No, you weren’t imagining things. Attack on Titan most definitely did skip the intro theme song (“Rumbling”) for the most recent Episode 84 (Season 4 Episode 25.) Read on to learn more about what happened.
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The Show Ran Credits During the Episode Instead of Including the Theme Song
It’s not clear why Attack on Titan ended up skipping the theme song this week. Some people were confused and thought that their streaming platform just didn’t show it. However, it wasn’t included in any of the platforms: Hulu, Crunchyroll, or Funimation.
When the credits started rolling while Hange was talking, that was the clue that the episode was skipping the intro song (even though it still had the ending song.)
There are a number of reasons why this might have happened.
One reason may be due to timing. It’s possible that due to the length of the episode, there simply wasn’t time to include the theme song in the episode. This would be due to the allotted time on NHK in Japan, where it airs first, and not due to streaming platforms.
The reason why this explanation is likely is, in part, due to the fact that this week’s episode aired 10 minutes later on NHK in Japan than it typically does.
The official website for Attack on Titan shared this information early, before the episode aired. Here’s a screenshot of the page translated into English by Google.
The webpage points out that on March 6, the episode aired on NHK at 24:15 (Sunday) instead of 24:05, due to a “special organization” (aka a special event.) The 10 minute delay might have required that they cut out the introduction in order to not delay the shows airing after it by too much. This hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s a likely possibility.
In addition, the entire episode focused on the characters’ debating about the Rumbling, working together to stop Eren, and a struggle with how this was going to put Paradis in greater danger. It’s possible that due to the slower, more analytical nature of the episode, they decide to skip the hyped Rumbling opening so as not to deter from the ambiance.
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