraded in this OVA, as the majority of the highlights of the soundtrack were the ODMG and the fight scenes, as well as the intense music of the OST. Which is not bad as a series can diverge from fighting and intense action scenes. However the sound effects that made the series sound design amazing was in that removed aspect of Lost Girls. Regardless of this, the recognisably soundtrack is still present and the voice actors still perform brilliantly. Mikasa and Annie’s voice actors portray the characters personalities perfectly. The soundtrack does a good job at conveying the more serious and slow pacing of Annie’s story. As well as the surreal mood of Mikasa’s story. Even though the sound effects aren’t as good as they normally are, they’re still pretty good. The sounds within the environment still feel realistic and make the world of Attack on Titan sound realistic. The animation of Wit studios is still top tier despite this being an OVA. Beforehand I’ve stated that the fight scenes have been removed as Lost Girls is a more story and character driven OVA. Regardless the animation is still really good. Solid line work, a good art style, characters blend into the environment, etc. Annie’s martial arts and her fighting while occasional is choreographed really well. Her character movements feel realistic but also powerful and brutal. The animation of Mikasa’s story did a good job at making the surreal vibe of the story that much more intense. Mainly because of how colourful it is and how happy the setting is made to be. I think this is because I’m so used to the disturbing world of Attack on Titan that when it’s shown in a colourful bright way it doesn’t feel right. It feels disturbing and kind of like the world is masking its horrors. The characters of the OVA are the highlight. Lost Girls give Mikasa and Annie more screen time and portray them in really interesting ways. It’s nice to see more of Annie as we won’t see much of her until the final arc of Attack on Titan. So seeing her have both more screen time and a deeper insight on her character was refreshing. We see that Annie is far more complex and sympathetic. She has a cold atmosphere but is actually sympathetic as she try’s her best to find the missing girl. Despite her inner self being heavily conflicted with actually finding the girl or not. We see Mikasa in a new light, we’ve seen Mikasa as somewhat emotionless and only displaying emotion when Eren is there. However, in this new timeline she’s like any other person. She experiences fear and joy like any other human. Emotions rarely displayed by Mikasa, so seeing this new display of Mikasa’s character was really interesting band made for a good story. An OVA that gives Mikasa and Annie more screen time was inevitably going to be good. The narrative combined with effective sound design and animation made for a great OVA. If you want to watch more of Attack on Titan, I’d recommend this and No Regrets. Overall, I rank this 7/10.

This OVA for Attack on Titan consists of two stories. The first story is about Annie and spans the first two episodes. The second story is about Mikasa and is the third episode. The story about Annie is great. It's about her solving a disappearance case and it's a great and interesting story to watch. It also adds to Annie's character which is mostly left unexplored in the main series. The two episodes about her story are marked as episode 16.5a and 16.5b to indicate when they happen in the timeline though I'd argue the best time to watch them is after finishing season 1since it acts as a spoiler otherwise. The story about Mikasa isn't as great as Annie's but could still be interesting. It's about Mikasa re-living part of her memories in an alternate timeline. The part of her memories that she experiences references scenes up to episode 13 of season 1 but there's some spoilers for season 3 too so you should finish season 3 part 1 before watching this episode. The animation, voice acting and music are of the same quality as season 3 of the main anime which means they're great. Overall I'd definitely recommend watching episode 1 and 2 since it adds a lot to Annie's personality and is just a great story overall. The third episode about Mikasa is less significant but I guess some people could be interested in seeing how this alternate timeline is explored.

The Lost girls OVA is a 3 episode series with two episodes dedicated to a detective styled story with Annie as the main character. The third episode is an alternate reality dream sequence the Mikasa has. The first two episodes are nice, there isn’t much hardcore action, just a few scenes with Annie brawling with thugs but the story itself is pretty decent. The plot was good and the mystery aspect was well done with some interesting side characters. The story was pretty grounded in reality with every character having reasonable motives. 7/10 The second story; just one episode long isn’t all that great. It is supposedlya dream sequence that Mikasa had when Eren’s titan made his first appearance and saved her. The story revolves in an alternate reality where Mikasa’s parents never suffered the fate from the original story and Eren and Mikasa get along as friends till their older. The story doesn’t really have a strong motive and gets dragged by the 2nd half, but still it is interesting to see that Mikasa at that time had already decided on Eren’s demise in the future episodes. 6/10 Overall, it’s a cool story especially if you’re a Annie fan or a die hard AOT fan.