Chapter 221 220 - Influence
Overseas...
Before Sora became famous, anime produced in Japan had already gained a certain level of popularity abroad. Even so, it had not yet reached the kind of influence that could truly draw the focused attention of foreign anime fans.
It was similar to taekwondo in Korea during Sora's previous life. Most people knew what it was. They recognized the name and had some vague impression of the sport, but only a small number had ever studied it in depth.
The tastes of one region were not always accepted by people from another. Something beloved by viewers in the south might feel strange, or even unacceptable, to part of the audience in the north. This was even more natural when cultures, habits, and ways of consuming entertainment were separated by an entire sea.
But after Re:Zero, Claire, and Steins;Gate achieved tremendous success outside Japan, Sora had already gathered a large fanbase across many countries and regions around the world.
As for Attack on Titan... its global popularity in another reality had already proven how accessible the work was. Its story had the power to cross borders, and the premise of the anime was something most people could understand, accept, and enjoy. Because of that, in this world as well, the same phenomenon was recreated.
With the support of its earliest foreign fans, Attack on Titan began spreading across different countries.
In only a few months, on Nit.com, the largest overseas forum dedicated to film and animation, discussion threads related to Attack on Titan rose to second place in popularity.
And that "second place" did not refer only to the animation category. Within the anime section, Attack on Titan had already secured first place by a wide margin. What was truly impressive was that, when all categories on the site were considered - films, animation, novels, manga, and games - the work had still climbed to second place overall.
A few days after episode 25 of Attack on Titan's first season finished airing, Blu-rays and related merchandise began selling overseas. Its popularity index continued to rise without pause, approaching even Black King, the fantasy game that had just been released internationally.
Foreign media also began giving extensive coverage to this Japanese anime that had gained overwhelming popularity in only three months.
However, before the titan series, Sora's works had never been broadcast on foreign television stations. Because of that, although they were known in certain circles, they had never attracted much attention from the general public.
Now that the craze had begun, international media outlets started offering praise that was almost excessive.
[A masterpiece by Sora, one of Japan's leading animation Kantokus! Attack on Titan defeats Fantasy Boys, the new anime from veteran Western Union animation studio FEX, and becomes the highest-rated animated work in the region.]
The wind from the sea crossed continents, and Attack on Titan became wildly popular in the Western world within a short period of time. It was difficult to imagine that an Eastern animation creator could produce a work so closely aligned with Western aesthetic sensibilities.
Who said human beings stood at the top of the food chain? If there existed creatures ten times stronger than humans in every aspect, what fate would await mankind? Would humanity end up like the people in Attack on Titan, building walls and sacrificing freedom just to survive like livestock?
[The most popular animated series in Japan will premiere in October on TIT, the second-largest television station in the Western Union, at 8 p.m., only three hours after its original broadcast on Giant TV in Japan!]
[Many Western Union anime fans had been secretly browsing NatsuYume, Japan's largest anime forum, in order to follow Attack on Titan updates as early as possible. But that is about to become a thing of the past. Attack on Titan will now be broadcast on the same day through Southern Union TV, Western Union TV, Pix TV, Lanlu Republic TV, Loke TV, and Kyoto TV in Japan... Perhaps this year, Attack on Titan will become the most popular anime in the world!]
[Japanese works rarely achieve broad success in the Western market, just as Western anime, films, and television dramas do not always perform well in Japan. Could the sudden rise of Attack on Titan this year change the aesthetic tastes of anime fans around the world?]
[Attack on Titan's first season broke viewership records in its broadcast slot across five of the world's largest economies... Will the second season begin strongly only to decline afterward?]
Overseas, thanks to the combined efforts of several partner television stations, the name Attack on Titan began appearing frequently in articles, columns, and news reports.
It was not only Japanese viewers who were eagerly waiting for the second season. Foreign audiences were waiting for it with the same intensity.
On top of that, attention surrounding The Battle of the Two Cities, which was still being produced by Yume Animation, also grew considerably.
October was finally approaching.
The second season of Attack on Titan went on air.
The first half of the episode focused on Eren and Annie, showing them resting and recovering after the battle.
But in the second half...
Mysterious titans suddenly appeared inside the wall where humans lived. When the soldiers went to investigate why titans had broken through Wall Rose, they were attacked by those mindless creatures.
Then, a titan resembling an enormous gorilla appeared.
Its arms were far too long. Its body was tall and imposing. And above all...
It could speak.
More than that, it was able to control other mindless titans and make them obey its commands.
It captured one of the soldiers and began investigating the situation of the humans living within the walls.
The first episode of Attack on Titan's second season was only the beginning, yet it was enough to leave every fan stunned. Who could have imagined that, before the identities of the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan were even revealed, another intelligent titan would appear?
In the second episode of the season, Sasha, known for her almost absurd love of food, saved a little girl from a village during a titan attack.
Connie, one of Eren's fellow trainees, returned to his hometown and found a titan lying among the ruins of his own house. What made it truly disturbing was that the creature's features looked very similar to his mother's.
"I feel like that titan looks like my mother..."
Those words sent unease spreading through Attack on Titan's fanbase around the world.
That could not be true, right?
There was no way that was really his mother.
A week later, the third episode of the second season shifted its focus to two girls from the scouting group: Christa and Ymir, who were trying to deal with the mindless titans that had suddenly appeared inside the walls.
Christa was hesitant, but kind by nature. Ymir, on the other hand, always seemed to hold an affection for her that was difficult to explain.
Across the first three episodes of Attack on Titan's second season, Eren, the protagonist, had less than five minutes of total screen time.
Armin, Christa, Connie, Sasha, Deputy Commander Hange, and several other supporting characters began taking center stage.
The plot of these three episodes mainly revolved around developing them.
Some viewers found this part of the story quite engaging. There was tension, quiet revelation, small gestures, and dialogue that hinted at something much larger moving beneath the surface.
But viewers who preferred direct, violent, and intense close-quarters battles felt that this portion of the story was somewhat slow and lacking in immediate impact.
Then, at the end of the third episode, Connie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Ymir, Christa, and the others who had gained prominence in the early part of the season were trapped at the top of a tower by a group of mindless titans.
The tower where they had taken refuge was on the verge of collapsing under the pressure of the invasion.
At that desperate moment, the ape-like titan appeared in the distance, watching the group surrounded atop the structure from far away.
The enemy attack had come without warning. What exactly was that beast-like titan? Why had mindless titans appeared inside a wall that, until then, had seemed impossible to breach?
The mysteries surrounding the titans continued to pile up.
Even so, the audience could vaguely sense that an enormous storm was about to form.
Why had Connie's village been left without a single resident, with only a female titan who looked far too much like his mother remaining behind to destroy the houses?
Was it truly possible that a titan with a face resembling Connie's mother had appeared in his hometown by sheer coincidence?
And that beast titan... what was its true purpose?
More and more clues began to emerge, foreshadowing future events. At the same time, the narrative finally seemed to be filling in, little by little, some of the gaps it had left behind.
During this period, Sora's fans practically dominated the top threads on NatsuYume.
"Intelligent titans evolved from humans. So is it possible that mindless titans also came from humans?"
"Is that even a question? The clues in this story almost always point directly to the ending."
"Then how exactly was the world of this anime constructed?"
"Are titans transformed humans?"
"Oh my God, this makes no sense at all."
"I don't understand it either, but Sora will definitely explain everything later. There's no need to panic."
"At first glance, the recent episodes seem a little dull because they're mostly dialogue. But in reality, all of it is preparation for what comes next!"
"Now everything depends on how Christa and Reiner, trapped in that tower after working together, are going to find a way out."
Because the story had not yet invested heavily in intense action scenes, the premiere ratings for Attack on Titan's second season did not show any major increase.
The numbers remained steady, fluctuating between 6.6% and 6.7%.
Overseas, the situation was similar. Even during prime time, viewership remained around 5.7%. Still, in general, the fans showed considerable patience.
Longtime anime viewers could sense that the current narrative was laying the groundwork for future developments.
With so much attention given to the supporting characters, it felt as though everything was slowly moving toward an explosive turning point.
The end of October was already approaching.
Another weekend arrived, and with it came the broadcast day for the fourth episode of Attack on Titan's second season.
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