Why Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 is a better descision than a movie

A snapshot from the teaser trailer announcing the final season's third part (Image via MAPPA Studios)
A snapshot from the teaser trailer announcing the final season's third part (Image via MAPPA Studios)

The Attack on Titan anime adaptation team recently announced that the series would conclude with a third part of the final season as opposed to a movie.

Fan reaction to the announcement has been mixed, with many expressing concern about the final season now spanning three parts and three years.

Another presumed option for Attack on Titan’s conclusion was a movie. Whether the series will conclude with a film or a third part to the final season has been hotly debated over the last few weeks. Fortunately, a definitive course of action has finally been announced.

Follow along as this article explores why Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 is a preferable alternative to an Attack on Titan (AoT) canon movie.

Note: This article reflects the opinions of the writer


Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 gives the series’ ending the breathing room it deserves

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As mentioned earlier, the AoT anime adaptation team at MAPPA Studios recently announced their intent to do a third part of the series’ final season.

Fans had been wondering whether the team would choose to do a movie or add a third part to the final season.

Obviously, both have their pros and cons from both a fan and production standpoint. Neither is inherently better than the other, but with AoT specifically, a third part for the final season definitely makes more sense.

The final yet-adapted chapters of the AoT manga are incredibly dense with information. While this density isn’t exceptional in the manga world, it certainly is in terms of anime adaptations.

The Attack on Titan anime has nine chapters left to adapt, with an average of roughly 57 pages per chapter. This equates to more than 500 pages of material.

For context, the entire Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga volume that the film was based on had 200 pages.

The Jujutsu Kaisen 0 film was fantastic and demonstrated how great canon movies can be. However, it had less than a third of the story content pages that the AoT anime has left to adapt.

With so much of the story left, a movie simply wouldn't be able to give it the time and space it deserves.

One advantage that a movie would have over another part of the final season is that it would provide fans with instant closure in one sitting.

A movie allows fans to watch the film in theaters and finish the story in that single trip, whereas a TV anime will air weekly instead.

In the same breath, however, much of AoT’s suspense has come from the monthly manga issues or weekly episodes, and their gaps in between.

A movie would obviously eliminate this suspense and buildup every week, leaving much of the series’ social media success out of the picture.


In summation

Both routes have advantages and disadvantages. Fans and producers of the Attack on Titan series will see different positives and negatives in either approach.

Considering how much is left in the Attack on Titan story, however, a third and final part of the TV anime’s final season makes a lot of sense.

This allows the animation team to focus on key scenes more so than they would in a movie. It also gives the rest of the story more breathing room and time in the spotlight.

Be sure to keep up with all Attack on Titan anime news, as well as theories and lists, as 2022 progresses.

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