‘Attack on Titan’ Creator Reveals Inspiration Behind Series

These days, it is easy to find people critiquing the state of the world. From politics to religion, you can find complaints about every aspect of life on the web, but some perspective is always nice. At the very least, our world hasn’t been overrun by man-eating Titans, but that doesn’t mean Attack on Titan has no roots in the real world.

No, it seems the post-apocalyptic series has deep ties with the world as we know it, and Hajime Isayama touched upon them in a recent interview.

Not long ago, Isayama did an interview with NHK in Japan ahead of the third season premiere of Attack on Titan. The creator got real about the thrilling series as he explained how his upbringing in Oita, a prefecture of Kyushu, inspired him to create his now-famous story.

According to translations, Isayama was inspired to write about humanity being held captive by walls since he grew up similarly. The artist didn’t have to worry about Titans attacking his home, but Isayama said the mountainous range circling Oita made him feel very cut off from the world. And, as a child, he often wondered if there were monsters lurking over those hilly peaks (via ANN).

As for the Titans, Isayama said those creaters aren’t mean to be taken just as monsters; The artist had hoped the creatures would represent frustration. The aimless creatures cannot be understood by what is left of humanity, and Isayama said they’ve come to embody the inexplicable challenges mankind has to face in the real world. For the artist, he stumbled upon this connection after he worked at an Internet cafe and encountered drunk patrons who had trouble connecting with their sober friends. The groups’ inability to communicate struck a chord with Isayama, birthing the fledgling idea that would turn into a full-on Titan one day.

For those unfamiliar with Attack on Titan, the series was originally created by Hajime Isayama. Starting its run in Kondansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009, the series has been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017. It’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. Eren Yeager joins the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown.

Have you ever noticed the deeper readings behind the Titans of Attack on Titan? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!