Following the “Attack on Titan” manga’s 11-year run from 2009 to 2021, the anime adaptation of Isayama Hajime’s magnum opus finally reached its end on November 4, 2023, with a feature-length finale that filled its fans around the world with tears, pride, and closure.
The finale episode, titled “The Final Chapters (Part 2),” began with the remaining Survey Corps scouts and Marleyan warriors jumping onto the back of Eren’s Founding Titan form and beginning their onslaught on the Titans attacking them. Just as the title suggests, the entirety of the 2-Part finale was an adaptation of the manga’s final chapters—from the beginning of the Rumbling up until the end of the War for Paradis arc.
Though the story’s conclusion had initially been controversial and divisiveness in the AoT fandom, Isayama Hajime had made a slight change to the anime’s ending which gave consequence to Eren’s new persona.
In Chapter 139 of the manga, Eren and Armin were shown having a conversation about how things had turned out for the both of them and reminisced about their dreams of seeing the things they had read about in books. Then, Eren explained the reasons for his actions and his plan to make him look like the villain to the world and his friends as the heroes that saved it.
The manga sees Armin thanking his best friend “for committing genocide for their sake,” which didn’t sit well with some fans and others had said that it had played down the magnitude of Eren’s actions—a.k.a. wiping out 80% of the human population by mass genocide.
In the anime, this small but important part had been changed by Isayama himself to Armin berating Eren for going down such a path and holding his best friend accountable for his actions. Later, we see the both of them hugging and saying, “We’ll be together. In hell.”
The action-packed sequences seen from the beginning of the anime’s final season were already an amazing feat from MAPPA Studio, but the finale episode had raised the bar and was a show of world-class animation.
The music and original soundtrack did not disappoint either, with Ai Higuchi, the singer behind Season 4 Part 2’s Ending Song, “Akuma no Ko,” and Linked Horizon, the musical group behind the anime’s iconic opening tracks, returned to provide music that resonated greatly with the anime’s message and story.
The ending had left fans devastated, just like how the manga left them 2 years ago but were nevertheless satisfied with how it ended. The story had been given such a beautiful ending and is no doubt one of the best stories we’ve seen in our lifetime.
Fans weren’t shy to express their feelings of admiration, praise, and overall contentment with how the anime had ended. Some fans (like this writer) had spent a decade with this anime, and the whole experience of finally seeing the end of the anime and manga just gave them a whole lot of emotions.
You could even say it was a cathartic experience, seeing Eren, Mikasa, and Armin grow from children who were shoved into a traumatic reality from such a young age to teenagers and young adults who had been through hell and back.
Fans came through with memes, edits, comments, and their own messages about the “Attack on Titan” series, as well as messages of gratitude to Isayama Hajime, Kaji Yuki (Eren’s Japanese VA), Ishikawa Yuki (Mikasa’s Japanese VA), and Inoue Marina (Armin’s Japaneses VA), and to WIT Studio and MAPPA Studio for their work.
“To you, 2000 years from now”
— Attack On Titan (@KyojinShingeki) November 8, 2023
When you learn that it's actually Yui Isihikawa (Mikasa's VA) and Yuki Kaji (Eren's VA) doing a duet at this part of the ending song. 🥲#AttackonTitanFinalSeason #shingeki #AttackOnTitan pic.twitter.com/sH1ufu3Jof
— 👺 (@shinigamiyeo) November 8, 2023
Can we talk about both Eren and Mikasa’s voice actors singing together in this scene ❤️ #shingeki pic.twitter.com/VgtLFnSSCS
— Winnie ♡ (@sunflowles) November 7, 2023
Yui Ishikawa cried after recording Mikasa's final line, "Eren, thank you for putting this scarf around me." Yuki Kaji and Marina Inoue then hugged and comforted her. She really embodied Mikasa's emotions during the recording 😭 #shingeki pic.twitter.com/jlwW7ao4Te
— メアリー 🧣 (commissions open) (@maryyogurt) November 7, 2023
Friendly reminder that this song already spoiled us the finale 10 years ago 😶🌫️#shingeki pic.twitter.com/4K951vG6Yc
— R3-B_R0-K (@R3BR0K) November 10, 2023
guys shingeki no kyojin destroyed my life it's starting to hit now pic.twitter.com/H2x1ASa7Qc
— 𓃹 (@moto444ngel) November 7, 2023
“This is… freedom”
Goodbye Attack on Titan
— Attack On Titan (@KyojinShingeki) November 7, 2023
This shot is the definition of perfection#shingeki #AttackOnTitan pic.twitter.com/IsrXQeyVXO
— 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐧𝐚 ☢ (@King_Sukunaaa) November 7, 2023
The fact that Eren opened his eyes because he knew that it will be the last time he will see Mikasa 🥹#AttackOnTitan #shingeki pic.twitter.com/yokBINx3Ts
— tima🥀(Hiatus) (@timabase) November 6, 2023
my roman empire#jeankasa #shingeki pic.twitter.com/N9P3YPaKmZ
— ً (@fanartsjeankasa) November 13, 2023
このシーン見る度絶対泣いちゃうほんとすき
#進撃の巨人 #shingeki pic.twitter.com/YNdFg8yltO— Kotori🕊️ (@kotoriChaMao) November 6, 2023
Hurting myself again with this scene #shingeki pic.twitter.com/O3kBUQCsAT
— Winnie ♡ (@sunflowles) November 9, 2023
So based on Ai Higuchi’s recent tweet about the song “See you later”, Eren felt Mikasa’s heartbeat, which means he felt the kiss too 🥺 #shingeki pic.twitter.com/caeUnSc0Ax
— Winnie ♡ (@sunflowles) November 12, 2023
The Greatest of All Time📌#shingeki #AttackOnTitan pic.twitter.com/jA8nW1gUUJ
— aqil🍉 (@aqilbewilin) November 9, 2023
“Don’t move on so easily. I’m counting on you, Mikasa."
Yuki Kaji is really just like Eren. 😭😂 #shingeki pic.twitter.com/L71X4Ml8CR
— Winnie ♡ (@sunflowles) November 12, 2023
https://twittercom/Phoenix_Pog/status/1722586483117506971?s=20
https://twitter.com/jackhere23/status/1723996108840456594?s=20
The colors inside the founder's rib cage were INSANE. One of my fav sections of the finale. I can't stop looking at it. It's so beautiful. #shingeki pic.twitter.com/Kpr6LRw55O
— rodolfo | semi ia – nov 4th💫 (@manjichariot) November 7, 2023
Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin has finally ended!
I've always loved gushing about this series so…here's a compilation of the major threads I've done (so far 👀) of the series! pic.twitter.com/rKAsBo8ozS
— Mr. Bigshot | #FreePalestine 🇵🇸 (@ShatteredXLV) November 7, 2023
Attack on Titan's Final Chapter completes the story beyond my imagination
Thank you Hajime Isayama for bringing us your total self here
To Hayashi and staff for dedicating your hearts after ArakiBeyond our forest, walls or empty plains
Our being is the journey called Shingeki pic.twitter.com/CALS1EyttK
— Vincent | Bonfire of Gains | ət'aekTillWe're Ashes (@vincent5126) November 9, 2023
yui ishikawa (mikasa’s va) cried after recording her last line as mikasa ackerman. marina inoue (armin’s va) and yuki kaji (eren’s va) hugged her.
this cast is something else 🧣🗝️🐚
thank you so much for voicing our favorite trio 🤍#shingeki pic.twitter.com/tgK9ZVuits
— helen | itterasshai, eren (@arlerthelen) November 7, 2023
I think this scene might be my favourite in all of Attack on Titan. The selflessness of Armin to share the burden with his best friend, the empathy he breathes whilst being horrified by his actions is stunning. It’s also amazing to see that Eren is back, after being lost in s4. pic.twitter.com/gJ0WqBKbfs
— Arlenia (@ArleniaSery) November 7, 2023
Thank you, Attack on Titan, for these 10 years. Thank you Isayama Hajime, Kaji Yuki, Ishikawa Yui, Inoue Marina, Imai Arifumi, MAPPA Studio, Wit Studio, and the rest of the team.
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