Attack on Titan Creator Has a Hilarious Rivalry With Another Anime Artist
Hajime Isayama has been making the rounds recently, with Attack on Titan's anime adaptation set to finally come to an end later this year as the Scout Regiment will have to make some exceptionally difficult decisions in attempting to stop their former friend Eren Jaeger. Answering some questions for a news outlet, Isayama revealed that he actually has an ongoing rivalry with a fellow mangaka who has since risen to prominence following their role as Hajime's former assistant on the brutal manga series.
Many major manga artists will typically get their start by acting as assistants to popular mangaka in the industry, and the creator of Spy x Family, Tatsuya Endo, is no different. Prior to creating the wildly popular franchise Spy x Family, which was definitely in the running for one of the biggest new anime adaptations to arrive in 2022, Endo was an assistant to Hajime Isayama, helping the artist in moving forward with his dark world of Titans and the world that was under siege by the wandering Colossals. Ironically enough, Endo isn't the only assistant to Isayama who moved on to create another major anime franchise, with the artist on Blue Lock, Yusuke Nomura.
Attack on Ping Pong
In chatting with the outlet Brut, Isayama revealed that Endo was currently his "great rival" when it came to the game of Ping Pong, while confirming that both Endo and Nomura were previous assistants of his who gave him a major assist in bringing the world of the Titans to the medium of manga:
"I don't know if it's an interesting anecdote and I don't know if you know the mangas of Blue Lock and Spy x Family. In fact, their authors are former assistants of mine who worked on Attack on Titan. Tatsuya Endo, the author of Spy x Family, is my great rival in ping-pong."
Isayama then hilariously added that Spy x Family's creator might have a leg up in the realm of ping pong, but that doesn't stop Attack on Titan's creator from scoring a victory every now and again:
"Normally, Tatsuya Endo is stronger than me, but last time he didn't manga to win, I beat him."
Would you love to see a manga artist Ping Pong tournament streamed live? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Titans.