Blue Exorcist vs Attack on Titan

[NeeNee]

I suspect most of you already know that Rin and Eren (the main protagonist of Attack on Titan) have the same voice actor. But the similarities don't stop there.

If fact, the series are so alike that it's almost eery.

(spoilers!)
- the protagonist is a boy of 15 years old
- he loses a parent in the first chapters and decided to dedicate his life to taking down their killer
- he discovers he has a power similar to the one of the enemy he is fighting
- said enemy has been seen as a threat to humanity since forever
- his sibling is a better (trained) fighter than the protagonist
- his father knew about beforementioned power but didn’t tell him
- this power causes him to lose control (temporary)
- he is seen as a danger and put on trial because of it, but is allowed to continue training under strict supervision
- he gains the trust of the people around him
- one of his friends turns out to be a traitor
- the manga is at chapter 57
- they have the same voice actor in the anime

Anything I missed? Do you think this is coincidence or are they (consciously or subconsciously) taking clues from each other?

[facets-and-rainbows]

-He had some trouble controlling his powers at one point shortly after everyone found out about them, but overcame it just in time to save an entire city.
-One of his friends is a short kid who felt worthless in battle until he gained some confidence as a strategist.
-I thought Eren was voiced by Konekomaru though?

[NeeNee]

^ Huh, you're right.

How odd. Then why is everyone comparing them? It's so hard to imagine Koneko as angry Eren.

[facets-and-rainbows]

^Never mind, I looked it up and Eren and Rin ARE voiced by the same person in the English dub (I was thinking Japanese version).

...Now I'm imagining someone at Funimation and/or Viz looking at the Japanese cast lists for the two shows and thinking "Hold on. We can do better."

[Elaedan]

I never realized they had so much in common! Scary...

I personally don't like Eren's voice so much. Maybe it is the fact that I watched AnE before and thought it as perfect voice for Koneko...  Everything I watch anything Yuuki Kaji is in I can't help but think "Oh Konekomaru!"

And because there is 'versus' in title I want to add and Rin and AnE all the way!! :33 because plot, art and characters are perfect in AnE and on Attack on Titan I only like A couple of cool characters~

-plus it seems they have lost their mothers, until we know Yuri's fate poor boys are motherless


EDIT:
Yes like Wikke sais the art is horrible. I joke that with those talents, everyone can be mangaka~

[Wikkelsoee]

Hm, I never really thought about how similar they are.

While I really enjoy the helplessness in AoT, I think I prefer BE. They both have very good stories, but the art in AoT is so horrible I often have trouble distinguishing the characters (seriously, I can't even tell who dies anymore).

[Blightstrider]

Attack on Titan and Blue Exorcist are my current favorites, that said, I never really thought about comparing the two, mainly because the atmosphere of the worlds are just so different. That said, beyond the main characters, I can scarcely name many more similarities.

That said, there is one thing that I find rather amusing.

The blood of Satan was always in Rin, putting him in danger of falling into a frenzy at the worse times.

But Eren,

(click to show/hide)

even though he became a titan later, he has always been bat-shit crazy.

[Anya]

- the protagonist is a boy of 15 years old
- he loses a parent in the first chapters and decided to dedicate his life to taking down their killer
- he discovers he has a power similar to the one of the enemy he is fighting
- said enemy has been seen as a threat to humanity since forever
- his sibling is a better (trained) fighter than the protagonist
- his father knew about beforementioned power but didn’t tell him
- this power causes him to lose control (temporary)
- he is seen as a danger and put on trial because of it, but is allowed to continue training under strict supervision
- he gains the trust of the people around him
- one of his friends turns out to be a traitor
- the manga is at chapter 57
- they have the same voice actor in the anime

Anything I missed? Do you think this is coincidence or are they (consciously or subconsciously) taking clues from each other?

Except for number of chapters and voice actors all of the above are common cliches in books for teens, shonen manga and hollywood blockbusters.

Take any of stories like: Harry Potter, Starbirds, Naruto, Evangelion, Supernatural, Brothers Grimm, Hellsing, whatever really and find 5-10 similarities between this and AnE. Easy peasy (and I didn't even read/watch them all).

[Kenneth245]

I never knew Ao no Exorcist had so much in common with SnK. To be honest, I don't like SnK that much because the plot is so obvious, and it's about who will die or survive next.  I gotta admit that Levi is pretty badass!

What makes Ao no Exorcist different to SnK is that the plot isn't entirely focused on just one thing, and there isn't too much gore.

- Ao no Exorcist is somewhat mysterious.
- The characters are unique and have their own stories.
- The plot keeps everything fresh.
- Rin being Satan's son, and wanting to kill him for killing Shirou is a nice reason to see him grow.

I can't think of any more reasons, but I think those are enough.
Rin's personality does seem to have changed a bit in this arc.

[GolPhee]

Haha when you lay out all the facts, its scary just how similar AoT and AoEx actually are.

-One other similarity: The music score for AoEx and AoT are both done by Sawano Hiroyuki. Thought it might be worth mentioning because both animes are worshipped for their OSTs.

Whilst I prefer Attack on Titan's anime adaption to Blue Exorcist's for a multitude of reasons, I'm not particuarly keen on the manga at all. The artwork is some of the worst I've seen, the characters don't feel "human" enough to relate to, and the plot is interesting, but doesn't have much of an emotional impact.
Blue Exorcist on the other hand is full of characters who act and feel real. Even when you hate them for it. Rin's being a bit weird at the moment but you can't deny he's grown as a character, whereas Eren is exactly the same as he was in chapter 1

[NeeNee]

Except for number of chapters and voice actors all of the above are common cliches in books for teens, shonen manga and hollywood blockbusters.

Take any of stories like: Harry Potter, Starbirds, Naruto, Evangelion, Supernatural, Brothers Grimm, Hellsing, whatever really and find 5-10 similarities between this and AnE. Easy peasy (and I didn't even read/watch them all).

I know that there are a lot of series with similar storylines, but like you said, there are usually like 5-10 similarities. These two series have more than 15, which is kind of excessive, while also running at the same time.

And yet, they don't really feel like the same story at all... I think that's remarkable.

[NeeNee]

And then there's also this thing.

http://evenwiththerain.tumblr.com/post/69523203405/crimsoncloak88-so-lets-see-here-in-two

[Elaedan]

Oh forgot to add earlier;

-both protagonists get/own A key given by their father! (Though kn AnE it isn't important to plot and haven't seen it for long).

[evenwiththerain]

they do have a lot of similarities, but like earlier mentioned, Ane feels more real due to like there being no Titans out here in the real world and as for demons, who knows, we heard all of these exorcist stories, so its more tangible of a story line.

i like how they come out montly and are the only mangas that are updated so that i actually keep up with, Ane more than Snk.

[Anya]

Except for number of chapters and voice actors all of the above are common cliches in books for teens, shonen manga and hollywood blockbusters.

Take any of stories like: Harry Potter, Starbirds, Naruto, Evangelion, Supernatural, Brothers Grimm, Hellsing, whatever really and find 5-10 similarities between this and AnE. Easy peasy (and I didn't even read/watch them all).

I know that there are a lot of series with similar storylines, but like you said, there are usually like 5-10 similarities. These two series have more than 15, which is kind of excessive, while also running at the same time.

And yet, they don't really feel like the same story at all... I think that's remarkable.

Depending on what you think is a similarity you can get... any number of them. It's just how the stories are written, what sells with the target audience.

The protagonist is a teen (always) with big eyes (always) and he fights a very bad guy, because what would the story be about otherwise? And then, let's make him moody and his past dramatic, how about being an orphan (and you don't kill their parents in a car accident, how about being killed by the bad guy?) Not special enough? Let's make him half-vampire/demon/devil/titan/werewolf or invent some other way he should get superpowers. But - superpowers without some kind of sacrifice or evilness is for kiddies. If he had a cool and useful superability shouldn't he has fans and followers? No, because it wouldn't be emo - he needs to be feared and/or despised for some far-fetched reason (so we like him but people in his universe don't). And then there's gaining trust, finding friends, falling in love, that kind of stuff. Traitor friend, "I wanted to die" friend, brainy friend, I believe it's all tropes.

And the same voice actors/composers? Well, there are probably studios which specialize in some types of manga and they have composers and voice actors who do heroes/love interests/comic reliefs/bad guys and so on. It's not a coincidence, these things come in pairs.