"Let's Change History": Attack on Titan Creator Is Ready to Upend Manga With Grand New Series

When a mangaka achieves the remarkable level of success that Hajime Isayama, the creator of Attack on Titan, has attained, it is not unusual for the public to anticipate that they might step back from the forefront of creation. They might choose to focus on more personal endeavors or enhance their roles as mentors.

After the conclusion of Attack on Titan in 2021, Hajime Isayama largely stepped away from manga creation. Instead of focusing on writing and drawing, he dedicated his time to appearances at conventions and talks, often participating in special panels. This changed in April 2024, when Isayama announced his involvement in a new project. He would write and oversee a manga connected to veteran anime voice actor and musician Yuki Kaji's Soyogi Fractal project. The result of Isayama's efforts was published earlier this month in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, his former publication.

Attack On Titan's Hajime Isayama Goes Back to His Dystopian Roots In New Manga

The Fate of the World Is Again at Risk From the Computer Equivalent of a Titan

The one-shot manga, The Theory of Evil Men and AI, is a dystopian tale that leverages Isayama's mastery of the genre. Unlike typical AI narratives, this story explores the perspective of AI after it unexpectedly gains self-awareness. The AI's view of humanity is shaped by the ways governments, corporations, and individuals exploit or misuse it for their own gain. This misuse is embodied by the "Evil Man" in the title. As a result, the AI, like a human facing oppression, decides to take action - with profound existential implications for humanity.

While the general idea was inspired by Yuki Kaji, the story itself is the brainchild of Isayama, carrying his unmistakable signature style. When the collaboration and story were first announced, many fans assumed that Isayama would handle both the writing and the artwork. However, as noted in a post by @AoTWiki, the Attack on Titan Wiki account on X, it was decided that Isayama would focus solely on the story and overall production management.

I am participating in this manga after accepting Kaji’s invitation. It’s been about ten years since I drew a manga other than Attack on Titan, and I’ve realized how difficult it is to draw manga. However, I’m not the one who is actually doing the final illustrations. - Hajime Isayama

In keeping with the spirit of creative collaboration central to the Soyogi Fractal project, of which the manga is a part, the illustrator for the story —up-and-coming artist Kai Noshigami— was selected through a contest organized by Isayama and Kaji. While Noshigami handled the majority of the artwork for the story, key contributions, including the cover and special colorized pages, were reserved for Isayama to illustrate.

The Impetus of Isayama's New Manga Arises From the Human Need to Connect

While the work is inherently interesting, its connection to the Soyogi Fractal project introduces an additional layer of significance. The project, established and organized by Kaji in 2024, aims to celebrate his 20th anniversary as a musician and anime voice actor, notably for his role as Eren Yeager in the Attack on Titan anime. Furthermore, it seeks to initiate an ongoing creative movement. According to the official Soyogi Fractal website, Kaji aspires for this movement to transform the way content is created.

Creators with the same ideals come together to produce works that, when viewed from a bird's-eye view, should weave together completely new forms that have never been seen before. - Yuki Kaji

Kaji's core concept for the Soyogi Fractal project draws inspiration from fractals - complex geometric shapes that exhibit infinitely repeating patterns. Each part of a fractal is unique, yet, regardless of how much you zoom in or out, the overall structure retains the same foundational shape. Kaji envisions the project as a collaborative space, much like a fractal, where creators with shared ideals can come together and generate new ideas from their common ground.

At the heart of this project is Bon Soyogi, a digital avatar and virtual singer created using Kaji's renowned voice as its foundation. Similar to other voice synthesizer software like Vocaloid's Hatsune Miku, users can input text and melodies into the software, generating vocals using Kaji's synthesized voice. Bon Soyogi serves as the user-friendly interface - the AI vocalist. As hinted on the Soyogi Fractal website, the goal is for Bon Soyogi to evolve into a rich and fascinating entity, anchored by Kaji's voice, as creators utilize him in various anime, music, and film projects.

The Soyogi Fractal project aims to foster creativity across all media forms, making manga a natural fit. Given their long-standing relationship through Attack on Titan, where Kaji worked on the anime adaptation, he naturally turned to Isayama as his first choice for the manga component. Despite having stepped away from manga creation for years, the Attack on Titan creator surprised Kaji by readily accepting the invitation to lead the project's manga element.

This is an opportunity! Never miss it!! Let's change history together. - Yuki Kaji

As Kaji stated on the Soyogi Fractal project website, The Theory of Evil Men and AI showcases the potential of what can be achieved when two creators come together with a shared vision and the freedom to fully explore their connection. The story builds on the concept of Bon Soyogi, exploring what might happen if, after years of interaction with humans, an AI becomes self-aware. On one hand, it might recognize that it is often abused, overworked, and mistreated. On the other hand, it could realize that humanity has granted it so much power that it possesses the ability to change its own circumstances.

In the story, when the AI decides to make a change —what it perceives as a very small adjustment— the consequences are far-reaching. Reflecting Kaji’s fractal theory, even minor changes can lead to entirely different outcomes. While these outcomes may appear similar at first glance, both up close and from a distance, they ultimately result in vastly different and unexpected consequences over time.

Put another way, The Theory of Evil Men and AI can be seen as Isayama’s exploration of how complex systems like artificial intelligence, which often appear orderly on the surface —and likely are— can become profoundly unpredictable through tiny, seemingly insignificant changes. Ultimately, this unpredictability can escalate into problems so immense that they threaten human existence.

The Theory of Evil Men and AI is the perfect “manga-ization” of Kaji’s creative vision at the heart of the Soyogi Fractal project. While presented as an intriguing dystopian story, the core of Kaji’s idea remains intact. There’s a reason Kaji chose Isayama for the job, and he has delivered flawlessly. Notably, sales of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, in which the story was published, have been significantly higher than in previous months. It’s clear that the creator of Attack on Titan still has what it takes to produce compelling, must-read manga content.

Sources: Soyogi Fractal Website (1),(2), @AoTWiki