As you read these lines, a story that has gained worldwide popularity and recognition over the last decade is coming to an end. Today, with the premiere of Attack on Titan – Final Season – The Final Chapters: Special 2the history of Shingeki no Kyojin concludes in animated format a series of surprising twists, the storylines of lovable characters and a world that creates metaphors about war, loss and freedom.
To commemorate this milestone, we look back at the origins of the celebrated creation Hajime Isayama. A work that will be included in the list of the most memorable of recent times.
An effective hook
Much of the appeal of Shingeki no Kyojin lies in its story: a recognizable conflict and subplots that enrich the main plot, a fantastic world with precise rules and solid cohesion, and an effective approach that begins in media relationsi.e. in the middle of the entire argument.
The hook was simple on its debut, but with power and dramatic impact. After being threatened with extinction, the remnants of humanity live in a walled city that denies entry to the Titans, man-eating humanoids that appeared from nowhere. There has been peace for a hundred years, but one morning thunder shakes the heavens and the earth; Then a titan larger than any ever seen appears above the wall. This threat shaking his world reminds humanity that he lives in fear and that those walls were actually cages.
“I wanted to create something short, simple and interesting when someone saw it. Making it complicated would alienate people,” says Hajime Isayama Attack on Titan Guidebook: Inside & Outside. Due to the length of the first chapter, he decided to focus on an event that would grab attention from the first pages. This is how the iconic image of the colossal titan looming over the wall from a bird’s eye view was created.
What are Titans and where do they come from? How can one defend against such a threat? What to do with hate after being the victim of a tragedy? These questions raise the fundamental secrets to proceed. They were solved one by one, with new questions for each answer. Until this twist, which revolutionized the plot and focused on an ancient war between two nations and its impact on the characters’ character and the motivations for their actions.
An intimate story
Isayama was a prolific writer with his work. Despite his withdrawn personality, he didn’t stop fighting for a chance. In 2006, when he was barely 20 years old, he came to Tokyo with the dream of becoming one Mangaka, although drawing, one of his greatest hobbies, said he always had problems. He believed that his work did not have the necessary quality by the standards of the medium, a self-criticism that was confirmed by several editorials.
“I visited many companies. They liked my story, but said the quality of the drawing was poor. I wanted to give up because there are a lot of people who want to become manga artists. “I didn’t think I could become one of the greats,” Isayama admitted in an interview with the BBC.
When a Kōdansha editor finally expressed interest Shingeki no KyojinIsayama had such low self-esteem that he thought, “What’s wrong with this guy?”
The themes within the work are closely linked to his own biography, and perhaps this emotional honesty made it easier to identify with readers. In an interview with NHK, The author revealed that his childhood carried feelings of inferiority towards his surroundings: both physically due to the mountains that surrounded Hita, the town where he grew up, which made him wonder what lay beyond those mountains; as social, as he often lost skills or failed to demonstrate his abilities. The desire to change his way of life motivated him to leave Ōita Prefecture: “It was not ambition that drove me. “I felt inferior, a certain frustration,” he remembers..
The first conceptual influence for manga (above) was Muv Luv alternative, an adult visual novel about an alien invasion that nearly wipes out humanity. Later, there were his bad experiences in Tokyo with drunk and angry customers in an internet cafe where he worked at dawn. Isayama thought about how frightening it was to stand in front of someone with whom one could not communicate, and this thought encouraged the creation of the Titans.
In Interviews for Kōdansha and Magazine Kaboom In 2013, he said that the early designs were inspired by a zombie Mona Lisa that came out of frame to eat people in the horror manga. Cloud, the master of hell (Jigoku Sensei Cloud). Monsters such as Godzilla, Mothra and Gamera as well as Japanese horror cinema were later added to her influences.
The grotesque and the unusual are perceived as the focal point of the work’s appeal:
“To draw the Titans, I choose expressions that evoke discomfort. The Titans’ facial expressions are not suitable for every situation, for example they don’t stop smiling from the moment they find one until they kill him. “I chose this approach to create as uncomfortable a feeling as possible,” he explained.
These visual references mixed with their experiences and created a world full of details that preserved the Fan base Dedicated to the story of Eren, Mikasa and Armin’s liberation, outlined with dramatic undertones that add to its appeal. The care that the author and publisher put into the story is reinforced by the words of editor Back, who stated: Attack on Titan Guide:
“Isayama listens to every opinion before making a decision. There are countless suggestions and he listens to them all. This is how you take a stand and build on everyone’s suggestions. Shingeki no Kyojin It’s not just him, many people have influenced Kōdansha.”
That was the power of a creative story. A balance between what it showed and what it didn’t show, between depth and spectacular action. One that captivated us with its enthusiasm.
Titans of Japanese pop culture
The economic factor also played an important role. When something is successful, the culture industry gives it more attention, which leads to more prestige and reach. The manga began publication in September 2009 Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine. From the beginning, it had a successful reception and managed to sell almost 3 million 800 thousand copies by the end of 2011, according to records Oricon. In 2013, Kōdansha achieved its first increase in profits in 18 years, with sales peaking at nearly 16 million copies, it said. ANN.
This surge was fueled by the premiere of the anime’s first season on NHK television in April of the same year. The adaptation – in the first three seasons by WIT Studio and in the final season in the hands of MAPPA – catapulted Shingeki no Kyojin as a global phenomenon by bringing its storyline to an international audience, including those who do not consume anime. Two months later, the Japanese publisher printed 8 million additional copies to meet demand for the 10 anthologies by then.
The franchise has expanded to numerous Spin-offslight novels, video games, films Live action Japanese and merchandise. Although sales have since declined, largely due to the rise in digital consumption, there are currently over 120 million copies of the manga in circulation worldwide. It is therefore in the Top 20 one of the best-selling manga sagas of all time. His achievements include the Kōdansha Prize in this category shōnen in 2011 and nominations for awards such as the Manga Taishō and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award.
“There is nothing more valuable than that, thanks to a story, people can share feelings that cannot be expressed in words.” It made us happy to live through this together with our readers and partners Shingeki no Kyojin. Even though the series came to an end, these memories will always remain warm in our hearts. Thank you for reading us,” he wrote Editorial by Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine about the controversial finale of the manga released on April 8, 2021, which concluded 139 chapters and 34 volumes of story.
In view of the controversial outcome, Isayama himself made some adjustments for the anime. It’s not a big deal in terms of narrative, but it is in the way it’s presented. “Thank you for your continued support of the television adaptation over the past decade.” express He Mangaka in a final message to the website network Official of the series. “I’m curious to see how it’s expressed [el clímax del final] in the anime. In addition, this time I slightly redrew the image at my request Storyboard. Please watch until the end.”
Today the conclusion of this successful and memorable story is written. Despite it, Shingeki no Kyojin will still live. On the one hand, in the other projects, such as a Manga bonus chapters which will go on sale on April 30, 2024. Or the long-announced film Live action Warner’s Hollywood. On the other hand, and more importantly, in memory of his followers: those from the beginning, those who caught up and those who are still missing. Because as we all know, good stories are timeless.
You can purchase the work printed in Mexico courtesy of Panini manga. On the other hand, all episodes of the anime can be found in Crunchyroll.
