Of all the dark fantasy series, only a very few have been able to really hold on to the global audiences quite like Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan did. That haunting beauty in the character designs with the mixture of horror and elegance made the franchise its unique identity.
Yet, hidden beneath this great job done by Isayama, one could find a piece of real truth: even for the most experienced artists, creative struggle is not an unusual thing! Even with the hard work and care taken to practice his craft well, Isayama wrestled with perfecting Eren and Mikasa, the main cast, which should have easily been the simplest to draw.
Eren & Mikasa Were Flawed! Not As Characters But With Their Character Designs
In a quite unexpected interview, Isayama himself revealed one surprising secret about two of the series’ main characters: Eren and Mikasa. He admitted that, at the time, despite the popularity of the series, he was very unsatisfied with how he could not draw these two characters consistently.
Isayama confessed that their designs were flawed – not their personalities or how the characters would fit into the story but their physical appearance. He just could not draw them the same way every time, no matter how hard he tried.
I couldn’t draw Eren and Mikasa consistently until the end. Their faces would change depending on when they were drawn, and they didn’t look the same.
Even as fans of this beloved manga, we could also notice subtle changes in the facial expressions, hairstyles—sometimes even the body proportions would change from panel to panel. This inconsistency frustrated him because he wanted his characters really to have an identity of their own.
It’s a difficult challenge that has somehow become one of the more endearing aspects of the series. And now the constantly shifting faces of Eren and Mikasa have become all the more relatable and human throughout the Attack On Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) manga.
The Reason Behind The Inconsistency Of Eren & Mikasa’s Artstyle: Isayama
So what really made the designs of Eren and Mikasa so challenging? Isayama explained that their facial expressions featured a lot of straight lines, hence making them harder to draw. This might sound surprising, but for an artist, subtle details can make a lot of difference. In contrast, characters like Armin, who has softer features, were comparatively easier for Isayama to bring to life.
These two characters had a lot of straight lines on their faces, which made them difficult to draw. And I had a hard time drawing them because they were the characters I had the most chances to draw. On the other hand, characters like Armin with round eyes, round noses and round silhouettes were very easy to draw.
Isayama’s confession shows some of the unique quirks of his artistic process. It is downright unusual to find a creator struggling with his main characters, but it speaks to the many intricacies involved in art and design. For all its faults, the character design behind Eren and Mikasa has come to be iconic, and their variations added depth to the series.
You can watch Attack On Titan on Crunchyroll.
