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holywitchwhispers · 3 years

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Why the Ackertalk must happen: An analysis of Mikasa and Levi relationship.

1) Their meeting

So we all know Mikasa hated Levi in the first place, since he beat Eren violently during the trial. If Armin didn’t stop her, she probably would have attacked him. Instead, because of our favorite blondie holding her back, she just gave to her future captain a death glare. And what is so amazing is that he actually noticed it, and you can see how intrigued he was by Mikasa at that moment.

Since he is praised as humanity strongest, it surprises him that a cadet shows no fear looking at him like if she wanted to kill him and was sure to be capable to do it. And if it wasn’t already very obvious that Mikasa catched Levi’s mind, the name of the chapter finishes the job: « still can’t see » in English, and « made me o mirenai » in japanese. I think the English translation is not on point, because if you look at the french translation, it could be translated as: « an unbearable stare ». The meaning is completely different and gives a lot of weight to Mikasa’s look and how Levi felt about it. It places their interaction and meeting at the center of the chapter. It’s not something you do for characters who do not have a particular storyline together, especially when the main character’s fate is also part of the chapter.

2) The Female Titan

Here comes what is usually refereed as the key moment which started the rivamika ship: the rescue of Mikasa by Levi in the forest. First of all, Levi grabbed Mikasa’s waist, and we won’t lie, it was cute.

BUT what comes after this is even more interesting, because I think Levi recognized Mikasa since the start, even if he couldn’t remember where he saw her in the first place. If you look at his eyes, you can see how shocked he is to see Mikasa in such a situation: I think that’s the moment where Levi started to see himself in her, because she behaved exactly like him years ago when a titan took the lives of Isabel and Farlan: recklessly and with rage. Then, Mikasa acts very agressively towards Levi, and doesn’t show him the respect a cadet normally has for a superior.

That’s how Levi definitely recognizes her: the girl who seems to hate him and who is disrespectful towards the hierarchy is also the one who wanted to slap him at the trial despite him being the strongest human soldier. Levi redeems her, and looks at Mikasa very strangely, silently, his gaze lost in the vague: Mikasa seems to ask herself what he is doing and is shocked by his behavior, because he doesn’t stop staring at her but doesn’t say a word. I still ask myself what he was thinking in that moment. It’s a very mysterious scene. I mean, YES Levi always looks at Mikasa silently in a lot of panels (that’s also cool for the fandom, of course), but this time, Isayama focused several big panels on this single silent interaction, as if Levi was analysing Mikasa on such a deep way that it made her uncomfortable. And the way that he then stop the eye contact with a sort of frustration in the eyes is also very questionable. It intrigues me very much.

After that very tense moment, Levi explains his plan to Mikasa, and reminds her that she must obey to his orders. For the first time, Levi and Mikasa cooperate and show how deadly their Ackerman duo is. Also, Mikasa recognizes Levi strenght, saying the titan’s blood doesn’t even touch his skin since he is incredibly fast. She looked at him with a great attention, observed his technique and acknowledged him. When she fights Annie later in Sina, she will copy his famous « spinning » technique.

From that moment, Mikasa’s perception of Levi totally changed.

After slicing Annie, Levi also saved Mikasa again and broke his ankle. What a great episode to be a rivamika shipper.

3) Season 2: BLANK

I will go quickly on season 2: because of his injury, Levi can’t fight. Mikasa felt guilty for that. When Eren is kidnapped, she tells Armin she is not confident to take him back because this time, Levi isn’t with her. It shows how she values him but also how she likes to fight with him, since she feels stronger by his side. And that’s a great thing knowing that Mikasa said she was stronger than everyone else in the first episodes (and she was right). She finally found an equal.

4) Season 3: THE RIVAMIKA HOLY GRAAL

A] An incredible relationship evolution

So here comes my favorite season, not just for the rivamika, of course, but it’s still the one which provided us more and more moments between our two favorite Ackermans. This season shows Mikasa becoming Levi’s right arm, and not just on a fighting level. Especially in the manga, we can see how much Mikasa’s opinion is important for Levi, it doesn’t seem like she is one of his soldiers but his partner. Of course, Levi has always treated Mikasa in a special way, but it’s more obvious in season 3:

(Here is Levi adressing violently to Historia to make her understand something, and then Levi adressing himself to Eren also to make him realize something, but justifying his words to Mikasa: her opinion and her feelings matter for him. Nobody can denie he acts in an unique way towards this girl)

In a panel, Mikasa looks at Levi with a disappointed look because he said something about a plan implying Eren that didn’t please her. It seems like she is waiting for him to say something in answer to her reaction. Almost as if she felt sort of betrayed after them cooperating for so long. Does she think she has some power over him ?

Now, on Levi’s side: he knows that Mikasa will listen to him, because as she said it herself, she wants to follow her captain’s decisions. It’s very obvious in the anime when he stops her from running after Eren TWO TIMES !!

This season also shows Mikasa caring and sort of apologizing for Levi’s leg wound, which proves that she clearly doesn’t hate him anymore.

B] The Ackerman link

Now comes the very important part of the whole Ackerman plot. With Kenny being introduced, we learn that Ackermans are a bloodline that couldn’t be controlled by the Fritz king because of their ability to resist to memory manipulation: that’s why their clan was persecuted.

Levi soon finds out that he is an Ackerman, just like Mikasa, the gloomy girl he knows so well. And it’s a big deal, not just for the story, but for Levi himself. I am sure, as I already said, that he sees himself in Mikasa since the start: it seems like he doesn’t want her to make the same mistakes as he did. Like I showed it, he is very gentle with her, always checks if she is okay, calms her down everytime. Levi always felt a deep connection to her. Since he now knows that he is an Ackerman, he probably feels even more close and identical to her. However, he doesn’t tell Mikasa that they are part of the same bloodline.

However, he talks about their awakening with her, and everybody is surprised to hear their discussion. Mikasa is sharing her trauma, and she doesn’t seem to hesitate to do it: at this point of the story, she feels comfortable with Levi and she trusts him.

While they speak, it’s almost as if they forgot the others: they are looking at each other eye to eye, and their little talk is very mysterious and sort of intimate. At that moment, Levi established a link that cannot be cut. Mikasa and him are the last survivors of their clan, and they are mirrors, even if he is the only one to know it. (Well, Armin sort of noticed it too, immediately associating Mikasa and Levi in S1, and mistaking Levi and Mikasa the first time the group met the captain-chibi, but it was only about their fighting abilities, not abour their other similarities)

Guess what comes now: THE EPIC ACKERBOWL

So, if a lot of people think the ackerbowl wasted the relationship building of Levi and Mikasa, I think it just showed us how closer they grew during this season.

First of all, Mikasa doesn’t attack Levi because she wants to (as she did in season 1) but because she NEEDS to in order to save Armin. She isn’t happy to do that, and even says « please » to Levi when she could have just insult him or blame him like she used to do: they are not real ennemies, just two people in a great emotional distress wanting to save their closer friends.

It’s also impressive to see how dangerous Ackermans are: together, they are unstoppable, but as opponents, they are so equal that it is scary.

Another important thing: Levi isn’t mad as a normal person with a blade on his throat would be against Mikasa, he still tries to talk to her LIKE WOW that girl just attacked you but you still don’t hate her ? That’s because Levi cares for her, and that’s canon. The fact that she is an Ackerman probably leads him to be more attached to her. And of course, that’s an obvious parallel of his confrontation with Erwin in No regrets. Can we also say how sad and shocked Levi was when he saw Mikasa in tears ? He was really shaken by this sight.

5)Now, what about the Ackertalk ?

Like I said, Levi kept his Ackerman status and his link to Mikasa to himself. I think that, knowing how Mikasa is attached to her loved ones, to the ones she calls « family », he didn’t want to make her suffer by growing closer if he must die later, especially when he was only focused on killing Zeke.

But as the last two survivors of the Ackerman clan, Levi and Mikasa MUST talk about their legacy, their relationship and also their similarities. This post is nearly anime only but what I can tell you is that the Ackertalk still didn’t happen in the manga and probably won’t: that’s the biggest waste ever.

Mikasa and Levi are now both in difficult situations towards their Ackerbond with Eren and Erwin. Mikasa clearly needs Levi’s advices and support (I made another post about Levi’s character development, he is freeing himself alone from the ackerbond, and his ackerbond to Erwin was never toxic like Mikasa’s one to Eren was, in my opinion at least, so Mikasa needs him more than he needs her on the emotional/spirit level. On the fighting level however, Mikasa is now the one carrying him). Anyway, she needs to realize how powerful she actually is regarding how Eren treated her, because she lost her confidence in herself and in her autonomy (I don’t think Eren meant what he said, but still, Mikasa is now thinking she is some kind of slave and doesn’t go through any development). And Levi is the only one who can make her understand that. Because he is like her, and he knows it.

And should I talk about how the distance between Levi and Mikasa in the manga is unnatural ? They barely talk, and when they do it’s blank on Mikasa’s side. After 80 chapters she said, suprise guys: « captain »: THANKS ISAYAMA ! I am about to haunt your future onsen you damn yokai-_- Either he completely forgot about the Ackerman plot line, either something happened between Mikasa and Levi that we are not aware of, and which would be shown in the next chapters, what would explain the tension there is between them.

I hope this article pleased you, english is not my mother tongue so please pardon me if I made mistakes in my writing. It was very complex to sum up all the rivamika logic in one post, because there is always more to say about them. I hope that, even if they do not become a couple, they will grow closer and support each other as the amazing duo they should be. Shingeki is nearly finished, and I must say I am really happy that I’ve been part of the rivamika fandom since the start, even if haters were hard to take sometimes, this ship and this fandom are incredible and made me grow on many levels. Rivamika will always be great, canon or not, as long as we fuel it with our passion ❤️

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