Topline
The final episode of the wildly popular anime series “Attack on Titan” will air Saturday, marking the end of a 10-year run characterized by top-tier animation and a tragic storyline that captivated western audiences and established it as a pop culture mainstay — two achievements backed by record-breaking ratings and demand.
Attack on Titan’s anime first aired in 2013. (Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for FUNimation … [+]
Key Facts
The show’s finale is a feature-length episode that will premiere at 8 p.m. EDT on Crunchyroll, the anime streaming platform that recognized “Attack on Titan” as one of the most frequently watched anime series during 2020.
“Attack on Titan” has nine entries in IMDBs top 100 TV episodes by rating, rubbing elbows with shows like “Breaking Bad,” “Game of Thrones” and “Succession,” with the anime’s most highly rated episode ranking No. 16.
“Attack on Titan” became the most popular anime TV show in the world from 2022-2023, according to Parrot Analytics.
Parrot Analytics also found the anime was the most in-demand show on Netflix in February 2022, boasting almost 60 times the amount of demand of an average series on Netflix for the month and overtaking shows like “The Walking Dead,” “Stranger Things,” “The Witcher” and “Cobra Kai.”
The show sports a 95% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes backed by a 94% audience score, though it should be noted the show’s seasonal entries on the platform don’t have anywhere near the number of critic ratings traditionally given to mainstream shows.
Big Number
More than 120 million. That’s how many copies the show’s manga, the comic book the show was adapted from, has sold worldwide. The manga has been published in 18 languages in more than 180 countries around the world.
Surprising Fact
Hajime Isayama, the creator of “Attack on Titan,” has publicly touted his love for the “Game of Thrones” franchise, which shares a significant number of parallels with the brash and cruel story of “Attack on Titan.”
Key Background
“Attack on Titan” tells the story of humanity’s last civilization, which is tucked behind a series of towering walls used to keep hordes of humanoid giants, known as titans, at bay. The story specifically follows Eren Yeager, a victim of and the members of the scout corps., a military division tasked with traversing outside the walls and embarking on missions that inevitably turn their understanding of the larger world upside down. The show has become known for its brutal themes of despair and survival and is filled with lovable and morally ambiguous characters, high-adrenaline action set pieces and twists that bring more depth to the world of “Attack on Titan” with each of its four seasons. The show, now more than 10 years old, was adapted from its manga, which was released in 2009.
Further Reading
Attack on Titan showed the industry just how big anime could get (Polygon)
‘Attack On Titan’ Episode ‘Two Brothers’ Is Its Highest Rated Ever (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/11/04/attack-on-titan-finale-premieres-tonight-here-are-the-eye-popping-numbers-behind-the-animes-reign/