‘Attack On Titan’ Season 2 News: Anime To Stray From Manga, Season 3 Hinted

Attack on Titan Season 2 will be more than what fans expected of the anime when it hits the small screen next month. It turns out that it will not be completely based on Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan manga.

One of the things that fans loved about the first season of the Attack on Titan anime was that it adapted its source material to the letter. Season 2 will spice things up a bit by keeping the element of surprise.

Isayama’s manga has many followers and chances are majority of the fans who follow its television adaptation already know what will happen in Attack on Titan Season 2, but Isayama has something else in store to keep the mystery alive even for those who are up to date with the events in the manga.

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In an interview with Newtype via the translation provided by the ever-reliable Fuku-Shuu, Attack on Titan chief director Tetsuro Araki revealed that Isayama inserted scenes in the new season that were not originally featured in the manga.

“There are portions he wasn’t able to include in the manga that he permitted us to incorporate into the anime adaptation. On top of that, there are also other new elements Isayama-sensei really wished to see that we could now fulfill!”

This means that Attack on Titan Season 2 will have elements never seen before by manga followers. While this could make fans nervous about its possible effects on the show, the tweaks appear to be those that could actually make the anime better.

The manga started back in 2009 and has been a sweeping success ever since. The hype has not died down one bit as new chapters are released. However, from what Araki has said, there are things that Isayama still feels he could have done better or elements that the Attack on Titan creator just could not do with the limits the medium imposes.

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Attack on Titan Season 2 is an opportunity for Isayama to make the adjustments and improvements he wished to do in the early portion of the narrative. Furthermore, the changes will serve as the distinction between the printed material and the TV adaptation.

Despite this, Attack on Titan fans can count on the anime sticking to what fans know it does best, which is bringing the anime back to life accurately. Araki said that Isayama was more involved in Season 2 than he was in the show’s freshman run.

“Of course in a very comprehensive way – and even more involved than before! Though it was already like this last season, this time there is a legitimate feeling of, ‘We’re creating this together.'”

Additionally, in a brand new interview streamed by Funimation and shared by Aniplus-Asia, Attack on Titan Season 2 director Masashi Koizuka emphasized his commitment to render the story into the anime as precisely as they could.

“Looking at the depth of Mr. Isayama’s work, or rather Attack on Titan again, you can’t see the bottom, but a work with that much power cuts deep. Of course, the content of the original work is getting progressively deeper, so I’d like to incorporate that into the show as much and as wonderfully as possible.”

Attack on Titan Season 2 is expected to begin with the Clash of the Titans story arc from the manga. It is unclear how many arcs it will cover, though; the first one squeezed four story arcs in 25 episodes.

What fans should know is that the new season of the anime will not be able to catch up with the recent developments in the manga. This is what Koizuka revealed in the abovementioned Attack on Titan interview.

“The newest issue is out now, but the locations differ from what we’re working on in Season 2. We’ll reach those parts in the future, of course, so there’s a lot of very subtle foreshadowing.”

The silver lining to this is that a new season of Attack on Titan is already on their minds as this will be the outlet for them to be able to continue the story and adapt the new chapters.

A Season 3 renewal will come as no surprise to fans anyway, seeing how big the franchise has become. Add to that the massive anticipation for Attack on Titan Season 2, which fans have been waiting to see for four years.

As for the plot of Attack on Titan Season 2, Koizuka revealed that Ymir and Christa will take center stage. They were mostly in the background in the first season, but this will change this year as they will be key elements in moving the story forward.

Attack on Titan Season 2 will premiere in Japan on April 1. It will be streamed in North America that same day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDrjS3ePLso

[Featured Image by Hajime Isayama/Kodansha Comics/Wit Studio/Production I.G.]