TG:re Volume 5 Extra Translation

This was great! It was really well written and it really makes me appreciate both relationships more, so thanks. One thing I'd like to add concerning your point on cause and effect is how in chapter 122, Eren eventually sees himself and probably Historia as wellin Ymir and uses that same dialectic to free her. It's really cool how it all comes full circle, Freckles Ymir is guven her name through the legacy of OG Ymir and through the overcoming of her weakness she frees Historia who frees Eren who eventually frees the OG.

Yumihisu and Erehisu - how do these ships compliment each other?

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a longer post. Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit more inspired, though - and, once again, my thoughts are occupied by my two favorite ships from SnK. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that shipping both is impossible, or that shipping one of them authomatically means that you’re against the other. I think it’s ridiculous - even more, I think that shipping both is quite logical.

Today, I’m going to write about how Yumihisu and Erehisu are, in my opinion, tied to each other. (As always, a short disclaimer: there will be spoilers, and the pictures/gifs used in this post don’t belong to me. Have fun reading!)

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Ever Since I Was Born: Eren and his Id

Ironically, after writing a very long critique of the ending, I believe I have found a way to redeem it. Isayama’s comments on the manga ‘Himeanole’, as well as the analyses put forward by @twilight-paradise88 and @cosmicjoke​, led me down a very interesting path of interpretation that makes the ending - thematically, at least - justified.

In the 2017 Bessatsu Shonen interview, Isayama says this about ‘Himeanole’:

Ultimately, I don’t think the series [SNK] passes judgment on what is “right” or “wrong.” For example, when I read Furuya Minoru’s “Himeanole,” I knew society would consider the serial killer in the story unforgivable under social norms. But when I took into account his life and background I still wondered, “If this was his nature, then who is to blame…?” I even thought, “Is it merely coincidence that I wasn’t born as a murderer?”

Does this sound familiar?

Eren, like the protagonist of that manga, is presented as being a certain way since birth. From the Attack Titan’s power to see the future, we know that Eren bringing about the Rumbling was an inevitability.

The kernel of this idea is preserved in the ending. Although Eren’s motivations become more complex, the core of his being still compels him towards that act of destruction. He cannot understand it, because it is not a logical demand. It is simply the nature of who he is.

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SnK News: Isayama Hajime Interview/Feature in Illustrate Note Magazine No. 43 (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)

Writer: masaco Translation: @suniuz & @fuku-shuu Please credit and/or link back to this post if anything is used!

(T/N: Due to the extensive amount of information/pages, this interview has been divided into multiple parts)

INTRODUCTION (Image 2) Having served as sustenance for Titans, the humans living under 50-meter walls experienced a false sense of peace and security for the first time - in exchange for their freedom. This is the popular, impactful storyline of shounen manga Shingeki no Kyojin. On the one hand, the appeal of this series of course rests in the story’s originality, but it also stems from the richness of its characters. Those who appear within are not flawless males and females - rather, each person endures their own mental struggles and invests their entire being into battle. Here, author Isayama Hajime exposes the strategies behind SnK’s character designs, as well as what personal ideas he has invested into them.

ISAYAMA HAJIME & QUESTION 01 (Image 3)

SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN – Creating Unparalleled Characters

The setting is an unknown time and an unknown location. Within the fictitious world where humanity is an endangered species, a variety of characters emerge, each possessing charisma that increases the depth of the series. Regarding Shingeki no Kyojin’s character designs, we approached creator Isayama Hajime with inquiries from three directions: “Conceptualization,” “Unique Features,” “Growth.”

CAPTION: Protagonist Eren (Right). His mother was eaten by the Titans, and he is a young soldier who possesses intense anger as well as a desire for freedom. Colossal Titan (Left), designed as 60-meters tall. His black, round eyes are attention-grabbing and don’t match his rather grotesque posture.

CAPTION: Eren’s childhood friend Mikasa. Black hair, black eyes, positioned as the last of the Eastern Sea people.

CAPTION: Eren’s fellow cadets. From background to personality and unique physical traits, the ten individuals were all drawn very differently.

Question 01. How were the characters conceptualized?

– Please tell us your process in coming up with these very distinctive characters. The gist of Shingeki no Kyojin’s ending was already decided at the series’ start. The story was born first, and within the key characters many were created for the sake of expanding the plot, Eren especially. He bears the responsibility of carrying the story and wants to confront each and every obstacle straight on. If we view him from our more dominant position, Eren’s never-changing fighting spirit is what sets the foundation for his character.

– How did you visualize the personalities? Most of the time I had some actual references. Compared to me needing to think from scratch, I consider it more practical to absorb outside influences. For example, Mikasa was modeled after a customer whom I met while working part-time at a net cafe. Back then I constantly wondered, “How would I fabricate this character?” And the moment I saw that customer I thought, “Just like that!” I immediately grabbed a receipt next to me and sketched some ideas on the back. The concept for the Eastern Sea tribe, and even including how Mikasa wore her scarf, was via the details I gathered back then. Moreover, even though I would use athletes, friends from my hometown, etc. as inspiration, what I look for isn’t a well-portioned, beautiful face，but rather a strong, eye-catching face.

– How do you manage this many characters in a long-running series? I always save the original drafts from my early deliberations on a character and use them as a starting point, even if the drafts were mere scribbles that I somehow magically came up with. As this is a long-running series, the more you draw, the more your idealized version of the concept evolves. If I feel like my drawings have turned odd, I’ll refer to the original drafts again, and then attempt a return to the right track.

– At the same time, your acute illustrations of the Titans have become their own topic. The Colossal Titan’s debut in chapter one can be deemed as the symbol for the entire series - a skinless, gargantuan monster. However, his eyes remain that of a “spineless youth” - I gave him very thick double eyelids and whale-like eyeballs. The rest of his physique is frightening and artificial, but as long as there exists a dissonance, the Colossal Titan naturally becomes more realistic. Eight years ago, when I first achieved serialization, I understood very well that “No one will pay attention to a newbie’s manga, so discontinuation is inevitable.” Under such a realization, I considered the idea that, “Whenever someone mentions ‘Shingeki no Kyojin’ - they should think of THAT thing.” Thus, I decided to create an icon for the series first - and that’s how Colossal Titan came to be. To me, a shounen manga cannot survive without these more commercialized elements.

MAKING: (Image 4) A Levi Pencil Sketch Tutorial from Isayama Hajime

Levi’s appearance in pencil. “I start by drawing a cross within the facial contour. Levi always seems like he 'hasn’t slept for three days,’ but because he’s calm and collected, I’ve never drawn on him the sweatdrop motif that often appears in manga.” Isayama states. The base lining is done with a 2B 0.9mm mechanical pencil. In the actual manuscript, after penciling comes a Zebra G Pen for inking.

QUESTION 02 (Image 5)

CAPTION: Eren’s good friend, Armin. His appearance isn’t that of a soldier in order to showcase that while he isn’t well-versed in fighting, he excels in terms of intellect and brain power.

CAPTION: The soldier with arms crossed, Levi. He is conceptaulized to be 160cm tall and weighs 65KG. He is always “looking up” (T/N: As in literally) to his comrades.

Question 02. How do you apply unique traits to a character?

– What is your trick to enriching a character with distinct features? If you are referring to the characters in the manga - you don’t have to make sure every part of him or her needs to be appealing/attractive. Rather, you should draw them in a way that causes people to become preoccupied with their physiques, because this is how the reader will feel more intimacy with them. For example, Eren’s good friend Armin. Even if he has western features, I gave him a more rounded nose that inspires extra affection towards him. Levi is Humanity’s Strongest Soldier, but he has an unexpected disposition that is almost disappointing - to be frank, he is short (A chibi). However, this special attribute is just like that of Astro Boy and Ushiwakamaru, where there is a “David can defeat Goliath” type of implication. (T/N: Isayama doesn’t actually say the names David/Goliath in his answer - just the idea of a smaller figure being victorious). For Eren, I previously had him set as having eyebrows that weren’t so dense, because he is often angry and widens his eyes. However, I wasn’t able to achieve this look because my drawing skills were subpar back then (Laughs). (T/N: For the record, we aren’t sure how anger directly influences eyebrow density, either, but we think this means Isayama didn’t know how to express a character’s fury without giving him/her severe eyebrows)

– What are you especially careful about when adding unique traits? Consider the 3DMG worn by the soldiers in order to battle in the air, where they hold two swords when engaging with Titans. No matter the soldier, they use the exact same strategy to fight. In many action-based shounen manga, there are usually special skills or insta-kill moves for a key character, so I also thought that this might increase the commercial value of a series. But in Shingeki no Kyojin, I didn’t establish these elements for two reasons: first, I personally would not be interested in such ideas as a reader, and secondly, if I add these details as I’m progressing the story, there would’ve been even more information that require explanation. If an author stuffed every detail he wanted to showcase within a work, it will become less interesting overall. For SnK, I intentionally reduced some aspects that would’ve stretched out the story development too much.

– Even the supporting characters that emerge as villains are very complex. Even though various villains appear, I personally feel that being “evil” for no reason is lackluster. Even while illustrating a villain, you should portray his or her timidity and confusion, as well as the ambition only he or she possesses. You have to do your best to make others feel like, “This kind of person exists within me also.” As an artist, I think this is something you must be attentive towards.

More from this interview: Part 2 | Part 3

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I don’t think it’s fair to characterize Eren in such a way. It should be noted that Eren’s friends had also failed on multiple occasions to show him respect by ignoring blatantly obvious sides of him. At the ocean he questions omnicide and his friends simply ignore it, at the meeting about Zeke he brings up omnicide again and his friends just pretend it didn’t happen, then in Marley he’s obviously sad, scared and disassociating at times and once again they ignore his problems. His friends and the Survey Corps were also way too open to possibilities, it’s precisely because of their idealism that they’re in this situation in the first place. Eren has definitely made mistakes in relying too much on himself, but the SC is just as guilty in their openness to possibilities and their faith in peace, Isayama says so himself, “Peace cannot be achieved by ideals alone, how many sacrifices must be made to pave the path to peace?”. So it’s wrong to characterize them as being so respectful and loving to Eren when they deliberately ignored parts of him that they didn’t want to see.

 On top of this you say Eren overestimates his strength and abilities but with Reiner in the basement he tells Falco that he saved him by delivering  the letter, he genuinely acknowledges that the Raid was impossible without the help of the Survey Corps, and it should be noted in the way he looks at Mikasa that he’s very emotional inside about what he has brought them to do.

 And you’re disregarding the fact that he still had enough faith in his friends to entrust them with the task of stopping him, the destructive side of Eren is a side that can’t be tamed, so Eren antagonizes them later to create enough distance for them to be forced to acknowledge that side of Eren and make the decision to cut it down. He may not trust them as much as he did before, and he should have used a more tame and allied method of sublimating those desires, but at it’s core his faith in his friends still exists and Eren doesn’t overestimate himself so much as what he does is the only way he knows how to act.

Eren the Slave

There’s a common misconception in the fandom that Eren’s turn in the final arc from hero to antagonist is due to character development. This is from a belief that Eren as a character, believes in freedom and therefore has been carrying that idea on his shoulders the entire time. 

There’s a confusion between the narrative which Isayama sets up for Eren which is told from a third point of view and therefore is objective, and Eren’s own personal narrative which is composed of Eren’s own personal thoughts and feelings. Basically in any story these two things will coexist and push and pull against each other, narrative the way the world sees the character and reacts to them and personal narrative the way the character sees themselves. Eren’s conception of himself is a one man army fighting for the freedom, and willing to become the enemy of the whole world in order to do it but just because a character believes that about themselves does not necessarily mean that it is true. 

The following post is a discussion of Narrative Identity that is a theory that postulates individuals for an identiy by integrating their life experiences into an internalize,d evolving story of the self that provides the individual with a sense of unity and purpose in life. The narrative is a story, it has characters, episodes, imagery, a setting, plots and themes which means the events taking place in it have to have meaning. 

Eren is a slave of many things, including narrative, and because of his own personal narrative he cannot change. Eren isn’t a character who has changed, moreas he’s a character we’ve had our perspective of him change as the story progresses and widens it perspective which is still development. All character development requires some kind of change or movement on the character’s part, but it doesn’t mean their characters themselves have to change, because the reader’s perspective on them can be what develops instead. 

So underneath the cut: Eren’s current development is about his failure to change, which makes him the least free character in the manga. I suggest reading my Eren and Reiner meta as a precursor to this. 

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Critique of the Ending

After an unreasonably long wait, here are my thoughts on the ending in more detail. I’ve always tried my best to decipher the author’s reasons behind their narrative decisions instead of dismissing them off the bat if they rub me the wrong way. But, in the case of this final chapter, I can’t help but find it unworthy of all that came before it.

This critique is divided into four subsections: ‘An Irresponsible Plan’, ‘Underwhelming Heroes’, ‘Wasted Characters’, and ‘A Gimmicky Solution’. The ending launched so much new information at us that I can’t cover everything, but I have addressed those errors in plot, themes, tone, and characterisation that disappointed me most.

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Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 2 - Official Main Trailer

Part 2 of Attack on Titan: The Final Season will premiere on January 9, 2022.

he’s already great because he was born into this world.

please make your choice