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There has been a spike of erehisu searches on my blog lately, right after Chapter 130 of the manga, so I’ve decided to put together a page of my favorite erehisu resources. I’ll be the first to admit that my blog is rather hard to navigate (sorry!) so I’ve picked out the stories with erehisu in them. I also added links to some of my favorite Japanese erehisu doujinshi as well as the best manga analyses out there.
If you have other favorites, please leave them in the comments section so I can link to them in the main article.
Enjoy!
This Blog (Fanfiction)
The Storyteller [Warning: Contains R-18] – set in-universe after the awards ceremony for the Scouts in Chapter 90 and covering the full four-year time skip in the canon story up until the rumbling and birthing in Chapter 134, with a bittersweet ending. Filled with angst, verbal sparring, mutual pining, secret longings, mild bondage, feigned non-consent/reluctance, pregnant sex, baby delivery, plus a good dose of magic. Rated G for Chapters 1, 6 and 7, PG-13 for Chapter 2, R-18 for Chapters 3-5.
The Queen’s Lover [Warning: Contains R-18] – an in-universe love story between Eren and Historia, set during the time skip. It continues their conversation on the farm as seen in flashback in Chapter 130. If you aren’t into smut you can skip Chapters 2-3 (R-18). I’ve tried to capture the couple’s thoughts and feelings in Chapters 1 and 4 (G rating).
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Baby Names (A Vignette) – Jean and Eren have a conversation in Marley about what’s in the title. It’s sweet and short and can be read in a minute 🙂
With Friends Like These [Warning: Contains R-18] – Jean and Eren are bisexuals in an open relationship. It is erejean, erehisu (requited) and jeankasa (at this point in time, unrequited) at the same time, set in-universe during their days in the old Scouting Regiment, post-Reiss cave but pre-timeskip. Sasha and Mikasa have significant roles in the story.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place – Part II of The Jean Kirschtein Chronicles, this is a story of a post-canon Jean dealing with a naval crisis at sea. Historia is mentioned throughout, and she appears in a significant speaking role in Chapter 7, as the Queen deeply involved in affairs of state.
Bladesmiths and Librarians – Part IV of The Jean Kirschtein Chronicles, this a post-canon story centered on Levi and an original character, a child named J
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I am currently working on Part VI (“The Protegee”) of the chronicles where we will be seeing not just jeankasa and their baby but also more of Historia, lots of flashbacking on Eren, as well as witness the growth and adventures of the royal twins, who, while being fully human, exhibit uncanny abilities (powers, if you like to think of them as such) inherited from their extraordinary lineage.
Doujinshi
Here are just a few of my favorite erehisu manga-ka. There are so many more wonderful AoT artists over at pixiv.net [Warning: Contains R-18]. I hope that one day I’ll find the time to curate them all.
enko – One of my favorites for erehisu fanart, her style is painterly, beautiful and delicate, the stories told with much love as well as humour. She has a store on Melonbooks [Warning: contains R-18] and also on Toranoana [Warning: contains R-18].
yuyu – Elegant, painterly, watercolor-style fanart that’s a joy to look at. Her erehisu fandom started from way back and she’s been one of the most consistent out there in creating lovely fanart for the couple. She has a store on Toranoana [Warning: contains R-18]
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ebimayo – I absolutely adore this artist. She not only has erehisu but also my ultimate favorite ship, erejean. It’s wonderful how she can illustrate and treat with love and tenderness two ships for one person (Eren). I love her anime-style art. She has a shop on Toranoana [Warning: contains R-18]
Notes on the stores:
- The Melonbooks site is in Japanese but you can click on the language selector on the upper left hand corner of the page. Melonbooks ships abroad but since I’m based in Japan I haven’t tried buying from outside the country. If you have any experience with international purchases please let me know so I can post them here.
- The Toranoana site is in Japanese, and I can’t find a language selector so you’ll just have to use Google translate. Like Melonbooks, they ship abroad but I haven’t tried it so if you have, please let me know how it went.
Manga Analysis
Who’s Most Likely to be Historia’s Baby’s Daddy? by Taylor Jane on Quora – A wonderful, calm and competent analysis of the manga (until Chapter 114) and the set of clues Isayama leaves behind to make us wonder if there is something more to Historia’s pregnancy. The author compares two important chapters and argues that their similarity is not mere coincidence. She analyses the Grisha-Dina and Eren-Historia relationships and argues that the differences between them will determine how the story ends. Very well-written and illustrated, it’s worth every minute spent reading. Unfortunately, the link is a screencap from imgur, and the very last paragraph has been cut short. I’m unable to find the original article on Quora or the username. Perhaps she left the platform, which is just too bad because I’d love to read her take of Chapters 115-130. If you can find the original article please let me know in the comments so that I can link to it directly.
Thanks to bobdesu_ga for the imgur link!
The Definitive Reasoning – Why He’s the Father by Skyclad__Observer on reddit – Another well-written analysis of the issue (covering up to Chapter 122 of the manga), it argues that given the main themes of the manga, the baby in the final panel is too important to be some nameless, faceless man’s child. Isayama is unlikely to end his masterpiece with some super minor character. The man holding the child is someone very important to the story (most likely Eren), and the baby’s symbolism is too significant for it not to be mothered by someone of equal importance to the story (Historia). The author argues that the themes of natalism (Eren) vs anti-natalism (Zeke) leaves clues as to what Eren and Historia have secretly been doing during the timeskip. Take note that this was published before Ch130 came out. I think the latest chapter only corroborates the author’s point of view.
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Again, thanks to bobdesu_ga for this link!
Enemies of Humanity: The Lamp and the Apple by Costomeister on reddit – Very long and an English translation of a Spanish essay (by José Ignacio on Facebook ETA 10-26-2020 Seems the page has been removed, wtf?! The reddit article is still up, though), but well worth the read. The author traces the development of Eren and Historia’s relationship starting from Chapter 52 onwards, and argues that time and again, the two have given each other hope when everything else seems so bleak. What would have been merely a form of duty for Eren (seeking freedom as per the Attack Titan) has been made into a desire, thanks to Historia and her unborn child. He also dissects the differences and commonalities between Krista (a good girl in chains), Historia (a bad girl with a will of her own), and Frieda (good girl in chains who failed to acquire a will of her own). It is Historia that Eren eventually falls in love with. The piece also delves into symbolism, and it’s great to see how the author is an avid manga reader who knows his stuff. I greatly enjoyed reading this, lengthy and wordy as it was. Best reserved for a bedtime read. The intelligent comments (and not the angry eremika/anti-erehisu ones) are also worth reading.
ETA 10-26-2020 Sara G has kindly supplied me with links to the YouTube video version of the above article. Only the first half has been made, but oh my, it’s a labour of love and well worth the viewing. Spanish narration with English subtitles:
Thank you so much, Sara G, for the links!
That’s it! Once again, if you have other favorite erehisu resources, please leave them in the comments section so I can link to them on the main article.
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Hana! Sorry if it’s a bit impudent to leave a message now after such a long time, but thank you for including my analysis in your favorites, I really appreciate it. A friend told me about this review you did and it gave me so much nostalgia to read you… in a good way. Even if that analysis ended in nothing, it’s always nice to see that at some point it was considered among so many.
OMG José, is that really you?!? I was such a huge fan of your AoT analyses/essays! Your amazing ending theory was a million times better than the tepid, simplistic canon ending dumped over our heads in the final two chapters of the AoT manga. I totally prefer “The Apple and the Lamp” over “The Asshole and the Necrophile” that we got in canon.
I really wish I took the time to say some encouraging words to you while I was still part of the fandom. I know you had to deal with a bazillion haters/jerks/trolls given the unpopularity of erehisu. Sometimes I still get hate mail because of my erehisu fanfic, but I’m sure they’re nothing compared to what you had to go through.
What I want to do is say a BIG THANK YOU for your essays. My main ship in AoT was jeankasa, and I really wasn’t too keen on erehisu at first, but then a bunch of readers sent me messages asking for my version of the pair. The most read story on my blog is my first erehisu fanfic called “The Queen’s Lover” which I wrote before reading your essay. But I wanted to write another one with a grand, surprising, unique ending. It was a struggle because I never really gave erehisu that much thought, so I had to search for deeper inspiration. I found your essay and boom! According to my stats, the resulting fanfic I titled “The Storyteller” is the most commented story on my blog. All thanks to you! Without you sharing your thoughts I’d never have been able to write it.
Yes, I know all our efforts and hopes and dreams regarding AoT have gone to naught, but I’m still grateful to you for all the amazing insights you’ve shared. As a fanfic writer, I think it’s an incredibly useful exercise to write for like-minded readers, and that’s what I’ve been able to do thanks to you. While I’m totally disappointed with the canon story, I’m still glad that as a writer I was able to challenge myself and go beyond my comfort zone to write all the stories I wrote.
What have you been reading/watching lately? Is there anything you’d like to recommend? I’m into a whole bunch of both new and old manga/anime but haven’t had the time to write fanfic or any kind of analysis/meta. The pandemic has doubled (maybe even tripled) my workload and I just don’t have the energy to write stories anymore. But one of these days I do hope to start writing once again!
I wish you all the best in your writing endeavors, as well as work (or studies) and life in general. You are a wonderful writer and have been a great inspiration to me. I hope you won’t let the downer that was AoT stop you from writing/blogging/analysing, whether it’s about someone else’s work or your own original story.
Do have a wonderful 2022! xoxo – hana
Yep, it’s me!
You don’t know how cool it feels that you shared with me that process about your fanfic, it’s because of such things that as much as it may not seem like it, in retrospect I have many more good things to remember than bad. I met amazing artists, amazing writers and amazing people in general, and in the same way that I was pleasantly inspired, seeing how I somehow inspired other people with their creations was a beautiful experience. And personally, that’s what I choose to stay with. There was indeed a negative side to my experience, but I think we all sooner or later burst that naive bubble and realize “the internet way”. Either we accept it or we step aside, since at this point, nothing will get better just because some people disagree. It’s fucked up, but it is what it is. Still, analyzing and doing something with it, be it writing or something else, is a pleasure I don’t deprive myself at all. I just do it in a more intimate way and in my own time, away from any kind kind of communities.
Any recommendations… recently I’m kinda focused on other things so I haven’t been very much into anime and manga, but some time ago I read Tatsuki Fujimoto’s works and I’m fascinated by his narrative style, but you probably already know him, so I don’t know if it counts. Now, I watched a short anime that’s definitely worth recommending called FLCL, and, even if it’s not an anime, I recently finished watching Vikings again and if you’re still interested in the topics that EreHisu developed, you’ll definitely find something to like in that series.
Well, I’ll say goodbye then, it was all a pleasure to read you, have a wonderful 2022 too!
PS: Starting to read “The Storyteller”.
Thank you for the recommendations! I’m really sorry for responding so late; things have been hectic at work lately and honestly, I didn’t think you’d reply in the first place so I didn’t check my blog notifications! 🙁 I know writing takes a lot of time – and this is true whether it’s writing an essay or story or commenting on blogs. I’m very pleased and honoured you did take the time to respond to this fan of yours<3
By Tatsuki Fujimoto do you mean the creator of the “Chainsaw Man” manga? If so, I’m up to date with the current Jump comics so yeah, I’m reading his story. Haven’t read anything other than Chainsaw Man, though. I’ll try to check out his other works when I can. As for FLCL, I remember watching that as a youngster, many years ago 🙂 Maybe I should watch it again as an adult as I mostly forgot the details!
I checked out Vikings and it’s Netflix only, oh no! Up until 2019 I had a Netflix subscription but I cancelled it because all I did was spend every minute of my free time watching drama shows, ahaha! I’d get home from work, binge watch an entire series throughout the night, and get to the office the next day with only one to two hours of sleep! You can just imagine what that did to my workplace performance xD But I do enjoy stuff on the History channel so I’m sure Vikings is my cup of tea. I’ll try to find a way to watch it! I’m much more likely to watch something when someone I respect recommends it 🙂
Speaking of history, like you I took time out of writing about anime/manga after the AoT series ended and read a bunch of novels on my To Read list that I’d been ignoring for a while. Amongst my top fav is Hilary Mantel’s series on Thomas Cromwell. I had no idea how an otherwise boring old political figure could become a thoroughly interesting protagonist in historical fiction, but Mantel’s masterful writing really bowled me over. I’m in love with her writing style and have begun to read her oeuvre, but I don’t think any of them measure up to the Cromwell series.
I’d be absolutely honoured if you’d read “The Storyteller”! The ending was totally inspired by you! I’d love to know what you think. Oh, and before I forget, if you have a website or blog you’d like me to link to, please let me know. I used to have a link to your FB page but a reader told me it had been deleted, so I only linked to the translation of your Lamp essay on reddit, plus the YouTube vids. I will always and forever be part of the minority that wholeheartedly believes your ending theory was waaaaaay better than the canon one. We unicorns are rare and precious so we ought to stick together and support each other!<3
If you want to see the videos in Spanish (American Spanish), they are good. Really good. Now there are two among the four programmed. It looks as they (José Ignacio and his people) got their Facebook closed, I don’t know why.
Youtube user: Pieck’s Crew.
First video: Enemigos de la humanidad: el farol y la manzana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9rBJ0_Tm0U
Second video: Enemigos de la humanidad: el farol: la luz de Historia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FqIyB_KB3U
Nextly programmed video: Enemigos de la humanidad: el farol: la luz de Eren
OMG why was Jose’s FB page removed??? It was one of the best-written, most thoughtful pages out there (though my Spanish language skills are non-existent so I could only read the articles people have kindly translated to English). Has he moved to another platform? Does he have twitter or any other account other than FB? 🙁
Thank you very much for the YouTube links! I’ll add them to the main article. Ugh, how could anyone downvote the videos?!? Fucking assholes!
oh my that spanish article was amazing just finished reading it am impressed thanks for the link
So glad you read it! I loved it, really very well-written and expressed. It’s so obvious the author loves the entire manga and the story it’s trying to tell, and not just one or two characters. It made me wish I paid attention in Spanish class! I’d love to read the original and also comment on it in Spanish. Do you remember how I used to sleep in class? I was such a bad student and now I regret it xD
Anyway, what I enjoyed the most was his take on the apple’s symbolism. The apple symbolises fertility/sexuality, and Founder Ymir offers the apple to the devil. In Ch130 we see Historia ‘offering’ herself to Eren, who is the modern version of the devil in the storybook. The difference is that Founder Ymir was coerced into everything and had little say about her life, but Historia is the opposite. She chose to be with Eren, and given their history together it’s logical to surmise they have positive feelings for each other, perhaps even romantic ones. So Ymir’s children are born out of duty, but Historia’s is born out of love. It’s this very important difference that will change the course of history.
Don’t you just love lore like that, legendary love stories that took thousands of years to happen??? I do, so, so much! I’ve actually forgotten all about the apple and Krista & Frieda’s storybook. It’s really great to see a fellow fan of the manga taking everything into account and tying up all the bits and pieces. I wish I had the energy to translate the piece into Japanese so that local fans can have an idea of just how much the international fandom loves the manga and the epic story it’s trying to tell.