Attack on Titan The Final Season to be Animated by MAPPA

It’s hard to believe that Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) could actually be coming to an end. Ever since the first season of the anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama’s gruesome manga series hit the airwaves in 2013, pop culture hasn’t been the same. The show was an absolute smash hit, paving the way for anime in general to become an even bigger and more widely recognized genre of entertainment in America, alongside massive popularity across the rest of the globe. When the third season wrapped up in June 2019, it was immediately announced that a final season was in the works. What wasn’t announced, however, was if the animation studio behind the anime, WIT Studio, would be returning for it. As a new trailer for Attack on Titan The Final Season reveals, they won’t be. Prolific animation studio MAPPA is instead taking the reigns for one last ride in the world of the titans.

With a new animation studio comes a new staff full of talented anime industry veterans from MAPPA. Attack on Titan The Final Season is set to be directed by Yuichiro Hayashi, who previously directed Dorohedoro, Garo the Animation, and both seasons of Kakegurui. Tomohiro Kishi, the artist known for his work on Dorohedoro and 91 Days, will be designing the characters for the series.

A few notable talents from the WIT Studio produced seasons will be returning to work on Attack on Titan The Final Season, such as series script supervisor Hiroshi Seko. Seko not only worked on Attack on Titan, but also Ajin, Vinland Saga, and Mob Psycho 100. Another notable talent returning for the final season is legendary composer Hiroyuki Sawano. He’ll once again be composing music for the series, alongside Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga and The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments composer Kohta Yamamoto.

Other notable staff members announced for Attack on Titan The Final Season include:

• Chief Animation Director: Daisuke Niinuma
• Production Chief: Jun Shishido
• Effect Animation Director: Satoshi Sakai, Taichi Furumata
• Color Design: Junko Suenaga
• Art Director: Kazuo Ogura
• Screen Design: Yusuke Tannawa
• 3DCG Director: Takahiro Uezono
• Director of Photography: Shigeki Asakawa
• Editing: Masato Yoshitake
• Sound Director: Masafumi Mima
• Sound Effects: Naoto Yamatani (Sound Box)
• Sound Production: Tecno Sound
• Animation Producer: Masato Matsunaga

While the trailer released for Attack on Titan The Final Season certainly looks sharp, don’t assume that the full season will look exactly like this. As revealed by Shuhei Yabuta on Twitter, the trailer above was actually pre-produced by MAPPA, and was storyboarded and directed by Yabuta. Basically, the trailer isn’t edited-together shots from the full television series. Instead, each shot in the two minute long trailer was animated and cut together as a standalone project, meaning we won’t have a clear idea of the quality of the full season until we get closer to the broadcast date.

The broadcast date for Attack on Titan The Final Season, unfortunately, hasn’t been confirmed as of yet. When the June 2019 finale of the third season announced that the final season was in the works, it was also announced that the season would premiere this fall. If you check the new trailer or the official website for the final season, however, there is currently no specific premiere season listed. All we know is that the show will air on NHK-General in Japan.

Attack on Titan The Final Season is also set to feature the full returning cast of voice actors from the previous seasons, including the following actors:

• Yuuki Kaji as Eren Jaeger
• Yui Ishikawa as Mikasa Ackerman
• Marina Inoue as Armin Arlert
• Hiro Shimono as Conny Springer
• Yu Kobayashi as Sasha Blouse
• Shiori Mikami as Historia Reiss
• Kishō Taniyama as Jean Kirschtein
• Yoshimasa Hosoya as Reiner Braun
• Romi Park as Hange Zoë
• Hiroshi Kamiya as Levi
• Takehito Koyasu as Zeke

Alongside staff info and trailer links, the official website for Attack on Titan The Final Season also hosts a special thank-you section for WIT Studio, with a drawing from manga author Isayama himself thanking the iconic animation studio for their hard work on the series over the last seven years. The same page also includes comments from Isayama, director Hayashi, previous series director Tetsuro Araki, MAPPA representative director Manabu Ohtsuka, and WIT Studio representative director and president George Wada.

Source: Anime News Network