Ten years after the start of its publication in France, The attack of the Titans has the honor of an exhibition at the Angoulême comic strip festival. For the occasion, Hajime Isayama, author of the manga phenomenon, made the trip to the banks of the Charente.
“It’s an event!” enthuses Fausto Fasulo, curator of the exhibition. Mangakas travel little, especially those of this stature. The arrival of Hajime Isayama gives a considerable echo to the exhibition. »
A millionaire manga
If you are not one of the millions of readers of The attack of the Titans, you probably don’t know that Hajime Isayama is a huge star. The young author has pulled off a masterstroke with his first series. The attack of the Titans which depicts a confined humanity, struggling with cannibal giants beyond the city walls, in a dark fantasy medieval Europe. And the manga is a phenomenon. If the term is sometimes overused, it applies here wonderfully. The 34 volumes of the series, completed, have sold more than 110 million copies. The anime adaptation is also successful.
However, the influence of Hajime Isayama, major in the world of manga where tributes and references are legion, is still timid in the field of pop culture. There is good a meme that circulates on the evenings of football matches to mock passive teams. A wink from Emmanuel Macron on Instagram to praise the Pass Culture. Or a few quotes in rap songs. Aside from that…
A work outside the codes
Nevertheless, The attack of the Titans is unanimously considered a major work by those who have read it… “It’s a manga phenomenon because it has been both commercially and critically successful,” explains Mehdi Benrabah, editorial director at Pika Editions. This unanimity is rare. For many, it’s the manga of the decade. »
“The main reason for this success is that the author shakes up the codes of manga where, often, creativity is codified, with archetypes of heroes and antagonists. There, you never know what to expect. And this story is served by a drawing that looks like nothing known. »
Fausto Fasulo also believes that The attack of the Titans has everything to seduce a wide and demanding audience: “This is an extremely popular series that is quite unifying in terms of audiences of all ages and genres. There are young teenagers, adults, readers, female readers… It is both accessible and deep if you dig a little deeper into its surface. »
Mostly The attack of the Titans causes extreme reactions. “We feel galvanized by the horrific terror of the Titans, the massive destruction… But there are also adult themes, reflections, mystery, analyzes Fausto Fasulo. It’s a series that has something abnormal, out of order, uncomfortable, even for seasoned manga readers. And the drawing, a little rough, contributes to the discomfort of the story. These cannibalistic humanoid giants are drawn in a curious way. »
Thanks Gen Z
So how to explain that The attack of the Titans has not yet, as Game Of Thrones, naruto or GTA, crossed the wall of the boomer to ignite pop culture? Recently, the license attack on titan enters certain markets, particularly ready-to-wear. Celio, boomer brand if ever there was one, made an Attack on Titans collection. And at the start of 2023, the brand Don’t Call Me Jennyfer launches its second collection dedicated to shock manga.
“Our customers have asked us for it,” simply explains Chloé Ortiz, brand director. We listen to our customers on social networks and this was a recurring request. We often do manga and Gen Z pop culture collections.” And the director wasn’t afraid of the rather dark aesthetic of The attack of the Titans : “We are lucky to have designers who are fans of this manga so it was a joy for them. And even if there are charters to respect, in particular the scale of the Titans compared to the other characters, we were able to work on the colors to counterbalance the imagery of the manga. For example, we have a very beautiful green, beige… to get out of the red titan on a black background. The success of this collection is such that Don’t Call Me Jennyfer will have a stand at a “big Parisian manga event” in the coming months.
posterity for worship
In addition to manga and anime, Hajime Isayama’s work sells a whole galaxy of objects. Will that be enough to make The attack of the Titans a staple of pop culture in the decade to come? In any case, by its interpretative richness, the work deserves it. The arrival of Hajime Isayama in France thus arouses the hope, among people who have finished reading the manga, that the author gives keys.
“I don’t really believe in it, explains Fausto Fasulo. He does not wish to comment on the interpretation to be given to his work. He does not want to defuse what he has aroused in millions of readers, to close his work by giving a single key to analysis. At Pika, Mehdi Benrabah believes that the mystery surrounding The attack of the Titans is its best chance to become absolutely cult, beyond the fans of the title: “A confined humanity facing a threat of which it does not know much … Secrets and unspoken at the top of the state … A mastered scenario with hints of the end scattered throughout the volumes… This work, we want to reread it. There are a lot of underlying messages, references. If the release of the volumes has given rise to passionate debates and contradictory analyses, it is not by chance. Now that the manga is complete, and the anime soon too, there will be exciting posterity. »