At the cusp of the 2010s, anime and manga had begun to explode in popularity around the world. What was once considered a relatively niche hobby space was rapidly becoming more mainstream, with many shows, like Naruto, One Piece and Bleach becoming recognizable, even for those who wouldn’t typically consider themselves fans of the genre. This titanic shift in popularity became seismic with the release of Attack on Titan on September 9, 2009.
Attack on Titan, created by Hajime Isayama, began serialization in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine and followed Eren Yaeger, a young boy living within the confines of Wall Maria in Shiganshina, hiding away from the threat of mysterious monsters known as Titans. Attack on Titan‘s signature, captivating art style wasn’t the only thing the debut series had going for it, though, as the story immediately thrusts readers into just how grim the series’ dark fantasy setting is as the wall protecting Eren, his family, and the other civilians residing in Shiganshina is demolished by a 60-meter tall titan, causing the city to be ravaged by Titans.
While Attack on Titan‘s original manga didn’t become an overnight megahit in the same way as shonen’s “Big Three,” the series received glowing accolades as quickly as 2011, when it received the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the shonen category. From there, before Wit Studio’s anime adaptation was announced, Attack on Titan began steadily climbing sales charts in Japan, earning a solid top 15 spot for sales in 2012 with roughly 800,000 copies in circulation. When the first season of the anime adaptation produced by Wit Studio premiered in April 2013, sales for Attack on Titan skyrocketed, jumping to having close to 24 million copies in circulation by September that same year, and was ranked as 2nd best-selling manga at the time.
During the 2010s, anime had become far more accessible for fans in North America and Europe. The surge in popularity anime was having overall thanks to the rise of streaming platforms licensing new series led to Attack on Titan‘s anime adaptation being simulcast by Crunchyroll and Funimation as the series was being broadcast in Japan. This approach caused Attack on Titan to explode in popularity around the globe. In December 2020, when the anime adaptation of the manga’s final arc began on Crunchyroll, traffic to watch the new season was so high it caused the streaming service to crash. By the time Attack on Titan‘s finale released in November 2023, the manga had over 120 million copies in circulation, with Parrot Analytics reporting that demand for the series was 68 times greater than the average television series at the time.
Attack on Titan‘s core themes observe the cost of freedom, and the complex choices that individuals make when faces with inescapable horrors, and the grim reality of war. Yes, there are fantastical creatures threatening the livelihoods of the main cast, and there is a major plot twist toward the end of the series introducing a chicken-and-egg paradox to explain the plot threads leading Eren to get his Titan abilities. Because of these elements, fans of Attack on Titan are able to see exactly what it is that Hajime Isayama is trying to say through Eren’s character arc and through the final moments of the series.
Eren’s progression as a character not only tackles the brutal effects of generational trauma, showing how Eren has inherited a cycle of bloodshed from those that came before him. The series also masterfully shows the inevitability of his own fractured determinism. Audiences see Eren in the first arc of Attack on Titan criticizing the complacency of the people living within the Walls, and yearns to travel beyond them with the Survey Corps to learn more about how to fight back against the threat of Titans.
This ambition, in a twist of tragic irony, ends up caging Eren as a beacon of hope for everyone around him as he must sacrifice his own freedom and humanity to set the world free of the broken cycle its trapped in. The lengths Attack on Titan was willing to go to illustrate its brutally hopeful narrative has left a lingering effect on the anime and manga communities, and discussions surrounding the series likely won’t be disappearing anytime soon.
