Japanese animation studio MAPPA has taken a step up with “Attack on Titan”’s newest episode, arguably the most emotional addition to the series yet, with fans impatiently waiting several months for the finale.
Originally airing in 2013, “Attack on Titan” focuses on the defense of humanity from Titans, giant man-eating monsters, with multiple layers of walls of the city Shiganshina. These Titans eventually broke through each wall and slaughtered the humans, causing catastrophe and havoc.
The hit anime returned with an international release March 3 — March 4 for Japan — with one episode split into two chapters, breaking its nearly 11-month-long streak of no content. Thankfully, the episode was an hour long, so the wait wasn’t just for a 20-minute episode. Although the wait was inconvenient for many, it was well worth it.
Fast-forward to the fourth and final season, Titans are an even larger issue.
In addition to the newer threat of human-led war that originated from Titans themselves, the main protagonist-turned-antagonist, Eren Jaeger, begins The Rumbling: A catastrophic event where titans kill humans around the world in order to protect the people of Shiganshina.
Jaeger’s companions — Armin Arlert and Mikasa Ackerman, alongside others — attempt to contact Jaeger multiple times before and during The Rumbling, and attempt to get him to come to his senses before eliminating the human race.
The Rumbling really kicks in with the newest episode, where the focus is Eren’s mass genocide. The remaining members of the Scout Regiment fight against time to catch up with The Rumbling and attempt to stop it before all of humanity is gone.
In this newest addition to the dark fantasy series, MAPPA has put more effort into the animation style and other elements to tie each minute detail together.
The opening scenes of the horrific episode did justice to the manga, maintaining its classic style. Compared to the manga panels, there was slightly more censorship for the more gruesome and bloody scenes.
The horror-movie-esque opening scene, as well as the rest of the episode’s music selections, are eerie, terrifying and perfect. After winning multiple awards for the music score in the past, MAPPA took it another step further and created an intense combination of horror with sound, tying it together beautifully.
Compared to previous seasons, the episode’s production is improved, with smoother animation and the overall plot moving along in a more digestible format.
Voice actors displayed a large amount of emotion as usual, allowing viewers to key in on the finest details and inflections in voice. Specifically, in the opening scene, Yūki Kaji, voice actor for Jaeger, executes the raw emotion he feels exceptionally.
This comparison does not include the dialogue between characters throughout the episode. After the first 20 minutes, up to the last ten minutes of the episode is filled with more overall scenery, action and less conversation between characters. However, it is acceptable for this to be lacking. Due to the intense emotional strain warfare each character had been facing, the choppy, short dialogue seems reasonable.
Although this tough-to-watch episode was longer than average, the painfully abrupt, and unfortunately common, ending left more to be desired.
With the direction of the storyline, it is questionable whether the anime will directly follow the ending shown in the manga. Regardless, MAPPA is on the road to exceeding expectations and has set the bar ridiculously high for the finale.
The Final Season of “Attack on Titan” comes to a close in fall 2023. “Attack on Titan” is available to watch on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu.