Hajime Isayama Creator - Attack on Titan
Hajime Isayama is a Japanese manga artist and writer, widely known as the creative genius behind Attack on Titan. Born in Oita Prefecture, Japan, Isayama studied anime in college and debuted his first-ever series, Attack on Titan, in 2009.
History
Isayama was born on August 29, 1986, in Oyama, Oita, Japan. He attended Hitarinkou Prefectural High School and then Kyushu Designer Gakuin College, where he studied in the animation program of the Animation Arts Department. He began his career as a manga artist after moving to Tokyo.
Career
In 2006, his work, Attack on Titan received the Job Well Done Award when he applied for the Magazine Grand Prize which is promoted by Kodansha Ltd. Before receiving this award, he took his manga to the editorial department of Weekly Shonen Jump , Shueisha. Weekly Shonen Jump is one of the most popular manga magazines, known for manga such as One Piece, Naruto and Dragon Ball. However, the editor-in-chief of Jump advised him to modify his story and style so that they would be suitable for Weekly Shonen Jump. After receiving this advice, he refused to do so as he did not want to change his manga style. Instead, he decided to take his work to the Weekly Shonen Magazine department at Kodansha Ltd, where his dark and brutal style appealed to the production staff and his work was accepted.
Surprisingly, Attack on Titan was his first manga published as a professional manga artist. In 2009, Attack on Titan was released in the monthly magazine, Bessatsu Shonen Magazine . After two years in 2011, the manga was awarded in the 35th Kodansha Manga Awards Category. His work continues to gain popularity worldwide and has become a successful manga series with a global fan base.
In 2014, the Attack on Titan Exhibition in Tokyo was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo. His works and personal belongings were exhibited there. His childhood photos and drawings were also on display. He began drawing pictures of humans fighting large creatures as a child. He also had Japanese calligraphy that read, "I can at least defeat a dog." His childhood works demonstrated his sense of humor, as he tends to insert humor into a serious story.
Inspirations
-
Hell Teacher Nube - One of Isayama's biggest influences is the manga, Hell Teacher Nube , published in Jump and popular in the 1990s. The story is about Nube, an elementary school teacher who possesses the hand of a demon. He fights against Yokai, the supernatural creatures, with the power of his demon's hand. Hajime was afraid of this cannibalistic figure and the powerful image wouldn't leave his mind. He mentioned that the designs of Titans were inspired by this frightening image. He essentially recreated his childhood fear in his works.
-
Martial Arts - Another influence he received while writing the manga was martial arts. While creating the eye-catching battles between Titans, he watched martial arts matches to study the techniques and movements of hand-to-hand combat. The Titan battles included this combat, and he wanted to include the fine details of muscle movement, such as shapes and angles, to make them realistic. These fights are one of the reasons for the manga's popularity.
Personal life
In his personal life, Isayama is well-known for being a huge fan of the Japanese idol group Momoiro Clover Z. This group has become popular among the Japanese for its cheerful and upbeat songs. Although their type of catchy songs is completely opposite to the Attack on Titan universe, he often listens to their songs while drawing his manga.
In late 2016, he stated that he had watched all six seasons of Game of Thrones. He posted fan art on his blog and also recommended the series to his readers. In May 2019, he expressed his disappointment with the series' ending, like many fans.
Unlike many manga artists in Japan, Isayama doesn't hesitate to show his face in public. He even gave a speech to his fans at a film festival. Readers of Attack on Titan may have had a certain image of him due to his seriousness in the manga. However, he is a handsome young man, slim and presentable. There is a big gap between his image and his real appearance, which has allowed him to gain popularity.
At the end of 2018, Isayama announced on his blog that he had gotten married that year. He stated that he would continue drawing manga in 2019.
About Attack on Titan
In 2012, Isayama responded in an interview by saying that Jean was his favorite character. From 2017 to 2019, he stated that Reiner was his favorite character. He also explains that Daz is the character he resembles the most.
Regarding the future of the series, Isayama stated that he had decided on the direction and completely planned the plot of Colossal Titan and Armored Titan . He also predicted that Volume 13 would be less popular because the story would continue without the appearance of the Titans for a while. Since Attack on Titan became more popular than he expected, he stated that it was possible to change the ending of the story.
In fact, Kodansha 's Twitter account posted a drawing that read "serialization completion!!" with the tag "2020 aspirations." Kodansha Comics also published the manga in English. It is virtually confirmed that the Attack on Titan series will be completed in 2020. In November 2018, Isayama provided the rough layout for the final panel of Jonetsu Tairiku, MBS's documentary program.
