Attack on Titan Manga: Chapter 126 Review

[Warning: Contains spoilers]

A friend and I were discussing Jean remembering poor Marco after all these years. Jeanmarco shippers are apparently having a field day thanks to this new chapter. How did I feel about all this, she wanted to know.

Well, I stand by my main ship: Jean x Eren. Eren is the love of Jean’s life–that’s what I’d like to believe. I believed that for many years, though heaven knows the number of people who mock and/or don’t even acknowledge the validity of that ship.

Anyway. I can only ever see Marco as Jean’s best friend. But that doesn’t in any way diminish his importance in Jean’s character development. The question “Who does Jean love more, Marco or Eren?” is misleading.

For me it’s impossible to compare because they are different types of love: Jean’s love for Marco is platonic, his love for Eren is romantic, his love for his mother is familial. I don’t think one is “greater” than the other in that I feel all types of love are important and rather futile to quantify; I can see Jean giving up his life for all three of the above.

I don’t think that romantic love is “better” than platonic love, or that familial love is “lesser” than romantic love, and so on. They’re just different but all good–apples and oranges and grapes. Having one doesn’t diminish the other, because they all work together. I think the luckiest people have all three at the same time, so I consider Jean lucky. 

The depth of Jean’s feelings in all types of love is one of the things I find very appealing about his character: he remembers and cherishes Marco’s friendship after all these years; he shows how much he loves Eren by trying to understand him and see things from his point of view; and hopefully he went to check on his mom when the wall titans started to march!

Jean is so fully human and well-rounded in his relationships (a stark contrast to Mikasa, who at this point seems to value only one person and one type of love).

Anyway, on to other scenes in the chapter.

The previous chapter (125) really got me worried for our beloved Jean but thank goodness he’s back to being awesome in the latest chapter. That “Damn, I missed” tongue-in-cheek remark really made my day. 

 As for Mikasa, what a cold-hearted bitch, taking a scarf she left behind away from a dying girl, an admirer of hers at that! Her reddit fans are out fangs bared trying to defend her callous behavior, but goodness this chapter really takes the cake in proving her character’s lack of compassion. In the last panel she doesn’t have the scarf on, so I’m still holding out hope that she had the kindness to wrap it around Louise the way Eren did for her (not likely, though, because in the Final AoT exhibit in Tokyo the scarf is seen among the ruins…)

Anyway, I’ve kind of given up on Mikasa at this point. What a stony, unsympathetic, only-one-man-matters type of churlish character…sigh…such a waste of potential (Isayama, I’m lookin’ at ya!). The Mikasa I’d like to have back is the one in Chapter 66, in the Reiss cave when Levi, Jean and Connie go to save Eren while Mikasa doesn’t make a beeline for him but instead prioritizes and saves Historia. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there…sigh.

As for Floch, he’s truly full of shit and Jean knows it! Floch’s just incredibly annoying at this point but I understand a villainous character like him is necessary in moving the plot forward. So I tolerate him because he’s a plot point and source of requisite tension/controversy, which any story requires to fight off monotony/blandness/predictability. But if he does anything to permanently harm Jean I will never forgive him (I’m lookin’ at ya, Isayama!)

Enough of these mean folk, let’s talk about Marco! He only had a few short scenes in the early days of the manga, but he’s turning out to be a great supporting character. In the official guidebook he’s labeled as Jean’s “shinyu” or best friend, so that’s really what he is and a source of inspiration and (survivor’s) guilt for Jean. Marco did his part in making Jean the incredible guy he is today, and Jean is remembering and honoring him the way best friends do. Chapter 18 in the manga is still one of my all-time favorite chapters, the one where Sasha teases Jean about his love for Eren and where Marco sees through Jean’s purported arrogance and self-centeredness and tells him he’s actually the one most worthy of being their leader.

I love their friendship, but in no way do I ship marjean. When it comes to romantic love (not brotherly or platonic love like the one between Jean and Marco), for me there are two pairs that beat out all the rest: eruri and erejean. The love of Jean’s life? It’s Eren through and through. At least that’s what my headcanon likes to believe! 😀 

In the end, who cares about ships? Ships come and go, they seem to set sail one day and then get capsized the next. Sometimes a friend and I are looking at the exact same manga panel and I be like “Ooooh, he loves him!” and she be like, “What? He just being polite!” 

In the end, we see what we want to see. It’s all in our heads. All of it.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider sharing a thought or two in the comment section below. Your comments give me life and are a real source of encouragement. xoxo, hana

Next – Chapter 127 Review

Back – Chapter 125 Review

Leaving a comment is the best way to help this blog grow. If you’d much rather tip than comment, please use the jar below. Any kind of support is very much appreciated!

---