How to watch Attack on Titan in order

But with so much to get through, where does a newbie (or an old returning fan) begin? After all, the world of Attack on Titan is vast and isn't as easily digestible as it might look from a distance.

Bear in mind that while the majority of Attack on Titan is pretty straightforward – and requires very little handholding overall – there are certain OVAs (Original Video Animation), spin-offs and more that may make you unsure on which order you should watch.

We can't stress enough that the best way is to watch the series in the order it was released, but ultimately, if you go the chronological route then we can't stop you.

Be warned: there are spoilers about the ending of Attack on Titan in this article.

How to watch Attack on Titan in order

The best thing about Attack on Titan is that while several anime franchises include lots of skippable content (the Naruto filler list includes hundreds of episodes), you shouldn't even think about skipping any episodes in the main Attack on Titan run.

Every scene, and pretty much every moment, is pivotal in some way, even if you can't see why until years later.

The OVAs aren't quite as crucial, but they're interesting nonetheless, and always add something new to the overarching narrative.

Because of that, we've decided to include them in the order they connect with the main story. With that in mind, here's our recommended watch order for Attack on Titan:

• Attack on Titan season 1
• Attack on Titan: Ilse's Notebook (OVA)
• Attack on Titan: The Sudden Visitor – The Torturous Curse of Youth (OVA)
• Attack on Titan: Distress (OVA)
• Attack on Titan season 2
• Attack on Titan: Lost Girls – episodes 1 and 2 (OVA)
• Attack on Titan season 3: episodes 1-12
• Attack on Titan: No Regrets – episodes 1 and 2 (OVA)
• Attack on Titan: Lost Girls – episode 3 (OVA)
• Attack on Titan: Junior High (OVA)
• Attack on Titan season 3 – episodes 13 to end
• Attack on Titan season 4 part 1
• Attack on Titan season 4 part 2
• Attack on Titan season 4 part 3
• Attack on Titan: The Last Attack

This order happens to line up almost identically with the order in which everything was released chronologically, too. But again, we stress that you watch it in the order we've set, otherwise you'll be spoiled on some incredibly groundbreaking revelations that you otherwise wouldn't have.

If you've already watched Attack on Titan before, though, and just want to see everything unfold in a linear fashion, then go nuts.

The Attack on Titan movie, The Last Attack, combines the last two episodes of Attack on Titan's final season, but was released as a cinematic experience. While die-hard fans will no doubt be eager to watch it, those who just want to get through to the season should know that it isn't a requirement.

The final ever part of Attack on Titan arrived on 5th November 2023 at midnight in Japan.

Fans had previously wondered if the anime would receive a different ending to the manga. When Isayama ended the manga back in 2021, it was an incredibly divisive finale, so much so that Isayama even had to post a public statement in response to the fans' passionate response on his Instagram.

"I am aware that the ending of Attack on Titan was quite controversial. I am open to receiving people's honest opinions. However, I would appreciate it if you'd be kind to me," he wrote.

Ultimately, Isayama and Studio MAPPA continued as they have done since the show started: following the ending of the manga with some additional anime-specific scenes and improved the dialogue a little to enhance the original ending even further.

It gave Isayama a chance to tweak some of the things he implied he wasn't happy with the first time around, including the omission of Armin labelling Eren a mass murderer and giving a lot more emotional depth to their conversation about Mikasa.

Somehow, despite it being the same ending we've had in the manga, it's even more devastating to see the tragic love story of Mikasa and Eren finally come to the conclusion it was always destined – one would end the other, and Mikasa made the impossible choice to kill Eren for the greater good.

We've also included Attack on Titan: Junior High here, as this spin-off is pretty well-known. However, its jarring parody style wasn't to everyone's taste upon release, so this can easily be skipped.

We haven't included the anime movies released between seasons because they're effectively just recaps of the anime, and honestly, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by missing out on all the vital details contained in each individual episode.

Again, these are common in anime, with the Demon Slayer season 3 movie being criticised for recapping too much of season 2.

And then there's Shinji Higuchi's live-action movie, Attack on Titan, which took some pretty big diversions from the source material. Upon its release in 2015, Japanese audiences weren't impressed, to say the least.

With a critic score of 47 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an even lower rating of 34 percent from audience users, a sequel looks very unlikely, and that's the main reason why we decided to leave it out here in our recommended watch order.

How to watch the English dub of Attack on Titan

Fans of Attack on Titan can find the English dub episodes on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

On Crunchyroll, dubs from season 1 episode 4 onwards are only available on their premium service.

How to watch Attack on Titan in the UK

All episodes of Attack on Titan are available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.