Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 director Yuichiro Hayashi and CGI producer and layout designer Yuusuke Tannawa talked about the production of anime, Hajime Isayama’s involvement, fans, and more.
The animators touched upon the pressure of working on Attack on Titan. To Hayashi, time goes by much slower when Attack on Titan is airing, as every day is important. Constant retakes make the three months of broadcasting seem much longer and every hour is important. Tannawa agrees with this assessment, stating that they do more in a much shorter time period.
Related article: Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 Episode 8
As far as the biggest challenge in MAPPA’s Attack on Titan so far goes, they both agree that it was The Rumbling. The central event of the final season was one of the main topics of discussion ever since the production of Part 2 started. Tannawa states that when they started working on the anime the event still wasn’t drawn in the manga but that the event was one of the main themes they were thinking about.
“How to portray it, how to stage it, and how to show it”, he says and adds that they are still trying to figure it out and that he is still a little bit worried about how it will turn out.
Hayashi adds that Eren’s Founding Titan form was also quite challenging since we never see it in motion in the manga. The work required a look of preparation and Hayashi states that they didn’t want to do a “rush job”. They jokingly mention Yelena’s iconic face scene, with Hayashi stating that his Kakegurui experience helped him become good at things like these.
Hajime Isayama’s involvement in Attack on Titan anime production
According to director Hayashi, the Attack on Titan mangaka Hajime Isayama checks every storyboard and gives feedback. While the first part was airing, Isayama was in the middle of writing the finale so his feedback was quick, but now that he has more time it doubled in size and it seems like checks everything closely. The feedback varies from “I’d like this to be fixed” to “This is great”. The sauna cut in the Paths flashback from episode 78 was one of the things that received great comments and Hayashi says it made him very happy.
Working with Yuki Kaji
Hayashi also commented on working with the voice cast, mainly Yuki Kaji who plays Eren. The director’s impression of Kaji’s Eren is that he is someone who knows the future and someone who is very perceptive. He portrays Eren as someone with suppressed emotions. Hayashi also mentions episode 80, in which Eren’s speech to all Eldians was shown, and says that they did quite a few takes, “so many that Kaji’s voice became hoarse”. The voice actor preciously tweeted that this was one of the hardest episodes for him to do.
Attack on Titan fans
Yuichiro Hayashi says that he is always surprised by the reactions from all over the world. Although there was a one-year break between Part 1 and 2, he is somewhat surprised by how excited the fans are.
He says that whenever they release information on the official Twitter or website, the first comments they get are actually from overseas fans. Tannawa adds that he worked on other projects after the first part, but whenever he sees the flood of comments by the fans he is reminded that Attack on Titan is back on the air. To him, the reactions from fans are an encouragement that keeps him going, even when he is tired. Both agree that reactions are the best motivation.
As a final message to the fans, Hayashi states that The Rumbling is a halfway point but that more is coming later on. He can’t go into details but promises fans that there are many things to look forward to and that there will be more Sundays during which they’ll stay up to wait for a new episode. Yusuke Tannawa adds that they are all working hard and that the fans can expect many great things.
Related article: Attack on Titan Season 4 Episode 24
Attack On Titan Crew Shares Their Thoughts on Each Of Season 4 Episodes
Attack On Titan's crew revealed their own thoughts on Season 4 specifically the first batch of episodes from what is now "Season 4A" of the anime series. The comments came back in November of last year during a special event for the show; now, thanks to the Attack On Fans site, we have the English translations of those comments!
Director Yichiro Hayashi says Season 4 Episode 1 is significant because "I think this was the most enthusiastic episode because it was the first episode for MAPPA, and I was quite puzzled by the fact that it was Attack On Titan, but it was all military. Personally, I focused on the dusty atmosphere of the battlefield."
Episode 61: "Midnight Train"
Director Daisuke Tokudo says the interesting thing about Attack On Titan Season 4 Episode 2 was "The daily life of the warrior cadets (they are specially trained but only children). For example, how they behave and how they express their emotions? I had to record such small details, so I used a rotoscope to pick up their movements as carefully as possible. I'm sure it was a lot of work for the people who worked on this scene, but I'm glad that I was able to get a sense of each of them. The long shots of young Reiner were very difficult to do, but we had to do it this way to express a world that only he could see."
Episode 62: "The Door of Hope"
Director Daisuke Niinuma recalls how "...all the staff took a lot of care in the scene where Reiner is beaten up by Annie and the scene where he raises his gun. It's a shame that we couldn't get through some of the scenes due to the length of the episode, but I think it turned out to be an episode with a lot of highlights, such as the scene between Kenny and Annie in disguise or the time when they were training soldiers."
Episode 63: "From One Hand To Another"
Chief Animation Director Manabu Akita reflects on doing a Titan-less episode of the series, while also introducing a new character:
"It was a quiet episode with no Titans in the story. We got to see Falco, Gabi and the others going about their daily lives, which made us feel attached to the characters, but also made us a little sad to think about what would happen next.
I love how Gabi and the others are surprised by the festival, and how the four of them turn to Reiner and the others with indescribable expressions on their faces. In this episode, I started working as a chief animation director, and I had to draw Willy [Tybur] for the first time when I wasn't used to drawing yet, so it was a struggle."
Episode 64: "Declaration of War"
Director Teruyuki Omine reflects on this turning-point episode of Attack On Titan Season 4:
"Willy's speech takes up a large part of the episode, and I think Kazuhiko Inoue did a great job of engaging the audience. The conversation in the basement was wonderfully acted by Kaji and Hosoya, but I struggled to reflect the tension.
This episode and the other episodes I directed (episodes 70 and 75), there were many two-sided scenes with Lights and shadows, and I felt I could create impressive scenes that increased the tension. [Yuki] Kaji was scary during the recording session because he looked like he was possessed by Eren. Hosoya is a good voice actor, and I personally grew to love Reiner."
Episode 65: "The War Hammer Titan"
3DCG Supervisor Shuhei Yabuta remembers that "When I joined the team, I felt a lot of pressure because production had moved to MAPPA and it was the season of active use of 3DCG. However, I was encouraged by the enthusiasm of Okuno and Ikeda, the 3DCG supervisors, and the spirit of Niwa, Higashida and Kondo in the production department, who were working around day and night. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to concentrate on my work as an on-site staff member. Ymir's memories taught me that all of us who participate in Attack On Titan are equally lucky. The enthusiasm of all the staff has resulted in a wonderful episode..."
Episode 66: "Assault"
Episode director Jun Shishido remembers taking on the massive POV switch of making Paradis Island the bad guys:
"In episode 66, I focused on how to portray Eren and Survey Corps, who had been the main characters until Season 3, as the devil of Paradis Island. The highlight of the episode is the scene of the Panzer group deaths. By the way, there's a hidden photo among all the photos next to Carlo's rifle stand."
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