Attack on Titan: No Regrets

進撃の巨人悔いなき選択 (Shingeki no Kyojin: Kuinaki Sentaku)

8.5(2)

OtakuDen

8.4(338,086)

MAL Score

Ranked #217

Popularity #444

Action

Episodes: 2
Duration: 27 min per ep
Aired: Dec 9, 2014 to Apr 9, 2015
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Years before he earns his reputation as the Survey Corps’ feared captain, Levi scrapes out a life in the Underground beneath the capital. Leading a small band of criminals alongside Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church, he survives on thin profits and even thinner prospects—until Nicholas Lobov, a prominent figure in the anti-expedition movement, offers them a way out. In exchange for citizenship on the surface, the trio must assassinate Erwin Smith, a Survey Corps squad leader.

When Levi finally meets Erwin, his talent doesn’t go unnoticed. Erwin presents a stark choice: join the expedition or be handed over to the Military Police for his crimes. With their target now within reach and their future on the line, Levi’s group presses forward with their plan, only to discover that life aboveground isn’t the freedom they imagined—and that the cost of escaping the Underground can be steep. Based on the spin-off manga, the story centers on Levi and Erwin’s first encounter and leads into the 23rd expedition beyond the walls.

Otaku Consensus

No Regrets is one of Attack on Titan’s better-regarded side stories because Wit Studio and Tetsurou Araki treat Levi’s origin as a concentrated character tragedy rather than bonus lore, with reviewers singling out the ODM action and the Levi-Erwin dynamic as the OVA’s sharpest assets. Its strongest adaptation choice is using two brisk episodes to connect street-level survival, military hierarchy, and the 23rd expedition into one clean arc; its clearest weakness is that the compression leaves less room for the manga’s supporting-character texture, and at least one reviewer found the ending less powerful than expected.

Why You Should Watch

Watch No Regrets if you want Attack on Titan at its leanest: no sprawling political roadmap, no long training arc, just a hard-edged prequel built around why Levi and Erwin’s partnership feels so loaded before the main story even begins. It scratches the same itch as the best early Attack on Titan set pieces: vertical-maneuver combat, military fatalism, and characters making life-changing decisions under systems that do not care about them. Viewers who like Vinland Saga’s focus on brutal mentorship and the cost of becoming useful to a war machine will find a similar charge here, but in a tighter, more kinetic form. The two-episode format also makes it ideal for fans who want meaningful franchise context without committing to another full cour.

Key Characters

L
Levi
This OVA is valued by fans because it frames Levi’s famous precision and emotional restraint as habits shaped before the Survey Corps ever made him a legend.
E
Erwin Smith
Erwin stands out less as a recruiter than as a strategist who recognizes talent, leverage, and human weakness in the same glance.
I
Isabel Magnolia
Isabel gives the story a warmer counterweight to Levi, and reviewers often point to her presence as proof that the OVA is not only interested in mythologizing him.
F
Farlan Church
Farlan’s appeal comes from being the group’s measured operator, grounding Levi’s Underground life in teamwork rather than lone-wolf iconography.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
Wit Studio’s treatment of ODM combat is a major reason reviewers compare the OVA favorably to the manga adaptation, with one review specifically noting that the anime is stronger at depicting Titan-fighting movement.
2
The production keeps major Attack on Titan staff in place: Tetsurou Araki directs, Yasuko Kobayashi handles series composition, and Kyouji Asano leads character design, giving the side story the same aggressive visual and dramatic grammar as the main anime.
3
The OVA uses a compact two-episode structure rather than a TV-length prequel arc, which makes the Levi-Erwin first-contact material feel like a pressure chamber instead of a lore detour.
4
Reviewers highlight an added moonlit conversation scene that was not in the original story, praising it for showing a more open, socially receptive side of Levi without softening his established personality.
5
The story’s reputation rests on the 23rd expedition lead-in, a franchise-specific turning point that lets the OVA bridge personal backstory with the Survey Corps’ larger culture of risk.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: No Regrets aired as two OVA episodes across a four-month gap, from December 9, 2014 to April 9, 2015, rather than as part of a standard weekly TV run.
Fun fact 2: The anime adapts a spin-off manga centered on Levi, and multiple reviewers recommend checking out the manga as a companion piece because it offers more room for the supporting cast.
Fun fact 3: Masashi Koizuka is credited in several production roles on the OVA, including assistant director, sub character designer, and prop designer, reflecting how tightly the visual pipeline was staffed.
Fun fact 4: AniList users classify the OVA beyond its official Action genre: Military and Male Protagonist both sit at 91%, Survival at 90%, Gore at 80%, and Class Struggle at 60%.
Fun fact 5: Its database reception is unusually strong for a short side story, with a MAL score of 8.42 from 338,086 votes and an AniList score of 83/100.