Meet the cast of the live-action ATTACK ON TITAN movie with these character posters

I’m usually a happy-go-lucky kind of fellow, but if there’s one thing that can give me a serious case of the downs, it’s the constant realization that I don’t have any more episodes of Attack On Titan (aka Shingeki no Kyojin) to watch. The incredible anime ended its first season in September 2013 already, but since the producers have decided to give the original manga on which it’s based some breathing room to forge ahead in the story, we haven’t seen a single new frame for more than a year now, with no scheduled date for its second season in sight.

But fret not, because there is something to tide us over as a Japanese live-action feature film is currently in development. The adaptation has been busy for some time now, but the only substantial bit of news from it was that the movie would be split into tow parts and that original manga creator Hajime Isiyama was heavily involved with the production, including creating a few new supporting characters. But now we’ve finally getting a look at the movie, as the producers have unveiled (via Anime News Network) a series of character posters giving us our first look at the film’s cast, including those 7 newly characters.

And for those of you who have never seen/read Attack on Titan and have no idea what you just looks at, let me explain: The story is set in some undisclosed future where what little is left humanity is forced to cower in cities encircled by massive walls. This is as a defence against Titans, mindless giant humanoids whose sole purpose appears to be just to devour humans, and who have driven humanity to the brink of extinction. Humans do fight back though – usually at severe loss – through their soldiers, brave volunteers who make use a of specially crafted swords and “3D-Maneuver Gear” to take on these titans either during exploratory missions or defence of the city. When the city is suddenly attacked though by a Titan not just exponentially larger than anything they’ve seen before, but also seemingly intelligent, it sets into motion a chain of events involving fresh soldier recruit Eren Jaeger and his friends that could hold the key to the mystery of the Titans’ origins.

Now you may noticed that several of the actors don’t exactly look like their anime/manga counterparts, and that’s because the producers intentionally didn’t just cast people based on resemblance, but rather they sat down with Isayama and tried to find performers that could show off the “characters’ spirits”.

It has also been revealed that one of the new characters, Hiroki Hasegawa’s Shikishima, will actually be central to the plot of the movie, with him being revealed as “humanity’s strongest man,” whatever that means. Initially when I saw his character poster, I thought he may be some kind of older version of Levi, the head of the Elite Squad, and generally recognized as humanity’s strongest soldier, and this description is too close for it to just be a coincidence. It has been said that the two films’ plot will not a straight copy of the events of the anime/manga, but instead will be “based on the world and characters of the manga, while incorporating new characters and new formidable enemies”, so Shikishima could just very well be this new version’s answer to Levi.

Whoever he, or any of the actors are playing, as long as they replicate the jaw-dropping battles (with all it’s ridiculous violence) and keep up that constant ability to shock that the original source pulled off so magnificently, I will be happy.

The films are directed by Shinji Higuchi and both are set to be released mid-2015.

Last Updated: November 21, 2014