Attack on Titan Guidebook - Attack on Titan
The Attack on Titan Guidebook, sometimes referred to as the Attack on Titan Guidebook: INSIDE & OUTSIDE, is the English compilation of the first two official guidebooks based on the Attack on Titan manga series: Attack on Titan: INSIDE Kou and Attack on Titan: OUTSIDE Osamu. The guidebook was written and illustrated by the original author of the manga, Hajime Isayama. The original Japanese versions of these guidebooks were based on the first 11 volumes of the manga, which corresponds to the somewhere near the ending of Season 2 of the anime. Both of these guidebooks were originally released in 2013 in Japan, though the English version was eventually published on September 16, 2014.
This guidebook includes several interviews, detailed character profiles, explanations of the story, craftworks and the original rough draft of the entire series.
Sections of the Guidebook
A papercraft of the Colossal Titan.
A variety of illustrations if full color.
A prologue and introduction.
A character encyclopedia that is divided into five different sections.
An illustrated guide of the various weapons used by soldiers in the series.
A guide that features the tools used by the characters in the Attack on Titan universe.
Profiles detailing specific Titans, a guide explaining them, and a “Titanpedia”.
An Explanation detailing the story and tactics of Attack on Titan.
A history of humanity's resistance in the past.
A report on the current situation of humanity within the story.
A character popularity poll.
An analysis of humanity and the Titans.
An interview of Hajime Isayama titled “Thus Spoke Hajime Isayama”.
Production materials from the anime adaptation and scans of official character sheets.
An analysis that details the structure and equipment of the military.
An interview of the the editor of Attack on Titan.
Profiles of major characters.
Fictional interviews of characters within the series.
Magazine Titan Reportage 999.
Five drafts of Eren’s Titan transformations.
A Question & Answer Section with Isayama that answers questions sent by fans.
Six original “what-if?” scenarios drawn by Hajime Isayama.
A summary of the events in the manga (up to Volume 11).
An unfinished rough draft of the manga.
Details
Most parts of this book can be read from left to right, the standard English way. The only section where the reading order is changed to the Japanese style of reading (right-to-left) is the “papercraft” section.
Starting from the left side of the book, the first part that can be read is the Colossal Titan papercraft, which details all of the parts and instructions needed to create the head of the Colossal Titan. After this section, there are fully colored illustrations of drawing that appeared in the original manga. The following section features short interviews of the voice cast that play the roles of Eren, Mikasa and Armin (Yuki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, and Marina Inoue respectively).
Character Encyclopedia
The largest section of this guidebook by far is its detailed character encyclopedia. This 85-page section contains extended explanations of many of the primary and secondary characters that appear throughout the Attack on Titan series. The encyclopedia is further divided into five sub-sections, each part representing the characters in specific groups like the Garrison Regiment and the Survey Corps:
Part 1: The first party of the encyclopedia details many characters that belong to the 104th Training Corps. This section contains many of the major characters within the series. Examples of characters in the section include Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Annie Leonhart, and Reiner Braun.
Part 2: This section contains information about some of the key members from the Garrison Regiment. Such characters include Hannes, Kitz Weilman, and Ian Dietrich.
Part 3: Part 3 focuses all on members of the Survey Corps that didn’t come from the 104th Training Corps. Characters from this section include Erwin Smith, Levi Ackermann, and Hange Zoë, among others.
Part 4: The last section that covers the military focuses on characters from the Military Police Brigade. Examples of characters in this section include Nile Dok, Marlowe Freudenberg, and Hitch Dreyse
Part 5: The final section of the character encyclopedia includes characters that seem to play a larger picture in the story of Attack on Titan, but have an air of mystery surrounding them. Characters from this section include Dot Pixis, Grisha and Carla Jaeger, Mikasa’s parents, and several others.
After these in-depth character descriptions, there is a guide of all the weapons that characters use to fight the Titans. A guide detailing the Titans follows after that and describes both the Nine Titans and the pure Titans. The next section describes all of the major battles found in the series.
In the interview with Hajime Isayama, he talks about his own life, the background and the origins of the Attack on Titan series, and some of the influences and inspirations that he grew up with that ended up making their way into the series. The range of inspirations is quite large and includes many different types of works, from anime, to Western comics and film.
After this section, there are several original sketches from the manga, some official character sheets from the anime, details of the structure of the military and the equipment they use, and an interview with the editor of the Attack on Titan manga from Kodansha. As an innovative way to include extra information in the guidebook, mock interviews with the characters were created. Each fictional interview also includes a list of key quotes from their respective characters. The Final section of the guidebook includes an original draft of the manga that is 54 pages long. This draft includes familiar events that show Eren’s motivations, his training, and the murder of Mikasa’s parents.