#they changed the ending and some of the manga panels of aot

[exo-raskreia]

hey.... i wanna know your honest Thoughts on the jjk ending? Give a rating out 10. Honestly i'm ranting. I mean the good things in the chapter were sukuna's conclusion, the flashback with gojo , queen utahime being alive yay and the nice art with everyone at the end. Usually i would wait for a story to finish before ranting/judging but my god this kinda sucked. I don't want to be too critical but god I am just disappointed and kinda mad. Overall it is an okay/mid manga ;). Gege is not worst writer but ughh. Aot or mha sure they have their flaws but my god..These should never be compared to THIS. so now we could really say that gojo stayed south. With the full chapter, this does not change my opinion cause it still kinda sucks overall even with the whole north vs south meaning. Nothing really changed in the society or lessons maybe except for yuji and sukuna. The kiddos all really went back to missions huh after everything. I have alot to say with relationships and bonds, wasted potential on many aspects but that is a whole other discussion. i totally understand we can't write a backstory for every single character but that is not what i am insinuating here and yes there should be room for a little literary interpretation . That a whole different topic... Anyways I agree with alot your rants. i would like to hear your opinions. In the end we never got to see a gjhm flashback unfortunately. Ok so let say gojo is dead dead I find it hard to believe no was like remembering or acknowledging not even his comrades ( examples shoko, utahime etc_ or the students (i mean i am pretty sure these characters would but i would like to SEE it you know) and so many hints were gearing for gojo's revival but it is meaningless... and was used for pr ngl that's sad. Maybe the anime would do better at some aspects but i will be salty anyways. i will see uta's dance ;) animated so that i looking forward to and ig the maki's massacre. it looks like it's open ending but really!? They are some loop holes but HEY FEAR not we will probably see answers to our questions in the q&a segment! sigh. I lowkey do not want a "jjk part 2" it is draining. Gege when i catch you. I think gege intended this story to be short oh well. I have alot to say but this gonna be a novel lol. Sorry for errors i was in a moment and i hoped you understood what i wanted to say. Hope the gojohime fandom would not die and looking forward to see some nice content.

Thankyou

I already went on a mini rant here. If I have to rate the ending, I'd say maybe 2-4 out of 10?

JJK really did turn out kinda mid. It has an easy anime to get into (the anime carries it mostly 🫣), to recommend for newbies, but that ending will make one hesitate to recommend it now. Maybe wouldn't even bother to.

I'm also disappointed & mad. I don't even wanna consider that Gojo is fully dead (cuz Gege went about it so terribly). Gege skipped Gojo's whole month after his unsealing then killed him off-panel a few chapters later. The north & south thing was pointless. We didn't even get to see Gojo make a choice. There were so many hints about his potential revival but they amounted to nothing.

Summed up in this image:

This Tweet sums up the terrible mishandling of Gojo's character too 😡. This other short thread pretty much says that his "death" didn't make sense for Gojo either; accepting to stay at the airport is him regressing to his teen self. It doesn't properly conclude Gojo's character arc at all. He was meant to MOVE ON from the loss of his "springtime of youth" & continue to strive for a better future with his comrades & students; the future that HE DREAMED OF 😤 (oof, don't wanna rant further on Gojo; don't wanna make this longer 😅).

Honestly, the fan theories made the story seem much better than it actually was. At least with this ending, people can finally start seeing & admitting that Gege isn't a great writer. I've certainly never thought he was 😒; I once went on a rant here about most issues with this manga, one of them being how terribly fast-paced it is. This story is the definition of wasted potential. So many missed opportunities.

Whatever Gege comes up with for the databook, it'll be infuriating. He'll try to fill in the plot holes but man, I don't think it'll be satisfying. He might not even answer the burning questions everyone has (just like Kub0 never answered everyone's burning questions about the Bl3ach ED, or more like, no one dared to ask. Maybe he himself didn't allow those questions for his interviews 😒). Hope ppl don't give him any more money, especially cuz he's still milking Gojo, such as with that Hidden Inventory movie no one asked for.

I kinda wanted a Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ending (lol) & then on to the supposed JJK part 2, esp cuz of this sketch here but Gege fumbled hard.

Wonder if Mappa could deliver but we'll see. I only care about GojoHime's 200% Hollow Purple now. Gege made me lose most interest I had for other things getting animated. Just thinking about that ending will mostly ruin my experience... 😞

I also hope the GojoHime fandom continues to thrive. We've always lived off of crumbs... Hope ppl continue to make headcanons, fanfics, fanart, etc... I wouldn't want ppl to leave such a beautiful ship with so much potential 🥺 (I've been thru this type of thing before with Bl3ach, so despite the disappointment, I've stuck around in my ship fandoms only. I don't engage with anything else in that series. Another beloved series of mine also ended terribly but unfortunately, the fandom kinda faded or became inactive cuz it's a manhwa 🥺; if it at least had a proper anime adaptation, then...).

Let's stay strong, GojoHime fam! 🥹❤️‍🩹

[nanamis-baker]

ᯓ★ tasha

now that jjk has ended, what do you think of it? ><

Hello Ray! 🌷

I'm gonna go off because my thoughts are pretty mixed 🥲 Spoilers below the cut!

Obviously, I loved jjk and still do. Gege created one of the most beautifully complex characters in his story with a compelling storyline that kept me at the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. Like at one moment I would be like "nah gege won't do that it's too risky" but in the next chapter he would prove me wrong and do the exact same thing. And this is something I really appreciate - when authors take risk in their writing.

Given all this, one would expect better from the ending right? I think I see the vision Gege had. A lot of people compared it with AoT ending (including me) before the pages with Sukuna's conversation with Mahito came out. But here's the thing, Sukuna says that he will take a different path, try to do things differently and that makes it so much different from AoT's ending? It doesn't show that whatever happened in jjk is an endless cycle, but more like completing a full cycle and going back where it started, but this time things will be different?

Like in the first chapter, we see Sukuna's finger all bound in those seals because it was such an ominous and potent object, but at the end it's just there in the open with no seal or anything and it just shows that it's not that big of a threat anymore yk? But this is just my perception.

Now this being said, I think the ending is really incomplete and a lot of things could be done better.

Firstly the character development. Yuji had the most character development and so did gojo, but since Megumi and Nobara were such an important part of the story I feel like their development wasn't shown. And yes I know it all happens under 3-4 months but look at how much Yuji has changed. I don't think it's wrong to expect it from Megumi or Nobara. Don't get me wrong, I love these two people, but something didn't sit right with me when it comes to their ending or character development. Honestly just one panel of Nobara saying yes to Yuji when he asks her to watch earthworm man 5 would have made a good impact.

And then Megumi. Man I expected him to acknowledge Gojo. That man literally raised him? And also more reaction for his sister's death besides just visiting her grave. I don't know, Megumi ended right where he started and while he is one of my faves, I don't think there was much character development in his case yk?

And I am happy with Yuji's ending. I don't think I have anything to say there ahaha

I think my biggest complaint from the ending, aside from Gojo's treatment, is that there was no solution for curses. Geto left the jujutsu society and turned into a curse user because he wanted to get rid of curses. Gojo never wanted to steal youth from children, and tried to make sure everyone loved their youth and was not burdened by the responsibilities of being a sorcerer. But in the end, we see the trio take on a mission. So ultimately, all those 271 chapters + jjk0 resulted in the death of the king of curses which didn't even get rid of curses. That's the net change we had from chapter 1 to this. And ofc losing some beloved characters. We don't see how Sukuna's death affected the curses, aside from Mahito. Did they get weak or something? We don't know. From what I understood, Sukuna was a part of the problem but not the problem itself. I hope this made sense.

I am not a Sukuna fan, but his ending was really well done. I think a little info about the person who was standing behind Sukuna towards the left would have made his ending perfect, but it's gege holding the pen.

Oh and Gojo. The character he is, the connect we had with him aaahhh sometimes I cant believe he is fictional because I just feel so much for him😭 and i absolutely HATED how gege treated him. Like he made your manga this popular, let's be real. That's why he was used so much in the marketing of last few chapters else who will read it? If you see the posts by official accounts and official art released in the past couple of months, almost all had gojo and they were some important panels.

Without gojo, most people wouldn't have survived Shibuya (I am looking at you kasukabe (?) it should have been you instead of Nanami) yet somehow gojo was the one to blame for everything. We did not get any kind of acknowledgement from any characters except Yuji, and kinda Yuta. It made me hate everyone like wtff??

Anyways, I found this twitter and it makes so much sense? Because at times it did feel like gege isn't happy with his manga. Maybe he wanted to do something different but because what he wanted to make was not what people wanted to read, he was forced to change things up a little and create this. Even after all this, gege did cook. If we remove the takaba part - which is funny but idk I am not a big fan of that part - I think the manga was pretty good up until the last 3 chapters. And (again, just what I think) gege has been kinda sick this year a lot. Maybe the rushed ending had something to do with it because I kinda see the vision, and if it was properly executed it could have been really satisfying.

Yeah I know I went on, and there still so much I wanna add 😭 but I'll leave it here. These are just my views and I am not even sure if this answers your question aaaahhh. But I wish you a great day and would love to know your thoughts on the ending! ✨

[seraphdreams]

Anr?

i think it stands for AOT No Requiem, which it’s basically a fan made manga of aot but um…its very dudebro

[laurenlimah]

Attack On Titan Demands an Eternal Mystery

A take on AOT's major problem for me.

One major doubt Attack on Titan faced was it not being able to maintain itself without a major mystery, especially considering that more than half of the story was surrounded by the question “what's beyond the walls?”. Before the basement reveal at chapter 86, the majority of the plot revolved around the doubts regarding the titans; and it worked. It's undeniable that Isayama knew how to keep the audience engaged as well as entertained about knowing more and more regarding the overall lore, resulting in epic reveals and moments through the story. The manga was set by this tone of unending questions until the basement reveal: which changed AOT’s world upside down, meaning that the whole narrative would also have to adapt itself to the new era. And with that came the question: what comes after the mystery?  

After the RTS Arc came the Marley Arc, and with it a more mature writing in the way that presents a new perspective on the Marley-Eldia situation by putting the readers onto the warriors shoes. It also showed a character depth for Reiner only similar to Eren’s in terms of development and complexity. As this Arc unfolded, the doubts that Isayama would be able to keep up the quality of the manga without a major mystery was put aside, considering the great quality he was delivering. But, as the final chapters approached and few mysteries were left to be solved, problems with the writing and its inconsistency popped up. The reasons for that downfall could be endless, but one motive was predominant: there was no mystery anymore.

Note that maintaining suspense is crucial for a story, and knowing how and when to tell a specific information is just as important as creating it, but there's a difference between having a suspense narrative (AOT's case) and hiding information for more impactful reveals. AOT is a *suspense* manga heavily revolved into mysteries, and suspense stories need a conclusion aside from the reveals.

A quick recap on how AOT much depended on mystery for it to work:

Up until chapter 86 (basement reveal) = What are titans? What's outside? etc.

Marley Arc = where's the SC (Survey Corps)? Where's Eren? Where's all the public's favourites? What did the SC do in these 4 years of time skip?

First half of the Final Arc = what are Eren's intentions? What are Zeke's intentions? Why is Eren acting so different?

Second half of the Final Arc = What's Eren from as a titan? Is he for real when destroying the world?

Note: even during the biggest reveal dump of the story, the basement reveal, branches of questions were still opened such as "who's Ymir?", which lasted until chapter 122.

So, the ending came. It's natural for a conclusion to resolve everything, right? And the final chapter kinda does it, even with all its problems the major questions are solved; but even then some minor doubts were still there. How did Mikasa manage to get to Paradis without being seen after she left with Eren's head towards the literal flattened world? This could be cherry picking and Isayama's poetic licence is still a thing. But even putting that aside, after the final chapter the manga received an epilogue when the final volume was released, and with it more and more questions.

And again, we finish the entire manga with more enigmatic panels of Paradis being destroyed and a huge cliffhanger, indicating that the titans' powers are still alive and waiting for a new host. Aside from the writing problems of what's the overall message being brought and the thematic conclusion Isayama wanted to make with the epilogue, the suspense just never seems to end. And, as it is presented, I consider this to be a problem that hugly damages the ending, plus other elements that require more depth into them.

[scarareg]

For the AoT ask game:

1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, 27, 35 and 40!

1-What was your first impression of the show?

This is funny because I remember starting episode one and something interrupted me so I could not even finish the first scene. Later I tried again and the same happened! Can you believe it?

The third try is when I finally watch it and I remember thinking "We're about to experience a once-in-a-lifetime story, aren't we?" and it was! It was so well written and shocking and the animation was gorgeous,in particular I loved the eyes and the landscapes!!!

The rest is history. I also started the manga as soon as season one finished. Seeing that titan in the wall was shocking and I wanted more of Eren and the gang!

2-What did you think was in the basement?

I didn't have idea! I was like "I'm just here for the ride" but because I thought that there were humans behind the titans (because of Annie),maybe a villain organization or something similar and that they created and/or controlled the titans,so in the basement Grisha would spill the beans,that maybe he worked for them but no longer wanted and was trying to stop them and that's why he made Eren a titan holder and he would tell us some of the members of this organization (not everyone because that would be boring,we need mistery) including who are the Armored and Colossal titans

Kinda a good guess it seems ,but way out of base at the same time

7-Favorite season?

Final season part 2. I love how far out babies have come,especially Gabi. The Rumbling and the plot twist are the best so far and MAPPA has done an incredible job and I am so grateful with them for that!

9-Do you own any AOT Merch?

Yes! The Survey Corps cape,the manga 2nd & 3rd volumes I guess and a Survey Corps necklace. I want the nendoroids of everyone and Eren's key

11-In your opinion, who had the greatest glow up?

This one is hard because everyone look like models! maybe is bias but I pick Eren. He has always been so good looking and his eyes are WFDGSGDVFEGVFG but now his long hair is the cherry on the cake!

If not him, Mikasa! she is so damn pretty!

13-One thing you’d change about the story?

The only thing would be to see more of the War Hammer titan. It has such an incredible design and ability that is kinda sad that Eren did nothing with it.

18-Favorite op?

Jiyuu No Tsubasa,op 2! The animation is gorgeous ,love how the credits move along the 3d maneuver gear ,the foreshadowing to Annie,Reiner and Bert,and the song is great af,lift my spirit!

20-What was the hardest death for you?

Between Sasha and Hange,I cried hard af with both,like if a real life friend died. When the episode of Sasha's death was going to premier,I stood in front of the mirror like Eren and said " you are not going to cry again" and then I proceeded to cry XD

27-Who would you hate irl?

The obvious answer,Floch. Fuck that guy! The not-so-obvious answer is Annie and Eren,him specifically in his hobo era. I would not hate them but I think they would seem pretty unnaprochable and intimidating

35-Is there a character you really see yourself in? Why?

Maybe you would not like the answer but Armin! my soulmate. Maybe because I grew up with him, he has influenced my personality a lot, like being a pacifist, always trying to be empathetic and seeing all sides of an argument/problem, valuing intelligence. We are both underestimated by our appearance and we both make plans to get what we want.

40-How did you originally think the show would end?

Because I thought there was a villian organization,I thought they would defeat them and kill all the titans. I had a scene in my mind,now in retrospect it sounds very naive,but I imagined that the last panel would be Eren and Armin (and maybe Mikasa) finally in peace,in front of the ocean resting and happy *cries*

Thank you very much my dear! Was really,really fun to recall things of ten years ago!💕

[onigiri-dorkk]

How much do you think will change from the manga ending? Mikasa's (assumed) husband not having Jeans hair color? Historia's daughter have emerald green eyes like Eren? Eren killing and injuring Mikasa to which Armin punches him in the face while Eren mockingly pretends he doesn't want her with another man?

GYAHHHH why are you anon I want to talk to you about AOE!!! LOL

AOE is always tough for me to talk about publicly because again, there are certain scenes and moments for RM that my soul needs to see animated. This ship, for me, was built and solidified on the fact that both Levi and Mikasa survive and live a peaceful life after!! So if AOE happens, especially the way ANR predicts, that all kinda gets wiped away. So with that, I want to be clear that I don't wish for it, but I am highly convinced that it's... probable. I'm fascinated by how much foreshadow and hinting there potentially is set up throughout the entire decade of AOT.

It's honestly hard to say what exactly might happen in an AOE, but I think the big points of the ANR theories is that anime-Eren will be revealed to be aware of his memories of manga-Eren and how that timeline ended, which is pushing anime-Eren to make the anime timeline end differently -- this is believed to be a full-scale rumbling in which Eren/Paradis wins. Maybe I'll write in bulletpoints:

100% Rumbling instead of 80%

Eren lives instead of killed

Eren kills Mikasa instead of Mikasa killing Eren

Paradis Island is abandoned (they leave to occupy the world) instead of Paradis Island destroyed

Alliance (besides Armin) dies instead of Alliance lives

Eren sacrificing friends instead of sacrificing himself to make them heroes as he said

Eren being willing to sacrifice

...We might not even reach a 'Mikasa husband' scene tbh if she gets killed in the rumbling

.......Reiner not being a creep instead of sniffing Hisu's letter..... pls

Eren not being a whiny jealous lil bish

That's just some stuff I think that could actually potentially happen, but hey, let's brighten things up and think about what my happy ideal changes could be made (let's veer away from the morbid stuff LOL) and I like some of what you said!!! Historia's child with freakin GREEN EYES!!!!! The panel people assume to be Grisha/baby Eren "You are free" scene ending up being Eren/baby!!!! Or if Mikasa and gang lives??? YES give that Mikasa-husbando freakin black hair and an undercut PLS LOL.

Anyway, I'm delulu WHO FREAKING KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN

And if we get the regular manga ending, I'll be selfishly happy to get my fave scenes even if it means the story truly is butchered. We'll get 'Stay with me' and 'Got it... Mikasa.' We'll get Levi and Mikasa living happy life after war, readying to reunite again. We'll get the epic Levi + Scouts ghosts salute scene, crying and smiling Levi. ;-; We'll get wheelchair Levi living in London and drinking the best tea ever. pls

[aspxnvii]

Attack on Titan MAJOR Manga Spoilers (Chp. 139)

- -

As an AoT fan of over 9 years, I have sat and processed the final chapter for almost a year now, and this is how I perceived the ending (Chp. 139).

Updated;; 10/01/22

- -

Eren did NOT activate the Rumbling for vengeance or revenge (obviously).

Eren had no choice but to commit the act of the Rumbling, even though he knew the Rumbling was wrong (as we saw him explaining to Armin in Chp 139, and when he expresses his hesitation abt it in panels while the scouts were in Marley in flashback panels). He knew that by pushing his friends away, committing such an abysmal act —The Rumbling, and actively attacking his friends, Mikasa would realize that there is no redemption for this, there will be no “let’s talk to Eren about this”. Coming to the realization that she has to be the one to end it- to kill Eren (Eren, learning that Mikasa is the answer to ending the curse, as he also explained to Armin in the paths. This is my guess, but Eren does mention in Chp 139 that "The possession of the Founder's power has made it so that there is no past or future, it all exists at once."

So I'm unsure if Eren 100% knew Mikasa would be the one to kill him. I need to explore that thought more. Because a few pages later, Eren mentions that "Even If I didn't know that you'd stop me in the end, I think I still would have flattened this world." to Armin),

Eren sacrificed himself to obtain freedom for his friends and their futures, ending the curse of Ymir. Pinning his friends as heroes of humanity and to the world.

The curse of Ymir, being her traumatically tied to her abusive "lover" and dedicating her life and all her efforts to the original King Fritz, thus serving the royal bloodline. Mikasa was, of course, tied to Eren (by love). By killing her love and separating herself from him, Ymir is moved by Mikasa's resolve and is able to free herself from her 2,000-year-long slavery.

By ending the curse, the reign of titans ends as well, since Ymir is no longer there to abide by the king's will, and won't be producing any more titans.

--

This leads me to the final page. A boy finds Eren’s grave tree (?)/a tree that looks similar to the one Ymir found. I believe Isayama is trying to convey the cycle of hatred in the human race through this panel, and how history is unfortunately bound to repeat itself (as we all saw through Paradis being bombed long after the Rumbling). No words, only visuals that inspire dread, fear of the unknown and acceptance that certain things just cannot change, that no matter how big the stone you throw is, the flow of the river cannot be changed forever. I really can't imagine a more fitting image to end AOT on.

I had no idea how Attack on Titan was going to end. Isayama really had his work cut out for him, as bringing this epic tale to a conclusion is quite a feat. After following this story for 9 years, the story absolutrly had a satisfying conclusion to me.

I always had a thought in the back of my head that Mikasa was going to have a certain, significant role in the story at some point (not that she doesn’t throughout the story, but yeah).

*gif of Milo from Atlantis shouting: “hAve i left anYTHING oUT?”*

I will write a thorough paper about my thoughts on the ending, complaints, things I am heartbroken over, things I loved, things i wish Isayama explored more, rating the arcs and etc, but this is just a short post of me getting my thoughts together.

[aengelren]

1,5,6,7,8,11,12,13,15,16,17,20,22,25,26,27,28,30,31,34,35,36,37,50

Smash or pass mike or nicoolo

♡ Thank you for this ask (im late as ever)

Note: I will make a more detailed post about my thoughts on 139 and the ending and esp Eren. But I lightly touched on it below

Smash niccolo

What was your first impression of the show?

I was shocked, did not expect such a perfect first episode. unlike many i know, i got attached immediately. Like i imagines the pain of seeing my mom be in a such a situation and how i would feel so helpless. unlike Eren, i wouldn't be able to go on

Who was your favorite character originally? Did it change?

it was Eren, it's still Eren. I used to be much more attached to Mikasa than what i am now though

Who was your least favorite character initially? Did it change?

Annie, Zeke and Bertholdt. Changed my mind on Zeke heavily and now i love Bert. Still don’t like Annie. Don’t like pieck either

Favorite season?

Can’t choose, love them all but s1 always has a special place in my heart. S3 part 2 was seriously the best experience I’ve had with fiction along with declaration of war in s4 part 1 PLUS!! S4 part 2 Eren plottwist and the “two brothers” episode

Favorite episode?

Can’t choose i have too many

In your opinion, who had the greatest glow up?

Him but he’s always been beautiful. But Eren has always been pretty. Can’t say the same about Armin and Jean so them too ig

Worst glow up?

No one (maybe someone but I won’t say it hehe, it’s a guy)

One thing you’d change about the story?

Story is actually perfect and I’ll never consume anything close to it. I’d want to see more Eren pov & more of the Jaeger household when they took Mikasa in. Like when she told Eren about the scar etc

Controversial opinion?

Eren rawdogs every Aot character in terms of everything (shouldn’t be controversial but Aot fans are<)

Would you go to the AOT world? What would your role be?

I would say yes but then immediately regret it lol. My role would probably serve as fodder or clinging onto someones hip

What twist genuinely surprised you?

Eren’s “death” in episode 5 of the show, Bertholdt and Reiner’s reveal+Eren orchestrating his whole life

What was the hardest death for you?

Okay so for anime only, it’s Carla, Sasha and Erwin. The saddest one is a manga spoiler

Original uniform or timeskip uniform?

Original cuz green is my favorite color but the new one is sexy

What character grew on you?

Zeke, Ymir, Historia, Magath🙄 and Gabi(?) in some episodes. Reiner and Bertholdt too and i remember Levi growing on me after Erwin’s death

Who would be your best friend irl?

Eren and Armin and Ymir probably:)

Who would you hate irl?

Christa perhaps?

What’s your favorite of the 9 titans? Would you be willing to be a titan shifter?

My favorite is the Attack by far, just how it embodies freedom and keeps moving forward. Basically Eren in a titan. I would be if i lived in their world

Who would be the worst person to be paired with on a group project?

Ymir(freckles) and Gabi

Favorite trio?

No one compares

You're at a bar, list five characters you’d trust to hold your drink. Who’d you trust the least?

I’d trust Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Hange and Jean

I wouldn’t trust Pieck

Is there a character you really see yourself in? Why?

In Eren i see what i want to be. Mentality wise. I kind of have the same mindset, wanting to know more about the world and purse beyond our knowledge. Difference is: he does it, he tried. And I don’t. I also think i used to relate to Mikasa? Like just for loving to unconditionally

Did you read the manga? Do you have a favorite panel / scene?

Yeah, I’ll make a separate post abt it

Character(s) you’d love to share a beer or two with?

Grisha, Erwin, Zeke, Keith, Sasha’s dad

Be honest, what did you think of the ending?

SPOILERS⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Thematically perfect, like actual perfection. Only “problem” was execution in some scenes and it was a bit rushed. They’ll fix that in the anime so it’s all good🙏

My thoughts on ch 139 Eren: now to Eren. We can see in ch 121, Eren says “I’ve always been me, since birth”. In chapter 73 we hear him talk about freedom in a possessive way. In chapter 1 (before his mom got eaten and he got the Attack titan) we can see him obsess over not wanting to live like cattle. The thing with Eren is, he’s always on pursuit for freedom. Yet he’s never satisfied, because it’s never what he imagined. That is because he has a negative view on freedom. So what does this lead to? An obsessive pursuit. When Armin asked Eren why he did it in chapter 139, Eren said “I don’t know”. Now this, is the most miss interpreted line in Aot. The line wasn’t meant to be taken literally. He says “idk” because be doesn’t know, he doesn’t know why he was born with such a need to move forward and find freedom. He doesn’t understand his obsession with it. Read ch 121 and 73 and you’ll notice it. Even if he “doesn’t understand it” it’s still clear as day for him what he wants. That’s what adds a layer to it & makes his choice of path intentionally convoluted for us viewers to understand. The manga never highlighted Eren’s actions as heroic, and Armin didn’t speak on behalf of the world. Eren was declared a devil in the eyes of the world before he ever did anything. Then he proved them to be right. But in the eyes of his friends? He was still Eren. They ALWAYS talked about how wrong it was (except Jean) and Armin didn’t exactly thank him for it. It was more of a brother to brother farewell. Eren and Armin’s relationship was severed at the ocean. They didn’t share the same view on freedom. While Armin sees beauty, Eren sees a threat to freedom. When Armin asked why, he was trying to understand. “Why Eren?” “Why did u want it? Why have u always wanted it?” And it’s simply Eren’s nature to be destructive. Aot is a lot about nature vs nurture and the origin or life. What do i have to support that Eren’s nature is destructive? Well, he carved out his own tragic path in life by sheer will. He was raised with love but ended up thinking differently than Zeke who was raised to think the way Eren does but instead has the mindset that Eren should’ve had. If he were to be normal. Which is where the nature vs nurture argument plays in perfectly. Furthermore, Eren acknowledged his unhinged nature. One that he’s always battled with. He understood that if he weren’t to be stopped, he’d never free Ymir. He’d join his like a slave to his will forever in void. Which is why he trusted the task to Mikasa, stopping it before it was too late. To summarize it, 139 was perfect for Eren’s character and nature. I can’t imagine anything else being fitting? The Aoe stories just make him the average shounen mc who wants revenge. Eren grew past that in ch 91 and later in chapter 123 AND chapter 131. The only thing i want is more Eren pov. I want to know more about what went on though his mind so people (obviously many) who don’t understand his nature, might actually do.

you know, people love to complain about the ending and “wanting more” yet they fail to realize what we even got, lol. People still don’t get why Eren did the rumbling. They still don’t get that he’s always been this way, or how insane he actually turned. Nor to they understand the point of: as long as humans exist=conflict exists. Another thing, the titan curse did NOT come back😭like I’m sad that stupid people consume Aot. Shocker: Ymir did NOT love Fritz. She thinks she did. So it’s not Stockholm syndrome either. People love to analyse hidden messages but apparently when it comes to the ending, the thinking skills just suddenly disappear.

Let me make something very clear, if your reason for hating the ending is because Eren didn’t put his dick in a woman. Log out for me. there’s a reason erehisu fans were a minority. And it’s not because Isayama “portrayed them as—🤓” “drew a sketch of Eren and Historia🥺” “said in a interview🥱” no. By that logic, i can make up the same arguments saying Eren was in love with Reiner. majority ship Eremika or Eremin. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t understand where eh came from since the timelines never even matched? And Eren has always leaned against Mikasa so? But ig that’s why the shippers are a minority. Now, I’m not against any legal ship, (or if you do ship them) but if you’re mad Eren didn’t cream pie then your comprehension skills and miss-directed expectation of the series is beyond embarrassing. There’s a reason every EM knew how the story would end even before the last chapters and we were right🤷‍♀️

“Imagine being so unable to admit that your interpretation may have been wrong and/or so unwilling to change your mind that even when the author himself tells you "that was a bad take" you'd literally rather come up with an insane conspiracy theory without evidence to justify that you were actually right the whole time and no, it was the source material itself that was wrong!”

Isayama was 19 when he started, I’m 20 and i can’t imagine. The story us perfect and I’m sad people who use the term “chad” even get to have an opinion on it. At the end of the day, if they want “chad”. Eren did kill his mom and dad. Basically his whole family. He did face death without a blink of the eye. But he had a heart to heart with his best friend after they ignored his state for the past 4 years, he relived every horrific memory ever and omg 😱 “Eren is ruined” no. I love him more to feel broken about him finally letting himself be vulnerable. After all, Isayama did say

“for the last chapter, Eren came back”

Beautiful

[twistedfaych]

So I read a lot of manga over winter break and I want to share some thoughts bc if I don't I might explode; The list is roughly in the order I read them

Baki the Grappler: Fun, crazy and a bit stupid but in a good way, really enjoyable

New Grappler Baki: More of the same, still pretty exiting, its getting a bit more ridiculous

Hanma Baki: :( I really didn't like the pickle rick arc and its just ridiculous now and I think the series could have ended here

---- Baki Break ----

Claymore: Beserk but lesbian so automatic win, cried a lot at the end, awesome monster art if you are into that

Dorohedoro (I already read 2/3 before but decided to finish it): Amazing and weird, a great manga for people that root for the "bad" guys, really loved it

Spy X Family: its so popular that I rly don't now what to say here. Its fun

Monster: Amazing writing and pacing, stays exciting from chapter to chapter, was really hard to put down and also really hard hitting

RED: Living on the edge: an actual hidden gem, great characters and hard hitting themes mixed with the appropriate amount of funny, also great female characters. I'm almost sure Golden Kamui is inspired by this, so if you like GK, you will eat this up.

Fire Punch: jesus christ man; whats fujimotos thing with cannibalism??? Its good but man it hurts, but I guess thats the point

Gantz: uhh yeah that happened I guess. Engaging and strong start but then it just falls apart due to various literary devices and tropes used, the end is just whatever; got some AoT vibes, Mangaka is to horny on main for my taste; I feel like it wasted a lot of potential

Homunculus: Great premise and great execution. I clocked the egg on the first panel were only their hand is visible, I'm really proud of myself for that one. TW Rape if you want to read it yourself

Shamo: I'm really torn with this one,, The beginning is pretty hard to stomach and but it gets really good after that?? Its a manga were I actively disliked the main character the whole way through, which is an interesting experience. I would only recommend it if you like baki but thought what if Baki wasn't a nice guy but an enormous asshole and rapist and rape victim instead? A hard read for sure, also obv TW Rape and other acts of sexual violence and abuse.

Blaster Knuckle: I only read the first 3 volumes since I couldn't find scans of more. Really didn't like that the KKK are ACTUAL DEMONS instead of just horrible humans, kinda misplaces the agency. otherwise its fun, its a bit of a riff of beserk but as a western

Beastars: I guess everyone already knew this but it is AMAZING and I loved every second, I was constantly on the verge of tears in the Legosi/Haru parts, guess I'm a furry now :shrug:

---- End of Baki Break ----

Baki Dou: :( :( just,, don't,, idk just because you can write that doesn't mean you should!!

Baki Dou (2018): surprisingly I had fun with this again! its a bit back to the roots and actually interesting new characters for a change!

So yeah now you know what I did for the last month hahahaha I have a habit of binge reading,,,,

[madillhethen]

AoT/SnK Spoilers for final chapter!!! 

I’ve read AoT since anime debut and I finally finished the manga a week ago (I literally had 5 chapters left, but couldn’t find a source to read it on 💦).

Anyways, I’m not really sure what direction AoT was going. I feel the themes hopped around a lot, though ignoring thematic elements, story wise, the conclusion felt fitting for the series.

Some manga I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed only to be immensely disappointed at their ends (Pandora Hearts, 07 Ghost…) but AoT I didn’t get that. Maybe because at this point I wasn’t as invested as I used to be or it really blended well. Who knows.

I’m not going to give a thorough review of the series because over the span of 2013 until now, I never compiled anything on my thoughts and I am certain I forgot quite a bit.

I do like the manga—the story itself is interesting. The overarching plots, the characters, the movement, exploring not just a character’s story but the world’s story is what I really loved of AoT. Isayama does this well. From the first few chapters, we’re introduced to Eren, and it follows his journey up until a certain point which frankly, threw me off before. But I realized, AoT is not the story of Eren. It’s the story of humanity—the world, how it changes, and the closures from those changes, how individuals and groups deal with the world’s change, and that’s what I really love of AoT.

I took some screenshots of my favorite panels. Zeke states to Armin in the Path of how everything is meaningless, and Armin’s response is the one above.

“Maybe I was born just so the three of us could race here today.”

I love this. As humans, I think it’s a common concept for us to try and find meaning and purpose in our lives, and that’s fine. Some of us though, get so bogged down when we feel that we have none. And this statement Armin says is great. The simple things in life matters too. We don’t need to always have a great destiny, a plan for the future, maybe just being able to get up and walk outside is what we’re here for. 

The things we love to do, the stuff we take for granted, maybe we’re all here just to do those things? I love this idea. His words shake even Zeke out of this who admits that perhaps yes, it’s meaningless, but still, still he would like to do the things he loved again (playing catch in his case.). 

This reminds me in FGO how Romani tells Mash that life is meaningless, but it is from our lives that we find meaning.

Another part in AoT that really gets me is since the beginning of the timeskip, Eren has had a monotone and villainous nature portrayed and even during Mikasa’s conversation, he gives off a somewhat distant response. But here when he speaks to Armin, we see his true feelings. We see that emotional, impulsive boy we got to know at the beginning. 

And the part that really got me is when Eren confesses that he did all this, killed so many people, became the villain of the world, was to not just bring peace to the world, but to make his friends the heroes of the world. It’s basically a given, we learned this when we saw him talking to the boy and crying. I think what really got to me though, was Armin, understanding this, and then thanking Eren for doing all of it.

It’s a crime. It’s horrible. Eren knows he has to accept the punishment for his crime. Armin understands this too. But the expression of gratitude and understanding of it, is really beautiful. It’s not something I’ve seen in media a lot. We always condemn the villains, regardless of reason but here for once as a final goodbye as a friend, he acknowledges not the act but the rationality and motivation behind the act, and the sacrifice Eren made for all of them.

Overall, I think the ending is fitting. I liked it. It felt a bit rushed but it was a nice conclusion to this story.

[alphasmoonlit-selfships]

moon and milky way with armin :D?

Ah, my dear friend @mxthtea thank you so much for the ask! >w< and this time with my recent (but actually soft amor since I got into Snk) f/o, Armin Arlert! <3

Moon ~ Did your love for your F/O come all at once or in phases?

Honestly, I have always had a major soft spot for Armin ever since I first got into Snk/Aot. Precious dear was just so cute and endearing with his firm goals to reach the sea and explore the world with Eren and Mikasa. His knowledge and intelligence applied in every situation saving everyone's tails from immediate danger (even at the cost of his own fecking life during the damn Serum Bowl chapters - which was fecking hell, I thought I was going to lose him ;;;;A;;;;). And when he finally reached the SEA 😭 his endearing look in both the manga and anime,,, I sobbed, to say the least (also Mikasa looked so hecking cute in that panel/scene 🥺🤍).

Of course, at the start it was just soft internal pinning, I never declared openly that I self-shipped with Armin as I got into Snk/Aot when I was a senior in HS and was mostly interested in shipping,,,(°ヮ°) and gradually got mentally exhausted with the fandom for a while but kept up with the Manga (but honestly some areas of the fandom has just gone to hell and I despise said group of people (눈_눈)). To say the least, I was surprised by the time skip and was excited to see Armin when he appeared (I remember everyone hc him with long hair =w= and I still love that look on him <3).

Handsome as he ever was honestly 😍🥰, like I love my sunshine boi that honestly needed a fecking nap after all the shit Eren pulled at the end before speaking to him one last time,,,, and then a final time skip to him being 22 and an ambassador for peace in the world — my mans is making the changes as he should! I honestly enjoy the ending of Aot unlike most and am just happy he made it to the end (I figured because he is the narrator of the series).

So yeah, I didn't start self-shipping with Armin until recently during the Pt. 2 airing of Aot season 4. Mi amor for him definitely came in phases, I feel more comfortable self-shipping with him now than I ever have and I definitely hope to make more content with him if I can. I don't know when I will ever dive into a s/i story for Dany, but it comes, I know AruDany will be the softest content ever UwU they fecking deserve it lol 🤍

Milky way ~ What's your favorite daydream you've had of your F/O?

Ohh ;;w;; The softest daydream I have had of AruDany is sometime during the time skip between seasons 3 and 4. I love picturing a moment of peace from the mental chaos that occurs from trying to recruit allies from overseas. Maybe taking nice long walks on the beach or Armin surprising Dany with nice camping close by the fields and ocean to look at the wide expanse of the night sky away from the light pollution of the walls.

I love dubbing both AruDany as lovers of the sea and night sky. Dany has never been one to voice her desires or interests so much as Armin does, but he is a good observer and has long taken notice of how she looks up at the night sky (or sunset) with such awe and wonder as he does the sea. Heck, even when she's flying with the 3DM Gear, often tests her limits when scaling up the walls with such speed to be a good high distance that she appears graceful when free falling. Almost like she desires to touch the stars.

I don't know~ I have soft thoughts about Armin, despite the chaos and tragedy of the manga/anime. Ain't nothing wrong with imaging such happy things, I love just picturing us in a state of peace, more often not. Armin is a massive sweetheart and the most affectionate person once comfortable in it. Same with Dany <3

Still don't know officially how I want them to meet, either childhood friends or meeting during the Training Days ;w; for now have their cat selves! 🤍

Thank you so much for the asks dear! I greatly appreciate it!

[hanjo-love]

You're the only one I have seen to have come up with an explanation about Eren's titan marks when he has harassed Hanji and now I hate him even more for not having given a chance to a plan that is definitely better than his. I mean, come on, his plan was not worth all the sacrifice and time and time again, Hanji has been proven to be right about her theories. I really don't know what to say anymore about what kind of story AOT has become.

I gotta admit I didn't come up with this theory myself lol some people have already pointed it out, I just connected everything with the manga panels lol so I gotta share the credits with them 😅 but thanks for the appreciation anonie ❤️

I'm so torn about my feelings towards Eren. I was never a huge fan of him tbh and I never accepted what he did, nor did I ever try to justify his actions and I'm so thankful Levi and Hange were always shown to be strictly anti-genocide and they didn't participate in the "thanking Eren charade" (yes I know this part can be interpreted differently, but no matter how you take it, it's just awful wording...just saying) but I do have to admit I always felt some kind of pity towards Eren. We all knew him. We knew he wasn't purely evil nor were his actions for some selfish "I wanna dominate the world" reasons (basically the usual antagonist shit). But honestly, I was even more disappointed with Eren in the last chapter. His very own reasons and justifications were just "idk man, I just wanted to do it lol" (yes I'm exaggerating I know) and that part devastated me.

Okay, so we know he apparently did it for Armin and Mikasa, for his friends and for Paradis. But something's still missing. What happened to the Eren who kneeled in front of Ramzi, ugly sobbing and saying he didn't wanna do all of this? What happened to that Eren?

Maybe it's because the last arc chapter was rushed af, maybe it's because I got too much invested into my own theories (I gotta admit that), but I sincerely hoped we'd see a different side of Eren. I really hoped during the talk with Armin he would have admitted that he was a slave to his own destiny and no matter how hard or how much he actually tried to change the future, it always led to the same scenarios he already saw coming. He couldn't prevent Sasha's or Hange's death, even if he tried to. So he made "peace" with those sacrifices in order to achieve his own goals.

Maybe Yams actually intended showing us exactly that... but I gotta admit it didn't feel like this at all. That's why I'm so disappointed with the last chapter. I don't know if it's only because of the goddamn wording or the pacing overall, but damn... I didn't expect this masterpiece of a story to end like this... So unsatisfying. At least for me.

Look anonie, even though I'm trash for Hange lol I gotta admit that whatever plan she might have had, it wouldn't have led to eternal peace either, because in fact, nothing will ever lead to this kind of utopia (and I love this part of the ending cause it's pretty accurate and realistic). But Hanjo's idea/plan might have bought them some more time. Time to invent more technology, to keep up with the rest of the world. Time to make more and bigger alliances with other countries. Idk. But it definitely wasn't useless, as Eren loved pointing out. Hah! I just remembered Eren disliking every single plan (except for his own) cause he kept saying it wouldn't bring them freedom or eternal peace. Well well, look how the turns have tabled lol. Not even his mass murdering horror plan brought them the peace or freedom they always wanted. Well Eren, you shouldn't have interfered in the world of adults, but instead let people with the brains make plans for the future.

Anyways, thanks for the ask anonie ❤️

[the-faces-and-voices-in-my-head]

Now this is what I literally don't like about interacting with Eruris You started disrespecting Hange, twisting the fact that this art is about levi and Hange then you find it strange when levihan shippers respond. You believe that if Levihan shippers did that, it gives you a valid reason to act the same? how about being the better one? how about you do the right thing? it makes you still wrong by the way. As for the official art you have used, it screams comrades to me, not romantic, comrades as in friends and the same chapter you have used, the same battle you have used in the Manga, Levi showed even stronger emotions worrying about Hange and didn't hide it, you can check it on your own. You guys depend on couple of chapters and misinterpreting loyalty in to love, like Jean literally thought about Marco 1000 times more obvious than Levi of Erwin and yet they are not canon, what makes Erwin and Levi more than Jean and Marco's relation? Levi's ackerbond with Erwin does not mean love, a man respecting his promise and honoring his word to a precious friend is not romance, it is being good friend, a good comrade and later, killing zeke became way more than a promise to Erwin, it became due to Hange's theory to stop the rumble which was only remembered and trusted by Levi so it wasn't about the weird obsession Eruris have with Levi's promise, there are more important reasons for doing that which made it a must like stopping the rumble. The romantic or a bit intimate gestures can only be found in Levi's and Hange's art like the last released one but for Levi and Erwin, seeing them romantically is just forcing your interpretation on two comrades drinking for example together. You guys depend on the final battle in sheganshina as your reason, Levihan started from Levi's day one until the very end, full chapters confirm that not one and not number of misinterpreted actions. you have the smart pass, you have Ch.126, you have Ch132, you have Ch.139 where the plane reminds Levi with the one who eventually mattered most to him, Hange Zoe and how she was the most highlighted one of all the comrades including Erwin in the final scene...Real evidences here not misinterpretation or second guessing, Hange easily stood out and that was through Levi's eyes. To sum up, I consider Levi and Erwin friends, comrades not lovers, not by any chance and if there is a love interest for Levi, Hange is way closer and more logical than all the other options which mainly depended on assumptions and misinterpretation. The quotes you have used aren't implying any romance, not in the panels, not in their facial features (blushing for example which is a known code in AOT for romance) not in the anime, not in the voice acting, they were all passed as comrades talking about each other and to each other.

You said you love Hange, great, don't crop her out next time please. If some levihans used the same methods Eruris use, don't blame them, blame the ones who started with disrespecting Hange first and yet again that doesn't justify what you did. As a levihan stan, I will never disrespect Erwin but Erwin's arc ended with his death, Hange is the one doing and acting in the last Arc, Hange is the one all of them are saved by her sacrifice and intelligence, every victory they had was due to her leadership not just a promise, a memory or revenge. You should stop pushing Erwin everywhere, Levi never thought of Erwin alone (Hange has great presence appearing in every memory of Erwin by the way), it was always the fallen comrades not fallen Erwin unlike Hange whom he thought of alone in the final panel and this is not negotiable.

If you are convinced with what you ship, fine but don't disrespect and remove one of the most important people in the story and literally the real reason for how everything ended how it did. This will be my final interaction about the whole thing, whether anyone responds or not, that's all I have to say and won't change it. @leviackerman-666 @randomlonelymusician I don't mean to be rude yes, Levi and Erwin are canon as friends and comrades not as lovers at least to me but there you see how Hange is treated and why Eruri shippers have their infamous reputation

[ignitification]

Villain Stans:the villains did nothing wrong, they're innocent.

The villians:killing many innocent people, destroying many homes and towns, hurting people psychologically and physically,being literal irredeemable people.

Like no,this isn't a fairy tale where the villains get redeemed in the end and they all hold hands and sing songs.No

Shigaraki has to be killed, it's not even a option.and that whole "it's never too late to change"and"everyone deserves a second chance"isn't true.there are points and moments where it's too late to change.people can go too far and it's too late to go back.

And the whole "everyone deserves a second chance"is just not true.not everyone deserves a second chance.it's the harsh truth. Not everybody deserves or needs a second chance.it's life.

Like guys,the story is gonna end with shigaraki dying and the villians are obviously gonna be in lifetime sentences in jail.

This isn't a fairy tale,or Naruto,or Fanfic.

Like why do you want the villians to stay alive so bad? they're not getting redemption arcs.they made it clear they don't wanna change.

Also funny how Hawks had abusive parents and a bad childhood like Dabi but unlike Dabi,he actually wanted to be a hero and wanted to help people, rather than kill and hurt people.really shows how much more mature Hawks is.

And you and the rest of the villian fanclub ruin the villians for me,but always saying"WE WANT SHIGARAKI AND THE LOV TO BE REDEEMED"when that clearly isn't gonna happen.the villians won't be redeemed or made into good guys.

Come on guys,get your head out of the clouds.the villains are just gonna keep on killing people and hurting innocents and destroying many.

Sometimes killing someone is putting them out of their misery.

When a person doesn't wanna be saved or redeemed,you can't keep on trying to do that.there are people who are clearly too far gone.whatever chance they had at redemption is gone.

Like these kids should be aware of that.they're gonna keep on killing and hurting innocent people and destroying homes and places and causing destruction.

Me and the rest of the villain fanclub would like to disagree, ignore whatever you just said and continue on actually read the story, instead of making bullshit theories about how villains will be killed, or serve their lifetime in jail.

I do agree on the point you made, and the fact that not everyone deserves a second choice. People like Muscular, as we saw, do not deserve a second chance after all. It is still not okay to kill them, but Izuku makes a damn effort to try to understand whether there is something which is salvageable in him, and he finds nothing. But I do repeat: it is still not okay to kill him for it. There is no time when killing someone is putting them out of their misery. That's an arbitrary deprivation of life, and what misery are we talking about here?

As for me personally, I would like the villains to stay alive purely because Twice, who is one of my favourite characters, has been killed by a hero, and there is no consequence for it. So if death does not bring change, I suppose the contrary will - which means that in order to break out of the status quo (which is fucked up), there need to be a change in dynamic. That change comes with the villains surviving, and actually talking about how there is a steady reason as to why they became villains in the first place, and which is that society failed them. This is why, villains should not be made into good guys. They do not want to be good guys. As Steve Rogers said, they are not looking for forgiveness, and way past asking for permission. What they want is revenge. And let me correct you here, nor me nor the VF (Villains' Fanclub) ever said that they innocent, we just like them the way they are. We ain't condoning murder here, be careful because there is a very slight thread you are walking on and I'm trying to actually reign myself in about it.

Furthermore, I love bringing this up, my favourite manga panel is this:

So, yes, we need destruction in order to make it anew and better. This is the same principle Eren uses in AOT. Destroying the old to create the new (even when Shigaraki just does not see enough in hindsight to see the new part).

As for Hawks, I kept this as the last point just to make a point: Hawks is not more mature than Dabi or Shigaraki nor he is less of a victim. They all grew up in the fucked up standards of a society which had no place for them, but where Hawks had the opportunity to redeem his father and carry out a mission of the greater good, Touya and Tenko never had that option from the beginning. As well, I do remind you that both Tenko and Touya, before their respective tragedies wanted to be heroes, help people and be themselves, be accepted by their fathers and feel accepted. And furthermore, I remind you that Hawks is the one hero that killed someone in cold blood, with no remorse for it and no will to help that person instead.

I don't know what your conception of hero is, and I'm not telling which one it should be, but as someone already said: the moral of the story is not that 'You can't save everyone', but instead it is that 'there will come a time when you'll understand that there are people you can and cannot reach, and some of them will need to be saved, while others won't, but it is your job to figure out whether there is someone to be saved there'. There is no really a reason you should listen to me, but it is what it is: and heroes shall rise to the sun, and the villains shall perish, so let's see, at the end, who is the one left standing.

[tundrainafrica]

Hi Sav,

I want to ask your opinion about aot in general. We know that Aot is a good show and has great stories.

But, do you have any critiques on aot? I'd love to know...

Thank you in advance 😄

Thank you for the ask! I actually am a serial complainer so I LOVE LOVE LOVE answering things like this because I have complaints about a lot of things lmao.

At the same time though, I’m answering this as a Levihan fan.

Occasionally, I would see AOT material and feel this strange disconnect because I think I’ve read and written too much fanfiction that when I actually see AOT material, I’m like ‘wait oh right, Levi and Hange came from there....”

To answer your question though, here are my general complaints about ATOT as a whole.

The general reason why I kinda feel strongly about the story telling being REALLY weak towards the end is because AOT started strong. Like, I’m sure most people can agree that in the anime at least, or maybe in most parts of the manga as well. every panel, every scene HAD purpose, which adds to the overall quality of the writing and the pacing.

The plot twist and the change in genre was also built really well. Yams left enough to speculate and he also created this story where every scene had a purpose in building the overall plot, the plot twists were done incredibly well. He cleverly planted all the hints, most readers wouldn’t have been able to pick up which was created some really great rewatch value for the previous seasons.

Character death wise, he was also incredibly trigger happy but all of the deaths seemed to have had a purpose anyway so I wasn’t too salty about all the characters dying. And most important characters who died anyway, died for one reason, to introduce a villain or to signal an end of an age, or there was a huge build up/foreshadowing leading towards the death which made it stomachable.

Towards the end though, Yams wasn’t writing to actually build some plot twist anymore. He actually had to pull at the threads of every single plot point he planted and write some semblance ending.

No ending can satisfy everyone but for me, a quality ending is supposed to tie all the loose ends in some tight logic manner which Yams low key KINDA failed to do. This explains why when the purpose of writing ‘changed’ from setting up AOT for a major plot twist and a genre shift to actually tying all the loose ends, the quality of writing kinda diminished.

With the amount of questions left unanswered, I can’t help but think Yams was in a hurry to just end the damn thing. (But really, I’m not too blah about it, because the story telling and world building was great overall, it’s just the ending which left a lot to be desired. At least, it’s not ‘Game of Thrones’ BAD lmao)

Tight Story Telling

Story telling is supposed to have a purpose. Every scene, every death, every scene leading to the finale is supposed to have a damn purpsoe and literally, it’s been months and I still think about Hange’s death as one of the most pointless plot developments in AOT.

HANGE DIDN’T. THEY LITERALLY JUST DIED. And every day, I literally try to fathom why the hell, Yams had to kill her, and I have speculations about it. The strongest one being the fact that Yams didn’t know what to do with Hange towards the end of the show and he needed to kill someone to prove the gravity of the situation I guess. And I guess Hange was the best option since she was old or something or she was just so difficult to write that Yams decided to kill them?

And I dunno it just seems like an asspull.

And Hange’s death wasn’t built up at all. Like there were no signs, there was nothing, no character arc which could have made it stomachable so Hange’s death just seems like lazy writing to me tbh and I kinda take it slightly personally because most casual readers I know tend to gloss over Hange’s death?? Which kinda diminished Hange’s character as a whole

And I thought about who could have died other than Hange and I realized, no one was built up to die in that scene? Or there wouldn’t have been anyone in that scene who I would have been okay with dying? Which kinda points to the fact that maybe Yams just didn't prepare properly for that death scene?

Which brings me to my next point.

Consistency of Characters

If a character is prepared for greatness, it doesn’t make any damn sense to put them through shit and kill them in some anti climactic way (Like Circe in GOT style)

And at the same time, most people might not agree with me here but I guess it kinda doesn’t make sense for me to see Eren redeemed at the end for the sake of love? Or him having to do everything for the sake of JUST the love with Mikasa?

It makes sense, I have to admit, there were plot points which hinted to the really strong bond between Mikasa and Eren but destroying the whole world FOR Mikasa? All I’m getting from this is Eren is just some crazy psycho who is overly obsessed with a girl that he tries to destroy the world and his sacrifice was in vain anyway because the world was kinda messed up too.

I personally think it would have been way more stomachable if Yams just highlighted everyone as a whole instead? Like it seems much more believable for me to think that Eren reached points of irredeemable or maybe if Yams just highlighted the fact that Eren did it for EVERYONE, not just for Mikasa. Because I think with the way that Yams wrote it (putting emphasis on Eren’s relationship with Mikasa), most casual readers would gloss over the fact that Eren had no choice. If he didn’t do the rumbling, Paradis would have been overrun.

Mikasa being there and her relationship with Eren WAS built up from the start so it has some place in the ending. But to put it at the centerpiece instead of Eren’s relationship with the whole Paradis which would have kinda made Eren’s decision to just ‘genocide’ everyone make more sense.

Some parts of the ending kinda remind me of weathering with you and I have a lot of beef with that movie.

Which brings me to my next point:

Values Dissonance (????)

Whenever I read or finish something, the final question I ask myself is ‘so what? what is this piece of media trying to tell me?”

For AOT, I think the most glaring message is ‘the cycle of hatred always continues,’ but I don't think that the message was properly built up? Yams went through the love, the relationships and he highlighted them too brightly for me to even properly stomach the 'cycle of hatred' message as the main one.

It seemed like, towards the end he was jumping from one message to the other in a low key sloppy way and there was no consistent message in all of them.

What was Eren’s purpose? What was the purpose of his sacrifice? What was the purpose of the sacrifice everyone was making?

If Isayama’s whole intention was to tell us that the sacrifice was meaningless and the cycle of hatred continues, I feel like there were better ways to build this up than to dangle ‘love’ in front of us and as the centerpiece of the genocide and the finale before the extra pages in some way where it wasn’t even properly built up in the first place.

That 180 from 'okay Eren did all these stuff out of love’ which is kinda overly mushy and kinda crazy already mushy way and suddenly create this message like the ‘world is doomed, seems like a sloppily placed 'plot twist' to me. Like the type of plot twists authors just put to surprise the reader but it doens't seem well thought out in the first place.

Why highlight something as hopeful as love and make Eren start the war over it when you’re just going to create some major dissonance with a plot twist. Like with the values Yams was highllighting towards the end, I feel like it was a roller coaster with a lot of abrupt twists and turns and there was no time to really reflect on the overall message because he was highlighting too many opposing points at once with no clear thread connecting all of them

I don’t know if I make any sense here haha but yeah, those are my general complaints with AOT as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I love AOT as a whole but I guess like all shows it has its flaws especially towards the ending.

And hey Yams, still made Levi and Hange and I think anyone who built a world complex enough to inspire others to write fanfiction and draw fanart is a good author either way.

Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts on what I remember from reading but I have been trying to forget a lot of the plot points so I can enjoy it again when the anime comes out. My thoughts might change depending on what I think after rewatching.

[aot-snk-4238]

My thoughts on AOT No Requiem (Fanmade Ending) Part 1:

With another chapter of this story coming out soon, I thought now would be a good time to share my thoughts on the first part. Before I do that, though, I have a few things that I would like to get off my chest.

A part of me hates that this project exists. Not because I find it disrespectful, but because it serves as a bitter reminder of what a complete mess this ending caused among many fans. I'm still in disbelief how things got so bad so quickly. First, you've got the people who hated it. People began turning on Isayama and calling him a terrible or incompetent writer, regretting ever getting into the series, insisting that it was worse than Game of Thrones, the list goes on and on. People who liked the ending are now endlessly referred to as "ending defenders" or more crude names like "Isayama cockriders," as though they're a bunch of incompetent fools who don't know the first thing about reading comprehension all because they just happened to like it. And then of course you've got the other extreme end of the spectrum where the ones who were disappointed are accused of not understanding the story or they're only upset because their favorite ship or fan theory didn't become canon. This, too, is very demeaning and invalidating for those who grew up with this series that they gave their heart to and cherished for so long, only to have it do what they felt was a complete 180 at the very last second that undid every part of the story they thought was special and unique. It's one of the hardest slaps to the face you can get as a reader and long-time fan, and while I can't fully relate to everyone's feelings, I can at least understand and acknowledge that it's there and it shouldn't be laughed at. Now with all of that out of the way, here are my thoughts and analysis of this fanmade ending and how it differs from Isayama's.

To start things off, I found that part 1 started off similar to how 137 did in the canon manga, with Armin and Zeke conversing in PATHS. The biggest difference would be kid Eren being transported there and seeing his older self. To be fair though, this chapter was only about half the length of what we're used to reading, so I'm sure we'll get a lot more in part 2 onwards.

While Zeke is enlightening Armin on the history of the earth and how the life form that attached itself to Ymir sought to avoid death forever, young Eren is in PATHS too with his older self, witnessing the moment Ymir found the tree and fell in it to become the first titan. At first, there is no dialogue exchanged between them. They just hold hands and watch. Meanwhile, Zeke is still talking to Armin about Ymir and how she continued to serve her oppressive master despite acquiring godlike powers that would allow her to obliterate him whenever she pleased. This is where the team working on this project attempt to provide their own alternate possibilities as to why this happened in a way that would make more sense than what we were given in the canon story in which she simply had a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome and couldn't let him go no matter how much he made her suffer.

So what are these new possibilities? They come in the form of a question, so their validity is not made absolutely certain, but they're presented as the most likely candidates nonetheless.

According to Zeke, she was unable to separate her own desires from King Fritz and was a lost girl who sought meaning. A place to belong. Tragically, King Fritz was the only connection she had in her life, so she clung to it with everything she had despite it being toxic and abusive. I could argue that these are the very reasons why she supposedly loved the king in the official manga, as explained by Eren in 139, but they weren't explained or touched on as plainly as they were here. I feel like they could have been if Isayama had just been given more time, but sadly the whole thing was rushed and underdeveloped.

Moving on, Zeke states that despite his efforts in trying to understand Ymir and her feelings, it was Eren who ultimately was able to get to her and offer her the choice of freedom. The next page transitions to young Eren standing in the clouds with his arms spread out and a smile on his face just like in the official 137, only this time 19yo Eren is next to him. Now I'm going to be honest here, this is where things started to get a little corny for me. Yeah. I know a lot of people hate that argument, but that's just how it felt to me. And before I say anything else, I want everybody to know that I am in no way about to mock anyone's fondness of this Eren over the one we saw in 139, even if it was a little over-the-top. It's perfectly fine to prefer one over the other, I'm just going to try to explain myself the best I can without coming across as harsh or unprofessional.

Eren is drawn in these panels to be a stone-faced, determined and unstoppable force who will "keep moving forward until his enemies are destroyed." This is the Eren that many people grew most familiar with throughout the series, despite his occasional breakdowns, but something about the way it was executed just felt a little too overdramatic and exaggerated. For me, the contrast between this Eren and the Eren we were presented with in 139 is too jarring. It came across to me as the fandom's idealized version of Eren, the "chad" Eren if you will, rather than Isayama's portrayal of Eren who is cold and determined, but has also been experiencing stunted mental growth ever since the day he saw his mother get eaten; side note: I know that Eren himself was responsible for his mother's death, but that's a discussion for a later time. Not only that, but the "keep moving forward" line starts to get overused at this point. We already heard Eren say this a number of times before 137 where this first fanmade chapter takes place, so I didn't find it necessary to include that at the end, but it seemed to be the writers' way of trying to reinforce Eren's ultimate goal.

Regarding the rest of the chapter, young Eren asks older Eren what Ymir is still waiting for after he showed her that she's not alone. 19yo Eren proceeds to explain that while he was able to make her feel something again, she still needs somebody to free her. He shows his younger self all of the visions from PATHS that he's seen so far, ranging from past events to alternate realities to things that couldn't be changed no matter what. Now there is only one path left that he strives toward. The one that he believes will grant him and his people freedom. This next line is the one that stood out to me the most throughout this fanmade chapter. Still talking to kid Eren, adult Eren says, "When you wake up, you will forget what you learned, but not what you felt here. This will all feel just like a long dream." Only when he kisses Historia's hand will it all come back to him. This line more clearly explains why Eren woke up crying in chapter 1, but couldn't remember why. Then he circles back to how he intends to carry out his own plan to end the cycle of hatred once and for all. Despite his efforts along the way, he couldn't change the flow of PATHS and save the friends he lost or prevent certain events from happening altogether, so he had to accept that sacrifices had to be made. In this case, he will have to literally sacrifice the world, much to Armin's horror.

To wrap this up, I'm going to finish comparing this to the canon 137, but since the first part of this project only covers the PATHS portion of it, that's where I'll stop as well. To save a little but of time, I'm just gonna be lazy and copy the first part of a quick overview of the chapter I found as part of the wiki:

So clearly, canon 137 starts off focusing a lot more on Armin and Zeke's differing philosophies and does not provide any further insight into Eren's ultimate motives like this one does, at least not yet. Armin and Eren are bound to face off soon in this fanmade version, but it looks to me like this time the writers are planning on flipping the outcome and having Eren come out victorious instead, especially when I remember the name of this project and what it's based on. I guess that means that in a way, I already know what's ultimately going to happen throughout the rest of this project. Whether it's going to be considered superior to the actual ending is going to depend on if its executed properly. I could very well be wrong about some of this, though. I want to give it a fair shot since these people have clearly put a lot of hard work and passion into this, so I will refrain from further judgement until we get the full picture. On a side note, I just want to say that the artwork is beautiful so far and I commend every artist responsible for their efforts. I also liked the song choice at the beginning and thought it set the mood pretty well.

Thank you to everyone who read the whole thing. This took me far longer to write than it should have because I'm not always good at expressing myself in a way that does not come across as confusing or contradictory. I will continue to share my thoughts as more content is released, which by the looks of it could be any day now.