Hey everyone! This is Mokugyo, the manga-and-anime loving writer from MANGA.TOKYO! Season 2 of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) anime was amazing, wasn’t it? It’s so sad that the cour ended after twelve episodes. I’m sure the fans are anxious to find out about what’s going to happen next! Even I, who have read the original manga up to its latest volume, am so excited to see Season 3, so I bet the fans who only watch the anime adaptation are extremely excited and anxious!
Today, I would like to write about how the story will proceed in the third season of Attack on Titan. Please be aware that this article will have spoilers from chapters of the manga which have not been adapted into anime yet.
Spoiler Warning! There will be spoilers from the Attack on Titan source material from here! Proceed with caution
「TVアニメ『進撃の巨人』Season 3」2018年スタートが決定いたしました！！
引き続き、TVアニメ「進撃の巨人」の応援よろしくお願いします！！続報をお楽しみに！！ #shingeki pic.twitter.com/pTNqY45CcL— アニメ「進撃の巨人」公式アカウント (@anime_shingeki) June 17, 2017
Episode 37 (the final episode of Season 2) had many thrilling scenes to the very end. The scene in which Mikasa thanks Eren for tying his scarf around her was very memorable in the manga, and it was faithfully reproduced in the anime version. Also, the scene in which Eren controls the actions of the other titans was illustrated even more powerfully in the anime than in the original manga. The action scenes in Attack on Titan’s manga are amazing, but they become even more impressive in the anime adaptation.
On top of all this, at the very end, the silhouette of a mysterious man wearing glasses appears. He is a friend of Reiner and Bertolt, and he will become a very important character in the story. My prediction is that this man will be strongly featured in the anime’s third season, more than he actually gets featured in the original manga. Because he has a strong connection to Eren, I assume that he will show up in the anime frequently.
In Season 2, the anime covered the content of the manga up to the beginning of Volume 13. As of June 2017, the original manga has 22 volumes in total. There is still a big stock of chapters waiting to get an anime adaptation, so let’s hope they will get animated soon!
It has been officially announced that the third season of Attack on Titan’s anime adaptation will start in 2018. I’m sure people assumed that the third season would start much later, but this time we won’t have to wait for more than a year.
Season 2 of Attack on Titan started four years after the broadcast of its first season. Many fans felt that this was a bit of a waste of time. There was plenty of material to adapt, so in order for the Attack on Titan boom to last longer, maybe the second season should have started much earlier. However, I also understand that it takes a very long time to adapt such a popular manga into anime. The Attack on Titan anime adaptation is well known for its high quality. It probably takes years to create anime with such beautiful illustrations.
In the trailer for Season 3, the covers of the manga appear as slides, and the video ends with the line, ‘Soshite Karera wa Umi wo Miru (And so, they will see the ocean)’ This trailer is telling us that Season 3 will cover the story up to volume 22 of the manga, the newest volume. There are quite a few chapters in Volumes 13-22, so it may be that the third season will broadcast for two cours. [N.B. one cour = 11-13 episodes. Season 1 was two cours and Season 2 was 1 cour]
Season 2 covered the scenes of Mikasa’s scarf, the recapturing of Eren, Ymir’s farewell to Historia, and Hange’s assumption that Titans are really humans. The season was based on the story up to the end of Volume 12 and the beginning of Volume 13.
After this, the manga proceeds on to the chapters in which Titans do not show up that often. The story enters the so-called ‘Uprising Arc,’ in which the Survey Corps tries to find out what the King and the government are hiding. Therefore, it will feature the battle among humans rather than the battles between humans and Titans. Also, Eren gets taken to Lord Reiss’ place, and there, Historia finds out about her own origin. Although Lord Reiss turns himself into a Titan, the Survey Corps stop him, and the secret of the government becomes revealed to the people living within the walls. Then, in Volume 18, the battle of Eren versus Reiner and Bertolt starts again. It takes pretty long for the story to proceed up to there.
For a long period, the story only features the battles among humans rather than the battles against Titans, and the fans had positive and negative opinions about this. There were some people who argued that the story of Attack on Titan should always feature the Titans. Also, some fans felt that the storyline of the Uprising Arc was difficult to understand because things weren’t illustrated in chronological order. I do understand these negative opinions. In fact, when I was reading this arc, I was thinking, ‘Would the titans appear soon?’ and was looking forward to their appearance. However, I also felt that the battle among humans is another charm of Attack on Titan. We can even say that the true theme of this manga is the battle among humans. As the story goes on, the reader starts to understand this hidden theme.
I predict that this Uprising Arc is to be slightly changed in the anime adaptation and would have more scenes of the titans. There have been many anime episodes of Attack on Titan in which the scenes from the manga were put into different orders, so that it would be easier for the first-time viewers to understand the story. Therefore, I strongly assume that the scenes from the manga would be arranged differently in the anime’s third season too.
In the third season, I personally think that the Titans would be featured more in the story. For example, I assume that the flashback scene in which Frieda Reiss and Grisha Jaeger fight against each other as Titans would be illustrated with great detail and length compared to the manga. I think so because this battle between two humans who have the ‘power of the Titans’ is one of the most fascinating scenes in the anime. Frieda is a character who is strongly connected with Historia, and Grisha is Eren’s father. The reason for their battle is revealed in the flashback scenes in the manga, so I believe that these scenes would be made longer in the anime adaptation.
In the original manga, there is the scene in which Kenny challenges Uri for a fight but gets defeated because Uri turns into a Titan. Although this flashback scene is illustrated rather simply in the manga, my guess is that it would be turned into a longer scene in the anime. This is because it is quite surprising to see Kenny, the man who taught Levi his fighting strategies, easily getting defeated by a king who turns into a Titan. Also, this scene illustrates the battle between a human and a Titan, and in that sense, it is a very important scene.
On top of this, a strange friendship is established between Kenny and Uri. Although both characters make their first appearance in the Uprising Arc, they suddenly become close friends, and this may have seemed awkward to some readers. Therefore, in order for the characters to become friends in a natural way, I assume that the anime would illustrate their friendship with more detail.
Let’s also look forward for the scenes of the battle against the central military police. They use the Anti-personnel Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to fight Levi and his team members. What’s unique about this gear is that it is equipped with guns and not blades. I strongly believe that it would be really cool if the characters move around quickly while shooting guns in the anime. One of the best things about the Attack on Titan anime is that the action scenes with the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment are so amazing. Regarding the battle against the central military police, everyone on both teams will fight while using these cool gadgets. This scene was so exciting in the manga, so I’m sure it would become more interesting in the anime!
I predict that the episode in which Rod Reiss turns into a gigantic Titan would be illustrated at an earlier point in the anime than in the manga. Moreover, I predict that the scene in which Eren turns into a Titan and prevents the basement from falling apart will be illustrated with great detail in the anime. I think that these scenes can be made longer than in the manga while keeping the story at a good tempo. The titan of Rod Reiss is a failure, as it can only walk on four limbs while dragging its body. This Titan gets defeated easily in the manga before it becomes a threat to humans. I personally think that this Titan should have been featured more. I hope this battle against Rod Reiss would be adapted into anime with more detail. This would make Historia’s role clearer to the viewers.
Do you agree with my predictions on how the Attack on Titan manga would be adapted into anime in Season 3? Let’s look forward for more exciting episodes of Attack on Titan coming up in 2018!
The first season of the new year is just one month away from its finale. It was a great start with many amazing titles that made these past months worth the extra hours we put in front of our sets. Now, it is time for the cold wind to give way to the pink hues of the sakura tree and for the Winter 2018 season to give the anime baton to Spring 2018.
