Your words may now sound more controversial than before
Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on the Titans) is a quite controversial work among the anime and manga fan community, from the end published in 2021 that did not leave its fandom very happy until the announcement that the last season of the anime will have its conclusion in a third part that will arrive in 2023, but perhaps the most constant complaint is the relationship that this work has with the Second World War.
In fact, in a 2010 blog postIsayama, who had always maintained that Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) was inspired by an incident in which a large, drunken foreigner accosted him in a cafe, he admitted that a supporting character, the cunning General Dot Pixis, was based on Japanese General Akiyama Yoshifuru who served in the Imperial Japanese Army between 1916 and 1923. Considered a hero in Japan and even Isayama admitted that he found the general an admirable figure for his actions in the First Sino-Japanese War, Yoshifuru was responsible for countless atrocities against Korea and China during the Japanese occupations during World War II.
For this reason and others, fans of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) have wondered if his work supports or justifies the atrocities committed by the Japanese imperial government at that time, and this debate was revived by the last chapter of the second part of the final season where the genocide at the hands of Eren Jaeger, the current villain of the series, was justified to “save the Eldian people” and it seems that its author agrees with that. In accordance with Gendai Ismediawhen they finished writing the final arc of the manga, the editor of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan), mentions that he said the following to Hajime Isayama, its author: “I think it was a last episode that no one could complain about” As this editor mentions, the intention of this final arc was that it be interesting, that it be consistent with the story that had been developing for 11 years and 7 months.
In fact, he mentions in the interview published in Gendai Ismedia that both he and Hajime Isayama were sure of what they wanted to show to the public, death, war, genocide, etc. In the end, his words resonate with a personal vision of what an armed conflict means: “I think it is a final chapter that no one has the right to complain about.” However, the criticism was immediate, both from those who pointed out an apology for genocide in the war on the side of Eren Jaeger and those who did not like the change that the character had, in any case, his editor stood firm with the ideas they wanted to capture in Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan): “You were able to draw what you wanted to draw how you wanted to draw it, so I would be upset if you regret it now, since everything ended as you wanted. Everything is fine”.
The genocide in Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
Despite staying true to his ideals, there was a moment of reflection for the author of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan): “If I wanted to tell people that “you must not kill people”, it would not make sense to tell them directly that “you must not kill people”, because the seven billion people in the world know that “you must not kill people”, and since the murders continue today, making a verbal warning does not make sense If that’s the case, then the words “It’s okay to kill people” might carry more weight if you just look at the result, because there’s a chance that the person hearing it will think “What are you talking about?The correct thing is not to kill!” So if you have a message that you want to convey, perhaps the right thing to do is not to draw it exactly as society expects.”.
In this way, it is clear that the message was anti-weapons in a very unusual and even poorly defined way. The manga editor himself puts it this way: “Of course, I didn’t mean to condone the massacre within the play at all, and Isayama-san was quite worried about it, but I told him, ‘This could be something really bad. Okay. Compared to a real war, in which a lot of people die, and only then do people think “genocide is not good”, when you read Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) and say “this is a pro-genocide manga” and feel bad about it, then the same message was conveyed to you, but without the need for anyone to die in real life”.
Related topics: Attack the titans
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