Attack on Titan’s Final Season: The Story So Far

 

All good things must come to an end. The above screenshot from the very first episode will go down as one of the most iconic moments in Anime history.

A lot has happened in in the almost 10 years since then. The Manga turned Anime spawned a spinoff Manga + Anime (Attack on Titan Junior High), several prequel manga series, two live-action movies and a number of video games. Like most Manga adaptations, the Anime was put on hiatus for a few years to allow the Manga to progress enough for the story to be adapted. I have the first 20 Volumes of the Manga and do plan to eventually finish collecting the entire Manga series once I am financially stable again.

For those who have only watched the Anime or may not have watched past the first season, you may not know a lot of the backstory that’s been revealed already. You may also be a little confused if you started watching the final season to find the focus is not on Eren Jaeger or what’s going on with the Survey Corps. The story has shifted to Marley, where the history of the Titans began.

Here’s a recap of the larger story to now:

• Sometime in the past before the start of the series, a woman named Ymir Fritz awakened as the First Titan though no one knows how or why. She founded the Eldian Empire. Those of Eldian blood were granted the ability to transform into Titans. Those with Eldian blood were also known a Subjects of Ymir. Ymir used the power of the Titans to subjegate the entire continent. Eldians forced others to have children with them to increase the number of Subjects of Ymir. This can be detected with a blood test.
• 13 years after awakening to Titan Power, Ymir died. Her power was then split into nine successors who are known Simply as the Nine Titans: Founding Titan, Attack Titan, Colossal Titan, Jaw Titan, Cart Titan, Beast Titan, War Hammer Titan, Female Titan and Armored Titan.
• Like Ymir, these Nine Titans can only live for 13 years after receiving their unique Titan power. Zeke Yaeger, who is the current Beast Titan is known to have one year left to live. Its known as the Curse of Ymir. When one of the Nine Titans dies before passing on their Titan Power it is randomly given to a newborn baby with Eldian blood regardless of status, distance or class.
• The Nine Titans are different from Pure Titans in that they retain their human intelligence. The Pure Titans are the ones you’re most familiar with: Mindless, man-eating monsters. All with Eldian Blood are capable of becoming a Pure Titan after being injected with Titan Serum, which is spinal fluid from a Titan. Abnormals are in between Pure Titans and the Nine Titans in which they retain some of their human intelligence after they have transformed.
• The Great Titan War was an earth-shattering conflict between the Nine Titans in the past. The conflict abruptly ended when King Reiss–ancestor of the Reiss Royal Family–who possessed the Founding Titan moved the capital of the Eldian Empire to Paradis Island where the first three seasons took place. He erected the Three Walls using Titans and warned the mainland to stay away or he will use the Titans to “Flatten the Earth”. The King then used the power of The Founding Titan to erase the memories of everyone in the Walled City of the outside world.
• After King Reiss withdrew to Paradis Island, Marley–a territory once conquered by the Eldian Empire–saw their chance and not only regained their lost territory but most of the Eldian Empire on the mainland. They also managed to take Seven of the Nine Titans from the Eldians.
• Having regained control of the continent, the Marleyans forced the Eldians to live in Internment Zones. One of them was in the city of Liberio where Grisha Yeager–Eren and Zeke Yeager’s father–grew up. As a child, Grisha’s younger sister Fay was killed by Marleyan Military Police when they were caught tresspassing outside the Internment Zone. Grisha’s father then revealed to him the history of their people and why they are so hated and feared by the Marleyans.
• When he grew up and became a doctor, Grisha met a man who confirmed for him what he always suspected and that was his sister had been killed and her murder covered up. Grisha then decides to join the Restorationists, a faction of Eldians in Liberio who wanted to restore Eldia as a world power. Grisha married into the Fritz family and had a son named Zeke, who would later become the Beast Titan.
• Around this time, Grisha learned the Marleyans were recruiting children to be given the power of the Seven Titans they controlled to send them to Paradis Island. Their goal was to take The Founding Titan’s power to further enhance their military strength. Grisha planned to send Zeke as a mole to Paradis Island but after he told Zeke of his plans, Zeke exposed the Restorationists to the Marleyan Military.
• Grisha, his wife and some of the Restorationists are taken to Paradis Island where they are transformed into Pure Titans one by one. Grisha pleads for them soldiers to let his wife, who has royal blood go but his pleas fall on deaf ears. The cruel irony is Grisha’s second wife is devoured by his first in Titan form many years later.
• Before Grisha can be killed, Eren Krueger–a mole disguised as a soldier–steps in and saves his life. He then transforms into the Attack Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) and lays waste to the Marleyan soldiers, artillery and the steamboat that brought them to the island.
• Krueger decides to pass on the power of the Attack Titan to Grisha, explaining the 13-year rule to him at the same time: Ymir died 13 years afrer gaining her Titan Powers. So too do the Nine Titans die 13 years after gaining their Titan Power. In Krueger’s case, he was in his final year. He killed countless Eldians to keep his cover intact including Grisha’s sister. He felt it only fitting Grisha be entrusted with the next phase: Infiltrating the walled city on Paradis Island, gaining the Founding Titan’s power and using it to ultimately help restore the Eldian Empire.
• When Grisha arrives outside the Walled City, he is discovered by the Scout Regiment and claims to have amnesia. He is imprisoned and later freed. Shortly after beginning work as a doctor in a hospital, he meets his second wife Carla. They marry and have Eren a few years later.
• When the Titans invade Shiganshina at the beginning of the series, Grisha rushes to the Reiss Family Chapel where he reveals his is an Eldian and begs Freida Reiss to use the Founding Titan’s power to stop the marauding Titans. She refuses and so Grisha transforms into the Attack Titan. Frieda transforms to fight him but he easily overpowers her and devours her, gaining the power of the Founding Titan. He then goes on to kill everyone else present except Rod Reiss (Historia/Krista Lenz’ father) who escapes.
• Remember that flashback scene of Grisha injecting Eren with Titan Serum? Right after that, Eren transformed into a Titan for the first time and devoured his father, gaining the powers of both the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan.

 

…Whew.

When Season 3 ended, the Scout Regiment–having learned the truth about their world and the past–were preparing to invade the mainland. Four years have now passed and as of this week, an older and taller Erin Yeager has been revealed as having infiltrated Marley while disguised as an injured soldier.

For those who may be wondering, the reason the story shifted to the mainland when the season began is because the story of the Walled City on Paradis Island is now over. The cover image for the final season shows Reiner, who barely escaped Paradis Island with his life facing Eren in Titan form in a Marleyan city.

Before I forget. We have seen only Eight of the Nine Titans over the course of the series so far. The only one that hasn’t been revealed yet is the War Hammer Titan. It’s currently possessed by a member of the Tybur family in Marley though Zeke recently got them to agree to bring the War Hammer Titan to Paradis Island in an effort to gain the power of the Founding Titan.

Armin inherited the power of the Colossal Titan at the end of Season 3 and we have yet to see how his Titan form looks. Porco Galliard–the brother of Marco Galliard–gained the power of the Jaw Titan from Krista’s friend Ymir when she decided to return to Marley in Season 2. Ymir unexpectedly gained the power of the Jaw Titan by eating Marco when she was roaming Paradis Island as a Pure Titan. Everyone else gained their powers in a controlled process for the most part.

Why is everyone after the Founding Titan’s power, which is currently possessed by Eren Jaeger? Because it is the “Coordinate” from which all paths originate. The Founding Titan has two abilities: Memory Manipulation and controlling other Titans. It’s not yet known if Zeke knows Eren posseses the power of both the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan but it’s unlikely.

Remember: The first king of the Walled City use the Founding Titan’s power to erase the memories of everyone in the city. As subjects of Ymir, Eldians are basically Titans in Human form. So, memory manipulation is not all that hard to believe. With that in mind, it’s not hard to understand why Marley would want that power for themselves or why the Restorationists want it too. The Eldians want to regain their former glory so…yeah.

 

This is the final season of the Anime and it’s sure to be a must watch. Before I forget, you can legally watch the final season of Attack on Titan in the U.S. on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

 

 

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Rakuten Viki and Crunchyroll Renewed for another year; Reviews for Recently Completed Anime

 

Despite the Pandemic turning most of the world into shut-ins, I haven’t been able to spend most of this year consistently binging Asian Dramas on Viki. Such is my life sadly. Even so, I did manage to watch almost 30 shows in their entirety over the last year. With a lot of the stuff I have cued and am watching now, it makes the most sense for me to renew my Viki subscription for another year. With the things I am working on in life right now, I know I will be able to make the time for Viki in the coming year. Same with Crunchyroll, which I also plan to renew in a few months.

The majority of Viki’s offerings are from China and South Korea. There is a modest selection from Japan and Taiwan however. Like other streaming services, a lot of it has to do with licensing. If you get either of the premium subscriptions, you get immediate access to shows still airing. The more expensive subscription (Premium+) gives you access to everything the platform has to offer barring regional restrictions. When I start working, I will upgrade to Premium+ for both Viki and Crunchyroll.

Nearly a year after Funimation abruptly ended their partnership with Crunchyroll, Sony (which owns Funimation) has announced they have bought Crunchyroll (owned by WarnerMedia) for almost $2 Billion. The sale has to clear some regulatory hurtles which is expected to so the purchase is effectively a done deal.

The reactions from fans and users of Crunchyroll online has been overwhelmingly negative since the news broke on December 9. As of this writing, Crunchyroll has announced the buyout/merger on their website but no further information is available. Most likely, they don’t know themselves yet. We don’t know if Crunchyroll and Funimation’s streaming services will continue to operate separately or will be merged. We might not know until maybe next month most likely.

The funny thing is the same day as this announcement, I renewed my Crunchyroll Premium for another year. I don’t think those who are currently subscribed will be impacted without at least be offered compensation personally. I remember when Neon Alley being folded into Hulu was first announced, they offered a full or partial refund to premium subscribers if they didn’t want to switch over. I expect something like that to be offered if Crunchyroll is folded into Funimation. Of course, it’s certainly possible they will be allowed to perate separately but all we can really do is wait and see.

 

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a minute to comment on the political controversy surrounding the Live Action Mulan movie. Originally planned for a March theatrical release, the movie was released in July on Disney+ due to the ongoing Pandemic in progress. The movie has become a lightning rod of criticism because Disney thanked government officials in Xinjiang Province where the movie was filmed in the movie’s credits.

Why is that a problem?

It turns out a detention center imfamous for being used to house Muslims for “Re-Education” is located not far from where most of the movie was filmed. Disney explained they chose that region for the movie “after consulting scholars and historians”. The movie used an all-Chinese cast and crew. This can easily be handwaved away as just appeasing the Chinese government and public but some now believe the filming location being so close to the Detention Center may have been why they wanted to keep a lot of details under wraps even from Disney.

It’s not hard to believe Chinese government officials worked with the film crew to help keep Disney from knowing about the Detention Center during filming. I get Disney’s hands were tied mostly due to soured relations between the U.S. and China in recent years but that’s still no excuse. They should’ve realized something was up when they were basically told certain areas were off-limits.

Disney dropped the ball big time and not just over this. Liu Yufei, who plays Mulan in the movie expressed her support for Hong Kong Police last year. Anyone following the news involving China and Hong Kong in recent years knows how volatile things are now. Yufei, who is a Chinese-born American made the remarks on her Weibo Account (Weibo is China’s version of Twitter for those who don’t know). Many perceived her support of the authorities in Hong Kong as support of the sometimes violent crackdowns in Hong Kong by the Chinese government.

Yufei’s comments on Weibo and the Xinjiang Detention Center controversy has led to many wordwide to call for Mulan to be boycotted. Thailand and Taiwan have both banned the movie. Many in China criticized the original 1998 animated version, feeling it was too Westernized and seemed to mock Chinese history in some regards. A lot of the criticsm from within China towards the live version has to do with hand signals and gestures used during the movie’s action scenes lookng too “Ninja-like”. I would point the blame toward whoever from the Chinese government was supposed to oversee the Chinese version of the movie.

For those who don’t know, two versions of the movie were made: The International version and a second version just for Chinese-speaking audiences. Every scene was shot twice, once in English and once in Chinese. This is why the entire cast is Chinese. I do think Disney will be forced to reshoot the International version a third time because of the controversy with the lead role recast. Disney should have redid the whole movie after Yufei’s comments went public last year but I won’t digress further.

I am on the fence about watching the movie myself but I’m leaning toward not seeing it. Mostly because of how poorly recieved it’s been in China more than anything else. I just hope Disney learned from all this or they will be in trouble down the road.

Both versions of the movie is based on a Chinese folk tale called Hua Mulan, which tells the story of a young heroine who disguises herself as a man to take the place of her ailing father to fight in the Imperial Army. The first movie renewed debate in China as to weather or not this really happened. At first it was dismissed as fiction but historical records from the period the folk tale was believed to have come from seems to indicate it’s likely true.

At the time drafts only applied to sons, not daughters as the army was all Male. If the family had no sons, the father or grandfather would be drafted. The consript was given to the family which required one Male from the family to serve in the military. Anyone who tried to defy the draft risked their entire family being punished or killed. Only families that had no Males capable of fighting were excused from the draft. In the case of Mulan’s family, her father was a decorated soldier in his younger days. It’s not clear weather he was in poor health or had an injury but regardles, he accepted the conscript on behalf of the family. Mulan took matters into her own hands when she took off with the conscript and her father’s armor.

While women disguising themselves as men to get military training or fight in the miliary was not uncommon, most who were found out were sent home, executed or raped. Some like Mulan who proved themselves capable and earned the respect of her fellow soldiers were allowed to return home after serving in the military.

 

 

The last two episodes were clearly rushed but the ending was still very satisfying. It ended the same way it began prettymuch: Yukihira trying to get Erina to be honest about her feelings to him. There was so much going on in the last two episodes, they should have been split into 2 or 3 episodes each. You have Yukihira beating Saiba to go on and face Erina. We all knew that was the showdown being built towards.

Joichiro being revealed to have mentored Saiba when he was a kid explains a lot of his personal animosity towards Yukihira. Joichiro telling Saiba after the match “I will always be your father as a chef.” was pretty boss. Finding out during the credits Saiba and Erina were actually half-siblings though…that makes certain thoughts go through your head until you realize neither of them knew they were blood related until after the fact and almost off-screen. Their dad basically says “Oh by the way Erina you know that guy who wanted to marry you if he won? He’s actually your older half-brother.” That right there is a whole episode. So was Yukihira traveling abroad for 6 months after losing to Nakiri in the final match. Instead that was skipped entirely to his return for the final moments of the series.

Make no mistake Food Wars was an amazing anime from start to finish. Delays between seasons 4/5, 4/3 and 3/2 did slow momentum but not to the extent the months-long delay two episodes into the final season due to COVID-19 caused. It didn’t take away from the rest of the season though. My only real complaint is how rushed the last two episodes were. They tried to do too much in them and it came out looking sloppy to me.

 

 

 

This Anime’s lead character is a legit Mary Sue yet somehow this Anime makes it work by not making him the focus from start to finish. Instead, the focus is put world building. Somehow, it just works. The ending kinda leaves the door open for a second season but I felt like this was it.

 

 

 

Ahiru no Sora was quite the amazing coming of age anime with a bit of everything. Sure, the ending is unresolved but I think it was the safe way to close things out.

If they decide to make a Season 2, there’s plenty of material to work with now.

 

Fire Force Season 2 just wrapped up and now the wait is on for Season 3.

 

Most of Season 2 focused on character development as well as world building. The Season ended with the news all eight Special Fire Force companies as well as the Hajima Company and the Military will coming together to take on a common enemy in the mysterious White Clad and their benefactor, the malevolent Evangelist. Season 3 will presumably delve into their backstory as the stage is set for war between them and the Fire Force.

Season 3 hasn’t been announced yet and likely due to the ongoing Pandemic. All we know is there WILL be one eventually.

 

…Whew.

Folks should expect the next season for most Anime to be delayed due to COVID-19. Attack of Titan and Dr. Stone’s season premeires were originally supposed to be over the summer but they were pushed back due to the ongoing pandemic. The next season for Rising of The Shield Hero was also supposed to be around this time but it’s been pushed to sometime next year for the same reason.

Attack on Titan’s final season just premiered. I’ll do a recap of the story up to now for the benefit of those who may not have been following Attack on Titan’s story since the first season AND haven’t read the Manga. From how the final season opened, we’re going to be getting a lot of backstory that should tie up a lot of loose ends and explain where the Titans came from.

 

 

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