In over a decade of working on Att@ck on Titan, Hajime Isayama could not find a way to make Mikasa and Eren look consistent.

SUMMARY

Att!ck on Titan’s success lies in the complex and unique set of characters in the unpredictable storyline of the manga.
Hajime Isayama explains how he struggled to make Eren and Mikasa look consistent throughout the manga’s span.
Isayama-Sensei explains how he trusted Yukari Nakao for the colored illustrations of his manga.

Hajime Isayama’s Att@ck on Titan has been considered one of the greatest series that has taken the anime and manga industry by surprise. The series has been praised for consistently keeping the audience hooked with its masterful storytelling skills and unforeseen plot twists that none could have predicted. Thus, the title grew to be one of the mainstream names of this generation, leaving a profound impact on the fans.

Eren Jaegar as Att@ck Titan. Credits: Studio MAPPA

The series has stood apart for featuring unparalleled horror that has left its readers traumatized and excelling in almost every section that followed the title. However, in an interview, the mangaka mentioned two characters in the entire series that made him question his skills, as he struggled to draw them consistently until the very last chapter.

Hajime Isayama and his inconsistency with two Att@ck on Titan characters

When it comes to being one of the most renowned dark fantasies of this generation, Hajime Isayama’s Att@ck on Titan has taken the global audience by surprise. Everyone praised him for creating a stellar piece of fiction that merged storytelling and gore with a unique set of characters that has been well-planned, where everyone’s story came to a full circle as the story reached its conclusion.

Eren Jaegar and Mikasa Ackerman. Credits: Kodansha

Each chapter showcased how experienced Isayama-Sensei is and how creative struggle can be a myth for him. During an exclusive interview via X (@Att@ckOnFans), the interviewer asked him if any characters were “easy or difficult” for him to draw.

The manga artist explained how consistency has been his greatest flaw when it comes to drawing Mikasa and Eren, and they looked different based on the time span.
A panel from Att@ck on Titan. Credits: Kodansha
He commented,

I have them clear. I couldn’t draw Eren and Mikasa consistently until the end. Their faces would change depending on when they were drawn, and they didn’t look the same… These two characters had a lot of straight lines on their faces, which made them difficult to draw.

Isayama-Sensei further explained that, unlike other characters in Att@ck on Titan, he had to draw Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Jaeger the most, giving him a “hard time”. However, other characters were significantly easier. He commented,

On the other hand, characters like Armin with round eyes, round noses and round silhouettes were very easy to draw.

Nevertheless, the mangaka mentioned how by 2013, he had “gotten better at drawing” compared to when he commenced the series back in 2009. However, there have been moments where I felt like an absolute “amateur” in the industry.

Hajime Isayama trusted Yukari Nakao for one major aspect following AOT

In the same interview, the interviewer asked the author if he noticed any progress over 14 years since the series started; the mangaka replied that he had grown more decisive and gained a clearer vision of what was fit and what was not.

A still from At@ck on Titan. Credits: Studio MAPPA

He mentioned that before the serialization even started, he had been discussing whether someone else would color the panels because he was a “newbie” during the commencement of the series. Thus, in a unified decision, he was introduced to Yukari Nakao for the color illustrations of the panel. He said,

Through the design office that made the main logo of ATT@CK ON TITAN, I was introduced to Yukari Nakao, who was in charge of coloring, and we decided to work together to create color illustrations. Although I was a newbie at the time and had just made my debut, if I had to color something myself, I would have done it poorly using poster colors.

He praised Nakao-San from the get-go, where it was difficult to share the common vision, but giving her a general specification and leaving the rest to her turned out to be memorable for the series. He said,

However, in retrospect, I’m very glad that I was able to entrust Nakao with the coloring from the beginning of the series. However, even after we decided to ask her to color it, it turned out to be very difficult. I had never learned anything about color, so I didn’t know how to convey to Nakao the colors I imagined in my head.

He further added,

Therefore, I simply gave her general specifications such as sunset and blue sky, and let Nakao decide on the specific colors. During the serialization of ATT@CK ON TITAN, these things happened one after another.

He concluded by stating how in this tenure of the series, he had grown to be “more picky” when it came to the color composition, but can’t say the same for growing in the process of creating colored illustrations.