Kianna Collins
Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor
Japan’s “Shingeki no Kyojin” comes to the U.S. as “Attack On Titan” in English this spring.
The premiere of the English dub will be released at Anime Boston this weekend. Funimation released the names of the American voice actors last week, with big names such as J. Michael Tatum (voice of Zarbon from Dragon Ball Z: Kai), Christopher Sabat (voice of Roronoa Zoro from One Piece) and Michael McFarland (voice of Cain Nightroad from Trinity Blood).
The voice actors for Eren Yeager and Armin Arlert have not been released, but that knowledge will come with the premiere.
“Attack on Titan” started April 7, 2013 and ended five months later on Sept. 29. It became extremely popular during the duration of the series, and sparked a huge fanbase.
The series is about a world with these creatures called “Titans,” that resemble humans in appearance, but can range from 10 to 200 feet tall. They also have an appetite for humans, but they can’t digest them—the humans are being killed just for sport.
Most of the Titans aren’t capable of a thought process besides seeking out humans, and don’t attack any other life form besides humans.
Where the story starts, it had been hundreds of years since the Titans had appeared, and they wiped out the entirety of the human race, which forced them to retreat behind massive walls that protected them from being attacked.
The remainder of the human race had been safe until one day, a Titan that was taller than the walls, kicked a hole in the wall. It let all other Titans in to the town of Zhiganshina, where Yeager, Arlert, and Mikasa Ackerman lived.
After that, Yeager’s mother gets killed by a Titan and Yeager swears that he’ll kill every Titan on Earth. The only way to accomplish this is to join the Scouting Regiment, and these three characters aim to join them.
The series is extremely violent, and none of the characters are safe. Japan uses cherry blossoms as a mechanism for the passage of time, but this series uses blood instead.
“Attack on Titan” has permeated the anime world, and has spread out to people who have never taken an interest in anime before.
“Movies these days are incredibly violent, so I don’t see a reason why ‘Attack on Titan’ would be look down on,” said Rad Bolt, a junior music education major, from Panama City, Fla.
People that wanted to watch the series but don’t like to watch a Japanese dub with English subtitles, will be able to finally watch the anime for themselves.
