Attack on Titan has one of the most controversial endings in the entire anime/manga world. Hajime Isayama's decision to create a complex character like Eren who commits mass genocide despite being the main character is despised by many.
In an interview published in Men's magazine, Brutus, Hajime Isayama shared his ideology. This 2014 interview contains the raw emotions of a young Isayama.
Hajime Isayama Expresses His Disappointment With the World
In the interview, Hajime Isayama shared his worldview as well as the difficulties of being a mangaka. He said that drawing for a living is an extremely difficult job.
Hajime Isayama said: “My dream back then was just to make enough money to support myself with my manga, even if it never became a big hit.”
The mangaka was so desperate to get his manga published that he just wanted to make enough money to survive. Attack on Titan later became a super popular series, earning him both money and fame, which seemed impossible for him when he first started.
Next, the interviewer asked if there was a part of him that wished for the world to end. Isayama replied quite calmly: “'Fuck the world, let everything go to hell'. Yeah, I used to think that quite a lot.”
The author admits that although he no longer thinks like that, he still has nihilistic tendencies. He wonders what life would be like without humans. He also wonders how people would function with amenities like electricity and water infrastructure.
How Isayama's Thoughts Influenced the Ending of Attack on Titan
Hajime Isayama admitted that the ending of Attack on Titan was premeditated. The ending was somewhat decided from the start of the series. However, after the ending was decided, Isayama could no longer change it and reluctantly continued writing the story. He later expressed that he felt bound by the ending of Attack on Titan and could not change it even if he wanted to.
If the ending of the series was decided long ago, when the author was still in his nihilistic phase, then it is understandable why he chose such a painful ending. This is why Isayama seemed to be heartbroken about the manga after he became more mature.
His curiosity about the lack of basic amenities also inspired the island of Paradis. Because the island was isolated from the rest of humanity, there were not many inventions that would benefit the modern world. The island only developed technologically after the arrival of Azumabito.
The author also wanted to know what a world without humans would be like, which was also shown in Attack on Titan. After the controversial ending, there were too few survivors. This would lead to a world where humans would have to rebuild everything from scratch because the Earthquake destroyed everything in its path.
