Summary
- Eren's controversial decisions in Attack on Titan have divided fans and left the ending unsatisfying for some.
- Series creator Hajime Isayama expressed regrets about the ending, wanting to give Eren a heroic conclusion despite his villainous actions.
- Despite the polarizing finale, Attack on Titan remains a masterpiece recognized for its phenomenal storytelling and commercial success.
Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan manga is set in a dark fantasy world where the struggle between humans and the giant Titans means no character is ever safe. The series has been a huge success, with over 140 million copies in print across an impressive 11-year publication run.
When Attack on Titan's manga ended in 2021, the story's conclusion divided fans, and even the author eventually admitted the ending wasn't as good as he hoped in hindsight. With over a decade of twists and turns in Attack on Titan's story, fans were hoping for a satisfying conclusion as the story's tense war reached its peak. Unfortunately, Eren's fate in Attack on Titan left fans unsatisfied as it cast the entire buildup of the series in a different light, right at the very end.
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Attack on Titan's Unsatisfying Conclusion of the War for Paradis
The final story arc in Attack on Titan's manga saw the Survey Corps return to Paradis after Eren led an attack on Liberio. Soon after, a group of soldiers decide to go rogue, hoping to start a new empire with Eren as their leader. The events that unfold in the final arc decide the fate of Paradis and bring an end to the story, but the final chapters complicate the story even further and end up bringing anything but a happy ending.
In a cataclysmic turn of events, Eren started The Rumbling — a devastating attack that resulted in the death of millions. As a result, Mikasa had to make the painful decision to kill Eren to restore peace to the world and eliminate the Titans once and for all. Attack on Titan was never afraid to kill off important characters, and Eren's death was warranted in the context of the story, but it's his odd redemption arc that drew the most ire from fans and made Attack on Titan's finale so controversial.
Eren Yeager's Controversial Redemption
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Eren's character growth throughout Attack on Titan was phenomenal, and fans rooted for him in the ongoing battle against the Titans. When Eren unleashed the Rumbling, he effectively killed 80% of the population and committed a mass genocide. This firmly cemented his character's evolution into that of a villain, which is why Isayama's decision to redeem Eren at the very end was controversial for many fans.
In a flashback conversation with Armin, Eren revealed he planned to become the villain so that his friends could save the day. Eren knew he would ultimately fall, but he encouraged his friends to take advantage of this as a means to end the Titans and restore peace. This made him seem like the ultimate martyr, but after his ruthless acts of genocide, it's hard to feel sympathy for him. If Eren truly had the prescience to know his downfall was needed to save the day, he surely could have come up with a different plan that didn't involve murdering so many innocent people.
Attack on Titan's Coda Complicated Matters Further
Eren's controversial choices at the end of Attack on Titan are revealed to be even more puzzling in hindsight, with the manga's coda making matters even worse. After Mikasa decapitated Eren, she buried him under his favorite tree. With the Titans gone, peace talks between Marley and Paradis began, and it seemed as though Eren's primary plan worked, as convoluted as it may have looked.
Unfortunately, the manga didn't stop there; instead, the story continues to reveal that all of Eren's apparently noble efforts were for nothing. The violence in Paradis continued in the years to come, and Paradis was eventually destroyed by war. It's a macabre ending to the series, and it brought little satisfaction after the whirlwind events of the Rumbling. Eren was ultimately irredeemable, and even though he had good intentions, his choices didn't even manage to save Paradis in the long run.
There was little room to breathe in the chapters leading from the Rumbling to Attack on Titan's final conclusion, which is part of the reason the manga's ending feels so unsatisfying. Seeing the world eventually fall back into war and corruption is a very realistic way to end the series, but it came too soon after Eren's death to feel like his actions in the chapters leading up to the end were worth the payoff.
Hajime Isayama Expressed Regrets with Attack on Titan's Ending
Hajime Isayama, the creator of Attack on Titan, apologized for the controversial ending after the series' conclusion didn't sit well with fans. Isayama revealed at an Anime NYC panel that he felt intense pressure to bring a satisfying end to the story and to give Eren a heroic ending despite his terrible actions. Isayama wanted to show that, at his core, Eren was goodhearted, but acknowledged that this decision didn't play out as well as he hoped.
While Eren was a good guy for most of the series, the final chapters heavily complicated things. Attack on Titan's ending ultimately made for a strange shift in the series' tone, as characters like Armin appeared to "thank" Eren for committing acts of genocide, and shortly after his terrible acts, Eren even received a symbolic reincarnation as a bird that visited Mikasa while she sat by Eren's grave.
Attack on Titan Remains a Masterpiece Manga
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Despite its jarring ending, Attack on Titan is still largely a masterpiece in its own right. Besides being commercially successful, the manga series has also received many awards and accolades over the years, including the prestigious Kodansha Manga Award and the Harvey Award. Critics praised the story and the many mysteries that unfolded over the post-apocalyptic series' run. More often than not, the series is praised for its storytelling, and it seems that the ending is the only part that brings a stain to Attack on Titan's lasting legacy.
With its massive success, the Attack on Titan franchise was inevitably adapted into other media, including novels, numerous video games, a live-action film, and anime. Like its manga source material, the Attack on Titan anime received widespread critical acclaim worldwide, with the series frequently listed as one of the best anime of all time.
How to Read and Watch Attack on Titan
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Attack on Titan originally began in 2009 with the first issue published in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in Japan. The series ran for eleven years and spanned 139 chapters, with Japanese publishing company Kodansha collecting Attack on Titan across 34 volumes for print. In North America, the series is released in English by Kodansha USA. The series can be purchased in bookstores wherever manga is sold around the world, as well as digitally on Amazon's Comixology and Kodansha's website.
The Attack on Titan anime series, which concluded in November 2023 with its adaptation of the manga's final arc, is available to stream on Crunchyroll. All four seasons of the series are also available on Hulu and for purchase from digital retailers.
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Attack On Titan
- Release Date
- September 9, 2009
- Author
- Hajime Isayama
- Artist
- Hajime Isayama
- Genre
- Action, Fantasy
- Chapters
- 141
- Volumes
- 34
Attack on Titan follows Eren Yeager, who, after witnessing the fall of his hometown to Titans, joins the military to avenge his mother's death. Unraveling complex political and existential mysteries, Eren discovers the truth about Eldians, Titans, and the island of Paradis. The series culminates in a tragic and transformative conflict involving Eren's plan for the Rumbling, the eradication of the Titans' source, and the pursuit of peace and freedom for Eldians and the world.
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Original title: Shingeki no Kyojin.
After his hometown is destroyed and his mother is killed, young Eren Jaeger vows to cleanse the earth of the giant humanoid Titans that have brought humanity to the brink of extinction in Attack on Titan.
