#ilevihan

the anime adaptations had perpetuated misconceptions concerning their characters, they got diminished into stereotypes and in turn the viewers ran by it and assumed those are their main personality traits.

for example, hanji's interest for titans stems from their thirst for knowledge, researching and understanding the unknown. it's exactly why one of hanji's signature quotes was "if we do not understand something, then we should find out," but the anime had seemingly turned it into a comic relief quirk.

levi being hailed as humanity's strongest by the narrative and the production seems to have assumed this means he is gonna look varying levels of irritated, annoyed, mad, angry for basically 80% of his screentime because apparently that's what being strong and "badass" looks like. and this is just mentioning around 20% of my frustration, I still have a lot to complain about, but unfortunately, I don't have a lot of free time now.

even their scenes together? the way their scenes were treated felt so shallow and rushed compared to the manga. it's sad how mappa had continued wit's tradition of watering down their scenes. levihan's relationship is such a gem to me, theirs is my favorite portrayal of a bond between equals who don't need many words to communicate their feelings. their outward personalities might feel different, but their core values just resonate so strongly. it's such a same they were treated so casually.

EXHIBIT A: "Right here."

EXHIBIT B: Levi claiming that he "just happened to wake up" and he was going to make tea.

EXHIBIT C: Reasoning that he wants to get permission regarding eren even when he already has the full authority to decide. (original post)

EXHIBIT D: Going out of his way to pick Hanji up from their laboratory despite the fact that his ankle is still injured.

EXHIBIT E: Do I even need to explain this one?

EXHIBIT F: Spends his free time with Hanji because he can. (original post)

how it went:

LEVI DOES NOT SHY AWAY FROM HANJI'S TOUCH

Levi, Gabi and Falco watches a plane fly over them. Onyankopon wasn't shown looking at the plane but rather was watching Levi's reaction.

It is likely that the plane we see on 139 was a callback to 132. The plane symbolizes Hanji's sacrifice. It was the wings Hanji had given them. It was a reminder that Hanji is watching over them.

So Levi was surely reminded of Hanji when he saw the plane. I guess this was Isym's way of showing us that even though Hanji has been gone for three years, Levi still thinks about them. Onyankopon's knowing look affirms this.

Just like Levi, Onyankopon also associates Hanji with the plane. It was the final hope that Hanji got them. Another is that one of Onyankopon's earliest interactions with Hanji and Levi involves a plane. In away the plane also symbolizes Hanji's fascination over technology.

So I guess there is no more doubt that the plane in 139 was a reference to Hanji?

I've seen this get discredited countless times by saying hanji only said it because they are tired and nothing more.

the thing is, hanji was already tired when eren went rogue and long before the yeagerists took over paradis BUT not once had they expressed that they want to run away.

it was only after hanji had found and saved a gravely wounded levi when they finally voiced out that desire.

before anything, I don't think levi's near death experience was the only reason. I still think the immense stress and pressure were factors but I do think that levi's accident had a huge influence.

levi has been a dear friend of hanji for the past years and was the only one remaining among the survey corps veterans. levi had been a constant companion of hanji all these years. it's not surprising that levi's accident had greatly affected hanji and they may have been struck with the need to keep him safe because they are afraid to lose him. I mean is hanji's protectiveness over levi even a question when they jumped and swam through that river with levi in tow while yeagerists were firing at them? hanji didn't even have a single weapon with them. it's likely that either of them would've died during their escape. levi's survival rate was even lower as he is already suffering with numerous injuries. but hanji still risked their life if it meant that levi could have a chance to be saved and live on.

would hanji have asked the same question to any other random character? I don't think so because like I said earlier, hanji had never expressed anything of sort before even when they were alone in ch 107 and ch 109.

hanji only said it after their reunion with levi and it is directed towards levi. it's "maybe we should just live here together. right..levi?" and not "maybe I should just live here."

you cannot even call it a spur of the moment thing or hanji simply joking around because we have an actual dialogue coming from hanji saying that they were the one trying to run away.

hanji had seriously considered it. and we all know with whom. they wanted to run away and start anew with levi. this is what hanji would've wanted if they didn't choose their duty.