SnK Character Directory: Isayama Hajime Interview (Part 1)

Translation: @suniuz​ & @fuku-shuu

Please link back and/or credit if any portions of this translation are used!

Index: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3



Having reached the sea, what now flashes within one’s mind?

“Approaching the Story’s Core” - Isayama Hajime-sensei’s extended interview!

Eren and co. have finally arrived at the sea, but the moment is also a sign of how Eren and Armin’s perspectives have deviated?!

- For your illustration of tankobon 22’s cover, Eren and the others have finally come face-to-face with the sea! What is your current mood whenever you look back at this scene?

Isayama: “To reach the sea” has always been the centerpiece of the story and suggests the idea, “If we actually manage to arrive at these circumstances, that likely means no more titans exist outside of the walls.” It almost serves as a prize and trophy for Eren and the others after they’ve eliminated all the Titans, so I did breathe a sigh of relief at being able to illustrate this moment successfully. At the same time, I also started to conceive an expansion for the other side. I did feel a helpless sense of, “So what happens now?” From the series’ beginning seven years ago to now, this was like leaving your family home and moving to a brand new piece of land.

- Since they’ve collected the prize, Eren and everyone should be pretty happy, right?

Isayama: Well, for the trio of Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, rather than rejoicing due to feelings of success, it’s more like, “We can’t remain kids forever.” From the perspective of the Survey Corps, with Commander Erwin and other Squad Leaders still present, the three of them continue to exist as youth. However, as the figures they depend on pass away one by one, Eren and them now must fill these positions. However, my personal struggle is that I cannot say their childhoods have officially “ended”…for this point, please await the upcoming chapters.

- I understand! Isayama-sensei previously said in other interviews, like for Shingeki no Kyojin INSIDE KOU, that “Eren is a character being dragged along by the story,” “Eren was a slave of the story.” Have these impressions changed?

Isayama: I now feel that my response of “Eren is dragged along by the story” has become the essence of Eren’s character. For Mikasa and Armin, they have developed a habitual mindset of revolving around the axis that is Eren. But at the very beginning, that sentiment was more favoritism…usually when you see that your relatives or siblings have encountered hardship, you would extend a helping hand. Even if onlookers question, “Why are you helping them?,” part of the reason is hard to properly explain. Eren’s relationship with Mikasa and Armin is like this.

- I previously thought that Eren and the others already experienced the most crucial points of one’s lifetime. But after speaking with you, it seems like they will continue to encounter rough waters.

Isayama: Truthfully, around tankobon volumes 17-18 before the Return to Shiganshina battles, I recreated (T/N: Isayama used the katakana for “refrain” here) moments from volume 1 and volume 2, and that fashioned a feeling of the story reaching climax - perhaps the readers felt the same. For example in Saving Private Ryan, the opening sequence contains a moment with a mirror and a piece of gum. When you reintroduce the same elements during the climax, the audience will sense that “the conclusion is near.” The scene with the troops setting off for Shiganshina was produced with this same purpose. When Eren ate with his friends before they embarked, where he then argued with Jean, and the trio left the mess hall to converse…in tankobon volume 1, after these similar moments came Hannes’ first appearance.

- In tankobon volume 18, there is even the scene of trio reconfirming their desire to see the sea!

Isayama: Yes there is. However, the Eren then was different from Armin, who fought for the goal of even just seeing the sea once. In truth Eren is not that committed to the sea. Even though Eren and Armin became great childhood friends because they shared the dream for “the world outside the walls,” but the root of that dream has some slight differences. Armin possessed a curiosity for knowledge, and held onto the thought of “I want to see the sea.” On the other hand, Eren viewed it as, “The sea obviously exists, but we don’t have the freedom to see it” - and he felt indignation towards that. He was not interested in the sea itself. Other than this, throughout the entire story, all the situations Eren became involved with continues to change, and his grasp of the sea itself subsequently fades. The gradual clarity of how the two of them have diverged in perspective, and Armin’s own shock towards this realization - that’s the story of that scene in volume 18.

- That’s how it is!?

Isayama: When they reached the sea, the shell Armin held symbolized “something that only exists in the sea.” He tells Eren, “Look at this.” However, Eren does not glance towards it as he was focused on more serious thoughts. “The shell that was ignored” was then forsaken within Armin’s hand. This could be “the end of a dream” though maybe even moreso “the end of adolescence,” but I added some elements of both during that scene. The trio that always stayed together but will go their own ways after graduation…that’s somewhat the feeling.

- Then is it time for the trio to embark on their own paths!? If we based everything on this hypothesis, the tankobon volume 22 cover with the trio facing the sea now seems to hint at future disturbances.

Isayama: Regarding that scene - from the very beginning, I’ve always wanted to make it appear ominous. If I had to admit it, there’s also a feeling of, “Wouldn’t this be a pretty good final chapter?” I hope that the upcoming storylines will some day change the possible nuances within this scene for even me.

Index: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

