Rumors have been circulating for quite some time that they highly anticipated second season of "Attack on Titan" has been delayed, and a recent interview suggests that those suspicions may very well be right, though not for the reason that many had expected.
Initial rumors stated that Wit Studio had pushed back the release of the second season of "Attack on Titan" because of the lack of manga material available, however an interview suggests that the problem lies with the fact that the studio is already producing another anime series for the 2016 spring season: "Kabaneri Of The Iron Fortress."
This latest revelation comes thanks to an interview with series creator Hajime Isayama and studio director Araki Tetsuro.
"As I get through 'Koutejetsujou no Kabaneri's' production, I'm also continuing my work on the second season of 'Shingeki no Kyojin,' so I have had many discussions with Isayama-sensei," Araki said during the interview.
At the very least, the statement suggests that "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress'" production is what's preventing AoT from being released April 16 as was once speculated, opting for a fall or winter premiere instead. This possibly negates suspicions that the second season was delayed due to a lack of story materials, which in all honesty seemed off since the manga serie's next two arcs - "Clash of the Titans" and "Uprising" - should have more than enough content to produce a 25-episode season.
Of course, since all of these were rumors to begin with, it's possible that the second season was never delayed to begin with. Instead, Wit Studio was simply taking their time to produce a quality second season and had intended to release the second season of AoT in the second half of 2016 all along.
Either way, this is sure to bum out AoT fans who wholeheartedly expected a second season to premiere this month.
It's not like there isn't anything to watch in "Attack on Titan's" absence, however. "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" is recieving strong feedback from both fans and critics despite sharing similarities with other Wit Studio animes such as "Seraph of the End" and, of course, "Attack on Titan."
In the meantime, "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" airs on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block on Thursdays in the 24:55 time slot. The second episode, which was slated to air on Friday, April 15, was delayed due to coverage of the major earthquake which rocked the Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. It will debut at the usual time on April 21; afterwards the episode will debut on other channels and Amazon Prime, which acquired exclusive streaming rights of the anime series, with a one-week delay.
