 The series has gained a strong popularity in not only Japan but also throughout the world . For instance , coverage of the anime appeared on the front page of the Hong Kong free newspaper <unk> on May 27 , 2013 , concerning its popularity within Hong Kong as well as in China and Taiwan . However , the series also attracted criticism : the South Korean Electronic Times magazine accused Attack on Titan of having a militaristic message that serves Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe 's political leanings ; while the series also resonated with Hong Kong youths who saw the invading Titans as a metaphor for Mainland China . Hong Kong media commentator Wong Yeung @-@ tat praised Isayama 's style and the versatility of Attack on Titan 's setting , which opens itself to readers ' various interpretations . In 2013 , after media linked to a 2010 blog post by Isayama indicating that the design of the character Dot Pixis was based on the Imperial Japanese General Akiyama <unk> , an Internet flame war about the general 's war record ( e.g. allowing the Port Arthur massacre to occur ) ensued on his blog and included death threats to the author . Because many of the threats written in Japanese had grammatical errors , it is believed that they were written by people outside of Japan . 
