Eren Yeager

Eren Yeager
Attack on Titan character

Eren as depicted in the Attack on Titan anime
First appearance Attack on Titan chapter 1: To You, 2,000 Years from Now
Created by Hajime Isayama
Voiced by Japanese
Yūki Kaji
English
Bryce Papenbrook
Portrayed by Haruma Miura
Profile
Aliases Eren Jaeger (Funimation dub)
Species Human, Titan Shifter
Relatives Kalura Yeager (mother)
Grisha Yeager (father)
Mikasa Ackerman (Foster sister)

Eren Yeager (Japanese: エレン・イェーガー Hepburn: Eren Yēgā), spelled Eren Jaeger in the Funimation dub, is a fictional character appearing as the protagonist from the manga series Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama. Eren is a teenager who swears revenge on enormous creatures known as Titans that devoured his mother. In order to defeat the Titans, Eren, alongside his childhood friends Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, enlist in the Military and join the Survey Corps—an elite group of soldiers who fight Titans outside the walls. As the story progresses it is revealed Eren has the power of becoming a Titan which mankind uses to their advantage to defeat their enemies.

In the anime adaptation of the series, Eren has been voiced by Yūki Kaji in Japanese and Bryce Papenbrook in English. In the live-action film adaptation, he is portrayed by Haruma Miura. Critical reception to Eren's character has been mixed. While some critics called him a stereotypical male lead character, his actions across the story led to shocks and praises. Eren has also been popular within the Attack on Titan fanbase and anime in general.

Creation and design

Japanese voice actor Yūki Kaji

Author Hajime Isayama created Eren to be "an ordinary youngster who gets paralyzed with fear when he sees a titan" rather than a stereotypical hotheaded protagonist often seen in shonen manga.[1] He also stated that Eren's wish to go outside the city's walls is similar to his own when he was a child: He lived in a rural Japanese town surrounded by mountains. One day, he wanted to go beyond the mountains, which reflected in the town surrounded by walls in the manga where Eren lived in the series' beginning.[2] The character's Titan form's physique was modeled after middleweight mixed martial artist Yushin Okami.[3][4] Japanese actor Yūki Kaji commented on how it was important that he should voice Eren's Titan form because he believes it is an extension of the character. He had a meal with Isayama after he visited the recording studio and the manga artist told him he found Eren quite a difficult character but complimented Kaji by saying "You know Eren already", which gave him confidence.[5] Eren's characterization was briefly altered for the English dub of the series making him self-reflective and eloquent in some scenes.[6]

English voice actor Bryce Papenbrook

English voice actor Bryce Papenbrook got excited when he got the role of Eren as he was a fan of the show before it was announced that it would be dubbed into English. As a result, he viewed this as an advantage as he managed to understand the character beforehand.[7] For example, he could understand the delivery of several lines because he already knew of the anime's series of twists. Additionally, he saw himself prepared for the role's pressure due to his previous works in popular anime.[8]

He was excited because Eren was different from his previous characters despite sharing a similar age and vocal range, He commented "It's a very raw sound. Some of the noises he pulled out of me were just disgusting. I loved it. I loved every second of it." Papenbrook noted how different was Eren from his previous role as noted in the delivery of emotions and notable screams.[7] There were three different kinds of voices he used for Eren: One for his kid persona, another deeper for his young adult self and a third "which was different from anything else." He recorded all three of those, and "there were noises that were required that were just disgusting and nasty."[7] While he saw Eren's screams as challenging, he believes it was not the most difficult he ever had.[8]

Appearances

In Attack on Titan

Eren is introduced as a hot-headed, vocal ten-year-old in the town of Shiganshina who dreams of joining the Survey Corps in order to explore the outside world beyond the walls, but is constantly chastised by his mother Kalura (Carla is also an acceptable name for her). When the Titans invade his town, he is powerless to save her from being devoured by one of the Titans, and vows to kill every Titan henceforth.[9] Enlisting in the military, Eren eventually places fifth overall in his graduating class.[9] Parts of Eren's past are revealed through the series. Following Shingashina's fall, he has a brief encounter with his father Grisha who entrusts him with a key to the basement of their house, and who injects him with a mysterious liquid.[9] When he was nine years old, he and his father were planning to meet Mikasa Ackerman and her family, but they discover that her parents have been killed and that she is held hostage. He kills two of the captors and convinces Mikasa to kill the third as he is being strangled by the latter.[10]

During a mission, Eren is swallowed by a Titan when he sacrifices himself to save his friend Armin Arlert.[11] Inside the Titan, however, he suddenly transforms into a 15-meter class Titan that attacks the other Titans and disregards humans before the Titan collapses and his real body is exposed, unconscious, at the back of the neck.[12] Though he is distrusted initially by the military, especially due to his inability to control himself in Titan form, Eren earns a place in the Special Operations Squad, a branch of Survey Corps under Levi assigned to watch over him.[13][14] Shortly after joining, Eren finds himself hunted by a female Titan who kills all of his squadmates to get to him. With help of Levi and Mikasa, Eren is saved from the Titan who is later revealed to be Annie Leonhart. Though Eren defeats Annie alongside his allies, they are unable to get answers as they watch her encase herself using her Titan's hardening ability.

When encountering the Titan that devoured his mother years earlier during his kidnapping by Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover, who are the human forms of the Titans responsible for the Shiganshina attack (The Armored and Colossal Titans respectively), Eren develops a new ability to mentally control other Titans called "The Coordinate". After first subconsciously directing a group to kill and devour the Titan that killed his mother, he then directs the Titans to attack the Armored Titan so he and his friends can escape back to within the Walls.[15] After being rescued, Eren is sent with his friends to an isolated village while preparations are made for a campaign to retake Wall Maria for good, by making use of his newfound power. However, Eren is then captured by the royal family's patriarch Rod Reiss, who reveals that his family long possessed a power that created the walls. Eren also learned that his ability to become a Titan was caused by his father, another human who can assume Titan form, whom he devoured once subjected to the liquid that caused his transformation and inheriting the power that Grinsha obtained from eating Historia's half sister Frieda Reiss. Eren realizes by then that Rod Reiss intends to restore his family by having Historia become a Titan and eat Eren, accepting his fate out guilt of the people he failed to save as he asks Historia to save humanity in his place. However, Eren finds Historia refusing to aid her father as she frees him while Rod becomes an Abnormal Titan while Misaka, Levi, and Jean arrive. Eren ingests a liquid labeled "Armor" that bestows him a new power to harden his Titan form, using it to save himself and his friends from being crushed by a collapsing ceiling before he and the Survey Corps head to the Orvud district to face Rod.

Other media

Eren stars in the parody manga Attack on Titan: Junior High where he is presented as a student from high school who is obsessed with the Titans.[16] He is a playable character in Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind for the Nintendo 3DS.[17] His Titan form also makes an appearance in the game.[18] Jin Haganeya's visual novel In the Forest of the Night, Burning Bright has Eren and Levi as the leading characters.

Reception

Critical reception to Eren's character has been varied. Jacob Hope Chapman of Anime News Network referred to Eren as "almost deliberately not a 'likable' protagonist, even by 15-year-old boy standards" based on his rude behavior and intelligence. However, he liked that he inspires people by believing in his feelings, hopes, and dreams, making him the "heart of humanity".[19] Theron Martin noted that while Eren initially has hardly any emotion besides anger,[20] in later episodes he eventually does have emotions beyond that.[21] Jeffrey Kaufman of Blu-ray.com calls Eren "a compelling character, and once a really surprising development crops up a few episodes in, he becomes even more compelling."[22]

Kyle Charizanis of The Fandom Post found the anime portrayal of Eren's transformation to be amusing, starting from his "almost pitiful" look while declaring how he's going to kill all of the Titans. When the anime portrays him as capable of controlling his transformation, Charizanis adds "Maybe one day he’ll be able to contort his body to be used as a bridge, or heal other people’s wounds, or morph his arms into sharp blades like a certain other anime character."[23] In the final anime episode, when Eren is fighting the Female Titan, he describes Eren's internal monologue as changing "from the usual violent determination to a kind of gleeful madness." and likens his tone to that of The Joker.[24] Elijah Watson from Complex magazine liked the plot twist of Eren's titan form turning on the other titans that he called it a Worldstar moment.[25] Bamboo Dong of Anime News Network was fond on Eren's Titan abilities as "there has not been anything as uncomfortable for me to watch as Eren chomping into his own hand, trying to transform. There is something visceral and real about Eren drawing blood from his own hand, and boy, it gave me the chills," and later praised his thoughts when fighting the Female Titan due to the portrayal of Eren's humanity despite being a Titan.[26][27]

Other writers were more critical on the character. Nick Browne of THEM Anime Reviews found him "a frustrating protagonist" based on his fits of rage often seen as childish.[28] Elliot Gray from Japanator called him a "typical shonen manga lead" based on some of his cliche traits and instead found Mikasa and Armin more appealing.[29] Similarly, Anna Neatrour from Manga Bookshelf called him a "fairly typical brash and opinionated shonen hero" and considered the manga design of the humans to be "drawn stiffly and not in proportion. For much of the time Eren and his comrades are yelling at each other, with facial expressions that don’t have very much variation".[30] On the other hand, Justin Wu from The Artifice saw Eren's hotheadness as a positive trait of the character.[31] Chapman found Papenbrook's child Eren forced but noted his performance once the character grew up was far better.[6]

In the Newtype anime awards for 2013, Eren was voted as eighth best male character.[32] In Animage's Anime Grand Prix 2014 polls, Eren ranked as the fourth most popular male anime character, behind Levi who was voted the most popular. However, his Japanese voice actor ranked first among all voice actors, with Eren as his primary credit for that period.[33] In the Animedia Eren was nominated for multiple categories including "Most Valuable Player", "Darkness", "Hot" and "Brave"; He only won the "Hot" award, but took high places in the rest.[34] Anime News Network also listed his Titan form as one of the weirdest power ups seen in anime.[35]

Eren is featured in a variety of merchandise. In December 2013, the Good Smile Company released the Eren Picktam! strap along with straps of other characters from the series.[36] The official Eren Yeager nendoroid and figma were also launched after the series' success. These figures exist via a variety of figurine and merchandise companies. Eren's figma was released in May 2014, and the nendoroid was released in April 2014.[37] [38] In addition to figures, Bandai has released Eren plushes, a smaller one in December 2013 and a larger one in July 2014.[39][40] Eren Yeager, along with many other characters from the series, also has a dedicated perfume inspired by his character traits. His perfume was released by Koubutsuya in fall of 2013 along with the perfumes for Mikasa Ackerman and Levi.[41][42]

References

  1. ↑ Nelkin, Sarah (July 22, 2015). "Live-Action Attack on Titan Writer Warns Fans of More Changes". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Nelkin, Sarah (September 23, 2013). "Attack on Titan Creator Reveals Secrets on Japanese TV Show". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  3. ↑ Alverson, Brigid (2012-06-14). "MTV Geek – Interview with Attack on Titan Creator Hajime Isayama". MTV Geek News. Viacom. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  4. ↑ Attack on Titan manga, volume 1, interview "For the Titan version of Eren, I use martial artist Yuushin Okami's body as a model. My ideal is the physique of a middleweight mixed martial artist. I only use the shape of the body as a model."
  5. ↑ "Bessatsu SPOON 2Di" 41.
  6. 1 2 Chapman, Hope. "Attack on Titan Episodes 1-5 (English Dub)". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Dong, Bamboo. "Interview: Bryce Papenbrook". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Dong, Bamboo. "Voice Acting Titan: The Bryce Papenbrook Interview - Page 2". UK Anime Network. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 Isayama, Hajime (2012). Attack on Titan, vol. 1. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-024-4.
  10. ↑ Isayama, Hajime (2012). "Chapter 6". Attack on Titan, vol. 2. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-025-1.
  11. ↑ Isayama, Hajime (2012). "Chapter 4". Attack on Titan, vol. 1. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-024-4.
  12. ↑ Isayama, Hajime (2012). "Chapter 9". Attack on Titan, vol. 2. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-025-1.
  13. ↑ Isayama, Hajime (2012). "Chapter 12". Attack on Titan, vol. 3. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-026-8.
  14. ↑ Isayama, Hajime (2013). "Chapter 20". Attack on Titan, vol. 5. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-254-5.
  15. ↑ Isayama, Hajime (2014). "Chapter 50". Attack on Titan, vol. 12. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-678-9.
  16. ↑ Nakagawa, Saki (2014). Attack on Titan: Junior High, vol. 1. Kodansha Comics USA. ISBN 978-1-61262-916-2.
  17. ↑ "One More Glimpse At The Attack On Titan Game For 3DS". Siliconera.
  18. ↑ "Matters of Import: Grappling With Attack On Titan: The Last Wings Of Mankind". Nintendo Life.
  19. ↑ Chapman, Jacob Hope (June 12, 2014). "Attack on Titan BD+DVD - Part 1 [Limited Edition]". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Attack on Titan episodes 1-6 - Review". Anime News Network. 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  21. ↑ Martin, Theron. "Attack on Titan". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  22. ↑ Kaufman, Jeffrey. "Attack on Titan Part 1 Limited Edition". Blu-Ray. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  23. ↑ Charizanis, Kyle. "Attack On Titan Episode #09 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  24. ↑ Charizanis, Kyle. "Attack On Titan Episode #25 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  25. ↑ Watson, Elijah (March 22, 2014). "I Binge-Watched "Attack On Titan," an Anime About Giants Eating People". 'Complex'. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  26. ↑ Dong, Bamboo. "The Stream - Unhappy Families". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  27. ↑ Dong, Bamboo. "The Stream - Last Call". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  28. ↑ Browne, Nick. "Attack on Titan". THEM Anime Reviews. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  29. ↑ Gray, Elliot (August 7, 2013). "It's an attack on your senses". Japanator / The Fandom Post. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  30. ↑ Neatrour, Anna (January 28, 2014). "Attack on Titan, Vol 1". Manga Report. Manga Bookshelf. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  31. ↑ Wu, Justin (July 3, 2013). "5 Reasons Why ‘Attack on Titan’ Is So Popular". Articife. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Attack on Titan Wins Top Prizes in Newtype Anime Awards". Anime News Network. October 13, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  33. ↑ "[Seiyuu] Shingeki no Kyojin cast sweeps Animage's Anime Grand Prix Seiyuu Polls!". AFA Channel. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  34. ↑ "2013 Animedia Character Awards". Animedia (in Japanese) (Gakken). February 2013.
  35. ↑ "7 Powered-Up Forms That Are More Weird Than Awesome". Anime News Network. September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  36. ↑ Eren Yeager Picktam! Strap
  37. ↑ Erin Yeager Nendoroid
  38. ↑ Erin Yeager Figma
  39. ↑ Smaller Bandai Eren Plush
  40. ↑ Larger Bandai Eren Plush
  41. ↑ Attack on Titan Perfume Announcement
  42. ↑ Second Line of Attack on Titan Perfumes
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.