Shingeki no Kyojin fans may be in for a far less shocking time than they bargained for – creator Hajime Isayama has revealed he has dumped the “traumatic” ending he planned from the start and now has no idea how it will end, saying that upsetting fans of the anime version with a shocking ending where everyone dies would be “criminal.”
The recent interview with Shingeki no Kyojin mangaka Hajime Isayama was most notable for containing an admission that he is now “lost” as to how the story will end after dumping the shocking ending he has planned so as not to upset all the anime fans.
It also proved notable for providing an unusually clear photograph of the mangaka himself, and the revelation that after he started playing the eroge Muvluv and was so impressed with its SF storyline that he concedes it was a major influence on him.
Concerning the ending:
The ending – you’ve said publicly that you had a specific ending for Shingeki envisioned from the start. You’re wavering with regard to that?
The plot is pretty loose, there have been new elements added, and some characters have come to life in a really unexpected way.
So the story came to life on its own, and may now get a different ending to the one you had planned from the start?
Right.
That’s a huge change. I read all your interviews to date and I came to think you had some unbelievably traumatic mega-ending all planned out.
I’m at a loss with respect to that. At first it was going to be a traumatic ending. Like in the movie ‘Mist’ where everyone dies, I wanted to do something like that.
Looking at all the fans who have come to support Shingeki by way of the anime, doing a criminal thing like that to them is just not something I can do, so I can’t really think that was what I really wanted in the first place.
Ohhhh…
I’m really lost, aren’t I?
The suspicion that the the franchise’s sudden and titanic success has caused mangaka or publisher to rapidly switch tack and drag it out into a latter day Bleach which can milked for decades to come has been voiced – as has some curiosity about the plot’s now obvious similarities to Muvluv…
>Shocking ending where everyone dies would be “criminal.”
Finally, a writer in the industry realizing that writing a “Bad-End” just for effect and shock value is simply TROLLING!! Anime/Manga fans EVERYWHERE should give this man a round of applause!
unfortunately the akame ga kill mangaka and the MSG: iron blood orphans committee didnt get the memo and went with the “kill em all” approach. especially IBO’s director whose an acolyte of tomino who was pretty much the king of kill em all type endings.
What are you on about with akame ga kill? It hardly ends in all die, even some of supporting cast survive.
Normal creative process. Clever people are always thinking, always revising, and always second guessing themselves. Those who do this a lot are usually very talented at what they do.
Well, I can understand it – it is hard to kill characters. Especially when you create them, they become parts of your soul. But they also become something for those that are you fans. Which means, you have to at least think about them before you do anything.
I can see the “Everybody Dies” ending was being conclusive, but in no way creating closure due to all the mysteries the manga opens up. If it’s an Eva “human instrumentality” ending where becoming a Kyojin is the next step in human evolution then all the characters must resign themselves to that fate.
Perhaps he should take a hiatus and play iM@S.