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Attack on Titan: THE LAST ATTACK – The Future of the Franchise or The End?

Published

5 minutes ago

November 19, 2024

Christoph Rediske

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents

Attack on Titan concluded with a movie compiling cour 1 and 2, revised scenes, and a post-credit scene.
Isayama was closely involved in the movie’s production, offering insights and details for THE LAST ATTACK.
The post-credits scene features Armin, Eren, and Mikasa discussing a historical reenactment of Attack on Titan.

The following article contains spoilers for Attack on Titan: THE LAST ATTACK. The film is currently playing in cinemas throughout Japan and is planned to be released internationally in 2025.

Attack on Titan has finally finished its run, with an exclusive 15th-anniversary magazine released on November 6th, and a movie comprised of cour 1 and 2, along with a post-credit scene to tie it all up. Scenes were also revised in accordance with Yuichiro Hayashi’s original vision for the finale.

On November 8th, Attack on Titan: THE LAST ATTACK debuted in Japanese theaters, with tickets going on sale two months in advance and two days before, via cinema websites.

The Manga That Began The Story of Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan has one of the most expansive worlds in most fiction, and even the tiniest of details have their own story.

Isayama’s Involvement

The story has been stated multiple times to have reached its conclusion, but the franchise itself hasn’t. As part of the movie’s promotion, an exclusive pamphlet was sold alongside other movie merchandise, which included details surrounding the movie’s production. Interviews with the voice cast and Yuichiro Hayashi and Tetsurou Araki, offer a lot of interesting insight into THE LAST ATTACK and the anime adaptation as a whole. Guests were also given exclusive shikishi (illustration boards) with their admission and in the lobby of the theater, a section for movie merchandise was sold, including a replica of Mikasa’s pink cardigan, complete with a white bird embroidered on each sleeve.

Araki specifies that in 2011, when Attack on Titan was greenlit for an anime adaptation, Isayama told him that the story was about a victim becoming the aggressor. With that in mind, he directed the first three seasons as a basis to work off of. Additionally, as Araki’s vision for it was to be watched on a small screen and the inclusion of blue skies was meant to reflect the innocence of the characters (and by extension, the audience) – Hayashi chose to mimic this for the film as a callback to where everything started.

Moreover, Isayama worked closely with the production team, offering comments and tips, though he only stepped in for large changes during the Uprising Arc, as he previously stated in past interviews that it was his least favorite. Interestingly enough, he also specifically told Hitoshi Itou that there were humans outside the walls, far before the reveal came about in the manga.

This helped Itou set the tone for the anime leading up to the reveal. Because of the studio change in season 4, there was a noticeable difference in the animation for the 3DMG. This is because there were only two animators who specifically worked at WIT who could animate the physics and complexity of the tool.

A Friendship That Transcends Reality

Yuki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, and Marina Inoue were also interviewed about the series’ conclusion. While none of them knew the turnout of the ending, they did speculate that the finale would ultimately be a movie. Though Kaji joked that he will continue to talk about Attack on Titan for “10 years at least” and “10 years after he dies”, keeping the fandom alive and in the hearts of many. Because of how great the impact is, he feels that Attack on Titan is still alive and in the hearts of many. According to him, if anything, THE LAST ATTACK is a staple for the next “attack”.

Attack on School Castes: Attack on Titan’s Canon Parallel

Isayama is openly a fan of American pop culture, so much that he even made an AU specifically for Eren – but this may be more than just fun and games.

Starting Anew

Kaji, Ishikawa, and Inoue stated that they were contacted at the last minute to perform a post-credits scene. Hayashi specified his desire to see the series off with a final “farewell”. At the end of volume 34, there’s an extra few pages of Armin, Eren, and Mikasa watching a movie in the theater. Afterward, the three discuss the events of the movie, with Mikasa arguing in favor of the ending, and Armin arguing against it. In the end, Eren states that he was just happy to be with his friends – before it’s revealed that the movie they saw was a historical reenactment of Attack on Titan. The back of the pamphlet has a storyboard version of this scene. Initially, Hayashi wanted to include Historia and Reiner, but decided to focus on an extra cameo of Levi instead.

attack on titan school castes storyboard-1

It was intended as an extra surprise, but Hayashi felt that a scene from School Castes would get in the way of the conclusion of the main story. So to maintain continuity, he added the tree the boy approaches in the distance to tell the viewer that in the far future, Paradis was eventually able to find peace. Curiously, while the tree is fully grown, as it was post-Paradis’ destruction, Eren mentions that the “movie” they watched took place 100 years ago.

Yet, the final song implies that over the course of 20,000 years, the tree reached full maturity. This leads viewers to theorize that the boy who approached the tree obtained the memories of the Titans 100 years before the events of School Castes, meaning that the history of the Titans were recorded 100 years ago, as the initial recordings were most likely destroyed along with Paradis. This is further backed up, as the “movie” ends with the boy and his dog approaching the tree.

The Optimism of Attack on Titan’s Ending

Attack on Titan has finally ended, and though it’s widely agreed that the ending is bittersweet, it may be a lot happier than fans are led to believe.

Going Back To The Roots

Along with the edition of School Castes, there were also some changes in the film itself. Most notably, different BGM songs were used, such as when Jean blows up Eren’s Titan’s head, Mika Kobayashi version of ətˈæk 0N tάɪtn plays in the background.