The portal Gendai Ismedia published an article where he interviewed the publisher of the manga written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama, Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan), Shintaro Kawakubo. One of the questions that went viral was the one where he was asked what he thought about the final chapter of the work.
“In the fifth edition of 2021 of the Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, published on April 9 of that year, the last episode of Shingeki no Kyojin was published, ending the work. At that time, Kawakubo-san approached Isayama-san and said, “I think it was a last episode that no one could complain about”?” the question wrote. Kawakubo replied, “Yes. The intent is that first of all, the basic premise is that I think it’s interesting, but the word doesn’t mean that it’s the last episode that someone will find interesting to show. When Hajime Isayama started the series 11 years and 7 months ago, I think there were stories and emotions that he wanted to represent.” He continued: “He started the manga because he wanted to draw that, and he ended up drawing what he wanted to draw, so I don’t think anyone has the right to complain about that, so in that sense, I told him with the words, “I think it’s a final chapter that I no one has the right to complain.” At that time, I only said these words to him, so it may not have been conveyed correctly, but after the last chapter was released, there was criticism and Isayama felt upset about it, so I told him again later that , as I said before, “You were able to draw what you wanted to draw how you wanted to draw it, so I would be upset if you regretted it now, since everything ended the way you wanted. Everything is fine””. He continued, “There was also one other thing that we talked about, although that was also at a later date. This is something that Isayama himself said a long time ago: 「If I wanted to tell people that “you shouldn’t kill people”, it wouldn’t make sense to tell them directly that “you shouldn’t kill people”. Because the seven billion people in the world know that “people must not be killed”, and since the murders continue today, making a verbal warning is pointless. If that’s the case, then the words “It’s okay to kill people” might carry more weight if you just look at the result, because there’s a chance that the person hearing it will think “What are you talking about? The right thing to do is not to kill!” So if you have a message that you want to convey, perhaps the right thing to do is not to draw it exactly as society expects.」». He continued: “He had said he was going to do something about it. I think we were talking about this as something that has nothing to do with Shingeki no Kyojin. I remember that story. This last chapter sparked controversy, as some criticized it for “supporting genocide.” Of course, I didn’t mean to condone the on-site massacre at all, and Isayama-san was quite worried about it, but I told him, “This could be a really good thing. Compared to a real war, where a lot of people die, and only then do people think “genocide is not good”, when you read Shingeki no Kyojin and say “this is a pro-genocide manga” and feel bad about it , then the same message was transmitted to you, but without the need for anyone to die in real life». Source: Gendai Ismedia
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