{"id":8057,"date":"2014-01-05T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2014-01-05T08:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=8057"},"modified":"2014-01-04T18:37:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T02:37:09","slug":"hard-boiled-horror-two-by-araki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/hard-boiled-horror-two-by-araki\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard-Boiled Horror! Two by Araki"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was asked in early September what I thought of the then-current, on Japanese TV, s-f anime series Attack on Titan<\/a><\/em> that was getting such rave reviews? <\/p>\n

\"attack-titan-book200\"Well, my first thought was that the title needs a better translation. Since it is about the attack on humans on Earth by Godzilla-sized humanoids, rather than an attack set on Saturn\u2019s satellite of Titan, a better translation would be Attack of the Titans<\/em>. But Attack on Titan<\/em> is in the Japanese animation title art, so the American licensees are probably stuck with it. One previous obvious mistranslation was in ADV\u2019s 2000 DVD release of the 1993 Rail of the Star<\/em>, which should have been translated as The Starlight Railway<\/em> \u2013 but the Japanese licensor insisted that its own awkward literal translation be used.<\/p>\n

Attack on Titan<\/em> is the American title of Shingeki no Kyojin<\/em> (literally “Advancing Giants”), a TV anime adaptation of a manga by Hajime Isayama begun in 2009. As of August 2013, there were 11 tank\u014dbon volumes of the collected manga (vol. 12 appeared in December), the 2013 TV anime serialization, and video games<\/a>; and a live-action feature announced as in production for a 2014 (now 2015) release (with an impressive fan-made poster<\/a> by Kouji Tajima). In other words, it was and still is extremely popular.<\/p>\n

The Attack on Titan<\/em> anime, directed by Tetsur\u014d Araki and produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G, began on TV in Japan on April 6, 2013, and was still running when I was asked about it, with episode #22 broadcast on September 7. It was scheduled for 25 episodes ending on September 25, 2013, to be followed by an OAV released on December 9. It was currently being streamed in the U.S. by Funimation Entertainment<\/a> and Crunchyroll. At Chicago\u2019s Anime Central 2013 fan convention on May 17-19, Funimation announced<\/a> that it would release the series on home video in 2014. It is hotly awaited by American anime fans, and Amazon.com<\/a> is already taking preorders.<\/p>\n