Culture

LOOK: Bookshop Staff in Cosplay Pay Tribute as the Last ‘Attack on Titan’ Manga goes On Sale

On June 9, with fanfare and cosplay on feature, the last volume of the popular manga went on sale, the crowning effort of a franchise with a worldwide circulation of more than 100 million.

Published

3 years ago

June 9, 2021

JAPAN Forward

Shop Staff at SHIBUYA TSUTAYA, in Tokyo Shibuya Ward in the morning of June 9.

It’s the end of an era. The last book volume of the manga from the series Attack on Titan, created by Hajime Isayama and published by Kodansha, officially went on sale on June 9.

Bessatsu Shonen magazine published the last chapter of the manga in April (May edition). This, the 34th and last volume of the series, collects various chapters published in the magazine since the 33rd volume of the manga book came out in January 2021.

The published 34th volume also includes new material drawn by Isayama, which was not present in the magazine version, and it is already gathering the attention of fans.

*Piles of Attack on Titan Volume 34 Lines up at SHIBUYA TSUTAYA, in Tokyo Shibuya Ward in the morning of June 9.*

To meet the unique occasion, book shops are also bringing their own spin to the day. One such example is the immensely popular chain TSUTAYA, which sells CDs, DVDs, books, magazines and, of course, manga.

In the Shibuya Tsutaya branch, right in the middle of the world-renowned Shibuya Scramble intersection, shop employees welcomed customers wearing the cosplay of Survey Corps, or Chousa Heidan.

This is a tribute to the main characters in the story who are all part of the Survey Corps, typically sporting a characteristically short brown jacket and a feather shaped green logo.

In this striking cosplay, and while wearing the surgical masks now ubiquitous due to COVID-19, shop assistants welcomed fans, who one by one snatched the manga volumes off the shelves.

*Mother and daughter buying the last volume of Attack on Titan in the morning of June 9.*

Attack on Titan is a series which centers around a city which is attacked by mysterious humanoid giants. The quest of the main character, the boy Eren Yeager, is to seek revenge. As the story develops, the plot thickens with elements of human drama and examination of how different people interact, making it a reflection of the history of the world and human nature.

The manga was first serialized in Bessatsu Shonen magazine in 2009, and its last episode was published by the magazine in the May 2021 edition.

According to Kodansha, the magazine was so popular the publisher ordered extra printings as the magazine version quickly sold out. Kodansha has previously said that between the print version and online sales, the circulation of the manga has reached more than 100 million copies worldwide.

The franchise has also earned an anime series, which further boosted the manga’s popularity, and a live action movie with the appearance of immensely popular actor Haruma Miura. The series is also set to get a Hollywood live action makeover, directed by Andy Muschietti, who was behind the production of horror film, It (2017).

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(Click here to read the related article in Japanese)

Author: JAPAN Forward