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[TH][D] I've just started watching Attack on Titan. Only on episode 2 but so far it seems like a metaphor for the fight against death. Thoughts?
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Author: u/None *
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URL:
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Score: 9
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Created: 2014-11-24T21:07:36
Post:
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Comments:
u/None [+10] (15 hours later)
It's not a metaphor. It's a long, dreadful slog through the efforts of the mangaka to avoid giving us actual information or plot progress, while simultaneously failing to examine the primary failure mode of the main-character, while also giving the main character plot-relevant superpowers for no good fucking reason.
Sweet Cthulhu Who Only Swims Left, this could have been a really good anime/manga if they'd fixed the pacing and given the AoT ep7 to Mikasa instead of Eren.
u/alexanderwales [+5] Time flies like an arrow (25 minutes later)
A metaphor in what way?
I haven't gotten all the way through Attack on Titan, mostly because I prefer dubs to subs (so I can split focus), but I found it to feel very much like a jingoistic military propaganda piece, in the best possible way. The titans are just the "Other" that can be safely killed by the valiant heroes without any moral question. Though it's possible that this changes later on.
u/MadScientist14159 [+11] WIP: Sodium Hypochlorite (Rational Bleach) Eventually. Maybe. (33 minutes later)
The titans are an "unstoppable" force that kill everyone they can get their hands on, and most people just accept their existence as a fact of life.
At the start of the first episode everyone feels safe because it has been such a long time since anyone they knew was eaten, and after the attack most people grieve for a while then start forgetting again. Only Eren thinks to try to stop them permanently, instead of just trying to minimize casualties or not think about it like everyone else does.
u/alexanderwales [+7] Time flies like an arrow (41 minutes later)
Okay, I guess I can see that. I certainly don't think it's the writer's intent though.
The most compelling interpretation I've heard is that the titans are an occupying force and the main characters are the insurgents. It's not terribly hard to see the titans as the American military (vastly more powerful, able to be defeated only with hit and run tactics and then not even all that effectively, utterly foreign). But I guess I can see death working as a metaphor too.
u/Timewinders [+5] (5 hours later)
I think it's just a general commentary on human nature and how people have difficulty seeing the bigger picture and cooperating even when there is an immediate threat. The general asked Eren at one point what he thought about people in the past's belief that an external threat would force them to work together, and Eren said that was naive. As the plot goes on the protagonists worry more about their enemies within the walls than outside it.
In terms of real life, if there is a connection then I'd say that the author of AoT is probably more likely to be commenting on Japan's relations with China, which the right wing in Japan perceives as a threat in terms of their economy and their numbers. The walls are supposed to represent Japanese isolationism and there is some weak evidence that the author is right wing see here. Apparently the author has admitted that the general, Pixis, who is portrayed as a good man, is based on the Imperial war criminal Yoshifuru Akiyama.
u/scruiser [+6] CYOA (55 minutes later)
I would have disagreed initially, and I still don't think that is the writer's intent, but I think it does make some sense. The worship of the Wall is a false solution, similar to the way religion offers a false solution. The wealthy think they are safe staying behind the innermost layer of walls, similar to how the wealthy in our world benefit more from medicine, but neither are truly safe from the real threat.
u/Escapement [+4] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (an hour later)
I think you might be reading into this a bit too much, Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory style.
u/autotrope_bot [+2] (an hour later)
Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory
Memories of that overzealous English teacher, who forced you to accept that every character, every scene and every action had a _ deep inner meaning
_ have led to widespread fear on the part of readers and viewers everywhere that every tale secretly contains some other story being told in subtext . The end result of this is a state of mind that interprets every plot as an allegory for the rebuilding of one's soul, every setting as a manifestation of purgatory, and every protagonist as a stand-in for the Christ: Everyone Is Jesus In Purgatory !
I am a bot. Here is my sub
u/Solonarv [+2] Chaos Legion (a day later)
Now I'm going to waste another hour of my life on TVTropes. What have you done!?
u/None [+1] (3 hours later)
You're pretty on-target. As
the conspiracycontinues to unfold it becomes more obvious what the titans are and where they come from.
u/None [+1] (15 hours later)
Please, enlighten us. I keep checking the TVTropes WMG pages regularly to see what's been revealed, and still nobody has explained: AoT
u/triangleman83 [+1] (17 hours later)
Um there's a lot of info on the latest issues of the manga on the wiki page. Read this for lots of SPOILERS http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Eren_Yeager
The story section is fairly up to date and has lots of info.
Obviously we probably won't get the stuff like "where titans come from" until very close to the end. But we do know why they eat people, why Eren has his powers, why other shifters are after him, etc
u/Artaxerxes3rd [+3] (9 hours later)
You can make parallels initially, but the more you watch the less you'll think of them as similar, I would imagine.
u/MadScientist14159 [+4] WIP: Sodium Hypochlorite (Rational Bleach) Eventually. Maybe. (14 hours later)
Yes, by episode 10 this pretty well falls apart.
u/ArisKatsaris [+1] Sidebar Contender (a day later)
As mentioned in Worm (Interlude 28) "But you can find parallels between any two things if you look for them."
u/GeeJo [+1] Custom Flair (3 days later)
I can kinda see the parallel in the early episodes, perhaps, but the plot developments (particularly with regards to Eren) strain the metaphor past the breaking point not far past where you're at.
It's still a great show though. In case you were unaware, there are three side-story episodes (OVAs) bundled with the DVDs and manga that you can find relatively easily on the internet. And the first episode of the prequel (covering Levi's early days) airs in two weeks.