Gege vs Isayama vs Fujimoto: What Do These Mangakas Have in Common?

Summary:

• Gege Akutami, Tatsuki Fujimoto and Hajime Isayama are authors of Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and Attack on Titan.
• All these series felt like a breath of fresh air at some points.
• These mangakas are not scared of challenges and being problematic.

Gege Akutami, Tatsuki Fujimoto and Hajime Isayama gave us three of the best modern manga series: Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin). All three series are immensely popular and are talked about all the time (especially now that JJK is airing and the AOT finale is still pretty fresh). But what do these series and these mangakas’ styles have in common?

These series feel fresh

First of all, despite being shounen titles, all three series are completely different from regular shounen anime. It’s not bad to be typical, we’ve recently discussed Demon Slayer in that context, where we mentioned that it not being special doesn’t conflict with it being phenomenal. But JJK, CSM and AOT manage to be both: special and good. Although Jujutsu Kaisen does start like a typical shounen series, it changes later and becomes a completely different show.

Gege, Isayama and Fujimoto are all not scared of challenges and their stories are famous for being cruel, traumatic and full of drama. They are not afraid to kill important characters, not afraid to upset the audience and give their works a dark side. In a world where everyone is getting tired of regular superheroes, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and Attack on Titan feel like a breath of fresh air.

Who’s the best one, though?

When comparing these three mangakas, fans admit that Fujimoto is the most surprising and eccentric of them all. He brings weirdness to another level, and his plot twists and writing decisions can leave you absolutely horrified or puzzled and excited.

When speaking of consistency, fans mention Gege being the best one among these authors. Fujimoto often needs some time to get the story going, and Isayama suffers from going from absolutely masterful writing to terrible decisions from time to time.

Fans seem to agree that Isayama had the potential to become one of the greatest mangakas of all time, as the beginning of Attack on Titan was absolutely phenomenal and nothing like anyone had ever seen before. However, something happened along the way, and the author himself admits that he’s become a slave to his own creation.

Due to all three manga being extremely popular, Gege, Fujimoto and Isayama also have a very upsetting feature in common. Their works come with super high expectations, and criticism follows all of them every step of the way. However, these works wouldn’t be so talked about if they weren’t worth our attention. And for some, they will probably remain the greatest manga of all time.