Hajime Isayama

(http://es.shingeki-no-kyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Hajime ())

            Hajime Isayama is a name that few people in the United States will know. In his home country of Japan, he is a celebrity author who rivals the likes of Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games series, or Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series. He is the author of the popular Attack on Titan manga, which was also turned into an anime and even translated into English. The anime was so popular that it gained attention in the US even before the company Funimation translated it into English. This anime introduced me to the  entire, massive world of anime and manga, and it has done the exact same thing for thousands of other people.

            Anime and manga are sometimes viewed as strange because they come from a different culture than ours, and some of the concepts are alien to us. There is also a large community of anime watchers  such as myself, in America. Many of these people were introduced to anime and manga, which is the original book form, by one of the many great writers. Hajime Isayama is only the most recent of these writers, others including Akira Toriyama, author of Dragon Ball, and Masashi Kishimoto, author of Naruto. Isayama and Attack on Titan introduced me to this genre I love so much now, and then I explored the works of other authors and got immersed in the worlds that these people create. These worlds that the authors create are what captivate the readers and pull them into the vast world of anime. One thing that anime does well to do this is have characters that are deep, and that have almost as much internal conflict as external conflict. This may not seem too impressive to the average American, but when you consider the limits on what you can show with animated characters, it gets much more impressive.

            There are limits on the amount of emotions and feedback that the authors can show with their characters. Isayama, along with many other authors, does not let this get in the in the way of the quality of his work.  Isayama instead takes this limit and goes in a complete different direction, instead of trying to overcome it. He creates situations that would be impossible in reality instead of making real life situations. Isayama has created a world where there are massive walls that everyone has to live behind. The titans, who only exist to kill and eat humans, rule over everything outside the walls. This is something that only animation or drawings could bring to life. Not only does this work well, it also gives Attack on Titan and other animes or mangas a quality that live-action movies or TV shows could never hope to have. The advantage of the animation is that authors can let their imaginations loose. Nothing is off limits as long as someone can draw it. The real world limits us with such fundamental things as the laws of physics and nature. The fictional worlds and the characters in these worlds that the authors create do not have to abide by those rules. Isayama's work is a breeding ground for imagination.

            There is one thing that may make someone realize just how real anime can feel to someone who's immersed in it. Many animes contain a lot of fighting and external conflict. Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z and Naruto are both full to the brim with battles and people fighting each other. What those animes do is like taking the most mindless movie character, and giving him the depth of the most thought-provoking movie character. Isayama takes this a step further. In Attack on Titan there are unique titans, like the colossal and armored titans that seem to be instruments for destroying the walls. However, instead of leaving them at that, Isayama makes you think about them and why they appear so suddenly, why they seem to be able to think, unlike the rest of the titans. Attack on Titan leaves no character as an open book. 

            Attack on Titan does many things well, but its greatest quality is the way it will make you think. It is always putting you and the characters in situations where everything you were sure about gets turned upon itself. The good guys will become the bad, and you will be left wondering how you could have been so wrong. Yet somehow, this just makes you even more invested in the intricate plot. One of the times this happens is when you finally figure out that the titans may not be what they seem, but yet they seem even scarier than ever before. Out of nowhere, Isayama introduces the concept of the titans having at least an intelligent leader, if not intelligence itself. When I say at least I say it because that is all that can be said. Even in the many chapters that have come out since then, Isayama has not told the reader anything. He  once again leaves you confused as before, even though you thought you had learned something incredibly important. Isayama makes his characters experience pain and loss, making them seem all too real to the reader. Everyone that watches or reads Attack on Titan has different theories about what will happen next, and that makes reading it feel different to everyone. Attack on Titan turns senseless violence into a complicated maze of a plot that you can't help but follow, entranced by the thought of what might happen next.

            He may not have done anything on purpose to better the lives of people, but Hajime Isayama has introduced me and thousands of others to the world of anime. Isayama most definitely changed my life for the better by expanding and reigniting my imagination, and has done so for many others. He is a hero.