"Attack on Titan" Season 2 Hype!...?

SPOILER ALERT FOR ATTACK ON TITAN SEASON 1

It's hard to believe that it's been two and a half years since Attack on Titan took the world by storm. I mean, it was everywhere! It pulled--maybe even yanked--people into the anime medium and almost instantly spawned spinoffs and global attention. Sure, some of those took a little to come around, but the fact that it had one parody and two prequel series within the span of a year is an impressive feat. Usually that's something reserved for the longer-running series, not a show with merely 25 episodes.


And, this year, the ensuing adventures of Eren and the gang finally return in animated form. I've been waiting for, and looking forward to, the second season for a while. Sure I'm already caught up with the manga and know what happens, but it's been a while since I touched up on what happens right after and some of it was a little unclear when I first read the manga.

I just can't wait to have all the great mysteries appear, and for so many people to have questions answered and addressed. One of the big things that people seemed to dislike about the series--besides the overwhelming hype, which isn't technically the show's fault--was there was this great big world around us and hardly any of it was ever really addressed. Mysteries like the Walls, the Titan serum, the Changers, and why the heck there was a Titan in Wall Sina hadn't been so much as glanced at. Much of the season was actually spent in just two battles.

The first major part, the Battle for Trost, takes place over the course of a day, and features mostly Eren's transformation into a Titan and having to plug the wall. The second part was the 57th Expedition beyond the Walls, where we ran into the Female Titan and then would learn that there was another person who could change into a Titan.

I feel that the show leaves off on a good enough cliffhanger to warrant people to want to come back. The series does feel very incomplete so far, that there is so much more to the story and for the characters do go off and do. And that's very true!

However, you think it may have been a bit too long since Season 1 that Season 2 is premiering? Consider again that it has indeed been two and a half years. In that time, we've seen the rise of some other supremely popular series. And while I'm not saying this is about popularity, it seems that the hype surrounding AOT's second season isn't as high as one would expect. In fact, I'd say most people are looking more forward to an English release of One Punch Man.

Personally? AOT is one of the series I'm looking forward to returning the most this year. It's just that it has been such a long time and my interest in the series did wane a little. If it weren't for the airing of Attack on Titan: Junior High I might have forgotten that there was a second season premiering this year, until it actually aired.

Not to mention that it is going to have a lot to live up to. AOT just exploded. It was everywhere you went on most social media. While I don't think the second season has to match that level of explosiveness, it is going to need that early on to catch the eyes of the common viewer again. I also wonder if so many of the people who watched it have forgotten about it? It was popular for a long time, but 2014 and 2015 also saw the rise and fall of several series. It seemed like Sword Art Online hit a big return in 2014 and hasn't really been spoken of since. 2015 also had us introduced to One Punch Man and had the continuation of what many are calling the "next" Attack on Titan in Tokyo Ghoul. While AOT's legacy is there, it is also an incomplete series. So, it now has to match it's OWN legacy.

Though, I think part of the blame is also to fall on the manga and the timing of the anime. They should have waited. 2014 was a great year for anime, but I still think Attack on Titan would have been a smash hit that year. It's animation would still have been great for the year, not the best but still pretty good. And it would have let the manga push ahead, which is why we had to wait for so long.

I have mixed feelings on this. While it is bothersome to have to wait so long for the manga to get ahead to the point where the anime can restart, I would also we have another complete part of the story rather than some meandering. The anime changed a part of the chapter it ended on, but it made sense, so nobody called foul on it. Take a series like Akame ga Kill! though, or even Magi. They're pretty darn caught up the manga, and "Akame" even surpassed it, ruining the series for many people. So, overall, it is good that we won't have to worry about AOT, the anime, sort of milling about.

And really, that's what matters. Regardless of the popularity and the delays, what is most important for all of us as fans is that we get a clear, coherent story/ representation of the manga. As I've said before, there is a ton of great material in these upcoming chapters that will fill episodes and leave us all intrigued, asking questions while getting answers. Some of the biggest battles of the series are yet to come as well, surpassing even those from the first season!

If you've sort of forgotten about Attack on Titan, I suggest you give it another watch, just to see if it was really THAT good or just to brush up on some old memories you may have had (I know that's something I plan on doing in the near future). And be sure to stick around when it premieres, I'm sure it'll be one heck of a ride again.


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