Starting Attack on Titan
Never seen an episode? This page tells you in ten minutes what you need to know, without giving away a single thing you ought to discover for yourself.
Completely spoiler-free
Nothing on this page will spoil your viewing. Anything that goes beyond the opening episodes sits behind a spoiler block.
What is it about?
Humanity has lived behind three enormous ring walls for a hundred years, because giants that eat people roam the land outside. One day a boy watches that wall be breached after all, and joins the army to fight back. You really do not need to know any more than that to begin.
The opening episodes are brutal, classic adventure storytelling: training, comradeship, aerial combat with a sort of grappling harness. From roughly halfway through, the series turns into something far more political and far heavier. Anyone who recommends it with the line ‘it isn’t about what you think it’s about’ is quite right.
Is this for me?
| If you like… | Then this is… |
|---|---|
| Tension, mysteries and long-form build-up | one of the finest series there is |
| Characters who really can die | merciless, but never gratuitous |
| Political drama and moral grey areas | exactly your kind of series from season 3 |
| Cheerful, light-hearted anime | probably not your thing |
| Little violence or blood | not recommended — it is explicit |
How much time does it take?
94 episodes of roughly 24 minutes, plus two long specials of well over an hour each. Allow about 40 hours for the whole series. Spread over a few months, that works out at two or three episodes a week.
Five things that can be confusing
The final season was released in four instalments: Part 1 (2020–2021), Part 2 (2022) and then two long specials (March and November 2023). Together they form a single season of 28 episodes plus the two specials.
The two closing specials were later cut up into short episodes as well (numbers 89 to 94). Some services show those separate parts, others the long version. You miss nothing either way.
No. The anime tells the whole story. The manga gives more detail in the final chapters and has a slightly different closing image.
No. Those two Japanese films stand apart from the series and are recommended by almost nobody.
The Japanese version with subtitles is the standard; the English dub is solid and covers the whole run.
Keep reading
Last updated on .