Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人 Shingeki No Kyojin, lit."Advancing Giants") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. The story centers around the lives of Eren Yeager, his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert, who live in a world where the remnants of the human population live inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the sudden appearance of the Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. Their lives are changed forever after the appearance of a colossal Titan brings about the destruction of their home town and the death of Eren's mother, spurring them to enter the army to battle the Titans themselves.
An anime television series debuted on April 6, 2013, on MBS. A live action film adaptation is also in production. Four video game adaptations developed by Nitroplusstaffers in collaboration with Production I.Gwere announced to be released as bonus content for the third and sixth volumes of the Blu-ray Disc release of the anime. The manga series has become a commercial success, selling over 20 million volumes as of mid 2013. The release of the anime also saw a boost in the series' popularity with several writers critically acclaiming for its atmosphere and story. Although it also gained fame in neighboring Asian countries, the series's themes have been a subject of controversy.
Setting:
One hundred years prior to the beginning of the story, giant humanoid creatures called Titans (巨人 Kyojin) have forced humanity to retreat into a system of concentric Walls(ウォール Wōru ) known as 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 lived in peace for one hundred years, but in the beginning of the story, a sudden attack by a gigantic sixty-meter Titan and a smaller Titan covered in armor plates causes the outermost wall to be breached, forcing mankind to abandon the land between Wall Maria and Wall Rosé, which leads to famine and turmoil.Little is known about the Titans, giant creatures that are usually between 3-15 meters tall with a few exceptions. The Titans instinctively attack and devour ordinary humans on sight. However, they apparently do not need to feed to survive, as they do not prey on other animals, even with the long absence of humans, and can survive by absorbing sunlight. They have hard skin and regenerative abilities, and can only be killed by a deep incision on the base of the neck. This weakness led to the development of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment (立体機動装置), allowing humans to navigate quickly in a three-dimensional space to access the Titans' weak point. Although it allows great mobility to a skilled user, it carries a large risk of overtaxing the muscles, requiring special physical conditioning and a sense of balance to master it.
Plot:
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.
Before The Production:
Before publication Isayama already had thought ideas for twists although they are fleshed out when he is working on them. Isayama decided to use Titans in the series due to how "gross" they are. When designing them, he uses several models such as martial artist Yushin Okami for the protagonist Eren Yeager's Titan form as well as Brock Lesnarfor the Armored Titan. The "Wall of Fear" is reportedly said to have been influenced by Japanese culture as due to their people becoming very isolated and enclosed. The people's inner feelings is one of the series' main influences.
Manga:
The manga series began its serialization in Kodansha's monthly publication Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in its September 2009 issue. The first tankōbon volume was released March 17, 2010. The series has also been licensed in North America by Kodansha Comics USA. On June 2013, the manga reached the mark of 20 million copies in Japan. As of August 9, 2013, 11 volumes have been released. In North America, the series is published in English by Kodansha Comics USA. They published the first volume on June 19, 2012, with 5 volumes released as of June 4, 2013.
Another manga series based on the prequel light novel Attack on Titan: Before the Fall is scheduled to start running on Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Sirius from August 2013. It will be drawn by Satoshi Shiki. An additional spin-off based on the A Choice With No Regrets visual novel will begin serialization in Aria.[9]
Light novel:
A light novel series titled "Shingeki no Kyojin: Before the Fall", written by Ryō Suzukaze and illustrated by Thores Shibamoto began on December 2, 2011. Its story is set before the events of the manga and it is published by Kodansha. Three volumes have been published so far.
Anime:
An anime television series adaptation produced by Wit Studio (a subsidiary of IG Port) debuted on April 6, 2013 on MBS, directed by Tetsurō Araki. BothFunimation and Crunchyroll are streaming the series on their respective websites, and Funimation intends to release the series on home video in 2014. The anime has been licensed in the UK by Manga Entertainment.
The first opening theme is titled "Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen" (紅蓮の弓矢 Guren no Yumiya, lit. "Crimson Bow and Arrow"), performed by Linked Horizon and the first ending theme is titled "Utsukushiki Zankoku na Sekai" (美しき残酷な世界, lit. "This Beautiful Cruel World"), sung by Yōko Hikasa. Starting with episode 14, the opening theme changed to "Die Flügel der Freiheit" (自由の翼 Jiyū no Tsubasa, lit. "Wings of Freedom"), another track by Linked Horizon from their "Jiyū e no Shingeki" single which includes "Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen". This is accompanied by a second ending theme: "great escape" performed by Cinema Staff.
An OVA version of the "Ilse's Notebook" special chapter from tankōbon volume 5 was originally scheduled to be released on August 9, 2013, bundled the volume 11 limited edition. It has since been postponed to be included with a limited edition of volume 12 instead.[18]
Games:
Four video game adaptations of Attack on Titan developed by Nitroplus staffers in collaboration with Production I.G were announced. Nitroplus clarified that the studio as a company is not involved in the Attack on Titan Blu-ray Disc games, while individual staffers are. The games arevisual novels and will be included in the first copies of the third and sixth Blu-ray Discvolumes of the anime. The games will cover spin-off stories about the characters of Attack on Titan. Hajime Isayama himself is supervising the development of the games;Production I.G is collaborating at the project too.The third Blu-ray volume will be released on September 18 with Seko's Lost In The Cruel World visual novel about Mikasa, and a preview of Saaku's A Choice With No Regrets(悔いなき選択 Kuinaki Sentaku). The sixth Blu-ray volume will be released on December 18 with the full version of A Choice With No Regrets about Levi and Erwin's past, Haganeya's currently untitled visual novel about Eren and Levi, and Seko's Wall Sina, Goodbye visual novel about Annie.
An action game, titled Attack on Titan: The Wings of Counterattack (進撃の巨人 ~反撃の翼~ Shingeki no Kyojin: Hangeki no Tsubasa), is in development by Spike Chunsoft for the Nintendo 3DS for release in 2013.
Film:
A live action film is in production. In December 2012, it was reported that Tetsuya Nakashima has left his position as director of the live-action film. According to film distributor Toho, Nakashima had considerable creative differences on the scriptwriting and other matters.
