Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan concluded last year and is considered one of the best anime and manga series of all time. The series has made history by gaining worldwide recognition in the least amount of time. Because of his work, Isayama is considered a legend in the anime and manga industry.
Both the manga and the anime have generated a great deal of discussion and analysis among viewers and readers, and are recognized as shonen classics. The plot of the anime has garnered a sizable fan base, and its action scenes are outstanding. Fans still hope to this day that Isayama may return with a sequel or spin-off of the series.
Although the series has inspired many other manga artists, Isayama himself was inspired by another manga and TV series that is even darker and more depressing than Attack on Titan. The name of the series is Project ARMS and it is written by Kyoichi Nanatsuki and illustrated by Ryoji Minagawa.
What is Project ARMS About?
Project ARMS, or simply ARMS in Japan, is a manga series authored by Kyoichi Nanatsuki. From March 1997 to April 2002, it was serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday. The chapters were collected into 22 tankōbon volumes. There have been more than 15 million copies of the manga distributed.
The narrative centers on Ryo Takatsuki, a kindergarten student who suffers severe injuries to his arm in an accident but is miraculously rescued by medical professionals. His arm is discovered to be more than just a regular arm, a few years later. In 1999, Project ARMS got the 44th Shogakukan Manga Award.
It was turned into a 52-episode anime television series by TMS Entertainment that aired on TV Tokyo from April 2001 to March 2002. While the series did not gain much popularity, it certainly became a legend in the dark anime and manga genre and later on served as an inspiration for Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan.
Hajime Isayama Was Inspired by Project ARMS
Attack on Titan follows protagonist Eren Yeager and his companions Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. Their hometown is destroyed and Eren’s mother is devoured by Titans as a Colossal Titan breaks the wall. Eren joins the elite Survey Corps, a group of soldiers who combat Titans, determined to exact retribution.
Attack on Titan’s story and Project ARMS’s story is completely different. However, it still has some aspects that prove that Isayama was influenced by the manga. The main characters in both shows were subjects of childhood experiments. Additionally, the endings to each of them are among the most surprising ones ever.
Both series have some depressing and dark moments that influence the story in a major way. However, Project ARMS is considered to be much more depressing and dark by the fans who have read or watched the series. Nonetheless, because of Project ARMS, fans got to see one of the biggest anime and manga series ever created reach its peak.
