

The majority of characters in Attack on Titan have German names. Does this
mean they are Europeans? We know Mikasa Ackerman is Oriental. Did the writers
avoid describing her as Asian because in the universe they have created, Asia
doesn't exist? (The use of word Oriental may be a direct translation, but I'm
not sure.)

Obviously the anime is in Japanese, but this surely doesn't mean the
characters speak Japanese? Are characters in Attack on Titan (or any anime)
self-aware about the language they speak, or their own race? How do
anime/manga creators explain race and language in their art? Is this a detail
that is left out because it has no explanation, or is it an answer of "It's
just that way"? Maybe anime are created in a fictional bubble with their own
set of rules, and viewers are supposed to suspend disbelief.

I know this maybe a silly and or odd question, but I simply can't wrap my
ahead around it.


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attack-on-titan
What race are the humans in Attack on Titan? What language do they speak?


The Germanic names (Jaeger, Armin, and so on) lead me to believe that the
remaining humans, that we've seen so far, [are descendants of
Germans](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/4620/274) or at least close enough
to them to receive a great Germanic influence.

As for Mikasa, her mother was the next-to-last of their Oriental clan, and her
father was of a more Western heritage (having the German name Ackerman). The
name "Mikasa" has origins in both
[Malagasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malagasy_language) (of Madagascar)
and Japanese (the [Mikasa
battleship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Mikasa), [Mount
Mikasa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mikasa), or the Mikasa-no-miya[nt.
1][[ref]](http://shingekinokyojin.wikia.com/wiki/Mikasa_Ackerman#Trivia)).
Given that she is simply said to be "Oriental"[nt. 2], we can assume the
latter, and she is actually Japanese.

As for the language, it's not uncommon for countries and people who would
speak little or no Japanese to be native Japanese speakers in fiction (same
with English for Western movies and shows). This is generally labelled (in
trope-ville) as [Aliens Speaking
English](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AliensSpeakingEnglish)
(which can also be true for human foreigners) or [Common
Tongue](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CommonTongue), essentially
saying, "It's easier for the target audience to understand it if everyone is
natively speaking the same language." It explains why Russians exclusively
speak English in video games, for example.

**To make it succinct and clear:** It appears that the vast majority of
characters are descendants of Germans or similar races, and that they speak
Japanese simply because that's the language in which the writer/creator spoke
and wished to market it.

> **Footnotes**
>
>   * _Note 1_ : Part of the [Imperial
> House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_House_of_Japan)
>
>   * _Note 2_ : 東洋人【とう.よう.じん】 _tōyōjin_ , lit. "Asian people, Orientals"
>
>


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If you listen closely to the second opening of the anime (which by the way
sounds a lot like an Anthem) most of the singing is done in German. With that
in mind, we can say that they're mother tong is German. You can also note the
presence of a river running through the city from south to north, this river
is most likely the Rhine (but the city must be far away from the sea since
they have forgotten about it). This place is also very resourceful in both
iron and coal. With all these elements, I can make a safe (-ish) guess to
answer you question: 70% German, 20% French, 10% of other... I don't know why,
but to me, Pixis looks French (and not _only_ because he's always got wine
with him...) Hope I helped.


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