Attack on Titan

Shingeki no Kyojin
Cover art of the first volume of the manga Shingeki no Kyojin
進撃の巨人
Genre	Action, Horror, Fantasy
Manga
Written by	Hajime Isayama
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	2009 (2009) – present
Volumes	8
Live-action film
Released	2013 (2013) (Japan)

Shingeki no Kyojin (進撃の巨人, literally "Attack on Titan") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama, which is set in a world where the remains of the human population live inside cities surrounded by enormous walls due to the sudden appearance of the Titans, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. The story centers around the life of Eren Jaeger and his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, whose lives are changed forever after the appearance of a colossal titan brings about the destruction of their home and the death of their mother.

A live action film adaptation will be released in 2013.

Setting

Titans

The primary antagonists of the series. They are generally ranked by size, which can range anywhere from 3 meters to as large as 15 meters tall. Not much is known about them except for what information is provided by the scouting legion. They have no intelligence, show no interest in eating other creatures than humans, have extremely high body temperature (to the point of a skinless titan releasing scalding steam), and can regenerate any and all wounds. Their only weak spot is the nape of the neck. Further into the story, we learn that their body mass is improbably light, being formed from thin air. this ability is also attributed to titans creating substances, such as "giant" titans creating the walls. Sunlight seems to be the only requisite for energy, as a titan will simply vomit out what they have eaten, leaving contaminated remains that can spread disease. There are special titans with some form of intelligence. Side stories also reveal that sometimes they can talk and have a connection to "Ymir", though the mysteries of their behavior are left unknown as the titan that displayed such capabilities promptly reverted to its typical behaviour and began attacking humans.

It has now been confirmed that Eren is not the only human capable of summoning a Titan body, and it now believed within the military that the Colossal Titan that destroyed Wall Maria was in fact controlled by a human, which would explain it's sudden disappearance. Even more disturbing is the fact that evidence points that those capable of controlling Titan bodies are within the Scouting Legion and have learned to, not only fully control their new bodies, but also retain enough energy to use the 3D gear after use (Eren is usually exhausted and passes out after shedding his Titan body). such humans have no distinguishing traits and are viewed as normal humans.

Human Soldiers

Humans are much weaker and smaller than the titans. As such, most strategies center around slowing them down by using barricades and artillery. They are also capable of killing through the use of the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, which operates like a grapple and repel tool, which they use to get behind giants, where they are able to strike their weak spots behind their necks. This process is very difficult and on average takes about thirty human casualties to defeat a single titan (a number that can vary massively depending on titan size, intelligence, abilities and behaviour).

Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear

A set of gear developed by humans that allows great mobility when facing the titans. The gear itself takes the form of a body harness that encompasses much of the body below the neck. Though using it will allow a skilled user great mobility, it carries a large risk of overtaxing the user's muscles. Some tools involved in the apparatus include:

• Handgrips
• Shooting Mechanism
• Iron Wire Propeller with Gas
• Plug in Blades

Walls and Territory

Human territory is signified by three enormous walls that encompass the entirety of human civilization. The outermost wall is known as Wall Maria, the middle wall is known as Wall Rose, and the innermost wall is known as Wall Sina. To guarantee that the titans have no way to invade human territory, these three walls are all roughly fifty meters tall. These walls completely surround the last of the human territory. As such, they are quite large, which makes it hard for humanity to keep watch over every inch of the perimeter. It is because of this that human populations are concentrated in towns, which focuses the giants' attention so they don't wander around the walls.

Military

• Stationary Troops are the soldiers that protect the towns and reinforce the walls. They are the first line of defense against the Titans.
• The Scouting Legion is composed of soldiers that fight the Titans in their own territory outside of the walls. Their main goal is to discover more about where the Titans come from and what their goal is. They are also an integral component in the military's campaign to recapture Wall Maria.
• The Military Police is the section of the military that regulates the population and maintains public order inside of the human settlements.

Time Line

• 738: The Human race is nearly devoured to extinction with the exception of those living within the walls.
• 745: The Giants are unable to penetrate the giant walls, and the human population is able to enjoy 100 years of peace.
• 844: Eren Jaeger saves Mikasa Ackerman from kidnappers after they murder her family.
• 845: The colossal titan, a gigantic sixty meter class titan appears, and destroys part of Wall Maria, allowing the titans to overrun Wall Maria.
• 846: The Human population launches an offensive to retake Wall Maria, during which massive casualties are suffered.
• 847: Eren, Mikasa, and Armin begin their military training.
• 850: Present Time

Themes

The Author notes on the idea of walls and complacency in human society as opposed to independent spirit and freedom of the main character.

Characters

Eren Jaeger (エレン・イェーガー, Eren Yēgā)

The protagonist of the series. Idealistic, violent, and impulsive, Eren seeks to annihilate the Titans and explore the outside world. As a child, he killed two of the kidnappers that murdered Mikasa's family and convinced Mikasa to fight and kill the third one after he and his father came looking for her. He was ranked 5th in his trainee class. He has no particular talent aside from his excellent close combat skills, but has been slowly but steadily improving his grades through outstanding effort and a strong sense of purpose.

He displays a strange ability to be able to summon and control the body of a fifteen meter class titan. Eren believes this ability to be the result of injections given to him by his father after the death of his mother. He has little control over the titan body that he summons, and will attack anything that he sees while in this form. When the titan's body can no longer be maintained, Eren emerges from the nape of the titan's neck, where his body appears to be fused to the titan's spine.

Mikasa Ackerman (ミカサ・アッカーマン, Mikasa Akkāman)

Adopted Sister of the Jaeger Family. She is an orphan whose race was wiped out by the titans. As a child, she was saved by Eren by a group of kidnappers who murdered her family. Due to this incident, she is protective of Eren, and will follow him no matter the circumstances. She was ranked 1st in her graduating class, and always maintains her composure no matter the situation. She is considered an unprecedented genius, a prodigy who excels in the most difficult courses.

Armin Arlelt (アルミン・アルレルト, Arumin Arureruto)

Eren's best friend, he is physically and emotionally weak. Though his strategic intution have saved Eren and Mikasa several times, he continues to believe himself completely incompetent and hates himself for having to rely on them. Subpar physical aptitude by soldiers' standards but an alleged genius when it comes to theoretical courses.

Hannes

A soldier who saves Eren and Mikasa during the prologue. He owes a debt to the Jeager Family.

Reiner Braun

Ranked 2nd of the trainee class, is considered strong-willed with a solid constitution and most adept at gaining the trust of his comrades.

Bertholt Fubar

Ranked 3rd of the trainee class. Highly proficient in various hand to hand combat styles. He seems to have great potential but lacks in self-confidence and has a tendency to leave it to others whenever it comes to showing assertiveness.

Annie Leonhardt

Ranked 4th of the trainee class. A stoic girl whose father trained her in hand to hand combat. She strikes with a perfect penetration angle. She is a solitary type, and solidarity does not come to her easily.

Jean Kirschtein

Ranked 6th of the trainee class. Extremely pessimistic about the War with the Titans. He ends up leading the people on the supply mission for gas. :From the Trost District. Highly competent at the three dimensional maneuver and highly skilled at efficiently using it. Good at asserting his situation at any given time, but is far too quick to unsheathe his sword. He is also prone to sparking conflict.

Marco Bodt

Ranked 7th of the trainee class. Joined to be part of the Police force because he wants to work for the King. From Jinae District.

Deceased.

Conny Springer

Ranked 8th of the trainee class, an upbeat and naive personality. Aims to apply to the scouting legion because he was motivated by Eren. From Ragako District. :Good balance. Especially good at making tight turns. But he is slow to the uptake, and his grasp of strategy is often less than perfect.

Sasha Browse

Ranked 9th of the trainee class. A thief from the mountain Daupa District, she joined in order to find tasty things to eat.

Lightning fast, with an uncanny intuition, but her eccentricity makes her unfit for group operations.

Christa Renz

Ranked 10th of the trainee class. A kind girl who puts herself out for others.

Rivaille (リヴァイ, Rivai, sometimes romanized as Levi)

Humanity's most powerful soldier. He is a clean-freak. While it is said that he is blunt and unapproachable, it is noted that he has a strong respect for structure and discipline. The rumors are that he was originally part of underground crime before he became a soldier.

Dot Pixis

Highest Ranked Administrator of the Southern Region Military.

Other Characters

Petra

A member of Rivaille's squad - a special operations squad formed in order to keep an eye on Eren and his Titan ability. Later, it is revealed that Petra and other squad members' duty was to protect Eren, rather than keep him under surveillance.

On the 57th expedition to the lands outside the wall, Petra dies alongside Gunter, Erd, and Auruo, while protecting Eren, leaving Eren deeply regretful.

Thomas Wagner

Nack Teaz

Millius Zermusky

Mina Caroline

Franz

Samuel

Hannah

Daz

Reception

The series won Kodansha Manga Award in shōnen category in 2011.

External links

• Attack on Titan (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia