Despite how much of himself he put into Attack on Titan's Eren Yeager, creator Hajime Isayama's favorite character is not the protagonist.
During an interview celebrating K Manga's launch, one of the questions asked of Attack on Titan's mangaka Hajime Isayama was who his favorite character was. Isayama initially said Jean Kirstein, but after thinking for a few seconds, he changed his answer to Reiner. "He's someone I put a lot of thought into creating," he explained. "He turned out completely different from what I expected. I really enjoyed drawing him." Isayama has gone back and forth on Jean and Reiner in the past few years, but it appears he has settled on Reiner -- at least for now.
Attack on Titan's Most Memorable Scene, According to Isayama
Isayama also detailed why Reiner's big reveal scene to Eren became one of the most memorable scenes in the manga for him. "I was in Kodansha's storyboarding room when that scene came to me after thinking at my desk for hours," the mangaka said. "I was very excited when I came up with that scene. I have a deep attachment to how I made that great scene."
At 19 years old, Isayama wrote a one-shot that, three years later, became the basis for Attack on Titan. The ending of Attack on Titan remains controversial among fans. Isayama had thought of the ending since the beginning of the story and initially believed the story would finish in two volumes. As the manga's popularity grew, the mangaka began questioning the direction of how he had planned to end the series. "The groundwork solidified while writing up until that point," Isayama said, "so the story ended how I first vaguely envisioned it."
Attack on Titan ran from September 2009 to April 2021 in Kodansha's monthly magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine. The series became one of the top best-selling manga series of all time at 110 million copies in circulation and has inspired a four-season, three-part-finale anime franchise. The series has received an overwhelming amount of love from readers all around the world, including rapper/singer Megan Thee Stallion. Set in a world where humanity has found themselves trapped behind walls to protect them from enormous man-eating humanoid giants called Titans, the story follows Eren Yeager who vows to defeat the Titans and free humanity after witnessing his mother die at the hands of one.
Attack on Titan is now available to read digitally on the K-Manga app.
Source: Twitter