Remixing Attack on Titan to today’s world
An overview of the original text:
The frames of manga that have been used above were taking in a scenario of a propaganda rally in the famous Attack on Titan series (Hajime Isayama). World leaders of the Titanverse were gathered to hear an inspirational speech by the head of the Tybur Family (the ruling family of the Marleyans). He was describing the Great War that took place between his people and a different race (Eldians with the ability to transform into giant man-eating humanoids). The scenario was focusing on nationalism and propaganda, bordering along mass brainwashing and racism as well. The audience are the readers of the popular series, who were till now, led to believe that the comic was taking place in a post apocalyptic world, where the Titans were a form of God’s Punishment. Only in the frames above, and a few issues prior to the above frames, it is revealed to the readers (along with the protagonist), that the setting was more of a racial war. The original frames privileged the Marleyans who are gathered in the rally, however, it was leading up to a plot twist (more of a clever ruse to engage in another war).
Dissecting the Remix:
The remixing of the comic sheds light onto a real world scenario that is unfolding: The Korean War. War between the two factions of the same population, divided by walls to keep one from reaching the other, sets the precedent well for the remix to take place. It is complicit with the values of the original because it also is portraying propaganda, with a big reveal in the end. It is talking about the general views of Capitalism by a Communist, how Capitalism causes war and have killed many in its progression through history. The Eldians (Titans) are remixed into Capitalism, and the remix is taking place from the point of view of North Koreans. Even though the scenario is quite unlikely (imagine Kim Jong Un declaring USA as a helping hand), the comic is along the lines of satire. Therefore, it can be seen that the people who watch Daily Shows and Late night shows (and their sarcastic sketches) is most likely the audience of this. Debaters and pundits who are well aware of US efforts to sustaining North Korea, are likely to view this remix as a sarcastic take on the current status quo.
For this to fit into convergence culture, we take a look at how this new take of Attack on Titan and the real world is taking place. It highlights values already portrayed in the original comic. The setting is the same, war, propaganda, racial tension. These are present in both the comic and the real world crisis that is going on. This is a convergence of real world politics and the Attack on Titan manga. We see similar convergence culture in several newspapers and weekly economic digests as well, where a comic is used to highlight a real world scenario in a sarcastic tone.
The remix culture takes place simply because I am using it in class to shed light on a topic that I have debated upon (US -NK relations), using a manga that I love. Taking that into consideration, I have reordered a few pages (2 & 3), edited speech bubbles and talked of the atrocities done by capitalism. If I need to give my remix a title, it would be “Kim Jon Un comes clean”
