Attack on Titan

About

Attack on Titan (Japanese: 進撃の巨人 Shingeki no Kyojin, lit. “Advancing Giants”) is a manga series first created by author Hajime Isayama, and later adapted into an anime series by anime studio Production I.G. The story is set in an alternate version of the past, where giant human-like creatures named Titans suddenly appeared and started to kill off humans by eating them. The series follows the story of Eren, who is motivated to enlist in the military with his friends Mikasa and Armin, after witnessing a Titan eat his mother during an attack from the Titans on Wall Maria, one of the three walls created to help protect humans from the Titans.

History

The original Manga series first started serialization in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in September 2009, and first published in tankōbon on March 17 2010. The popularity of the series soon paved way for an anime series to be created, published by Production I.G and directed by Tetsurō Araki, most well known for his work on series such as Highschool of the Dead and Death Note, and began serialization on April 6 2013. As well as this, a live-action movie is stated to be in production,with no release date disclosed as of yet, as well as four visual novels in production for the PS3, with one to be released on September 18 2013, and the rest on December 18 2013.

Online Relevance

Since the creation of the anime series, Attack on Titan has garnered a significant online following. The show has a significant presence on sites such as Tumblr^[1], Reddit^[2], 4chan’s /a/ Anime and Manga board^[3], Fanpop^[4], My Anime List^[5] and FanFictiion.net^[6]. There are numerous sites holding information of the series, such as the Shigeki no Kyojin wiki^[7], TV Tropes^[8] and Anime News Network^[9]. DeviantArt also has over 6000 deviations based of the series^[10].

Notable sub-memes

Guren no Yumiya parodies

Guren no Yumiya parodies refers to a number of anime opening MADs based on the opening titles of the show. The song has gained popularity on Youtube^[11] and Nico Nico Douga^[12], being paired with clips of other TV shows for dramatic effect.

Attack on Titan photo fad

The Attack on Titan photo fad is a forced perspective series of images, which originated in April 2013, when Japanese Twitter users began sharing photos of themselves acting out scenes from the Attack on Titan introduction.

Moe Titans

Moe Titans refers to a number of background Titans from within the show who have gained popularity within the fandom, due to looking significantly less intimidating than other titans from within the show, instead seeming more moe in appearance. These moe Titans have gained popularity on Tumblr^[13], spawning a number of fan art.