There aren’t many things that can grip the world in the way that Attack on Titan does. The anime has finally come to an end after having run for a decade now. The way that the manga and the anime have impacted the world is no doubt something fans will not be forgetting it anytime soon. The entire story is one, despite the controversy regarding both Isayama’s ending and MAPPA’s ending, that has won hearts left and right.
If there is anyone who can make this story better, it is the slight hinting towards a certain Steven Spielberg film. Schindler’s List is one movie by the director that is not only moving but also close to his heart. However, there was one scene in particular that Attack on Titan may have taken inspiration from. The girl in red from Schindler’s List holds a similar value to the crying baby.
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The Crying Baby in Attack on Titan and the Girl in Red in Schindler’s List
Attack on Titan’s crying baby recently became even more famous when it was revealed just who was behind the voice of the child. Yuki Kaji’s actual child happened to voice the kid, bringing life to a character that otherwise held more meaning than many would initially realize. The scene where the baby is first shown is black and white, a world stuck in its own doom as The Rumbling proceeds. However, there is one factor that shines; the crying baby. It is the only object of focus that appears in color, bright starkly red.
Schindler’s List featured a similar scene. In both terms of looks and what it signified, the scene involved a girl in the midst of her black and white surroundings. The girl is standing out in a red coat. In both these scenes there are unimaginable horrors taking place. On one side it is the holocaust while on the other it is The Rumbling. People are dying in both these cases and the terrible setup has these two children standing out. Their red attire becomes not just a means to grab the audience’s attention but also of significant thematic concern.
The Call of Innocence and Hope
Both these scenes feature a child of innocence. One that is burdened to reside in a place filled with horrors neither of them asked to indulge in. The girl in red has a rather different setting than that of the baby. Red often signifies war and aggression. However, to clad that color on an individual that signifies innocence and the future, the meaning changes. For Schindler’s List, it becomes the loss of one’s childhood. What is lost often remains lost.
For Attack on Titan, the case is different. The baby in red is surviving alone when everyone else is jumping to their deaths. A baby’s cry is not a sound of sadness but that of life. It is a call of hope and of freedom. The red here is taken as a connection to humanity, one that the sole surviving child will continue on. Once the war ends and things slowly begin to settle, it is that baby’s scream yearning for survival that will ring in the ears of the people who chose to save it when its mother was ready to jump alongside the child.
