Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 has ended, and with it came another announcement: Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 is coming next year. While arguments could be made that a multi-episode final run would be a fitting way to end the series, the Attack on Titan anime and its producers are running a risk with Final Season Part 3. It could even be a big mistake.
Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 ended on a cliffhanger that effectively covered the events of the manga's 130th chapter. The thing is, the Attack on Titan manga only has a total of 139 chapters. This means that Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 would only be adapting nine chapters, a surprisingly small amount of material compared to previous seasons. It is an amount, perhaps, that is best covered in a feature-length film instead, similar to Demon Slayer's "Mugen Train Arc." There are arguments that can be explored in favor of and in opposition to Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3.
The Pros
It should be noted that while Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 will only be adapting nine chapters from the manga, the said chapters are extremely plot-heavy. Chapter 139 alone, which features a time skip following the aftermath of the "War of Paradis Arc," featured several jumps in the plot that it almost felt disjointed. In a way, a lot of the criticisms surrounding Attack on Titan's ending could be traced back to Chapter 139. This is something that the Attack on Titan anime adaptation now has the potential to address fully.
Since the pacing of Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 effectively slowed down to a point where every episode practically adapted one chapter, it seems reasonable to infer that Final Season Part 3 would follow the same formula. The franchise's fanbase will likely appreciate some extra episodes to fully explore the events and themes covered in the manga's 139th chapter.
The anime could even go beyond the events covered in Chapter 139. Interestingly enough, this is actually something that a good number of Attack on Titan fans seem to prefer. So polarizing was Attack on Titan's ending that following the publication of the manga's final chapter, thousands of fans launched a Change.org petition asking author Hajime Isayama for a completely different anime ending. The validity of online petitions aside, the multi-episode format of Final Season Part 3 should provide the Attack on Titan anime and its producers with enough runway to focus on creating the best ending and epilogue possible for the now-iconic series.
The Cons
With only nine chapters to adapt, the Attack on Titan anime and its producers are essentially playing with fire. It's one thing to take time and explore themes that were covered in specific chapters, but it's a completely different issue when the pacing of the anime suffers because of it. Being the penultimate season of the Attack on Titan anime, Final Season Part 3 has big shoes to fill, and mistakes in pacing would likely be criticized heavily by fans and viewers alike. These issues, in a way, could be avoided if Attack on Titan utilized a feature-length film as its final final final ending instead.
A feature-length Attack on Titan film that runs for about two hours would be the perfect length to cover the final nine chapters of the manga. The Attack on Titan franchise has become as large as its titular giants over the years, so it would be quite fitting to end it with a film that features movie-grade quality and absolutely no compromises. A film would likely be better for Attack on Titan and its producers on a financial level too, considering the massive success enjoyed by films such as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, which covered about 13 chapters of its source material, proved extremely successful at the box office, earning a worldwide gross of $503 million on a $15.8 million budget. Hailed for its stunning visuals and quality, Mugen Train also accomplished the rare feat of making the audience fall in love and mourn a new character in the span of two hours. If any, the Demon Slayer movie all but proved that anime films could be a good way to cover crucial portions of a manga — and if done well, they could be extremely profitable.
Final Thoughts
That being said, producing a movie instead of Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 could be a double-edged sword. Films typically take time to make, so the wait time for a feature-length film would likely be longer than the wait for Final Season Part 3. Anime films typically launch in Japan first as well, which could result in fans outside Japan waiting for an extended period of time. Mugen Train, for example, followed a staggered international release following its launch in Japan in October 2020.
The Attack on Titan anime series has always had quality in spades as well. Since its days with WITStudio all the way to its handover to MAPPA, the Attack on Titan anime has constantly featured comparable quality to a feature-length film. And considering the care that MAPPA has been taking with Attack on Titan Final Season Parts 1 and 2, one could infer that Attack on Titan Final Season Part 3 would be just as gorgeous and cinematic as its predecessors. In this sense, perhaps a multi-episode final final final season does make sense.