Kawakubo Shintaro, editor of Isayama Hajime, has revealed on Twitter that the April issue of Bessatsu Shonen will contain updates on the 2nd season of Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan via an interview with Isayama and director Araki Tetsuro! The preview text he revealed states that SnK season 2 is “Currently in production!” ETA (March 5th, 2016): Added the official interview page from Bessatsu Shonen, which includes sketches of Mike’s Squad (Nanaba, Gelgar, Lynne, etc.).

Summary of the interview (Translation: @yusenki; Editing: @fuku-shuu)

Isayama & Araki take a lot of consideration toward Sasha’s speech patterns in the 2nd season, because she usually speaks in the standard language. But when she returns to her hometown in season 2, Sasha speaks in dialect. Isayama wonders if it’s going to be a good idea to have her dialogue this way, since she was initially introduced as a speaker of the common tongue.

Isayama & Araki discuss the scene where Reiner is revealed as the Armored Titan. They want to make sure that the scene will be presented well, but also not via the same method as how they revealed the Female Titan’s true identity.

Isayama talks aboutt Levi’s recent quote, “I hate weaklings, because they die easily.” He seems to be dissatisfied with the statement right now, because it’s not quite in character for Levi. Since Kodansha didn’t fix that line in the tankobon publication, he might discuss modifying the line with Araki when the time arrives to animate that scene.

–

ETA (March 14th, 2016):

Full translation now behind the “Keep Reading!”

(Translation: @suniuz & @fuku-shuu)



TV Anime Series Season 2 is in production right now!

Araki Tetsuro, who is currently working on the production of the Shingeki no Kyojin TV anime series, has an urgent discussion with Isayama-sensei! The highly-anticipated inside story is also being “leaked” here……?!

Araki: 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. For example, during Sasha’s storyline (In manga volume 9), does she say her final line “I’m home” in the common tongue? Or does she use dialect? On one hand, we want to showcase that Sasha no longer hides her true self, so she no longer avoids speaking in dialect. But then again, if Sasha returns to the usual routines with her friends in the 104th, then she should be speaking in the common tongue.

Isayama: That scene indeed conveys the reason Sasha hides her native speech on purpose - because she has always considered it to be somewhat shameful. It also expresses the image of a “New Sasha,” who occasionally may slip into speaking dialect…so even if a couple of lines in dialect are planned, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.

Araki: But ultimately, Sasha’s dialect in-universe is that of Isayama-sensei’s own dialect from his home region (Oyama), so the phrase “I’m home” actually doesn’t sound too different from how it’s spoken in common tongue…so in the end, it doesn’t even seem like that Sasha was using dialect (Laughs). Nevertheless, this scene is a fantastic opportunity to understand Sasha’s character more.

Isayama: Speaking of Sasha, the voice of her seiyuu, Kobayashi Yuu-san, still has comedic appeal even when her role is serious. In other words, the feeling her voice creates is really great.

Araki: Sasha always invests everything within her and is very determined. Even if she is humorous at times, she is still an incredibly impressive character. There are plenty of examples of this in the original manga.

Isayama: To me this actually resembles the concept of comic relief within cinema. In my opinion, whether it’s a moment the audience “should laugh at,” or a moment that’s more up to the audience’s own interpretation, I always want to leave room for serious discussions during any situation.

Araki: Then, during bedazzling or cute scenes, or when a character has a trait highlighted, you’ll also sabotage them on purpose…?

Isayama: They would feel some shame, and perhaps feel like finding an escape. For example, when the dialogue needs to feel resolute - and since this is a shonen manga - it’s fine to exaggerate the words a bit. However, if you present the words in a bashful way, then their strength will be weakened.

Araki: When you speak of this kind of shy, ashamed expression, are you referring to Reiner’s sudden reveal of his identity as the Armored Titan?

Isayama: That scene was a special circumstance for me. Because I already had one experience of unveiling Annie as the Female Titan before, I felt that if I didn’t give this moment the proper treatment, it would only feel redundant. So it could not be helped…If we look at Annie’s method as “addition,” then Reiner’s would be “subtraction”: I decided to position the scene in “a tiny, tiny panel,” so I had Reiner admit to everything as if he were having a normal conversation.

Araki: That moment was a challenge during the anime production, you know! Even though everything looked peaceful, Reiner’s confession created ripples on the undisturbed surface…I was so determined to create a climactic scene that I felt as if I had to become a performer myself [and be versatile], so I had to put all my special skills to work (Laughs).

Isayama: I’m sure I also added a lot of pressure during those early discussions…

Araki: Oh no no, not at all. Even though as of right now I still haven’t discovered the right way to showcase it, I’ve realized that I have to keep on subtracting to turn it into a unique scene (Laughs). Basically, what those of us [At WIT Studio] have to be attentive to is that we’re producing everything while already being fully aware of who Reiner is, so we risk leaving unintentional hints for the audience to slowly discover Reiner and co.’s role as Titans. But it shouldn’t be revealed that way. The correct method should be that the audience only realizes on second viewing that, “This guy was lying here.”

(Translator’s Note: This was chapter 42 in the manga, which means as of the time of this interview, this episode was likely still in planning/storyboarding stages)



Isayama: The manga has moments where I either draw or not draw cold sweat for a character. Even if I did portray the sweat, it could mislead people into thinking that the character was nervous about other things. But in the end, their true thoughts still remain contained deep in their hearts…it’s a feeling like that.



Araki: When I first had discussions with Isayama-sensei, my impression was that he really focuses on all the characters he creates. It’s easy to detect his personal sentiments that question, “Can I hold favorable feelings towards this character?”

Isayama: Well recently Levi had a line, “I hate weaklings, they die too fast.” And now I feel like the statement mischaracterized him. I should really be more careful with such details, so that line might be modified in the tankobon volume. Please allow us to discuss it again during the anime production for it.



Araki: It’s rare to adapt manga with a storyline that’s this impressive, so I will be extra cautious. Whether it’s season 1 or season 2, I’ll be mentally prepared to face the production challenges. To animate Shingeki no Kyojin is a cultural undertaking, and because I understand that this is work that will have historical value, I absolutely cannot make mistakes. I’ll continue to treat it as an extensive series that requires much in-depth investigation and design. Season two’s production continues on!



–

Bottom-left caption:

These are the in-progress character designs!

The illustrated designs for the production of season 2 are still in-progress, so it is possible that alterations will still be added to them. Check out the images of Gelgar and Touma!!

(T/N: The designs also include Nanaba, Lynne, and Henning, as well as Eren for size reference)