'Attack on Titan' season 2 to get a 2016 premiere?

Funimation website

The first season of the anime adaptation of "Shingeki no Kyojin" or "Attack on Titan" ended way back in 2013, and with the new live-action film scheduled to be released in two parts this year, fans' clamor for the second season of the anime has been rekindled. 

It seems, though, that the continuation of the anime saga will not be making an appearance this year as what some speculations previously reported. Instead, the second season of "Attack on Titan" will start next year. 

During the press junket for "Attack on Titan Part 1: Crimson Bow and Arrow" — the live-action movie adaptation of the popular and hit manga — the director of the season 2 anime series Tetsuro Araki was quoted as announcing the continuation to be released in 2016. It might seem to be far ahead in the future, but as "Attack on Titan" is still serializing, the team had to wait for the manga to finish at least three to four arcs before working on the second season. 

The first season for the anime series is based on the first, already-finished 34 chapters of the manga. It comprises four arcs in the series, namely "The Fall of Shiganshina," "104th Trainees Squad," "Battle of Trost District," and season finale "The Female Titan." 

It is rumored that the team is now working on the second season to be based on the currently-running 15 tankobon volumes of the manga. Additionally in the continuation of the anime series, fans who are into the anime first and haven't seen the manga will be introduced to new characters, particularly Rod Reiss, Captain Kenny Ackerman, and the Beast Titan. 

Meanwhile, the first part of the live-action film adaptation, the story of which is taken from the 104th Trainees Squad's fight against the Titans, will be shown on Aug. 1 in Japan.