The Attack On Titan Season 4 release date has been confirmed to be scheduled for December 7, 2020. The Shingeki no Kyojin Season 4 was listed by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which detailed the Attack On Titan: Final Season TV plans on their TV broadcasting schedule.
New episodes will air in Japan between 00:10 and 00:35, which is after midnight. So, for Japanese audiences, the official website is listing the release date as December 6, 2020.
Prior to this public listing being discovered, NHK had quietly changed its official page which stated that Shingeki no Kyojin Season 4 “will broadcast in fall 2020 on NHK General TV”.
Although NHK’s schedule has already revealed the Shingeki no Kyojin Season 4 release date, the webpage still states that NHK will broadcast Attack On Titan: Final Season without any mention of a release time frame.
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Updated September 24, 2020: Added FUNimation confirmation and new key visual.
Crunchyroll, FUNimation confirm Attack On Titan Season 4 streaming plans and English dub
Earlier in the week, Crunchyroll’s Attack On Titan Season 4 trailer announced that they would be streaming the fourth season.
SnK Season 4 will be streaming internationally on Crunchyroll in U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Latin America.
Similarly, FUNimation’s Attack On Titan Season 4 English sub is scheduled to come out the same day as the Japanese broadcast. Presumably, that will be the morning of December 6, 2020, since Japan is 13 hours ahead and the anime is broadcasting on Japanese TV late at night, past midnight local time.
But FUNimation has confirmed that it will begin streaming Attack On Titan Season 4 episodes on December 7, 2020.
FUNimation announced that Attack On Titan: Final Season “starts later this year in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland.” The fourth season will also come out later on FUNimation in Brazil and Mexico.
In addition, FUNimation’s Attack On Titan Season 4 English dub episodes, or SimulDub episodes, will be streaming “at a later date”.
While that could mean the AoT Season 4 dub will be a 2020 Christmas present, the dubbing process has become more difficult due to COVID-19 safety precautions. In the worst-case scenario, we’re probably looking at early 2021 for the English dub.
Shingeki no Kyojin Season 4: Studio MAPPA replaces WIT Studio
The first three seasons of the anime series was produced by WIT Studio. The Attack on Titan 4 anime will be produced by animation studio MAPPA, which is known for The God of High School anime, Yuri!!! On Ice, Netflix’s Dorohedoro anime and the upcoming Zombieland Saga Season 2 (Zombieland Saga Revenge).
Former Chief Director Tetsuro Araki will be replaced by director Yuichiro Hayashi, who just wrapped up directing Dorohedoro. Similarly, character designer Tomohiro Kishi also worked on Dorohedoro and is replacing Kyoji Asano, but that’s not surprising since Asano is a WIT Studio co-founder.
As might be expected, the entire animation team is different, but MAPPA has pulled together some good talent. Former AoT Chief Animation Director Satoshi Kadowaki was directly attached to WIT Studio so he’s being replaced by Daisuke Niinuma, who’s known for his work on Banana Fish, Kakegurui, Punch Line, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts, and Deadman Wonderland.
Art director Kazuo Ogura also directed the art for notables like the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie. 3D CG Director Takahiro Uezono worked on the 3D production for Kill la Kill, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Yuri!! On Ice.
Keep in mind that many anime creators are contractors so they’re not tied to WIT Studio. That means some of the staff are returning from the previous Attack On Titan Seasons to work at MAPPA.
Most importantly, AoT Seasons 1 through 3 scriptwriter Hiroshi Seko (Vinland Saga, Mob Psycho 100) is returning. Attack On Titan music composer Hiroyuki Sawano is also returning, although he’s joined by Kohta Yamamoto who is known for his work on The Seven Deadly Sins anime.