The Politics of ‘Attack on Titan’: Reality or Fiction?

After what seems like years of waiting, the most anticipated anime series is back with its final season. Based on an equally-renowned manga by Hajime Isayama, Attack on Titan follows a rather complex storyline.

It starts with an attack on what is left of mankind.

Threatened by man-eating titans, humans learn to live their lives within walls. Until one day those walls break down and they face creatures they know so little about. Suddenly, they have to deal with a flawed history and their own hidden past.

Even while discussing the multiple well-drawn characters, important plot points and the world of titans; there is an ever-rising need to notice the politics the show presents to us. In what is revealed to be a very traditional fight between human races, the series almost attempts to exaggerate the real-life politics of our societies.

Barring the fictional aspect of the animation series, the show places its characters in a long-drawn historical fight between Eldians and Marleyans. While you may root for one character, it might be harder to point out who the true villain is. Much like the real world we have come to live in.

The lack of an apparent force of evil and the diverse shades of grey the show brings out makes it all the more thrilling to watch.

Attack on Titan is intriguing in more than one way. The condemnation of racial discrimination is a prevalent theme throughout the whole series. Viewers engage in conversations dissecting scenes in an attempt to bring out the hidden intentions of Isayama. Furthermore, it is only in these new episodes of the season that we realize that the story has several more layers. 

We have been a witness to a war-ridden history. The world of Shingeki no Kyojin paints a terrifying image of what it means to be in war. The humanization of the characters by showing how they deal with loss and trauma makes it easier for us to understand this fictional place. In reality, we continue to see systemic discrimination exist in places we inhibit.

Stories such as these, albeit in an animated form, can serve as a reflection of what our society can become. (Minus the titans, of course!) The Japanese anime industry has produced stories worth remembering. Needless to say, Attack on Titan will be one such piece.

Header: Attack on Titan (Toonami)

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