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yumeka36 · 5 months

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I finally finished the final season of Attack on Titan.

I've been an anime-only enjoyer of the series ever since it started airing 10 years ago. It immediately blew me away with how much action, drama, and suspense every single episode had. Unfortunately, watching the episodes staggered across the years was not the best way to experience the series, especially as the story got more complicated and more characters and subplots were introduced. It wasn't long before I'd have to refresh my memory every time a new season or cour would air by consulting wikipedia episode summaries, lol. But even with that, it's the kind of series where something in one episode will be relevant many episodes later, and I know I missed out on a lot of those details due to watching the series with so many gaps over the years.

But regardless, I was able to follow it well enough and appreciate everything about it. AoT has some of the best drama, action, and world-building I've seen in any anime - every episode left me in suspense! Obviously the story evolved over the years, with the post-time skip episodes being very different from the season 1 episodes, but it still delivered in terms of entertainment quality.

As for the ending itself, I thought it was good. The idea of someone wanting to wipe out humanity to save the world isn't anything new, but it's a plot I like, especially when it's done in a unique way like AoT. I loved that the series didn't paint any of the characters' choices as being the "right" one - not Ymir's, the Jaergerists', Zeke's, the Scouts', and certainly not Eren's - but in the end we understand why they each felt their choice was right, and that's what makes them relatable and interesting. I also love how the series portrays the sheer desperation of people in a world ravaged by war. Even though I had trouble following it, the political world-building in AoT is stellar.

I'm also glad I got to fully understand why Eren did what he did. Admittedly, it was hard for me to sympathize with him after the cruel things he said to Mikasa. But now that it all makes sense, I'm glad he got to reconcile with everyone before he died. Compared to how he's portrayed in the beginning of the series as a typical hot-headed shonen hero wanting to get revenge for his mom, to everything we learn about him by the end of the series, is mind-blowing. What an awesome protagonist turned antagonist.

Though I do think Eren turned out to be an interesting character, Mikasa and Armin were my favorites. Even though Mikasa started out with her only notable quality being her attachment to Eren, her character development throughout the series really came through, especially after the time-skip where she had to make very difficult choices. But even before then, I could feel her love for Armin and her fellow comrades, so Eren wasn't the only thing she cared about. And in the end, she chose to not only kill the person she had dedicated her life to, but also sacrifice the happiness she could have had with him, in order to save everyone else. And Armin always seemed like the most "human" of the group, always showing care and concern for everyone and wanting to help out, regardless of how dire the circumstances around him were (but not a pushover either).

I wasn't expecting a total happy ending for a series with such raw emotions and intense violence, but was hoping it wouldn't be too terribly tragic either. So I felt the ending we got was a good, bittersweet, middle ground: Eren was able to fulfill his wish for his friends to live out their lives in relatively peaceful conditions, but war would always be inevitable. But gosh, the epilogue during the credits blew my mind the most! Seeing the characters visit Eren's grave up until they too passed on, then hundreds or even thousands of years later we see giant cities being built up, then torn down by wars, only for the world to seemingly be destroyed again...it just kept going! I also liked the open-ended final scene which hints that the titan cycle could repeat itself again someday.

Overall, despite the long gaps between seasons, I'm glad I stuck with AoT all these years. I'll bid it a somber farewell for now, but I hope to rewatch it again in the future without the long gaps between episodes. Like I said, I missed out on a lot of the build-up to what happens in the end simply due to not remembering things that happened in episodes I watched years ago. This is definitely a series deserving of a second viewing!

#attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin

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angel-is-not-creative · 1 year

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Hetalia

I cannot rate this with a good conscience ❤

I have autism and Hetalia is my special interest so this is literally 3k words long and I have absolutely no regrets. I could have gone on longer but I wanted to remain relevant to the class. If you don't reply to me I will cry.

I'm gonna break this into a few sections so you can skip around. I'm going to try and stick to just season 1 with this discussion, which won't be too hard cause it's the most insane one. Also, I just want to say that I wrote this all before I read the attached article and I'm now seeing that I literally could have written that article because I know everything about Hetalia.

When do we cross the line between stereotyping and just straight-up racism?

Hey, why are we idolizing WWII Germany?

Oh, we are portraying war as silly and funny, okay cool.

Is this Japanese Nationalism? (a surprisingly controversial argument)

The Sub and the Dub are 2 totally different shows

The Fandom (and linking back to other class-related terms)

Okay I'll name one good thing

Alright, let's get started.

A lot of people will argue that Hetalia is not racist at all because they are making fun of everyone. If you are portraying all of the countries as their most common stereotypes then it evens out in the end. I would argue that this is in fact, not the case. Especially when you set your show during WWII. I will give Himaruya credit in that he mostly focuses on European countries to make fun of, making a lot of the stereotypes less so targeted at minorities. However, a lot of these jokes are still highly insensitive and frame some countries in a worse light than others

Just look at the difference between how Northern Italy is portrayed as opposed to Germany or Japan. Or how France is a predator, Belarus is into her literal brother, and Spain is seen as a creep. It is often times mocking an entire country's intelligence, appearance, or personality. While it is not always that serious, it does lead me to the second point.

When you personify a country and mock it, you aren't just mocking a piece of land, you are mocking an entire population of people. These jokes may seem harmless but they can still be hurtful. While I don't believe that liking Hetalia translates to your actual views on world events, it can unconsciously impact your real-life thoughts and behaviors.

(also why does Britain see imaginary magical creatures, what is that referencing? According to the wiki, it is some popular folklore story of a rabbit who lives on the moon but like.. what? If Himaruya was doing this much research into these countries' cultural backgrounds why is he portraying them like this?)

This show portrays WWII Germany in too positive of a light for my liking. I've noticed a trend in anime where they seem to love Germany (or Germanic aesthetics) a lot (AOT I'm looking at you). Now I'm not well-versed in the interpersonal relationships between Japan and Germany, but the idolization is not it. The way that Japan in this show is portrayed as being literally obsessed with Germany is the biggest example (Italy is also shown having an immense appreciation for Germany and is often gushing about his positive qualities, even writing him a song while he was being kept prisoner). But I mean look at how Germany is portrayed, even his stereotypes are mostly positive, he is hardworking but helps out his fellow allies, makes great food, and is super strong. His only negative trait is that he sometimes doesn't understand social scenarios and that makes him very awkward. However, he will always go out of his way to try and better understand his friends (like Italy) by purchasing books to try and help him learn the appropriate way to act in scenarios).

This is 10x worse in the dub but we will get there. When one of your main characters, the one you are portraying in the best light, is a literal war criminal hot anime boy, you can understand why I would be concerned. I mean they gave him the whole blonde hair blue eyed appearance like come on. Now I'm not going to go into depth on fandom or anything here but Hetalia knows that its demographic is young tweens (primarily girls) so how can you be surprised when this portrayal of Germany leads to WWII fanfics sympathizing with Germany and 14 y/o girls in German military uniforms doing questionable things. (also Germany becomes a canonically gay character in Hetalia in like season 4 or something and that just makes me so mad, like yeah, of course, the gay character is WWII Germany that so cool) (okay, I would like to clarify that technically Sweden is the only confirmed gay character. Sweden is bad representation though because he has one-sided feelings for Finland and makes him uncomfortable by constantly referring to him as his wife)

I mean yeah, obviously this isn't going to be an accurate portrayal of history but some of this is just totally misinformation.

Austria invading Germany is literally just Austria annoying him in his house for a really long time. But also there's like actual wars... and like all of the events of WWI are canon... and like there are some really serious episodes

Also, we literally see a bunch of countries going to war personally, like fighting on the frontlines. Which to me confirms that these people are all literal murderers, like mass murderers lowkey.

Do you know how many weird USSR jokes there are throughout this? So many. Lithuania is pretty much just in a running gag where he keeps getting manipulated by Russia into coming back to live with him. (Yeah, there are so many USSR fics as well).

ALSO! why is the American revolution portrayed as the saddest thing to happen thus far, the storyline is stretched out from episodes 16-20 and it is all drastically different from the tone of the rest of the show. Britain is literally on his knees crying saying that he can't shoot America (which also implies these countries can physically harm/kill each other). Like that is the war you wanted to make all sad and sentimental? Why? Is this how Japanese people think that we view the Revolutionary war? Because that is a pretty inaccurate view.

Anyways back to the original point. Some historical events should not be played for laughs sometimes. It is incredibly disrespectful for actual victims of these tragedies to portray these events as funny or goofy.

Though I will give credit because Himaruya does make all sides of the war look like idiots who have no clue what they are doing, which is a sentiment I can get behind.

As a both non-Japanese and non-Korean person I can not really give my opinion on this however I can share with you both sides of the argument. This is mostly in relation to the original comic strip, but has some relevance to the anime as well. I just wanted to bring it up because it is interesting to me. (This is briefly mentioned in the article but I wanted to expand on the argument).

You may or may not have noticed that there is no South Korea character in this show, however, there was in the original comic. In the comics, South Korea is a pervert who is constantly touching Japan and he also takes credit for the inventions of other countries. Now I'm obviously not going to go into the past history of these 2 countries because that would be incredibly long but the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia and determined that it was a "crime against South Koreans, akin to slander". So yeah, South Korean people were not happy with this portrayal and the character was inevitably removed from the anime before release. (This is a real picture of the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia, the corner shows South Korea groping Japan inappropriately)

There are two opposing views to the Japanese Nationalism take and I'll link them both (Belittling Japanese Nationalism Hetalia: Axis Powers is the title of the first one)

The first one pretty much argues that Hetalis is not Japanese nationalism because it paints Japan in just as negative of a light as all of the other countries, no one is left out of being made fun of. Japan is seen as socially awkward, emotionally repressed, and obsequious.

The second argues that Japan is often shown to be more intelligent than other characters as well as often being of the voice of reason (especially compared to China) and most of his negative attributes are not nearly as harmful as some others in Japan’s case, even his “negative” stereotypes are inoffensive, as they pose no threat of meiwaku.

I think we see in the dub that Americans are a little more willing to make fun of themselves. Though there are a few good Japan self digs, like the capitalism joke in one of the first episodes.

Oh boy I've been waiting for this.

The dub is 10x more offensive than the sub. Most people consider it a crack dub.

So many of the jokes are rewritten that it is practically a different show. The sub is from a Japanese perspective and the dub is from an American perspective.

First of all the accents in the dub are so bad like it is actually atrocious. Japan is really annoying because not only is his voice stereotypical but he always says 'nani?' instead of 'what?' as if that is a normal thing that people do. The narrator is the best part of the dub and she is hilarious.

So I don't really feel comfortable even typing out the jokes here so if you want to hear them I included the time stamps for the three nazi jokes I remember in season 1 (the last two being worse).

Episode 1 (1:35:1:38)

Episode 7 (2:13-2:19)

Episode 48 (1:28-1:31)

Those are just a few examples and it gets worse. The dub literally had no reason to include these jokes because there is not even an insinuation of them in the sub and it makes literally everything a million times worse.

I will give the dub some credit for being so utterly ridiculous that it's funny. I will provide a few timestamps for the funniest jokes that only appear in the dub from the first 19 episodes (but I really recommend looking up Hetalia dub funny moments on youtube because some of them are really priceless):

Episode 13: (1:45-2:05)

Episode 14: (1:12-1:22)

Episode 17: (0:59-1:15) (2:06-2:11)

Now I've had this post typed up for a bit and originally I wasn't going to talk about the fandom but after reading the article that he assigned (and going through the fandom unit), I see that there is a lot of reference to fandom in particular so I want to at least mention it.

Not the 2 biggest problems with the Hetalia fandom are racism and the fetishization of gay men.

As mentioned in the article, there have actually been multiple fan incidents of them dressing up in WWII German military uniforms Germany/Prussia cosplay, and standing in front of temples with fake guns or doing nazi salutes in convention photos (If we want to bring racism and fetishization of gay men together there were two people who kissed in a holocaust memorial museum in Italy and Germany cosplay... there is no picture of this so it might be a rumor but it was well-known so it is worth mentioning). There were also a lot of people using imperialist Japan flags in cosplay/fanart and writing incredibly inappropriate fanfiction about real-life events.

If you would like to see any of these incidents feel free to look up "Hetalia the Boston Incident" I don't really wanna include the photos here.

The fetishization is not unique to the Hetalia fandom, but it is amplified to the max. Obviously, within Hetalia, there are almost no female characters, so this leaves only male characters to be shipped with one another. Now suddenly Germany is an uwu gay bean and not an actual war criminal. At the moment of writing this Hetalia has 32105 M/M fics on ao3 which is only one of the three fanfiction sites, with ao3 not even becoming popularized until after the peak of the Hetalia fandom. (the most popular ship being America/England who refer to each other as brothers in the show as England raised America, showing another problematic part of the fandom). I would argue that Hetalia has one of the gayest fandoms (My Hero Academia is giving it a run for its money though) and I agree with the article that it is inaccurate to say that this is only done by straight cis women. The fact of the matter is a lot of queer teens used Hetalia as an outlet to express their own sexuality through these characters. The straight women that do fetishize BL are likely only doing so because anime creators suck at writing good female characters.

I think that the "level of gayness" turns straight fans away from watching the show (again MHA is the same way today) as it is hard to interact with the fandom without seeing some yaoi content. However, many people view this as something wrong or cringy, when in reality it is a normal part of fandom culture. When gay people have such little content that is actually gay, you cannot blame us for creating our own through characters that we like/relate to. Again, I think the only issues that arise here are the problematic ships that give young people a bad impression of relationships (abusive, incest, pedophilia, etc) or the arguable problematic ones like China/Russia or Lithuania/Russia as again these are real countries with real political relations. (However, I will never forget the time that there was Russia/China fanart on the news, maybe they approve and I shouldn't be complaining)

The thing is, Hetalia only seems so bad because the fandom is so large and so young. A lot of shows have fandoms that sexualize the characters and have kinda problematic fans, but the sheer volume makes things seem worse. This is something that we covered when we watched Genshiken, but there is a lot of negative stigma behind this fandom in particular, but it is just a loud minority that gets a lot of news coverage between fandoms.

It also raises the question "Is a show responsible for the response of its fans?"

Because while Himaruya has no control over what people do with his characters or how they interpret a plot, if a majority of people are leaving your show spouting vaguely racist rhetoric and interpreting your show one way, isn't there some validity in that interpretation? I think a creator has to be aware of their audience, which in this case is a very young and impressionable audience who might not understand how offensive some of the things they are doing really are. They don't hold the same ability to separate fiction from reality.

That being said Hetalia had a large impact on fandom culture as a whole, largely starting things like 'ask a character' panels (along with like homestuck but we don't talk about her). If you go to any convention you will probably find a Hetalia cosplayer, and if you watch any dub there is probably a voice actor from Hetalia there.

I also want to mention Hetalia is also a fandom full of cultural capital, If you don't know every niche fact, you're not a real fan, If you haven't read Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart you haven't even met the entry-level requirements to be a fan. There are also no characters that are too sacred to be altered within the fandom. If you want to put Germany in a maid dress have at it, if you want to see all the characters as girls you're in luck cause Himaruya literally drew them. Fanfictions can take place anywhere from WWI to the present day and you can put any characters in any scenario and make it believable. There are thousands of pieces of fanwork, fan art, fangames, and fan AUs. These characters are malleable to fit your personal preference and there is really no way you could be mad at this as Himaruya does this himself, with no real established canon.

a Hetalia fan once said, "No one cares if Hetalia was written by a Japenese Imperialism apologist when you're 31 chapters deep into a human Au soulmate fic about Austria inviting Prussia to see his boyband perform in Berlin"

Himaruya is also the king of moe characteristics because he turned these Hetalia men into any cute thing he could think of, Chibi versions (Chibitalia), female versions (Nyotalia), and cat versions (Nekotalia). He has no reservations about drawing the characters in a dress or in cat ears. He gave the characters human names to allow for more standardized human AU's and made a DS dating game. He encourages fans to take his characters and use them in their fanworks as they see fit, canon is up to interpretation itself. I think Himaruya himself was a huge part of fandom culture (not that I could tell you cause no one knows anything about the guy) and saw how the female characters were often treated by fans and turned it on its head, allowing for females to sexualize the males this time.

Also, none of the male characters in this show resembles a Hegemonic form of masculinity. Even the most masculine character in the show (Germany) can be seen doing more "feminine things" like wearing a dress or proposing to a man. Which, you know, I guess is a good diversion from things you would typically see in an anime of this nature (but again there are a lot of instances of characters being feminine being played for laughs, like a man being girly is something inherently funny). Feat. Germany proposing to Italy with a tomato ring.

I am Hetalia's biggest hater, however, I cannot deny the impact that it has had on my life and how much I love to talk about it. Hetalia is what introduced me to anime and fandom (and tumblr) for the first time. I met a lot of people I still talk to today because of this show. It encouraged me and a lot of other people to actually get interested in history. Thanks to this show I can identify every country in Europe, and it was a lot easier to remember historical facts if I just imagined the Hetalia characters. Also, Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart is a literary masterpiece and there is a reason it almost has a five-star rating on goodnotes (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22064556) I love you George DeValier I hope you're doing good wherever you are.

I would like to make it abundantly clear that despite everything I've said that might make me sound like a woke blue-haired liberal, I don't really think this show is some horribly racist show or that the people who enjoy it are racist. I just wanted to provide a deeper outlook on the impact a seemingly dumb show can have on real people. I can't really blame the show for the terrible response of the fandom and it did honestly get better in later seasons that are not focused on WWII.

Despite all the bad stuff, it is a relatively funny little 5-minute watch, and you can really just jump in at any point you want to. If you don't take it as seriously as I do you might even enjoy it a little.

If you actually read this far I have major respect for you, I'm really excited to see what the general consensus on this show is.

Prussia and South Italy were my favorites in case anyone cared

If you're wondering why I didn't do my presentation on Hetalia despite my extensive knowledge, it is because I would be incredibly biased and I would go off the rails I think.

Also, my biggest fear is current Hetalia fans finding this and killing me, that might seem irrational but the Gundam fans found me last time so I wouldn't put it past them.

#jpt1311 #why did you do this to me #im sorry #blame the autism

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hamliet · 1 year

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One thing I dislike about the discussion of female characters within jjk is that… people praise it too much?

Of course, the bar is low within Shonen, but even then I still think the series gets a bit too much praise for it’s “good” female writing.

For example, Nobara. She honestly have as much depth and narrative importance as Sakura in Naruto. Nobara is just more liked because she can apparently kick-ass and has a bad attitude.

Maki. She started out promising. She started out as someone who can’t cooperate with her classmates in jjk 0. But then during the actual series that seems to be revolved. However, with the introduction of Mai, her twin, we are then introduced with a very compelling and nuanced take on twins and subversive of the “good” victim vs “bad” victim trope. And then the Zenin Massacre Arc happened. Which not only killed off Mai who had huge potential, but basically destroyed Maki’s arc by giving her a power up without Maki actually needing to change or reflect on herself. And also… the terrible stereotype of twins within that arc too.

Yuki. Once again, she had promised. She is a Special Grade One sorcerers, but with a very interesting and twisted mind. She’s basically like a mad scientist, where she want to see if a world without curse energy is possible. And she’ll see certain things play out even if it means certain people will die, hence why she didn’t intervene during the Shibuya arc until the end. And well, we all know what happened to her in the end.

The rest have too little screentime, or not really important to the narrative at the moment. I’m honestly tired of hearing how “jjk have good female characters” when it really doesn’t. And they darn to go as far as said that the female are better written than Bleach and AOT??? I’m sorry, is it because all the female are “strong, determined, and ass-kicking”?

I’m sorry for this, I just wanted to get this off my chest since the fandom seems to praise this aspect of jjk when I believe it’s not deserved. However, that can be me. What’s your personal opinions?

I think it's pretty clear I agree with you haha. I don't have a lot to say that I haven't said already, but yeah. JJK's female characters are not even towards the good end of low-bar shonen expectations.

While there are things to critique about AoT's handling of female characters and Bleach too, I think it's wrong to say they, on the whole, have poorly written female characters. They have some badly done ones that are done poorly in a specifically gendered, offensive way (Historia). But they also have really great female characters who are, in some ways, I'd argue better written than many of the male characters within their tier of importance (Gabi, Mikasa, Sasha).

If you were to say, gather the female characters on the whole, AoT definitely has much better written ones on the whole than JJK does, as JJK has just has one relevant female character atm (Maki) and her arc is a mess. (Even if Nobara returns, I don't see how her relevance and arc can be salvaged.) To be fair, though, I guess it depends what aspects are most important to each fan, since the offensive aspect of, say, Historia's arc might conjure stronger feelings than the apathy of JJK's treatment of women.

#ask hamliet #female characters

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rudasosna · 1 year

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Attack on Titan criminally underestimates its female characters...

...a.k.a. Attack on Bad Writing

Y'all know this hit anime, Attack on Titan? The one that's so good it has 2 episodes in iMDB's Top3 rated TV show episodes? Would it surprise you that this Japanese Shonen anime about vaguely German people is extremely sexist? Yeah, me neither. Female characters in AoT have always been criminally underused by the writers OR completely inconsistent OR extremely boring. You want proof? Okay, here's as many significant female characters as I can remember from AoT Season 1-3:

Mikasa

The female lead of AoT is one of the most boring, basic, one-dimensional characters in the show. She ONLY cares about Eren and this would be fine if she had literally any character development whatsoever. But she can't because then she would be more than a plot device that appears when someone has to do something badass while screaming Eren's name. Character so boring that I actually forgot her last name.

Annie Leonhart

Okay, guys, we need to make this one mysterious so that no one suspects she's the BBEG of Season 1, let's just... Not have her in 75% of the season. Annie goes from having 2 lines in a whole arc to having unclear motivations, no personality and no character development in the arc where she's supposed to be a focal point. Also, the show's attempt to make the Female Titan's identity mysterious is just embarrassing. She is *supposed* to be a shut-in, I get it, but it's done to an extreme, and she only gets very vague hints at her past, motivations etc. Season 4 partially solves this with flashbacks, but Season 1 is still completely criminal with it. Oh and then she gets written out for 2 whole seasons while still technically being a very significant character. Extremely good concept of a character, but she just doesn't get the screentime she needs to become interesting

Hitch

Hitch is on screen so rarely, it was hard to find a good gif for her. She's a bit of a cookie-cutter slacker, and falls into that stereotype heavily. Season 3 had a chance to do something interesting with her, but it intentionally refuses to by making 90% of her mini-arc happen off-screen. By the end of it, you don't even know if she is inspired or resentful by her crush's sacrifice. There was potential here, but it was never used (until Season 4 that I didn't watch and know very little about).

Hange Zoe

Brutally tortures prisoners. Invents rocket launchers. Horny for titans. Hange is actually a decent character in that she's completely out of pocket at all times. She is unpredictable, hilarious, and incredibly consistent in how insane she is. Her bits do get a bit tired over time, and she exists only to serve the plot, but she's actually not bad!

Ymir

This. Bitch. Has one arc of excellent development, great lore, consistent characterization and the cutest fucking relationship in the show, buuuuuut then Season 2 Arc 2 has her do completely out of character things, betray her love and promptly die a completely unnecessary death off-screen. Does this end up making Christa slightly better by giving her a solid motivation? Yes, but she already had a solid motivation. On that topic...

Christa/Historia

This is it. This is the one. The well-written female character who has a good arc, remains in character, doesn't only do things that serve the plot, has decent humor writing ("gotta marry her" is the best scene in the show, fight me) and is relevant for an adequate amount of time. She also doesn't fall into stereotypes - basically everything she does in Season 3 is a great combination of kindness, maturity and egoism, which are 3 traits that don't often coexist in AoT. She is the best female character, and arguably the best character, in AoT Seasons 1-3. I sure hope Season 4 doesn't do any weird things to her... Fuck.

Yeah, as you can see, AoT misses the mark nearly every time it tries to have a female character, which sucks because all of the above characters are, in principle, very good. Most of them need just... More meaningful screentime (Sasha is in the show more than most, but most of that is comedic relief and not development). Now of course, I'm sure Season 4 probably fixes everything and I'm committing a crime by not watching it - but that doesn't undo Season 1-3 and their writing mistakes. It's clear that there was capacity for good female characters in AoT, but all of the screentime gets eaten up by Eren's Mandatory MC Monologue that 90% of people will skip through.

Edit: technically, Pieck is in Season 3 in her Titan form, but you don't know it unless you watch Season 4 or read the Manga.

#aot fandom #aot #bad writing #rant #I want Annie Leonhart to step on me

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berthemorisot14 · 2 years

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Did you know this? – About the season 1 of animation AOT

When the first season of the animation started, only 10 volumes of manga were released, and the production team had to stretch the animation episode.

A very long review of previous episode was included. In episode 22-25, they created a whole new story which did not exist in the manga.

In episode 22, the story of retreat from the battle with the female Titan was created. The body of fallen SC soldiers were dumped from the cart to escape the chase of the Titans and Levi seemed very sad especially over Petra. This inspired Levi-Petra ship which is a perfect stereotypical male-female relationship.

In episode 23, Marlo confronting corrupt Military force scene was created. This is redundant. We already know that Military force is corrupt, and Marlo seems to act recklessly. In the end, it was Annie and Hitchie who saved Marlo, who could not end the situation by himself. It was a disservice to Marlo, a good guy.

Personally the most aggravating scene is in episode 24-25. While Eren shifted to Titan and fought with Annie without delay in the manga, in episode 24, Eren lost conscience and stayed that way wasting so much time with no reason at all.

Personally, Eren was an anti-Hero for me from the very beginning and all the scenes that he did poorly at the critical moment infuriated me, but this just went too far (In fact, I even devalued Mikasa because of her blind obsession towards Eren. I'm so so sorry to Eren fans). Even after shifting into Titan, Mikasa had to cut Annie's fingers to help Eren knock her down.

The position of the 2 Titans were steamy, and Eren looks as if he hesitates when he sees Annie. He even attempts to eat her, which Levi stopped.

After recovery from the shift, Eren says in front of Mikasa,

“The moment I discovered Annie, I could not move. I felt so happy and I did not mind if my body was broken. I felt so good that I may die.” What the heck?

EREN DID NOT LOVE Annie, IH had to deny strongly. All these scenes seems stupid and confusing.

Although animation fans might not have noticed, these scenes were criticized by manga fans because of lack of relevance.(Personally, I do not like Hange's hair grab scene, either. )

Newly created animation scenes often do not fit the character's personality. Maybe it was created to boost shipping?

#AOT #levi hange #levi x hange #levihan

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siflshonen · 2 years

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Do you read all shounen manga or a select few

Would if I could read them all…

I definitely don’t read every shonen (which, wow. That is a BROAD genre to start with) but I make it my business to know about a notable swath of the “big ones”. And even then, of those, I only focus in depth on the ones that really strike my interest. Below is a (noncomprehensive) list of shonen (and some relevant seinen) I have at least a modestly dangerous amount of knowledge regarding:

List under the cut (it’s a little long but not the worst)

Astro Boy (I love this series. While not strictly specific to shonen, I’m just a Tezuka fan in general.)

20th Century Boy (definitely a seinen, but I feel it is relevant considering it is contextually dependent on knowing a little about Japanese pop culture from the 60s - 80s. I really like Naoki Urasawa in general.)

Dragon Ball (I spend a LONG time breaking this mess of a series down for fanfiction and also personal enjoyment.)

Fist of the North Star (part one ROCKS. I don’t talk about this one a lot but I’m absolutely in love with it.)

Akira (watched the movie; read some of the manga and have knowledge of the differences between the two. Want to read more.)

My Hero Academia

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (I read all of part I, part of Part II, and have seen the new anime part III. Not one I like to take deep dives in, but enjoyable.)

Yugioh (the early manga and its anime equivalent “season zero” are my favorites. I constantly amaze myself with how much I remember about this series as a whole when push comes to shove.)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Jujutsu Kaisen (watched.)

Demon Slayer (watched.)

Gurren Lagann

Eureka Seven (this is technically a shonen! It is my favorite mecha anime.)

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Black Cat (watched)

Black Torch

Blue Exorcist

Attack on Titan (I read more than I watched. I stopped reading after Sasha’s adventures with the bow and arrow… honestly? I don’t like AoT very much.)

Dorohedoro (watched. I NEED to go read this because I adore it!)

One Piece (I read this until about volume 26 or so, liked it, but decided to keep my overall distance from it lest I fall in too deep. I still keep a marginally interested finger on its recent developments, though.)

Mob Psycho 100 (THIS IS MY FAVORITE SHONEN.)

One Punch Man (technically seinen, but I feel it is relevant.)

Fullmetal Alchemist (THIS IS MY SECOND FAVORITE SHONEN. But honestly I see it as a totally different animal than MP100 and find them almost not comparable, so take that as you will.)

BLEACH (oh wow… I loved BLEACH. I stopped reading or watching it during the battle in Karakura but I also kept tabs on it. The treatment of Tite Kubo at the end as well as the resulting ending itself made me so sad.)

Zombie Powder (I have a soft spot for Tite Kubo.)

Burn the Witch (I need to read it, but I did watch what is currently out. It didn’t really grab me, yanno?)

Naruto (This is probably the only shonen I ever dropped out of open animosity and annoyance with the work… the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Pain explained his fake initial plan to take over the economy to the Akatsuki. There was a time when I loved this series… I still love how Kishimoto used kabuki in the work separate from my own misgivings towards it… anyway, I still checked in with it from time to time but mostly because I took a bizarre liking to Naruto’s father, Minato/the yondaime, as well as Kyuubei himself. My resulting love of Bakugo Katsuki should be no surprise given this information.)

The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kusuo

Shaman King

Rurouni Kenshin (death of the author!!! His wife wrote most of the best parts, anyway!!!)

Yu Yu Hakusho

Hunter x Hunter

Devilman (with respect to Go Nagai: this manga sucks. I do legitimately have respect for Go Nagai but I don’t like his original work. I have GENUINELY enjoyed the experience of consuming it and learning more about him, his spin-offs and sequels, and influence as well as notoriety though. Knowing about this series enhances my love of Yugioh and Hunter x Hunter in particular)

Tiger and Bunny (THIS is the best superhero anime.)

Bakuman

Lupin III

Cyborg 009 (another series I know more about than I realize on a regular basis)

The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past (manga by Shotaro Ishinomori. Actually, I’ve read almost every Zelda manga out there!)

#ask #thanks for the ask!#shonen anime #these are all the ones I could think of right now but I am sure there are more

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

Note

[Part 1] Hi Sav! What are ur thoughts on Kamiya's (Levi's VA) words regarding Levi? Here are two translations I found on twitter. Since you know Japanese I think you're the perfect person to ask this from ^^ " Today at Anime Japan Kamiya Hiroshi said, “Levi hasn’t changed. The loss of Erwin is so huge that afterwards his life in a sense is like ‘yosei’.” Yosei (余生) means like, the rest of one’s life (after raising kids or retiring) where you have nothing left to do"++

Disclaimer: Please I have no intention of starting a ship war with this, I just wanna drop my own interpretation for my own Levihan stanning heart.

Note: I had no plans of watching the Japanese Seiyu panel for the last episode of Attack on Titan for many reasons and 90% of it is because Romi Paku didn’t show up and I’m still salty overall about how AOT and the narrative is treating Hange altogether and literally the only comfort I get about Hange this whole AOT season is that she looks great in all her scenes but anyway, enough about the rant. I’m still low key salty about not getting our Levihan reunion yet… But whatever.

I got all of these asks in succession and soon after I did some research on twitter to see what all the fuss was about and apparently, a lot of Eruri fans are likening Levi to a widow--- A WIDOW of all things.

And I dunno, I feel like this conclusion for one kinda cheapens Levi’s character altogether and just cheapens the bond of Levihan so I kinda realized I just cannot stand and watch some obviously Eruri-biased Japanese translations of that statement run rampant on twitter without my own take.

So anyway, I’m gonna drop my own take on this, my own interpretation as a Levihan stan.

Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to push any Levihan agenda on anyone. If you like Eruri and you wanna stick to your widow interpretation feel free too. I just feel like a pro Levihan take, and a more ‘non Eruri’ take on that statement should exist as well so I’ll just drop this here for Levihan fans to seek comfort and possibly for any casual reader or Eruri fan to get some other perspectives on this statement I guess?

This is the original Text

声の方「団長、エルヴィンを失ったことはとても大きかったと思うんですよ」

「だからそこから先ってある意味余生みたいな感じになってる気がする」

Isym先生「エルヴィンの最期を看取って役割を全うし、現在宙ぶらりんな状態」

リヴァイ本人「…俺達の役目は」「あそこで終わりだったのかもしれない…」

And if I were going to translate it word for word.

“For Levi, losing Erwin was a big thing. And everything after that became some sort of ‘retirement’ (Yosei) for him. Since he took it upon himself then to follow Erwin, right now it feels just dangling in space.”

Okay these are obviously Eruri crumbs at first glance and I recognize why exactly Eruris would celebrate over something like this because if we had a Levihan thing like this too, I’ll probably be celebrating too

But Let me offer my own interpretation of this as a Levihan stan

Yes, I recognize that for Levi losing Erwin was a big thing, but I’d like to paint some of the terms in a positive light for Levi. And the main key terms above were ‘Yosei’ and “Levi dangling in space’

So I’ll be focusing on those two:

余生 (Yosei)

余生 (Yosei) isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Yosei literally translates to ‘the remaining years of someone’s life” So it doesn't necessarily mean Levi’s a widow or Levi is lonely because Erwin’s not there anymore In fact, Yosei is used a lot from what I see, to mean, retirement years. So after you’re done with your job and you retire, your last few years playing golf, playing with grandchildren, those are your ‘yoseis’

And there are lots of takes I saw online to this Yosei thing

There was a meta in Japanese I found where they discussed the fact that Levi was approaching his twilight years. and the main reason he was facing ‘retirement’ wasn’t necessarily because Erwin was gone but because soon after Erwin died, the basement happened and it turned out there were enemies much stronger than titans out there.

The ‘Yosei’ meant, Levi retired from his role as ‘humanity’s strongest soldier’ because Levi was the ‘strongest soldier’ against titans, not against humans, the rapidly changing world and technology. I mean if we actually are objective about this, we could see the most capable survey corps member for handling the new enemy which is Marley and the Hizuru and just all the other countries and the impending war, was Hange since she is the best at navigating politics and she would be the quickest to adapt to technology.

So yes, if it’s obvious, I do not like the ‘Levi is a widow take’ AT ALL.

「エルヴィンの最期を看取って役割を全うし、現在宙ぶらりんな状態」

Since he took it upon himself then to follow Erwin, right now it feels just dangling in space.

But I’m not gonna discount the role of Erwin in Levi’s life. I think it is actually very important to understand why Levi feels like ‘he’s dangling in space.’

We all remember that last scene from ACWNR after Isabel and Farlan died and I’m sure we can all connect those last words from Erwin all the way until Levid decides to follow him to the role implied above.

Erwin was Levi’s compass. Erwin gave direction to Levi’s life and suddenly Erwin dies and at the same time the world opens up and Levi starts to realize he’s not as needed anymore and his role as humanity’s strongest is gone.

So obviously all those events at once would leave Levi in some sort of limbo right. And that’s why he gets this feeling that he has reached his ‘yosei’ years and he’s also dangling in some limbo

I can think of two more specific reasons he ends up ‘dangling.’

First reason is: Killing the beast titan, the last order Erwin gave Levi wasn’t so easy to do anymore given the political nuances, the environment and of course the fact that the world was already more complicated than killing titans. And to think that Levi makes a promise to do that right before Erwin died?

So I’m thinking the ‘dangling’ refers to Levi grappling with such complexities and nuances while trying to fulfill a goal which would have been so much easier if the basement thing didn’t happen and the world didn’t open up.

And my second reason is:

Warning: Before I go to this, I wanna warn you that this is my Levihan stan self reaching for pro-Levihan interpretations so feel free to ignore this if you don’t want crazy Levihan delusional interpretations.

Anyway, my second explanation which I like to play with and I like to keep close to me, being a Levihan fan is that Hange of all people, was the last veteran stuck to Levi and as we all know, according to Yams old interviews about Hange’s gender...

Hange’s a free soul. She’s like the balloon, the kite that just floats in space and just continues hanging, dangling and flying. And she’s the person who Levi ended up sticking to after Erwin’s death. And since he ended up with such a free sould, he didn’t necessarily find much direction again, the same way he found direction with Erwin.

Hange didn’t give a straightforward direction for Levi. But Hange provided comfort.

And I’d just like to introduce a pro-Levihan interpretation this.

So maybe ‘dangling in space’ and leaving the remaining years of his life like that isn’t such a bad thing? I mean I like to interpret this ‘retirement’ and ‘dangling’ as Levi finally being free of whatever ‘Ackerbond’ or whatever compass or order Erwin has set for him.

Because Hange went about her position as commander more as a parent to the cadets and more as a comrade to Levi than anything else. And with title of ‘humanity’s strongest soldier’ not so relevant anymore post season 3 with titans becoming a not so big threat compared to the impending war, I think the ‘yosei’ and the ‘dangling’ could be interpreted as freedom for Levi from his role as Erwin’s right hand man and freedom from the burden of being ‘humanity’s strongest.’

And the transition from having to report to Erwin to having to report to Hange, I think this can be interpreted as a breath of fresh air for Levi.

Yosei after all can be interpreted as freedom. When people retire, people are free right? They’re free to try out different things, they’re free to focus on other things. Even if people have to experience the pain of ‘loss’ when losing one position, the remnants of it, the ‘yosei’ isn’t inherently bad although it can be interpreted as that.

And the crumbs for this? I always believed that Levi generally acted freer under Hange than under Erwin. And I feel like I have created metas about this before about Hange’s leadership style: here and here

Anyway if you got this far, thanks for reading!

#levihan

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sonofthesaiyans · 3 years

Text

A lot of people are angry at the finale. Rightfully so. BUT...

Lets be very, VERY clear on one simple and undeniable fact.

The problems with the finale are NOT isolated to the finale.

The ENTIRE FOURTH SEASON (Chapters 91 to 139)...........The entirety of that is to blame for why AOT ended so badly.

Nobody can justify the deaths that took place in this season, Ymir, Hange Zoe, SASHA. Fuck me to hell, NOBODY can justify that one, anyone who thinks they can after that final chapter? You are delusional.

Nobody can justify Gabi Braun’s role in this because as the finale proved, nothing she did or added was of any relevant consequence, aside from stealing the spotlight from a far more beloved character in the series’ single worst fucking failing before Chapter 139, Chapter 105, people. Chapter 105.

Nobody can really justify the roles of the other newbies, Magath contributed nothing. Porco contributed nothing. Yelena contributed nothing. Niccolo contributed nothing. Connie Fucking Springer contributed nothing. Pieck Finger contributed nothing. None of them are plot critical.

Nobody can justify Historia’s pregnancy. I haven’t seen really anybody try to.

Nobody can justify Jeankasa because it really spun its wheels and went nowhere. Or Eremika, as we saw how those last scenes with Eren played out and as many have noted, Mikasa’s entirely motivated by Eren and very little else.

Nobody can justify Ymir Fritz’s love with her rapist and abuser. Nobody can justify that half-assed display of the Paths which are still largely unexplained.

Nobody can justify Hizuru as we never got to see the fucking country. So how did Mikasa’s ancestry factor into any of this again?

Nobody can justify the survival of the alliance. Really, that was not fucking set up for the survival of most of them. How the hell is Reiner alive?

Nobody can justify the disappearance of that Titan symbiote, seriously where did that thing go?

Is anybody happy with the Yeagerists taking over? Sure doesn’t feel like the war truly ended at all after all that shit and that’s really hard to forgive. Cycle of violence and all that shit? This ending tried to be “happy” and downer at the same time and FAILED AT BOTH.

And can anybody justify that mess with the Jaw Titan? Why was one of the less powerful Titans transferred in the contrived manner it was to be a massive Chekhov’s Gun at the end?

People let’s be CRYSTAL CLEAR. There is NOTHING to defend of the final 48 chapters of this series, and you know it. If you’re trying to convince yourselves the problems are exclusive to the finale, get your rose colored specs off now.

This story ended with the Ocean. Hajime Isayama is not an author, just the worth fucking troll in Japan. Yanking our chain with his shock value bullshit the entire way and failing to recognize his limits as a writer. It shows in the final product, he was too ambitious for his own good and too full of it to actually execute.

You took something good Isayama, and you fucked it hard. And you absolutely do not deserve to retain any claim to this cast you happily wasted without a second thought. You fucked this thing way back in Chapter 91. And you absolutely should have stopped at the Ocean. THAT was far more of an ending than this bastardization you followed it all up with.

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illyria-12 · 3 years

Text

AOT Headcanons

I’ve been thinking of posting some of my headcanons and other shit here a bit more. I’m much more active on other platforms, but figured, why not?

So have something I threw together at... I dunno, maybe 3am Monday morning? :)

Warnings: None that I am aware of.

Includes: Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Levi Ackerman, Erwin Smith, Hanji Zoe, Reiner Braun (At present, maybe more added at a later date.)

AOT Characters as Study Buddies:

Eren Jaeger:·

Do not expect this boy to remember that he agreed to study with you. He could have agreed to study with you just a few hours ago, and would forget. He needs regular reminders.

Remind him a couple of days before, the day before, on the day, during lunch and definitely make sure you text him after school.

Is always late.

He starts off really focused. Pulls out his books and notes and is eager to help.

But he also gets very easily distracted.

Will often check his phone. It’s a really bad habit he can’t seem to control. Whether it’s just checking the time or clearing notifications, expect his phone to be in his hand at least 60% of the time. Clearing notifications often leads to him scrolling through social media, sending snaps or replying to texts too.

Will always involve you, telling you why he is laughing, showing the funny video or meme he has found or explaining a conversation he is having.

It’s entertaining, but not exactly the reason you are here...

He doesn’t have a preference of where he studies, he is pretty content anywhere, but if you go to his place, he will frequently bring in snacks or order pizza. Also is much more easily distracted when at home.

His attention span isn’t great, and although he loves the idea of being helpful and studying with you, he gets bored quickly.

Can also get confused with his own notes.

Will often try and get you to call an end to the study session rather than do it himself. It makes him feel accomplished that way; like he has done his job and you are the one who has had enough.Will often groan things like:

“Are we done yet?”

“My head/back/wrist/eyes hurt.”

Occasionally he will suggest ‘taking a break’, but once that has been agreed to, it is pretty much the end of studying for the rest of the night.

Likes to try and make studying as fun as possible. Bright colours, highlighting, bubble diagrams, sticky notes. You best believe his version of pop quiz is to write random answers on a sticky note and stick it to your forehead and then get you to ask questions until you get the answer right.

Will definitely reward you with a kiss when you finally get it right.

Sometimes leaves sticky notes in your book of ‘motivational quotes' to make you smile when you eventually come across them.

Armin Arlert:-

By far, the most committed study buddy you could have hoped for.

You have weekly study sessions at the library every Friday after school.

Armin is always there before you, fully prepared; books laid out neatly on the table. Sometimes he even starts his homework while waiting for you.

Is very much a fan of making a little itinerary of things you are going to work through on the day.

Doesn’t mind odd conversation but is an expert at getting you back on the subject at hand. He can often even relate whatever you’ve said back to the topic... although sometimes it doesn’t make sense. But it’s still funny and endearing.

“You know who else thought Mrs Bratton was a bitch? William Shakespeare.”

Is incredibly patient.

Is a great supporter, always encouraging you and praising you when you get things right.

Would never admit it but he finds it cute when you just can’t wrap your head around something and then out of nowhere, the penny drops.

The faces you pull entertain him. Either when realization finally dawns on you or if you’re thinking very hard.

“Hey, don’t worry, you got this... let’s just go through it again.” “That’s it! See? Told you you’d get there.”

Will always make sure he brings you something to drink and snack on during session. Usually a sandwich, crisps or some chocolate to give you a bit of a boost.

Doesn’t push you too hard, if you say you have had enough, he will generally leave it there, or try to convince you to do just a bit more, but never in a demanding sort of way.

“Okay, shall we finish this page first?”

“One more section? Promise.”

Armin's biggest downside? He is so soft on you.

Very often gives you the answers as opposed to forcing you to figure it out.

Absolutely can not be stern. If you are feeling playful, or really not in the mood and start teasing him,he is quick to admit defeat rather than stand his ground and force you to get through the work.

Absolutely will do 99% of the work on group projects but share the credit with you.

Levi Ackerman:·

Will make it seem like he doesn’t want to study with you, but will ultimately agree.

“Why don’t you ask ...... instead? Tch. Fine.”

At first he will always read what it is you have to do, and then proceed to tell you what you have to do, but not necessarily tell you how to do it.

Eventually he realizes you already know what you’re supposed to do... (you can read, Levi.) And then proceeds to actually help.

Expect a lot of sarcasm and insults. He doesn’t necessarily mean them, but he will say them anyway.

"Whining about it isn’t going to magically speed this up. Get to it.”

Very rarely strays away from what it is you’re meant to be doing.

Complaining gets you nowhere with him.

“No, we’re not taking a break, you should have eaten before.”

It’s not that he doesn’t care, he does, but he also knows you will do anything to get out of studying when you’re frustrated, and tend to over-exaggerate. You’re not ‘starving’, he saw you eat at lunch... which was only a couple of hours ago.

Likes to prioritize your subjects. Will take into account when assignments are due in, how difficult they are going to be and how long it will take to get done.

Strict. Very strict.

Prefers to study in a quiet and familiar place. Libraries or either of your houses where there are minimal distractions.

Absolutely will not let you copy his notes. You’re welcome to read them, but he expects you to refer to your own. That doesn’t mean you don’t steal snippets here and there though, much to his annoyance.

“Do you pay attention in any of your classes?”

Very good at breaking things down and explaining things. You actually pick things up pretty quickly when studying with him, probably due to his ‘no nonsense’ approach.

Will occasionally randomly test you to see if you’re actually paying attention and remembering what you are doing. He always smiles a little when you can answer his questions.

Is not going to do the work for you, and certainly isn’t going to give you answers, you have to really work for them.

Is patient until you start misbehaving.

His occasional praises are a treat.

Erwin Smith:·

Loves to study with you in different places. This man will plan a whole day for it.

Will always bring a picnic when you study in a park. Happy to share a cocktail if you go to a bar, or a milkshake and burger if you go to a diner.

If you do happen to study in a library, he will always take you for food afterwards.

His notes are detailed and beautifully written and he has no problem with you using them.

Don’t expect him to give you the answers though. Erwin is the sort of person who will ask you what you think.

“How do you think we figure that out?”

“What do you think we need to do?”

“What do you think this means?”

It’s not that he doesn’t know. But he wants you to try and figure things out yourself. As long as he can see you’re making an effort though, he is happy to guide you and let answers slip here and there, or word things in such a way that you suddenly have an epiphany and get the answer.

Is a great motivator and supporter.

Doesn’t mind taking breaks every so often and uses this time to have general conversation with you. Nothing work related in the breaks, it’s meant to be a break.

Is not above bribing you. Whether it be with food, physical affection, surprises...

Yes, Erwin has in fact brought you gifts and refused to give them to you until you do the work and get it right.

And he would do it again.

Erwin knows a decent amount about a lot of different subjects and sometimes shares random facts regarding topics you’re studying about. Sometimes they are not at all relevant. But they are usually always interesting.

You have this man’s undivided attention throughout the study session. Erwin is usually very busy , so when he does dedicate time to help you, he likes to be fully committed.

Will ignore his phone completely. Texts, phone calls... everything, until you both take a break.

Hanji Zoe:·

When the two of you get together to study, it is very hit and miss as to whether you actually get the work done. She is so intelligent, but also, such a ditz at times.

Hanji can talk.

Like, a lot.

She very often will start off talking about a topic and swerve off into other lanes and get completely side-tracked.

You once started off writing a biology paper and somehow ended up getting a history lesson about Ramses II, after learning all the details of the Black Death and even touching on Jack the Ripper.

But she is highly intelligent under her scatterbrain-iness.

But can become very easily distracted. Especially if you start talking to her about something she is very excited or passionate about.

Will sometimes forget to bring textbooks you need to use.

Will hyper focus at times. Sometimes a bit too extensively. It can be very draining.

Can be known for getting lost in the details.

Never comes to a study session without a coffee for the both of you.

Absolutely has no problem sharing her notes with you, will often steal yours too.

“A fresh set of eyes and all that.”

“Ah, this is good! Who knew you were a certified genius?!”

Has no problem pulling her weight on group projects, but also has no problem letting you take the lead... or do all the work.

Tends to be much more productive closer to the end date of an assignment.

Fidgets a lot. Always tapping a pen, nibbling on the end or twirling it between her fingers. Knee bouncing... almost constantly.

Likes to take regular breaks to analyse and go over what the two of you have learned and accomplished so far and decide where to go from here.

Procrastinates.

Reiner Braun:·

Reiner is always happy to study with you. Even though his calendar is pretty full, he will always make an effort to squeeze you in.

Definitely the kinda guy to put a game night on hold, telling his friends online he will be back in a couple of hours to help you first.

Always greets you with a kind smile and asking if you’re ready for the session.

Doesn’t mind where you study, but does prefer to study at his house so he can give you a snack or something to drink.

Really likes it when you go and study in the garden. It is probably his favourite place to study with you. Just because it is nice, quiet and peaceful.

Very chilled out; will often make jokes and try his best to keep the mood light.

Very patient; has no problem going over things multiple times and trying lots of different ways to try and help you understand.

Likes to be close to you when you work together. Knees occasionally touching, shoulders brushing. Just give this man a reason to touch you in anyway shape or firm. A reassuring hand on your shoulder, a quick one armed hug in the chair, ruffling your hair, squeezing your hand... he is all about that shit.

Will celebrate your victories and praise you constantly.

“Hey, well done! See I knew you would get it.”

“We’ve done a lot today, I’m proud of you.”

Always down for a cuddle or a movie afterwards, or maybe even a walk through the park to get some air and unwind.

Will digress sometimes but it’s very fleeting and he picks up exactly where he left off again easily.

Has no problem with you taking some of his notes, or searching the Internet for answers.

Will explain how he got the answer and break things down into manageable chunks for you.

Chocolate is always on the table.

If you get too stressed he will let you take a break.

Will offer to give you neck, back or even hand massages if you get too stiff.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

#Headcanon #aot headcanons #hc #AoT #snk #Eren Jaeger #armin arlert #levi ackerman #hanji zoe #Erwin Smith #reiner braun #writing stuff

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imhaitusncarnate · 3 years

Text

I have very mixed feelings on that aot ending

Ok so the politics of Attack on Titan have been discussed by a lot of people, some of whom have a very surface- level understanding of the story. I would like to start by giving my disclaimer that Attack on Tiatan ABSOLUTELY isn’t fascist, its anti racism, anti bigotry and anti discrimination themes are extremely apparent in it’s examination of the Eldians inside Marley, and fascist views held by characters such as Gabi are explicitly condemned in the text and made clear to be misguided and false.

I would now like to draw everyone’s attention to the openings of seasons 1 and 2.

Images like these combined with lyrics like these:

You pigs who sneer at our will to step over corpses and march onwards Enjoy the peace of livestock false prosperity "freedom" of the dying wolves that hunger

We dedicate and sacrifice our hearts

And also the use of german lyrics:

Sie sind das Essen und Wir sind die Jaeger! (they are the food and we are the hunters)

O, mein Freund! Jetzt hier ist ein Sieg. Dies ist der erste Glorie. O, mein Freund! Feiern wir diesen Sieg, für den nächsten Kampf!

(O, my friend! Now, here is a victory. This is the first glory. O, my friend! Let us celebrate this victory for the next battle!)

This is the stuff that lead me to believe that this is a deliberate use of fascist imagery. If the show just wanted to go for a militaristic vibe for the aesthetic of it, references this explicit to fascist propaganda and the use of German lyrics was not necessary. Also, lines like this:

And plenty of evidence that things were not what they seemed it the world of aot and that the overly simplistic view of good vs evil (humans vs the titans) was incorrect led me to believe that Attack on Titan was a deliberate deconstruction. That it was putting the audience into the mindset of the fascists to pull the rug from under their feet later. And I was right. Sort of.

As the story progresses, the world becomes a more and more complex political landscape and we are led to believe that this black and white mentality is wrong. We are also informed that the people who can transform into titans, the Eldians, are an opressed minority, explicitly paralleled to the Jews during nazi Germany, from their living in internment camps, to them being called devils, to their armbands, to a large number of them (our heroes) being confined in an island with walls circling them, which is revealed by Isayama to be Madagascar. The island that the nazis originally meant to confine the Jewish population in before arriving at the conclusion that that would be too costly, and that genocide was preferable.

This is the first of the story’s mixed metaphors. While the show’s heart is in the right place, being sympathetic to the Eldians and showing their plight under marleyan opression and persecution, there is one problem. The reason for the opression of the Eldians is because the world is afraid of their power, as they are a race with the ability to transform into titans. There is, therefore, a tangible, justification for their internment. The Jews were not in any conceivable way a danger to anyone, they were simply scapegoated for the complex socioeconomic problems of Germany in the time period. Also, if we take a look at those openings again, we observe that the Eldians (our main characters) who wish to free themselves from their shackles are framed as fascists. So... what is that saying?

The idea, as I see it, is that the story is condemning fanaticism in general, as a biproduct of a militaristic black and white worldview. The monstrous titans that our (framed as fascist) heroes fight against are revealed to be human, just like them.

The same is the case for the Eldian “devils” that the Marleyans fight against. Gabi, the character who is most fanatically against Eldians (despite being an Eldian herself) is comfronted with the humanity of the people she hates once she gets to know them.

Again, Isayama’s heart is on the right place here, trying to condemn bigotry, however the explicit referencing of history is the imagery is kind of misplaced, for the reasons I previously mentioned. Now let’s have a look at Eren Yeager.

Eren starts the story as a kind of messed up kid. He kills the human traffickers who kidnapped Mikasa while screaming:

I mean, in this case he is certainly justified, but his rage and anger are definitely not normal for a child his age.

This is Eren. He can’t stand injustice when he sees it. And injustice is what happens to him when the titans attack. His already fiery attitude and mindset is what leads him to this declaration of revenge:

That side of Eren is visible throughout the story and it’s foreshadowing for what he will later become

Eren, however, is a natural product of his environment. Ravaged by socioconomic inequality, with the rich living in the centre of the walls and the poor living in the outskirts, constantly under the threat of the titans and unable to obtain any kind of freedom, Eren’s philosophy of the need to be strong to overcome one’s enemies makes sense. The mantra “the strong prey on the weak”, that he ends up teaching Mikasa (another allusion to fascist ideology) is a biproduct of the world he lives in. He does not know of the political intricasies outside the walls. All he knows is he must kill the titans.

Eren’s titan is described as the “manifestation of humanity’s rage. It is huge and monstrous, and could be seen as a metaphor for vengeful hatred in general. Keep that in mind, it’s relevant for the ending.

This manufactured and false black and white worldview shapes him as a character, and it’s what eventually, after the arrival at the much desired ocean, leads him to this:

“Will we finally be free?”

In the continuation of the story, Eren falls toward the dark side more and more, to the point of committing atrocities and war crimes that are explicitly framed as being similar to what he suffered as a child (see his actions in Liberio). He even acknowledges that, telling Reiner, the person who committed said war crimes against him, that he essentially has no hard feelings and understands that the two of them are similar, doing what “needs to be done”. The character of Gabi, who, after what happens in Liberio, becomes obsessed with revenge against the Eldian “devils” is meant to be a foil for Eren, and his obsession with killing the titans after what happened to him.

Extremely interesting is the way in which certain ideas and images are flipped in the later seasons. Namely, in season 4, we see a character who idolizes Mikasa and supports Eren’s plans in a scene where she spouts the same mantra of “the strong prey on the weak” and says that Mikasa saving her is what showed her that only with strength she can defeat her enemies. Mikasa tells her to shut up, and she proceeds to do the salute, that has been so glamorized by the show’s openings thus far. Now, it is done by a person from a military faction with a fanatic worldview. The direction doesn’t glamorize it at all. It is a nuanced, almost masterful deconstruction.

Levi, who has always looked for reasons for why his comrades had t die, justifying their heroism and convincing himself that their deaths were not pointless, ends up here:

At this point, I was in love with Attack on Titan. From here, it only figures that Eren ends up attempting a genocide of the people outside the walls. He has essentally become what he hated the most, and he’s a natural result of the world that created him. Despite his noble intentions, he has turned into a monster. Mikasa, the prerson who loved him the most, completes her character arc by killing him, thus rejecting her blind devotion to him and being free, while at the same time continuing to love the person he once was. It’s a sad and tragic ending, painting Eren as a tragic character and making a pretty strong political point, despite having a few mixed metaphors.

And then, chapter 139 came out...

And Eren apparently pulled a Lelouch. This is a “I purposfully turned myself into a monster to save the world and make my friends into heroes for killing me” kind of thing. It is important to state that the manga makes it clear that Eren would have trampled the world even if they didn’t stop him, because of his urge to be free. However, that urge, that fighting spirit, end up being a good thing. The death of our heroes in battle apparently wasn’t pointless after all. They say goodbye with a salute

The Yeagerists, who were previously framed as fanatics, end up in charge of the government

It is important to state that the real event, the catalyst of the ending, is that killing Eren, who has turned himself literally into the manifestation of humanity’s rage (which has now, through the intricacies of the story, taken the political meaning of hatred and intergenerational trauma), eliminates the power of the titans. The titans are no more. This, in of itself, is good, and in keeping with the spirit of the political commentary thus far. However, the war, is still not over, and Eren’s mantra ends up being correct

So the only way for the war to end is one of the races to be wiped out?

Also, despite Eren’s genocide being wrong, it is, in the end, justified, as a necessary evil by the story. An Ozymandias kind of moment in which the ends justify the means, but Eren himself has to die, because his crime was too great for him not to suffer punishment. Essentially, this chapter undoes all of the insightful commentary the story had made so far, by proving the ideology of its main character right. Story- wise this isn’t a bad ending, but if we take into account the political references the series has made, and its desire to explicitly tie itself with such imagery makes the ending leave a really bad taste in my mouth. What it essentally says, is that, yes, bigotry and racism are bad, yes, blind hatred is bad, but the general idea of might makes right and the impossibility of reconciliation are true. Armin, who has, throughuout the story, been Eren’s opposite, in terms of looking for peaceful solutions to conflict is rendered meaningless in the end, because him alongside with the other characters were all playing into Eren’s plans. The hearts of our main characters as recruits were in the right place, their fighting spirit admirable, and the overall worldview we are presented with in the beginning of the story remains more or less unchallenged.

So where does that leave this imagery?

The conclusion is that one must think very carefully before including allegory in their work. I am not accusing Isayama for fascism, and I appreciate the efforts at deconstructing it throughout the story. However, in the end he did an oops I accidentally justified the mentality I was trying to condemn. I still like Attack on Titan, I believe it has artistic value and is overall a pretty good anime, I even agree with its politics to an extent. However, it is very important to critically examine the things we like, and see where they may have gone south. And this ending is that for me.

#attack on titan #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #snk spoilers #snk meta #aot meta #politics #anime

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lilydiaone · 3 years

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Spoiler for 139 AOT

I know a lot people say they like the ending but personally I‘m really dissatisfied with it. It felt rushed and there are few characters whos end I actually liked. I‘m not gonna send death threaths over it like some people (that‘s messed up), still I like to make some points and see what the fraction that loved it has to say about it. I‘m gonna write down the ending of the important characters and what exactly I thought about it

Levi: I honestly liked his ending the best because I‘m so suprised he surrived at all. No but I liked how he ended up staying with Falco and Gabi, especially since he protected the latter in the last few chapters. I feel like he finally can live his life in peace. Really liked as well when he saw the rest of the deceased Survey Corp.

Gabi and Falco: Their reunion was really cute and I liked that. I do think after all these Falco being able to fly as a titan was kinda a plot device but I can live with it. However I wish Falco would‘ve been shown some reaction over his brothers death which he more or less caused. All in all I felt like everyone just kinda forgot Colt? Yeah but all in all okay.

Jean and Connie: Jean and Connies end was alright as well (though why did they thank Eren? but to that latter more). I‘m glad they didn‘t die and personally didn‘t feel it was neccessary for them to die. I also liked when they saw Sasha however I feel like they should‘ve seen Marco as well? Marco is singlehandly the reason why Jean joined the corps in the first place and I was bummed not to see him. I also would‘ve liked to see Connies mother... I would‘ve loved to see a reunin between her and Connie.

Pieck: I don‘t have much to say beside the fact, I‘m glad she surrived.

Reiner: Reiner is in my opion the one I was most suprised to see alive. I was sure he was gonna die but I‘m okay with it. The scene with his mother was nice and all but Reiner wanted to be a hero all his life and I‘m sad we didn‘t get to see more of it now that he basically is one. I also like to point out that Reiner was shown to be depressed and downright suicidal,this part of his story I feel like we didn‘t get any satisfactory conclusion. And his mother, we didn‘t see much of her but she felt a little out of character to me when she said she was fine with him not being a titan anymore when she pushed him into it since he was a child. But maybe she changed her mind with the rambling. Can live with that.

Annie: Her ending was alright as well but I feel like I‘m the only one who thinks her father is a bad guy. It‘s nice that he wanted her to come home but are we gonna forget that he mercilessly pushed he when she was nothing more but a child. Seriously he treated her horribly. I would‘ve like a solution with that. But you know what that‘s okay.

Historia: Her ending simply didn‘t make any sense. Back when she talked to Eren about what he was planning she was not okay with it but now she is the leader of the Yaegerists?! She apparently married the farmer which was kinda leftfield for me. It also feels like her pregnancy literally had no relevance for the story AT ALL. Like I was sure her baby would get a titan or anything but it was basically just used to sideline her, though I feel like they could‘ve sidelined her simply because she was the queen. Her ending didn‘t make ANY sense.

What truly made the ending horrible to me was the ending of the main trio. Here‘s why.

Eren: Look personally I was not a fan of Erens villian arc because such an emotional character suddenly was emotionless. I felt like you could‘ve handled it better. I even theorized he‘s only doing it because the other future he saw is literally so horrible there really is now other way but to become the villian. Eren killed 80% of humanity. That‘t a lot. He did it so his friends would be heros. AndI mean his friends alone. The rest of Paradis is fucked because everyone blames them. The worst thing is despite this plan, Sasha and Hange more or less died because of Eren. It is also rally shortsighted. The Eldians on the island are kinda worse off and I feel likeit was horrible of Eren to do this. In my eyes he‘s not redeemed at all. He‘s still a villian and a really bad one at that. The worst thing however was when everyone started thanking Eren, like his sacrifice was so great??? Like it literally benefitted 10 people at most. Killing millions of people for this was excessive and didn‘t change anything what he did. They all said him killing everyone was awful and if they instead of fighting him decided to stay on paradies the same thing would‘ve happend. It was still the same situation. why were they thanking him??? And it was revealed that he killed his mother by leading Dina to them. I‘m confused to why Dina couldn‘t eat Bertholt because that would‘ve meant they had another titan with Royal blood. I generally only see advantages to this (seriously can someone explain this to me???)

Armin: Honestly I‘ve been dissatisfied with Armins arc for a long time now. Back when Levi decided to give the titan to Armin instead of Erwin, I was a hundred percent sure it was the right move. Now I think this wouldn‘t have happened if Erwin was still alive. Since the very beginning Armin was smart and his smartness was played of as such an important thing but in the end it didn‘t matter at all. The only time I remember him using his brain after he became a titan was when they attacked Marley and even then Hange said it was was an Erwin like plan, so Erwin could‘ve come upmwith this as well. I held hope till the end that Armin would come up with some grand plan. He didn‘t he just talked to people (is this fucking Naruto?!) and then their minds were changed. His inteligence was totally forgotten. At the end he became the hero because he took credit for what Mikasa did (to his defence Mikasa didn‘t want it anyway but still). His entire arc was an disappointment and I don‘t understand why he was made Commander despite not doing anything other than crying over Eren when Jean was right there.

Mikasa: Mikasa was done by far the dirtiest. Like I can‘t even believe this. Personally I never liked how Mikasa was potrayed as totally dependant on Eren but this... Damn. The entire time I hoped Mikasa would realise that her love for Eren was not healthy especially when she stopped wearing the scarf. That did not happen. Look I know many people like Eren/Mikasa so I will not say what I thought about Erens admission that he wanted to be the only one she ever loved. What pissed me of was how the story tying Ymir and Mikasa together made no sense at all. Ymir loved King Fritz besides anything he did to her which is a pretty awful message but okay that wasn‘t the things that made me mad. Mikasa was the one that could stop it because she was kind of in a similiar position. Her relationship with Erem was toxic (before Eren/Mikasa shippers come for me it was when he was the villian and threathened to kill everyone, you can‘t deny that) and by breaking free of it Ymir would break free as well. But Mikasa didn‘t break free. She killed Ymir but we see her years later still pinning for Eren and sitting by his grave and fucking talking to him. How did she free Ymir from King Fritzs binds??? I really hate the idea that she never gets over Eren because after all that she still depends so much on him. Honestly by far the worst character ending.

All in all: All in all nothing really changed, everyone still hates Paradis making me feel like the rumbling was pointless. And I know many people say it‘s realistic and I agree it‘s realistic but why did Eren have to do that??? For what? The Eldian vs everyone else dynamic is still thereand nothing is solved. It just feels like there are gonna be many more years of war amd everything Eren did was utterly pointless. So yeah I didn‘t like it. It was rushed and just felt off. Still let me know what you think.

#attack on titan #aot #aot spoiler #spoiler chapter 139 #eren yaegar #eren jaeger #levi ackerman #mikasa ackerman #armin alert #jean kirschstein #reiner braun #historia reiss #krista #connie springer #gabi braun #falco grice

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grateful-hopeful-dragonfly · 2 years

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Just finished watching Fruits Basket huhu. I thought it was a light hearted and rom com kind of anime, with just guys turning into animals when hugged. I thought it would be a good breather from AoT atleast. Guess there's no such simple anime like that 😅. It turned out to be more twisted and heavy than I thought. Nonetheless, I may have found one of the best love stories in anime so far (between Yuki and Tohru). Made my heart flutter and break at the same time and actually had to rewatch the whole anime to make sense of how Yuki really felt and it made sense eventually given the short duration of the story. Tohru became and was his first home (and he eventually moved out, like a child growing up and out making his own choices and decisions).

But then as I thought deeper, in the end, when we're ready to settle down, isn't that the relationship we all strive and hope for? A secure, comfortable place we could unapologetically be ourselves without the fear of being judged, a place of understanding, acceptance and continuing growth. And I actually really liked how Yuki helped Tohru in her studies and can be able to make her think more deeply (to not be too gullible) about various things. A certain aspect in which I think Tohru lacks. And Tohru in turn untangled Yuki's deeply knotted dark thoughts and emotions which helped him to get out of his shell and eventually come to terms and shake hands with his fears and insecurities. I was really rooting for them, but I think maybe if they met at a later time, or if the story progressed longer they could have better sorted out their feelings and eventually would have ended up together? I don't know haha I just think their personalities really fit together almost perfectly, they're very complementary. But then again, that's just my personal opinion and preference.

P.S. Or maybe I'm just not a fan of Kyo's character for Tohru, his hot headedness and his outward display of hate/irritation 😅. But maybe Kyo eventually changed after he let go of his guilt and insecurities? Yuki just felt more in control and though a bit self-destructive, always choose to sort his feelings out within himself before acting on things. Both of them have gone through a lot and I just personally love how Yuki silently handled his inner problems with the help of Tohru.

Edit: It's also just a big mystery to me how Yuki never was able to openly talk about how he was the blue-hat kid who helped Tohru find her way back home. I always thought that was one of the things he kept a lid on but would eventually be revealed by him in the end but he never got to do so. Was is not relevant anymore or did he think it would still have some kind of bearing so he chose not to personally tell it anymore?

Be careful of the bonds we make and the bonds we choose to keep 💚

#fruitsbasket #yukixtohru #anime #admeliora #spotify #yukisohma #tohruhonda

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it-sy-bit-sy · 3 years

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The ending of Attack on Titan: a shallow analysis

(I don't think I should have to put a spoilers alert on a blog about the ENDING OF AOT, but in general if you mind being spoiled on a series, I advise you to refrain from attending discussions about the body of work until you've finished it in its entirety/come up to speed on the current chapter/episode. Screw hype dude, do you like being hurt? Also for the TLDR, it’s that Attack on Titan explores the cycle of hatred (Eren’s journey) AND love which is why Mikasa and Ymir become relevant at the end of the story.)

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PREFACE

Since the newly added panels of AOT’s ending have been likened by some to the ending of Naruto, I'd like to say that Naruto's end truly hurt me; the way it flows into Boruto is so contrived it burns. A story that's always centered around powerful ninja bloodlines fighting political wars suddenly introduced aliens that harvest planets for energy as the super antagonist, and additionally they're the source of all our characters' powers as well as the jinchuriki and tailed beasts themselves. Then when you look at the plot of Boruto which heavily relies on the Otsutsuki clan as an antagonistic force, their whole existence feels like the transition from Dragon Ball straight into the first DBZ arc with Goku learning he’s really part of an alien race that was meant to destroy Earth.

I didn't detect so forced a role in the ending of AOT, but it's absolutely plausible to speculate that the alternate ending was influenced for this reason, as we know Attack on Titan wasn't produced through Isayama's involvement alone. Certain compromises are made when operating as a team, though it would be wonderful if the original intent of authors were more absolute in the world of production than they are known to be.

And as much as I don't enjoy half-hearted continuations of series for a royalty check, I ALMOST can't blame them for doing it...it creates (many) happy fans, more jobs, and Isayama gets his royalty check. The rest of us suffer but hey, artists need money I guess... 🥀 Moving on. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#1. Eren's development as a character

I never saw Eren's goal steered in the direction of breaking the cycle of revenge or hatred. He was acting wholly in his own interests. He's intensely selfish, doesn't want to change his views, and exists in the story to further the cycle itself. According to me, Chapters 129 and 131 perfectly explain his motivations for the rumbling.

Now before I go on, I'd like to bring a particular scene to mind. I do remember him saying this once (to Historia who had just told him killing the rest of the world is unjustifiable and wrong):

Yes, he said that, but I don't think that is what he ever intended the rumbling to be used for.

After he stated that 80% of humanity was wiped out so Paradis will be safe for the time being, he neglected to answer Armin's questions in 139: "Did you really need to go that far? Are you sure you did all of this for our sakes?" We may also consider the thoughts he chose NOT to share in chapter 131:

That combined with this excerpt from 129 is pretty much all there is to Eren's convictions.

Those are the same words he said in Chapter 2 after his mother died.

So despite his brief period of self-loathing when considering 1) the countless lives in survey corps sacrificed for his sake, 2) being confronted with his and his father's involvement in the Reiss family, 3) everything he learned about his enemy--that all titans are formerly human, that the titan shifters were just children deceived by their world--he even admits to Reiner during Tyburn's speech (Chapter 100) that they are indeed in the same boat--and on top of that, admitting that the rumbling will do nothing to fix the course of history, he settled with the same conviction he held the moment he decided to do something to change the world.

Again, here's his words from 139 showing us just how angry a boi Eren was.

This was Eren Jaeger...he didn't even really know what he was doing.

As a human being, Eren was very much in the cycle of revenge as much as everyone else was. His course of action never deviated too far from that path. He knew better, but he lashed out at the world to protect the few people he cared about anyway. He took freedom away from the ones who threatened him. He was a mass murderer, and so were the other soldiers in this series fighting for their own reasons, since titans were people. Survey corps were always slaughtering these people whom they saw as monsters. Marley viewed Eldians as monstrously and with as much hatred as Eldians viewed the titans. Eren did not try to justify his actions to everyone. He simply stopped seeing the value of life in others not important to him, as humans often do.

So what did he sacrifice 80% of humanity for? From 129 again:

Them meaning his immediate friends.

No, he didn't care about their children's children and beyond because there's no way to control what happens when you're gone from this world. It wasn't his problem. Eren had 4 years at most left to live, and he wanted to do what he could to ensure his friends were happy before he left.

And as jarring as it was to see Eren become undone in the last chapter, I didn't find it completely out of character, because for one he was talking to his closest friend moments before his own death, and secondly, Eren was just a stupid human like the rest of the people in this series. Obviously, most people just want a normal life that they can spend with people whom they love. Eren was the same way, but was denied that future (and happened to be able to do something about it). Very selfish goals, but those chosen few were his world. Along with a general distaste for humanity, that's how I understand his character motivations.

*Which is to say in relation to the extra pages, Ymir's curse returning a generation or two after the events of AOT doesn't entirely void his actions. I’m assuming the power of Ymir apparently exists as a force of nature on this version of Earth period, so I suppose this points us to an endless cycle of humans eventually finding the power and using it as they see fit *

#2 Why is Romance Relevant to Attack on Titan?

I wasn't expecting a romance factor to be relevant at the end of the story, however considering that Mikasa's affection for Eren WAS her most prominent personality trait as a character, then the events that followed, I was forced to look back to a few moments in the series that could lend light to why, in the end, a romantic subplot ended the curse of Ymir. My conclusions are as follows:

1. Quite literally, the cycle of hatred never ends. Humans will always have a reason to be unkind to one another. We are animals after all; this trait cannot be reasoned through with logic, bred out, or defeated. We are a self-aware species (Eren's even aware of his own hypocrisy in Chapter 131). There will always arise those who take what they want for themselves because they decide in the end they don't care about others as much as they care about their own interests.

2. To make this second point, I'm stealing these words out of a certain machine lifeform's mouth, but bear with me here:

"But the humans...? Now THEY are interesting. Because they are an enigma! They killed uncountable numbers of their own kind, yet loved in equal measure! It's fascinating, don't you think? What could possibly drive such behavior? We have dedicated ourselves to unraveling this riddle of humanity..."

--Adam from NieR:Automata

AOT uses Eren and Mikasa as a case study of humanity. Humans hate and love in equal measure.

In Ch. 129, Zeke's piece here foreshadows the significance of those two for the story, I guess?

Now everyone reading this series as well as the characters in it had noticed how much fondness Mikasa always had for Eren, and how aloof he always was towards her in return...that's something for them to work out.

Despite never really reciprocating Mikasa's feelings, Eren told Armin at the end of the series that yes, he enjoyed receiving her attention; he would have liked to live a happy life with her. So, Mikasa just liked Eren, Eren liked her... And similar to Mikasa, Ymir just liked King Fritz. It doesn't matter whether we think these feelings were sound or not; they did what they wanted with themselves. I suppose that explains the reason she was a mega simp for Eren in the whole story. Yes, this turn in the story reads like a different plot now, not one about war and killing monsters, but I'm pleasantly surprised that this trait taken as a flaw of Mikasa’s actually served as a necessary condition to end the conflict of the titans.

Eren wouldn't let go of his hatred of the world for his own satisfaction, Ymir wouldn't let go of her love of King Fritz for her own satisfaction, and Mikasa is the only one who decided to let go of her convictions in the interest of someone other than herself. That's what moved the curse.

I think Isayama used the characters of Ymir and Mikasa to demonstrate that while there is a cycle of hatred and revenge running rampant in humanity, the cycle of love doesn't stop either.

In closing, and I truly apologize for such a lengthy post; I hope I didn’t reiterate my point too often here...I didn't think about any of this until I heard so many readers upset with the way AOT ended. I'm not personally left with any disappointment in where the story went. I didn't know where it was going to go in the first place, and I think it could have been much worse for us in different hands.

*shrugs*

AOT is a story about the nature of humanity.

*And in regards to Jean, if that is supposed to be him with Mikasa in the new panels, all I can say is dude likes his girl. He was a simp for her and she was a simp for Eren, but the fact that they shared their lives together means a lot even if Eren was never completely buried in her heart. He meant a lot to her man, idk...

#aot #attack on titan #eren jaeger #end of aot #boruto #adam nier automata #nier automata #mikasa ackerman #ymir fritz

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randomposterofstuff · 3 years

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Why I still appreciate AOT/SNK despite how it ended

Hi, all!

I still have a lot of thoughts running rampant in my mind. I plan to express each idea individually. By this, I mean that one idea will be the subject matter of one post. I have many thoughts, and it would be a really long post if I include all of them in just one. Haha.

But for this particular post, I would like to express that even though I have mixed feelings about the conclusion, I still appreciate Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin. I admit that I only joined the fandom recently. Haha. But I became invested in the story and its characters fairly quickly.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. And as of now, they lean more towards disappointment and frustration. (I will elaborate more on what I think of it in another post.) Haha. But despite this, the series still gave us many, many incredible scenes and exciting plot lines. Furthermore, it also offered critical insights on complex subject matters.

Fair warning: This is another lengthy post. Haha.

A. It is entertaining

AOT/SNK is very entertaining. The action scenes alone had us on the edges of our seats. And those epic fight scenes were nicely complemented by compelling storylines involving deception, mystery, and power struggles. A personal favorite scene of mine is Levi Ackerman’s fight scene against Kenny’s Anti-Personnel Squad. The action and the conspiracy which led to it were amazing and jaw-dropping. (Side note: Ackerman Supremacy forever!)

B. It offers critical input on relevant issues

But the series is more than just enjoyable. It is also critical and reflective. Many people have said that AOT/SNK is a commentary on the many ills that plague human civilization and society. And I agree with this.

The series has invited us to think critically about war, violence, and trauma and their various effects on different people. It also has encouraged us to reflect on the power of information and perspectives.

1. AOT/SNK on war, trauma, violence and their effects

It showed us how a once innocent girl like Mikasa Ackerman became a highly skilled combatant because she feared losing her loved ones to violence. After witnessing her parents get killed in front of her while she was helpless to do anything, Mikasa became motivated to fight to protect the very few precious people left in her life.

It showed us how a former thug like Levi Ackerman realized that he could put his exceptional skills to better use by staying with the Survey Corps/Scouting Regiment instead of returning to the Underground. When he lost Isabel and Furlan to Titans, he felt unadulterated rage and pain. This also caused him to see the threat that the Titans posed to humans and influenced his decision to remain as a soldier.

It showed us how a once self-centered Jean Kirchstein transformed into a dedicated soldier and reliable leader after seeing the decimated corpse of his closest friend and companion. Jean’s change of heart was admirable. However, it was unfortunate that the change was caused by something as tragic as losing Marco.

It also showed us how a cowardly Floch Forester became a violent and narrow-minded extremist. When he was first introduced, he was afraid of dying in battle. But the war and struggle against Marley caused him to view anyone who wasn’t an Eldian as the enemy, even if they were only unarmed civilians. Ironically, his extremist views had made him a braver fighter. At one point, he had even told his allies to dedicate their hearts to the new Eldian Empire.

2. AOT/SNK on the effects of prejudice, propaganda, and indoctrination

I think that the series had also brilliantly portrayed how prejudice, propaganda, and indoctrination affect different people from different sides.

i. Propaganda in Marley

It showed us how the current generations of Eldians were forced to pay for their ancestors' sins. The old Eldian empire under King Fritz and his successors until Karl Fritz mercilessly conquered lands and destroyed many lives. Understandably, this caused the other nations and peoples of the olden times to hate Eldians. However, this hatred was unfortunately passed down from generation to generation. The crimes of the old Eldian Empire were committed thousands of years ago. Yet, the Eldians who were borncenturies afterward were still despised and viewed as devils.

This millennia-old hatred was also used by Marley to spread propaganda to keep itself in power and to keep Eldians in the internment zones across the world in check. They taught Eldians that because of their ancestors' sins and their supernatural ability to transform into Titans, they were monsters and plagues upon the Earth. They were also taught that they needed to repent to absolve themselves of the crimes of their forefathers.

This propaganda led to many Eldians believing that they deserved to be treated poorly and that they had to work hard to be respected as actual people. This mindset was what allowed the Marleyan Warrior Program to become successful. One privilege that came with being a Warrior of Marley and a family member of such Warrior was being granted honorary Marleyan citizenship. It was viewed as an honor and a sign of respect.

It was because of this that Gabi and Reiner Braun both aspired to become Warriors. Gabi trained as a Warrior because she wanted to prove to the world that there are Eldians who are good people. She herself had admitted that the struggles she faced as an Eldian were what motivated her to work hard. On Reiner’s part, he joined the program because he assumed that becoming an honorary Marleyan would complete his broken family. He thought his Marleyan father would live together with him and his Eldian mother once he became a Warrior. But alas, he was proven wrong since his father rejected him despite his efforts.

On the flip side, it also caused other Eldians to become hateful and resentful of superpowers like Marley. They were tired of being treated as second-class citizens and formed the Eldian Restorationist Movement. The Restorationists believed that Marley was feeding them deceitful propaganda. While this is indeed true, they instead believed that the source of all Titan power, who they reverently called the great Founder Ymir, was a benevolent being who would never harm anyone. It was eventually revealed that this was not true either.

The Restorationists had extreme views. These views caused Grisha Yeager to use his first son Zeke as a means to an end. The Restorationists had wanted to overthrow Marley utilizing the power of the Titans. And Grisha had immediately offered his son without any hesitation to their cause by enrolling him into the Warrior Program to become a spy for them. The Yeager patriarch was so focused and engrossed with their goal that he had neglected to act as an actual father to his then young son. He was more invested in Zeke's progress as a Warrior candidate than in the latter's growth and happiness as his son.

ii. Propaganda in Paradis

It was also revealed that the inhabitants within the Walls were also taught propaganda. As readers and viewers, we all know that the people of Paradis were initially ignorant of the truth of the world and of the Titans because King Karl Fritz erased the memories of the island’s first inhabitants. We all knew that most of them believed that they were the last living humans in the world and that the rest were wiped out by Titans around 100 years ago. The misinformation spread by Karl Fritz endangered the people of Paradis. It cultivated and propagated ignorance which left them vulnerable to attacks from other nations.

As such, they were clueless and defenseless against the Warriors of Marley when they first attacked. And they would’ve continued to be defenseless had it not been for Grisha’s journals and the memory-related powers of Eren’s Attack Titan. The lack of information and the misinformation they received had placed them in great jeopardy.

When the truth came to light, the Eldians of Paradis were divided. One side sought to broker for peace with the other nations. They wished to show that the people of the island mean no harm. The people of this side were willing to overlook the terrible deeds that Marley had committed if it meant that they could finally achieve true peace.

The other side saw the other nations, especially Marley, as enemies who wished to exterminate them. They were disgusted and infuriated by what Marley had done. These Eldians wanted to take arms and fight for the establishment and freedom of the new Eldian Empire.

2. AOT/SNK on the power of narrative in relation to the cycle of hatred

One thing that the series masterfully executed is the portrayal of the importance of narratives.

i. The Paradis Perspective

During the first arc, it was shown how helpless the people inside the Walls were when Titans attacked the Shiganshina District. We also saw the trauma that a young Eren Yeager experienced when he saw his mother get eaten by a Titan. We witnessed first-hand how a young child lost his parents and his home. And how this loss cultivated his understandable anger and became his primary motivation for becoming a soldier for humanity.

Fans, readers, and viewers sympathized and supported Eren because of this. By presenting how the destruction affected him, we all rooted for him and his allies. This narrative also showed us how countless soldiers of the Survey Corps/Scouting Regiment lost their lives during the fight against the Titans. From a spectator's point of view, the Titans were beasts that killed humans who were significantly weaker and smaller than them and monsters that laid waste wherever they went. As such, this perspective had led many of us to resent Bertolt, Annie, and Reiner when they were revealed to be the Colossal, Female, and Armored Titans, respectively.

ii. The Marleyan Perspective

But this all changed when we were shown the Marleyan perspective. When the Marleyan Arc began, we were shown how Eldians on the other side of the sea were poorly treated. We saw how they were brainwashed to believe that Paradis Island's inhabitants were the true devils beyond salvation, whereas they could still be redeemed. When these things were gradually revealed to us, we eventually understood why Bertolt, Annie, and Reiner did the terrible things they did. Because of these revelations, we started to become more sympathetic towards the Warriors.

The power of narrative was especially emphasized in the Raid on Liberio. During Willy Tybur’s declaration of war against Paradis, he revealed the world's true history and King Karl Fritz's plan. He also announced that the founding Titan's power was stolen from the royal family inside the Walls by Eren and that the latter had planned to use it to attach the rest of the world.

Not soon after his announcement, Eren transformed and attacked the people in attendance. The Survey Corps had also arrived to provide manpower and backup. In the process, hundreds of civilians and visiting dignitaries were killed.

All of these things lent credence to the propaganda about Eldians being devils. From the eyes of a bystander, Eren and the Survey Corps were murderers who destroyed a city full of innocents. This was how Gabi Braun viewed them at the time. She was raised with Marley's propaganda. As such, her already present hatred was amplified when she saw her hometown get destroyed and her friends and neighbors get killed in front of her. While her general prejudice towards the Eldians of Paradis was unjustified, the pain and anger she felt during the Raid on Liberio were very much valid and understandable.

iii. On the cycle of hatred and how to end it

It is because of these narratives that the cycle of violence continued on for so long. No one narrative is more right or less wrong than the other. This is because the losses and struggles that each side suffered were all very real and very valid. It is not fair to quantify the validity of a person’s pain.

The neglect and loneliness that Zeke felt as a child were valid. The grief and rage Gabi felt when her friends were killed were also valid. The heartache that Niccolo experienced when Sasha died was also valid. The depression and trauma Reiner sustained after his mission on Paradis Island were likewise valid. The hurt Connie felt when he was betrayed by people he trusted was valid. Jean's sadness at losing Marco and Sasha was valid. The anguish Levi felt when he was left with no choice but to slaughter his transformed comrades was valid. The point here is that no one's pain is more valid than that of others. There are different types of pain, and they are all valid.

It is from these losses and pain that anger stems. Anger is a very valid emotion. However, the way people choose to act on their anger is not always valid. On this, the choice to express anger through violence is the root cause of the cycle of hatred. It is also what perpetuates the vicious cycle. I think that this message was executed well in the scene where Niccolo confronts Gabi and reveals her as Sasha’s killer to the Brauses.

It is also during this scene that the answer to ending the cycle of hatred was explained through the wise words of Mr. Braus.

Screenshots taken from Season 4, Episode 13 of the Attack on Titan anime.

Mr. Braus acknowledged that the world is like a giant forest where violence is nearly always afoot. He understood that violence will continue to exist unless people put a stop to hatred. He sagely advised that it is up to the older generations to bear the sins of the past and their effects and consequences. This is so that the youth of the future could live in peace. And he backed his words with action by choosing not to take revenge on Gabi despite his own grief and pain.

The series also showed that another answer to ending the cycle was through understanding. This was exemplified through Gabi’s character development. Prior to her arrival on Paradis, she thought that its inhabitants were devils that were beyond redemption. But after spending time with the Brauses, she became enlightened. Gabi eventually realized that she was wrong about her prejudices. And it was because of this realization that her hatred disappeared, and she asked for forgiveness.

Screenshot taken from Chapter 118 of the Shingeki no Kyojin manga.

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Final Words: There are actually a lot more things that the series had touched upon. But I don't think that I can comprehensively cover all of them in this post. Hahaha. In any case, I still like AOT/SNK because overall, it is an epic tale full of action, mystery, intrigue, and most of all, valuable lessons and insights to ponder upon. I know that many fans feel that the ending ruined the series for them. And I understand why they feel that way. But personally, I think that many great things about it deserve to be appreciated. I know that not everyone will agree with me, but this is my take on it.

So, despite my disappointment and issues with Ch. 139, I still thank Isayama-sensei for giving us Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin. Thank you, Isayama! Shinzou Wo Sasageyo!

#aot anime #attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin #snk #mikasa ackerman #levi ackerman #jean kirschstein #gabi braun #connie springer #ackerman supremacy #reiner braun

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