Attack on Titan

Did you know that ATTAK ON TITANS began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on September 9,2009, and it is written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. and has been collected into 12 tankōbon volumes as of December 9, 2013. It is set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. The story centers on Eren Yeager, his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert, whose lives are changed forever after the appearance of a Colossus Titan brings about the destruction of their home town and the death of Eren's mother.Vowing revenge and to reclaim the world from the Titans, Eren, Mikasa and Armin enlist in the Military and join the Scout Regiment—an elite group of soldiers who fight Titans outside the walls.

Attack on Titan has become a commercial success, with over 28 million volumes in circulation as of 2013. The release of the anime also saw a boost in the series' popularity, with it having received critical acclaim for its atmosphere and story. Although it also gained fame in neighboring Asian countries, the series' themes have been a subject of controversy.


Over one hundred years prior to the beginning of the story, giant humanoid creatures called Titans (巨人 Kyojin) suddenly appeared and nearly wiped out humanity, devouring them without remorse or reason. What remains of humanity now resides within a country surrounded by three enormous concentric walls, Wall Maria (ウォール・マリア Wōru Maria?, outermost), Wall Rosé (ウォール・ローゼ Wōru Rōze, middle), and Wall Sina (ウォール・シーナ Wōru Shīna?, innermost). Inside these walls, humanity has lived in peace for one hundred years; many people growing up without ever having seen a titan. This all changes when one day, within Eren Yeager's hometown, the Shiganshina district which juts out of Wall Maria, a giant sixty-meter called the Colossus Titan mysteriously appears and breaches the outer wall, allowing smaller but still deadly Titans to infiltrate the district. Many are killed and the wall separating Shiganshina from the lands within Wall Maria is breached when a second Armored Titan smashes clean through. Mankind is forced to abandon the land between Wall Maria and Wall Rosé, evacuating the remaining population into the inner districts.
The sudden influx of population causes turmoil and famine. Very little is known about the Titans and th


ery little is known about the Titans and their origins. All that is known is that they are giant humanoids that vary between 3 and 15 meters in height, in exception of the so-named Colossus Titan, and they instinctively attack and devour ordinary humans on sight. However, they apparently do not require food for sustenance, as they do not prey on other animals and survived for one hundred years in a human-free environment prior to the inner wall breach. Most of their energy has been found to come from sunlight, though they remain active, however sluggish, in the absence of light. They wander naked, though they lack any reproductive organs and the majority of Titans possess masculine body types. Their skin is tough and difficult to penetrate and they have the ability to regenerate after a short time. Their only apparent weakness is a spot on the nape of the neck where, when cut deep enough, effectively kills the Titan. This revelation led to the development of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment (立体機動装置 Rittai Kidō Sōchi?) which allows trained humans to navigate quickly in a three-dimensional space. Although it permits great mobility to a skilled user, it carries a large risk of overtaxing the muscles, requiring extensive physical conditioning and agility.


The series follows the story of Eren Yeager, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert. After the outermost Wall is breached by Titans, including the 60-meter tall skinless Colossus Titan and the abnormally intelligent Armored Titan, and his mother dying in the resulting destruction, Eren vows revenge against the Titans and later enlists in the military, accompanied by Mikasa and Armin. Years later during his first battle against the Titans, Eren discovers that he has the ability to transform into a Titan at will. Seen as a threat to mankind by some, and as a ray of hope by others, Eren joins his companions in a desperate fight to protect what remains of their society while looking for answers to the mysteries surrounding the Titans, the Walls, and his own existence as well.


Hajime Isayama
first wrote a 65-page one-shot version of Attack on Titan back in 2006. Before serialization, he had already thought of ideas for twists, although they are fleshed out as the series progresses. While working at an internet cafe, Isayama encountered a customer who grabbed him by the collar. It was this incident that showed him "the fear of meeting a person one can not communicate with," which is the feeling that he conveys through the Titans. When designing their appearances, he uses several models such as martial artist Yushin Okami for the protagonist Eren Yeager's Titan form as well as Brock Lesnar for the Armored Titan. The "Wall of Fear" is said to have been influenced by the isolated and enclosed nature of Japanese culture. The inner feelings of the individual is one of the series' main influences.
  Isayama estimated his basic monthly timeline as one week to storyboard and two weeks to actually draw the chapter. The story is planned out in advance, even marking down in which collected volumes a specific "truth" will be revealed.In September 2013, he stated that he is aiming to end the series in 20 collected volumes. Originally, Isayama planned to give the series a tragic conclusion based on the film adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist. However, critical response to the manga and anime series caused the author to change his mind in regards to the ending due to the impact it could give to the readers.

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