The Japanese manga series Attack on Titan is both written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama, and a whole host of artists has brought it to life with an epic television series. The show first aired in April 2013 and showed us what happens in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world, and especially what goes on when everything has been destroyed by giant people-eating humanoids called the Titans, forcing people to live protected by huge walls. Initially, we might not be shown exactly how Titans came to take over the world, but we do follow the story of Eren Jaeger (or Yeager in the manga), who is rightfully on a mission to destroy the Titans after they ruin his hometown and kill his mother.

Throughout the show, we see humanity struggle to fight the Titans and ultimately fail, having to sacrifice themselves and their loved ones. It begs the question, can they keep going? Can they finally destroy the Titans? As they grow tired and weak, we think it’s all over but despite their lack of enthusiasm and strength, through the series, we do see a glimmer of hope every now and then as they come fighting back and have moments of sporadic lucky. Something that makes Attack on Titan so enjoyable to watch is that the show actually holds a seriously deep meaning behind it.

Surrounding the idea and effects of failure, it shows a society that is constantly failing, yet always manage to pick themselves up. Surely that’s a message to us viewers that we can (if we put our minds to it) achieve anything. As they suffer loss and sacrifice, and often believe it’s all for nothing, we are shown how people deal with trauma and grief in different ways, which can have a very significant effect on real life and teach us how the process of loss, death and grief is by no means black and white; the series also shows how to fight big scary man-eating monsters as well, of course. But after three emotional seasons, and two parts already released of the fourth and final season, should Attack on Titan really be over?

An Anime Finale 10 Years in the Making

When seasons one and two were aired in 2013 and 2017, the world became hooked on this epic battle between the humans and Titans, and it wasn’t much of a wait for season three, which was brought to us in two parts in 2019 and 2020. It became a perfect bingeworthy series during lockdown (and still is now in a post-lockdown world), and is now considered one of the most popular new anime/manga franchises, skyrocketing the success of anime in general. Fans just couldn’t stop themselves as they shared their love and sympathy for this fictional world.

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Titans ended part two of season four earlier this year with a huge announcement that part three, the final part, will be a collection of four one-hour episodes to once and for all bring closure to the people as they fight in a battle to end all battles. However, we do now have to wait until 2023 for what we believe will finally be the end to this wild story.

Attack on Titan Cliffhanger Endings

This announcement has definitely come with some frustration, seeing as Attack on Titan viewers have been teased before. Season four’s release brought much speculation as to when the series will draw to a close, and both season one and two’s finale were conveyed as being the end, which left fans in suspense too many times to handle, as the final episodes didn’t seem close to a comforting or satisfying end and gave no indication of what looked like the final episode. Without much surprise, fans were then given an announcement and a year-long wait for another part to the season.

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​​​​​Could fans be getting bored with waiting and feel the need to wrap it up? Despite perhaps feeling overwhelmed by all the parts to the season, there’s no denying that we are all excited to see the final story arc coming in part three that is bound to get us all on the edge of our seats. Nevertheless, while we may all be excited and eager to see this big epic ending, fans still haven’t held back on sharing their frustration and excitement for the long wait and onions of whether the show should really be concluding the story. Some fans have made jokes that they are going to yet again be left with another cliffhanger, and some will take a deep breath of relief that it will finally come to an end.


Although, what all fans can definitely share is their frustration on having to wait, again, another year. Yet, we can all agree that the final close to what will be ten years of Attack on Titan, will surely push these characters to their limit as the band of survivors group together to save the world. It is definitely going to be more tense, and based on just how ingenious this narrative has been so far, will likely be a satisfying and brilliant close to plenty of loss, grief and suffering, and will in some way represent moving on and healing from trauma. See you all next year, for the final battle.