The Attack on Titan anime is changing the ending of the manga, but the rearrangement is good news for Mikasa, who gets a whole new scene to shine.
attack on titanThe anime’s ending deviates from Hajime Isayama’s original manga, but at least Mikasa Ackerman is making the most of her extra screen time. attack on titan Season 4 is billed as the final run for an anime series that has captured the imagination around the world since 2013, achieving true crossover success. After the broadcast of “Retrospective”, only one episode remains of the total count confirmed by attack on titanMAPPA’s animation studio. Curiously, however, attack on titan Season 4 is currently further from the end of the manga than Levi is from running a marathon. Clearly, then, attack on titan is bound to continue in some form, be it a movie, or even other extension of this ever-expanding “final” season.
So while manga fans waited attack on titanThe final episodes of MAPPA to cover the epic final battle against Eren Jaeger, the penultimate installment of MAPPA actually chronicles the Survey Corps/Marleyan Warrior alliance against Floch’s Jaegerists for control of the Azumabito clan’s prized flying boat, a secondary clash in the original comic. To compensate for the delay in real ending sometime in the future, attack on titanThe anime makes an effort to conjure more of a “final battle” feel to the port sequence, pushing the action into a more intense and forceful affair compared to the corresponding manga panels.
And by far the biggest beneficiary of attack on titanThe manga changes are Mikasa Ackerman. In Isayama’s manga, Mikasa gets a couple of cool moments mowing down Floch’s followers on a rooftop, but only as part of a larger montage containing Hange, Connie, and Jean. MAPPA hands the microphone to Mikasa and backs away. She absolutely blasts the enemy soldiers, viciously slashing and kicking them in quick succession, then stands solemnly as a hail of her blood rains down on her. Dyed attack on titan adapting these scenes verbatim from the manga, Mikasa’s combat wouldn’t necessarily have stood out, at least not compared to their previous fights. But why attack on titan is adapting its source material at a more measured pace (nearly an episode per chapter at this point), there’s scope to insert additional or extended scenes like Mikasa’s impressive rampage through the Jaegerists.
Mikasa’s violence not only adds blood and adrenaline to attack on titanThe final episodes of ‘s: also improves his character. What attack on titanMikasa’s end looms, Mikasa’s journey shares the same narrative level as Eren’s. Sure, slaughtering the Jaegerists looks great, but the sequence also demonstrates an unwavering determination to stop the Rumor and save the world, even if it means killing former comrades. As Annie keeps pointing out, there’s a question mark over whether Mikasa can physically bring herself to kill Eren. Covering himself in the blood of the soldiers he once shared a barracks with signifies his growing determination to put an end to Eren’s crusade… no matter what it takes. That’s a detail that didn’t appear at this point in the manga.
The constant lack of clarity about how and when attack on titan will end runs the risk of misleading audiences too often, especially if the ending ends up taking the form of a movie audiences will pay more to see. The slow pace of what they are (at the time of writing) officially attack on titanThe final episodes of also lack the urgency of a proper ending. However, having room to give Mikasa incredible character moments like this helps redeem the final season’s clear lack of finality.
attack on titan continues Sundays on Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Hulu.
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