Attack on Titan only „made a lot of noise.” Dragon Ball editor says „the manga didn't do very well”
The world went crazy over the series, and according to Dragon Ball's editor, it only „made a lot of noise, but the manga didn't do very well”.
Attack on Titan has undeniably become a phenomenon. Not long ago, it was hard not to hear about Hajime Isayama's work, which was on everyone's lips around the world. The series was appreciated both as a manga and anime, enjoying increasing popularity with the release of subsequent chapters and episodes. Fans eagerly followed the further fate of Eren, which was full of twists and turns.
But despite the popularity and recognition that Attack on Titan has gained, Kazuhiko Torishima, the former editor of Dragon Ball who discovered Akira Toriyama, said that the series "made a lot of noise," but after it ended, it was forgotten, unlike Dragon Ball or Naruto.
Character creation is very simple. Even a child can do it. There are plenty of manga in the world with complicated and not very simple themes. It doesn’t make you want to watch them. The other day, I spoke with someone from the publishing house in Germany, and he said that Attack on Titan made a lot of noise, but in the end, the paper manga didn’t do very well. The thing is, at the end of the animated series, the manga stopped selling.
Torishima criticized AoT, arguing that the complexity of the story is responsible for the series' failure to engage readers for longer. For comparison, he mentioned Dragon Ball and Naruto. The editor of DB explained that the charm of both titles lies in the fact that the journey is more important than the destination. The most important thing in these stories is not the plot and its climax, but the experiences they provide to both the characters and the readers.
But if you take Dragon Ball and Naruto [both series] are still selling, even though the anime has ended. So what's the difference? In Dragon Ball or Naruto, we're dealing with typical shonen anime, where the reader discovers a world full of universes from the perspective of the main character. It's not so much about the story itself, but the fact that the reader is taken on a journey by the character. Thanks to this simple construction, we manage to speak to both adults and children. We drink Coke and Orangina because they taste good. But when we're thirsty, we drink water.
The key to success according to the former editor of Dragon Ball is simplicity. Complicated things are supposed to be good for a while, but in the end, simple things are still the best. He mentioned that he and Toriyama were fans of Tom and Jerry, where the plot is straightforward: "A cat chases a mouse." That's the story. You watch this for entertainment, but in the end there is no lesson."
Attack on Titan is a complex story where the plot takes the lead, carefully crafted from start to finish. It's not an easy adventure for everyone to join at any time, like the mentioned Dragon Ball or Naruto, where the main focus is on entertainment.
But despite Torishima's criticism, there's no denying that Attack on Titan has achieved global success and is one of the titles that have brought anime and manga to the awareness of many people around the world. By November 2023, the circulation of the manga had exceeded 140 million copies, making it one of the best-selling series in history.
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Author: Edyta Jastrzebska
A graduate of journalism and social communication as well as cultural studies. She started at Gamepressure.com as one of the newspeople in the films department. Currently she oversees the Gamepressure movie&TV newsroom. She excels in the field of film and television, both in reality-based and fantasy themes. Keeps up with industry trends, but in her free time she prefers to watch less known titles. Has a complicated relationship with popular ones, which is why she only gets convinced about many of them when the hype around them subsides. Loves to spend her evenings not only watching movies, series, reading books and playing video games, but also playing text RPGs, which she has been into for several years.
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