AOT, The Best Anime
Seeing your mother killed right in front of you without being able to do anything to help her is a terrible feeling. This is what the main character Eren Yeager was forced to go through in the first episode of Attack on Titan. He was weak and helpless, he couldn’t help his mother when she neeeded him most. This is what drives Eren Yeager to go on his “character arc” where he trains extremely hard to become stronger. His motivation is that he doesn’t want to be weak and lose again. If you are familiar with any other animes, this story does not seem any different. Other popular animes like Hunter X Hunter, Haikyu, Full Metal Alchemist, and many others follow a similar narrative. The main character is weak at the beginning and faces a loss and uses this loss as motivation to train harder and become stronger so that they can eventually become the best. So what makes Attack on Titan so much more popular? Is it the amazing soundtrack? The badass teenagers? The amazing charater arcs? Technically yes, these do help make Attack On Titan more popular, but most animes are like this so what makes it stand out? The answer lies in the anime’s ability to connect to the American Culture surrounding zombies, while retaining characteristics of anime which differentiated it from other zombie movies.
In attack on titan humanity has been confined to living in three circular walls. Somehow a mysterious force called the titans arrived and forced humans to shelter themselves. These titans range from 3 to 15 meters, are extremely strong, fast, and they resemble humans greatly. They are humans natural predator, they don’t need to eat so they never die and they only target humans. The titans roam freely outside of the walls and at any moment they may attack and destroy society.
This is synonymous with the idea of the japanese Kaiju, which are basically the threat that something could emerge and kill us and ruin society. This concept emerged in the 1950s in Japan following World War 2 after the bombings which came out of no where and destroyed a lot of society. One of the Titans called the Colossal Titan which is a 50 meter tall titan that breaks open one of the walls so the titans can kill people is very similar to Godzilla. The similarity to the Kaiju is what made the anime so popular in Japan. But you may be wondering what makes it so popular in America?
We don’t have this concept of a Kaiju. The titans are similar to another concept in America. Resembling humans, not needing to eat food so they never die, and forcing humans to live in sheltered societies, sound familiar? They are exactly like the american zombie. But, it also differentiated itself than the typical zombie movie because it derived characteristics from Japanese Anime. That is why the anime translated so well to American Culture and reached the top charts during the week of Januarty 31st to February 6th reaching a demand of 110.5 times the average series.
At around the same time zombies in America were very popular. TV shows like the Walking Dead were extremely popular, pulling in millions of views and even surpassing ratings for huge events like the Winter Olympics. Additionally, there were many video games ike the Last of Us and Left 4 Dead, all of which contributed to the rise in zombie popularity. This similarity between AOT and zombies allowed it to enter the market for viewers and grow in popularity as anime was also becoming popular at this time. The titans were just like these zombies. Not only were they physically similar to zombies, they also followed the same concepts and created the same settings..
Zombies herald the fall of society because of the landscape it creates. They create a post apocalyptic world just as we see in Attack on Titan. Humanity is confined to living in a giant compound and the world is extremely pessimistic. This idea is very popular because there are many people who are uncertain about the future due to the multitude of global catastrophes we went through. Many people think the system of our way of life is breaking down. When people read and watch stories that are too similar to our world such as a story about pandemics or a nuclear war they are too realistic and scary. People prefer fictional stories such as zombie stories or in this case Attack On Titan to see the end of the world to fullfill their thoughts and curiosities. These stories allow them to gain their relief and sleep at night since it is just fictional and can’t happen. Additionally, the idea of zombies and the end of the world is appealing because it allows people to escape reality.
Some people prefer the narrative of an apocalyptic world because it rids them of their troubles. It is a free get out of jail card for your financial problems and all your responsibilities, you are able to restart. This was very popular because it gave people the idea that they could escape from reality. Their financial worries from capitalism are gone, they don’t have to worry about their debt. They can plunder for food, there are no societal norms that they have to worry about following contantly. Attack on Titan is able to emulate the same effect as the concept of zombies, thus giving it the same appeal which resulted in its rise to popularity. When the titans break into the first wall and society starts to break down everyone starts to fend for themselves. Some escape into the inner walls, while others plunder for loot and steal from people. Regardless, it allows people to be free and do what they want as society crumbles. But it is not completely similar to zombie moves, which is what made it stand out even more.
The thing that differentiates it from many other zombie movies is that there is great character development. This is derived from japanese culture as animes, as I said earlier, are often based off of a character becoming extremely strong. This is very different from most zombie movies as the characters usually don’t develop much or become stronger, rather they just survive. This progress was a new twist for Americans as most movies do not follow the progression of a main character. Often, many zombie movies just follow a main character that blindly goes around surviving and killing zombies, there is never a connection built with the main characters. But, in AOT we see the development and backstory of many charaters such as Eren Yeager, Mikasa, Erwin, Levi, and Armin. Armin develops from a coward to a fearless, intelligent commander who sacrifices his life for his friends. Eren was always fearless but he never had the skill to utilize his courage, throughout the story he becomes faster, stronger and more skillful. The development of these characters is intriguing not only for the connection we build with them, but because it offers us insight on our own development. Seeing these characters improve their lives gives the vieweres motivation that they can too. Overall, these characters have very diverse backgrounds but they all come together in the end, and the viewers become very attached to these characters as they develop a strong connection to them. But, this is not the only that differentiates it from zombie movies
The goal to solve the mystery behind the titans, not just to survive also attributes to its success. By having a mystery and purpose, it adds a lot to the plot. The whole story is based around finding out where the titans come from and the characters are often forced to leave the confines of their city to risk their lives and find the real truth. Many times they will leave on missions and only half the men will return. They are willing to die in order for the better of society and the human race. In one scene they return, but a man is missing and the mother asks where is her son and they are forced to tell her that he is dead and all they can give her his is hand. This adds a lot of sense and meaning to the story as they aren’t focused on living, they are focused on finding the truth and a solution which can only be done through sacrifice. This is quite different from most zombie movies where there is no hope and the characters are forced to just survive and sustain themselves. The idea of an end goal is quite similar to the popular Korean movie Train To Busan, where the goal is to make it to Busan. If there was no goal the story wouldn’t be as meaningful, there would be no hope and quite honestly it would be boring, yet many zombie movies are just like this. Of the key differences that made it so popular, specifically during the pandemic, was the difference with the idea of infection.
During the COVID pandemic people were forced to stay in their homes. People were uncertain about the future and how long the pandemic would last. Will life ever return to normal? Is this the beginning of the end? Will world war 3 happen? How long will these fires in Australia last? It honestly seemed like it was the end of the world, and to top it off we had this deadly virus. Obviously this led to a lot of worry and stress about the future and where did people go to find relief? Movies and TV Shows. Before the pandemic AOT was very popular but it had never been the best, but once the pandemic struck AOT rose to the top. As I explained earlier people want to see the end of the world to sate their curiosity and worries, but it can’t be too realistic or it won’t be enjoyable as people will just be worried about the possibility of it happening. Zombie movies simulate the pandemic perfectly because one doesn’t want to become infected and catch the virus which can kill you just as one doesn’t want to be bit by a zombie and become one. They sound too similar right? This seems a little too scary for people. But, Attack on Titan is different in the sense that there is no virus, humans can not become titans, they can only be killed by them. For this reasoning it is not correlated to the pandemic, making it a better option for people to view as it won’t be that scary. People can go to sleep and enjoy AOT knowing that it will never really happen, while also enjoying the benefits of seeing the end of the world which is something people may be curious about. The middle of the pandemic was exactly when AOT reached the top charts and was the most viewed television show.
It is quite interesting how AOT became popular, it was very similar to zombie movies in the sense that it created the same environment. And titans and zombies are very similar allowing it to rise to fame. It was very timely as zombie movies and anime were extremely popular at the time. But it was also able to differentiate itself from the typical zombie movie by retaining the values of anime movies, specifically in character development. Yet, the small nuances such as not being able to turn into a titan is what made it even more popular in the pandemic, as it wasn’t nearly as scary nor realistic as it could have been. Whether or not the producer meant to make the titans, who are supposed to represent Kaiju, represent zombies is beyond my scope of knowledge, yet they did and it translated to America, making it one of the most watched TV shows. Now, I am not saying that the extremely well made scenes, the underlying message against class differences, specifically targeting the upper class, and the idea that gender doens’t matter, men and women can both be successful, didn’t attribute to the success. Rather, I am saying that the idea of cultural objects, specifically AOT, was able to succeed in America, whereas other animes weren’t is because of its ability to translate to other cultures as something else popular, in this case as zombies, and timing as anime and zombies were very popular at its release.
Bibliography
https://www.cbr.com/attack-on-titan-most-popular-series-united-states/
https://observer.com/2021/01/attack-on-titan-fascism/
