Mikasa Ackerman Is A TERRIBLE Character | Attack on Titan Analysis

Attack on Titan season 4 had some of the craziest moments in anime history we had Armin nuking a town we had Levi going ham against the Beast Titan again we had the introduction of the baddest waifu in the show but my favorite moment in season 4 isn't any one of those it's this one this little scene where Aaron talks to the two people he's closest with in the whole world for the first time in forever and he just shits on them and I can already hear people saying wait what you actually liked Aaron beating the crap out of Armin and making Mikasa cry what the hell is wrong with you and calm down calm down let me explain I went into this video wanting it to be an entry in my series about fixing anime characters check out the last one where I covered Sakura but that series is based on staying as true to the character as possible which doesn't work here because as Aaron explains in the scene Mikasa has no character so this video is in focus on fixing Mikasa it's more so just explaining why she sucks Mikasa sucks because oh there's no real easy way to say this but uh look you're a simp and if that feels overly simplistic or reductive just hear me out [Music] being a simp is okay if it's one part of your character arm and Sims for any and we still love him Gene John Sims from mikasan we still have him simping isn't okay if it's your whole character and it is mikasa's whole character don't believe me here's a list of things Mikasa has done that doesn't directly involve her protecting either Aaron or her friends one she threatens the businessman whose cart blocks the gate in season one and two she tells Historia to punch Levi when she becomes Queen and that's literally it everything else is her being subservient to Aaron she kills her kidnapper because Aaron tells her to she joins the survey corps because Aaron does everything in her entire life revolves around Eric and now you might say hey that's not fair Mika says a great character she's a strong woman who is super strong and can do cool Beyblade spinny tricks when was the last time you saw a woman in Shonen who is as powerful as Mikasa and to that I say strength does not a good character make if that strength is only in service of someone else and is mostly used as a plot device then it's not even really her strength it's Aaron's strength which is exactly what Aaron says in the scene and that's why I love it so much it's basically the author acknowledging mikasa's role in the story and acknowledging what a terrible job he did fighting her Aaron says he says and he's right even when Aaron is doing morally questionable things Mikasa wants to help him even when he insults her an Armin at the table well Mikasa helps him by restraining Armin it takes Aaron literally attempting a genocide for her to go okay maybe this guy isn't all that after all [ __ ] Sherlock that slight change of heart is also the entirety of development that she gets in the entire show she never changes her philosophy or meets someone that changes her as a human being she's just kind of along for the ride more plot device than character and that is why mikusa sucks seriously I read through the aot wiki I reread parts of the manga and I watched the amagi's video on the life of Mikasa in preparation for this video and I couldn't find anything that talked about her ideology her attitude on things anything that doesn't involve Aaron in some way characters become distinct when they have attitudes when they have opinions in Shonen it's usually when they take a stand against something think Shikamaru choosing to Forfeit against tamari or zenitsu protecting naizuka's box from minosuke a character can be a simp and still have a personality but I think too often in Shonen women especially aren't given the freedom or complexity of their male counterparts the mirror in aot the Titan not the sand Lolly she is defined by her simply towards historia I find it really disappointing that the same guy who wrote Aaron who wrote Reiner and Erwin and Levi would have so much trouble writing his female characters with any complexity some people like Mikasa by saying she's supposed to be Simplicity in the face of complexity that in the world of aot where we're confronted with questions of freedom of War and Peace Mikasa represents someone who just wants to be with her loved ones and if that's what isayama was going for then maybe it wouldn't be so bad but if you read the Manga you know that she's supposed to have way more significance than that I'm not going to spoil anything but manga readers you know what I'm talking about she's supposed to have as much significance to the plot and philosophy as anyone she just doesn't and even if that kind of simplistic screw the world I'm only here for Aaron kind of mentality was what isayama was going for that still could have been fleshed out way more than it was do get this one throwaway line here where mikusa asks Aaron if he realizes that he's killed innocence but past this it's never really developed Mikasa Ackerman from the start was a plot device and an extension of Aaron's will and never really got the chance to be her own character and that really sucks if you liked this video please consider subscribing liking and all that jazz let me know if I missed something or if you actually like Mikasa or how you change her I make anime content every single week so hop in enjoy the ride it's literally free so yeah and yeah until now until next time I guess [Music]

Channel: Monkfruit

Views: 18,431

Keywords: mikasa, mikasa ackerman, mikasa ackerman analysis, mikasa analysis, attack on titan analysis, mikasa simp

Id: Tw-AFuSO_jY

Length: 6min 23sec (383 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 05 2022