Revisiting Shingeki no Kyojin theme

 Recently I have been watching some Gnostic documentary series and there are some interesting Ideas that I came across which resonated with Shingeki no Kyojin core themes. Attack on Titan is no doubt one of the most popular manga in the present and I believe I found one of the good reasons why this series manage to reach its mainstream popularity.

Some popular Japanese pop culture works can be immensely successful in Japan, but home country advantage does not always translate into worldwide success. But Shingeki no Kyojin have something special that enables it to reach its stardom and, in this regard, it shares some similarities with Neon Genesis Evangelion.

One thing that allows Shingeki no Kyojin and Evangelion to be worldwide success is because they deeply resonate with Christian Worldview which still influence Western perception of reality despite increase of secularism. While I am not too well-versed with Bible knowledge myself, there is a particular Biblical Imagery that Shingeki no Kyojin attempted to make use in its core theme and it is the Anti-Christ.

If one use Jung’s Aion framework, our present timeline sits on the end of Age of Pisces and in the process of transitioning into Age of Aquarius. One of the Jung’s key Idea in his Aion works. He discusses a particular symbolism idea where the Age of Pisces begins with the arrival of Jesus Christ and ended with the arrival of Antichrist.

So, what a Japanese Manga called Shingeki no Kyojin plays part in this abstract equation? Among many fictional works in the present times, Shingeki no Kyojin probably had one of the best and most accessible “fictional” depiction of Antichrist archetype through its main protagonist, Eren Yeager.

 Shingeki no Kyojin depicts the life journey of Eren Yeager who decides to destroy 80% of humanity by activating “Rumbling” due to his extremely traumatic life experience and grim fate that will be awaiting for people that he cared due to machinations of Marley. In some way, the Rumbling happened because Marley tried to obtain a power that are never meant for them and beyond their control. The Hubris of Marleyan inevitably caused tragedies that birthed individuals like Eren Yeager who decided to wipe out the table as his retaliation.

One of the moral story that Shingeki no Kyojin tried to deliver is that constant cycles of violence will eventually erupt into a catastrophic disaster that will cripple all sides in the end. In the present world, Humanity have invented things that can bring similar effect to the Rumbling and there are many scenarios that can precipitate such events. Based on Shingeki no Kyojin story, foolish attempt self-fulfilling prophecy act will likely lead to the birth of Entity akin to Antichrist who cannot be controlled. But keep in mind that Entities that represent Antichrist archetype are always shaped by their circumstances.