Wall Tokyo - The Attack on Titan Museum

Shingeki no Kyojin, or Attack on Titan as it's called in English, has picked up an enormous amount of steam and has risen to become the number one selling manga in Japan, dethroning One Piece for the first time. Whether it's the series' intrigue and pacing, or rather it's underlying message of rising up against insurmountable odds, it's working. Men and women are flocking to Attack on Titan.
 In light of this success, the manga spawned a hugely successful anime series, and is following up with a live-action movie, an attraction at Universal Studios Japan, and a temporary exhibit at the Ueno Royal Museum. Which Dario and I had a look at!
 Now, this being Tokyo, and the subject being a manga read by millions, a crowd was to be expected. There was no getting in without lining up for a half hour, and mind you, we went on a Monday morning. Those seeking entry on a weekend, beware.
 Right off the bat, though, the Attack on Titan exhibition begins powerfully, with a guide, completely in-character, telling everyone who entered that the city is under attack. On a gigantic screen is a curtain, with the silhouettes of the titular giants moving around behind it. Their footsteps are thunderous. She disappears behind the curtain, and all of a sudden, it's lifted, and she appears on screen, being devoured by a titan. She's thrown into the air, and a loud crack is heard over the audience's heads, as she appears to have fallen onto the ceiling. Her tattered cloak hangs through the rafters in the ceiling. How delightful! There are even children in the room! I bet some of the parents were wishing they had been warned.

The art of Shingeki no Kyojin.

 The first section of the exhibit is dedicated to Hajime Isayama's original artwork. It's pretty par-for-course in an exhibit such as these. Now, you may recall that I said that Attack on Titan isn't the best drawn series by a long shot. But the exhibit does have his best pages (the originals, no less) on display, and no matter what else can be said, he is a professional. On some pages, there are neat little commentaries written by the man himself, and you do kind of discover that Attack on Titan was very much a learning process for him as well, as he could not have anticipated that the series would garner such a massive following. I do admit the full-sized pieces of his colored work were actually really nice when seen in person. There's a corner also dedicated to what inspired Isayama to start his series. It may or may not come as much of a surprise that, amongst other manga he cited as being inspirational, he also studied UFC and cited that as being something that helped him create certain scenes.
 It's the second half of the exhibit, though, that adds fun to the experience: the interactive showcase, where items and scenes of the comic are brought to real life quite literally. This half of the exhibit kicks off with a little something fans of the series will be sure to recognize - a life-size diorama of the character, Annie Leonhart, looking down at a flight of stairs. It's hard not to be tempted to recreate the iconic scene itself (which I did.)

The interactive exhibit. Why'd you do it, Annie!?

 Past this flight of stairs, though, is a collection of items that were recreated from Attack on Titan. And although some of it is completely goofy (a glass case, for example, containing a potato half-eaten by one of the characters,) they did fabricate some of the manga's coolest gadgets, such as the box-cutter-like blades used in the series, or the contraptions used by the characters to navigate the city while hunting for the titans. All of the above are life-sized, and presented in such a way where they blur the line between comic and reality. It's all very cool to look at.

Egad!

 But of course, the best is saved for last, and visitors are given a chance to stand in awe of the head of the Colossal Titan, breaking through the very floor of the building. It kind of puts things to scale. It's one thing to read about a 60-meter monstrosity and another to see it as it would appear in reality.
 And as usual, it's exit through the gift shop, which contains a few framed pictures, if you like Attack on Titan that much, and some 50$ white shirts with nothing but quotes from the series written in black. With or without context, the shirts are a little ridiculous.
 But hey, I really enjoyed the exhibit. It's certain to please fans of the manga or anime, and there's lots of cool opportunities to get souvenirs in the form of pictures. Check it out, but leave the kids at home, maybe.