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Funimation to Stream Attack on Titan Anime's 2nd Season

Funimation confirmed on Monday that it will begin streaming a simulcast version of the second season of the Attack on Titan anime on April 1. The series will premiere in Japan on 21 networks, including Tokyo MX and MBS, on the same day. The anime's official website posted a new key visual on Tuesday, and Funimation unveiled a version highlighting the series' English title.

Funimation describes the new season's story:

Eren Jaeger swore to wipe out every last Titan, but in a battle for his life he wound up becoming the thing he hates most. With his new powers, he fights for humanity's freedom facing the monsters that threaten his home. After a bittersweet victory against the Female Titan, Eren finds no time to rest—a horde of Titans is approaching Wall Rose and the battle for humanity continues!

Funimation announced in December that it licensed the second anime season. The company also began streaming the first promotional video with English subtitles in December.

While the original announcement in July for the show's returning cast had included Keiji Fujiwara as Hannes, the video doesn't list Hannes in the cast section. Fujiwara announced in August he was taking a break "for a while" from his voice acting activities to undergo medical treatment for an unspecified illness.

Tetsuro Araki, the director of the first anime season, is acting as the chief director on the second season, and episode director Masashi Koizuka is taking over as director. Many of the other main staff members, including series writer Yasuko Kobayashi, character designer Kyoji Asano, and composer Hiroyuki Sawano are returning from the first season. WIT STUDIO is again producing the animation. Linked Horizon is returning to perform the opening theme song. The main cast is also returning.

The first 25-episode season aired from April-September 2013. Both Funimation and Crunchyroll streamed the first season as it aired in Japan, and Funimation released the series on home video in 2014. The first season also inspired two compilation anime films in 2014 and 2015.

Hajime Isayama's original manga has also inspired numerous spinoff manga, several novel series, a two-part live-action film project, a spinoff live-action television series, and an OVA. Two of the spinoff manga — Attack on Titan: No Regrets and Attack on Titan: Junior High — received anime adaptations of their own.

Isayama launched the manga in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in 2009, and Kodansha published the 21st volume in Japan on December 9. Kodansha Comics publishes the manga in print in English. Crunchyroll also publishes the manga in English digitally as new chapters are published in Japan.