#acwnr manga

[4sea-and-sky]

It still upsets me that anime-only fans are stuck with the OVA that did such a disservice to Erwin's character :/

Hello Lost! Do you think it was partially Erwin's fault when Levi lost Isabel and Farlan and if so whether he ever showed remorse for it? The OVA depicted Erwin's character almost as a heartless man which I don't really agree with. Just curious. Thank you in advance!

Hello Anon!  No I don’t think Erwin can be held responsible for Isabel and Farlan’s deaths.  It’s true that it’s unlikely they would have ended up joining the Survey Corps had it not been for Erwin’s plan, but there are others involved in the chain of events who carry more of the responsibility; Lobov, Levi, and arguably even Farlan himself.   Having said that, I can easily imagine that Erwin felt culpable for their deaths, despite his speech to Levi at the end of the ACWNR manga.  I think Erwin carried a huge burden of guilt for every Survey Corps death, even those he had no responsibility for, before he became Commander.

I certainly agree that the end of the ACWNR OVA does Erwin’s character a great disservice.  He comes across as callous, arrogant and indifferent, which is a travesty.  I can barely bring myself to watch it.  I much prefer the manga, which is far more in keeping with Erwin’s character.  I love his impassioned speech at the end, it makes Levi’s decision to follow him so much more believable.  As it appears in the OVA, without that speech, Levi’s decision makes very little sense.  I know everyone has their own favourite version of ACWNR, and a lot of people really rate the visual novel, which does have the famous “What a man” line, but personally I think the manga sticks much more closely to the characterization of the main manga, so I’m going to go with that version and pretend the end of the OVA doesn’t exist!

[i-am-pixxie]

Daily sketch prompt Day #2

ACWNR LEVI

Using this prompt list from the gang @ LeviWeek (X)

ありがとう💚

[aspookybunny]

On why Levi loves tea:

I’ve seen parts of this before but not all of its so,

The Underground is an incredibly dirty and inhospitable place with few resources including clean water. As the only water ever seen in the underground is literally shit brown.

Even assuming that it did just come from a sewage pipe if it’s leaking all over onto the ground and in exposed canals that are so dirty the water is nearly black,

its going to get into the water table no matter what

So not only are they living in a place filled with disease and probably terrible air quality, from exposed sewage, lack of ventilation, etc. they don’t really have fresh clean water to wash their bodies with or drink.

Therefore boiling would be the best option to kill all the germs and bacteria that would be found in even the cleanest water (because Levi would 100% trek miles for a bucket of the cleanest water the underground had to offer whenever possible)

After boiling they’d either have to wait until it cools or drink plain hot water that still tasted like essence of shit.

But a good strong black tea could do wonders to cover up the repulsive flavor, plus the caffeine helps him stay alert unlike alcoholic beverage alternatives. Coming from above ground his mom may have even introduced the concept to him.

Until he become successful with the ODM gear thefts tea would likely have also been expensive and difficult to obtain underground. Whether he used the ODM gear to steal the tea itself or money to order tea we’ll never know (personally I like to headcanon him stealing tea directly from the MPs)

But because of the scarcity of tea it was a luxury product for most of Levi’s life. So even when he made it above ground and joined the survey core drinking tea stuck with him as a habit as well as a luxury symbolizing the relative stability in his new life and all the above ground amenities he’d dreamed of for 20+ year. Sorta as a comforting “I made it” drink.

and let’s be honest growing up with those kinds of water problems he probably still doesn’t trust water and prefers it boiled and the flavor covered with black tea leaves.

[cosmicjoke]

Have you written a post comparing the no regrets visual novel and the manga? I’ve been trying to find it on your blog but I can’t. Would you be able to link me to it or reblog it again? Thank you!

I have spoken about this, yes!

I wrote a very long, chapter by chapter analysis of "No Regrets" and I compared the differences between the visual novel (which has literally the worst, most atrocious characterization for Levi imaginable) and the magna throughout.

And I also wrote a shorter post comparing the two, which you can read here:

I just think it's hilarious that people will cite the visual novel as some sort of "proof" that Levi is some revenge-obsessed, prideful asshole, treating it like it's the Bible and referencing it over the manga, but in the same breath, they'll turn around and talk about how awful Erwin's characterization in the OVA is. It really exposes their agenda, when you see that kind of blatant hypocrisy. If they're willing to entertain that Erwin's characterization in the OVA is bad, why not the same for Levi's characterization in the visual novel, which is an extremely obscure piece of media that most people have never even heard of, wasn't ever officially published or released except as some sort of bonus item on the internet in Japan, and has far less exposure, relevance or reach than either the OVA or manga? Again, it exposes their hypocrisy and agenda. They want Levi to be a bad person, and I don't know why.

It seems clear to me that whoever was in charge of the manga and the OVA made significant overhauls to Levi's characterization in both for a reason. They knew the way he was portrayed in the visual novel was way off-base and not at all consistent with Levi's characterization in the main manga as written by Isayama himself, or any other piece of media he's appeared in.

The manga is rightly viewed by most as the canon version of this story, not the visual novel or the OVA, which is rightly criticized for its characterization of Erwin. The visual novel should equally be criticized for its characterization of Levi.

[thephantomtheory]

I FINALLY GOT THE PHYSICAL COPIES OF ACWNR HEHEHEHEHEHEEEE i always put it off but i finally said fuck it bc i NEED THEM OKAY

he’s so pretty 🤭

[starlight-bread-blog]

ACWNR Erwin (Manga): No Levi! It's not your fault that your friends died! It was the titans! We don't know anything about them, things need to change. And you can help changing them! Join me!

ACWNR Erwin (Anime): Your friends died? L. Do whatever you want (join me).

[milk--lizard]

Half priced books came in hot today 🔥

[squidzillaa]

DEDICATE YOUR HEART ✊🏻🫀

An explanation of what Levi’s gesture towards Hange Really meant, and how Isayama parallels other AOT media, (ex: smartpass stories and ACWNR), to his manga. 📚🦋🪲

ACWNR chapter 5 is titled HEARTS (2013):

This is the chapter where Hange is first introduced, and talks about dedicating one’s heart:

-

Hange’s Confession to Levi (2020):

Levi’s confession to Hange (2020):

Mistranslation and Ego Surfing 🏄🏻‍♂️:

-

Smartpass story (2017):

“An unthinkable move for a soilder who publicly announced that he offers up his heart.”

“Dedicate your heart.” (2020):

Similar to Nile, Levi does an “unthinkable” move of publicly dedicating His and Hange’s heart’s together. He purposely does it wrong by putting His Left Fist (ring finger 💍) on Hange’s heart and says the famous scout motto, which was the first time he’s “ever said that.” Because Levi and Hange both 'proposed', Levi's gesture towards Hange seals their relationship. (Marriage):

🫀+🫀 Combined hearts

(Side note: SSS/DYH was the Survey Corps moto long before Erwin was ever commander, so it is not His saying. Proof: In the anime Zachary is the first to say it and it is used + talked about in ACWNR. This is information for the antis who claim that Levi used Erwin’s moto towards Hange. 🤗)

This is the one and only time he has ever said the moto, because he had found where to truly dedicate his heart:

-

This was a mutual dedication not an individual one. If it Was individual, he could have said, "Hange, dedicate your heart.” or "I dedicate my heart.” Along with the normal salute, which is your right hand on the heart. Instead he (metaphorically) combines their hearts, and they actually become LeviHan:

-

Just like ACWNR chapter 5 title ⬆️, •••HEARTS••• is placed Right above Hange, who is CENTERED in the middle of Erwin, Petra, and Moblit. She is placed paralleled to Levi, mirroring his same expression, while the rest are neutral:

-

Levi now lives alongside Onyankopon, Gabi, Falco, and Yelena. They advocate for peace and fulfill Hange’s legacy. One of her main goals was to understand the “enemy”, live with and show them that they aren’t the vicious “devils” they fear them to be. To unite as one, so there’s no more war, discrimination, revenge, and hate. For mankind is made equal. 🌏

Levi watches the plane (Hange) that flys above them. As he faces his right side, his blind eye is opened and in view, so his other half (Hange) can watch the world through. Levi is living half for himself and half for Hange. Double symbolism. 🔀🧬🪢💞😎

[lostcauses-noregrets]

One thing ACWNR anime did better than the manga is Erwin's "I need him" face when seeing Levi for the first time.

You mean this face? Honestly iconic. The fandom did a re-draw challenge of this cap sometime ago and it was glorious.

This precise scene doesn't appear in the manga (I think???) but this one does and it's equally magnificent.

[i-am-pixxie]

My photophobia is really bad atm, so whatever time my eyes stay open for is spent on paid word, so no daily sketches lately, sorry fam.

But, just in case you missed it... My Levi prompts from Feb! Enjoy (again, probably)!

[starshower1215]

Thoughts on Levi's First Impression of Hange

During a writing session, I went back and referenced Bad Boy, the manga detailing the awakening of Levi's Ackerman powers, and noticed some differences in the way the characters dressed.

The reader sees Levi in fairly simple clothing. A dark cardigan thrown over a tattered, oversized shirt bound at the waist, dark trousers. The men attacking him are in a similar state of dress, one that holds resemblance of the way Eren dresses, as seen here:

So it can be supposed that this would simply be the way that people of lower or middle class dress. However, there's one man in Levi's group of attackers who remains in the back, and doesn't lay a single hand on Levi. Though we don't have a full view of him, it becomes quickly clear that he's of a higher class, given his cigarette, his waistcoat, the collared shirt (see the second following panel). He looks to be the person buying from these men.

It was the fact that he had glasses which caught my attention. This man is set apart from the beginning as a "foreigner," most prominently when he specified that Levi is an illegitimate child from the Underground. He's a foreigner to the Underground, and therefore, a foreigner to Levi. The way he treats Levi here emphasizes the chasm between their two worlds. Glasses also seem to be a general sign of intelligence, or more accurately, of education, which is mainly accessible by the rich. Not even Armin, who shows high levels of intelligence, wears glasses, and this could correlate to the fact that he's not only from Wall Maria, but from one of the towns jutting out of the wall, acting as bait for the titans. This is more clear in that scene of ACWNR where Isabel is shown to be able to add, just very slowly, but I digress.

So, in the introductory scene between Levi and Hange, Hange is automatically a puzzling character. The contrast of their cheerfulness with the tense mood of the scene, the various portrayals of their glasses whited out...

That first panel of them, with the angle from below, maybe Levi's first person perspective. They are basically a different specimen, lol. We saw in Bad Boy how the man in glasses tried to gaslight Levi into believing he was a good man, who tried to help Levi, so the wariness written all over his face is well founded upon seeing this glasses person showing up unexpectedly.

On top of their general kindness (as Levi had really only received offhanded remarks on his upbringing from the Survey Corps so far), they are also, from his perspective, the first "upper class" person to have treated him with so much respect. Not only this, but they're treating his friends kindly, they're in the Survey Corps willingly as a supposed upper class citizen, and they're complimenting him. The initial distrust on Isabel and Furlan's faces is clear, but even they show some surprise when Hange recalls their names, indicating that this is really unusual behavior for someone to pay attention to them this way. With respect? And grace? With humanity? Truly unheard of.

So in conclusion, Hange really is an abnormal in his perspective, aren't they? Of course, they had just heard him discussing his murder plans with Isabel and Furlan, but don't rain on my parade, it's fun to think.

[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

i had a dream out of nowhere about underground levi and it's sad af :')

Purpose | Canonverse Angst Oneshot

✧ word count ➼ 1.6k ✧ notes ➼ canonverse, angst but at least it's not too sad of an ending, surprisingly not an x reader lmao, levi is maybe like early-20's in this, kinda canon divergent i guess because i don't remember if manga ACWNR detailed how he met the trio, blood, references to bad boy, this is the first thing i've written in months oops ✧ warnings: blood, canonverse-typical violence, references to bad boy but no explicit mentions of anything other than the teacup and his awakening, some descriptions that align with depression

Life in the Underground was hell. You were constantly fighting for survival, there was the stench of rot and decay in the air, and any sense of ethics was abandoned for the sake of just trying to survive the day. Even a basic necessity such as sleep was a luxury that Levi couldn't afford.

The only advantage that Levi had was his strength. He didn't know where it came from or why, just that it kicked in every time he was in a life or death situation. That, and also the fact that Kenny just happened to leave immediately after he had unlocked it. The only thing that this strength seemed to have given him was misery and abandonment, and an inability to die. He didn't know why he had it or what the purpose of it was other than basic survival, which seemed to be his only purpose right now. It felt like an empty one, and one that didn't have a conclusion to be fulfilled. What was he surviving for?

Levi currently found himself hiding in an alleyway, having barely evaded a group of thugs that he had stolen food from. There were more of them than he thought, with some of them having caught up to him when he was first trying to escape.

He knew that he could fight and defeat those thugs, although his fights generally ended with bloodshed. Levi really hated killing and this life of violence, but found himself dragged into it constantly. The death around him was filthy and just generally wasn't something he liked to participate in unless he's had to. Unfortunately, he's found himself having to more times than not.

The thugs that had originally found him were a bit harder to fight off, and Levi currently found himself cut up and bruised. His abilities had helped him avoid any fatal attacks, with his body just moving on its own, but he couldn't deny that a significant part of him lacked the motivation to continue moving forward. If it wasn't for his abilities, he probably would have succumbed to his injuries already.

He was tired and hadn't eaten properly in days, being dehydrated and generally exhausted. His powers and instincts were the only things keeping him alive, and he found himself on the verge of just giving up.

Levi leaned against the wall in exhaustion, briefly shutting his eyes. They immediately shot back open when he heard a familiar voice that wasn't actually there.

"This is pathetic."

Levi clenched his jaw upon hearing the voice of the man that had both saved and forsaken him.

"What the hell did I save you for if you were just going to roll over and die once you were grown?"

Kenny wasn't actually there. Levi knew that, yet the comment still seemed to gnaw away at him.

Why did Kenny save him? All those years ago, Kenny came in and saved him, fed him, and then left him shortly after. As unfortunate as it was, Kenny was the only thing he had that was somewhat like a family ever since his mother passed away, and Kenny could barely count as family.

The one light of his life from back then was indeed his mother. Yet, he hadn't been back to her room ever since he had broken that one teacup that seemed to send the world crashing down on him. It was a painful memory to relive, and one that he had avoided for years.

Levi looked up towards the top of the cavern that served as a "sky" for the Underground, his eyes falling back down onto the brothel that his mother used to work at, and where he used to live before she died. It wasn't too far.

He wasn't sure why he wanted to go back. The last time he was there, he had lost the last physical thing that served as a memory of her. Yet, he still found himself dragging his exhausted and injured body towards it.

The back entrance that he used to crawl through as a kid was much easier to get through back then, although he hadn't actually grown that much in terms of height.

The room was still unoccupied. The door creaked as he slowly opened it, noting that it was on the verge of falling off the hinges. The bed still had an indent from where his mother layed before she passed.

Levi stepped inside, and found himself batting away at the dust that seemed to be floating still in the air. He looked over to the side and saw the closet where he had used to hide in whenever his mother had a customer. It was still cracked open. He remembered it smelling like rotten wood. He could imagine it still smelling like that now.

He slowly stepped through the room, brief memories of his time here occasionally popping up in the back of his head. His eyes eventually fell upon the balcony, where he saw that the shards from that one teacup that he had broken all those years ago were still there.

He remembered building up a dam that contained his grief and misery back then, and how it had all come crashing down the minute that teacup shattered. To anyone else, it was just a cheap piece of porcelain that was easily replaced. For him, it was the last thing that held him together, forcing him to feel his grief once it finally broke apart.

It was over a decade since then, and the grief still hurt now that he was back.

His eyebrows scrunching together into a frown, Levi slowly bent over and picked up the broken pieces, neatly piling it back onto the table. His nose raised up in disgust upon seeing the dust on his hands afterwards.

Life in this rotten shithole really was the definition of misery.

Back then, he was too young to really process just how shitty the Underground was. He just remembered his mom, and although life was still generally miserable, those brief moments of respite with her—even something as simple as sipping on some tea on their small balcony—made it bearable. Now that he was alone, he was finding himself struggling to find a purpose.

Although he was lost in his head for some time, his attention immediately snapped back into the presence upon hearing a commotion below. Levi looked towards the ground level and saw a young girl on the run from a group of thugs. She had stolen something and there were now a group of thugs chasing after her. It reminded him of the group that had almost beaten him within an inch of his life right before his abilities activated.

He shouldn't have cared. No one cared enough to intervene back then. The only person that claimed to have "saved" him was pulling shit out of their ass in an attempt to save themselves.

Yet, something didn't sit right with him about just watching that little girl get chased down. She was losing speed, looked exhausted, and the thugs chasing after her were the type where death seemed much more merciful than getting captured alive.

Levi knew he was in no physical shape to fight or intervene, but he found himself vaulting over the edge of the balcony, reacting based off instinct. Except this time, there was something other than survival driving his senses. He had to save this child from meeting that fate. He'd deal with everything else after.

The thugs were caught off-guard by the presence of another throwing themselves into the middle of the fight. There were half a dozen of them and Levi was relatively small as a person, so their surprise didn't last very long.

Yet, not a single hit landed. Levi was dodging every punch and tackle. Compared to the thugs that he had been dealing with, this group was a piece of cake. On top of that, Levi felt like he had more drive, and that the sluggishness that came from his lack of motivation didn't seem to be there anymore.

It was only a matter of time before he took the half a dozen thugs down. He was covered in blood that wasn't his own, and it felt gross like always. However, he couldn't be bothered with that right now. The only thing on his mind was checking on that one girl who was now hiding around the corner.

She had red ponytails that were starting to come undone from the scuffle. She was definitely still a young child, having barely reached her pre-teens. She was thin, clearly malnourished, and had ragged clothes that indicated that she had been living on the streets for quite some time.

Levi knew that the life she lived was not rare. In fact, it was the same one that he had lived, except this girl likely did not have the same abilities that he did.

He hated those abilities for a long time, with them bringing him nothing but misery and abandonment, death and destruction. Yet, a thought in the back of his head began to form, one that told him that those same abilities could be used for something other than senseless violence in the name of his own survival. He could use his strength to protect kids like her from having the same fate that he would have had if his powers had not kicked in back then, and if he fell into the hands of those smugglers.

He could use his strength to protect, and find a purpose other than surviving for what seemed like a meaningless existence.

Living in the Underground was hell—but protecting this child, and the other children, elderly, and poor that could not afford to protect themselves, gave him just enough purpose to continue moving forward.

# (i know it's been a minute so pls lmk if you wanna be removed): @chaotic-on-main @levisbrat25 @leviismybby @moonmalice @averysmolbear @cathybarn @tclbts @bejewelledd @sad-darksoul @ackermendick @aomi04 @apolloshaiku @laraackerman @pulpolicia @raenacreates @nube55 @roseofdarknessblog @noctemys @sixpennydame @dumbdollyx @heichoucleanfreak @catskze @nixie-writes-aot @la-undercover-latina @v4mp-wife @darkstarlight82 @professorweezy @braunsbabe @lovedbylevi @issacovegx @captainleviswifee @mrsmiagreer @youre-ackermine @starrylevi @levilxvr @ackrmntea @levis-squishy-cheeks @evas-leslas @mrsmiagreer @mikko-lyn join my taglist!

[bittergirlsworld]

levi and hange is the trickest relationship on aot fandom to speak about it because it's not as distant as people make it sound, but it's not as deep either. they don't have a deep connection canonically and levi is not interested on it, canonically. he does respects them and stand by their side and they share that heartfelt moment before their suicidal charge but the forest scene solidified how disconnected they are. hange is talking all that because they think they're talking alone and it's very intimate the things they reveal only for levi not only admit that he listened all of it but he also dismiss and ignore even though hange just saved his life. he downright asks about zeke. his mind was focused on this. this, with the canon manga interactions ACWNR included and Isayama's interviews on levihan (which I can only recall two, none of it very positive, one of them calling their friendship one sided) its evidence enough that nothing could come out of that but a sense of respect and comraderie.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Yeah it's late, and I should be sleeping, but can I just re-read A Choice With No Regrets-

[youre-ackermine]

4 new Levi acrylic stands received today 🥰 The others are delayed 😭

& I finally bought ACWNR French Édition Colossale at my local manga store!!!

I'll really need another shelf soon to display the whole collection properly because it's becoming a f*cking mess lmao

<><><><><>

[the way the French edition's title is in English ("Birth of Livaï" lol) but not the same as the English/US edition is so ridiculous ; ironically enough the publisher might regret their choice]

[cosmicjoke]

hi this is the same anon about the acwnr ask! im glad i decided to resend the ask because i loved your insight and it made a lot of sense to me! so, thank you for answering <3 i also have another question, which i think you may have answered before in the past, but im not entirely sure so i apologize if you've answered this already. i saw a few asks you answered recently about erwin's role in acwnr and it really opened my eyes more to erwin as a character and his mindset. i also reread the manga recently and i remembered how differently erwin's speech at the end was handle in the anime and i wanted to know which you prefer/seems more like erwin. im not sure if isayama wrote acwnr or not so im not entirely sure which accurately depicts erwin during that moment.

No worries! I'm glad to answer any questions you might have!

The general consensus seems to be that Erwin's speech in the manga is the one that hues closest to Erwin's actual character. A lot of people criticize the OVA for making Erwin colder than he is in the manga, either the main one or the "No Regrets" one. Isayama didn't write "No Regrets", but I suspect he had input on the graphic novel, because Levi's characterization in particular is much better than it was in the visual novel that the manga was initially based on. Isayama also conducted an interview with the artist on the manga, which is included in the back of the collected edition of it. I really like the OVA, despite some people bad-mouthing it, lol. I thought it was really well done, and I really liked some of the additional scenes, like the one of Levi telling Furlan and Isabel that they aren't going on the first mission outside the walls and he grows visibly upset and frustrated when they fight him on it. That's very in character for Levi, to try and protect them as best he can. Most of the criticism seems to come from it's characterization of Erwin and from them having to cut several scenes due to probably time and budget constraints. Otherwise I think it's very well done, but Erwin definitely comes across much meaner and cold hearted in the OVA than he normally would. In certain scenes, he's downright dismissive toward Levi and seemingly not very sympathetic to his pain. I think in the manga, at the beginning, Erwin came across that way, but as the story progressed, he slowly became less cold toward Levi. So when discussing "No Regrets" in relation to actual canon, I always refer to the manga and nothing else.

I wrote a super long chapter by chapter analysis of "No Regrets", if you're interested in a more in depth examination of it, which you can read here: