Late December arrived and the plot of the Attack on Titan anime was no longer centred on Eren.
It would take time for him to drive the Colossal Titans across the sea on foot to reach the opposite shore. Fortunately, creatures like Titans could survive without eating, drinking, or sleeping.
During this period, a salvation group formed from various members including Mikasa and Gabi united with a single objective. To catch up with Eren's advance, they needed to find a plane and fly to his location to reason with him.
Standing in their way was Floch, a core member of the Yeagerists and a survivor of Commander Erwin's charge, who led a unit to stop Mikasa and the others. He was determined to prevent anyone from reaching Eren and causing his resolve to waver.
The anime's plot had evolved into the choice between saving Paradis Island or saving the world.
And the story had finally shifted from humans fighting Titans into humans killing each other.
Attack on Titan viewers had only ever seen Mikasa and Armin fighting Titans, clean and efficient. When had any of them seen a scene of Mikasa killing people?
The production team used top-tier animation to further elevate the character battles in these episodes. But the feeling viewers got from watching was not excitement. It was helplessness.
Especially when Floch, in his final moments, was willing to give his life to sink the ship carrying Mikasa and the salvation squad, to prevent them from reaching Eren and influencing his decision. When his attack missed and he fell into the water.
Attack on Titan fans did not feel happy watching that.
Nor did they cheer for Mikasa reaching her goal the way they once would have.
Because in this work, was anyone really wrong? Was anyone really right?
Eren had recognised reality and understood the nature of human cruelty. He chose to eliminate that external malice before it could act. Was a person who would do whatever it took to protect his home truly evil?
And what about Mikasa and the others? If they stopped Eren and Paradis Island faced catastrophe in the future, could they resist it? It was easy to take the moral high ground and condemn Eren now. But when their compatriots were being crushed by the united nations of the world, would they be able to stand up?
Attack on Titan brought its audience in Japan to a place of genuine contemplation in its final chapters.
And it was all a grand narrative with no answers.
The anime presented the question. It did not provide a standard answer because no standard answer existed. The characters in the anime could not find one. The creator could not find one. The viewers watching could not find one either. Every character had supporters and opponents. Every plot direction drew praise from some and rejection from others.
This was what Attack on Titan left its Japanese audience with.
December ended.
As January arrived, the final chapters of Titan were officially ready to air.
In keeping with Rei's established approach, works expected to conclude would always feature promotional material for his upcoming projects within their final episodes. In the preview attached to the last Titan episode that aired in December, Bleach and Naruto had already been teased, two long-running new series expected to air in the first and second halves of the new year.
By January, when Shirogane Animation promoted the final Titan chapters, they promoted Bleach and Naruto alongside them. This directly caused both works to appear frequently on trending lists even before they had aired a single episode.
While following Titan's conclusion, many Titan fans began searching for information about the two new anime.
"Shirogane-sensei has been very dedicated to promoting his two new works lately."
"I'm not very optimistic about Bleach and Naruto. It'll probably end up like Higurashi."
"What do you mean end up like Higurashi? Are Higurashi's results bad? The viewership ratings have been above 5.6 percent for a long time. It's a niche genre so there's nothing to be done about that, but the reputation of the work has always been very high."
"I'm not saying Higurashi is bad. Even Summer Time Rendering and No Game No Life are genuinely interesting works. But compared to Attack on Titan and Hunter, there is clearly a gap. These Bleach and Naruto things, I feel like even after they start airing their results probably won't come close to what Attack on Titan achieved, let alone Demon Slayer."
"Shirogane-sensei's peak is undoubtedly Demon Slayer. The TV anime ended two years ago with only the final two theatrical films remaining to complete the story. But none of his works since have come close to what Demon Slayer achieved. Attack on Titan's reputation seems comparable, but in terms of commercial value and global influence it is still a level below."
"Shirogane-sensei isn't done yet. He's only twenty-four and you're already deciding his peak. I think the information about Bleach and Naruto released on the official websites of Shirogane Animation and Illumination Production Company is genuinely interesting."
"Next April and July, right? These two anime airing one after another."
"Yes. Last night Illumination Production Company, Ion TV, and Capital TV all released relevant information. Bleach confirmed to start airing on Ion TV next April and Naruto on Capital."
"A ninja anime. That profession was mentioned in Hunter and Demon Slayer. Now we can finally see a ninja-themed anime by Shirogane-sensei himself."
"Let's finish Attack on Titan first. New works? The more I watch the final Titan episodes the more nervous I feel. If this work continues the way it has been, the ending will definitely spark enormous debate. Whether Eren succeeds in destroying the world or not, it will cause massive controversy. And you are already worried about next year's new works?"
"What can I do? My worrying here changes nothing. According to the production process, the final Titan chapters must have been completed long ago. No matter how much anyone complains, the ending of Titan will not change based on viewer pressure."
"That's also true."
"Now we can only hope that Shirogane-sensei presents us with a landmark ending. The solution that we viewers cannot think of might have been thought through by Shirogane-sensei long before the animation project even began."
The first week of January. The three-day New Year holiday.
Shirogane Animation and Illumination Production Company were both closed.
Rei, Miyu, and Misaki went on a short road trip they had planned in advance. On the way, Miyu kept nagging her older sister about getting married, in the manner of a concerned parent rather than a younger sibling.
Misaki responded by nagging Miyu about having children.
Both Rei and Miyu turned red simultaneously.
After the company had gotten onto stable footing, Rei found himself with considerably more freedom than before.
He could choose to be deeply involved in the production of his works. The main benefit of doing so was restoring them as closely as possible to the original versions from his previous life. But if he provided only storyboards and scripts without deep production involvement, the final presentation might end up in a different style.
It was similar to what had happened with Attack on Titan's fourth season in his previous life compared to the first three. After the production team changed, the art style and storyboard approach had been noticeably different. Both were excellent productions, but they were distinct from each other.
His current team was already the best in Japan's anime industry. Giving them full creative authority might result in versions that exceeded the originals from his previous life.
Because of this consideration, Rei was now consciously reducing his direct involvement in the Naruto and Bleach productions. Otherwise, following two long-running series all the way through would exhaust him entirely. However, for certain classic episodes, Ichigo's Bankai, the deaths of Zabuza and Haku, Rock Lee opening the Eight Gates, he would make certain to be fully involved in those specific stages.
"Finally. I feel like a normal person."
Driving toward the sunlight, Rei smiled.
"You lived such a tiring life before; it was purely your own doing." Miyu did not miss the chance. "If I were you and had made this much money, I would have gone to enjoy life long ago."
"Yes, yes. I will follow my wife's teachings from now on. Relax more and work blindly less. Anime is something that can never be finished." Rei laughed.
The first day after returning from the holiday was the broadcast day of the first episode of Titan's final chapters.
Rei had been promoting it for two weeks. The fans in Japan had been looking forward to it for two weeks.
Since early morning, discussions on the internet about how the episode's plot would develop had not stopped. Interspersed among them were complaints from anti-fans mocking Shirogane for not knowing how to end a masterpiece built on such a strong foundation, and predictions that the anime would definitely have a bad ending.
All parties had stopped pretending now that the work had reached its final stages. Media, fans, anti-fans, passersby. A work with viewership exceeding eight percent generated an impact on Japanese society that was difficult to measure. The amount of traffic it represented was something no TV drama, film, variety show, or concert from the same period could compete with.
Starting at 7:30 PM, the viewership ratings for Ion TV continued to climb.
A milestone moment in the history of Japanese television was being born.
For a full half-hour, Ion TV broadcast nothing. The entire duration was filled with live shopping segments for Shirogane anime products, interspersed with a substantial amount of product placement to fill every second of that window.
Among all the major television stations in Japan, which time slot carried the highest advertising fees?
The answer was beyond question.
For Shirogane's anime works, the advertising fees for the half-hour preceding and following each broadcast regularly reached figures that would have seemed implausible in any other context. This was how Ion TV had been able to readily pay hundreds of millions in licensing fees for each season of Attack on Titan.
Yuki Harada finished the dinner she had bought on her way home from work, clearing the last of it just before Attack on Titan started.
Good thing I finished. If I hadn't, I really would have had to eat while watching.
She had done that once before. Ordered a late-night delivery to watch Attack on Titan with. That episode had been the one where Levi's squad was wiped out. She had been unable to eat a single bite afterward and ended up throwing all of it in the bin.
She took a slow breath.
Yuki looked at the television.
The commercials on Fuji TV ended. The screen flickered.
The first episode of the Attack on Titan Final Season began.
Title: Part 1: The Rumbling (1).
If there was a Part 1, there would be a Part 2. If there was a Part 2, there might be a Part 3. She could roughly understand the structural model from the title alone.
The number of episodes for the Final Season had not been released publicly, but with the plot having progressed to this point it could not drag on for too long. The pacing of this anime had been tight across seventy-odd episodes. Shirogane had never shown any inclination toward padding for commercial purposes. They would not ruin what had been built by doing so now.
At the start of the first episode, the screen flashed back.
All the way back to the opening of Season One.
Eren, sitting under a tree. A tear in the corner of his eye.
The girl wearing the scarf held his face.
"See you later, Eren!"
The boy woke up. Mikasa was there.
"It's time to go home."
"Why are you here?" Eren looked at her.
"Were you sleeping that soundly? You're still dazed."
"I feel like I had a very long dream. What was it... I can't remember."
"Eren, why are you crying?"
Yuki let out a quiet breath.
This clip from Season One's first episode was being replayed now. But the feeling of watching it was completely different.
When she had first seen it, she had simply thought the boy was being overly sentimental about a dream he could not remember.
Watching it now.
The dream Eren had was the future. Having inherited the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan, he had seen himself destroying the world to protect his home and his friends. Being abandoned by everyone. Being hated by the world. And then waking up as a child under a tree with Mikasa calling him home for dinner, with none of it having happened yet.
The timeline flickered to the current plot.
Two boys in the woods, burying something small under a tree. Treasure they had stolen somewhere. Talking about the good life they would have because of it someday.
Then, on the distant horizon.
A group of massive entities advancing in formation. Bodies emitting steam. Moving with the particular weight of something that had no urgency because nothing could stop it.
They carried the specific atmosphere of the end of the world.
The scene shifted again, becoming Eren's memories from his own perspective.
"I will kill every last one of them."
This was what Eren had seen through fragments of future memory during his time undercover in Marley. The moment he had arrived in that country, realised the scale of the world outside the walls, and begun to understand the reach of his own power.
He had looked at the pedestrians on the streets of Marley with a silent expression.
"Before long, they will all die. No. They will be killed by me."
"The future holds no path for the survival of Paradis Island. Everything will disappear. People, animals, lives, and dreams."
He had been watching a mother and her young son walk down a street in Marley. And inside himself, one question.
"What would Mama think?"
Yuki's eyes grew hot.
Then Eren's internal voice continued, quiet and carrying the specific weight of something long accepted.
"In fact, the extinction of the Eldians would indeed solve the Titan problem. The issue of the world fearing Titans would no longer exist."
"Such an ending... I cannot accept."
The scene shifted once more. Eren watching a group of men beating a young boy on a Marley street.
In his future memories, this boy would die at his hands.
But at this moment, Eren still stepped in and saved him.
Even knowing what his future self would do to the world, at this present moment he reached out anyway.
"I'm just a half-assed person, just like Reiner!"
Under the pale moon on the mountain peak, the boy smiled at Eren with genuine gratitude.
"Thank you!"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Eren held the boy's shoulders, repeating it as tears kept falling.
The timeline returned to the present.
Under the Rumbling, countless Colossal Titans made landfall from the coastline and stepped onto Marleyan territory.
The boy named Ramzi, who Eren had saved years ago, looked at those red figures on the distant horizon. The people of the entire town were fleeing in a frenzy.
Yuki's mouth hung open.
She saw the elderly in the crowd. The children. The merchants. Everyone running, including Ramzi.
"Will we be trampled to death?" his companion asked through tears.
"No, don't give up." Ramzi told him with conviction.
The scene flashed back to that night again. The first meeting between Eren and Ramzi.
"It's not just to save Paradis Island and the Eldians."
"The reality outside the walls is different from the world in my dreams." Eren wept, exposing his weakness to the boy. He could not tell anyone else about the future he had seen. No one else knew the weight he was carrying. He had always been the boy who would have been satisfied just by seeing the sea.
It was just that he had no choice but to walk this path.
Eren's internal monologue and the scenes of ordinary people being trampled to death under the Rumbling played against each other simultaneously.
Buildings collapsed. Children were crushed underfoot.
"It's different from the world Armin saw in the book."
"When I learned there were humans outside the walls, I was so disappointed."
Ramzi's leg was crushed by a falling boulder. Then the foot of a Colossal Titan descended, carrying scorching heat, and a darkness like the collapsing sky covered his vision.
"This is what I wanted. I wanted to wipe it all away."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Eren kept apologising to Ramzi.
But that was already several years ago.
At this very moment, Ramzi was dying under the foot of a Colossal Titan with no idea that the person killing him was the same boy who had saved his life.
The Colossal Titans flattened the city.
In the entire city, not a single person survived.
Yuki's mouth was wide open.
Until this episode aired, she had supported Eren's Rumbling.
A thousand deaths. Ten thousand. Ten million. Were they not all just numbers in the end? Eren would bear the infamy, but the Eldians would have a future.
But now something felt wrong.
What about Ramzi?
He had been a person at the bottom of society who wanted only to live a decent life and struggled every day just to survive. He was not a saint. He had not committed any great evil. He had just been there.
Why should he be trampled to death in silence?
A thousand deaths, ten thousand deaths, ten million deaths were indeed numbers. But Ramzi's name was not one thousand or ten thousand or ten million. He was not a statistic. He was a living person with a name.
Shirogane had used the death of a boy named Ramzi to tell Yuki something.
The so-called casualties of ten million or a hundred million could not simply be measured by numbers. They were ten million, a hundred million people like Ramzi. People who had lived their lives with effort and struggled in this world the same way anyone struggles.
What was the Rumbling?
What was the destruction of all life?
Eren, to save his own hometown, was doing something a hundred times more devastating to the hometowns of millions of ordinary people who had never made a single decision about the war between Marley and Paradis Island.
What exactly was Eren doing?
This was more brutal than anything the worst villains in every anime Yuki had ever watched had done.
...
Stonesss
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