Attack on Titan: The Musical, New York City Center (2024) | Abha Deshmukh
Sitting in a mezzanine seat at the New York City Center, I was startled by a Colossal Titan coming to eat me. But I relaxed when Survey Corps soldiers came spinning and flying on their mobility gear to slice the Titan’s neck which is, after all, the proper way to kill a Titan. I was watching a live musical performance of Attack on Titan—a massively popular multimedia Japanese epic created by Hajime Isayama that debuted as a manga in 2009, became a long-running international hit anime TV series in 2013, and spawned spin-off video games, light novels, and live action movies before finally being turned into a theatrical spectacle in Japan in 2023.
Japan has a long history of manga adaptations, with musical theater offering a unique lens through which to experience beloved stories. Known as 2.5D musicals, productions based on classic manga like Naruto and Sailor Moon have combined the visual storytelling of anime with technology, live performance, and music, and created a niche audience. An Attack on Titan stage play was announced in 2016, but during its pre-production phase in 2017, the aerial supervisor fell 30 feet while testing the mobility gear mechanics and later passed away in the hospital, prompting the play’s cancellation. When the new production was announced in 2022, Isayama expressed some initial concerns because of the accident, but ultimately stated that he felt that the new company would be a lot more cautious and that he was excited for the project to move forward.
The three main Titans were brought to life using inflatable, hand-operated puppets. While they obviously couldn’t be made to their full scale, the Colossal Titan’s massive head and arms still had everyone, even die-hard fans, skipping a heartbeat. The production also used rotating wall pieces and projections on semi-opaque screens to heighten the multi-dimensional experience. Paired with the Survey Corps flying across the stage in their maneuvering gear, performing aerial stunts to take down Titans, and the dance sequences with dynamic acrobatics, it all came together as a visually stunning, overwhelmingly spectacular show.
The musical roughly covers the first three out of 39 volumes of the manga and about 10 episodes of season one of the anime (which has a total of four seasons and 94 episodes). The story goes like this—in the year 845, humanity has lived within three protective walls for over a century, shielding them from giant, humanoid man-eating Titans outside. Inside the walls, the military consists of three branches: the Garrison (defense), Military Police (internal affairs), and Survey Corps (expeditions beyond the walls).
Eren Jaeger, a young boy, dreams of joining the Survey Corps for freedom. His life changes when a Colossal Titan breaches the walls of his district, leading to his mother’s death and forcing him, his best friends Mikasa and Armin, and others to flee as refugees. Later, they join the military; on their graduation day, the Colossal Titan reappears with other Titans. One of the Survey Corps squads is decimated in the chase. In the carnage, we barely have time to register that Eren has been swallowed. Later, Mikasa encounters a rogue titan, who helps the humans defeat the other Titans. It is later revealed that—spoiler alert—this rogue titan is actually Eren, who can transform into a Titan, which opens up the possibility that all the Titans to have ever existed are or were humans. The Garrison initially distrusts Eren, but Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, and Squad Leader Hange devise a plan to use Eren’s Titan form to seal the breached wall, in order to reclaim the land.
The best part of the show were the musical ensembles. In “Play-Fighting,” in which the people lament the Survey Corps’ futile efforts (“Getting hurt for no reason / Protecting no one / We don’t know what they do beyond the walls / And we don’t want to hear about it”), the song’s lyrics gave voice to the civilians who are typically sidelined in the manga and anime versions of the epic. The following “Labor in Reminiscence” introduces an emotional layer, offering insight into the grief and struggle of ordinary people trapped within the walls: “Days spent staring up at the walls / A family destined to be destroyed / It’s a labor of oblivion.” These songs—my personal favorites—fleshed out the world of Attack on Titan beyond its primary focus on military heroism, making the stakes feel more personal and raw. The musical climaxed with “Now or Never,” a song performed by the entire main cast as the humans prepare to take back their land.
Music supervision by KEN THE 390 and Kaori Miura’s haunting yet sometimes playful lyrics came together as a commendable extension of the original story, though the experience would have been elevated tenfold with a live band instead of pre-recorded background tracks.
Kurumu Okamiya was exceptional as Eren, while Eito Konishi perfectly captured Armin’s raw emotions and piercing screams. Takuro Ohno stayed true to Commander Erwin’s gut-wrenching battle speech, delivering it with full force even on closing night. To fans’ disappointment, Erwin’s iconic battle cry from the original story, Shinzo wo sasageyo! (“Dedicate your heart!”), which inspired one of the most popular anime openings of the same name, was not included in the final scene. However, Captain Levi’s indefatigable charisma was so well translated to the stage that fans cheered for him loudly. Amid the heartbreaking screams and fiery outbursts, Sena as Sasha Blouse and Riona Tatemichi as Hange, along with Connie and Jean’s characters, brought much-needed humor to the stage.
The musical walked a fine line between adaptation and fan service. The performance was entirely in Japanese, with supertitles displayed on both sides of the stage. It’s a thrilling, emotionally powerful experience that probably works best when viewed as an homage to the original, rather than a standalone piece. I’m sure I’m not the only fan whose teenage crush was reignited by the real-life Captain Levi, and for whom the playbill will forever remain a prized possession.
In a packed theater, filled with cheers and happy cries from both newcomers and veteran fans, the three-day New York run ended with a bang. Director Go Ueki, who started as a dancer, busted out some moves before his farewell: “Thank you for fighting the Titans with us!” Even though I had only served as bait, I was glad to have played my part.
