Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama has spoken out about the “worst parts” and inspirations for his controversial main character Eren Yeager. He provided some rather straight and open facts about who and what Eren symbolizes as a character in an interview with a French journal.
Isayama basically claims that Eren Yeager “is a character that reflects the worst parts of him, and this is a story about getting rid of the worst parts of him.”
That’s pretty deep… and slightly dangerous of a confession. Eren is the protagonist of the show, sure, but Attack on Titan isn’t your typical happy, “main-characters-always-winning,” anime and manga, in fact, it’s pretty dark, and that means Eren as the protagonist of this show is dark as well.
In Attack on Titan, Eren begins as a reasonably idealistic young child living behind the gates of Paradis Island and the continual terror threat of Titans invading and eating humans. A time leap halfway through the series, however, enables Eren to develop and take on a totally different perspective on the world, as he receives the strength and wisdom of the Special Titans. It suddenly seemed like a brilliant idea to betray friends and family, engage in ruthless, murderous guerrilla warfare, and unleash a Titan Apocalypse (The Rumbling) on Earth.
There have been NUMEROUS debates about Eren’s character. Fans, scholars, and many other people who have gotten to know the series from friends or foes all had something to say. He was being compared to real historical events and people which we will make no mention of. But if you have been in the fandom in 2020-2021 when Isayama had the biggest revelation in the manga, you’d come to understand that Eren’s character literally tore the fandom into two.
That said, there are just as many fans who feel Attack on Titan’s author has done a brilliant job balancing the philosophy of violence resonating over decades and coastlines, and that the anime merely represents genuine atrocities from history or our dismal near future.
Any thoughts about this big revelation? Let us know below!
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