One scene from the Attack on Titan finale tugged at the heartstrings so hard that it's become unbearable to rewatch for many, but it's comforting to know that the scene also featured a cute, real-life baby cameo.
Attack on Titan viewers may know Yūki Kaji as the voice actor for Eren Yeager, the series' main protagonist. His fans also easily recognize his voice in other franchises including One Piece, One Punch Man, Pokémon and Teasing Master Takagi-San: The Movie. The actor is an established name in the industry who has been voice acting and dubbing for anime, video games and live-action features since 2006. Given his professional history, fans might be pleasantly surprised to find out that his own baby cameoed in the Attack on Titan finale, as revealed by Attack on Fans on X (formerly Twitter).
"FUN FACT: The sound of that baby crying in the finale is actually from Yūki Kaji's child," the X post read. A BTS video also showed how the sampled audio was synced with the Attack on Titan clip, which is easily recognizable as the tragic sequence involving a mother's desperate attempt to save her baby moments before she fell to her death. In this scene, she and her baby were swept along with a crowd to the edge of a cliff by the Rumbling. Out of desperation, she handed her baby to the next person, who in turn passed the baby along through the crowd just as everyone was forced toward the edge and perished below.
The cameo somewhat softened the weight of the scene, with fans hopeful the baby survived, also knowing that it featured the voice of Kaji's child crying. Kaji sent the audio recording to the production team just as they started sound editing for the baby scene, so this could even be considered the debut of Kaji's baby in voice acting. The profession apparently runs in the family, as the baby's mother, Ayana Taketatsu, is also an accomplished actress. Kaji married Taketatsu this June, shortly after the pair had their first child in November 2022.
It's likely fans still haven't recovered from the hype of the finale, and many will also likely rewatch the entire series to discover overlooked plot points and Easter eggs. Yūki Kaji's run as Eren may have ended, but the actor remains prolific in other ongoing franchises, such as the voice of Shouto Todoroki in the My Hero Academia TV series.
Attack on Titan Final Season: The Final Chapters is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
