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Manga Discussion (Spoilers)

WhyBuffet

The Hero of Wind
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
I'm still not done, homework has been getting the better of me these past few days. But I have a day off tomorrow, so I plan to finish it then.
 

WhyBuffet

The Hero of Wind
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Finished reading ACWNR this morning. My thoughts are in the spoiler tag below.

I hated it.

No, I'm just kidding. I actually agree with you Frantastic; the manga is much better than the OVA.

I found that the OVA put too much emphasis on Levi and Isabel's relationship, whereas I found the connection between Levi and Farlan was the stronger one in the manga. Farlan also has a lot more character in the manga than he did in the OVA; he's more clever and conveys more emotion. So from a character and story standpoint, points to the manga for being more fleshed out. Though to be fair, with only 2 episodes to convey all that backstory, the OVA did the best they could, I suppose.

Also, in terms of the OVA, even though I liked the manga better, the shock of Isabel and Farlan's deaths were more powerful to me in the OVA. In the manga their deaths are drawn out a bit (Farlan even gives that last salute to Levi) and having them drawn out certainly is not a bad thing at all. It's just, in the OVA Levi is racing towards them, and then BAM! Isabel's dead, decapitated head on the ground. That image just sticks out in my mind more than any image from the manga. The manga had her dead head as well, but Levi seemed less perturbed by it (again, in the manga his relationship with Farlan was stronger, so I felt more for when Farlan died).

As for Levi's reaction... I have to admit that I like the manga better. The screams of rage and despair from the OVA Levi are fitting for those particular circumstances; having a strong relationship with Isabel set up, then seeing her head on the ground, it makes sense he would snap like that. However, I like how Levi kept his calm demeanour the entire time while killing the Titans at the end of the manga. It fits his character so much better, since even in total anguish he is seemingly dead inside (like his cousin). I have a feeling that the OVA was trying to imply that this incident was the "awakening" moment that Ackerman's feel, whereas the manga did not have that pretense.

All in all, I thought ACWNR was a good read; it had a lot of character and emotion behind it, and even though all of Levi's friends died, it didn't feel as depressing as the OVA (though that might just be because I knew what was coming). The next time I am at a bookstore and I see all the volumes of ACWNR available, I will definitely be picking them up.

Sorry it's so long.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
lol sorry but I really don't think you need to use the spoiler thing, this is a spoiler convo anyway!! But each ot their own.

Nah it's cool. The manga and anime both have their strong points; but you're right they do emphasise the Isabel relationship way more and don't give Farlan a lot of screen time. However I think again it's a case of they had to choose one in order to at least properly develop it. I also believe they went for Isabel because she has several parallels with Eren in terms of characterisation.
Personally I like the deaths in both; the anime for impact and the manga for heart wrenching oh god the feels. Like, in the manga Levi SEES them die properly, like, he was there and within reach type of thing, so in many ways I found that MORE heart-wrenching because in the anime its more 'he wasn't there and so couldn't do anything' type of deal. But as I said, both have their merits.

I think you have a good point on the reaction thing, but again I feel its all about time. Like in the OVA they didn't have time to do the calm demeanour and have him kill several titans etc. etc. but in the manga it was able to develop that. I like his reaction in both, and I feel like the OVA captured what would have really been going on inside his head. I also feel they were going for that moment as 'The birth' or the Captain Levi we meet in AOT as from that point on he has nothing worse to lose type of deal.

The BIG thing for me was the way the OVA butchered Erwin's character at the end, making him mallicious and cruel at the end instead of open hearted and desperate for Levi to understand. Like... in the manga I really felt him rooting for Levi, like he wanted the man to understand who the real enemy was, and that they could keep fighting back type of deal. Whereas the anime is more 'haha ur friends are dead, how pathetic, kudos to you for living, now don't be a pussy and come with me forever'. So I was really annoyed when I read that ending in the manga. It was that difference that made me really want to read the AOT manga to find those changes too.
 

WhyBuffet

The Hero of Wind
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Oh yeah, that's what I forgot to mention (I knew I left out something)... Erwin!!!

I think you described the ending of the OVA perfectly... I never really felt like Erwin did anything special at the end to win Levi's trust. As you say, he just sort of laughed at him for his friends being dead. In the manga, he goes out of his way to convince Levi that the Titans are the bad guys. He wants Levi to lend him his strength, and use said strength for the benefit of humanity. This helps develop both Levi's character and Erwin's character; we now know why Levi has pledged his strength and allegiance (to help Erwin's cause), and we get a glimpse of Erwin's dedication to humanity and its cause.

Of course, with the development of these past few chapters in AoT, we now know that Erwin was a big fat liar and didn't want Levi's strength for humanity's sake at all, but for his own sake of discovering what's going on in this world. This deepens the character even more, deepening which unfortunately did not occur in the OVA.

So yeah, I agree with your big OVA concern; the OVA did a poor job at explaining why Levi implicitly trusts Erwin, and why he bothered to pledge his loyalty to the man.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
I think Erwin started out with genuine intent but its been corrupted, which i think is a testiment to his interactions with humanity as a whole. but yeah, its soo good :D
 

WhyBuffet

The Hero of Wind
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
I don't think Erwin's intent is corrupted per se, rather, he is intent on discovering the secrets of the world not for humanity's sake, but for his own. I'd call that selfishness over corruption. It started with him as a child questioning his father with wide eyes (reminiscent of Armin, methinks?) and carried over to now as an adult, where he puts on the facade that everything he does is for humanity, but really, he could care less about humanity and is just genuinely curious; deep down Erwin's still that wide-eyed little boy.

That raises the question; is it right for him to be operating under this pretense that everything he does is for humanity's sake, and not his own? Or should he at least be honest with the people sacrificing their lives for this "cause?"
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
I like to think though that maybe he was also convinced by said lie, that he [if even for only a short while] genuinely thought it was for everyone and not just himself. To be fair, he is a lot more the right than the others who are scheming to keep everyone contained and ignorant.
 

WhyBuffet

The Hero of Wind
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
You make two very good points; it may very well have started out for a genuine concern for humanity.
Also yes, he's a lot better than the nobility, or even Darius Zakley, who just wants to feed the nobles their own crap (literally).
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
ooft that was a weird couple of pages to read!! Haha, yeah, but I just LOVE Erwin's character, he can be written a number of different ways, and I have had loads of fun experimenting with him in my fics.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
So basically I have a couple main questions that I'm getting rather bored waiting for. 1) What's the ****ing basement got in it? 2) Who really is this Chief dude who's the beast titan? 3) Is he related to Eren, like a great-great-great grandpa or something? I reeeally want some fricking answers!
 

DarkLink7

I make my own fate!
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Location
Valla
I just want to know the motive behind Reiner and Bertholdt. Like, I genuinely believe they're pretty good guys, but what happened? Why were they told to kill humanity?
 

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