damn...

⚠️ (CW implied suicidal ideation)⚠️

Okay but y'all we gotta talk. I know that now that Hange and Erwin are gone, and Levi’s fulfilled his promise to kill Zeke that a lot of people are thinking that Levi is gonna either off himself or let himself die because he “has nothing left to live for”. When that’s just…blatantly untrue? 

I know that the majority of the people in his life that he cared for are gone now and if Jean and Connie aren’t turned back into humans that he pretty much only has Armin and Mikasa left. But that doesn’t mean that he should just die to “put him out of his misery”. Or that there’s nothing for him past this. 

He’s only in his mid-thirties, by most estimations, and with all the stress he’s been through he might not live to be as old as most people can in this universe, but he still has a good 30 or so years left. That’s a lot of goddam time.

@reikiki11 bro your comment inspired me into some deeper thought on this. I hope that Levi does live, of course this is AOT we’re talking about and the chances of literally anyone living are...slim.

⚠️Again spoilers for all of the same things as the OG post!⚠️

There are a lot of different things that Isayama addresses in AOT. From class disparity to the moral implications of literal genocide, but specifically what I want to draw attention to is the idea of sacrifice, one of the biggest themes in Attack on Titan, and it can be summed up in a single line said by Levi to Erwin moments before his death.

“Give up on your dreams, and die.”

Arguably every character in AOT who has died has done exactly that, knowingly. Most notably Erwin and his dream of reaching the basement, obviously, but Ymir and her dream of being with Historia, Bertholdt and going home, Hange and living out their days with Levi in the woods, (almost) Armin and reaching the sea, and arguably Mikasa as she killed Eren (who was her dream). Of course these are all specific examples but this goes for even the most minor or background characters (i.e. Marlo and his dream of being with Hitch, Gelgar and his dream of having just one more sip of wine, and that one random cadet couple from the beginning of the show).

No matter how big or how small, each one of the characters in AOT had a dream.

Except for Levi.

His quest to kill Zeke doesn't count, because it wasn't something he thought of, instead it was a final promise to Erwin before the commander rode off to his death. In the entirety of the show Levi has been following others with dreams and aspirations, never really having one for himself (or at least not one that’s shown in the series). Death has been all around him since the day that he was born, people sacrificing themselves constantly for ‘the greater good’ or the hope that maybe their dream will live on through others (through him arguably, i.e. his mom dying after giving up everything to try to raise him, and Hange and Erwin passing the torch to him as they left to meet their fates), but never once has he had to sacrifice something himself.

All of this is to say that it could really go either way. On the one hand, Levi dying, the veritable amalgamation of the dreams of everyone who has ever died around him (including the hopes and dreams of the man we see die the very first time that we meet Levi, could be symbolic of his role could be a coincidence idk), would make a lot of sense with the overall theme once again as with his death, all the dreams he carried with him would die as well.

Shingeki no Kyojin doujinshi - illustrated by enelle

as a person who is both a literature student and someone who took several art history exams in her life and has been taught how to analyze both text and artwork, i find it really strange how some people fiercely deny obvious meanings “hidden” in the paneling of the manga. distribution and composition of the figures on the canvas are crucial if you’re looking for the meaning of a scene pictured on a canvas, just like how literary devices work in a written text.

putting a dark haired character wearing a different expression in the center of a crowd of only light-haired people is done intentionally, from an artistic point of view the author is clearly trying to create a focus on the central character and highlighting it by creating a chromatic contrast with the hair and a physiognomic (dk if it’s the correct word, it sounds maybe a bit too heavy) contrast with the different facial expressions.

you know how in anime the main character is stereotyped to have crazy hair in bright colors? it’s the same concept.

everything is calculated and nothing is put on paper/canvas without a purpose, unless you explicitly say so. if an artist/author wants to convey a really specific message, they’re gonna use very specific ways to do so.

let me do an example: i want to draw fanart of a ship i like, i want the observer to know that they’re meant to look for specific things in the picture that indicate the romantic tone i want to give the scene i’m portraying, so i make use of things that are generally associated with romance, for example i’m drawing my couple holding hands and looking at each other tenderly; this is not enough for me, i want the focus to be on them and what i want to convey might not be highlighted enough. so i draw them surrounded by a crowd of strangers, in a city-like setting. how can i make the observer understand that i want the focus to be on the couple, if they are surrounded by a ton of nameless other characters who might be holding hands as well? i blur the background and i blur the people, easy. that brings the focus on what i want. if i want to do it even more? i’ll just draw the background characters wearing the same clothing and having the same hair color, and i will draw my main couple with bright clothes and fun-colored hair. now THAT’s a focus right? even an exaggerated one i’d say, but i would know that without a fail the observer would understand what they’re supposed to be focusing on.

it works the same in a written text, right? i will use metaphors and allegories and comparisons and other literary devices to do so. if i want to create a parallel, i will fox example make sure to take two characters, put them in similar settings (albeit in different contexts), make them say the same words. that’s gotta mean something right? same thing if i were creating art: i will put them once again in similar settings (and once again, in different contexts) and i will draw them using the same poses. distribution of the elements and construction of a setting are fundamental if i want to make sure the observer knows i want these two elements to be paralleled.

the distribution and construction comes into play when we see two characters in chapter 138 being put in a similar context to other two characters in chapter 126 and 132. unless you’re lazy and recycle panels/trace your own art, it’s likely (read: obvious) that the author is trying to convey a very specific thing if you put these four characters in the same poses (aka: distribution of the elements in the construction of a panel) and make them say the same words (literary device); it also comes into play in chapter 139: a character is seen staring wistfully at a plane (symbol), followed by another character is seen staring wistfully at a bird (symbol). how do we know what these symbols mean? the bird is a bit clearer, as it is meant to be taken as a literal reincarnation. the other is an allegory but a clear one for someone who takes the time to look deeper into things (as you’re supposed to do in a story like this).

and that’s all i have to say on the topic.

巨人とは片思い-> 巨人とは片想い

片思い is a more normal way when you talk about one-side love, 片想い has a stronger feeling. There’s no need Isayama to changed it, but he did. I think there is already some detail analysis about this line on Tumblr, so I am not going to talk about it very detail.

But some jp levihan fans spotted when Eren talking about Mikasa in 139, he also used 想い

Again, when you want someone think about you, 思い is enough to express that meaning. And instead Isayama chose to use 想い, to imply Eren has a stronge and special feeling towards Mikasa, and he really has lol.

the translation here is :

were you watching?

this is what you guys devoted your hearts for.

so the above translation is just me playing with different translators, no way is it 100% accurate.

however the "were you watching?" is definitely correct and we can say that levi says that directly to hange because of his dialogue at the end of 132.

literally everyone's expression is completely the same in both panels except hange. petra is smiling in both, no change. erwin is uhh erwin in both no changes, a stoic calm expression.

its only hange who reacts. she is smiling in the first panel and then in the second panel, her expression completely changes which is expected because levi is directly referring to her.

yams drew her the most expressive out of EVERYONE else.

And when my time is up

Have I done enough?

Will they tell your story?

Oh, I can't wait to see you again...

It's only a matter of time...

Not my art. Credit to: diomustaine 👩‍🎨

Hange: *Gently taps table*

Levi: *Taps back*

Mike, arriving at the scene: What are these idiots doing there, Erwin?

Erwin, observing the idiots: Morse code.

Hange: *Aggressively taps table*

Hange helping out erwin

based on that SW interview with Lupita Nyong'o and Oscar Isaac ajhkdjsadj

Also I wanna talk about this special moment where she's remembering her comrades (Erwin and Moblit are on the front 😭)

Would they have wanted the genocide plan to go through? Absolutely not! Why? Because it's fucking wrong! So stop comparing Eren and Erwin together cause let me tell ya that Isa just confirmed otherwise. I just wanna say that Erwin was so right in choosing his replacement. He always saw beyond everything and I'm sure he's so proud of Hanji right now ❤🌹