The ending of Attack on Titan has always been a sensitive topic of discussion for the fans of the series for a long time. Although Isayama rectified the controversial elements of the narrative in the anime, it still divided the fans between multiple factions, each having different opinions about how he could have made the ending better.
Attack on Titan is considered one of the best anime and manga series in the world, and this puts Isayama on a pedestal for the fans. They have always recognized his work and his way of portraying the narrative in the most unique way possible. However, the conclusion led to Isayama himself apologizing to the fans for the controversial ending.
But what many Attack on Titan fans don’t know is that even the manga ending that created so much ruckus was not the original plan the mangaka had in mind. He once revealed that the original ending for Attack on Titan was much darker and would have made fans even more disappointed.
Hajime Isayama’s Original Attack on Titan Ending Was Totally Different
In 2017, Volume 42 of Febri posted an interview with the Attack on Titan mangaka and the editor of the series, Shintarō Kawakubo, where Isayama discussed his initial plans for the ending of Attack on Titan. He even revealed that he changed the ending because of the love and support the series got from the fans.
He stated:
Not at all. We’ve diverged significantly from how I thought it would end in the beginning. Thanks to how much everyone has grown to love the characters, and how popular Attack on Titan has become among so many people, I decided that the conclusion I had originally planned for would be totally wrong.
The conclusion that he planned for his series was completely different from what the fans saw. Despite that, the manga’s conclusion got so much backlash that he had to once again change it for the anime series and recreate it in a way that would be appreciated by fans. And he finally created something that satisfied the fandom, more or less.
Attack on Titan Was Supposed To Shock Fans
Ever since Hajime Isayama started working on Attack on Titan, he wanted to create a narrative that would leave an impact on the fans. And while he was able to do so with the rest of the series, he decided to leave the last part out as it would have been so dark that it might have depressed the fanbase.
Isayama revealed:
At the beginning of publication, my urge to make something shocking outweighed any desire to make readers happy. I don’t feel that way anymore, though, and have instead come to think that I should take a more professional approach.
The controversial ending of Attack on Titan was surrounded by the fact that everything that Eren Yeager did went down the drain. After a few years, the world went back to violence, with Paradis being the center of it.
Irrespective of that, the series has inspired many other mangakas and will stand at the top of the manga world for a very long time.
You can watch Attack on Titan on Hulu, Crunchyroll.
