WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2, now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
The last episode of Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2 has premiered in Japan, but the series isn't going away anytime soon. Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 3 has officially been announced alongside its premiere window.
A short trailer was uploaded on Twitter, confirming that the wildly popular anime will return sometime in 2023. Little information about possible story beats can be gleaned from the trailer itself as it only shows several characters standing in what appears to be a titan's footprint. However, manga readers may have an idea of what the anime has in store; Part 2's episodes made it to roughly Chapter 130 of the manga, meaning there are nine chapters left of creator Hajime Isayama's story to adapt.
The Attack on Titan manga was published in Kodansha's Bessatsu ShÅnen Magazine from September 2009 to April 2021. It was well-received by both fans and critics upon release; the manga has sold over 100 million copies and won multiple awards, including Best ShÅnen Manga at the Kodansha Manga Awards in 2011.
Isayama's story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans hide from giant monsters (aka Titans) in walled cities. It follows the journey of Eren Yeager, a young man who vows to wipe out all of the Titans after they destroy his home and one devours his mother. While Eren is no doubt one of Attack on Titan's main characters, many have argued that he has transitioned from a hero to a villain as the plot has unfolded.
While the news that Attack on Titan: The Final Season is returning for a third part is exciting, the announcement isn't wholly surprising. Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2 premiered in January 2022 and ran for 12 episodes. Prior to the finale's debut, many speculated about Part 2's ability to satisfyingly wrap up the apocalypse-level struggle between Eren and his former comrades in a single episode with some fans predicting that the anime's story would conclude in a tie-in movie.
While MAPPA, the studio behind Attack on Titan: The Final Season, hasn't made any definitive announcements about Part 3's creative team, it seems likely that Yuichiro Hayashi, the director behind Part 1 and Part 2, will return to finish off the project. In a recent interview, Hayashi explained his experiences with Attack on Titan: The Final Season, stating "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."
Source: Twitter