Since the live-action of Attack on Titan‘s release, many fans of the award-winning manga/anime and newcomers to the franchise alike have been scrambling to make sense of the movie. While some movie-goers found the movie adaptation entertaining, most critics and fans found it a tad disappointing, citing the cast’s over-theatrical performance unnecessary and the usage of the 3D manoeuvre gear a little tacky. As a causal fan of the anime, I was disappointed with how much the movie deviated from the plot and found the story-telling a little messy — it’s saving grace being the impressive use of CGI for the titans (check out our review of it here).

After watching part 1 of the movie, however, original manga artist Hajime Isayama commented on the controversy surrounding the film’s departure from the original work. He stated “the movie is not meant to reproduce the original, it is more important and more desired to make it into an interesting work, and that in my opinion, has been achieved.”

Then the trailer dropped we found ourselves excited for Attack on Titan part 2: End of the World

Part 1 of the movie ended with a cliff-hanger with a failed mission to repair the hole in the wall that was busted by the colossal titan, and with the revelation that Eren could transform into a Titan and yet retain his intellect. At the end of the movie, Eren was injured, and the mystery behind his life deepens.

Despite the minor disappointments from part 1, I found myself hyped for the sequel to the movie. I looked forward to seeing how the story would unfold and desperately needed answers. Did they manage to repair the hole in the wall that was created by the colossal titan? How will everything eventually resolve? Most importantly, what happens to the love-triangle between Eren, Mikasa and Shikishima?! I needed to make sense of the movie.

Part 2 resumes the story, starting off with a montage of part 1 and then picking up from where it left off. (Newcomers to the movie-franchise might want to catch the first part of the movie to be able to follow the plot smoothly.) The mystery surrounding mankind and the Titans were slowly unraveled throughout the length of the movie.

While part 1 of the movie featured many of the regular man-eating Titans, part 2 focused on the Titans with intellect (more Titans like Eren) and showcased some spectacular martial arts-style fighting scenes. Apart from the action, part 2 gave viewers a glimpse into the morbid World of the movie. Some explanations behind the existence of the Titans were provided, and the movie hinted at something more than meets the eye as it ended — be sure to stay till the end of the rolling credits for more of the film! In Otaku USA, they considered the Attack on Titan films in Japan’s current political climate, whereby the ruling coalition has just passed a series of bills that allows Japan’s military to take stronger actions overseas.

To be honest, the sequel was not too bad. Definitely, it strayed a lot from the original manga, but it was a refreshing and introspective take on the movie with loads of humour sprinkled that are bound to make viewers laugh out loud. Attack on Titans: End of the World live-action movie will be a good blockbuster film to catch in the cinemas.

Fans can catch the movie a day before it’s release in Singapore’s theatres on the 23rd September (Wednesday). Sneak preview tickets are now up for grabs at: Golden Village, Cathay Cineplexes and WE Cinemas.

The Fifth Parlour would like to thank Encore Films for the invitation to the media screening of Attack on Titan: End of World live-action movie.