Latest Attack on Titan Chapter Includes Deep-Cut Easter Egg

It’s been no secret that Attack on Titan has reached its endgame. Series creator Hajime Isayama has been public about how he’s got an ending in sight, and each new chapter of the manga has been embroiled in what seems like the final confrontation for the series overall. This has tested Eren’s desires in a way fans didn’t expect to see as his and Zeke’s plan hit a roadblock when he was suddenly shot by Gabi in the previous chapter of the series.

But the latest chapter of the series has surprisingly brought Eren into the Founding Titan’s space, and while this was a huge moment all its own, it appears that Isayama snuck in a surprisingly deep cut Easter Egg into this huge reveal.

When Eren awakes in the Coordinate space in Chapter 120 of the series, there’s a two page spread which is meant to represent Eren looking back on major moments of his life. It’s like his life flashes before his eyes. But what fans didn’t expect to see was a tiny joke panel crammed into the top right corner of this two page layout. As noted by @fiirelight on Twitter, one of these little flashbacks is actually a reference to an Attack on Titan joke omake when Eren, Mikasa, and Armin existed in a different universe.

As a reference to the humorous spin-off, Shingeki no School Caste, in which Eren and the others attend a high school, one of the flashbacks is off Armin’s nerdy look and Mikasa’s goth phase from this alternate universe. Considering how the Titan powers have had all sorts of time bending abilities, it seems that Eren’s alternate high school life is actually a part of the official canon.

These are short gag manga included in each new volume of the series, and while it’s a fun distraction from the intensity of the main series, Isayama has hilariously brought it into the series officially. It’s a small joke, for sure, but it’s certainly one last bit of fun before this final arc concludes.

Attack on Titan was originally created by Hajime Isayama for Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009. It’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. The lead character, Eren Yeager, ends up joining the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown. Now Eren, Mikasa, and Armin must survive in a world where they not only have the Titans to fear, but the very humans they are trying to save. You can currently find the series streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.