Hi everyone. I was wondering what is the overall philosophy of Attack on Titan? What are the philosophical sources that inspired Isayama when it came to creating Attack on Titan? What are the ‘philosophies’ in Attack on Titan?

Or to expand upon this question in another way, what are the overall main themes of Attack on Titan that remain consistent throughout Isayama’s entire series (in both the anime and manga).

Thank you.

Too risky to share, since appreciation posts on this sub are not as common, but bear with me on this.

Attack on Titan has received a range of general reception, from massive critical acclamation to downright ridicule. Over the last few years, it has become one of the most polemical series in entertainment discourse. Many of its subtexts and undertones are discussed, appreciated, and depreciated at the same time.

One of those key points that is noted to not be in these discussions is the recurring theme of emotion over reason. The series tells us again and again, and not even in a subtle way, that the cause of human suffering stems from their inability to prioritize emotion over reason. It can be difficult to digest and agree with since one way or the other all of us can relate to the message. In the context of Attack on Titan, it is admirable how consistent the series remains with this particular takeaway. Let me highlight this for certain examples.

Let us start with Grisha Jeager. The tragedy that happens to him outside the walls destroys his courage to the point where he goes to Paradis and does nothing. A rational decision would have been going there and telling everyone the truth. Instead, he starts a family and tries to regain what he had lost outside the walls: a happy life. This is emotion building in him. At one point, 'reason' does convince him to approach the Reiss family but that would have possibly resulted in the death of his own family. Not to mention, he did not want to dirty his hands in blood. And so, he does nothing; years go by and eventually, the attack on the wall does lead him to do what he should have done earlier. Grisha could have saved so many lives from a rational standpoint but the emotion behind his inaction makes him guilty of a lot.

Zeke Jeager. Not enough parental love turns him into a nihilist. This is not his fault at all; rather his fault is how he succumbs to the emotionally unavailable corner within and approaches a dark conclusion: to end his race. And he is not lenient about it; the self-hatred has driven him to the point where he thinks every one of his ethnicity deserves the same pain and hate. There is more weight to this explanation when we recall his debut where he brutally kills Mike not because the latter is a war enemy but because he deserves to die for having the same ancestors as him. Zeke had an exceptional power to him. With reason, he could have achieved a lot. But he chooses emotion and that results in the suffering of so many.

And now the VIP: Eren Jeager. Eren is the most emotionally weak character in the series and that goes without saying. There are times when he is numb and there are times when he feels remorse. At the age of 9, he killed two men and never in his life did he once reminisce about that decision. To him, killing them was justified and maybe he is right about that. However, the same Eren cannot come to terms with killing so many because no matter how much he tries to justify it, he cannot reason with the idea of killing kids and many innocents just like his own mother in the genocide (Ramzi, Halil, etc). Not to mention, Eren is not a diplomat at all; the power of the rumbling could have been used to dominate the world into giving up deterrence and be colonized by Eldia but that is not Eren. He would rather kill than enslave others. And of course, genocide is the consequence of Eren's emotional incompatibility with himself and his unresolved trauma, which would not have been the case had Eren prioritized rationality over emotionality.

Last but not least, Ymir Fritz. Much of Ymir can be pulled under the rug of 'She is just a kid'. And there is no lie about that either. We cannot expect much of a rational approach from a kid; not to mention, the person who is mentally stuck to that mindset all their life. Ymir does not see King Fritz abuse as an abuse; she sees it as a 'reward'. A girl hailing from a poverty-stricken background who has never experienced love and kindness is too messed up in her head to call a spade a spade. In her mind, Fritz is not using her; he is sheltering her, clothing her, giving her warm food, and 'loving' her: all the elements that have been absent from her life. It takes her three daughters and years of cruelty to finally realize that she was never loved and she fails to do anything about that acknowledgement. Once again, reason was not there and humanity paid the price of emotion for two millennia.

All of this is screaming that while humans are capable of making rational and sensible decisions - and even then there is some emotion as a driving force behind their actions - they are most likely to not overcome the internal rifts caused by emotion. Perhaps this is not as deep a thing to say but that does not make it false by any means. If we observe around, we can easily see the state of the world we currently have. And this specific theme ticks all the boxes around ourselves and even with ourselves.

This can be a challenging yet a super fascinating theme to explore.

Now I understand why this series leaves such a lasting mark on those who watch it. It's not just the action, the twists, or the heartbreak but it’s the weight of its questions, the discomfort in its answers, and the complexity of the characters we grow with.

The ending may leave people divided, but I genuinely believe it was the ending we needed. It wasn’t clean or easy, but neither was the journey. And maybe that’s the point.

Attack on Titan doesn’t just tell a story. It asks what it means to be free, to love, to sacrifice, and to carry the burden of choice. I’m still processing it all, but one thing is clear: this series stays with you.

And yet…Man, does it hurt. I cried for Mikasa and Eren’s story. Its so tragic yet so human. And I mourned everyone else we lost along the way.

Happy endings aren’t always guaranteed and that’s okay. We often turn to stories for comfort, for the hope that everything will work out. But this series reminds us that reality isn’t always so kind. Sometimes, even the strongest love can’t change fate, and even the noblest intentions can lead to sorrow.

We cope with these truths through stories that soften the edges, but every now and then, a narrative comes along that reflects the world as it is: unforgiving, complicated, and deeply human. And in that reflection, there’s a different kind of beauty. One that lingers.

I am essentially looking for something that explores group think, othering and us vs. them themes in a creative way.

Attack on Titan has received a range of general reception, from massive critical acclamation to downright ridicule. Over the last few years, it has become one of the most polemical series in entertainment discourse. Many of its subtexts and undertones are discussed, appreciated, and depreciated at the same time.

One of those key points that is noted to not be in these discussions is the recurring theme of emotion over reason. The series tells us again and again, and not even in a subtle way, that the cause of human suffering stems from their inability to prioritize emotion over reason. It can be difficult to digest and agree with since one way or the other all of us can relate to the message. In the context of Attack on Titan, it is admirable how consistent the series remains with this particular takeaway. Let me highlight this for certain examples.

Let us start with Grisha Jeager. The tragedy that happens to him outside the walls destroys his courage to the point where he goes to Paradis and does nothing. A rational decision would have been going there and telling everyone the truth. Instead, he starts a family and tries to regain what he had lost outside the walls: a happy life. This is emotion building in him. At one point, 'reason' does convince him to approach the Reiss family but that would have possibly resulted in the death of his own family. Not to mention, he did not want to dirty his hands in blood. And so, he does nothing; years go by and eventually, the attack on the wall does lead him to do what he should have done earlier. Grisha could have saved so many lives from a rational standpoint but the emotion behind his inaction makes him guilty of a lot.

Zeke Jeager. Not enough parental love turns him into a nihilist. This is not his fault at all; rather his fault is how he succumbs to the emotionally unavailable corner within and approaches a dark conclusion: to end his race. And he is not lenient about it; the self-hatred has driven him to the point where he thinks every one of his ethnicity deserves the same pain and hate. There is more weight to this explanation when we recall his debut where he brutally kills Mike not because the latter is a war enemy but because he deserves to die for having the same ancestors as him. Zeke had an exceptional power to him. With reason, he could have achieved a lot. But he chooses emotion and that results in the suffering of so many.

And now the VIP: Eren Jeager. Eren is the most emotionally weak character in the series and that goes without saying. There are times when he is numb and there are times when he feels remorse. At the age of 9, he killed two men and never in his life did he once reminisce about that decision. To him, killing them was justified and maybe he is right about that. However, the same Eren cannot come to terms with killing so many because no matter how much he tries to justify it, he cannot reason with the idea of killing kids and many innocents just like his own mother in the genocide (Ramzi, Halil, etc). Not to mention, Eren is not a diplomat at all; the power of the rumbling could have been used to dominate the world into giving up deterrence and be colonized by Eldia but that is not Eren. He would rather kill than enslave others. And of course, genocide is the consequence of Eren's emotional incompatibility with himself and his unresolved trauma, which would not have been the case had Eren prioritized rationality over emotionality.

Last but not least, Ymir Fritz. Much of Ymir can be pulled under the rug of 'She is just a kid'. And there is no lie about that either. We cannot expect much of a rational approach from a kid; not to mention, the person who is mentally stuck to that mindset all their life. Ymir does not see King Fritz abuse as an abuse; she sees it as a 'reward'. A girl hailing from a poverty-stricken background who has never experienced love and kindness is too messed up in her head to call a spade a spade. In her mind, Fritz is not using her; he is sheltering her, clothing her, giving her warm food, and 'loving' her: all the elements that have been absent from her life. It takes her three daughters and years of cruelty to finally realize that she was never loved and she fails to do anything about that acknowledgement. Once again, reason was not there and humanity paid the price of emotion for two millennia.

All of this is screaming that while humans are capable of making rational and sensible decisions - and even then there is some emotion as a driving force behind their actions - they are most likely to not overcome the internal rifts caused by emotion. Perhaps this is not as deep a thing to say but that does not make it false by any means. If we observe around, we can easily see the state of the world we currently have. And this specific theme ticks all the boxes around ourselves and even with ourselves.

This can be a challenging yet a super fascinating theme to explore.

Since Attack on Titan ended, I’ve argued against the accusation that it is fascist/fascist proaganda and that Hajime Isyaama is a fascist or a fascist sympathizer. I never actually made a post myself to summarize my thoughts, though. I’m guy who made the “Zootopia, Bright, and what makes a good allegory” thread and it felt good to actually write my opinions out like this. However, this will still include a lot of choice quotes from the arguments I’m still aiming to debunk.

The thread Attack on Titan is explicitly fascist propaganda inspired me to make this. I avoided that thread because I was exhausted of arguing. I regret doing that because I read it recently: it was a well-written post that I also do not fuck with in the slightest. It and comments in support of it run into the same argumentation I already disagree with and spent years arguing against.

This is going to be more of me bringing up other people’s arguments, but I hope I can make my own case clear.

#A Thesis It is my belief, one that grew stronger with re-reads of the story and author interviews, that Attack on Titan is blatantly and successfully anti-fascist.

It is also my belief that those who believe otherwise typically work on an assumption, with little evidence, that the author is a fascist; that because fascists like Attack on Titan, it is pro-fascist (at least accidentally); and that because the story includes elements of fascism that it is fascist.

These arguments are shallow and ironically reactionary at times.

#The Rumbling Is Not Inevitable This argument surmises that Attack on Titan makes the point that fascism is “inevitable” in spite of its critiques of fascism. The… least? bad argument, but not good. It basically relies on the idea that the author, in full control of the story, choosing not to write a more positive ending “gives up” his critique and states that fascism is human nature.

> To be clear, Isayama does not overtly argue that fascism is “good.” Rather, the story presents it as inevitable. […] Attack on Titan embodies this ideology in its bleak philosophy. The message is not that war and prejudice are good or evil, but that they are inevitable. […] By contrast, Attack on Titan offers no hopeful vision, only an endless cycle of ethnic violence, justified through essentialism, historical revisionism, and philosophical fatalism.

The majority of the post runs on this idea, describing how the setting, world building, and elements of the plot paint a picture of a fascist setting (or a setting that fascists believe the real world to be like), and because of that, it is fascist propaganda.

It’s a frankly stupid way interpreting art: this belief that everyone writes only what they want, It says the only definition of “fantasy” is “what you personally want.” It is apparently impossible to write a story in a fashion where what is presented is real but undesirable.

OP, at best, only paints the picture that Hajime Isayama knows what a fascist setting would look like, but others seem to agree this is enough for it to be fascist.

But I think it would be rather obvious that this setting is not desirable. It is horrifying, terrible, and explicitly fascist. It’s not an accident, or the author pushing fascist ideology. It is… a fascist world. It is not even what the fascists in the setting desire (they want worse). This is because such a world is one in which the conclusion of the story would happen: one where someone with the power to destroy the world, whom they’ve deemed their enemy, almost does so, against the wishes of those he holds dear and even his own moral viewpoint.

In the last volumes of the manga, Isayama made “fake previews” about a high school AU. It’s funny as fuck and it’s novel for being a high school AU based on 70s-80s American movie culture instead of he typical Japanese high school tropes. Anyway, eventually these comics begin to directly mirror the main plot, but it doesn’t get anywhere as bad, because it’s a normal, modern world.

My point is that he can absolutely write a “normal” world that aligns more or less with what you believe real life is like. This AU makes the case that these characters, even Eren, would be completely normal, well-adjusted people in a well-adjusted world.

Attack on Titan is a cautionary tale. The worst to happen happens. Well, that’s not entirely true. The worst to happen would be Eren and the Yeagerists succeeding, yet they fail. They fail because we will always avoid the worst possible outcome because they are people who will strive and try for better.

“War is inevitable” and “fascism is inevitable” are not the same thing. Fascism in Attack on Titan is depicted as the ultimate extreme in the themes of a story about how aa lack of understanding causes conflict. Those who choose not to understand the other, wholly seeing them as inhuman and beyond reconciliation, become fascists. Fascism is inevitable if people continue to not communicate and understand each other. There are more specific critiques of how fascism rises, but this is one of the major themes of Attack on Titan, inspired by the author witnessing a drunk in a bar and being amazed that we can fail to communicate with another person like that.

n the end, the Alliance, despite benefiting from the Rumbling and being able to create a hypothetically desirable fascist state, chose to oppose it for multiple reasons, but also one as simple as “mass murder is wrong, no matter what”. They deradicalize Paradis on the argument of their experiences and understanding of the other.

Attack on Titan absolutely has a hopeful vision. Conflict may happen, we may fail to learn from our history, and come close to completely annihilating each other to one—this is a depressing thought, but there will always be people who seek to understand each other, and they may succeed. Maybe not forever, but they will try again. Even if diplomacy does not work, it is the ideal way to handle and prevent conflicts.

The epilogue does not contradict this, and against the common interpretation, I’d say it’s more of a happy ending than the original ending by suggesting the Alliance achieved peace for a long time before the island ever sees war (the reason which is meant to be ambiguous, by the way, simply suggesting that conflict is inevitable, which is not the same as “fascism is inevitable”).

People are not born evil. We have to get the children out of the forest. When we are able to sit down and talk to each other, we realize we are not that different.

#Depiction Does Not Equal Endorsement The original post’s arguments relies a lot on the idea that the setting and narrative of Attack on Titan echoes, intentionally or not, fascist belief and ideologies. They are not wrong. The setting is of one where fascism is taken root. This is not an accident, though, nor is it something is easy to miss.

I’m not going to say that the “stab-in-the-back” myth is not a thing fascists believe. I’m going to say the OP does nothing to actually describe how this makes Attack on Titan fascist propaganda. “Fascists believe these things”, but these things in the story are often critiqued as being fascist and, if it’s a thing that actually happens in the story, are depicted as undesirable.

The argument is that bad things happen, so Attack on Titan is pro-fascist. If the author was really anti-fascist and a Good Person, he simply wouldn’t have made a story about bad things happening. If Attack on Titan had an “actual” hopeful vision, they’d all sing Kumbaya and the Rumbling would have never happened.

OP and other people get upset when you suggest that, that they want a happy ending where the horrifically traumatizing events and exploration of said events never happen, but that is what you want when you suggest that ending in a bittersweet fashion where the bad guys almost win is a pro-fascist message.

I don’t think art is owed you the happy ending. I don’t think an author needs to write a happy ending in your story if they were “really” on your side. It’s great that Vinland Saga ends in a positive fashion. I believe Isayama even once said he sees Thorfinn like if Eren was a better person. That is a different story, though. You can be anti-fascist and cynical. You can write a story that depicts fascism as something that will kill us all but also something we can overcome.

#Fascists Aren’t Smart I’ve always thought there’s a “horseshoe theory” going on with the argument of “Attack on Titan is fascist”. Those who believe that are either, y’know, fascists, or, ironically, anti-fascists.

Their arguments, broadly, coalesce into these points:

• Some elements of the story look fascist so it’s fascist.
• The fact that people can believe it’s fascist means it’s fascist. (i.e. it could have been possible for the author to make a story where not a single real-life fascist or otherwise could interpret the narrative as being pro-fascist).
• Characters like Eren are in the right, in spite of effectively failing, because they are depicted as charismatic, in power, and their detractors impotent or even ultimately agreeing with them.

Basically, one side believes it’s fascist (and that’s based) and the other side believes it’s fascist (and that’s cringe).

##Well, OF COURSE, It’s Fascist, It’s Obvious

I love this argument. It’s the most reactionary one. It amounts to “I got a Bad Vibe so course it’s fascist.” One of the most common arguments, I think. It’s not an actual argument, it just presumes it to be the case and works backwards.

There’s characters with armbands and in camps, people with German names, people screaming “WE MUST EXTERMINATE THE OTHER!”, and, like, come on, man! It’s obviously fascist.

I think I made a lot of the case against this in the earlier sections, but this is the weakest argument and it’s a shame how people simply believe it because it’s easy and requires the least amount of analysis of the actual story.

##The Fascist Fans

Yes, there are people who call themselves fans of Attack on Titan and are fascist. Self-described Yeagerists with Eren profiles who insist that they were right. But the idea that because they exist, they must have a point, is really dumb.

I will defer to this wonderful video: The Attack on Titan Ending Controversy: Explained In Full.

In this video, they go deep into this portion of Attack on Titan fans. It is not necessarily a defense of the story or its ending, but rather a great teardown of why these fans exist and more importantly that their interpretation of the story is, in every aspect, completely off-the-mark.

It particularly highlights how the fascist fans despise the ending for reasons that have entirely to do with what they wanted the story to be, and not what it is, the majority of them using unsubstantiated fan theories and a rather flat interpretation of narrative events to justify a prediction that never came true.

I feel like mentioning that, while not everyone who dislikes the ending is a fascist, the fascist fans fucking hate the ending. They despise the ending and they think it ruins the entire story. They make fan fiction about a “better” ending where Eren murders his friends and the entire world and goes back to his baby mama Historia. They claim the author is a hack or was pressured by some rogue agent to change the story at the last second.

There’s an argument to make that Isayama could have wrote the story in a way that these fans simply do not exist. I don’t agree. I don’t think any story is immune to people simply misinterpreting even the most straight-forward message. I have seen so-called fans of Disco Elysium claim the story hates communism and “makes fun of everybody”, South Park-style.

##Eren Yeager

OP very rarely talks about the actual characters in the story, but they do mention Eren. “If the main character says something, it must be what the message is” is a silly way to ascertain the message of a story, but especially in Attack on Titan where a major point is that several characters say different things, sometimes even the same character.

In the aforementioned video, they call Attack on Titan “wishy-washy* in its politics. I don’t agree with that wording, because it implies an unintentional inconsistency or a lack of conviction, but I agree with the spirit and example: his point is that in Attack on Titan, a sentiment made and seemingly proven right and then subverted later on. A character can say that relying on his friends is the best choice, succeed, but then later, relying on one’s friends gets them killed. Cherrypicking quotes to say “this is the true message of the story” is a difficult endeavor, because the story likely will come back to that line in a new light.

This narrative tool is not to make a point that a character is Objectively Correct and This is The Message of the Story. Eren’s speech of “If you don’t fight, you don’t win” is, initially, a way for him to encourage Mikasa to fight, yes. It also meant to come back in a horrifying fashion when he’s trying to hype himself up to kill billions of people.

Generally, a lot of “Attack on Titan is pro-fascist” arguments rely on simply believing characters are the Spokesperson of the author, namely Eren. I wholly believe that how you see Eren Yeager is a massive influence to how you depict the story’s politics.

There are people who think Eren is vindicated or correct. People who think that Eren being a crying piss-baby who cries about Mikasa seeing another man and admits to being an idiot who killed 80% of humanity because he didn’t know what he was doing in the ending *isn’t the culminative of his character from Chapter 1, but a change the author made at some nebulous point at the story.

These idealized interpretations of Eren, and by extension the Yeagerists, are present even among people who believe Attack on Titan is pro-fascist (and that’s cringe). I can’t say it’s entirely the fault of “media literacy”, he was definitely portrayed to be enigmatic, but it’s more that you wonder why he’s doing this than assume he is right for doing it. And it basically all comes down to “the character said it, so it’s the truth of the story”. Which isn’t even consistent.

Here, OP brings up lines that do not even mean what they sound like when they’re said.

> Historia’s late-series reflection suggesting that the cycle of violence between Eldia and the world will continue until one side is wiped out drives this home.

…which is not only misconstrues what she actually says—namely that she is paraphrasing Eren in the context of the Yeagerists becoming the dominant force in Paradis—but ignores the fact that she is explicitly vying for peace, being the one reason the Alliance has to believe they won’t be shot on sight.

OP doesn’t even consider the context, just that simply a character said something depressing, so this must be the message.

They mention the “law of the jungle” but there is a character who literally says “*let’s get out of the jungle then”, almost single-handedly deradicalizing Gabi, which eventually saves the day. And of course, Hange screams “MASS MURDER IS WRONG, NO MATTER WHAT”.

It’s a lot of cherrypicking, and frankly baffling interpretations of basic scenes, like people who think “Eren’s friends forgave him.”

##The Fourth Group

EDIT: Inspired by some of the comments to this post, I forgot to mention a weird fourth group of "Attack on Titan is pro-fascist" in which it is hard to believe that they themselves believe that, but it is fairly obvious they say it because they simply do not like the ending.

#Conclusion I'm going to end this on one last quote.

> I cannot ephasize enough that nihilism is the perfect soil for fascism to grow.

No it’s not. Apathy is. Apathy is the perfect soil for fascism to grow. And Attack on Titan is not apathetic. It’s extremely empathetic, and it supports acting even if everything is impossible, which I find a stronger message than a story where nothing bad happens because somehow depicting bad things is in itself fascist.