English Dub Review: Attack on Titan “Chronicle”

One of the things about how anime is handled in Japan that I both get and don’t get is the existence of the recap movie, which is exactly what it sounds like. Taking basically a clip show of a series and presenting it as a movie, even going so far as presenting that in theaters for a time. The part I do understand about it is how it is often used to hype up a returning show or property in case that story has been off the air for some time and people need a refresher course in case they don’t want to rush through several dozen episodes, as is the case with Attack on Titan. But what I don’t really get is why this is put together as a whole movie, especially when all of these shows are fully available to watch in their entirety through various streaming services. Then again, that wouldn’t make the idea of re-binging the entirety of a series that much more appealing on its own if someone simply does not have that kind of time, and there’s always the possibility that these compilations and recaps might throw in some bit of new material for those who are dedicated enough to come see it. But still, overall, this model is very strange to me.

But this is certainly the case for Attack on Titan, who now releases its fourth and possibly final recap movie, cramming together more content than the last three combined. This is partially due to the fact that the previous three only covered about 12-13 episodes, with the first two recapping the first season in two parts while the third covered the second. Meanwhile, Chronicle zips past the first, second, and both parts of the third season all within its two hour runtime. And unlike the second and third recap movies, it unfortunately doesn’t provide any sort of preview at the end about the upcoming final season. This at first seems odd since said final season is less than two weeks away, so surely something must be ready to show and throw into this big recap to make going through it worth it for folks who were hoping for some new content early. But part of me wonders if that might have something to do with the fact that said final season will be animated by a different studio than the usual one, Wit Studio, in favor of MAPPA, which is known for putting out some recent hits such as Inuyashiki and Sarazanmai, and perhaps they didn’t want to share any new footage for benefitting another studio, though that’s just my cynical brain talking.

As for how the movie allocates its time, it more or less makes sense. Season 1 was the longest and contains probably the most well remembered early moments, so it gets over a third of the movie to showcase them. Season 2 is less than half of that episode count so it gets a little over twenty minutes and probably has the most cuts. This leaves the rest of the movie to Season 3, though the latter half gets the most coverage, possibly due to it being the most recent but also because of how it brings everything home from the beginning, both in a storytelling sense as well as literally, considering it confronts and resolves one of the major threats that started the story off in the first place. In a way, that kind of symmetry actually helps this movie by making it seem like a cohesive narrative, though that’s not to say this is really all that good for outsiders. Those who are watching this have probably rewatched the whole series before this anyway and maybe wanted to check if there was anything new at the end. Though the ultimate goal of hyping people up further before the next season starts is probably achieved.

I usually don’t really like covering recap because its usually a recap episode in the middle of a season, meaning the things that it’s covering are plot elements and character development I’ve already been discussing at length for several weeks by that point and I have to struggle to come up with something new to say. However, the accidental benefit of this being a movie is that I haven’t really talked about Attack on Titan on here since the last season finished awhile ago, so it’s also getting me pumped up for the show’s upcoming return. But in terms of recommending this recap movie to people, I honestly don’t know what to say. Again, this isn’t really for people who haven’t seen the show already, but those who have won’t need this to catch up unless they really only have a couple hours to spare, and aside from a couple extra bits of recorded narration, it’s got nothing new to offer. But if you needed an extra reason to relive all the best moments of the show so far and you’ve got two free hours this Thanksgiving while you’re staying away from family, this isn’t the worst use of your time.