Summary
Among the laundry list of things that will immortalizeAttack on Titanin the annals of pop culture, an enduring meme from the series' last few years was the laughable length of its “Final Season.” After two “final” seasons and two more “final” specials, the announcement of a “final” film -Attack on Titan: The Last Attack- felt like a parody. If there was any solace to be had, it was in the sheer restraint taken on behalf of the creators to avoid putting the word “final” in the title of this one too.
Attack on Titan: Final Seasonbegan at the end of 2020, with 16 episodes concluding in March 2021, followed by 12 more episodes at the start of 2022.It all culminated inThe Final Chapters, a pair of longer specials released throughout 2023 that completed the anime after a little more than a decade. On August 17,The Last Attackwas announced as a compilation of the two specials, set to open in Japanese theaters on November 8.
Attack on Titan: One More Final
The Last Attackis reportedly 145 minutes long, and comparing that against the combined length of both specials, it means very little - if anything - is being cut out for this theatrical release. Additionally, the film is said to be a “brushed-up” version, presumably with some tweaks to the animation to make this the ultimate version of the story’s conclusion.
The Staff Behind The Last Attack
Yuichiro Hayashi took over as director of the anime back at the start of theFinal Season,when the anime switched production studios, from WIT Studio to MAPPA. Hayashi’s other works include directingDorohedoro,Kakegurui, andGaro: The Animation. He replaced the anime’s chief director, Tetsuro Araki (Death Note,Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress), as well as Masashi Koizuka (The One Piece), who directed from Season 2 onward.
Screenwriter Hiroshi Seko (Chainsaw Man,Dandadan,Jujutsu Kaisen, etc.) penned the script for the film. Tomohiro Kishi (Dorohedoro) is credited as the character designer and was also one of the chief animation directors ofThe Final Chapters, alongside Daisuke Niinuma and Manabu Akita. Kuniaki Nemoto (Black Butler: Public School Arc,SAO Alternative) served as the art director and Itsuku Onishi was the color designer.
The Enduring Sound of Attack on Titan
Longtime series composer Hiroyuki Sawanoscored the film alongside fellow composer and collaborator Kohta Yamamoto, who joinedAttack on Titan’s staff during theFinal Season. Japanese rock group Linked Horizon, who famously created the series' first opening theme, returned throughout the anime’s run. Their theme from the second special, “To You in 2,000… or… 20,000 Years From Now”, returns for the new film.
Is This Film Truly Necessary?
As funny as the existence of this film is, knowing the memes about theFinal Season, it isn’t entirely unreasonable to release these specials together. Judging by director Hayashi’s comments in light of the film’s announcement, that was the plan from the start. He spoke about it being the intention when the specials were in production, and he even urged fansnot to look down on this film releaseas just an alternative edit.
I’m happy to finally be able to make this announcement. Please don’t say that you can watch The Final Chapters anytime on streaming services… I originally drew the storyboard with the idea that it would be watched as a single movie, and having the opportunity to have everyone watch it in the best possible environment - the theater - is a dream come true for me.
Scheduling is everything when it comes to making anime these days, and if there was a blessing to be found inAttack on Titan’s elongated final season, it was having more time to complete it. That isn’t to say the production was smooth sailing per se, but it was smarter than trying to rush it and ending up with a messy final product. With that said, it’s easy to tell while watching thatThe Final Chapterswere meant to be together.
Why This Film Is a Good Idea
With the understanding that this was the intent, this film could be a great opportunity to re-assess this conclusion after ruminating on it for almost a year.Last November, we gaveAttack on Titan’s ending a3 out of 5, calling it “an imperfect end to a series that should be no-less celebrated for the incredible journey that led here.”
The first special was such an emotional gauntlet, between the depiction of the Rumbling and the excellent character moments that built up to the climax. The second special was a bombastic battle followed by a falling action that isboth devastating and oddly optimistic, where many of the complaints hinged on the resolution and its message. Perhaps some gripes about the ending would be abated were the two halves able to coexist without such a long gap in between.
As stated in our review of the final special, “Ending a story is hard, and ending it in a way that satisfies the majority of the audience is even harder.“Attack on Titan: The Last Attackmight not solve everyone’s issues with this series and how it ended, but it can only benefit the storytelling to see this work as it was originally intended.
