houses and eating people
whole. They’re terrifying
monsters: huge and tough
and pretty much immune to
gunfi re, and they’re rapidly
pushing humanity towards
extinction as wall after
wall falls.”
Voice-actor Bryce
Papenbrook was a fan of
the anime series before he
was cast as the hero Eren in
the American dub of AOT.
He compares the series
to Lost. “It seems to pull
you in deeper and deeper
with every episode. Every
episode would answer one
question, but create two more. For those who
haven’t watched it, give it fi ve episodes. I
think you’ll be hooked at the same moment I
was – no spoilers!”
For Papenbrook’s co-star Trina Nishimura,
who voices Tita n’s heroine Mikasa, the title
monsters have a real-world resonance. “In
our world there are so many things that we,
as individuals, cannot control. We don’t have
to worry about Titans peeling the roof off of
our homes and devouring us, but we all feel
a very real sense of terror about facing our
own ‘Titans’. I think the idea of kids fi ghting
against literal Titans emboldens us to face
the very real issues we all face daily.”
Aaron describes the Titans as a fantastic
wall to throw heroes against. “The Titans
have got all the classic zombie characteristics- they’re man-eating and unstoppable -
except they’re the size of houses. That may
not sound scary – I know there are GIFs
online of running Titans with stupid faces
that might make people think the show’s
silly, but when you see that shot in the actual
episode, it’s terrifying. They’re everything
you could want from an implacable enemy,
but still with weaknesses that allow clever
heroes to bring them down.”
ATTACK ON TITAN is a juggernaut of
Japanese pop-culture. Set thousands of years
in the future, it envisions an Earth where
humans are preyed on by terrible man-eating
giants. These are the Titans, seemingly
mindless, with grotesquely grinning human
faces. Where they came from, no-one knows
(or they’re not telling). The humans have
regressed to a quasi-medieval state and live
within giant walls. The Titans breach those
walls at the start of the story, leading to
bloody mayhem, but it’s not the apocalypse
yet. A small group of elite fi ghters, swinging
on wires like giant-killing Spider-Men, lead
the defence and slowly unearth the truth of
their world.
The saga debuted as a manga strip in
2009, created by artist Hajime Isayama
when he was in his early 20s. The manga
remains the central plank of the franchise,
and is expected to end this year. Many fans,
however, follow the hugely popular TV
anime, which is being released on Blu-ray
and DVD by Manga Entertainment. This
March, Manga is bringing out the latest
anime episodes (Season Three ‘Part Two’),
containing massive revelations about the
show’s world.
“It’s basically a zombie apocalypse story,”
says author Rachel Aaron, a prolifi c SF/
fantasy author who wrote the AOT spinoff
novel Garrison Girl. “Except these zombies
are hundreds of feet tall. Also, you’re in a
non-magical fantasy world, so there are no
good guns, no convenience stores, and no
remnants of an industrial society to raid
for supplies. Just a multi-walled city and
medieval-level tech. Oh, and you might be
the last outpost of humanity.
“It was this set-up that sold me on the
series more than anything else,” Aaron
continues. “How do you feed all the people?
How do you fi ght something so much bigger
and tougher than you? How do you survive?
The screws get even tighter when the
Titans break through and start stomping on
DEATH TO THE TITANS
Attack On Titan058 | W W W. S C I FI N OW.CO.U K
WE LOOK AT THE ENTERTAINMENT
BEHEMOTH THAT IS ATTACK ON TITAN,
FROM ITS MANGA ROOTS TO ITS POSSIBLE
HOLLYWOOD FILM ADAPTATION, AND
SPEAK TO SOME OF THE ANIME SERIES’
VOICE ACTORS
DEATH TO
THE TITANS
WORDS TOM ARDEN
AOT features some
clever heroes.The truth of the world
is slowly unearthed...