Hajime Isayama

Hajime Isayama (諫山 創) is the author and illustrator of Attack on Titan.

Isayama was born on August 29, 1986 in Ōyama, Ōita, Japan. After graduating Ōita Prefectural Hitarinkou High School, he matriculated in the cartoon design program of the cartoon arts department, Kyushu Designer Gakuin. After graduating, he moved to Tokyo and started drawing his manga works.

In 2006, he applied for the Magazine Grand Prix known as MGP promoted by Kodansha Ltd. and his work Attack on Titan was given the "Fine Work" award. Originally, he offered his work to the Weekly Shōnen Jump department at Shueisha, where he was advised to modify his style and story to be more suitable for Weekly Shōnen Jump. He declined and instead, decided to take it to the Weekly Shōnen Magazine department at Kodansha Ltd.

In 2008, he applied for the 80th Weekly Shōnen Magazine Freshman Manga Award, where his work "Heart Break One" was given the Special Encouragement Award.

His other work "orz" was chosen as a selected work in the 81st Weekly Shōnen Magazine Freshman Manga Award.

In 2009, his first serial work Attack on Titan appeared in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, a monthly magazine.

In 2011, Attack on Titan was awarded the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shōnen category.

Trivia

 * Jean Kirstein was revealed to be his favorite character in the series.
 * In a more recent interview, Isayama revealed that Reiner Braun had replaced Jean as his favorite character.
 * Isayama has stated that Daz is the character that he is most similar to.
 * In late 2016, Isayama watched all 6 seasons of  available at the time and became an avid fan, posting fan art in his blog and recommending the series to his readers. He says the series will influence his own work.
 * Many Titans in Chapter 96 strongly resemble various Game of Thrones characters.
 * One Titan in Chapter 110 strongly resembles the Game of Thrones character Joffrey Baratheon.
 * The title of Chapter 111, "Children of the Forest," is potentially a reference to the Children of the Forest from Game of Thrones.
 * One scene from Episode 36 where a soldier is hit by a horse resembles a similar scene from the Game of Thrones episode "Battle of the Bastards."
 * On December 29, 2017, Isayama posted his top 10 movies of the year: