WP3 RD

Being one of the most well-known anime in recent years, the Japanese anime series Attack on Titan (2013–2022) attracts countless fans from Japan and across the border. The anime series has been continuously airing since its release in 2013, rising to its fame in the United States immediately after entering the United States market. The United States’ anime market has been flourishing with the establishment of prior anime like Naruto (1999–2014), One-Piece (1999-present), and many other anime that contained brilliantly illustrated fight scenes and intricate storylines. So, how does Attack on Titan, out of countless releasing anime, shine its light over the United States’ highly competitive anime market? The main reason behind the massive success of Attack on Titan in the US market is the alignment of cultural values between the US and Japan that boost a new height for the anime. Indeed, the bloody, vigorous fight scene and the intricate storylines that sparks great excitement and anticipation in Attack on Titan partially contributed to its huge popularity in the United States, the anime’s emphasis on the unison in the cultural value of strong national identity shared in the United States and Japan’s audiences is the primary reason behind the rapid and drastic elevation of the anime’s popularity in the US since its release.

Originally a manga illustrated by Hajime Isayama from 2009 to 2021, Attack on Titan was produced as an anime that is much more available for oversea viewers in 2013. The story revolved around the growth of a young boy, Eren, who lives in a country named Paradis that is entirely surrounded by walls to defend the raging titans from intruding the cities, eating people alive, and tearing people apart. The story begins as, one day, the seemly peaceful life is shattered as two titans break through the walls that allow countless titans to flush into the city. Eren, along with every citizen in Paradis, were then forced to explore the outside world that is believed to be destroyed and filled with mindless titans. Through this journey to find the other world beyond the walls, the wall’s secret is revealed as the world is actually filled with different countries that hate upon the Paradis as the Paradis citizens are the titans before the transformation. The wall is a barrier rather than a protection for the Paradis citizens. The secret causes Eren to become the main antagonist as he wants to protect his country’s citizens by wiping out every other life in the world. His action reveals the embedded Japanese cultural value of national identity, “an awareness of difference…a feeling and recognition of ‘we’ and ‘they’” (Lee, p. 29), within the anime that contribute to Eren’s insane action of sacrificing the greater for one’s country that may be the lesser.

To further comprehend the presence and relevance of national identity in Attack on Titan’s popularity in both Japan and the United States, one needs to understand the Japanese citizens’ view on their relationship to their birthplace, Japan, as the relationship is the primary motivation behind Japan’s strong national identity. As Bruce Stokes states in the article, Japan has a high rate of 50 percent, “​​about half the public considers birthplace to be very important” (Stokes). In other words, many Japanese citizens see their birthplace as a critical identity in their lives that contributes to their strong national identity and belongingness to the motherland. Eren’s seemingly insane action of saving one’s country by eliminating the masses then largely appeals to the Japanese audiences as it illustrates the audiences’ belief in the rightfully tight connection between the people and the country as Eren is fighting against the entire world to protect his motherland. In a larger scope of the Japanese consumption market, a substantial infusion of a promising national identity within objects, including Attack on Titan or anime in general, will mostly have a high chance of winning favor from the Japanese audiences.

Similarly, the strong national identity captured within Eren’s action allows and builds its huge success in the United States as the US audiences are also in favor of the presented national identity within the anime. However, the US’s way of achieving a strong national identity is through a slightly different approach from Japan. Some people may argue that the United States’ high rate of immigration may not favor the US citizens’ relationship with their birth country as many citizens are not born in the United States territory. However, the cultural value of national identity presented in Attack on Titan can be achieved in many ways as Japan’s emphasis on the connection between oneself and one’s birthplace is one of the many ways people gain the national identity of their country. According to Laura Silver, in the US, “about seven-in-ten think sharing their country’s customs and traditions is an important part of being one of them” (Silver). In other words, the US citizens, including immigrants, achieve national identity through their emphasis on the adaptation of a country’s tradition and cultural significance rather than focusing on one’s connection with birthplace. With different approaches, Japan and the United States both obtained the cultural value of a significant national identity within borders that allowed the blooming triumph of Attack on Titan in both countries. So how does Eren’s action signify the shared cultural value of national identity in Japan and the United States?

Specifically, the cultural value visually illustrated and dramatized through Eren’s action prompted and enlarged the US audiences’ grip upon the belief of a strong national identity that allows Attack on Titan to achieve a tremendous hit in the US anime market. By choosing his own country over the entire world, Eren’s action of erasing the world’s population except for the Paradis citizens, an unacceptable action, is the definition of radicality that actually emphasizes and vividly presents the embedded cultural value of national identity. The presentation and emphasis of the cultural value through a dramatized way allowed the United States audiences to resonate significantly with the anime as the agreement upon national identity between the two countries leads to a successful translation of the anime from Japan to the US. Attack on Titan, thus, obtained its enormous success in the United States audiences.

It is crucial to think about the successful translation of Attack on Titan from Japan to the United States through the mutual share of national identity within the two countries because it exemplifies the interconnection of different cultures from a global perspective. The transmission and acknowledgment of cultural values between different countries are so much more effortless nowadays with mediums like Attack on Titan as they can be viewed, discussed, and analyzed by anyone who has access to anime from a country on the other side of the vast pacific ocean. The increasing globalization allowed people to connect and share cultural values that were once restricted and limited due to territorial restrictions.

In conclusion, the anime, Attack on Titan exhibits the globalization of culture in recent years as it obtained tremendous success in the US anime market through the emphasis on national identity shared by both countries. The successful translation of Attack on Titan further signifies the rapidly advancing globalization around the world through not only anime but all kinds of mediums and objects that carry their original countries’ cultural values.