Summary
Attack on Titan season 4's time skip introduces new characters and offers a fresh perspective on the story. The time skip demonstrates the series' anti-war message by humanizing the “enemy” and promoting peace. Isayama uses the timeskip in a unique way, advancing the story and bringing the characters together to create a heartbreaking yet brilliant ending.
Time travel and time skipping are extremely common in anime, but Attack on Titan brings a fresh and surprising twist to this usual story. The series' time skip doesn't happen until the final season, creating a departure from the established story that no one expected. In an interview with Crunchyroll, creator Hajime Isayama spoke about his intentions behind season four's time skip and how it contributes to the larger story of the series.
Attack on Titan's fourth season's time jump went beyond what anyone expected, introducing a new cast of characters and abandoning the characters previously established in the first half of the season. Instead of focusing on the Eldians like the first three seasons of the show did, season four took a unique approach by telling a new story, that of the Marleyans.
Even though this completely changed the show, it worked out very well, setting up the second half of the season and the finale beautifully. shows the situation through a different perspective than that of Eren and the Eldians.
Attack on Titan's Time Skip offers a fresh perspective and sets up the finale
Introducing fans to the “enemy” is a shocking twist that completely changes the story of Attack on Titan
In an interview, Isayama explained his plans and why he chose this angle at the beginning of season four. Including completely new characters and none that existed before was a bold and almost unprecedented move for a new installment of an anime series, but Isayama's brave choice made season four one of Attack on Titan's most dramatic, emotionally engaging, and intense seasons. Not yet. Furthermore, the movie also jumps forward, which is a more common anime story. However, Isayama creatively used this expression to introduce a series of new characters beyond Paradise Island.
Other anime series often use time jumps to skip necessary but uninteresting aspects of the show, such as training or characters growing up and preparing for future battles. . While this may be an aspect of Attack on Titan's time skip feature, the series differs from others such as Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and One Piece, in making time skips a integral part of the story and a tool for creating new heroes, rather than just a way to skip over filler material. Isayama mentioned that he wanted to “switch the perspective to the enemy side,” a creative and thought-provoking decision.
The time jumps in Attack on Titan are markedly different from other Anime time jumps
Other anime like Naruto use simple timeskips to get through the training sections, but in Attack on Titan, the metaphor is important to the story.
Isayama's motivation in revealing the Marleyans in this way makes a lot of sense, because At this point in Attack on Titan, viewers are only getting old information about the opposition. By watching the scenes of the Marleyans, learning their stories, and realizing that they have the same fears, struggles, hopes, and dreams as the Eldians, they become more humane and sympathetic. This makes the timeskip one of the most brilliant aspects of Attack on Titan, as it is the catalyst for viewers to realize that the “enemies” of the series aren't really enemies after all.
“It's really something I've always wanted to do as a storyteller. First, we have no information about the characters we get to know and switch perspective to the enemy – or those we think are the enemy – and begin to explore their point of view. . And then, just as we begin to get to know and sympathize with their point of view, we introduce the main characters as their enemies and how the audience will feel about it. This is out of my control but it is always something I want to do and intend to do.” – Hajime Isayama, Crunchyroll
In the show itself, it takes longer for the Eldians and Marleyans to reach some form of peace and begin working together. However, the time skip contributed to this, by giving viewers the opportunity to meet and grow to love the Marleyans alongside the Eldians, as each group realizes that it is the war and the Titans that are the real enemy, not the opposing group. This is a pivotal and touching message, and one of the most memorable and important in the entire series, demonstrating the anti-war and anti-hatred stance that Isayama deliberately incorporated. like the true meaning of Attack on Titan.
The Time Skip introduces new characters and demonstrates the futility of war
Attack on Titan deliberately depicts the inevitability and horror that war brings
The time skip is largely responsible for the story's resolution and the characters' eventual realization that perhaps war isn't the answer after all.
Although a perfect ending seems too unrealistic, at the end of the series, there is undeniable hope. In interviews, Isayama has explained that Attack on Titan does not end with a final solution, specifically because this seems unlikely since war will not be completely abolished in a single way. simple.. Yet the Eldians, the Marleyans, and others around the world came together to fight for true, lasting freedom, community, and liberty. Nonviolent solutions to world problems. Former enemies finally meeting each other and understanding each other as people rather than as targets in war contributed to this peace.
Time skips are largely responsible for the story's resolution and the characters eventually realize that perhaps war isn't the answer after all. In this way, the use of time skipping in Attack on Titan is the most creative and there really is no other series that uses time skipping so cleverly to advance the plot and engage the characters together. Isayama's talented genius is evident in this choice, and even if the time jump is initially shocking and confusing, it leads to Attack the giant to one of the most heartbreaking yet brilliantly written conclusions of all time.
Source: Crunchyroll
