Gekijouban Shingeki no Kyojin Zenpen: Guren no Yumiya is set to screen in SCREENX, 4DX, and ULTRA 4DX from October 23 (Friday). To mark the occasion, the anime’s official site has published interviews with Kaji Yuki (Eren Yeager), Ishikawa Yui (Mikasa Ackerman), and Inoue Marina (Armin Arlert).
Based on Isayama Hajime’s dark fantasy manga, Shingeki no Kyojin ran in Bessatsu Shounen Magazine from 2009 to 2021 and has surpassed 140 million copies in circulation worldwide. The TV anime began in 2013, and the series concluded with Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season Kanketsu-hen (Kouhen) in November 2023.
Guren no Yumiya is the first of a two-part compilation film that re-edits all 25 episodes of Season 1, which aired from April to September 2013; it was released in 2014. Linked Horizon performed the theme song Guren no Zahyou, while Sawano Hiroyuki, who also handled the score, was responsible for the ending theme.
Kaji Yuki on Eren: ‘An ordinary abnormal person’
The interview looked back at a pamphlet Q&A from 12 years earlier, when the film was first released. Asked what makes Eren appealing, Kaji said at the time that he was struck by Eren’s consistent commitment to his own justice, his anger and hatred toward the ‘evil’ that Eren cannot accept, and the way he struggles against it.
After 12 years of playing Eren, Kaji said his earlier answer came from a stage when he understood less than half of the story, so it cannot be compared with his interpretation now that the series has ended. The truths revealed later, he said, are the essence of the work and of Eren himself, though the elements he named 12 years ago remain part of the character.
‘He is a fool greater than anyone, more human than anyone, an ordinary abnormal person,’ Kaji said. ‘He exists inside everyone.’
For fans who have already seen the ending and are returning to the film, Kaji suggested enjoying it as a kind of answer check for its foreshadowing and fan theories, even imagining what Eren might be doing just off-screen (laughs). His own most memorable scene is the repeated cries of ‘Tatakae’ (Fight) near the end. He still vividly remembers the recording sessions and said the scene gets his blood pumping no matter how many times he watches it; ‘Tatakae’ returns in important moments throughout the series, making it especially memorable.
Ishikawa Yui on Mikasa’s strength and vulnerability
Ishikawa also revisited a pamphlet interview from 12 years ago, in which she called Mikasa’s weak side appealing in its own way. After playing the character to the end, she said Mikasa was able to be strong because Eren served as her guidepost. Mikasa grew stronger to protect Eren and to live alongside him.
Even if she were to lose Eren, Ishikawa said, Mikasa would keep living strongly so as not to forget him. Though Mikasa is truly weak, the way she remains strong for someone precious is cool, and her single-minded devotion is wonderful.
Asked how she would recommend the series to newcomers now, Ishikawa said Shingeki no Kyojin is a work in which every section of the staff and cast pushes one another higher and gives maximum effort, so she cannot pick just one point. Her advice was: ‘Watch it with nothing seen and nothing heard, go in completely blank!!’ She added that she would love to erase her own memories and watch it again, and encouraged newcomers to savor the luxury of experiencing it for the first time in a theater. The work, she said, will deliver a shock and intensity that shakes your life.
Inoue Marina on Armin’s bravery and humanity
Inoue revisited her own pamphlet comments about playing Armin from 12 years earlier: she had said she wanted to keep his own manly side in mind while making him look as pathetic as possible, and hoped audiences would see that as human. Asked whether her approach had changed over 12 years, she said it had changed somewhat.
She now sees Armin as a very brave person. Because he thinks too much about the best outcome or a solution, there were many times when he had to cast aside a kind of humanity. Looking back, she said, that bravery felt almost inhuman.
For newcomers, Inoue’s recommendation was emphatic: ‘It will absolutely, definitely change your life! Experience the ultimate despair and the preciousness of life!!!!’ She added, with a star, that the work really does wear you down, so people should watch it when their heart is feeling well★.
The full interviews with all three cast members are available on the anime’s official website. The compilation film Gekijouban Shingeki no Kyojin Kanketsu-hen: The Last Attack is also confirmed to screen in SCREENX, 4DX, and ULTRA 4DX in 2027.
(C)諫山創・講談社／「進撃の巨人」製作委員会
