MAD is the heir to Attack on Titan and people are yet to catch up on it

Attack on Titan is not just a manga or anime. It has carved a place for itself in the annals of time, and whenever the name is mentioned, fans will return to the moment where Isayama made their chests tighten and goosebumps rise.

Since Attack on Titan reached its end, fans have sought for a replacement. There are many manga and webtoons that embody the spirit of Attack on Titan. Leviathan, Kaiju No.8, and Fire Punch have plenty of similarities to Attack on Titan, with the most similar being Fire Punch. Many of these manga are still missing the spark that made Attack on Titan exceptional, and that is its multilayered story.

While Fire Punch is a multilayered story, it is a story by Tatsuki Fujimoto, which means it is whimsical. The true heir to Attack on Titan is none other than Yusuke Otori’s MAD. MAD is similar in tone and theme to Attack on Titan, and here is the kicker: it only has 27 chapters, and each one shows promise. Keep reading to find out why MAD is AOT’s heir.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s views and may contain spoilers.

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Why MAD is the heir to Attack on Titan

John is the protagonist of MAD (Image via Shueisha)

Attack on Titan’s concept is nothing new to manga or even storytelling. Its basic premise centers on the old age concept of man against monster. This tale has been seen in countless works of fiction, ranging from film to books. Popular works like Frankenstein, Pacific Rim, and Alien explore this concept.

Not many manga and anime explore the concept of Man vs Monster like AOT. AOT presents Titans as total opposites to human beings, but as the story progresses, these Titans are seen as something familiar. They are not the monsters that the Survey Corps and Paradis Islanders have been led to believe. They are humans.

These humans, who are actually Titans(monsters), are the ones tasked with protecting the populace. This is first, a criticism of the government, as AOT compares leaders to actual monsters. It also compares the people who are in charge of protecting humans to monsters or those with the potential to become monsters. This is just one of the layers of AOT, as more can be gained from it.

Tragedy is always lurking in MAD (Image via Shueisha)

MAD also embodies the same themes as Attack on Titan, but offers it with a twist. In MAD, Aliens are the monsters, but for most of the series, viewers are still confused about who the real monster is. This is due to the Aliens having little time in the series.

The main character, John, suffers from PTSD. He also hallucinates about his sister constantly, which viewers do not know about at first, but they later find out. John’s hallucinations make him an unreliable narrator, and it won’t be surprising, because the world of MAD can be quite trippy. It is not clear how John’s sister died, but her death is one of MAD’s biggest mysteries.

The Aliens in MAD are unlike the ones in Attack on Titan (Image via Shueisha)

Jericho, the citadel where humans stay in MAD, also draws comparisons to the walls where humans reside in AOT. The wall is made out to be some sort of haven, but it is nothing more than a glass castle. A place formed by a man who believed he was doomed. The same can be said about Jericho, whose creator, the Colonel, considered himself doomed.

Due to the mindsets of Karl Fritz and the Colonel, their respective havens aren’t built to last. They are built with the illusion of providing resistance to monsters and being accepting of humans. The truth is, whoever wanders into any of these places loses what makes them human—choice, and becomes a monster, as they are forced to make decisions.

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Final thoughts

AOT holds a special place among manga. Not only did it put manga in pop culture conversations, it was also responsible for kickstarting a wave of dark Shonen manga. MAD seems to be following its footsteps as clear comparisons can be made between the two series.

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