The grand finale of Attack on Titan led to the spectacular revelation of the main characters. In a crucial scene in the anime, fans were able to discover a painting in the background that bears striking similarities to a screenshot of a strategy game on Steam.
When is the image visible in the anime? In episode 14 of the 4th season of Attack on Titan, there is a showdown with the three protagonists. A dispute ignites between Eren, Mikasa, and Armin that puts their friendship to a severe test.
The three find themselves in a restaurant. The family seems to have a penchant for particularly impressive paintings, as there is an image in the background depicting ships engaged in a battle at sea.
However, one user on Reddit finds the painting exceedingly familiar. He notes that the artwork bears remarkably strong similarities to a PC game.
You can find the trailer for the grand finale of Attack on Titan here:
Attack on Titan borrows from strategy game
Where does the painting actually come from? The artwork closely resembles a screenshot from Total War: Empire. On Steam, you can view the image for yourself and compare it to the scene in the anime. For those who want it quicker: The user points out the comparison of the two images on Reddit.
Both the position of the ships and individual smoke trails and flags are in the same position as in the painting. Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the screenshot was not taken over 1:1 into the anime, as for example, the clouds are somewhat different. However, the resemblance is undeniable.
Why did the artists use the screenshot from the game? In the comments of the Reddit post, many fans discuss why such a renowned production studio like MAPPA needs to rely on screenshots from PC games.
It could be that the painting is simply an Easter egg. Some suspect that one of the artists is a big fan of the strategy game.
Others, however, believe that the production wanted to save some time to be ready by the release of season 4. During production, there were some comments from animators who estimated the workload to be 3 to 4 times that of a regular anime (via MyAnimeList).
There has been no official statement from MAPPA. Therefore, we can only speculate how the image from Total War: Empire made its way into Attack on Titan. The creator of the manga, Hajime Isayama, will have nothing to do with it. He is also already working on an entirely new project: Attack on Titan: The creator is working on a new manga after 10 years – Even the voice actor of Eren is involved
