Chapter 217 216 - Development
Over the next two weeks, the anime's story continued to move forward little by little.
Eren, the protagonist, officially joined the Survey Corps alongside Mikasa, Armin, and the others because of his ability to transform into a Titan. From that point on, he was placed under the direct surveillance and control of Captain Levi and the other officers.
At precisely that critical moment, the commander of the Survey Corps made an unexpected decision: he would take the new recruits, who had only just entered the unit, on an expedition beyond the Walls.
On top of that, the two episodes aired during this period left several strange pieces scattered throughout the narrative.
The two Titans that had been captured by the military were mysteriously killed.
The overall structure of Attack on Titan was finally beginning to lay the groundwork for a new arc and even greater developments.
Overseas, after two consecutive weeks of broadcast, the anime had already reached its sixth episode.
And during that time, the popularity of Attack on Titan outside Japan began to rise at an astonishing pace.
Although the four foreign broadcasters working with Sora had not given the work the best time slots in their schedules, each for their own reasons, Attack on Titan was exactly the kind of anime that suited a late-night broadcast. Its unusual, brutal, and constantly unpredictable story quickly attracted a massive number of overseas fans.
The best kind of promotion, after all, did not come from pouring money into advertising or buying up resources.
It came from the fans themselves spreading the word.
Many people within the Japanese animation industry still looked at Sora with envy, secretly hoping that his anime would fail completely overseas.
But a truly powerful work was not something that could be easily contained by cultural barriers.
Although the ending of Attack on Titan might still have its issues, everything before the sea scene was, without question, top-tier material.
More than that, this kind of work seemed to appeal even more strongly to foreign audiences than to certain parts of the Japanese audience.
In just a few weeks, even without a large-scale promotional campaign, Attack on Titan entered the top ten most popular animated series currently airing overseas, and its audience rating had already exceeded 4.6% in the countries where it was being broadcast.
The success of Attack on Titan overseas caused Japanese fans of the work, along with various domestic media outlets, to pay closer and closer attention to the phenomenon.
As for Sora, he was not particularly concerned with the short-term popularity or overseas ratings of Attack on Titan.
In simple terms, judging from the current situation, it was only a matter of time before the work became just as popular outside Japan as it already was within the country.
Wider recognition would come with time.
What truly held his attention was the increase in emotional points.
Over the past three weeks, the emotional value he received each day had nearly doubled compared to before.
After all, growth in viewership naturally brought a proportional increase in emotional engagement.
Overseas, orders for products related to Attack on Titan, as well as his previous anime, had also begun to climb noticeably.
At the same time, the emotional value accumulating in his exchange area was rising at a rapid pace.
"After five years of building our foundation... we finally look a little like a multinational company."
It could be said that if Sora wanted to turn Yume Animation into a top-tier company on the level of giants like Nintendo or Disney from his previous life, one that possessed a vast number of major intellectual properties...
Then this was still only the beginning.
A top-tier franchise like Pokémon had not become popular simply because a work was released and then left to grow on its own without guidance, planning, or management.
A company needed channels, resources, and strength. Then, it had to combine all of that with the true charm of its intellectual properties in order to create a success of that scale.
Whether it was Attack on Titan now, or Battle of the Twin Cities, which was scheduled to air the following year, Yume Animation's overseas expansion could be seen as the foundation necessary for these works to be born in Japan and, from there, conquer the world.
"Even so, it took five years to get here. And when I think about it, the road so far has actually been far smoother than expected," Sora murmured, letting out a quiet sigh.
He flipped through the documents in his hands while examining the company's development plan for the next year or two.
Sora sank into a heavy, thoughtful silence.
To be honest, in this world, companies like Nintendo and Disney from his previous life still existed, continuing to earn staggering amounts of money in the industry thanks to the weight of old, well-established franchises.
If Sora wanted to bring his own company to that same level, he would probably have to face direct competition with those monsters in the next few years.
Although, at present, his company's core business still relied mainly on animation.
However, if he truly wanted to revitalize a large number of important intellectual properties and maximize their global influence, diversification would be necessary. Manga, novels, games, television dramas, and live-action films would all have to enter the board as well.
Sora understood animation.
But when it came to related fields, especially games, one of the most important parts of the ACG sector - anime, comics, and games - he knew almost nothing.
After silently considering the several billion yen sitting in the company's accounts, Sora called the head of operations and asked him to come meet him.
He wanted the team to investigate which game companies around the world possessed excellent production potential but were suffering from poor management and stood on the brink of bankruptcy.
He did not have time to build a top-tier game division from scratch.
The best approach was to directly acquire an already existing company.
In any case, the company's financial situation was quite comfortable. Problems that could be solved with money were not exactly major problems to him.
A few days later, episode 17 of Attack on Titan aired.
The plot of that episode completely shattered the sense of calm continuity that had been built over the previous three weeks.
Eren and the others were divided into groups and followed the Survey Corps beyond the Walls. However, before they had advanced very far, one of the unit's formations was attacked by an abnormal Titan.
At first, many viewers, including the narrator himself, believed that this Female Titan was merely an abnormal type of creature.
She survived while killing several members of the Survey Corps and nearly captured Reiner, one of Eren's companions. Reiner only managed to escape because he was strong enough to wound the Female Titan's hand and break free.
In addition, Armin noticed that after fighting Reiner, the Female Titan immediately changed direction and headed straight toward Eren's position...
The episode ended exactly at that crucial point.
An abnormal Titan suddenly attacking members of the Survey Corps could still be considered normal.
But behavior that deliberate...
After the episode aired, Japanese fans of Attack on Titan erupted into complete chaos.
Everyone had been watching this anime for four or five months. How could they not understand the basic logic of the work by now?
Whenever a Titan showed clear intent and intelligent behavior...
It inevitably meant that the one controlling that Titan was... a human being.
"So, in other words, this Female Titan is also a human in disguise?"
"This is insane. We still haven't figured out who the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan are, and now a Female Titan shows up too?"
"How many mystery pits is this anime going to keep digging, Kantoku Sora? For the love of God, please stop digging! I'm so curious I'm about to explode!"
"Damn it, who is this Female Titan? Why was she able to go after Eren and the Survey Corps the moment they left the Walls? Is she someone high-ranking inside the Walls? Otherwise, how would she know the unit's movements?"
"I don't understand anything anymore... the story has turned into a complete tangle."
"The plot of Attack on Titan stopped being a regular monster-fighting anime after Eren transformed. It turned into a suspense story about uncovering the identities of the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan. Now they've added a Female Titan too, making everything even more confusing. I feel like my IQ and imagination aren't enough..."
"And why can Eren transform into a Titan? Where did that ability come from? In the earlier story, there was only that scene where his father injected him with something, gave him the basement key, and told him to always return to their hometown because all the secrets were hidden there. After that, Eren's father disappeared completely. What happened to him? Was he killed by some hidden force?"
"Could he have been killed by the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan?"
"I don't get it. The ability for a human to transform into a Titan sounds cool, but when you think about it, it doesn't make sense at all. I'm not sure whether Kantoku Sora will be able to explain all of this clearly in the upcoming episodes."
"Also, Commander Erwin of the Survey Corps is unbelievably strange. In episode 15, the two Titans captured by the unit were mysteriously killed, which clearly indicated a hidden crisis inside the military. Even so, he still insisted on taking all the new recruits outside the Walls to conduct some kind of investigation. If he isn't a good guy, I'll eat three kilos of shit..."
"I understand now. Erwin is the Armored Titan, and Levi is the Ultimate Titan!"
"How do you know?"
"Look at him. His face is way too stern, just like the Armored Titan's stern face. And Levi is 1.60 meters tall. Kantoku Sora made him that height thinking we fans wouldn't notice that this little 1.60-meter guy is actually a giant... We're incredibly smart!"
"Brother, I think your idea is brilliant, but honestly, you're just guessing based on the art style!"
"But seriously, I've suspected from the beginning that Levi and Erwin would become the main villains later. Levi kicked the protagonist several times, which clearly hints that he'll become Eren's enemy. As for Erwin, his expression basically screams, 'I am a scheming bastard...'"
"No. I think those two are completely normal! Don't treat them like villains just because they weren't friendly to Eren at the beginning."
"Attack on Titan has already reached episode 17, and it still hasn't revealed any of the core plot points. I'm so frustrated I can barely wait for the second season to fill in these gaps!"
"Why does this anime have to end after only two seasons? Wouldn't it be better to keep going for several more?"
"Hahaha, fans of Natsume Yuujinchou and RW0 thought the same thing. Even now, there's still no sign of sequels for either of those two anime. I don't want Attack on Titan to end up like that."
The more the fans watched, the more questions they had about the plot.
Episode 17 of Attack on Titan opened a new arc within the story.
And that completely eliminated the boredom almost every fan had felt after three weeks of narrative buildup.
In addition, the episode reached an audience rating of 4.46%, setting a new record for Attack on Titan.
The number of viewers was also drawing closer and closer to the peak recorded by the final episode of Clannad.
Two weeks later, episodes 18 and 19 of Attack on Titan were released.
These two episodes explained to the audience why Erwin had taken the risk of bringing Eren outside the Walls so soon after accepting him into the Survey Corps.
After fighting Reiner, the Female Titan ran directly toward Eren.
Eren, mounted on horseback, was quickly caught up to by the Female Titan. At that moment, however, he was protected by Levi's entire squad.
And Eren obeyed the order, luring the Female Titan into the trap Erwin had prepared in the great forest.
Since Erwin had been able to set up that trap in advance, the objective of the operation became quite clear.
Traps were prepared beforehand to capture prey. But when would prey lose the ability to resist and move freely?
When bait was placed inside the trap to draw it in.
Eren was the bait Erwin had prepared for the Female Titan.
In episodes 14 and 15, the many strange incidents inside the Walls and within the military had made Commander Erwin realize that something was wrong.
To put it plainly, even viewers had been able to deduce, the moment they saw Eren transform into a Titan, that the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan who had appeared at the beginning of the story were also controlled by humans.
The anime had made it very clear that Erwin possessed exceptional intelligence.
How could he possibly fail to notice something like that?
He had simply used Eren as bait.
The question was: what did he want to catch?
Only, instead of drawing out the Colossal Titan or the Armored Titan, the one who fell into the trap was the Female Titan.
The story left the audience so tense that many of them could barely stay seated.
The scene in which the Female Titan, who had brutally massacred at least a dozen ordinary Survey Corps soldiers in her attempt to capture Eren, ended up pierced and restrained by countless steel cables was a true burst of adrenaline for viewers.
This also caused the popularity of Erwin, the man who had devised the plan, and Levi, who had carried it out to the end without hesitation, to rise sharply.
Since episode 14, when Captain Levi and Commander Erwin appeared, the focus of the story had begun to shift from Eren to these two supporting characters.
Although Eren was the protagonist, his presence in the plot had become relatively limited. Even when he repeatedly tried to transform into a Titan to fight the Female Titan pursuing him from behind, he was stopped.
Petra, Levi's energetic and adorable subordinate, held him back, arguing that humanity could not risk Eren being defeated and captured by the enemy. She asked him to wait.
Even so, the way Erwin and Levi were presented in these two episodes left many Attack on Titan fans extremely excited.
Erwin, the cunning and brilliant commander, seemed like a formidable warrior within the series, someone capable of rivaling Mikasa in presence and strategic force. Together with Levi, who killed Titans as easily as slicing melons, the two formed a terrifying force.
The characters in that anime possessed a charm that was difficult to describe.
Under these circumstances, August passed quickly and quietly in Japan.
Although the growth of Attack on Titan's viewership had slowed, the numbers were still continuing to rise.
Even so, its performance was still far from the record set by CL.
On the other hand, the progress of Attack on Titan overseas was far faster than anyone had expected.
In just a few weeks, even though it was airing in late-night slots, the anime's audience rating in the four foreign countries officially surpassed the 5% mark.
There was no doubt that, in Japan, it was the most popular work of the moment, firmly occupying first place.
In the four foreign countries, however, it had also already entered the top three anime airing during that period.
Even in the neighboring island nation and the bloc of Western countries, the popularity, viewership, and volume of discussion surrounding Attack on Titan had risen into the top two positions in their respective regions.
Although Sora's fame and recognition in those two regions were not yet particularly high, and the promotional budget was also insufficient, Attack on Titan still managed to cause a real stir in the international animation market simply because of its quality.
The spread of the work was so fast that even the Japanese animation industry had failed to foresee it.
Not even Sora himself had expected it.
Only two months had passed.
Attack on Titan had already established its name and secured a position in the top three, or even higher, in terms of influence and viewership when compared with other works released during the same period in the animation markets of those four foreign countries.
Naturally, the Japanese media immediately seized on this phenomenon and rode the wave.
[The anime Attack on Titan achieves tremendous success overseas; countless foreign fans attempt to access Japanese websites and forums to ask about upcoming plot developments]
[The number of international Attack on Titan fans grows at an unbelievable speed; the work may become the best anime of the year on a global scale]
[In the past, although many small and medium-sized countries purchased broadcast rights for Japanese anime, it was rare to see a work like Attack on Titan so easily surpass local productions overseas, rising rapidly in viewership, reputation, and popularity in such a short period of time. Indeed, a great anime can cross national and cultural borders!]
[A brilliant light for the Japanese animation industry!]
[Sora's first anime series released globally confirms success beyond expectations; Attack on Titan may become a world-famous work!]
[The popularity and attention Attack on Titan has gained overseas are enough to shame many professionals in the Japanese animation industry. Innovation is everything... Without Kantoku Sora's vision, the market might still be dominated by heroic isekai adventure anime]
While Attack on Titan continued to grow in popularity around the world, all the fans believed that the next part of the story would follow an obvious path: the protagonist and the Survey Corps would capture the Female Titan, torture her to extract information about the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan, and then Eren would finally achieve his revenge.
At the end of August...
Episode 21 of Attack on Titan aired.
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