The studies MAPPA have been the protagonist of more than one controversy in recent years, generally related to terrible working conditions, exploitation of employees derived from the fact that the studio takes on many projects simultaneously, and delivery schedules that are almost impossible to meet. However, what brings us together today is a much more curious situation, which was barely noticed several years later.
This is the fourteenth episode of the anime.Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season (Attack on Titan)”, released almost three years ago, on March 22, 2021 in Japan. In a scene from this episode, specifically where Eren Yeager mercilessly beats Armin Arlert, You can see a painting in the background where some warships appear.
At the time, some wondered why there would be paintings of ships in a place like Paradis, but they eventually let it go. It wasn’t until a recent Reddit forum where It was discovered that the image of that painting was actually taken directly from the video game “Total War: EMPIRE.” Whoever was in charge of this didn’t even bother to edit the image a little, because they directly copied it and pasted it into the frames.
Whether you consider it “theft”, “plagiarism” or “homage”, depending on whether you are a fan of “Shingeki no Kyojin” or of MAPPA studios themselvesit is undeniable that the illustration was taken directly from the video game, and fans were quick to comment on it:
- «Honestly, why the hell would there be paintings of some old warships in Paradis?».
- «Shingeki no Kyojin, what plagiarists they are…».
- «Wow, they totally ruined this scene.».
- «I can’t believe this is the studio that was given enough budget to animate the fourth season, and not WIT STUDIO».
- «I don’t understand your logic either, there are literally thousands of pieces of copyright-free historical naval war art that could have been taken and placed in this scene and not look out of place (to the average viewer) and you decided to go with a still shot? promotional screen of the steam page of a Total War game? The option that leaves some room to claim copyright?».
- «Honestly, they have so much work within MAPPA that perhaps this was the only way the animator found to meet the deadline. It doesn’t stop being funny».
- «It could be possible that one of the animators is simply a fan of “Total War: EMPIRE” and wanted to make a reference. I hate the ending of “Shigeki no Kyojin” like many of you, but this is overkill».
- «Holy shit, a few years ago I made a post mentioning that that painting seemed out of place, and now it has resulted in this!».
- «If WIT STUDIO had done it, they would be saying that this is “a very curious Easter egg”, but since MAPPA did it, they say that “it is plagiarism”».
- «I have no problem with them copying it, but at least they would have done some editing to not show it as it originally is».
Fountain: reddit
