Hajime Isayama Creator - Attack on Titan
Hajime Isayama is a Japanese author and manga artist, widely known for being the creative genius behind the Attack on Titan franchise series. Born in Oita Prefecture, Japan, Isayama studied cartoon design in college and made his big break on his very first series with Attack on Titan being published in 2009.
History
Isayama was born on August 29, 1986 in Oyama, Oita, Japan. In highschool he attended the Prefectural Hitarinkou High School and later the Kyushu Designer Gakuin college, where he studied in the cartoon design program of the cartoon arts department. His first steps into becoming a manga artist began after he moved to Tokyo.
Career
In 2006, his work, Attack on Titan received the Fine Work Award when he applied for the Magazine Grand Prix which is promoted by Kodansha Ltd. Before he received this award, he brought his manga to the editorial department of Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha. Weekly Shonen Jump is one of the most popular manga magazines, known for mangas such as One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball. However, the editor of Jump advised him to modify his story and style so that it would suit Weekly Shonen Jump. After receiving this advice, he declined to do so as he didn't 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 hit a spot with the production team, and his work got 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 Award category. His work continues to gain popularity world-wide and has become a best-selling manga series with a global fan base.
In 2014, the Attack on Titan Wall Tokyo Exhibition was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo. His works as well as his personal belongings were exhibited. His photos and drawings of his childhood were displayed. He began to draw pictures of humans fighting against big creatures when he was a child. He also had Japanese calligraphy that said, "I can at least defeat a dog". His childhood works demonstrated his sense of humor, as he has the tendency to insert humor into a serious storyline.
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 a demon's hand. He battles against yokai, the supernatural creatures with the power of his demon's hand. Hajime was scared of this cannibalistic figure and the powerful image didn't leave his mind. He has mentioned that the designs for Titans were inspired by this creepy image. He basically recreated his childhood fear into his works.
Martial Art - Another influence he received while writing the manga was the martial arts. As he was creating the eye-catching battles between Titans, he watched martial arts matches to study the techniques and movements of hand-to-hand combat. Titans' battles included this combat and he wanted to include the fine details of muscle movement such as the shapes and angles to make them realistic. These battles are one of the reasons for the popularity of manga.
Personal Life
In his personal life, Isayama is well known for being a huge fan of the Japanese idol group called Momoiro Clover Z. This group has been popular among the Japanese for their cheerful and joyful songs. Although their type of upbeat songs are completely opposite from the world of Attack on Titan, he often listens to their songs while drawing his manga.
In late 2016, he stated that he watched all six seasons of Game of Thrones. He has posted fan art in his blog and recommended the series to his readers as well. In May of 2019, he showed his disappointment by the series' finale, like many fans.
Unlike many manga artists in Japan, Isayama isn't hesitant 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 because of his seriousness in manga. However, he is a good looking young man who is slim and presentable. There is a big gap between his image and his actual looks, which lead him to gain more popularity.
At the end of 2018, Isayama announced in his blog that he got married that year. He stated that he would continue to draw manga in 2019.
About Attack on Titan
In 2012, Isayama responded in an interview 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 is most similar to.
In regards to the future of the series, Isayama has stated that he has decided on the direction and planned the plot completely. He said that he already knows what would happen all the way to the last chapter. He predicted that readers would be surprised in Volume 10. Readers were in fact surprised by the true identities of Colossal Titan and Armored Titan. He also predicted that it would be less popular in Volume 13 because the story goes on without the Titans appearance for a while. As Attack on Titan became more popular than he thought, he said that there is a possibility for changing the ending of the story.
In fact, the Twitter of Kodansha posted a drawing saying, "completion of the serialization!!" with the tag, "2020 aspirations”. Kodansha Comics published the manga in English as well. It is pretty much confirmed that Attack on Titan series will be finished in 2020. In November 2018, Isayama provided the rough layout draft for the final panel on Jonetsu Tairiku, the MBS documentary program.