Fandom rambling
Jun. 5th, 2013 04:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
armyofharosIn which I ramble on about Attack on Titan, and how amazing it is. Massive spoilers to the current chapter of the manga will abound, so beware.
These characters, man. These characters. Many of them have very typical roles that you would expect from a shonen series:
Eren is the hot-blooded hero that DOES NOT KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP and runs on pure determination.
Mikasa is the Emotionless Girl devoted sidekick.
Armin is the smart, physically weak best friend.
Jean is the cynical rival!
Reiner is the awesome older brother type that everyone admires.
Bertholdt is the mousy, nervous guy.
Annie is the Ice Queen slowly warming up to the hero.
Sasha and Conny are the plucky comic relief duo.
Christa is the adorable sweet girl.
.....and then they DECONSTRUCT THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYTHING.
Eren’s emotions end up getting his entire squad killed, when he charges in half-cocked. He ends up being swallowed by a Titan, and only survives because his powers manifested. But his tendency to make bold and inspirational speeches, and his never-give-up attitude often come back to bite him in the ass because he doesn’t think things through. He is also a borderline psychopath, good god. He loves his friends dearly, and has a strong sense of justice…..but holy crap when you end up on the wrong side of the line. His backstory involves brutally murdering two grown men as a child, when Mikasa was kidnapped. He doesn’t just kill them in self-defense, he lures one into dropping his guard with the wide-eyed, crying lost child routine and then stabs the guy in the neck. Then he ends up straddling the other guy’s stomach, and screaming that he’s an animal that deserves it die while stabbing the dude over and over again. Since they were murderers and kidnapped Mikasa as part of a human trafficking operation, his actions are justified by the authorities. But holy shit, kid is unstable even BEFORE his primary trauma and motivation are introduced.
Mikasa’s devotion to him is patently shown to not be a good thing, as when he’s thought dead she’s unable to function. She can be summed up by her quote about how the world is a “cruel, but beautiful place”. She just....she’s broken so deeply, and has little in her world outside of Eren and to a lesser degree, Armin. In many ways, she kinda is one of the best examples of a high-functioning PTSD case, in that while she is incredible as a soldier and a loyal friend, she is also kind of fundamentally NOT OKAY with her going through life in a perpetual survival mode. But at the same time, she is the calm and capable one in comparison to Eren. She recognizes and attempts to temper his emotional issues, while at the same time failing to see or address her own.
Armin is awesome, okay? He is physically weak and worries constantly about holding others back, but at the same time he is shown to be an incredible asset because strategy and critical thinking are his primary skills. He’s able to come up with the plans that save their lives many times, and also able to discover the identities of the Titan infiltrators. But fandom tends to ignore that he might look adorable and is usually pretty sweet....he’s also showing signs of growing into an incredibly ruthless commanding officer. In a conversation with Jean, he praises their commander for his willingness to sacrifice his men for the sake of their mission. He states that only those capable of throwing away the things they care about are capable of changing the world. That sacrificing a hundred men, or a thousand to save the human race is something a good leader must be willing to do, even though it is not a pretty or good thing.
Jean is the Rival, and definitely set up as such from the beginning. He is cynical, and arrogant, and selfish. He mocks Eren’s desire to join the Scouting Legion, stating that it’s suicide and stating that he intends to join the Military Police solely so he can live a comfortable, worry-free life because humanity is doomed and he wants his share of the pie before the end. He’s also something of a romantic rival, in that he falls for Mikasa and continues to be hostile towards Eren as a result. Most Shonen Rivals end up being won over to the hero’s side of idealism and good, through being defeated or via the hero’s friendship. Instead, Jean is someone that grows into a capable leader and gives up his selfish dreams to join the Scouting Legion not because he agrees with Eren, but because of his own personal tragedies. He’s forced to recover and then burn the remains of his best friend, and comes to realize he wants his death to mean something, to be FOR something. He can’t just hide out in the Interior, and he feels a responsibility towards the recruits that died under his command. He still doesn’t entirely agree with Eren, but through his own hero’s journey he begins to change into a better person.
Reiner is my favorite character, hands down. This fills me with so much conflict, what with recent revelations. Reiner is the cool older brother to everyone else. He’s the steady, reliable guy, a complete badass, charismatic as hell, and oh by the way turns out he’s gay. Just one random conversation, not made a big deal, and just casual as all hell. He has a strong sense of duty, and talks about the importance of a soldier never losing their resolve. They have a responsibility to always do their best. Except that he’s one of the villains. He’s really a Titan infiltrator, and took part in the attack at the beginning of the series. The whole time, he’s been on a mission to exterminate everyone inside the Walls. But the irony is that while his Titan form is damn near invincible, he’s actually the most soft-hearted of the villains and has ended up genuinely caring about the others. He totally shoots their mission in the foot, failing to carry out his half of the attack on Trost. And he damn near sacrifices himself to protect Conny, fully intending to either kill himself or blow his cover in the process. He ends up realizing that he’s done fucked up really bad, but concludes he’s still got a job to do and kind of throws the proverbial shit in the fan. I suspect we’re supposed to feel very conflicted over him, since he’s such a sympathetic and awesome character prior to the Reveal, and genuinely conflicted over his own actions. But at the same time.....something like 260,000 people died because of the attack on Wall Maria.
ETA: Wow, holy shit. The spoilers for the latest chapter just complicate stuff SO MUCH more. Reiner is nuts.....like....Grade A not playing with a full deck kinda nuts. Ymir accurately states that he became so engrossed in the role he was playing, that he started to forget who he really was. We also get bonus complications in that his crazy!ramblings include him stating he was convinced that Christa liked him, which....either he was totally lying about being gay, or he's admitting Christa is the one exception, or he's bisexual. IDK. It isn't 100% in any direction, since official sources state EVERYONE wants Christa. She's the "Goddess of the 104th". WE WILL HAVE TO SEE, but man my taste in characters. It's interesting in that he admits to being a "murderous demon", but is also genuinely freaking out and upset over things.
Which leads us to his partner in crime, Bertholdt. He’s interesting in that he’s established from the get-go as being this tall and awkward guy with ZERO self-confidence, who readily identifies himself as someone with “no will” of his own. He kind of lingers around in panels, hanging over Reiner’s shoulder with a nervous expression and he’s constantly sweat-beading. He’s a very passive guy, talented as hell, but completely unable to do anything on his own. When Reiner’s emotions are compromising their mission, he sort of doesn’t do anything even though he clearly sees it. The best he can manage is to eventually make a passive-aggressive dig at him once. But he’s the Colossal Titan, the iconic monster of the series that smashes down the gate and triggers the major plot of the series. The 60m tall, skinless horror that appears in the first episode was a weak-willed, cowardly 11-year old boy. Talk about dissonance. But at the same time, so far we’ve been zero signs that he has any sort of attachment or remorse concerning the others. The only person he seems to care about is Reiner, and otherwise he’s kind of quiet and distant. He does not seem to give two fucks about anyone, and kind of impassively watches his comrades that he’s spent 3-years living and training with have meltdowns as they prepare to face almost certain death BECAUSE OF HIM. He seems to be the only infiltrator that has remained loyal to the cause, and is really only held back by the fact he’s too weak-willed and cowardly to do anything on his own.
ETA: Oh, yeah. Holy shit. Bertholdt is officially scary. When confronted about his role in the death of Eren's mother (debris from when he smashed the gate landed on the Jaeger house and trapped her), he kinda casually states that it was a pity with this like....cold, crazy look.
Annie is the third infiltrator, and kind of plays the role of the Frosty Maybe-Love Interest. She’s very cynical and cold, kind of keeps other people at arms’ length and seems to think the whole world sucks. She’s also an exceptional hand-to-hand fighter, with the hints that her father had been training her from very young to perform her part of the mission. We see a flashback of Little Annie staring vacantly at her father, while he weeps in front of her and begs her to forgive him....and then tells her to consider the entire world her enemy. At the same time, she’s very insightful about the nature of people and readily states she’s a “bad person”. But she has great admiration for people with strong ideals, coming to care about Eren and Armin. Armin even states that he thinks she’s actually a good person, deep down. But she’s also holy shit such a sadist when she really fights. Some of the ways she kills members of the Scouting Legion are cruel simply for the sake of being cruel. Yet she can’t bring herself to hurt her old buddies from the 104th, and this ends up biting her in the ass since Armin figures her out.
Sasha and Conny are the comical relief duo, for the most point. They goof off, and do silly things, and are considered kinda dumb by the others. Sasha has many food-related antics, being someone that steals food or tries to eat at totally inappropriate times like when their drill instructor is doing his YOU MAGGOTS speech. There’s also jokes at her expense about how she’s a weirdo that behaves strangely. Then you learn her food-related antics are because she survived a major famine, and her weird behavior is because she’s from a very isolated backwater village that rarely saw outsiders, and she’s incredibly nervous about how to deal with people. Conny is loud, and kind dumb, and then everything goes to hell in a handbasket for him. He talks about wanting to visit home, to show everyone that he’s actually made something of himself and he can be a soldier. Except....you know….everyone is gone. And probably got turned into the Titans they’ve been killing. And the crippled one that can’t move that ended up crushing his house? Yeah, he’s pretty sure that used to be his mom. Conny needs hugs forever.
Christa is the sweet, adorable, saintly girl that everyone loves. All the guys like her, and this includes Reiner who is gay by his own admission. Christa.....has an enormous martyr complex, on account of her family. She joined the military with the intention of getting herself killed in a manner that would reflect well on her. But she’s genuinely a kind person, while having massive issues of her self-worth and whether or not she wants to die. This makes her interactions with, and possible romance with, Ymir is awesome. Ymir is the snarky, jaded one that calls her on all her bullshit. She calls everyone on their bullshit. ....and then Christa headbutts her and calls her on her bullshit, too. Ymir is officially stated to be in love with Christa, but we don’t know yet whether those feelings are returned. Probably, what with Christa jumping up on the ledge of an unstable tower and screaming at Titan!Ymir to rip the damn thing down if that’s what it took to save herself. Through them, we get a lot of discussion about sacrifice, hero complexes, and selfishness. Ymir criticizes Christa’s good deeds, and when she reveals herself as a Titan she talks about how she only lives for herself.....while leaping into what was almost certainly going to be fighting to her last breath, just to protect Christa.
ETA: Interestingly, it seems Christa may very well be MAJORLY IMPORTANT. Reiner tries to convince Ymir to side with them, stating that they intend to save Christa. Like.....not that he wants to save her because he likes her, but rather than they (him and Bertholdt) do. And since Bertholdt gives not a single fuck, and visibly disapproves of Reiner's friendship with the humans, it's likely that she's got a role in the Bigger Picture (tm) since her family are stated to know secrets about the Walls. Moreover, they tell Ymir they can't promised she'll be safe from their people if she sides with them, but at the same time Christa will be.
This series. Like.....the folks that seem like minor supporting characters end up being WAY SIGNIFICANT (Bertholdt was basically the quiet dude in the background right up until a few chapters before the Big Reveal). MY FEELS.
Death and sacrifice are major themes of the series, due to the very nature of it. So are issues about selfishness, and human nature. We see this question represented with the Scouting Legion, who risk everything for the sake of even the smallest possible gain....versus the Military Police, who are considered a place where people go to take it easy, and live a comfortable life without ever having to worry about actually using the skills they honed in training. That only the Top 10 from every class may apply only drives home the dissonance, since that means the cream of the crop are sitting on their asses doing nothing.
It also handles gender amazingly well. Women are everywhere, and because of the nature of the society in which they live, treated pretty much as equals. We still see women in dresses or skirts doing typical housewifely things, but we also have just as many female soldiers as male ones. How they dress or wear their hair doesn’t have a thing to do with whether or not they are awesome. Mikasa and Sasha both wear skirts when out of uniform, while Ymir and Annie wears pants. It also handles sexuality very casually, with Ymir and Reiner being very non-stereotypical and really not reliant about their sexuality as a part of their characters. Well, Ymir does have some of it tied into her characterization....but primarily because she ends up falling in love.
And oh, oh the storytelling. There are so many layers, and so many things that have different meaning a second time around. So much of what Reiner says or does suddenly changes with the knowledge of his true identity. A lot of fans apparently found the big reveal out of the blue, though the hints are there from the very beginning. We just didn’t know what we were seeing at the time.
TLDR: GOD YOU NEED TO GET INTO THIS SERIES. The manga is amazing. The anime is also being amazing.
Bonus: Awesome, spoiler-free random LEVI AND HANJI BEING AMAZING.
These characters, man. These characters. Many of them have very typical roles that you would expect from a shonen series:
Eren is the hot-blooded hero that DOES NOT KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP and runs on pure determination.
Mikasa is the Emotionless Girl devoted sidekick.
Armin is the smart, physically weak best friend.
Jean is the cynical rival!
Reiner is the awesome older brother type that everyone admires.
Bertholdt is the mousy, nervous guy.
Annie is the Ice Queen slowly warming up to the hero.
Sasha and Conny are the plucky comic relief duo.
Christa is the adorable sweet girl.
.....and then they DECONSTRUCT THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYTHING.
Eren’s emotions end up getting his entire squad killed, when he charges in half-cocked. He ends up being swallowed by a Titan, and only survives because his powers manifested. But his tendency to make bold and inspirational speeches, and his never-give-up attitude often come back to bite him in the ass because he doesn’t think things through. He is also a borderline psychopath, good god. He loves his friends dearly, and has a strong sense of justice…..but holy crap when you end up on the wrong side of the line. His backstory involves brutally murdering two grown men as a child, when Mikasa was kidnapped. He doesn’t just kill them in self-defense, he lures one into dropping his guard with the wide-eyed, crying lost child routine and then stabs the guy in the neck. Then he ends up straddling the other guy’s stomach, and screaming that he’s an animal that deserves it die while stabbing the dude over and over again. Since they were murderers and kidnapped Mikasa as part of a human trafficking operation, his actions are justified by the authorities. But holy shit, kid is unstable even BEFORE his primary trauma and motivation are introduced.
Mikasa’s devotion to him is patently shown to not be a good thing, as when he’s thought dead she’s unable to function. She can be summed up by her quote about how the world is a “cruel, but beautiful place”. She just....she’s broken so deeply, and has little in her world outside of Eren and to a lesser degree, Armin. In many ways, she kinda is one of the best examples of a high-functioning PTSD case, in that while she is incredible as a soldier and a loyal friend, she is also kind of fundamentally NOT OKAY with her going through life in a perpetual survival mode. But at the same time, she is the calm and capable one in comparison to Eren. She recognizes and attempts to temper his emotional issues, while at the same time failing to see or address her own.
Armin is awesome, okay? He is physically weak and worries constantly about holding others back, but at the same time he is shown to be an incredible asset because strategy and critical thinking are his primary skills. He’s able to come up with the plans that save their lives many times, and also able to discover the identities of the Titan infiltrators. But fandom tends to ignore that he might look adorable and is usually pretty sweet....he’s also showing signs of growing into an incredibly ruthless commanding officer. In a conversation with Jean, he praises their commander for his willingness to sacrifice his men for the sake of their mission. He states that only those capable of throwing away the things they care about are capable of changing the world. That sacrificing a hundred men, or a thousand to save the human race is something a good leader must be willing to do, even though it is not a pretty or good thing.
Jean is the Rival, and definitely set up as such from the beginning. He is cynical, and arrogant, and selfish. He mocks Eren’s desire to join the Scouting Legion, stating that it’s suicide and stating that he intends to join the Military Police solely so he can live a comfortable, worry-free life because humanity is doomed and he wants his share of the pie before the end. He’s also something of a romantic rival, in that he falls for Mikasa and continues to be hostile towards Eren as a result. Most Shonen Rivals end up being won over to the hero’s side of idealism and good, through being defeated or via the hero’s friendship. Instead, Jean is someone that grows into a capable leader and gives up his selfish dreams to join the Scouting Legion not because he agrees with Eren, but because of his own personal tragedies. He’s forced to recover and then burn the remains of his best friend, and comes to realize he wants his death to mean something, to be FOR something. He can’t just hide out in the Interior, and he feels a responsibility towards the recruits that died under his command. He still doesn’t entirely agree with Eren, but through his own hero’s journey he begins to change into a better person.
Reiner is my favorite character, hands down. This fills me with so much conflict, what with recent revelations. Reiner is the cool older brother to everyone else. He’s the steady, reliable guy, a complete badass, charismatic as hell, and oh by the way turns out he’s gay. Just one random conversation, not made a big deal, and just casual as all hell. He has a strong sense of duty, and talks about the importance of a soldier never losing their resolve. They have a responsibility to always do their best. Except that he’s one of the villains. He’s really a Titan infiltrator, and took part in the attack at the beginning of the series. The whole time, he’s been on a mission to exterminate everyone inside the Walls. But the irony is that while his Titan form is damn near invincible, he’s actually the most soft-hearted of the villains and has ended up genuinely caring about the others. He totally shoots their mission in the foot, failing to carry out his half of the attack on Trost. And he damn near sacrifices himself to protect Conny, fully intending to either kill himself or blow his cover in the process. He ends up realizing that he’s done fucked up really bad, but concludes he’s still got a job to do and kind of throws the proverbial shit in the fan. I suspect we’re supposed to feel very conflicted over him, since he’s such a sympathetic and awesome character prior to the Reveal, and genuinely conflicted over his own actions. But at the same time.....something like 260,000 people died because of the attack on Wall Maria.
ETA: Wow, holy shit. The spoilers for the latest chapter just complicate stuff SO MUCH more. Reiner is nuts.....like....Grade A not playing with a full deck kinda nuts. Ymir accurately states that he became so engrossed in the role he was playing, that he started to forget who he really was. We also get bonus complications in that his crazy!ramblings include him stating he was convinced that Christa liked him, which....either he was totally lying about being gay, or he's admitting Christa is the one exception, or he's bisexual. IDK. It isn't 100% in any direction, since official sources state EVERYONE wants Christa. She's the "Goddess of the 104th". WE WILL HAVE TO SEE, but man my taste in characters. It's interesting in that he admits to being a "murderous demon", but is also genuinely freaking out and upset over things.
Which leads us to his partner in crime, Bertholdt. He’s interesting in that he’s established from the get-go as being this tall and awkward guy with ZERO self-confidence, who readily identifies himself as someone with “no will” of his own. He kind of lingers around in panels, hanging over Reiner’s shoulder with a nervous expression and he’s constantly sweat-beading. He’s a very passive guy, talented as hell, but completely unable to do anything on his own. When Reiner’s emotions are compromising their mission, he sort of doesn’t do anything even though he clearly sees it. The best he can manage is to eventually make a passive-aggressive dig at him once. But he’s the Colossal Titan, the iconic monster of the series that smashes down the gate and triggers the major plot of the series. The 60m tall, skinless horror that appears in the first episode was a weak-willed, cowardly 11-year old boy. Talk about dissonance. But at the same time, so far we’ve been zero signs that he has any sort of attachment or remorse concerning the others. The only person he seems to care about is Reiner, and otherwise he’s kind of quiet and distant. He does not seem to give two fucks about anyone, and kind of impassively watches his comrades that he’s spent 3-years living and training with have meltdowns as they prepare to face almost certain death BECAUSE OF HIM. He seems to be the only infiltrator that has remained loyal to the cause, and is really only held back by the fact he’s too weak-willed and cowardly to do anything on his own.
ETA: Oh, yeah. Holy shit. Bertholdt is officially scary. When confronted about his role in the death of Eren's mother (debris from when he smashed the gate landed on the Jaeger house and trapped her), he kinda casually states that it was a pity with this like....cold, crazy look.
Annie is the third infiltrator, and kind of plays the role of the Frosty Maybe-Love Interest. She’s very cynical and cold, kind of keeps other people at arms’ length and seems to think the whole world sucks. She’s also an exceptional hand-to-hand fighter, with the hints that her father had been training her from very young to perform her part of the mission. We see a flashback of Little Annie staring vacantly at her father, while he weeps in front of her and begs her to forgive him....and then tells her to consider the entire world her enemy. At the same time, she’s very insightful about the nature of people and readily states she’s a “bad person”. But she has great admiration for people with strong ideals, coming to care about Eren and Armin. Armin even states that he thinks she’s actually a good person, deep down. But she’s also holy shit such a sadist when she really fights. Some of the ways she kills members of the Scouting Legion are cruel simply for the sake of being cruel. Yet she can’t bring herself to hurt her old buddies from the 104th, and this ends up biting her in the ass since Armin figures her out.
Sasha and Conny are the comical relief duo, for the most point. They goof off, and do silly things, and are considered kinda dumb by the others. Sasha has many food-related antics, being someone that steals food or tries to eat at totally inappropriate times like when their drill instructor is doing his YOU MAGGOTS speech. There’s also jokes at her expense about how she’s a weirdo that behaves strangely. Then you learn her food-related antics are because she survived a major famine, and her weird behavior is because she’s from a very isolated backwater village that rarely saw outsiders, and she’s incredibly nervous about how to deal with people. Conny is loud, and kind dumb, and then everything goes to hell in a handbasket for him. He talks about wanting to visit home, to show everyone that he’s actually made something of himself and he can be a soldier. Except....you know….everyone is gone. And probably got turned into the Titans they’ve been killing. And the crippled one that can’t move that ended up crushing his house? Yeah, he’s pretty sure that used to be his mom. Conny needs hugs forever.
Christa is the sweet, adorable, saintly girl that everyone loves. All the guys like her, and this includes Reiner who is gay by his own admission. Christa.....has an enormous martyr complex, on account of her family. She joined the military with the intention of getting herself killed in a manner that would reflect well on her. But she’s genuinely a kind person, while having massive issues of her self-worth and whether or not she wants to die. This makes her interactions with, and possible romance with, Ymir is awesome. Ymir is the snarky, jaded one that calls her on all her bullshit. She calls everyone on their bullshit. ....and then Christa headbutts her and calls her on her bullshit, too. Ymir is officially stated to be in love with Christa, but we don’t know yet whether those feelings are returned. Probably, what with Christa jumping up on the ledge of an unstable tower and screaming at Titan!Ymir to rip the damn thing down if that’s what it took to save herself. Through them, we get a lot of discussion about sacrifice, hero complexes, and selfishness. Ymir criticizes Christa’s good deeds, and when she reveals herself as a Titan she talks about how she only lives for herself.....while leaping into what was almost certainly going to be fighting to her last breath, just to protect Christa.
ETA: Interestingly, it seems Christa may very well be MAJORLY IMPORTANT. Reiner tries to convince Ymir to side with them, stating that they intend to save Christa. Like.....not that he wants to save her because he likes her, but rather than they (him and Bertholdt) do. And since Bertholdt gives not a single fuck, and visibly disapproves of Reiner's friendship with the humans, it's likely that she's got a role in the Bigger Picture (tm) since her family are stated to know secrets about the Walls. Moreover, they tell Ymir they can't promised she'll be safe from their people if she sides with them, but at the same time Christa will be.
This series. Like.....the folks that seem like minor supporting characters end up being WAY SIGNIFICANT (Bertholdt was basically the quiet dude in the background right up until a few chapters before the Big Reveal). MY FEELS.
Death and sacrifice are major themes of the series, due to the very nature of it. So are issues about selfishness, and human nature. We see this question represented with the Scouting Legion, who risk everything for the sake of even the smallest possible gain....versus the Military Police, who are considered a place where people go to take it easy, and live a comfortable life without ever having to worry about actually using the skills they honed in training. That only the Top 10 from every class may apply only drives home the dissonance, since that means the cream of the crop are sitting on their asses doing nothing.
It also handles gender amazingly well. Women are everywhere, and because of the nature of the society in which they live, treated pretty much as equals. We still see women in dresses or skirts doing typical housewifely things, but we also have just as many female soldiers as male ones. How they dress or wear their hair doesn’t have a thing to do with whether or not they are awesome. Mikasa and Sasha both wear skirts when out of uniform, while Ymir and Annie wears pants. It also handles sexuality very casually, with Ymir and Reiner being very non-stereotypical and really not reliant about their sexuality as a part of their characters. Well, Ymir does have some of it tied into her characterization....but primarily because she ends up falling in love.
And oh, oh the storytelling. There are so many layers, and so many things that have different meaning a second time around. So much of what Reiner says or does suddenly changes with the knowledge of his true identity. A lot of fans apparently found the big reveal out of the blue, though the hints are there from the very beginning. We just didn’t know what we were seeing at the time.
TLDR: GOD YOU NEED TO GET INTO THIS SERIES. The manga is amazing. The anime is also being amazing.
Bonus: Awesome, spoiler-free random LEVI AND HANJI BEING AMAZING.
