A new interview with two key members of Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2's staff offers a look into the show's production.
Production company Pony Canyon released a new video interview with director Yuichiro Hayashi and CGI producer Yusuke Tannawa that goes in-depth into the work that was put into ensuring that the anime series' final episodes looked their best. "When we were doing Part 1, we didn't have much time to prepare," Hayashi admitted. "So in my mind, I was still trying to figure out what Attack on Titan is all about while creating it. After I finished Part 1, I went on to direct Part 2, and I felt I had become much more familiar with Attack on Titan, so I think I've been able to direct more comfortably," the director revealed.
Both halves of Attack on Titan: The Final Season were produced by MAPPA, the animation studio behind numerous other hit anime series such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Yuri!! on Ice. The first three seasons of the show were produced by Wit Studio (Ranking of Kings, Vivy: Fluorite Eyes' Song,) and were well-received by general viewers and professional critics alike, so many fans of the series were surprised when production of the series was unexpectedly moved over to MAPPA for the final leg of the story. The first episodes released by MAPPA were criticized by hardcore fans for supposedly not looking as good as Wit Studio's work on the series.
In the interview, Tannawa acknowledged that it took the team at MAPPA sometime to figure out how to best present the series. "Just like you, when we started on Part 1, we only knew Wit Studio's Attack on Titan," Tannawa said. "Of course, we watched it and studied it a lot, but we can't do the same exact thing, and when we finished Part 1, we got an idea of what we could do with Attack on Titan. So when it came to Part 2, we thought about what preparations we should make, considering what we did well, what we were criticized for and how we can develop our strengths."
Part 2 of the Final Season has received a much warmer reception, but Tannawa says the improvements to the show's presentation have come as the result of better direction, and not necessarily any technical upgrades. "The models themselves have a few updates, but not much has changed, and the looks are almost the same. We just changed the way we present them," Tannawa said, adding, "Especially under [Hayashi's] direction from the first episode, we changed some things that we thought could be expressed a little better in Part 2 after doing Part 1."
Both the director and CGI producer were astounded at the dedication of the show's international fanbase. "There are tons of reactions from all over the world and they surprise me every time," Hayashi said. "There was no broadcast for about a year after Part 1, but they're still as excited about Part 2 as they were about Part 1," the director said. "It encourages me so much when people enjoy it, so when I'm tired, it heals me and makes me want to keep working hard, " Tannawa stated.
Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2 is available for streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation and Hulu. New episodes are simulcast every week, shortly after they are broadcast in Japan. Adult Swim is also airing the show as part of its late night weekend Toonami lineup.
Source: YouTube
