[Attack on Titan] Is It Actually "Gundam"? The Soul of "Real Robot Anime" Seen Through Boys Wearing "Armor of Flesh"

"Isn't it just a horror manga where giants eat people?" If you are avoiding Attack on Titan because you think so, you are missing out on something incredible.

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that this is not just a panic horror, but a "war drama about boys riding in biological weapons."

In this post, I will analyze the battles of Eren Yeager and Reiner through the lens of "Real Robot Anime" like Gundam and Evangelion. By doing so, you will see the hot, cruel "soul" that this work has inherited.

1. The "Nape" is the Cockpit. "Transformation" is the Boarding Process

The basic trope of robot anime is the protagonist boarding a giant mecha to pilot it. The setting of "Intelligent Titans" in Attack on Titan is exactly the same.

• Pilot's Position: Just as a robot's cockpit is in the chest or head, the Titan's operator (the main body) resides in the "nape of the neck."

• Sync Rate and Berserk: When Eren first tried to control the Titan's power, his consciousness became clouded, and he attacked Mikasa. This is reminiscent of an Eva going berserk or the instability of Newtype abilities in Gundam.

• Unit Characteristics: The "Armored Titan" specializes in defense, the "Colossal Titan" in base destruction, and the "Female Titan" in mobility and melee combat. These are exactly like the differences in Mobile Suit performance specs (Zaku, Dom, Gouf, etc.).

If you redefine Titans as "powered suits made of flesh," Eren biting his hand to transform starts to look like the launch sequence: "Amuro, launching!"

2. "Power Entrusted by the Father" and the "Boy Who Didn't Want to Pilot"

Another staple of Real Robot Anime is the conflict: "A son is forced to pilot a weapon developed (or involved) by his father."

In Eren's case, the Titan power was not innate. In the chaos of the wall's destruction in the year 845, his father, Grisha Yeager, forcibly passed it on to him via injection.

• Not Coincidence, but Destiny: Eren was entrusted with the "Key to the Basement," the secrets of the world, and the Titan power by his father.

• The Unit as a Curse: That power shortens Eren's lifespan and drags him onto a path of carnage.

While he doesn't say, "Dad, you have oxygen deprivation...", the fact that Grisha's fanatical decision determined Eren's fate overlaps with the circumstances of Amuro Ray and Shinji Ikari.

3. Shift from "Kaiju Movie" to "War Between Nations"

When the Colossal Titan kicked the wall in Episode 1, we thought it was a "Human vs. Monster" structure. However, the story reveals the truth: "Humanity exists outside the walls, and Titans are operated as weapons."

• Warriors of Marley: Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were boy soldiers (pilots) selected and trained by the great nation outside the walls, "Marley."

• Encounter with Enemy Aces: To Eren, they are not incomprehensible monsters, but "enemy ace pilots" with clear intent and high combat skills. The battle with the Female Titan in the Forest of Giant Trees was truly a dogfight between high-mobility Mobile Suits.

Looking at the timeline, the struggle for supremacy using "Titan Power" has continued for thousands of years. This is not fantasy, but the structure of a highly political "military war chronicle."

4. The Tragedy of Child Soldiers and the Pain of "Not Understanding Each Other"

What made Gundam revolutionary was depicting that the enemy (Zeon) also had justice, families, and drama. Attack on Titan also relativizes justice by depicting the perspective of Reiner and the others who destroyed the wall.

• Brainwashing Education: Eldians outside the walls are taught from a young age that "those inside the walls are devils" and are raised as "Warrior Candidates" who consider inheriting a Titan an honor.

• The Traitor in the Same Room: Reiner and his team lived with Eren and the others in the Training Corps, deepening their bonds as comrades.

"I don't want to kill, but I have to." Possessing immense power (Titan/Mobile Suit) on both sides, they might have understood each other as human beings. The tragedy born from this contradiction is the "soul" that Real Robot Anime has continued to portray.

Summary: Did Eren Become a "Newtype"?

Ultimately, Eren seizes the power of the Founding Titan and initiates the "Rumbling" to destroy the world. This might be close to the despair of Char Aznable, who plotted the axis drop in Char's Counterattack.

Attack on Titan wears the skin of a sword-and-sorcery fantasy, but its contents are "a record of endless war by humanity who obtained weapons that were too powerful."

If there are any Gundam or Mecha anime fans avoiding this show because "Titans are scary," please give it a watch. You will surely discover the passionate genes of the genre you love within the clash of "Flesh Armor."