There’s been a weird rumor circulating that Attack on Titan Season 4 is canceled. The good news is that there seems to be no validity to the rumor. Some fans wanted to cancel Attack on Titan Season 4 because they didn’t like the new animation, and a MAPPA staffer spoke out about the complaints. But the rumors of a cancelation appear to be just that — rumors. Here’s what we know so far.
Here's the story behind those rumors about #AttackonTitan being canceled. Share on XThis article is manga-spoiler-free. Please don’t add spoilers from the manga in the comments. Thanks. 🙂
Some Fans Were Hurtful to MAPPA Staffers & One Person Spoke Out
Some fans have been really mean to Mappa, the team animating Attack on Titan Season 4 after WIT Studio left. Some viewers started harassing the team over things like 3D animation for the Titans or the soundtrack choice on Episode 5, Comicbook.com reported. Episode Director Teruyuki Omine actually lock his Twitter and make it private after fans harassed him for his soundtrack choice when Eren made his epic appearance. Omine later returned, but it was a pretty dark moment for “fans.” As of the time of publication, Post Apocalyptic Media noticed that Omine’s Twitter was locked again.
It’s sad that the creators of one of the best anime series (heck, make that TV series) out there right now are being harassed. 🙁
On Twitter, the fan-page Spytrue translated an anonymous post online that claimed to be from an Attack on Titan staffer, asking fans to stop harassing the team. Is it real? Comicbook.com thought it was authentic enough to report on it.
A message from a staff member of the final season of AoT: pic.twitter.com/Hq5Ug8VYx5
— SPY – BLACK CLOVER -☘️ (@Spytrue) January 19, 2021
The message reads:
“All the staff working on this season [has] been pouring their sweat, blood, and tears into making this show look as good as it can be in an insanely short amount of time – a time [period] that’s even shorter than normal. You are free to have your own opinion on the show. However, constantly bothering and harassing the staff is unacceptable. Having the courtesy to at least respect the insane effort being put in the show would be appreciated. Let’s be mature.”
Here’s just a taste of some of the rude comments about the show:
https://twitter.com/bestbuymilk/status/1350894963437957120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1350894963437957120%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fanime%2Fnews%2Fattack-on-titan-season-4-thank-you-mappa-anime-reaction%2F
Fans in general are known for having trouble with change, and sometimes (as with the case of Game of Thrones’ final season) those complaints are justified. But MAPPA has done a phenomenal job with Season 4 and deserves all the praise it can get, not complaints.
CBR reported that WIT Studios changed to MAPPA for the final season, and it’s not completely unusual for that to happen with an anime. Producers Kensuke Tateishi, Toshihiro Maeda and Tetsuya Kinoshita shared some of the reasons for the change, with Tateishi noting that the decision was made while Season 3 was being produced that WIT wouldn’t continue. It’s a little unclear why, but Tateishi seemed to indicate it was due to the expansion of the series and elevating it to an even greater level.
Tateishi told CBR: “One of the reasons is because the end of Season 3 has the protagonist gazing at the ocean, marking a turning point for the story. Also, as creators, we wanted the anime to escalate even further. Through many talks with WIT Studio, we understood that the continuation would be difficult, so we looked for a new studio […] but most studios turned us down. Everyone understood what big shoes they had to fill, and we were told by dozens of studios that they emphatically could not accept.”
Only MAPPA would even consider stepping into WIT Studios’ shoes. Tateishi said: “When we talked to WIT about it, they said they could rest easy knowing it was in MAPPA’s hands. The producers were in agreement, so the production shifted to MAPPA.”
There’s No Indication the Show Is Canceled
Despite the toxicity leading to one staffer locking down their Twitter completely, there’s no indication at this time that Season 4 has been canceled. Some people online claimed they were canceling the season in the figurative sense, but there’s been no actual cancelation.
The rumor progressed enough that it was discussed on Reddit too, but the commenters all concluded there too that the season wasn’t canceled and it was all just a rumor.
One person pointed out that the rumor came from TikTok and it wasn’t accurate.
Another person said it was a rumor started by some people on TikTok who don’t like MAPPA, but it wasn’t accurate.
In summary, there’s no reason to believe the rumors that the season has been canceled. The rumor was born out of some fans being unhappy with Mappa’s animation, and a reply from a Mappa staffer asking people to please be kinder.
If any of this changes, we will update this story.
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