The Music of MAPPA: Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen

The Music of MAPPA: Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen

MAPPA studio has had one hell of a year for the anime industry in 2020. With each anime they have published being a hit, the music choices for the intro and outro songs are positively stellar and unique. The introduction of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime and the premiere of the highly anticipated Attack on Titan set the Fall 2020 anime season ablaze. As an anime fan, I am always looking for stellar soundtracks from each series or film I watch. As an anime fan yourself, I am sure you more than understand. Jujutsu Kaisen has a banger of a song, while Attack on Titan’s ending song is brimming with emotion and enchanting animations. As many anime fans like you and myself, we understand that the studio adapts the lyrics to themes or characters of the anime. Jujutsu Kaisen’s song, “Lost in Paradise”, is by ALI ft. AKLO, while Attack on Titan’s song, "Shock", is by Yuko Ando. Both openings are sensational and memorable, but the art and music styles utilized are what truly makes them shine.

First, the most exciting opening song unanimously, judging by the YouTube view count, is Jujutsu Kaisen’s “Lost in Paradise." Starting with the song itself by Jujutsu Kaisen, the lyrics are often about the protagonist. One of the first lines to stand out regarding Itadori’s character states: “I won't give up the fight in my life / Cause my life is living for love”. Itadori’s character lost his grandfather as he keeps on living for the love he has for his friends. The ending animation for the song utilizes simplistic watercolors to illustrate and foreshadow side characters we have now been introduced to. The watercolors and the choice in song differs dramatically from the average anime ending song and animation style. Since Jujutsu Kaisen has such a dark and dire premise, MAPPA made a wise choice by utilizing a more upbeat ending with a completely different water-color style animation. For example, Fire Force recently has the ending song and animation completely CGI and it worked brilliantly! The same goes for Jujutsu Kaisen. By utilizing watercolors and shadowing on each character in a simplistic style, MAPPA delivered a complex and undeniably unique ending to Jujutsu Kaisen.

Now, the highly anticipated final season of Attack on Titan has taken the anime community by storm yet again, but under the direction of MAPPA now as opposed to WIT Studio. Many fans were weary of this; however, MAPPA has done more than rise to the challenge, particularly regarding the music. In the final season of Attack on Titan, we are getting to see new characters. In particular, the ending theme has a new character, Falco, reaching out toward a black bird as he lies on the ground of a battlefield, which demonstrates the freedom the Eldians are pursuing. Birds often represent freedom. Freedom is the goal for most characters within Attack on Titan as "Shock" stating “A sparkle one second before, the world that left behind / If I am able to fly, please tell him” The dissonance in"Shock" enlightens the listener to the awareness of the disarray the Eldians are in. Instead of continuing to show characters in the ending, “Shock” shifts to an ethereal, practically sacred visualization of color dancing on the screen beginning with a phoenix exploding, symbolizing rebirth. The dancing colors of light eventually burst into a bright, white glowing tree as Falco opens his eyes with his hands outreached to the sky reaching for freedom— the freedom Eldians long for.

To bring a light-hearted feeling to Jujutsu Kaisen, MAPPA made a wise choice with the song “Lost in Paradise” by Ali ft. AKLO, while choosing the harrowing yet majestic “Shock” by Yuko Ando demonstrate how MAPPA encapsulates the viewer’s heart into the ending animations. An ending animation with a song is critical for any anime as they often depict themes and characters quite well without giving away too much information. MAPPA studio blew the anime industry wide open during the COVID-19 pandemic. With their hands now on manga series such as Chainsaw Man, hopefully MAPPA will continue to deliver in terms of story and animation like they have done with Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan.