Here’s What Inspired Attack on Titan’s Creator to Write the Series

Here’s What Inspired Attack on Titan’s Creator to Write the Series

Stay on target

Ever wonder what kind of mind could come up with a show like Attack on Titan? What must they be going through to conjure giant, remorseless beings that gobble up humans left and right without any real biological need to? The mind in question belongs to Hajime Isayama, creator of Attack on Titan, and he opened up not long ago in an interview with Japan’s NHK network on what inspired him as a youngster to write such an out-there story to begin with.
Isayama was originally inspired to write about humanity being forced to build walls to keep enemies out because he was brought up in a similar way. Except Isayama’s “walls” were mountains, and not enormous Titans shambling around looking for a new human snack. The mountainous range in Oita made him feel isolated from the world around him, and he sometimes wondered if monsters were lurking just beyond the mountains.
The Titans aren’t even just mindless monsters, according to Isayama. Originally, he wrote them the way they were to represent frustration. They’re not something that humanity is able to understand or even parse even in the series, and as such he hopes they’ve instead come to represent the challenges mankind continues to face out in the real world. Originally, he made this type of connection when he worked at an internet cafe and encountered drunken customers who couldn’t really communicate with their sober friends. Thus, an idea was born that would eventually turn into Titans that we know (and love?) today in the show and manga.
It’s interesting to think about how such simple moments of happenstance could go on to inspire a creator like Isayama, but we’re certainly thankful that they did, or we wouldn’t have the excellent series that we’re sinking our teeth into today. Let us know how hype you are for the next season of Attack on Titan, while you’re at it!