Giants were inspired by drunk net café customer

Attack on Titan manga creator Hajime Isayama appeared on Nihon TV 's Zip! program, and revealed various details about himself and his manga. Two famous fans of the manga — Oriental Radio host Atsuhiko Nakata and Nogizaka46 idol group member Rina Ikoma — also appeared on the program.

On the program, 27-year old Isayama said that he looks at a reference book for various human expressions when drawing the giant Titans for the manga, which is the first series that he has ever published.

Isayama said the idea for the Titans themselves came to him when he encountered a drunk customer at the Internet café he was working at. He said he was inspired by the lack of the ability to communicate even though the person was of the same species, and thought at that moment that the most familiar and scary animal in the world is actually the human.

Isayama explained that came up with the idea for the manga because he lived in a rural Japanese town surrounded by mountains. One day, he wanted to go beyond the mountains, which reflects in the town surrounded by walls in his manga. Eren's wish to go outside the city's walls is similar to his own when he was a child.

Isayama also revealed on the program that he is a huge fan of idol group Momoiro Clover Z , and even owns a fan happi coat (pictured below). Isayama said that when he is drawing a particularly painful scene in his manga, he thinks of Momoiro Clover Z to cheer himself up.

On the program, Ikoma was sitting next to a certain Levi hugging pillow as she discussed the manga with Nakata.

[Via Yaraon!]