Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan has left a long-lasting impression on the anime community. It will forever be treated as one of the greatest anime ever. Eren Jaeger sacrificed his life and 80% of the human population to save his friends. The out-of-the-box thinking is what made Attack on Titan such a popular anime. On top of that, several plot twists kept the fans on the edge of their seats.
Instead of using superpowers, he opted for a story where humanity was on the brink of extinction and where giant human-eating titans inhabited most of Paradise Island. Fans would be shocked to know he was inspired by the multiple Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
Titans Were Inspired From Jurassic Park’s Dinosaurs
Hajime Isayama is known to be a massive fanatic of Western movies. His characters, designs, names, backgrounds, etc., often resemble Hollywood movies. The scary Titans were inspired by Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. During an interview with MyAnimeList, Hajime Isayama was asked about the origin of the idea of Titans.
He said,
“As far as I can remember, I’ve liked giant creatures since I was in kindergarten, and I spent all my time back then drawing dinosaurs. But as much as I enjoyed drawing these gigantic things, I simultaneously felt this fear of them. In Jurassic Park, there’s a really intense scene when a guy runs away from a dinosaur and hides in a bathroom, but the dinosaur just destroys the bathroom and gobbles him up, and I remember seeing that and being scared but also finding it strangely funny, in a way.”
Jurassic Park came out in 1993, and it went on to become a cult classic. It inspired several people, Hajime Isayama included. Being a great mangaka, he caught on to the idea of dinosaurs and developed it into a more eerie creature. The transformation took place thanks to a video game, Muv Luv Alternative, which the mangaka was pretty fond of.
Attack on Titan Was Initially Supposed To Be A One-Shot Manga
Initially, Hajime Isayama created a 65-page Attack on Titan one-shot manga. It was a college project which needed to be submitted to a publisher in Tokyo. He approached Kodansha, where he met his editor, Shintarou Kawakubo. After a few years, the one-shot manga became one of the most popular anime and went on for a successful decade.
Attack on Titan is a pretty detailed anime, with the manga having sold millions of copies. If Steven Spielberg ever comes to know about Isayama, he would be happy his work inspires other creators. Apart from Jurassic Park, several minute details go into the creation of an anime. The fans are thankful they got to experience such a great anime. But it still begs the question, who would have won between the Titans and the dinosaurs?
Attack on Titan is available on Crunchyroll.
