With this I see why people complained that Shingeki no Kyojin went off-track a bit, because the whole cellar has been pushed more and more to the side of things. But in the show’s favor: the characters did have a really good reason to get sidetracked like that, because both the political games and that female Titan put up quite a big wall in front of that cellar. That first needs to be broken down before they can get to it.
But did Shingeki no Kyojin drag on? To answer that question, we need to wonder what makes it worth watching. The fantastic action, excellent acting, really well thought-out scenarios and the setting which really managed to convinced that humanity is on its last edge… The pacing is slow, but I would not say that this was rushed. It always had enough to offer, and the final four episodes were no different. They presented the identity of the female titan so well. It really took me a while before it hit me what was actually going on.
It was a trade-off that the creators made here. The pacing of the manga is ridiculously fast. At a certain point I just flew through each chapter. Instead they opted to pad things, and use the length for extra atmosphere building. And that worked for nearly the entire run. Perhaps only some episodes somewhere in the middle of the series lacked a bit momentum because people were just preparing.
Now, as for the ending: it seems that the producers haven’t greenlighted a second season yet, but really: this is one of those cases where it’s just a matter of time. With the sales of both the manga and the anime, there are plenty of reasons to come out with a sequel. My biggest guess as to why it hasn’t been greenlighted yet probably has to do with financing. I don’t have solid facts, but I would be very surprised if Shingeki no Kyojin wasn’t the most expensive series of the year. With all that stellar animation and with all those action scenes, it requires a much bigger budget than usual, and getting the funding for that takes time.
These final four episodes were amazing as usual, but there was also something very freaky going on that the creators very subtly tried to sneak past: the nature of the walls. Especially the last episodes were full of hints that something was really really wrong with them. First there obviously was that huge wall of text at the eyecatch. It may seem weird, but to me, it also seems really important, and there was no way for the creators to otherwise put that tidbit in. Also, how did Annie just jump back and forth between the forest and the walls in the city? The chance of her getting caught while trying to climb the walls would have been pretty high. And then there were the final words of the episode, hinting that it’s the walls that keep humanity trapped. And what the hell was that titan doing in that wall!?
So yeah, I don’t mind to wait for the creators to get the sequel just right. Just don’t pull a Durarara, okay? (Did they ever explain why THAT series didn’t get a second season).
Rating: 6,5/8 (Amazing)
Well, Baccano didn’t get a second season either. Brain Base just doesn’t do them so easily. The only show they did a second(and third) season of was Natsume and technically Spice and Wolf, though they didn’t do the first season of that one.
Honestly, I think Durarara, much like Baccano, ended like it did because they ran out of the good bits of the story. What made Baccano so great was the way they told the story. It would still be fine if everything was in order, but the joy of the show is that you need to figure out just what is going on in it in the entire run. Similarly, I think Durarara’s good bit ended halfway through its season. The part about Saika felt tacked on and much less interesting to watch.
Anyway, Shingeki No Kyojin.
I really liked this show. It had a good balance between action, intrigue and character development. Production IG has been hitting their stride again with this and Psycho Pass. I think a second season is pretty much guaranteed because of the way they structured this season. They are following a one chapter per episode structure, which is entirely unnecessary unless if you wish to milk it out a bit. This show could have done the entire story in its 25 episodes given other shows in the past(Towards the Terra, Gankutsuou and Escaflowne had a similar amount of episodes and they really crammed as much as they could in each episodes).
I don’t mind the padding. As long as I could look forward to the next episode with glee and be content afterwards it was worth the time and effort.
Dude, how could it have done “the entire story in 25 episodes”, when the manga is not done, and they already adapted 34 out of the 49 chapters? Think a little.
Well, they didn’t have to follow the manga to the very end. They could have done all 49 chapters in one season and added some original content. Or changed some parts around to make their original ending happen. Like Fullmetal Alchemist did back in the day.
Whether the manga is finished is not so important to the adaptation.
Seriously? There is a reason Brotherhood is pretty much better than the original FMA in almost every way. Tons of anime are RUINED because they decide to go with some anime original shit because the manga isn’t finished. The smart thing to do is just wait for it to be finished or at least wait long enough for the manga to get enough material to make another season.
Patience is what is needed, not some original crap.
It’s because of this mentality that anime nowadays are keeping too strict to their source material,
If it’s well written then I don’t mind an anime original conclusion. It’s better than ending with a giant cliff-hanger.
I’d much rather wait for the source material then have them screw it up like they do when they make anime original material. Don’t get me wrong, a good anime original ending IS possible. It’s just very unlikely. And, IMO, FMA went to heck when they stated that whole anime original arc. And don’t get me started on that RL bullshit about using the souls of our world.
Maybe I was a little close minded there, but I’ve just seen enough anime original endings that were a disappointment compared to endings that were good. Granted, its possible I’ve seen some anime with original endings that I didn’t even know were original but…yea
Yep, I can certainly see why anime-only endings are the bane of all manga fans. Hellsing, Gantz, Claymore, Death Note (sorta) are all titles that fell apart without the guidance of the source (not Fullmetal Alchemist though, sometimes I thimk I’m the only dude in the world who doesn’t prefer one over the other).
But yeah, Shingeki no Kyojin’s gonna have 20 volumes. With decent pacing that could be handled with another 25 episodes I think.
except they didn’t follow a 1 chapter per episode format the whole time. They ended on chapter 33. Most of cour two was made up of 1.5 chapter episodes and so did the first 8 episodes of the first cour.
If they did that then we’ll have to wait even longer for a second season or have an anime original ending. Having the first cour cover the Trost arc and the second cour cover the female type Titan arc makes sense structurally.
i think the only reason Drr didn’t get a s2 was that the anime was just not suited for some people and they probably didn’t earn much from it ( it was awesome though). Anybody who has read the later novels would tell you that how awesome and action packed the series gets later on the anime only covered the prologue of sorts, the same thing wont happen to shingeki.
i liked durarara, but I just can’t see it doing well with enough ppl, I felt the story meandered near the end, so wouldn’t trust a second season to have a good plot to hold it all together.
I gave up on trying to understand Japanese commissioning, often even the most sucessful series dont get the full adaptations, for example Fruits Basket, Genshiken (they jumped to the second manga series without finishing the first off), School Rumble and countless other high selling series.
Bleach ended just as the Manga was ending after catching up yet again so im hopeful of that being finished off, Fairy Tail caught up too.
Im starting to think the only series that you can give a good bet to them finishing are purely OVA straight to DVD series, even if they dont sell that well!
@Wzero, none of those (except bleach) were as popular as SnK became in Japan, I mean SnK has become on par with the big three in terms of popularity now. . .
With bleach, it became a huge stinking pile of crap, they HAD to stop the anime because KT pretty much dropped the ball, for a time, bleach was in danger of being dropped form Shounen Jump. it got THAT bad.
We will definitely see a second season someday. The manga sells ridiculously well, pre-ordered figures sell out in 20 seconds… and it’s IG which already announced a second season for Psycho-Pass. But of course it’s difficult in case of a manga adaptation. Shingeki is a monthly series with 11 collected volumes published and the anime covers the plot up to volume 8, so there’s not enough to animate right now anyway. Magi on the other hand is a weekly series and in that case they announced the second season right away together with the final episode of the first one. Then again, the PV shows stuff from the current volume 18, so the second season seems kind of weird to me at the moment, but that’s another topic…
As somebody who read the manga when I saw that last scene with Sasha, Connie, Berholt, and Reiner I went… Oh I know that… Oh… oh shit.
Let’s light a candle for all those series that didn’t get their second seasons. Amatsuki 2 where are you?
@Watcherzero: I was under the impression fruits baskets anime did not sell well enough or that there was at the time not enough material to adapt and the author went on a hiatus due to injury.Also wasn’t Bleach just on a rest period with the possibility of picking up for a further adaptation later on?
@kazuhiro:I hear ya man Amatsuki what a gem, the manga gets so much better too after that part where the anime leaves of too.
Sometimes I feel like I am the only person that had to force myself to finish Amatsuki because I was so bored. Granted, I remember actually liking the last couple episodes since things started happening, but then it ended…only reason I even remember it now is because it left a bad impression on me…
@Avalon:I liked the idea behind amatsuki though, the world it created too, the show felt refreshing somehow . I certainly know demon girl, priestess and Bonten caught my interest.
I can see that. I don’t remember now, but I’m willing to bet the reason I tried watching it in the first place was its interesting premise and the world created. I was just personally disappointed in what I was given, minus the last couple eps of course.
2nd best selling Manga series, best selling Manga series in the US. Anime made top 10 lists in Japan when released and even five years after it finished made #93 on TV Ashashi all time anime ranking. Funimation tried to get Studio DEEN to commission a second series based on US DVD sales.
It´s neat how all the fantasy stuff that we as viewers accept because its a fantasy series and the characters because they grew up with them in place turn out not to be handwaved. Things like the origin of the walls or the titans physiology.
But even more importantly is that there is no plot stupiditiy. Characters make the correct conclusion based on seemingly minor tidbits that in any other series would just be subtile foreshadowing.It´s especially evident in the discovery of the female titans identity.
I predict a second season, it’s insanely popular.
It is, but we’re seeing another 2-cour second season in 2-3 years from now. If it’s just a single cour, maybe as early as summer next year. Or we will get a franchise reboot five years from now.
I am so happy I was able to finish the first season before my internet ran out. Yeah, this anime… this anime made me feel like when I first started watching anime. Just awe founded and totally taken in. Better get another season. Something like this is just too good and deserving not to. Anyways, just have to be patient. The manga still has a ways to go. It’ll be a crime against the industry if after all that it still doesn’t get another season.
A crime against common sense too
‘Bout SnK, Im pretty sure they’re going to do a second season given how popular it is worldwide. I would rather they wait until the guy finishes the original story instead of doing anime original material.
You may think its ok if the anime original is good, but 99% of the fans do not. Also, psgels you read the manga didn’t you? You should know all about the walls then. . .
New season. Rejoice, troopers! http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1242001
Hey Firechick! That is great news indeed. I’ve been reading the Titan manga in the meantime. I’m also excited about the new Digimon series reviving old characters. =)