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WARNING: Contains spoilers. Written from the POV of a manga reader, so anime-only viewers please beware.
They say there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. I haven’t been through the former yet, which means I have to deal with the latter. I spent the entire weekend working on my income tax returns. In the past years the deadline for submission was on the 15th of March, but due to the pandemic it’s been extended for another month. Still, old habits die hard, and since I’ve been doing my tax returns in February each year I’m doing them in the same month this year, regardless of the extension. Talk about humans being creatures of habit.
Anyway, the good thing about finishing up this type of paperwork (well, online work as the case may be) early is that I don’t need to scramble when the deadline looms. Also, I really needed something to get my mind off the dreaded upcoming Chapter 137 of the SnK manga. In that sense this type of cumbersome, mind-numbing activity of filing tax returns kinda helped. Never thought I’d see a good use for it, ahaha!
Moving on to the latest anime episode, I liked it very much and wanted to post a ton of screenshots. I decided to ditch the flat-screen TV style of visuals and make a simpler, lighter template. That way I can put up a dozen images without compromising loading times.
Here are my favourite scenes:
Mikasa the Hair Puller
I don’t know why I love this scene so much. It shows Mikasa grabbing Sasha’s ponytail.
She’s supposed to be on watch duty but has fallen asleep instead. “Don’t nap, Sasha!” Mikasa admonishes her.
Jean looks on toward the port, not minding the girls. I’m always so stoked when I see Mikasa interacting with people other than Eren or Armin, as these moments are so rare I consider them very precious.
Hange Being Hange
Our super enthusiastic, ultra eager commander is in their element, welcoming the Marleyan scouts to the island with enough energy to lighten up the night sky.
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I absolutely adore Hange in these scenes. Soldier, scientist, explorer, adventurer, inventor… all their myriad roles are on glorious display at this point in the story. Their oohing and aahing over the visitors’ high tech weapons made me want to cry. It’s such a Hange thing to do! And then I laughed at Levi kicking their foot under the table, warning them not to sound like an imbecile else the enemy will think they’re a bunch of ignoramuses. Ah, these Levihan interactions simply warm my heart! I love these two so very much.
Yelena putting a bullet through a comrade’s head was, I’m sure, quite shocking when seen for the first time in the anime. She’ll go on and do this same thing at another point in the story. Referred to as a デカい女 dekai onna (huge woman), I estimate she’s around 6 feet 6 inches tall or thereabouts. I mean, Jean’s over six feet tall already and Yelena towers over him. She kinda reminds me of Brienne in GoT, because of the height and blonde hair. But Brie was a good egg through and through, while Yelena is certifiably insane.
Bow Before Your Queen
Our Queen has finally made her first appearance this season! All hail her Royal Highness! I really, really missed this special gal.
- Me: Your Grace, please make more public appearances.
- Puppet Master Isayama: No.
- Me: *Weeps*
It was just lovely to see Historia, with her hair up and sitting next to Zackly. We see Pixys, we see Floch, we see Nile Dawk… everyone’s still alive! How nostalgic. Makes me want to cry, again. We manga readers know all of these soldiers will soon be dead. I love seeing them here decrying Zeke’s conditions for cooperation. In the end, they were right: Monkey Boy’s solution to the Eldian Problem is a real stinker.
No Hot Spring For Baby
Why oh why didn’t they voice out this scene??? I was dancing with anticipation, waiting for the smooth VAs to give life to the silly dreams of our babies. In the manga, Onyankopon talks about building a port, and our three stooges have no idea what that’s for. Connie thinks it’s a playground, while Sasha hopes it’s something edible.
And Jean? Our hottie has fantasies of a 混浴 konyoku (mixed male-female) public bath! We know exactly whose semi-naked body he wanted to see when he came up with this crazy idea xD Jean’s such a bawdy lad! Ugh, please just let him soak in a hot spring bath with his lady love already! xD
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Anyhow, I blame the conservative, ultra prudish NHK channel for the animators’ decision not to voice this moment. Maybe it was too R-18 for the station’s puritanical sensibilities? Who’s at fault here, really? I don’t know, but I know I’m not happy 🙁
Oh Nicolo!
Aaaanyway, moving on to the most hilarious event in this episode: Nicolo finally meets the girl of his dreams. Doesn’t turn out the way them fairytales go: he’s scandalised by uncouth Sasha’s lack of good table manners. He hates being on this godforsaken island, he doesn’t want these devils to touch the food he’s made since he’s sure they have no sense of good taste whatsoever.
And then lovable Sasha starts crying, nay, bawling her eyes out at the supreme deliciousness of the food. She’s in heaven, she’s never tasted anything so fine in her life. Even Nicolo, pissed off as he is, cannot help but blush at her effusive praise coming straight from the heart (and the belly).
The camera lingering on Nicolo’s blushing face (see cover image) is pure gold. Ah, what a happy, refreshing, darling moment! I loved Nicolo straight away in the manga, but the anime makes me love him even more.
The blue skies, the colorful delectable cuisine, the sun-drenched landscape by the sea were so beautiful in this memory of Armin’s.
At the Cemetery
From these lighthearted, happy events we are brought to a place of grief. The animators made sure we didn’t get to see poor sweet Nicolo being abused by Eldian soldiers. Doesn’t this level of physical violence classify as PG-13? Isn’t the show being aired past midnight? What’s going on with all this censorship?
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Anyway, Jean and Connie come to the rescue of the grieving chef. I was so relieved they voiced out this scene fully: Jean apologises to Nicolo, saying it was negligence on his part that got Sasha killed. As commanding officer, he takes responsibility for what happened, a far cry from his jerk leg reaction of blaming Eren in the previous episode.
Now, the reason I’m not mad at the animators, in fact, the reason I LOVE them is because of the frame below:
Aaaaaaahhhhh! A jeankasa frame! Be still, my shipping heart! Can you believe it? It was such a small panel in the manga, but they gave us this full screen thingy here in the anime. I LOVE YOU, MAPPA! I really do! You have no idea how much joy this moment has given me. I mean, we seldom see these two together in the same space. What a treat! What a glorious treat indeed!
The lovely Brauss family have come to pay their respects at their beloved daughter’s grave. We see Mr and Mrs Brauss, and their adopted daughter Kaia, a young girl Sasha saved once upon a time. Nicolo invites them to his restaurant, in which they agree to go as long as the food’s free.
In contrast to the clear blue skies and fluffy summer clouds of the tableaus along the port, this graveyard scene is in the appropriate somber tones. Thumbs up to the animators for the wonderful cinematography!
The Mental Battle Begins
Speaking of great cinematography, don’t you just love the lighting of this sunset scene featuring Captain Levi with the disappointed, open-mouthed Zeke? Our royal prince doesn’t like his new accomodations and he says it out loud.
I love the sharp exchange of words between these two, starting from that scene on the airship to the intimate space inside the carriage to this picture-perfect moment by the Forest of the Giant Trees.
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Crystalised Annie
We are back inside the dungeon, with Armin sitting cross-legged before the crystallised Annie. He’s narrating the story and speaks of his regrets. Eren would’ve done Liberio, with or without the Scouts’ help. Before he realised what was bound to happen it was already too late. He begs Annie to say something, but she’s mum.
The episode ends with Mikasa by Sasha’s graveyard muttering about having to fight in order to survive, while Eren is in prison hyping himself up: “Fight, fight.” He looks like a grey Incredible Hulk in the anime; I like his sleek manga look so much better. But I’m not complaining too much. It’s still our beloved Eren, and I like the way they made him look properly scary.
From Strength to Strength
All in all, another great episode. I loved seeing all the characters still alive, and even the tiny additions have been such a joy (See that little crab crawling up the rock in the opening sequence? Cute!). I might not have fulfilled my dream of seeing Jean talk about wanting a mixed bath, but at least they gave us a frame of him with that naughty look on his face, with his two friends on either side.
Cheers, MAPPA! Can’t wait for the next episode!
Thank you so much for reading! What did you think of this anime episode? Please take a moment to share a thought or two in the comment section below. xoxo – hana
Next – Season 4 Episode 10
Back – Season 4 Episode 8
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oh that jeankasa fragment, after how long did we get fed again? maybe they were small crumbs but i ate them as if they were a gourmet dish from niccolo xD
anyway now everyone is jumping off this boat to get on the pikkujean one. me as the cliche loving lady that i am i keep holding this little candle for my beloved jeankasa till the end of time lol. it’s really ironic how jean and pieck’s pairing doesn’t catch my attention!!! am i crazy? my two favorite characters have interactions that could be interpreted differently and i don’t blink? i’ll be fine? did i lose my mind? tell me!!! xD
Oh, Myri! You make me laugh 😀 Remember when I mentioned jeanpiku in one of my reviews and asked if anyone wanted me to ship them, but then you didn’t say anything about it? Are you saying you’re now open to the possibility? 😀
Some readers who are eager to ship Jean with someone other than Mikasa actually want to ship her with someone else (you know who). I don’t think much of these tropey bores.
But the really sad thing is that in canon, Jean’s love is totally unrequited. We know just how much he’s in love with Mikasa, but there’s absolutely zero interest coming from her. Unless Isayama gives us a miracle in the last two chapters, our jeankasa ship is 100% doomed in canon.
As for me, I’m happy to ship Jean with anyone who falls in love with him. He deserves better than the indifferent / disinterested canon Mikasa. If it’s Pieck who actually learns to appreciate him and view him as a romantic partner, then I’m all for jeanpiku! They’re both very clever and would make a great intellectual pair 🙂
One of the things I like about Pieck is that, in the few interactions she’s had with Jean, she has shown she cared about what he thinks of her (“If you think I’m only good for sundry stuff, you’re wrong!”). She wanted him to think she’s a capable fighter and went to great lengths to prove it. Contrast this with Mikasa, who only seems to care about what Eren thinks of her.
Needless to say, if Mikasa does change her mind in canon and learns to see Jean in a new light, I’d continue to ship them, of course! I mean, Jean has been in love with her since he was twelve. It’s so painful to see him be all alone and unfulfilled.
In the end, everything depends on Isayama’s ending. If he wants to please the majority of the fandom then he’ll end the story with eremika, and “give” Pieck to Jean as a consolation prize (sorry for this term, I don’t mean it as an insult), with Hisu ending up with the nameless farmhand.
Really, as long as Jean’s alive, I’ll ship him with whoever he wants, anyone at all<3 All I ask is that he doesn’t get killed off in the manga! I don't want Pieck to die, either, and really want her to be reunited with her dad.
oh, that time i didn’t say anything about it because i honestly had nothing to say xD being honest, that ship doesn’t generate anything for me and i see it more as a way of wanting to get Jean out of that unrequited love and not because something is really happening there beyond companionship because they are comrades at this point in the manga (obviously it’s just my opinion, anyone is free to see chemistry and development wherever they want hehe).
if at some point isayama decides to pair these two, i really hope and wish it to be in an organic and meaningful way and not out of a magic hat just for the sake of it (i mean jean and pieck are in my top 3 favorite characters i really want them to be happy and have a long and happy life). i wouldn’t want pieck to be a consolation prize just because jean couldn’t keep with the girl he liked for almost ten years lol
and the same goes with jeankasa, i see them both in a realistic and meaningful way long after the rumbling (if they both survive) and when they have both healed their past wounds. that is also why i liked your ADITM story so much and left me wanting more and more, you were able to develop them in such a realistic way! 🙂
ps. i also want pieck to meet his father again, if that happen, i would be very happy for them
I know exactly how you feel! When I first got into AoT I was really into BL, and shipped erejean/jeanere. But a friend of mine wasn’t into them, and shipped jeanmarco instead. It felt really awkward reading her stuff because I just didn’t see Jean and Marco as lovers. To me, they’re the best of friends. I absolutely adore Marco—he’s kind, sweet, clever, and best of all, he loves and believes in Jean—but I simply couldn’t see him as a romantic partner for him. That was a few years ago, I’m older now and I understand why Marco would make a good husband for Jean. He ticks all the boxes, and he really inspires Jean to be all the best he can be. So while I don’t ship them and I can’t write R-18 fanfic about them, I do understand why some Jean stans prefer to ship them together. Jean deserves someone who loves him, and who loves him more than Marco?
There’s also the Connie x Sasha ship. While I love them both separately, I just don’t see them as a romantic couple. They’re best friends, the finest kind, and that will always be how I regard them. I do understand why people like to ship them, though. I mean, they’re the best comedic duo on the planet! 🙂
Yeah, me, too, I feel there isn’t much time to develop jeanpiku in canon since we only have two chapters left in the manga. That’s why I’d rather have jeankasa and erehisu, as both couples have a long history. In the end, I’ll accept any outcome as long as it’s NOT that one ship I absolutely cannot stand! xD (You know which one! xD)
and finally i don’t know if to define myself as an aruannie shipper but i really enjoyed the scene of armin talking to that crystallized annie and waiting for some kind of response
i loved the interactions and little moments of these two in the first season of the anime and after the timeskip in the manga. i really see a foundation and development in this couple. maybe isayama didn’t develop them as obvious as yumihisu, but, in my case, icould notice that something was happening there xD
Aruani is still the only canon ship amongst the 104th (nicosha may also be considered canon but then Sasha’s gone so…). I’m not a huge fan of Armin and I don’t write fanfic with him as protagonist, but I do love him as a supporting character. I want him to be happy, and also for precious Annie to be happy. If they’re still tied to the 13-year curse then they won’t have much time to be together and raise a family. I hope Eren will lift the curse somehow! That way his friends will really find freedom 🙂
it’s so sad that they’re still under ymir’s curse, their kids would really have the best genes. let’s hope they can reverse the curse and that all bearers can live long lives. the one that causes me the most sadness is falco, he is still a child but he has already sentenced the day of his death 🙁
Yeah, I felt bad when I wrote The Storyteller’s final chapter because it involved Falco making a sacrifice. He’s just a kid! But I couldn’t find a way to go around it, since all Nine Titans had to be sacrificed. Now that Zeke is gone, I don’t want any other titan shifter to die, so like you I’m hoping Eren/Founder Ymir will do something about it.
levi is really sick of being the jeager brothers babysitter xD poor man
IKR! Poor darling Levi! Unfortunately, he did very badly as a babysitter xD The Jaeger boys are too hot to handle, they’re simply too wild for him to rope in xD
niccosasha is so cute and adorable! niccolo feigning annoyance at sasha eating his food without any manners really filled my heart with bubbly happiness hahaha i would have liked to see more of these two in both the manga and anime 🙁
are you going to publish that niccosasha story that you had planned? how long is it? because if you think people could quickly lose interest in the ship (i doubt it) you could put all the chapters into one (or two) and make a short story. obviously that would depend on how long the chapters are and the pace you chose 🙂 !
Thanks so much for asking! I finished the story, four chapters of it, and have already prepared the visuals. Right now everyone is going crazy over the latest manga chapter so I don’t think anyone’s in the mood to read fanfic. After the hubbub dies down a bit I’ll publish it in time with the anime episode of Nicolo trying to kill Gabi. That way people will be reminded of just how much he loved Sasha 🙂
I feel the best time to publish fanfic is the three weeks between the chapters. Fans are looking for something to occupy their minds with while they wait for the next chapter, so it’s good timing overall. I hope you and my old friends will read my nicosha piece, though, otherwise I’ll have no readers (It’s G to PG-13 rated, no smut this time and thus less interesting for those looking for the hot stuff xD)
for me, be assured that i will be reading it without any doubt!
right now there isn’t much niccosasha content on almost any platform so i’ll be happy to read the story you wrote:D
Thank you so much, Myri! It makes me feel a lot better knowing my shit will get read by friends, no matter how boring it is. I really love you, you know! Next week after the Nicolo-tries-to-kill-Gabi anime episode I’ll publish the story!
i also love when mikasa interacts and shows love and concern for anyone other than eren or armin! i mean, i know she cares about her comrades but i like it when she shows it.
and it’s really sad that she no longer has sasha with her </3. right now twitter is full of these kinds of tweets and honestly it makes me too sad
**to add a little bit of humor** imagine how difficult it would have been for them to be surrounded by so many men xD surely it was a relief that both had each other during their teenage years
Yeah, me, too! I like to imagine them gossiping about the boys in their lives<3 xD Sasha thinks about Connie and Nicolo and Jean, while Mikasa worries over Eren and Armin and Jean (my fantasy!). So they whisper to each other at night and giggle a lot, trading “info” about their beloved boys 🙂
ohhh i also expected that scene where they know for the first time what a port was xD hahaha we all know why jean wanted and i expected a port to be a mixed sauna lololol he was going through thaaaaat age xD bees and flowers
and that section reminded me of a question that i always had but always forgot to ask you, why is jean an admiral in your chronicles story? is there a specific reason or someone you have been inspired by?
IKR! I’d love to see them both soaking in the same bath! I’ve been encouraged to write a honeymoon fanfic of the two in Hizuru, where there’s plenty of onsen. So they bathe together before going all the way xD It’s a lovely fantasy, I’d love to write it if only I weren’t so lazy! xD
Re: Admiral Jean, thanks for asking! I wasn’t thinking of any particular IRL admiral but there are plenty of famous ones, the most obvious being the British empire’s Admiral Horatio Nelson. I modeled the father of Princess Geraldine after him. Jean would be more along the lines of modern officers, I think. I watched the film Midway (I didn’t like its one-sided depiction of the war but then I still learned something from it) and the one of the US naval officers portrayed there was Chester Nimitz, the first ever to attain the highest US Navy rank of fleet admiral. He was a great strategist, and was awarded medals from other countries for his service in WWII. He was also actually of German descent. I thought this and his exploits were interesting, things someone like Jean can do. The Navy would be the equivalent of the Survey Corps/Scouting Regiment in a modern military, and also the most important for island defence, so I went with that.
The sad part is that I had a whole saga planned for the Kirschtein-Ackermanns (Philip becomes admiral in the footsteps of his father) but have been way too unmotivated to continue xD
that would have been something really hot to read xD
oh, it’s too bad you’re feeling listless 🙁 i hope the outlook for the story stopped being so depressing and isayama gives us some content again so you can find some inspiration 🙂
Just one look, one touch, a few words whispered in the dark… is it asking for too much? Ahaha! I suppose it is, especially from Isayama-sensei.
Speaking of hot, there are tons of jeankasa modern AU ideas in my head but they just never seem to get written. One of them is Mikasa being an exchange student in Japan and Jean being her French boyfriend who comes to visit her. They get embroiled in a massive inheritance battle and Jean gets captured by the yakuza and Mikasa has to fight an entire army to save his skin. Before any of that happens, they go to an onsen, of course, where all the R-18 occurs xD Jean also does chikan to Mikasa on a crowded train, and so on! xD I wish I weren’t such a lazy ass bitch and just start writing! xD
am surprised u didnt upload a single eren screenshot i liked his hair in this ep n his depressed voice
Sorry! I had screencapped him but wanted to focus more on Sasha’s story.
Ah, yes, I did love that part where Eren says the world’s not wrong about thinking of Eldians as monsters. He’s very realistic, especially that part where he says with a determined look in his eyes that they need to find a way to buy more time. Already at that point we see him planting the seed for the Liberio attack. Kaji’s voice acting was stellar as always.
was disappointed nicolo didn’t have blue eyes i mean why r these animators so ケチ when it comes to giving characters baby blues theyre a germanic people there should be more blue
Hmm, the way I see it the Marleyans are Italians, and the Eldians are Germans. So it would make sense for the Marleyans to be dark-haired-dark-eyed while the islanders will be lighter in coloring. But as you say, if the Eldians represent the Aryan race then there should be more blond/blue-eyed people among them. We’ve only seen a few amongst the characters (Erwin, Historia, Zeke, Willy T) so yeah, I also think they’re being too sparing in allocating this kind of color combination.
nicolos a total darling when r we gonna get this fanfic of urs i need more nicolo in my life a dude who can cook real fine who wants anything more lol
Next week, promise! Four chapters of it, after I review Episode 10 of the anime. I’m expecting that Gabi-Nicolo-Kaia moment and I need it shown to generate interest for the ship 🙂
my fav part was zeke whining to levi i rofled so hard i mean hes a fucken monkey he ought to love the forest or something lolol
Ahaha, me, too, I love that gaping face of Zeke’s. His story is so sad, and everything about him makes me want to cry. I really do feel for him, but also for Levi, who’s only trying to do the best he can under the strange circumstances.
love ur new visuals lighter n cleaner not as fun as the treasure hunt level previous ones but if this new kind loads faster then im fine with it
Thanks, Krissy! I chose a lobster illustration while thinking of you! Do you miss Maine as much as I do 😉 I’ve decided it’s more important to type up words than spend inordinate amounts of time making treasure hunt-level visuals which only you and I can appreciate xD
Honestly I’m more excited to see how Mappa gonna adapt everything in 7 episode. What do you think there gonna cut? I’m thinking some Gabi scene and some of the government talking about Eren moments. I know there adapting to 122 so that at least tells 139 will a Ymir related Chapter.
Ah, Chanique, I’m the wrong person to ask since none of my predictions have come true regarding the anime (and the manga, too, for that matter! Ahaha!). Last year when S4 was announced I thought about the pacing of the anime based on the past seasons:
Season 1 : 25 episodes (Volumes 1-8 Chapter 34)
Season 2 : 12 episodes (Volumes 9-12 Chapter 53)
Season 3 Part 1 : 12 episodes (Volumes 13-18 Chapter 72)
Season 3 Part 2 : 10 episodes (Volumes 18-22 Chapter 90)
If we look at this pacing one part takes up about 18-19 chapters, covering 4-5 volumes.
So I thought of S4 as being:
Season 4 Part 1 : 10-13? episodes (Volumes 23-27 Chapter 110 or 109 if generous)
Season 4 Part 2 : 10-13? episodes (Volumes 28-32 Chapter 130 or 128 if generous)
Remaining volumes (Volumes 33-34) – theatrical release (like Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Chapter 130 is when Eren says he’ll destroy their enemies (“I’ll kill them all, every last one of them!”) That would be a good ending for the TV anime.
We’ve already seen Episode 9 cover some of Chapter 107, so a few more chapters left, this Part covering 3 months (December-February). Part 2 would end in May, also covering 3 months (March-May or June, if there’s a break between Parts 1 and 2). I’d personally prefer the super leisurely pace of the past seasons (1.3-1.5 chapters per episode), but I suppose that’s out of the question 🙁 The rest of the volumes would be getting a theatrical release. I know I’m being overly positive here! xD
Covering Chapters 90-122 (32 chapters) in a total of 16 episodes would mean 2 chapters per episode, so every plate will be a full one. 16 to 17 episodes don’t make sense to me because Japanese anime is usually divided into クール cours (quarter or 3 months, which I call Parts here), with 10 to 13 episodes per quarter. If the TV anime is divided into two Parts then there should be 10+10 at the least or 13+13 at the most. I can’t see any way around this because it’s a broadcasting division that’s been there since forever.
A full 2 chapters per episode means there’ll be some major cuts I don’t even want to think about! I suppose they’ll remove everything considered 余談 yodan or miscellaneous talk, not directly Eren-related, and also speed up all the battle scenes. *Sigh* My wish is that instead of cutting huge chunks out of the manga they’ll just extend it over the opening and endings songs. I want to see *more* of MAPPA’s animation, not less!
Anyway, there’s no use losing sleep over it. Let’s just wait and see what happens and then whinge on this blog xD