#I think Yams might have wanted to say that to show that Levi cared enough about Erwin to risk even that (or to show his ackerbond loyalty).

[fadingsstuff]

"Levi never thought about one comrade without thinking of the other" Meanwhile, Levi goes back to shiganshina to retrieve Erwin's body, and Yams says something similar about only caring about retrieving Erwin's body among all those dead soldiers. It further proves Levi's elevation and care for Erwin above the others, his comrades, and Yams desire to make him very attached to Erwin.

[ourmondobongo]

I have to say even though levihan was my favourite ship and probs the only I really cared about, I find it a little difficult to wholeheartedly be as into it because the more snk content I see the more unnecessarily rude, insulting and insensitive Levi seems to Hange and they don't deserve such treatment when all they've been towards him is kind. Like, I know Levi as a character is very much abrasive but he's been more empathetic to the rest of the main characters and even strangers.

This isn't ship hate, I don't even ship them with other characters and still love them but I just wish he was acting a little softer towards them. Isayama I think intended them to be romantic but up until the end he basically set them up as a good friendship a little onesided maybe. I am not sure if that's how he writes romance but, logically wouldnt the person who is in love be a little more.... indicative that they're in love? Even subtly like, lovey dovey Levi would be ooc yet still we know he's capable of showing emotion why exclude the one person you're supposed to be in love with? I know there are moments he's good to Hange but I guess personally him not insulting or cursing them would suffice enough. Sometimes I say he's the rudest to them because he loves them the most and in their world where dying is a frequent reoccurance it's just him trying to distance himself from them even if he loves them so their death won't hurt when it comes. But that's all headcanon, I wish isayama worked more on them two.

Hey!

Yeah, I kind of understand what you mean...

I definitely agree that I really wish Isym had worked more on Levihan's relationship. It didn't even have to be romantic tbh - just seeing a bit of the last two living veterans sorting one or two things out together would show smoothly how they were still paired up with supporting each other as human beings and not only tools to achieve Paradis's freedom or the vow fulfillment. Unfortunately, Isym was running, and things ended up how they ended…

As for the "unnecessarily rude, insulting and insensitive Levi seems to Hange" snk content out there... I can’t really think of any other than the "hentai" line in the Erwin x Levi smartpass that really made no sense until Tsuki-no-ura explained a few things about Japanese language (and that explained he was not calling Hange "sexually perverted"). I'll come back to this later though.

Now, I don't know if my answer will help you or not, though, or make it worse for your heart, but I think it might give you a bit of perspective shift regarding the main purposes of Levihan creation. (And if you are a hard-core LH shipper, there goes my little warning that you might want to stop reading this post here…):

First and foremost, generally speaking, AOT is not a work focused on romance. In fact, AOT works on so many relevant philosophies and impactful Humanity's issues at the same time that I think seeing it end with Mikasa and her tragic romantic story with Eren is one of the many reasons why many of us got disappointed in the end. Until today, many of us still can't swallow down that all the disgrace of their World was due to Ymir in her freaking and cursed 2000 years of love obsession with a monster that never did a thing for her...

And so, as Isym doesn't seem to like much the common shoujo idea of people "destined to be" that normally the mangakas depict, I don't really think that Isym created Levihan intentionally to really be endgame romantic in the manga either. Because if it was, I feel like he would have dropped clear hints before 126. Like, there were many subtle opportunities open everywhere in the main manga - from a simple confirmation that Levi was wearing Hans's jacket, to a minuscule panel of a shared horseback ride after the RtS battle, or… well, anything believable and not contextually OOC. 

Instead - and using the most neutral reader lenses on -, Yams just mostly focused on their professionalism and commitment to their duties in the manga, and apparently let WIT and everyone else indulge in many other Levi ships without being more ``hey, look what Levi and Hanji have here!". At most, before 126, he left possible hints with open or multiple interpretations, including letting people read it as best friendship or adult comrades in army fighting for humanity side by side as the perfect complementary devoted to duty pair they are since chapter 9.5.

On the other hand, though, I personally feel like Isym did intend Levihan to be the ultimate endgame pair on the portrayal of real and ideal heroism philosophies and ideas Isym explored in AOT. They clearly were made the Wings of Freedom fully devoted to their duties to humanity - expressing the power of righteousness, of taking action, selflessness, dedication, self-sacrifice, and hope. Everything they did in the manga was always thinking for the sake of others. And in depicting it, Isym did a good job (though he could have been more clear sometimes, especially with Hans's narrative). 

Then, it's also nice to remember that Isym created Hans to be a unique character, with "mad scientist" and unhygienic "Titan otaku" vibes, mysterious background and no gender disclosed; this makes me think he was more interested in what their character would offer as playing the role of an eccentric (and comic) SC scientist than a "standard" possible romantic pair with Levi or anyone else. Of course, Levihan fits perfectly the "opposite attraction" theme, as we have the "clean-freak" and the "I don't have time to bath" workaholic one, the listener and the talkative, the brawl and the brain, etcetera. However, their main narratives were way, waaaay beyond this. Not to mention the depth of their bond...

As for Levi’s abrasiveness, yes, there are some times (and pretty much mostly on extra content) that do seem to leave an harsher tone in the way Levi treats Hans. The one which comes to my mind is the "hentai" original line in that smartpass between Erwin and Levi. That really baffled me because Erwin was right there exalting Hans's unique geniuses, and suddenly Levi seems to gratuitously call them "sexually perverted" - like what?? That makes absolutely no sense contextually nor like Levi?! And then Tsuki explained that in Japan there are other meanings to "hentai" other than the derogatory we non-Japanese speakers know. And it clicked to me - language/culture barrier is both a subtle and major issue in understanding how rudely Levi can express himself.

In fact, it is. By the many translations and explanations of words used in Japanese in Levi's text bubbles, the simple uses of "you" that he uses with many people (Erwin included) is expressed in a derogatory way, and that is completely lost in the English translations because English is really… simplistic. So it's not like Levi sounds only harsh with Hans - but more like many rough nuances of Levi's speeches seem to get lost in the adaptation to English/other languages, making his roughness to be clearer mostly when it is actually screaming clear. Which mostly happens when his personal translator, Hange!, is involved.

But to me, this Yams used to show that, in fact, not only Levi might be hard with words but it's not what he feels like, but that Hans is really good at understanding all kinds of people, interpreting their intentions and expressing them properly without bias or prejudice. Something that happens in chapter 127 too, as Hange calms Jean down after expressing the unspoken astonishment that Magath feels seeing that the Devil's of Paradis are trying to help save their worst enemies.

As for Levi’s character, I think Yams had not grasped how big of a character he would become also due to the cruel and unforgiving life he had in the Underground. The fact that most difficulties that Levi went through from childhood to adulthood were left to our imagination is what makes everything more heartbreaking and painful because we can only fill up the gaps of his life with the worst of the worst ideas. Humans are worse than animals. That Levi got out with such selflessness drive and precious heart from one of the dirtiest depths of Humanity’s man-made hell is something really from the exception of the exception of all the exceptions. But as no one comes out of an experience like that unscathed, Yams certainly saw Levihan's dynamic paired up perfectly again: before any romantic idea any reader might have, Hange treats Levi as a human being. 

So while Yams uses Hange's character to let Levi show this raw, harsh, and intrinsic Underground part of himself, it is always with Hans not feeling bad or judging Levi, and usually answering to the moment with a special type of kindness or going along with his shitty jokes. Interestingly too, is that for each time Levi seems to be rougher with Hans than the others, there are mostly worrisome situations happening, strong underneath feelings involved, or Yams trying to make them a comic duo. This is indeed an abnormal relationship dynamic that wouldn't be able to be explored if Hans weren't such an uplifting and understanding character, and if Levi had suddenly suppressed 25 or more years of rough life in the Underground to himself with no space to be a bit more exposed…

This all said… idk, I feel like there is a love root deep inside shipper hearts that wished to see a more smooth intimate depiction of Levihan's relationship that actually could be undoubtedly read as more definitive in their "love classification". But both Levi and Hanji were mature adults around their 30s, fighting maneater monsters and then the whole world for their people to have a chance to live in peace and some dignity. Their bond is much more built of many kinds of love than just the idea of one above the other. And as their quest in snk was NOT about romantic love being placed above what was right (like Mikasa and Ymir's quest), Isym really didn't make Levihan possible romantic feelings for each other the endgame point of their narratives.

I know though that there are especially dishonest people using some of Hans and Levi's interactions to say "Levi hates Hans", he didn't even like her, and whatever. But I think nothing can prove Levi sincerely loved Hans the most than chapters 126, 132, 133, 136 and 139. And while many people also say sometimes we read too much in a simple drawing, I fully doubt that Yams would draw Levi on the verge of crying and so emotionally vulnerable if not feeling Hans's loss with his heart too.

One last thing is that beyond the aspects mentioned in the guidebook about Levi's inspiration in Rorschach (from Watchmen), Levi really seems to have some "rough with words'' reference from him too. Contrary to Levi, though, Rorschach is a sociopath who seeks to punish evilness at all costs, and is a brute detective traumatized by growinp up witnessing the prostitution life of his mother, abandonment of his father, evilness and darkness of humanity. He does say things really in a raw, gruffly way, because of his background and life experiences, so as his character is written in English, it makes me wonder if his way of wording himself would be a little bit closer to how Levi's speech could be translated to English if it were more faithful to the Japanese...

I hope what I wrote made some sense...?!

[hanjo-love]

Now I became selfish and I hope the shard is showing Hanji being saved by Kiyomi or something. She go the worst treatment and if Isayama was afraid of the backslash like you said why make it even worse with those parallels with eremika? Is he preparing the Fandom for another levihan moment? I'm tired of EVERYONE surviving but her, Kiyomi's kindness really??? And Onyankopon, while I don't hate him, he survived a plane crash and he doesn't add much yet he is there for being the editor's favorite, Yelena is there after all she did and she adds even less, and the people titanized will revert to human (or at the very least Isayama's favorites will).

Oh anonie, you and me both my friend, you and me both 😔 Beware, a long rant-ish meta is ahead of you lol

I have absolutely no fucking idea why Yams decided to treat Hanjo like shit. You know, after a long time of denying her death, I was starting to accept it, because she was finally free, free of the burden and pain and finally reunited with the people she missed and longed for the most. But then Yams decided to slap us all in the faces saying there's no happy & peaceful afterlife in snk and Hanjo was probs only hallucinating because of her 4 years long depression? Well then, fuck you Yams! What was that even for? Isayama never backed off of showing us the horrors of death in snk, no matter how important the characters and how brutal their deaths really were. Still, he never showed us Hanji's actual death or dead body. He kept it misterious and his vague answers only made it worse. So it's only natural for us to expect a plot twist, right? That's the reason all of us gathered various hints in the manga, anime and his interviews. And lemme tell you, these theories are far more logical, better explained and have less plot holes than the entire final arc smh (yes I'm salty, fight me lol)

I hate to admit it, my inner self is still in denial and fighting, but Hanjo ain't coming back folks. We won't get any background story and the misterious shard will never be explained to us either. Yams had more than enough time to bring Hanjo back, if he truly wanted to. But he didn't. And now with only one chapter and so many unanswered questions left, there's no time for Hange's return. Why would he even do that anyways? Hanjo isn't important to him or to the story anymore. To us she is, always was and always will be ❤️ You know, I'm so fucking desperate to see her again, I'll even take one last panel of Levi remembering her, just like in ch136. Yams just let us see Hanjo one more fucking time 🙏🏻 I need to say my proper goodbyes to my one&only comfort character, who's influenced my life like no one else ever did ❤️

Back to Levihan (I don't think I can answer an ask without my biased and trashy shipper ass butting in lmfao): the question why Yams confirmed Levihan as canon if he didn't intend to bring Hange back and reunite her with Levi to make us him happy again? Well, isn't it obvious? This man is the devil incarnate. THIS MAN HAS NO FUCKING CHILLS lmfao JK y'all before someone declares war on me and my blog haha Well anonie, I feel like Yams really wanted to confirm his initially planned ships as canon, before the manga ends. And he chose the safest way possible. Easy as that. Also he said he is going for a bittersweet ending and what's more tragic (in this literal hell) than separating lovers, ergo Eremika and Levihan.

Now to something else, that's been bothering me for a while now and I'll use your ask anonie to share my thoughts with the world even though nobody asked lmao tbh I'm a bit disappointed with Armin. I love him, I really do. He's my precious cinnamon roll and my fave 104th kiddo. But honestly, I was expecting a bit more of the alleged "hero who will safe humanity". In fact, I'm sure Hanjo only died for Armin to become the new commander. That's it. That was the reason she had to die. Yams glossed over her to make Armin shine. But in fact, Levi's the one who's giving orders ever since Hange has left them. I might me salty, but I really hope the talk with Zeke (and probs Ymir as well, we still might have a chance to see the dialog that made Ymir change her mind) and his titan nuke weren't the only things he did as "humanity's hero" in this final arc. For some people this might me enough, for me it isn't. It wasn't worth Hange's sacrifice. Also what made me really sad was Armin himself glossing over Hanjo when he remembered Erwin Danchou, but not her. Like she didn't just pass away an hour ago to save their pathetic asses. Ugh this is making me hella mad, ngl. Hanjo didn't deserve this treatment! She gave her all for this! To save the alliance, to "pay the price" for her "sins" as the SC commander and to save humanity. I can't deal with how all of them and the fandom apparently forgot about that.

Now on to "Kiyomi's kindness" lol I wasn't really mad at Gabi for saying this as most of the fandom was. I won't go into detail why she isn't really a rationally thinking character (yo guys, you do remember she's a 12 year old kid, right?), but it's a fact that she didn't care for Hange enough to mention her. I mean, why would she? She barely even knew her. Also we don't really know what's gonna happen with Yelena, Kiyomi and her delegation. I don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but I feel like Kiyomi accepted her death with saying "that's not enough atonement for what I did anyway". I mean they don't know if the alliance will win (they probably think they won't) and they're in the middle of literally nowhere. So I feel like Gabi said that because Kiyomi sacrificed herself (and the others on that ship) willingly, for Gabi, Falco and Annie getting a little chance of surviving and helping the alliance. But I get the rage of the fandom. Especially because no one, except for Levi, remembered Hange after her noble sacrifice.

As for Yelena and Onyankopon, there obviously has to be someone from outside of Paradis to survive the rumbling, otherwise it wouldn't make a lot of sense, I guess. I like Onyankopon a hecking lot ❤️ precious boi was literally crying for Hanjo 😭 Yelena on the other hand deserves what she got. Death would be too easy and kind for her tbh. She has to live with the consequences, just like Kiyomi, so I'm actually glad they survived. So my guess is, it's not really about who's Yams' favorite and what these people are contributing to the story, but it's rather about a logical ending and a good conclusion of the story.

I agree with you about the ones who have been titanized. They'll for sure revert back to humans. It's not really Yams' style to kill of an important character like Gabi, whose character development he's been forcing on us for quite a while now lol. I'm pretty positive about an ending with the titan curse being broken and bringing the titanized people back to human beings (probs also the millions of colossal titans?). It's only natural for Yams to end the story with the titan curse being lifted. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense to end his story at this point. But let's not forget what a big ass troll Yams is lmao you never really know what he's up to, so let's prepare for the unimaginable lmfao

I'll probably never forgive Isayama for what he did to Hange, his best written character, how he completely ruined her and threw her away as disposable, just to make other characters "shine". HER DEATH WAS POINTLESS AND IT DID NOT FUCKING CHANGE ANYTHING! That's the harsh truth y'all. Yams betrayed Hanjo and us AND FOR WHAT?

Thanks for the ask anonie and sorry I turned this into my personal rant lmao hope you still enjoy reading my thoughts on this ❤️

[marmarparadoxa]

Hi! I was quite surprised to see even tho hanji is loved in japan, she is heavily criticized even among her fans. they say hanji is too idealistic or too soft to be a commander or indecisive and bad at negotiation or too weird to be a diplomat. Being compared to sannes and shadis (gets in the way of progress, lies to ppl or bystander). she couldn't throw away any important things, so she couldn't change anything (references Armin quote).

(same anon) she couldn't move forward that's why she died. she can't understand others feeling. being naive/easily deceived. There's also this image of levi being selfish who made hanji suffer as commander to make erwin rest not caring about humanity and became passive post time-skip leaving her do most of the work, took her feeling and presence for granted. I'm sorry for the negativity but I hated these takes and really wanted to know your opinion.

Do you think Yams purposely ignored Hanji throughout the story or reduce her character to a bad commander? She didn’t get enough screen time and she was mainly shown as an insecure and overwhelmed commander and not having a plan or a solution to all the mess that was going on. I also felt like she seemed to be just a placeholder between Erwin and Armin. Do you think yams hated her maybe b/c she is an idealist or he thinks she is an unimportant character?

Hi anons! I’ve decided to answer your questions together, since they both broadly revolve around the same topic. Hope you don’t mind.

About those takes about Hange in the fandom...well, while some are funny enough (like “too weird to be a diplomat” what), others are nasty (“she couldn’t move forward, that’s why she died” you mean it wasn’t because of Eren’s Rumbling that Hange had to die? ...), and none of them makes any sense to me. Anyway, I think one can have quite an idea about the mindsets, and the sympathies associated with these ideas.

For one thing, I feel like a lot of Hange hate probably comes from those who think that what they were trying to do wasn’t right in the first place. In other words, those who support Eren’s actions, and thus think Eren was right in committing genocide, and killing millions of innocent people as the only sensible way to save Paradis. Consequently, I imagine they think of Hange as a traitor, and indecisive because they couldn’t throw away anything, aka accepting to massacre the rest of humanity just for the safety of their own island? To be honest these are mainly suppositions because my fandom experience is basically restricted to safe spaces only lol, so I don’t really know what these people's thought processes are.

As a second reason, I guess that, probably, there still are some that wonder at Hange’s alleged incompetence as commander, without taking into account that what they were dealing with as commander of the SC weren’t mindless titans or Paradis’ politics any more, but a world-wide racial conflict backed by a two-thousand years long history of hatred between Eldians and the rest of the world. And while their only external ally, Hizuru, wouldn’t raise a finger to actually help them but only thought about exploiting their predicament for their profit, they also had to deal with Eren, which suddenly turned their back to them, and decided to attack Liberio, thus cutting away forever whatever hope they might have had of resolve things peacefully. Ah, yes, how incompetent of Hange not having been able to resolve all this.

As regards the Levi towards Hange part, then, I see that there are some persons who not only hate the ship, but would also try in every way to downplay, or deny the significance of Levi and Hange relationship in the story. There’s no point in engaging in this kind of hateful discourse, I think.

Getting to what was Isayama’s purpose about Hange, and why did he choose to show them like that… Well, very simply, I think Isayama needed the Rumbling to happen in this story. Also, and this is what’s troubling me, I kinda got the impression that his intention was to make the Rumbling look like something unavoidable, the only realistic solution Paradis had. As a consequence of this, anyway, he couldn’t have other characters, such as Hange, having concrete plans and solutions for all this mess (except for Zeke’s euthanasia plan, which however was supposed to be thought of as an unacceptable and cruel plan by the majority of the readers). It had nothing to do with reducing Hange’s character, and showing them in a bad light, nor with any other character not having been able to confront Eren (till Mikasa killed him), and having Eren had his own way till the end. All this is about the story Isayama wanted to draw, what kind of obscure message he’s trying to convey, and where his sympathies lie.

As regards what I think in particular about Hange’s arc post time-skip, and their role as commander, you can read my thoughts in this meta and here.

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 72 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 158 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE EPISODE 155 responses

94.2% of respondents gave the episode either a 4 or a 5, with the definitive majority being 5s. In addition, there was only a single grade (2) below a 3. Very nice!

Probably the best episode post marley

HYPE

One of the best non-action episodes so far, with perfect adaptation of given scenes. Really looking forward to next episode.

Very emotional and exciting. Pacing was great.

Much better than the last

Must watch episode. 

Loved it

WHICH MOMENT AT LEVI AND ZEKE’S LOCATION WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 155 responses

Levi and Zeke had more than a few moments in this episode, so we asked you which one of those was your favorite. The definitive majority (60.6%) stated that they clearly preferred the scene of Levi lamenting the deaths of his comparades in pursuit of saving Eren over the years. A noted minority (21.9%) also seemed to enjoy the scene of Zeke telling Levi that he must not be popular or the scene wherein the truth about Ragako is revealed (8.4%). Levi accusing Zeke of being guiltless or learning about Eren’s escape from prison garnered less praise.

WHICH MOMENT INVOLVING FALCO, GABI, THE BLOUSE FAMILY AND NICOLO WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 155 responses

That being said (previous question), the majority (plurality?) of the episode was taken up by the second part of Gabi’s Bizarre Adventure. As such, we also decided to ask you which of those moments was your favorite. The plurality (44.5%) gave their preference to seeing Mr. Blouse deescalate the situation. In second place (16.8%) we had Nicolo revealing the truth about the wine. Closely behind, 16.1% stated that they most appreciated seeing Gabi and Falco find Nicolo in the restaurant cellar. Finally, 12.9% enjoyed seeing Nicolo and Gabi argue. The rest of the options (Kaya suspecting a romantic relationship, the Blouse Family enjoying Nicolo’s food and the Blouse kids calling Gabi a bumpkin) didn’t garner as much fanfare. 

Mr. Blouse's line about the children in the forest is one my favorite lines in the whole story, and this is such a major turning point for Gabi—I'd been looking forward to this episode, and it did not disappoint!

Papa Blouse is wisest man in this universe, prove me if I’m wrong!

WHICH MOMENT INVOLVING THE SURVEY CORPS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 154 responses

A fair bit of the episode was also taken up by the Survey Corps doing their own investigating. We also asked what your favorite moment from those segments was your favorite. 45.5%, a plurality, stated that it was Eren showing up and telling AM that he wanted to talk. Another relatively popular option with almost 17% was Hange & Co. learning about Floch’s involvement with the wine. Almost 15% chose the scene with Mikasa saving Gabi from Kaya’s attack as the one they preferred the most and 11% said that the scene with Nicolo saving Jean and Connie from drinking the tainted wine was their favorite. Other scenes, like Armin and Mikasa talking with Gabi and the rest of the major SC members learning about the wine were less popular.

ZEKE ACCUSES LEVI OF BEING UNPOPULAR. LEVI DENIES THIS. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 155 responses

Zeke’s accusation is one of the funnier interactions he has with Levi (in the opinion of the person writing these small paragraphs), so it’s no surprise that 40.6% thought that it was rather funny how defensive Levi got over it, even if they weren’t sure how popular the man himself was. 32.9% seemed to believe that Levi was actually rather popular, owing to his title of “Humanity’s Strongest”. 12.3% thought that although his image might be popular, but that it was most likely restricted among members of the Survey Corps. Finally, a minority was, in fact, convinced that Levi wasn’t popular at all, really. 

Man slut Levi tapping dem beeyatches playing dem hoes

If Zeke knew how much pussy Levi got from the fangirls he’d hide every woman he knows from Levi

I mean he's definitely popular among those who idolize him, but he's an awkward grumpy gay so I bet a lot of people are put off by his personality when they meet him lol. But he's best boi and I love him

BrO he knows hes hella popular, he’s just humble like that 😌

i think he's popular but probably hasn't taken advantage of it bc he's awkward LMAO

Actually in Season 1, random villagers were calling out to him by name. On Paradis he's got clout with that killstreak

It could be one of those self aware manga moments? Like breaking 4th wall but much more subtle? 

He is definitely popular. But anyway what I noticed here is that it's a little different in anime and manga. In anime, he was kind of defensive which is funny and cute. In manga, he looked more like he was lamenting that he used to be popular back when killing titans was the only thing important. Anyway, regardless, I like both versions.

Levi as a story (humanity's strongest!! He took out a million titans on his own) is popular among the survey corps/army. Levi the actual man is awkward as fuck. He's one of those heroes who you don't want to meet cause it turns out he's short and grouchy and ill-mannered in actuality.

he's popular with hanji hehehe

He's gotta be pretty popular just because 1) he was always next to erwin and 2) he survived this long

He's totally popular... in the fandom.

I mean, it's pretty obvious that he's admired for being humanity's strongest, so yeah, he's popular.

PAPA BLOUSE SAYS THAT IT IS UP TO THE ADULTS TO SHOULDER THE SINS OF THE PAST, AND TO “KEEP THE CHILDREN OUT OF THE FOREST.” WHAT DO YOU THINK? 154 responses

Mr. Blouse’s speech seemed to resonate with the majority of the fandom (64.9%), who thought his sentiment ringed true and that it was something one should strive for. 25.3% of respondents noted that although the sentiment wasn’t wrong per say, it was too idealistic for how the “real world” functioned. Finally, a small minority wasn’t having it and seemed to think that children were no different from adults in this cruel world™️ (Thanks, Mikasa and Bertholdt.) 

It's expected that children will inherit some of the sins of the past, but it's the responsibility of adults to teach kids to do and be better.

Generational wounds require generational healing

Children are inevitably gonna have to bear the sins of the past until the world as we know it is destroyed and rebuilt into a better world

Normally I would agree excoet those are Gabi's own actions we're talking about...

In a perfect world, children wouldn't have to inherit the sins of the previous generation, but the AoT world is far from perfect. But, sheesh, what these kids are having to deal with is just unfathomable.

Weak, pathetic coward and I lost all respect for him as a man

Blouse Parents MVP's this ep. 

I agree that you shouldn't pass on the hate onto new generations, but I don't think that shouldering all the sins is EVERY adult's responsibility either.

WHAT DO YOU THINK, DID MAPPA DO THE DRAMATIC RESTAURANT SCENE JUSTICE? 152 responses

The restaurant scene was rather dramatic, all things considering, so it was no wonder that getting its atmosphere through was of key importance. The overwhelming majority was very happy with what was shown on screen, with 67.1% thinking MAPPA went above and beyond and 27% simply thanking the animation studio for the accurate adaptation. A few people, in contrast, thought that the manga conveyed the tone more effectively than the anime did. 

I just wanted to see Sasha eating pizza :( 

It was freaking amazing, absolute perfection 

Mixed feelings! I really loved the tension, emotion and voice acting! But I'm a bit sad they didn't include the sasha flashback bits that could've added to the emotions.

A COUPLE MEMORIES OF SASHA EATING NICOLO’S FOOD AND LEARNING TO HUNT WITH HER FATHER WEREN’T ANIMATED. DO YOU MISS THESE SCENES? 154 responses

The flashbacks with Sasha eating pizza were cherished by a small part of the fandom, so it is no surprise that at least a certain part of the fandom was disappointed in not seeing these panels animated. That segment, as mentioned, was rather small, as only 10.4% stated that it was a near deal breaker for them. In contrast, 58.4% were willing to accept the cut, even if there was a small part of them that wished that it was animated. Some stated that they never cared about those panels at all and 22.7% simply never noticed the cut. 

No, I like it that we can focus on Sasha's parents' faces during the speech

I miss those scenes, but including them wouldn't flow nicely with this medium

I really wanted to see her eating pizza but I knew it wouldn't make it in. It wouldn't make sense with the tone of the main scene.

NOW THAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE WHOLE WINE PLOT, DO YOU THINK THE MAIN CAST WAS EXEMPT FROM CONSUMING THE WINE BECAUSE OF EREN? 148 responses

Many have argued that Eren was pretty reckless with allowing the wine plot to happen. Though 40.5% are certain that the plan truly was only to have higher ups drink the wine (and perhaps Eren assumed there would be no risk to his friends). 18.9% believe that neither Yelena nor Zeke cared about who would drink the wine, but that Eren negotiated terms with them. 18.2% on the other hand believe that Yelena/Zeke actively avoided getting his friends involved, knowing that he wouldn’t approve of it. 9.5% can’t say for certain, and only 8.1% believe that Eren didn’t care if his friends drank the wine at all, and that Nicolo is the one who actively spared them. 

It’s paths Yams don’t gotta explain shit

Priority probably went to the military police and garrison- Levi’s team in the forest makes a big deal about getting the wine. 

They thought they might still need the scouts after a scream so it was made sure they wouldn't drink any.

I think Eren maybe saw enough about what was gonna happen that he didn't have to vocalize or care too much about who drank the wine. Although, poor Pyxis and the rest. Eren has had contempt for "lazy" military higher ups before, but he also saw people like Hannes change. Idk, maybe he felt their lives were worth sacrificing.

Plot convenience. At least Hange is in my opinion a high up if Nile and Pixis are too.

I think eren had something to do with the wine not being distributed to the survey corps, whether it was him directly or if it was zeke and yelena knowing that it would've pissed eren off, but obviously eren didn't do anything to specifically prevent it because if niccolo hadn't stopped them, main cast would've drank it 

I think it didn't matter if only the higher-ups got to drink the wine, but since Niccolo had kind-of relations to Jean and co., he didn't want them to drink it.

DO YOU THINK MAPPA EFFECTIVELY FORESHADOWED AND BUILT UP THE WINE PLOT? 148 responses

The wine plot was built up meticulously over the course of months in the manga, which allowed for a whole bunch of theories to prop up. The anime goes by quicker, naturally. So we asked if you felt that the build up for said plot was done well in the adaption. The overwhelming majority thought so, with 48% stating that they felt MAPPA did an even better job than the source, in contrast to the 35.8% who stated their belief in Isayama’s superiority. On the other hand, a fair few also stated that they didn’t enjoy MAPPA’s portrayal of this subplot and preferred the original. We’ve also gotten a fair few write-ins, mostly stating that it’s hard to compare the two. 

I think it's hard to compare because in the manga we had months in between the first foreshadowing and the reveal that there was something up with the wine. We had time to simmer and theorize, the anime didn't have much time to delve deeper into that particular moment especially with everything else going on in the series at the same time. They did a good job!

no real opinion either way

Yes, they did it accurately.

Idk man

It was good, even with the manga.

Hard to say bc in the manga, I felt completely blindsided and surprised. And, of course, I knew what was happening in the anime. Both were well done, I think.

I think it was way on the nose. It was better and subtler in manga.

I have no opinion

It has been so long, I forgot how it went down exactly in the manga. MAPPA's version was good though.

I don't particularly prefer one over the other. I think MAPPA did a really good job building up this plot. 

They did good, though it was a little more obvious here. Then again, I knew it was coming already, so eh.

THE SCENE WHERE LEVI FINDS OUT THE MILITARY PLANS TO HAVE SOMEONE EAT EREN IS IN BETWEEN THE RESTAURANT SCENES. DO YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD REARRANGEMENT? 150 responses

As seen in the season prior, MAPPA has rearranged certain scenes with the narrative. This time it’s the Levi/Zeke forest scene, juxtaposed with the restaurant scenes. A plurality (42.7%) thought the change worked in its favour. 18.7% didn’t mind it too much, but did prefer Isayama’s version of events and a few thought the change was simply bad outright. 33.3% thought the change didn’t really make a difference one way or the other. There was also a write-in. 

The complaint O have its that these scene occurs at night and the restaurant one was in briad daylight, so it felt odd because Im assuming its the same say.

THE VISUALS OF LEVI REMEMBERING THE DEATHS OF HIS COMRADES WHEN RESCUING EREN ARE DIFFERENT IN THE ANIME THAN THE MANGA. WHO DID IT BETTER? 154 responses

There was somewhat of a contrast between the flashbacks experienced by Levi in the manga and anime. We asked which version you preferred. Though most (57.8%) noted that both versions were nice, 31.8% said that they preferred the animated version, in contrast to the 10.4% who liked Isayama’s art better.

We’ve also gotten a very passionate write-in for this one. 

I'M SO UPSET THEY DIDN'T ANIMATE THE PANEL OF EREN'S FACE NEXT TO LEVI'S FROM WHEN HE SAVED HIM THE FIRST TIME IN TROST. Like I get it that they wanted to focus on all of the people Levi has lost, but in comparison with the manga it makes it seem like Levi doesn't even care about Eren anymore. If they had a shot where Levi is thinking about Eren specifically before focusing on his comrades, then it would've made more sense why he basically rejected the plan to have Eren be eaten. It would've shown that Levi still cares about Eren and doesn't want him to be killed unless there's nothing else they can do. It just feels like the anime (both WIT and Mappa) is constantly undermining Eren and Levi's relationship (and don't even get me started on how much worse it is in the dubbed version). Although, to be fair, the anime seems to do that to all of Eren's relationships that aren't with Mikasa. Like not even from a shipping perspective; even his relationship with Armin got parts ignored in favor of replacing them with moments with Mikasa. But whatever. Levi still cares about Eren, and I just wish the anime did a better job at showing that.

LEVI IS CUT OFF BEFORE HE GETS A CHANCE TO TELL THE SOLDIERS THEY SHOULD HAVE ZEKE EATEN INSTEAD, AND THAT THEY CAN ATTACK MARLEY AGAIN IF NEED BE. DO YOU THINK WE WILL GET THIS PART OF THE CONVERSATION NEXT EPISODE BEFORE HE TRIES TO MAKE A MOVE ON DEBILITATING ZEKE? 148 responses

Levi’s lines focused on explaining himself were cut a bit short in this episode, so we were wondering if we were going to hear them next episode. As it turns out, 49.3% believe so, stating that they’re important for the story and its context. In contrast, 20.9% believed that these lines were not actually necessary and weren’t going to be shown. 29% can’t say for sure, one way or another. 

Maybe it will be shown next chapter? MAPPA does that often.

A lot of missing dialogue from Levi that look important for the final chapter

IN THE FINAL SCENE, DO YOU THINK EREN APPEARS MORE SOMBER THAN MENACING IN COMPARISON TO THE MANGA? 151 responses

The vast majority of the fandom feels that MAPPA really brought out the somber expression Eren wore as he prepares to break the hearts of his friends, feeling that it signifies how regretful Eren is of what he’s about to say. 11.9% felt it was hard to read his expression properly due to the scene being cut off. 7.9% feel the opposite of the majority. While they agree he appears more somber, they aren’t buying it as genuine for a minute. Only a small handful felt that he still looked as menacing as in the manga. 

My boi is looking positively dead inside

More depressed, less menacing.

Yes, and I didn't like it. Manga version is better.

Yes, he seems more somber than menacing but Idk why. Even after the latest chapter, I still dk if he is/was acting or really explaining how he felt in a sense. Still not sure if he's like, "fuck it, I'm burning the whole world" or "I don't want to but I have to do this."

I like it in manga way more

He looks regretful in both manga and anime to me?

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT EPISODE 14 WILL ADAPT THE REST OF CHAPTER 112, ALONG WITH THE ENTIRETY OF CHAPTER 113. GIVEN THAT ACTION GENERALLY IS MUCH QUICKER TO ADAPT THAN NON-ACTION, DO YOU THINK EPISODE 14 WILL FEATURE ANY SCENES BEYOND THOSE TWO CHAPTERS? 147 responses

As we’re coming to season’s end, one can’t help but wonder how the rest of the episodes’ content will be spread out, knowing that it ends on 116. We asked if you believed Episode 14 will feature content from post-Chapter 113. The majority (55.1%) didn’t seem sure. But some (19.7%) thought that we were going to see elements from 114. As for the rest, a few thought that it was going to simply end on 113, some believed we might get anime-only content, a few thought we were going to see 115 scenes and some just didn’t care. 

Nah. I think it’ll end exactly where 113 ends

Tbh I'm too lazy to see what the next few chapters cover but they've been rearranging a lot of scenes in the past few episodes, so probably.

IN LINE WITH THE PREVIOUS QUESTION, DO YOU THINK WE’LL GET ANY MORE STORY REARRANGEMENT IN THIS SEASON? 148 responses

MAPPA has taken some creative liberties when adapting this season, including the rearrangement of certain scenes between episodes. The question posed was whether MAPPA will do it again. A slight plurality (49.3%) believed that it was going to happen again, in contrast to the 41.2% who weren’t sure. A select either didn’t think it’s going to occur or just didn’t care.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 154 responses

The majority (55.2%) seems to be most enthralled with seeing the EMA Table Talk on screen, followed by a notable amount (37.7%) of folks who were most looking forward to seeing another battle between Levi and Zeke. A select few (7.1%) were instead most interested in seeing the scene with Hange, Floch and Shadis. 

Mmgh

How dare you make us chose between these three scenes, this was so hard, I'm looking forward all three !

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

M O N K E  J U I C E

I hate Floch more than ever, and that cliffhanger at the end was a cruel spot to leave us at for a whole week.

SHHHH

That iconic Eren holding his bloody hand scene was spot-on!

Why no Mikasa hugging Gabi????? 

it’s a real 3 ring shitshow- survey corps made into clowns, children screaming, monkey business, unamused adults, and the ringmaster just waltzed on into the middle of it.

I was disappointed at first when I saw the screenshots and spoilers, but man, when I watched the entirety, that was some great acting and pacing. Way better than the previous 2 episodes. Thank you MAPPA! Really hoping they do well again next episode. Could be the as great episode 6/7! And thank you as always, SNK poll team!

Thankfully this first part is almost over. The manga is legendary and that season is barely good. I'm so disappointed. And I really liked Eren's expression better in the manga. I don't understand why they changed it.

I miss the rotoscoping from the first Mappa episodes. Everything looks a bit stiff.

I cried more in this episode than I have at any other this season so far smh. 

When Mikasa stops Kaya from stabbing Gabi. In the manga it seems that Mikasa was protecting Gabi and bringing her head close to her chest, but in the manga she looked somewhat uncomfortable. And it wasn't appreciated enough. I also did not like that they excluded Hange moments because it helped the way of seeing her as a leader and the scene of Levi thinking about his dead comrades looked very simple to me. I prefer manga. but the voice actors were amazing! I liked the episode but it is not one of my favorites.

i didnt think i could hate floch any more than i already did but the way mappa animated him made me want to punch my laptop omg

Gabi deserves what she got. Shame I lost all respect for Mikasa for stopping Kaya from killing Gabi.

Mikasa is dead to me. So is Sasha's dad. WHY would they just let Gabi walk away scott free?

As a Gabi hater, this is where fandom hypocrisy gets me in regards to Mr. Braus and Mikasa sparing Gabi. Mr. Braus becomes widely regarded as some virtuous and compassionate saint while Mikasa is bad for stopping Kaya. They BOTH suck for betraying Sasha's memory. Poor Sasha deserved so much better.

sorry my only thoughts are PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH. 

That scene with Jean + Wine Bottle hit real different after recent events.. 

ALL HAIL SUPREME GOD EMPEROR OF ELDIA FLOCH FORSTER!

The voice acting in the restaurant scene had me crying. Had to pause it

The shading and animation in the forest look awesome which could really make the Levi vs. Zeke fight outshine the Manga.

Mr. Braid's speech was just as cringe in the anime as it was in the manga. Shame on him for not avenging his daughter.

I think the manga did better in the scene where Kaya was about to kill Gabi in how sudden it was. In the anime, we got to follow Kaya's whole trajectory up until she was stopped by Mikasa, so Mikasa saving Gabi didn't feel as monumental. They did great on Kaya's murderous rage and breakdown though.

As long as I live I will never understand why Mr. Braus could be so pathetic as to forgive his daughter's killer. Especially knowing what happens later in, no true parent would just let their childs killer into their family. It's disgraceful.

Gabi sucks

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 142 responses

Thanks again to everyone for participating!

If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to send in your vote for up to 5 favorite characters for our 2021 character popularity poll!

[aspoonofsugar]

Do you think like hange's death was needed for armin to grow , levi might die for mikasa to step up? When levi got hurt during female titan arc, she made sure that she was doing her best to assist humanity in bringing down the female titan. So, could that be her final push or do you see levi surviving this? I expected mikasa and kiyomi to talk but that didn't happen, now I am just hopeful for an ackertalk but based on how fast things are going I don't know anymore.

Beside the fact Levi wanted to respect Hanji sacrificing themself what do you think of the people's statement that says this ruins their development because Levi just let them go without even attempting to stop them? Also wanted to ask u thins regarding the same statement it's because levi's personal feelings towards erwin and he's just done with even trying to hope for the best so they simply let Hanji go. I'd like to read your interpretation.

(I've already asked this from someone else but I'd like to know your thoughts as well) Do u think Levi should've at least suggested they shouldn't use the commander as bait and use other characters just like he did back in Shinganshina? I understand Hanji didn't want anyone to stop them, but I've seen discussions of people saying Levi let Hanji go too easily and didn't even try in the slightest to stop them. Sometimes I feel like yams just wanted to get rid of the vets. Do you think so?

Hi! I've seen discussions criticizing Hanji's death, in particular how Levi and Jean could fight in their stead. It's clear Levi isn't even agile enough and they're not even sure of his combat abilities atm so it makes sense for him to stay behind. Although in the same statements it was brought up that he will have to fight Eren or Zeke eventually without having the strength so why not using it now so they could save Hanji? What do u think? I'd like to read ur opinion abt Jean too :)

I'm usually neutral to snk ships but gosh this "if it was Moblit he would've stopped Hanji from going to the battlefield" and "Levi didn't care much about Hanji's life so he let them go" is really getting out of hand in the fandom. I hold no grudge against HanjixMoblit, but this opinion is full of errors. Sorry for spamming you with this. I know you're not the biggest fan of shipping in the snk universe.

Hello anons,

I think that symbolically Hange’s death is because in this way the younger characters can grow. It is definately true that in real life one does not need to lose mentor/parental figures to become an adult. However, snk is a narrative and in stories it is common (even if it is not necessary) for mentor figures to die. This is mostly true for a story, which is full of war and violence like snk is.

In short, yes, I think that Hange’s death specifically was also so that Armin could be made commander and is so forced to grow up. Up until this point Armin has been incredibly passive and has refused to take care, so it makes sense that he loses the last person he can turn to to receive orders.

When it comes to Levi, him dying to motivate Mikasa instead is a possibility, since they are strong foils and parallels. As for now, I am on the fence. On one hand it would make sense for the last mentor figure to die. On the other hand Levi has not been playing a mentor role this arc and has received his personal focus with Zeke. That said, he can both die, so that the 104th must move on and solve his conflict with Zeke.

As far as how Hange’s death happens in story, I think it was handled decently. They are in an emergency and have very little time to decide what to do, so Hange acts as a commander and takes charge. They decide they are gonna sacrifice themselves for the others, so that there is still a chance to stop Eren. In a sense, they follow in Shadis and Magath’s footsteps. I mean, why did Magath stay and did not order someone else to stay in his stead? He was the commander of the Warriors just like Hange was the SC’s commander. Still, he chose to stay to redeem himself and the feeling I got while reading the chapter was that Hange felt something similar, but different.

In the chapter Hange aknowledges twice that they could not offer any alternative to the POVs and plans they disagreed with (Yelena’s and Floch’s). Still, they decided not to give up and to take responsibility in some way. I feel that this is why they decide to go. They wanna act as a leader and save their comrades.

As far as to why Hange is the one, who goes instead of Armin and Reiner, Hange states that they can’t afford to lose titan shifters at this stage. Symbolically they stop two of the most self-sacrificial characters. Reiner and Armin are parallels because they both despise themselves and always search for a way to die heroically. However, the story keeps negating them this way out because they are asked not to run away passively, but to face life actively and to solve the conflict. Here, Hange negates them death once again. It is a part of a pattern.

When it comes to Levi and Jean, I think that, narratively speaking, they both have other conflicts to settle. It was not by chance that Jean is the one listening to Floche’s last words. He is probably going to somehow inherit them and to give them importance in the future. He will probably convey them in a more nuanced way compared to Floche’s. After all, Jean has always been the one more sympathetic to the Jeagerists and islanders’ reasons, even if he could not bring himself to side with them. Levi, as I have stated above, has a conflict to settle with Zeke.

In-story, I doubt Levi would have managed to buy enough time (he can barely stand). As far as Jean is concerned, I think that he and the others simply had very little time to elaborate things. Hange announced they would go and went without letting the 104th time to protest. There is also the fact that they are out of time and can’t start a discussion, not to consider Hange is their superior and they all look up to them and usually listen to them. Anyway, it is clear from the looks in their eyes that they are shocked.

Finally, the interaction between Levi and Hange shows that they clearly care about each other. All in all, Levi does the same thing he had done with Erwin aka respected his comrade’s wish to die as they want. In the chapter it is said that Hange has started talking like Erwin.

They too have started thinking about their dead comrades and how they would react and it is clear that they have been struggling with the role of commander. When they say goodbye to Levi, they even states they want to die on their own terms. This is basically what happened with Erwin. Erwin too wanted to die free and as himself and the point of the Serum Bowl was for Levi to realize it. Here, Levi is simply respecting Hange’s will.

There is also the fact that the characters are all leaving on a very dangerous mission and that they are not even sure they will survive and this is bound to influence their reaction to situations.

Thank you for the ask!

[momtaku]

SnK Chapter 91 Poll

I’ll be closing the chapter 91 poll tomorrow, so this is your last chance if you’d like to chime in.

Take the Poll

I’ve gotten 350+ responses thus far and tbh these results are the most interesting I’ve seen in terms of lack of consensus. 134 people have left their chapter thoughts, I’ll share a bunch of those below the read more. My favorite is listed first :)

*patrick star voice* WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE

If Levi is taking down the beast titan and he finds out that not only is Zeke already dead, but his replacement is a weak-brows version of Erwin, I really hope it gives him pause.  That could be such a heartbreaking, earth shattering moment for him and I hope Yams handles it right.

GABI! Just Gabi. She's perfect

Timeskips should be illegal

Seeing the extent of Marleyan brainwashing was exceedingly well done.

Imagine how the poor kid that inherited "Cartman" felt like upon learning that that thing was their award for winning the marleyan hunger games.

Very unexpected change of character view from our beloved heroes to their"enemy"'s point of view. But I also think it's come at a good time in the overall SnK storyline...let's not forget that the walled society probably has no records on how to build ships or sail on the sea.

Can someone just tell Isayama‚ preferably someone close to him so the message gets across‚ that this isnt how trench warfare fucking worked? WW1 didn't have pre-teen, half-naked Genki girls hopping over trenches, tossing dynamite sticks at armored trains. This chapter destroyed my suspension of disbelief beyond repair.

I liked we got more info about Marley, but the fact that Isayama isn't willing to confirm Ymir and Annie's fate is getting a bit annoying

I thought this chapter was actually pretty cool. I've fallen hopelessly in love with Gabi! Fingers crossed that Annie gets the f*** outta that crystal soon though!

The time skip was needed for story progression but a lot of important questions and interactions were skipped in terms of character development. I just hope we get some of them in flashbacks and not have them completely disregarded don't care about the new characters, but I'm okay as long as they don't take so much screen time and we can go back to our main cast soon enough

I honestly dislike how Isayama uses these new characters to show us what Marley and being a warrior is like, instead of showing us RBA and Zeke's past :(

I think the after-chapter freakout was a big overreaction. I mean we could kinda forsee the direction the manga was going to take after we learnt about the whole Marley/Eldia thing.

After reading the full chapter and talking to someone else about it, I feel better about the timeskip. This chapter made me feel for RBA more, because they must've started out like Gabi and the rest. I only hope that those kids don't have the same fate (but considering that it is snk, it's likely that they are going to suffer lbs). I'm just worried about the 104th and what's been going on with them. They've all grown, and Eren and Armin are closer to their death now :( I don't think I would've had a problem with the time skip if it wasn't for the 13 year thing. But overall, I'm pretty optimistic with where the story is going. I trust Isayama with his story telling. I just have to prepare myself in case of the worst.

Warriors were cool. That's what I consider to be AoT. But without actual Titans, it's just not as interesting. Neither are the WW1 vibes. I just want titans back.

I thought this was a pretty good world building chapter (despite the jarring time skip), especially since we've been waiting many chapters to see this place.  I don't ADORE these new characters, I'm more intrigued, which is better then hating them.  This is also a good set up chapter.  I'm interested to see if Reiner will interact with these new characters.  Since they look so similar to the 104th (design and personality), will he constantly be reminded of his past relationships with them?  Plus, will he see some of himself in them (specifically Gabi) and through them reminding of himself we'll see his backstory?  And is he going to just except his fate and get eaten, or be like "Screw this, nope, not dealing with it."

"WHAT" was legitimately the keyword for this chapter but I trust Isayama with the story and with our heroes+ I hope we'll get to see the Jaegers reunion before anything bad happens to Zeke...

Gabi is such a badass, omg, do you see it Eren? This is how you gettting out of horrible situations!

This chapter has really grown on the more times I read it.

Really enjoyed the way the characters were presented. It gives the reader the chance to see Marley's side of things without being forced to have a story-generated opinion on them (aka screaming at us to hate them) because quite frankly, I was rooting for those Warrior kids to succeed with their plan!

I think it is a very unusual way to tell a story,  however I also feel this could work for the best.... I think this time skip can actually go a long way towards making the coming conflict realistic. Rather than our protagonists taking them on with nothing but grit, hope and friendship, we have the possibility of them having actual time to prepare. I think this might lead to a battle between Marley and the people of Paradis that will be more evenly matched, and most importantly, realistic in how that happened.

i like the much needed change in perspective

While this chapter was certainly not a bad one, I only wished that more of the spotlight was on the original characters, seeing that there's only a few more arcs before the end of the series.

Dammit you Gabi! Fresh Face, Fresh Outlook in Life and Cute! I want to cosplay as her!

Next chapter : Gabi's underwear vs Survey Corps hundred of casualties.

UGH. This is no longer the story I used to enjoy. It's deliberately shifted from inspiring, against-all-odds heroism to a pile of absurdist, everything-is-relative garbage determined to prove that our 'heroes' are no more heroic than their opposition. If I wanted to be slapped in the face with a message of humanity's grayscale depravity, I'd read the news, thanks. :( I'm probably done with new chapters at this point, this isn't what I signed up for :P

I understand why the story is going in this direction and why it makes sense to skip three years...but I feel like we're moving further from our emotional center of the series, like the characters we love and their reactions to recent events.  I'm also concerned about the dwindling lifespans of Armin, Eren, and Reiner.  So I'm excited but scared for the changes our kids have gone through in three years...wish we could've seen it but I get why it's not feasible.  The world is cruel....:'(

if i pretend that this is a new manga i just started, it's interesting I guess. Wish we could have seen the warriors story from the Titan Trio's Pov. The fact that we get these new kids instead tells me that they will be sticking around. Not sure whether my investment in the story will ever go back beyond mjpopcorn.gif if that's the case.

I will like this chapter, but only if Isayama concludes this story with a good twist, that is. If not, chapter 91 will in my opinion be the beginning of the end (end in a bad way).

In the four year time skip, it could have been possible for the sc to build a ship (or multiple ships) which is good enough to cross the ocean with. Which leads me to think that the main characters will cross the ocean in some of the next chapters.

This chapter shows the bigger picture. what to come & what was in plan for years. This is the real thing now.

This was obviously a set-up chapter for things to come, but unfortunately I found it to be dull except for the part where they talk about the mission in the wall. That's all I care about, and this chapter did nothing to make me care for the plight of Marley and whatever stupid war they have to deal with.

Part of me wants to say that some key characteristics about Gabi not only resemble Eren or a younger version of him, but may also express some of the characteristics Isayama originally wanted to use for Eren when he considered making him female (I mean, Gabi even has nearly the exact same hair style as fem!Eren). But although they both are quite similar in a sense and could have had potential of being even more similar, until you reach a certain degree, they split in very different directions. Gabi tends to appear significantly more childish and carefree in the sense that everything is a game, while Eren has always been quite serious and often characterized as "angry". She and Eren both make similar reckless decisions and both speak similar dialogue, but they're quite different at the core based on assumable experiences and the environments they grew up in.

There are so much new good elements, I hope Isayama will do well 'cause the story is really interesting. Aside from that, the fact that Eldians (Gabi&Co) seem to enjoy fighting with their oppressor is disturbing, it's like a Stockholm syndrome...so different from Grisha and the revolutionist but to me they're all too radicals. Can't wait to knoe more about other nations

While there were definitely aspects that deserve creation (for instance we all know the amnesia thing was lazy writing) but overall I don't think the chapter was bad. I think the kids' unrealistic attitudes in battle was purposeful juxtaposition to the way our main cast has experienced war--it shows the extent of the brainwashing (I don't think it's that Isa is unable to consistently portray war's effects on people in a realistic way, like some claim). I'm wary but I think the story could be taken in some interesting directions. It would be really interesting to be reintroduced to our main characters through the eyes of the new ones, especially if our heroes come storming in like enemies--really playing into the moral grayness.

Time skip means we will see older version of the main characters and that's both exciting and terrifying af

One can only hope that Isayama graces us with Levi wearing a ponytail after this.

I was waiting for the story to explain what's going on the other side of the ocean. But not from these "copy and pasted" brats. Reiner is seen in just one panel and Zeke is barely mentionned. That's a shame.

I'm not buying the racial war yet. Grisha's sisters death was a stand out moment where I actually felt the horror of the war/racial conflict. So I have faith Isayama still has some gut punches left. But the clunky worldbuilding and shallow new characters are just not doing it for me. Isayama needs to invest in character moments because the human war narrative he has going right now doesn't have enough nuance or intrigue to stand on its own as of right now. This new outside of the walls world isn't immersive enough yet. Thanks momtaku for having these polls! They are always fun. :-)

I personally don't like Gabi that much. She put herself in danger, and I'm sure Marley would prefer to have someone much more tactical, or at least someone who doesn't put their whole life/operation in danger by pulling some silly stunt in hopes of getting noticed. I thought it was a very risky thing to do. But that's just my opinion.

meh

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E03 Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 563 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated! 

Please note that this is the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

Rate the episode

84% of users rated the episode a 4 or 5 this week, compared to 64% last week. This episode had less action, but was full of key character moments that manga readers were excited to see animated.

So far it's my favourite since it follows the most the manga but with some bearable adjustemements. If the episodes will be like this from now on, I'll be completely satisfied and could get over all the changes in the first two episodes.

The adaptation is doing well, but of course manga readers(me included) about some bits being changed and rearranged. But on the other hand they might come me up with something unexpectedly good. I won't forgive them if they don't give shit machine tho.

It’s starting to feel more like the arc I love

It was great, I'm having trouble deciding which episode is the best of this season yet. I thought the second one was the best, but then I remember the premiere and now, once again, I am thinking about the 3rd one being the greatest. The quality this season is off the charts.

Compared to episode 2, episode 3 was quite uninteresting

I think it must have been boring and confusing for Anime-only's

This episode was appropriately paced for an episode full of flashbacks, and honestly I think it paid off to get the backstories of Erwin and Historia in one showing to avoid conflicting with the future action episodes.  I don't have much else to say- I can't really be critical because it was a pretty good episode, adaptation-wise.

Which of the following moments were your favorite?

Hange taking their anger out on the table and Levi walking in on it is the winner here! The closest runner ups were seeing Levi’s wanted poster and getting Erwin and Historia’s backstories. We all agree it was nice to see many of these things in color animation finally!

Hange's scene where she blames her table destruction on a cockroach? Totally relatable. And I loved that Levi kinda teased her for it.

I have been waiting for Erwin's back story for AGES and was not disappointed! Kidwin was as heartbreakingly adorable as expected (that nose!! The sad bby at the funeral!!)

I liked all the topics they addressed that had been previously skipped (Historia and Erwin’s pasts). Also, while the sequence of events have been changed, I’m looking forward to how they are going to pan this out.

Erwin has great ass.

Hange's tableflip scene was amazeballs, man I love her!!

Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit. Pixis in a suit.

The conversation between Erwin and Pixis gave me thrills. I thought it was going to be boring, but it was very well shown.

My girl Hange's time to shine in this episode! I want her "BAAAKAAAA" as a ringtone asap

Who drew it better: WIT or Isayama?

51% of respondents thought the OG drew it best. Isayama can finally sleep at night. Funnily enough, the anime only respondents preferred WIT’s version!

Who has the best reaction to Historia’s backstory?

Sasha took the lead as she paused licking at her soup bowl to listen to Historia’s story. Connie was easily the next runner up with his dumbfounded expression. We weren’t surprised to see Springles win this one!

How cute was baby Historia?

The vast majority of respondents just wanna pinch those cute little cheeks (and probably take her home, treat her to some hot cocoa and love her properly).

And baby Historia was the cutest omg! That lil nose and her lil blush! I'm crying bittersweet tears here.

How could anyone possibly look down on and abuse such a precious little bean like baby Historia?? Alma's so pathetic…

Baby Historia is the cutest thing I have seen in anime. She is so adorable and sweet! I would love to hug her so much! She is just too cute! <3

Child Hisu is ADORKABLE

How cute was little Erwin?

While this is a tiny bit more spread out than Historia, the majority of respondents were also enamored with adorable kidwin and are ready to adopt him at any time (and probably give lots of hugs too!).

BABYWIN!!!!!!!!!

Young Erwin was def my fav bighead-bigbrows!

I love Erwin so muchhhh my precious baby is so cute and handsome at the same timeeeee I just want to hug him and never let anything bad happen to him againnnnn

The episode was dialogue heavy with a lot of character backstories and plot exposition. What type of episodes do you tend to prefer watching?

In general, respondents don’t mind if an episode has a lot of action or if it’s a bit slower with some good plot developments. What matters is that we keep moving forward and that it’s entertaining, right?

About episode type: Tense conversation ready to break into action at any second, like when Kenny and Levi were talking in the bar.

It was a nice change of pace after all the fights in the first 2 episodes but I'm looking forward to the action  coming back next episode

Did Flegel really stay in that alleyway the entire night?

We asked this mostly for fun and respondents didn’t disappoint. The majority believe that he did stay in the alleyway the entire night, but plenty of you had some fun commentary (and sass) to provide us all with some laughs:

Based on how the events at Erwin's went, I'd guess that Reeves was killed nearing dawn and it hasn't been that long.

During the night, he went to slay all of marley and came back in the morning, Flegel for president!

Oh crap, I didn't even notice that. Part of me wants to say maybe he left and came back, but that really doesn't make much sense if he's trying to not get caught. No doubt the Interior Squad would have surveyed the area a little before getting the body ready for a public reveal to frame Erwin.

He took one long leak

He went to get sour cream and came back

Slept in a trash-can then went for a morning stroll

insert Schroedinger's cat analogy

No clearly Annie came and rescued him

Somehow he knew Commander Handsome will be there, so yeah, he stayed. I would stay too <3

no, he crawled up the wall like a spider and slept on the rooftops dont worry

On a scale of 1-5, how distressed are you about Eren being tied, gagged and drugged?

Most respondents seemed unconcerned or indifferent to Eren’s current situation, but those who are distressed were pretty vocal about it:

PLEASE MAKE SURE THE POOR BOY GETS SOME WATER???  The little scene with his in-and-out of consciousness is very distressing to see!

I pray that Eren gets a happy ending; I feel SO stressed for him

Who has the best hat?

Connie’s sunhat took the lead! But we agree that all hats are good and that everyone was looking fab.

HAT HAT HAT I'm really hoping that from this point on, they will follow the manga more closely again, as I am not super impressed by the current shake-up in event order but most importantly HAT HAT HAT JEAN GOT HIS HAT.

The hats!!! The hats are so good!

Love his top hat but lost half his lines for it

JEAANNN'S HAAAT

How many flashbacks within flashbacks is too many?

Half of respondents appreciated the Inception reference and just want to be flashbacked into oblivion. Okay but seriously, there were some who got a bit confused by WIT’s use of flashbacks for some of these scenes. We hope you’re holding up okay during current manga chapters!

bit weird to slow it down this much when the first 2 episodes were so action packed, 2 flashbacks in one episode is a bit much if you ask me. the episode didnt give you any break or a few seconds to let the information sink in.

I was confused by flashbacks in flashbacks. I don't lke that type of stuff and I got feeling that they were traveling in time :/

How do you feel about the rearrangement of events after this episode?

45% are still tentative and not ready to judge the situation just yet. However, a good 37% combined are either content or are already finding they like the changes better. It seems the optimism is starting to improve overall!

Dont remember much of the order of events in this arc, as long as it all makes sense its fine. I trust Isayamas judgment

I prefer the manga’s order, but I am content, BUT I’m still waiting for more episodes to make a final judgement, BUT  I’m still very confused with where they are going with this.

I want to slap the whole WIT Studios and Yams but u know im okay for now.

Same story, different medium. Pretty neutral, happy I don’t know word for word what’s going to happen.

So I was very very nervous about the changes and pacing, but them taking the time to slow down and let the emotional weight of Historia and Erwin's backstories sink in is just what I needed to calm down a bit. I still have some preferences with the manga, but I'm sated to the point of watching and waiting without making too much of a fuss.

Some changes do make the action flow smoother, but im not happy that the studio decided to cut out Reeves-Levi wall bonding and L's squad 2.0's doubts on killing people

Rearrangement? Who cares? Erwin on graveyard was pure sex how was I supposed to thino about rearrangments???

I think the anime is doing a good job restructuring the arc, and is preserving its internal consistency quite well. But I am upset about some of the things that got removed, so I don't quite like the anime's retelling.

The rearrangement was understandable, however until I can look over the whole arc, I wouldn't be able to give a fair opinion on the execution of this season.

How do you feel about Historia’s absence when the Survey Corps proposed she needs to be queen?

As with the previous question, nearly half of voters are not yet ready to judge how the changes will affect the arc overall. 35% of you guys think it was a bad choice on WIT’s part. It’s probably safe to say we’re all on our toes wondering how WIT is going to handle this plot development as they move forward!

I hope we can still see the Levi smiling moment at the end of this arc despite the absence of these scenes.

I prefer Rod being the one to push the idea of her royalty into her, and I still think we'll get a moment regarding Levi's will to accept a different kind of hell and pushing Historia to make a choice in some other way later.

It didn't have a huge significance to the plot but it gave both Historia and Levi some good characterisation.

I feel a mixture of "I need more episodes" and "It was a poor choice".

Had to be done for an action packed start the season but I'm disappointed as it is an important scene for Levi's development

It was a poor choice that broke an important chain of events, it was Levi who had to force Historia.

Ralph called Hange a devil after they were locked up. Was this good foreshadowing to current manga events?

71% of respondents believed that this was good foreshadowing! We suppose one nice part of the anime being as behind from the manga as it is, is that we can recall these older moments that manage to have thematic relevance to current events.

I think Hange being called a devil was amazing foreshadowing, but also in a sense that, by overthrowing the current system, they are unwittingly putting themselves in the exact same position as the old government and its cronies were in with almost exactly the same problems and solutions available to them, the poor things just don't see it yet.

After this week, do you believe future episodes are now going to be more faithful to the original chapters?

50% of voters are confident that WIT is mostly headed back toward the linear timeline of the manga, with maybe small bits and pieces shuffled or omitted. 28% aren’t feeling as optimistic about it, however. But 18% are confident we’re back onto the strict manga timeline.

I'll have to wait and see all the episodes. No point trying to guess, only to be disappointed. Isayama authorised the changes, let's see what his new vision of these chapters!

I believe they will be faithful more than just "a little bit."  It seems the PV is a good indicator of that.  The Historia rising up to be queen is definitely going to be handled differently and there is no way around that.  But I'm ready, Wit!

im still trying to grasp what they trying to do of the pacing and the moments and i still hope the upcoming eps will make sense of all that cuts and flashbacks.

They'll have to do something different with Levi and Historia's 'discussion' about her becoming queen. I wonder if it will happen later, and someone else will do Reeve's line about him being a scary but good man? It would be interesting if someone like Mikasa does it.

Leaked episode titles PROVE they are gonna butcher up the cave scene

Maybe yes, maybe not. It all depends on Isayama and WIT, so let us wait for episode 41, shall we?

Which scene from the PV are you most looking forward to this week?

The largest group are most looking forward to Jean testing whether or not they can trust Marlowe and Hitch (please give us the stick WIT!). The close runner up is Levi interrogating the MP with the nice mustache and a case of foot-in-mouth. Literally.

I'm totally excited to see Marlowe and Hitch!

Central MP HQ next week?!?! Hoping for some new action scenes.

GIVE ME HITCH AND MARLO RIGHT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW

everyone in the PV is hot (yes pulverized erwin is still included)

Which group of characters are you favorite?

“All of them” wins as the good neutral vote.

I never know how to answer the which group is your favorite question because my fav is 104th + Annie (sans RB). So I'm always answering sans RBA which is unfair to Annie.

Where you do primarily discuss the series?

Additional thoughts on the episode?

A little bit better, but not enough. But overall I'm satisfied and I enjoyed it.

All in all, a very nicely done episode. I like how the story is coming together, all the different elements in the manga are there, just in a different order. I had high hopes for this season and so far I am not disappointed!

At this point I have absolutely NO clue where they are, or what's going on. The manga was less confusing for me.

Damn cockroaches, always ruining Hange's day.

Earlier I was really salty about Levi having to hold Mikasa back everytime it was mentioned that Eren was kidnapped, but later I noticed that instead of Mikasa being cool with it immediately like she was in her manga, in the anime they are slowing her development down to make it more realistic and believable(Levi had to physically restrain her the first time around, while the second time he just had to talk her down) so I still have faith it wit. I am still a little angry that the "That wasn't how I raised him." scene was cut though. It was an important Mikasa-Armin moment. But oh well! At least we got to see Jean in his glorious fedora!

Felt well-paced, I do like that they are tweeking things to make the anime feel more smooth.

Hanji looked like a snack throughout this episode shes so hot oh my god I’m so gay

Baby Erwin and Historia are wonderful, and I really like that they put two very different parent/child relationships on display here. Erwin's devotion to his father's theories, and the closeness to their relationship paralleled the neglegence Alma showed towards Historia - and in the end, the parents meet the same fate, offed by the Interior Squad."

Both Historia and Erwin's backstories needed stronger direction. Also, just a nitpick, but the soundtrack they used when Sannes told Hange "good luck" was an extremely weird choice. It was a very grim and ominous scene yet the music in the background didn't reflect that.

Pixis' lack of opposition was annoying. It seemed like he was just there so that Erwin had someone to talk about his backstory to. In the manga his red-line of no blood being spilled and his willingness to stay with the nobility if they had unknown but good reasons for their behaviour increased the stakes a lot.

I love the consistent tension buildup and the music choices that just compliment it. Sawano has been on a roll with the new tunes, and the way old ones have been used has been fantastic. Attack on D for Erwin's flashback is a choice I didn't consider, but I'll be damned if that wasn't a great call.

I just want to protect smol Historia and precious little Kidwin

Loving the development for Erwin. People need to realize that he isn't some cold hearted badass. He has feelings too ya know!

Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ll see you back on Monday!