Chapter 230 229
Over the course of the last cour, the shine surrounding the Attack on Titan team had dimmed slightly compared to its previous peak.
It was not that the Royal Government arc was bad. On the contrary, it delivered essential revelations about the world of the series, exposing secrets that completely changed the audience's perception of the story: the protagonist's father had devoured nearly every member of the royal family, and the reason Eren possessed the power of the Titans was precisely because he had devoured his own father.
The problem lay elsewhere.
The first two seasons of Attack on Titan had simply been too good.
Compared to that level of tension, brutality, and emotional impact, the Royal Government arc felt more restrained. Eren's presence was also far too limited, and on the few occasions when he did appear, he was almost always buried under suffering, guilt, or helplessness. For many viewers, watching the first half of the third season felt noticeably weaker than the crushing intensity of the previous two cours.
Even so, that stage had come to an end. The second half of the third season was set to begin airing in April, and Sora had already stated openly in interviews that the second cour would be far more thrilling than the Royal Government arc. Because of that, Attack on Titan fans in Japan and overseas were waiting for the premiere with almost suffocating anticipation.
As a result, when the first episode of the second half of season three aired in early April, the ratings reacted immediately. The numbers rose clearly, as if the audience, which had merely been holding its breath for several months, had finally found a reason to gather in front of their screens again.
But by that point, Yume Animation's attention was no longer focused solely on Attack on Titan.
The studio had invested more than six billion yen into a new animated production called The Battle of the Twin Cities, a project of a scale rarely seen even by international industry standards. Among major Japanese studios, few would dare to bet that much money on a single work. Within Shikoku, it was almost unthinkable.
And after nearly a full year of silence, news had finally emerged.
Over the previous year, Attack on Titan had become a phenomenon not only in Japan, but also across the international market. In the eyes of many specialized animation outlets, the work was already regarded as one of the highest peaks of recent Japanese animation, and that only strengthened Sora's image as an extraordinary creator.
But no one had forgotten something else.
Alongside Attack on Titan, from the very beginning, there had been a second project developing in parallel.
Because of the investment involved, because of the few statements given to the press, and, above all, because of the almost absurd confidence with which Sora had described the work, that anime carried a different kind of weight. In interviews, he had even said that, conceptually, The Battle of the Twin Cities had the potential to surpass Attack on Titan.
That single sentence was enough to turn the project into an obsession within the industry.
The Battle of the Twin Cities.
For an entire year, practically nothing about its production process had been revealed. There was no premiere date, no official character designs, no detailed synopsis, no clear information about the setting, the structure of the story, or the final format of the work.
Nothing.
The only clues came from a few professionals at foreign special-effects companies that had collaborated with Yume Animation. Whenever they mentioned the project, they showed an excitement that was difficult to hide, saying only that the animation was "absurdly stylish" and unlike anything the audience was expecting.
That was enough to leave many fans restless.
In early April, Yume Animation finally released the first official materials: character concept art and fragments of the work's worldbuilding.
Two cities. Two sisters.
The upper city. The lower city.
Piltover, Zaun, Hextech, magic.
Unlike Attack on Titan, whose world rested on a simple and devastating idea - three walls and a titanic threat waiting outside - The Battle of the Twin Cities seemed to be born from a much broader structure. The official website even featured a complete map of the continent of Runeterra, the larger setting in which the two cities were located.
Mount Targon, Ionia, Noxus, Demacia, the Shadow Isles...
Piltover and Zaun, the so-called twin cities, occupied only a small region at the center of that immense continent. On the map, they almost seemed insignificant, as if they were merely one piece among many other forces scattered throughout Runeterra.
But that was not even the most shocking point.
What truly made the internet stop was the visual style of the characters.
Cyberpunk, steampunk, three-dimensional rendering with two-dimensional composition, and a finish that evoked realistic hand-drawn 2D illustration. On paper, it was a strange combination. In the images, however, it was hypnotic. It had weight, texture, light, and grime; an aesthetic that felt modern, decayed, and artisanal all at once.
Even outside Japan, it was difficult to find anything quite like it.
And despite straying considerably from the visual standard many anime fans were used to, the style was not rejected. On the contrary, the more the images spread, the more fascinated the public seemed to become.
Less than a day after the first information was released, The Battle of the Twin Cities was already among the most discussed topics on the leading anime and manga forums in Japan, while also gaining momentum in international communities.
"Whoa, that twin-tailed girl named Jinx is the protagonist? I love this completely unhinged little loli. Just from her design, you can tell she must have a dark side, right?"
"The story still isn't clear, but the setting is insanely detailed! The anime is called The Battle of the Twin Cities, so maybe the main conflict will stay limited to Piltover and Zaun, but the worldbuilding material even talks about magic being forbidden in Demacia. Did Kantoku Sora really draft an entire blueprint for every major force in Runeterra?"
"What am I supposed to do now? I suddenly feel impatient. I'm looking forward to Attack on Titan too, of course, but I fell in love with the style of The Battle of the Twin Cities at first sight."
"With a budget of more than six billion yen, of course they had to invest heavily in the visuals. Otherwise, how could they justify that kind of cost?"
"When is it premiering?! I can't wait anymore!"
"I'm not sure, but this animation has been in production for more than a year. It should already be in the final stages of post-production. Kantoku Sora has started releasing information now... could this be the beginning of the global promotional campaign?"
"The production cost alone already exceeds six billion yen. I heard that Yume Animation and its partner companies had more than a thousand people involved in the project. Considering the cost of this anime and Kantoku Sora's ambition, how much do you think they're still going to spend on marketing?"
"I don't know. I can't even imagine it. How successful does an animation at this level need to be just to recover its investment? How many Blu-rays would it have to sell worldwide? Just thinking about it scares me."
"Don't think this sounds exaggerated just because ordinary TV viewers don't understand the business. Even within the animation industry, many people think the investment in The Battle of the Twin Cities is excessive. Only someone like Kantoku Sora would have enough confidence to believe that this anime will explode in popularity and pay for itself. Honestly, if The Battle of the Twin Cities doesn't reach a level of popularity close to Attack on Titan, turning a profit will be difficult."
"When are they finally going to release a real trailer?! Character designs and worldbuilding material aren't enough!"
"This year we have Attack on Titan and The Battle of the Twin Cities. Next year, we still have Spirited Away for the New Year season and Castle in the Sky for summer. I was born at the right time. It feels like there will always be something to look forward to."
"And it probably won't stop there. With Sora's workaholic personality, there's no way he'll be satisfied with only two animated films next year. Maybe more new projects will appear."
"If that's true, then all I can say is that Sora is a monster. He can create, supervise, and manage several projects at the same time."
The partial reveal of The Battle of the Twin Cities was enough to shake the global animation industry.
The discussion generated by those few images and pieces of information, at certain moments, even surpassed the noise surrounding the second half of Attack on Titan's third season. Part of that, of course, came from the paid press campaign carried out by Yume Animation. The studio knew exactly where to plant rumors, when to release artwork, and how to feed the public's curiosity without revealing too much.
But the main factor was something else.
The entire world had already built expectations around Sora.
After all, in the eyes of the fans, he was a genius creator who had never stopped evolving since his debut. Each work seemed better than the last. Even now, Attack on Titan was still treated as a masterpiece of almost absurd scale, a production many believed would be difficult to surpass.
But who could guarantee it?
Who could say with certainty that Sora's next anime would not be an even greater work?
That was why The Battle of the Twin Cities came to be anticipated with such intensity.
The struggle over those two cities, before it had even begun on screen, was already setting the entire world ablaze.
In the following days, Sora finally revealed the most important piece of information about The Battle of the Twin Cities on the official website.
The premiere date.
July.
The summer season.
According to Japanese time, The Battle of the Twin Cities would be broadcast simultaneously in twenty-seven countries, every Saturday at eight o'clock in the evening.