Viewers that turned in to the third season premiere of Attack on Titan might have noticed the episode's plot moved at a rapid pace. According to a blog post by series creator Hajime Isayama, this was at his own request. Isayama wrote on Tuesday that the manga's story from volumes 13-16 was slow, in part due to his own waning energy.

"Honestly," Isayama wrote. "It's like I was out of gas." He considered it a rather weak period for himself, so when it came to time for the anime's third season, this was a weak point he wanted to remedy beginning in the early stages of production.

"I requested that we reform it into a suitable scale for the role of the story," Isayama wrote. This meant a more "idealized" script was created. The script wasn't created by Isayama alone, and he credits Hiroshi Seko, the scriptwriter from previous seasons of Attack on Titan and the Attack on Titan: Lost Girls novel and OVA, for his expertise. He also credits chief director Tetsuro Araki for working within the guidelines for the series, the whole cast for bringing the characters to life, and the rest of the production staff.

Crunchyroll is streaming the series starting with the first episode's premiere on July 22. Funimation acquired the home entertainment, video on demand, and broadcast rights of the series in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu are streaming the series as it airs, and Funimation will stream an English dub. Adult Swim's Toonami block will air the series starting on August 18.

The new season follows Eren and his companions in the 104th after being assigned to the newly-formed Levi Squad, whose assignment is to keep Eren and Historia safe given Eren's newly-discovered power and Historia's knowledge and pedigree. Levi and Erwin have good reason to be concerned, because the priest of the Church that Hange had hidden away was found tortured to death, making it clear that the Military Police are involved with the cover-up. Things get more harrowing when the MPs make a move on Erwin and the Levi Squad narrowly avoids capture. Eren is also having problems with his Titan transformation, and a deadly killer has been hired to secure Eren and Historia, one Levi knows all too well from his youth.

Source: Hajime Isayama's blog via Yara-on!