#kodawari

Kenny's "Everybody is a slave to something" does apply to Levi. It's Levi he's speaking to remember? He ends his monologue by wondering what Levi is a slave to, and his answer is “being a hero”. Levi is slave to his power, he is driven to use his strength to serve humanity. Anyway, that's a bit of a digression.

You’re right that obsession doesn’t necessarily have to have negative connotations. @tsuki-no-ura has written several posts pointing out that kodawari, the word used in the original Japanese, has markedly more positive connotations than we would normally associate with obsession in English.  Tsuki translates kodawari as “that one is particular/persistent about the pursuit of something”. In English though, obsession is generally regarded as something negative, that is beyond one’s control. OED defines obsession as a compulsive preoccupation that troubles the mind, or a recurrent, intrusive impulse, causing significant distress or disturbance.

When it became clear in the final arcs of the manga that Levi was still committed to fulfilling his vow to Erwin, some fans were critical of him for being “obsessed” with his vow.  Some of the hot takes I saw flying around were that Levi’s obsession was tantamount to character regression, that it meant he cared nothing for humanity, that he would stop fighting once he fulfilled his goal. I also vaguely recall someone saying that the reason Levi got blown up by Zeke was that he was so obsessed with his vow and blinded by vengeance that he fatally underestimated Zeke.  (I think Levi did underestimate Zeke, but not because he was obsessed with his vow.  It’s more likely that he was enraged by having to slaughter his comrades who Zeke had turned into Titans.)  

Because of these negative implications I’ve tended to avoid describing Levi’s vow as an obsession, I prefer to talk about loyalty, determination, and commitment instead, which I hope captures some of the nuance of kodawari. 

That aside, I absolutely agree that Erwin was Levi’s most important person and that he loved him equally in return ♡

Some oc sketches.

 Watch out! Golden Kamuy spoliers ahead!

 KODAWARI LEVEL 1: shooting down a bird with your grandfather's old rifle

KODAWARI LEVEL 2: shooting down Russian soldiers in the Russo-Japanese war

KODAWARI LEVEL 3: shooting your running half-brother perfectly in the back of his head

KODAWARI LEVEL 4: shotting down two deers with one shot to get shelter from the coming windstorm

KODAWARI LEVEL 5: shooting down a bandit at night in the dark forest by the light of a torch

KODAWARI LEVEL 6: shooting a prisoner perfectly in the head from the distant watchtower

KODAWARI LEVEL 7: shotting down a whole reindeer herd without letting one of them run away

KODAWARI LEVEL 8: shooting down your enemy after pretending to be a corpse for hours in the ice-cold forest

KODAWARI LEVEL 9: shooting down a bird after you acquired left-handed shooting skills

KODAWARI LEVEL 10: shooting your riding fellow-soldier in the heart through two windows, left-handed

KODAWARI LEVEL 11: shooting your enemy from a distant tree by guessing his position, both of you hidden by the leaves

KODAWARI LEVEL 12: shooting down the engine-driver after climbing on a moving locomotive from a running horse, left-handed