On a realistic level, the ending structure of AOT, where the protagonist and the Alliance from Paradis Island performed a coordinated act with one side playing the villain and the other the heroes, was not some extraordinary strategy. Cases of self-sacrificial schemes like this had occurred throughout real history, in Rei's previous life and in countless other contexts.
But the people who watch anime are predominantly young. Even if some among them possessed broad historical knowledge, they were certainly in the minority.
The vast majority of Titan fans were shocked after watching tonight's episode.
Eren's transformation from the ultimate villain into a behind-the-scenes hero who had sacrificed himself while accepting all the infamy was a sudden reversal. Before the final battle, he had drawn everyone into the Coordinate space, told them the truth, and sealed their memories. Only after his complete death were those memories unsealed, and his companions became the heroes who had saved the world.
He died carrying the world's hatred toward Paradis Island.
In reality, even if the nations of the world still harboured deep resentment for Paradis Island after everything, a world where eighty percent of humanity had been wiped out would require decades or even a century for post-war reconstruction. They would simply lack the capability for revenge, giving Paradis Island the time it needed to grow and fortify itself.
The strategy itself was not complicated.
But what always moved an audience was the character emotions carried by the animation.
"Tears in my eyes."
"I watched tonight's ending theme while sobbing the whole time."
"Rest in peace, Eren."
"But will the world really believe Eren's self-sacrificial scheme?"
"Whether they believe it or not doesn't matter. Because even if they don't believe it, they no longer have the power to strike Paradis Island."
"I don't know how to evaluate this ending. But it's definitely more brilliant than Eren simply succeeding in destroying the world or the Alliance simply saving it."
"I think it's extraordinary. I really like this ending."
"Me too. This ending will probably remain controversial for a long time. But for me, personally, I think it's genuinely exceptional."
"Exceptional nothing. Even the protagonist Eren died, and the power of the Titans disappeared because the Hallucigenia was killed. Out of the original three, only Armin and Mikasa are left. Armin had Titan power before so he'll have a shortened lifespan. In a few years only Mikasa will still be alive. And the most painful part is Captain Levi being disabled. I cannot accept it."
"In war, how can there be no sacrifice? If this anime reached its ending and everyone connected to the protagonist was alive and well while eighty percent of the world's population died, do you think you could actually accept that story?"
"That's true. I'm getting older. I can't handle anime with endings this bittersweet anymore."
"It's not over yet. Next week is the final episode."
"It's almost February. Titan ends next week, and then in the middle of February during the spring holiday season, we have the second part of the Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Arc and My Neighbor Totoro. Since junior high, Shirogane-sensei's anime has accompanied me every year. Now I'm about to graduate from university."
"I feel like crying. Although it only ends next week, I'm very satisfied with the ending of Titan. Thank you for everything, Shirogane-sensei. See you in the next work."
Rei did not sleep that night.
He watched the comments and reactions of fans across Japan regarding this episode until morning, monitoring them closely.
What he found, ultimately, was that although a small number complained the final plot had moved too quickly, and that even if Eren had spared twenty percent of humanity it could not conceal his nature as someone who had killed on an enormous scale, the majority of the audience praised the ending.
It could not compare to the shock of the ocean scene at the end of Season Three. But on a scale of one hundred points, this ending could earn an eighty. The overall rating for the Attack on Titan anime would remain above ninety.
"That's enough." At four in the morning, Rei sat in his chair, reading through the forum reviews, and let out a long breath.
"This is enough."
"There is no masterpiece anime in the world that can satisfy everyone's imagination. Titan could not do it in its previous life, and it is the same here. All I can do is preserve the brilliant parts of the original work while minimising the fans' disappointment with its ending as much as possible."
"In terms of the result, that's quite successful." A faint smile appeared on his face.
Including production and broadcast time, the Attack on Titan anime had existed in Japan for nearly three years. Every week, Rei had invested considerable energy and effort into it. The entire purpose had been to ensure that once the story reached this ending, it would receive the audience's approval. That it would not be condemned across the internet the way the original manga had been in his previous life.
A quiet sense of feeling settled in Rei's chest.
After a moment's thought, at four in the morning, he updated his social media.
[Next Thursday, the final episode of Titan. Eren, rest in peace.]
All of the main storylines of the Attack on Titan anime had finished broadcasting in tonight's episode.
But the final episode would carry the anime's theme one step further.
What Eren had pursued his entire life was freedom. Yet in the end, he had become a slave to that freedom. His obsession with obtaining true freedom had become so complete that his own thoughts were controlled by it.
So after sacrificing so much, had he truly saved Paradis Island? After drawing the world's hatred onto himself and dying in the image of a world-destroying demon, could all of humanity truly live together, come to understand the cruelty of war, and move toward a future filled with laughter?
Every viewer had an answer to that question already in their heart.
The final episode would show that answer, which everyone already knew, to the audience.
The following morning, Rei's social media post reached the trending searches of major platforms across Japan.
In less than half a day, the replies in the comment section exceeded one million.
When Rei attended a public lecture event on Friday evening, enthusiastic fans broke through the security barrier.
In major cities across Japan, a wave of purchasing for Attack on Titan manga volumes and Dream Comic had already ignited.
For an anime to generate this level of passionate response during its serialisation was genuinely exceptional.
But what was even more exceptional was that with the audience's expectations for the ending having reached this height, Shirogane had still provided a conclusion that satisfied the vast majority of fans.
When a great anime with an ending approved by its audience concludes without collapsing under the weight of its own ambitions, the energy that fans release at the moment of completion exceeds anything the industry can easily predict.
Middle school and elementary school students began calculating their saved pocket money and New Year's gift money, preparing to contribute to the anime they loved. High school students, university students, and working adults turned their attention toward the Titan merchandise they had previously hesitated over, including the striking and imposing figures of the Titans themselves.
The popularity of the Titan anime had always been strong, but compared to Demon Slayer, merchandise sales had been a full level lower. The art style was simply too unconventional for the general merchandise market.
But in the week leading up to Titan's conclusion, whatever lingering hesitation many Titan fans had felt quietly disappeared.
Various merchandise featuring the massive Founding Titan that Eren had become, along with the other great Titans, sold out across online and offline platforms. Even with Rei having prepared inventory well in advance, stocking up specifically in anticipation of this surge, it was not enough to absorb the momentum of Japan's fans.
And it was not just in Japan. The same was happening across numerous overseas countries simultaneously. A massive volume of merchandise order requests was converging on the chairman's office of Shirogane Animation.
Rei was busy beyond what could reasonably be described. Misaki was even more so. Even with four assistants working alongside her, she had barely managed to find time for lunch over the past several days.
In the days before the final episode of Titan aired, Titan-related topics occupied the trending searches of every major platform around the clock.
Thursday of the new week arrived.
Opening any major website during the day revealed overwhelming discussion and promotion for the final episode of the Titan anime.
"Thursday. Welcoming the conclusion of Titan."
"It's truly ending. Shirogane-sensei has really finished telling this story this time. He didn't leave it open-ended like One-Punch Man, Hunter, or Demon Slayer."
"In my mind, this is Shirogane-sensei's most complete anime, without question."
"Although I personally prefer Demon Slayer, I fully recognise Titan's excellence. In my heart, they are Shirogane-sensei's two greatest works together."
"I have to watch the final episode of Titan live tonight. I used to always watch the replay the following day."
"What will the final ending actually depict?"
"Most likely just a brief description of each character's future. Where they ended up."
"That would be enough. The Titan plot is already very complete. Letting us know the characters' subsequent paths would be a perfect conclusion. No new plot or settings needed."
"Exactly. The only small regret is that in the final plot, the power of the Titans disappeared along with the deaths of Eren and the Hallucigenia. This means that even if the anime ever had side stories, the possibilities would be very limited."
"Don't think about that. Just enjoy tonight."
Eight o'clock arrived.
The eyes of Titan fans across Japan focused on the broadcast of the final episode of Attack on Titan.
The episode unfolded more or less as everyone had anticipated, depicting the future paths of the surviving characters.
The Alliance members, now knowing the full truth, gathered around Eren's severed head. Their eyes were full of tears.
Mikasa held Eren's head, her expression carrying a grief too complete for simple words.
"If he stays here, Eren definitely won't be given a proper burial."
She was afraid his body would be desecrated. She prepared to carry his head somewhere far away.
"Find a quiet place and let him rest eternally." Armin looked at Mikasa.
Mikasa nodded. She looked into the distance.
"Eren always used to take naps there."
They looked at each other. Tears overflowing. And then, through the tears, both of them suddenly smiled.
Under the weight of the quiet BGM, this simple exchange brought tears to countless Titan fans watching across Japan.
Then came the surviving Marleyan soldiers' deep mistrust of the Alliance.
Eren was dead. The demon was dead. But what about the remaining Eldians? Would a new demon emerge among them? Had the power of the Titans truly disappeared? Were Eldians really no longer terrifying beings capable of transforming into Titans but simply ordinary humans, the same as anyone?
Reiner reunited with his mother.
Gabi saw Falco, who had become an ordinary person with the disappearance of Titan power.
Connie returned to his hometown on Paradis Island and saw his mother, restored to her human form.
The people of Paradis Island began working to absorb the technology and knowledge of the outside world, growing, uniting, building. Paradis Island began communicating with the world. The Alliance became heroes in the eyes of survivors from every nation.
But these heroes also carried the weight of enormous political demands. The world needed to unite to rebuild itself, and it needed heroes to hold the faith of people together. Armin, Annie, Jean, Reiner, and the others, after losing the power of the Titans, began travelling between nations, dedicating their efforts toward peace and development. This would most likely be the direction of their lives for as long as they lived.
Doves representing peace flew into the sky. Everyone looked up.
The perspective shifted to a hillside on Paradis Island.
The place where Mikasa and Eren had taken afternoon naps as children, gathering firewood together in another life.
An unmarked grave mound.
Mournful BGM began.
"Everyone will come to see you soon. You'll be very happy." Mikasa looked tenderly at the tombstone.
By this point, several years had passed since Eren's death. Mikasa's hair had grown long and her features had matured. She had planted flowers around the entire burial site.
Thousands upon thousands of people in Japan looked at the tears shimmering in Mikasa's eyes and felt their own overflow.
Squirrels moved through the trees. Butterflies drifted through the grass.
"I really, really want to see you again." Mikasa whispered in a quiet, sorrowful voice as tears fell.
Then the most memorable scene of the finale arrived.
The red scarf. The one Eren had personally wrapped around her when they were children. It had become slightly loose. A white dove darted in front of Mikasa, its beak gently taking the scarf and adjusting it, as though helping the girl straighten what had come undone. The bird's wings beat powerfully in the air before her.
The BGM swelled immediately, becoming soaring and full.
Mikasa watched the dove fly into the distance. The tears in her eyes grew more abundant.
"Eren. Thank you for wrapping this scarf around me."
The perspective lifted to the azure sky.
The ending theme began to play. But the ending carried its own plot within it.
The screen remained on the hillside where Eren was buried. Spring passed and autumn came. Snow fell and grass grew. Years moved without announcement.
Mikasa came holding a man's hand to pay her respects to Eren. More years passed, and coming along were her children, and then her grandchildren.
Paradis Island developed. Steam technology arrived. The industrial revolution. Then rockets. Then skyscrapers rising from the ground. A scene of thriving, forward-moving civilisation.
Then countless missiles fell from the sky. Paradis Island struck back.
War turned the island to ruins.
More years passed. The ruins were covered in weeds and became a primeval forest.
A large tree grew from Eren's grave.
Someone who looked like an explorer or an archaeologist arrived at this place.
Things change. The cycle continues without end.
At that moment, the large tree growing from Eren's grave was precisely like the one where Founder Ymir had fallen and been possessed by the Hallucigenia all those centuries ago. Both trees had a hollow at their base.
Was this a coincidence? Or was it inevitable?
If this young archaeologist walked into the hollow at the base of the tree, would a new Hallucigenia attach itself to them? Would a new Titan be born from this?
If all of these possibilities were true, how many times in history had this cycle occurred? The birth of Titans. Humans killing each other. The destruction of civilisation. And then the continuous reincarnation of the world's development, beginning again.
The freedom and peace Eren had pursued his entire life, he had never seen.
The Paradis Island he had sacrificed everything to protect had eventually vanished into history.
The only lesson humans seemed to learn from history was that they would continuously repeat it.
Or perhaps these thoughts were simply the audience's over-interpretation of what the ending had shown.
The animation offered no clear answer.
Only, when the words appeared on screen.
Attack on Titan. Finished.
Many Titan fans wiped the tears from their eyes. Their emotions too full for stillness. They took out their phones and computers, logged onto forums, and began posting.
The content was essentially the same everywhere.
Satisfaction with the ending of Titan. The feeling that something had been completed in the way it deserved to be completed.
"A masterpiece is born."
...
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