Below are major spoilers for Attack on Titan's divisive ending. Beware if you haven't finished the anime!
There are anime out there that truly stand the test of time, and one of those is certainly Attack on Titan. The final season was released between 2020 and 2023, and now, a new compilation film titled Attack on Titan: THE LAST ATTACK, released for a limited time in U.S. theaters, compiles the last two epic episodes into one long film—but for every moment that the ending and final season destroyed me, the post-credits scene was an absolute joy, and the voice-actors agree.
Bryce Papenbrook and Trina Nishimura are the English dub actors behind Eren and Mikasa. In honor of the compilation film's release, they were able to voice over the characters once more in the newly added post-credit sequence – which takes place in an alternate reality with the same characters, just in a normal world. Papenbrook said it was a "delight" because it was a joy after all the emotions he felt voicing the character:
For me, it was a delight because I had gone through this cathartic experience of laying my heart out on the table and letting everything kind of out…to close my time with the show. And then to get a call, 'Hey, you want to work on Attack on Titan?' It was, like, the best thing ever. I'm like, 'Wait, what are we doing?' So yes, it was a great surprise, and I want to remind everyone to always stay after the credits on shows and movies like this. That's really important.
The post-credit scene features the core three characters – Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. This time, they are not soldiers in the Scout regiment or experiencing the most heartbreaking deaths known to man – they are simply teenagers going to see a movie (Attack on Titan). As someone whose heart has been cracked over and over again thanks to this show, I find this lovely.
Trina Nishimura even commented that while they are in the real world now, there are so many callbacks to the show itself and Attack on Titan's ending of cyclical violence, as well as characters that eagle-eyed fans can spot if they look hard enough:
There are nods throughout that scene that tie back throughout the show. If you're watching closely, it's still repeating the same theme – that the human nature is cyclical and violence can be cyclical – and as it's closing out, you see the progression of the tree getting larger and larger and a city being erected and a city torn down and the tree getting larger and the tree getting larger, and then two little kids walking into the tree at the end. And then this final, final scene, the final thing you see is the tree, and it's bigger than the city. And I think that's really, really cool. If you have a keen eye, you'll also see certain characters, not just, but other characters throughout the scene. It's really cool.
When it comes to some of the best anime to start your journey on, Attack on Titan is a really great pick. Nishimura is totally spot-on that even the post-credit scene is still connected to so many amazing moments and characters throughout the show.
There's plenty to love about the anime, from the most badass non-Titan characters to the actual Titans themselves to the worldbuilding that we get to experience. But at the end of the day, it really is this theme – that human nature and violence can just become this endless cycle that is hard to break out of -- that sticks out.
It's kind of crazy that somehow a simple post-credit scene is still able to hit that message while still being a breath of fresh air from the pain and drama we went through during this show.
While Attack on Titan has come to a close, who knows what the future will hold? No anime out there will beat the AOT story arcs or the themes that this series delivered. But for now, at least I can remember my favorite characters as everyday people living their lives instead of dying on the battlefield. Yeah… I think I'll go and rewatch that post-credit scene once more.
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