Gaming & Comics

‘Attack on Titan’: Reiner’s Voice Actor on How the Character’s Season 4 Look Shaped His Portrayal — ‘You See the Impact His Battle Scars Had’

Reiner changes a lot during 'Attack on Titan' Season 4, and his voice actor recently explained how his new demeanor shapes the way he portrays the character.

by Amanda Mullen

Published on January 20, 2022

2 min read

Attack on Titan Season 4 opens with a time skip, and the characters have changed quite a bit when the anime picks up. That’s especially true of Reiner Braun, whose return to Marley isn’t the happy homecoming he once expected. His haggard appearance is a sure sign of the fatigue and dissonance he faces after his time in the Survey Corps. And that helped shape Yoshimasa Hosoya’s portrayal of the character.

Reiner changes significantly during season 4’s time skip

Reiner Braun in key art for 'Attack on Titan' Season 4 Part 1. He's facing away and looking up at Eren's Titan. — ‘Attack on Titan’ key art | Hajime Isayama/Kodansha

Reiner is one of Attack on Titan‘s most interesting characters, if only because of the impact being a double agent has had on him. When the first season opens, Reiner presents himself as one of Eren’s comrades. And even when he’s revealed to be the Armored Titan and a spy from Marley, it’s clear Reiner believed his Survey Corps persona.

When the character returns to Marley in Attack on Titan Season 4, he struggles to make sense of his time away. Although he’s been taught to hate the Eldians living behind the walls, he’s begun to realize they’re people just like him — and that the pursuit of the Titan Warriors isn’t as noble as he initially thought.

Reiner’s struggle with this manifests in a number of ways, but it’s most noticeable in his demeanor. He holds himself differently throughout the final season, and he even looks more tired than before. All of that helped voice actor Yoshimasa Hosoya understand his new headspace and portray him more accurately.

How Reiner’s look shaped his portrayal in ‘Attack on Titan’ Season 4

The Japanese voice cast of Attack on Titan has been hyping up the anime’s final season, and Reiner’s voice actor shared his thoughts about the character ahead of the remaining episodes.

According to ComicBook.com, Yoshimasa Hosoya explained in a 2021 interview how Reiner’s season 4 look shaped his portrayal of the character:

“He is really strong without needing to show it, but then you see the impact that his battle scars had every time he remembered flashbacks to being a warrior. That’s why I had him in mind to play him easier in the dubbing, to make him more human so I could identify with him.”

It’s definitely easier for fans to humanize Reiner after season 4, so it makes sense his voice actor would feel the same. Will Attack on Titan help the character heal the battle scars Hosoya speaks of?

Will ‘Attack on Titan’ heal the character’s ‘battle scars’?

Although Reiner continues to fight for Marley, it’s clear he’s still struggling. Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 2 opens with yet another fight between him and Eren, and Reiner emphasizes how much he wants this war to end. Will the final batch of episodes give him the chance to heal after everything that’s happened?

With the way things are going, it doesn’t seem likely. Perhaps the end of the series will allow Reiner to cope with the part he’s played in the war. But first, he’ll have to make it through the remainder of it. And things look like they’re about to get much uglier before they get better.

Fans will have to tune in for the last episodes of Attack on Titan to see how Reiner fares. New installments drop every Sunday on Crunchyroll and Funimation.