The comic book version of Attack on Titan has ended.
There is a lot of debate about how the story ends.
This time, I would like to talk about one of them, the heroine Mikasa Ackerman.I would like to discuss the reasons for her unfortunate ending.
About the character Mikasa
Eren’s attack was stopped and ended by Mikasa Ackermann.
It ended with Mikasa taking Eren’s head home and setting up his grave – I pity that ending.
Not only that, but the character of Mikasa Ackermann seemed to have ended the story without being explored.
In retrospect, the introduction of Mikasa Ackermann was a shocking one.
She is one of the strongest characters and heroines in the story. Her strength surpassed that of the injured Levi Ackerman in the latter half of the story. In the past, no heroine character has ever been so strong (with six-pack abs).
And Mikasa was in love with Eren.
It was ambiguous whether this love was due to his own emotions or due to the curse of the Ackerman family blood. These settings worked well to enhance the drama.
But on the other hand, Mikasa Ackerman has always been in an inconvenient position in the story. Until the very end, she was only able to use her power and presence as a soldier. It was a pity that she could only act as a soldier while Eren and Armin were more than soldiers.
Mikasa never changed.
The story of Progressive Titan is also a story about the growth of young men and women such as Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Rainer. Eren became stronger after his struggles and settled the story, and Armin became the leader of the Survey Corps. Reiner has regained his lost pride. Everyone has reached the ending through their own growth and transition.
But what about Mikasa Ackerman?
Mikasa was obsessed with Eren from the beginning to the end in the story. She is the most powerful person in the story. Despite being the most powerful person in the story, she didn’t make many decisions on her own. He didn’t even follow in Levi’s footsteps. He existed only for the character of Eren. That’s a shame.
She’s very physical, but doesn’t think about things very much. That’s not to be rude – but in the early days I had no problem with that. I also hoped that I would have grown up and grown out of it.
However, after the Mare Arc, Mikasa Ackerman did not seem to have grown much except physically. While many other characters were changing as they grew, she seemed to be growing as the Mikasa of old.
This may be because the author had given her the setting of “Mikasa killing Eren” at the very beginning when this work was conceived. Because of this, it seemed that she was not allowed to spread her wings as she wanted.
What should Mikasa have done?
What was the right thing for her to do?
I think. Even if she was determined to kill Eren, she should have been freed from the curse of Eren once in the middle of the story. I think it was an unnatural portrayal of a woman to be attached to one man all the time, without shifting or showing any whimsy. Ellen once asked me, “What are you to me? I think it would have been better if she had said, “You don’t even know how I feel. That would have been more realistic.
However, that did not happen until the end.
Why did Mikasa become the “girl obsessed with love”? I have an idea about this point.
Why is Mikasa an unnatural girl?
I think Hajime Isayama, the author of the original story, is not very good at depicting the psychology of “girls” due to his young age.
When I think about it, the development of Historia’s pregnancy was only described objectively, but not psychologically.
As for Sasha, Ani, Yumir, Hanji, etc. – they are not actually girls. They are women on top of a man’s (boy’s) platform. That’s why they are so innocent and attractive. Also, because they were soldiers and not civilians, and because they were not the main characters, that gave them the freedom to be drawn and be attractive.
However, if you look closely, you will find that the psychological portrayal of women’s specific love is rarely depicted in Attack on Titan. Even when there were such situations, they were thoroughly objective depictions.
Mikasa is a major character, so her heart had to be portrayed. However, due to the teacher’s lack of romantic experience, Mikasa seemed to have a cheap persona.
The main problem is that Mikasa is too “pure”.
Usually, people are “calculating” when they fall in love. On the other hand, on the emotional side, there is the desire to monopolize the “kindness” and “joy” of the other person. Love is always accompanied by the situation of comparing the advantages and disadvantages of assets, status, and psychological aspects of the other person. In contrast, pure, one-sided, pure feelings without calculation are an adolescent fantasy, biologically unnatural, and a lie.
In reality, people in love are not kind. They are not as kind as Eren. Mikasa could have rejected the unkind Eren. Of course, there may be a setting in which the Ackerman family’s blood causes them to become attached. However, it is unnatural for a young girl to keep thinking about a man who is not kind to her.
Possible and correct Mikasa.
The original author, Hajime Isayama, apparently believed in “pure love that lasts forever”. Or perhaps he couldn’t separate motherhood from romantic feelings.
Because of the original author’s young thinking, Mikasa unfortunately became a disappointing character who just kept thinking about Eren all the time. Since the other girls were really spontaneous, including the way they chose to live and die, this was a noticeable disappointment.
She needed to free herself from Eren’s spell, instead of being trapped in him forever. After that, she should have made the choice to choose Eren. In the Corps, he should have followed Levi’s footsteps and worked hard as a commander. She should have had a relationship with Jean (Jean should have died for Mikasa). On top of that, Mikasa should have apologized to Jean and chosen Eren in the end. By letting her experience and grow from those mistakes, that ending would have been much better.
That one point seems to be a pity because the structure of the story, “Attack on Titan” was excellent.