Shingeki no Kyojin Chapter 55 Discussion

wanderingland said:
I know I might be in the minority, but I'm not exactly thrilled about the whole Historia becoming Queen development, though it's an excellent plot twist. What I don't like is that Historia is still a minor and a member of the Scouting Legion. What does she know about being a noble, let alone ruling the entire Walled Country and governing over the humans within? Therefore unless she gets a crash course in being a Queen, she'll end up as nothing more than a puppet-ruler under Erwin or some combination of him and his trusted staff. Which, of course, is probably what Erwin wants in the first place; with the ruler of the country in his pocket, he can do almost whatever he wants for the benefit of mankind without having to hack his way through red-tape and government conspiracy and greed.
A good plan but...it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

GodlyKyon said:


Because women aren't know for being rulers in history? The famous ones(victoria and elizabeth, and cixi) are very rare examples, and there hasn't been any high ranking official that's a woman yet, so far.

Also, those are goddessess, pretty sure they're different from actual people as the majority of people doesn't seem to believe in the cult. But Fair point, I suppose it's possible that females are accepted. But it IS Eren who seems to have almost caused a civil war, and he's being seen as a hero.

pwnagekitten said:


You can't really draw much parallels between real world and a fictional world of SNK where gender roles seem less divided, there are women in army and in high ranking positions. Also asides 2 queens you mention, there are lots more women on high positions today, arguably still less in number then men, but not to be diminished either.

About the whole "she's gravitating towards Eren", it's much easier to understand her position if you understand her character (as much as you can really, it's pretty difficult). In her training years and after, she bonded with nobody except Ymir which is self-explanatory when you learn about her past life. She hasn't connected to anyone, and hasn't bothered to talk to anyone either since Ymir left.

Eren was probably the first person after that flat out told her that her fake image of perfection she was hoping to achieve wasn't good at all. Just because they exchanged few words and was shown in one panel looking at him holding the key doesn't automatically mean they share a special bond. If anything, I think they're somehow related, they have identical eyes and face, and share the same facial features as well as memories with "Geographica", or however you call her lol.

And lastly about the whole homosexuality thing we don't know her at all. I wouldn't be surprised at all. As you said if the society within the walls is conservative in that matter it could be seen as obstruction but it's too early to tell anything.

pwnagekitten said:
^

It's perfectly fine. I think it's ok to pity her at this point because it was all fake till now. Except few moments where her true self is shown, when shouting "I'm not scared if I'm with you, I'll fight" blah blah when talking to Ymir on the battlefield you know :P

So true Historia is one brave little bastard. She just needs time to evolve on her own, devoid of her "girlfriend". I think even Hajime said he struggles with her character. But I think observing her growth will be fascinating, highly doubt he'll let her rot aside.

Now when's Annie coming out? -.-

GodlyKyon said:


I imagined a scene where Eren and Annie reconcile their stories, would be a good way to reintroduce her.

Historia... Looks like Eren will be the one filling her heart now that most of the other important people that are important to her, are gone. I dunno what makes her brave, but I am glad she's evolved beyond the stale cute loli character that made her so popular.

pwnagekitten said:


She wasn't a "stale cute loli" character, she was faking an image of a "good little girl" with suicidal tendencies because she was told so way before that this is the way she should behave.

And this is what I believe is her real self:

http://www.onemanga.me/wp-content/manga/809/54/Attack_on_Titan_5019.jpg

Now that her support is gone (for the time being. I mean cmon, it's just building up for a reunion) she'll find other ways to rely on herself. Maybe she'll even reject being the Queen tho I doubt she'll have much choice in the matter.

GodlyKyon said:


I just hope something well lthoughtout happens, this king character being introduced seems rather rushed to me... But then again, you can never tell whether a series could succeed, so him not bieng foreshadowed earlier could be forgiven.

bbboi90 said:



On a serious note, though I admit that she was treated as some background character in the beginning of the series, I agree she had evolved into a more well-rounded character as the series goes on. If Isayama keep it up with her characterization, she could even become better character than Eren will ever be.
huehuehue

pwnagekitten said:
For some reason whenever I watch anime with large cast of interesting characters, they always end up being more interesting then the main character. In the case of SNK sometimes I forget that Eren is main...how come authors always make supporting cast seem more relevant and interesting then main ones? I'll always find Ymir, Armin and Erwin 10x more interesting and developed then Eren ._.

jreginald said:


I think that's more a case of you liking those characters more than Eren. I acknowledge and respect Armin for being smart as hell but not so long ago, my brothers would always mention how useless and annoying he was (see ep. 5). His growth does make him more likable but I still don't find him to be such an appealing character. But the same can be said about Eren, my brother also finds him annoying & stubborn. But I like Eren because he's the persistent type. There were a lot of things that made me like Eren (saving Mikasa at a young age, saving everyone from the Titans when he first turned into a Titan, bursting through Titan Clause, protecting Armin & Mikasa from the cannonball, protecting Mikasa and everyone with The Coordinate, etc.) even though he's not exactly the most developed character in the show (mainly because he's still so stubborn, but that's not exactly a bad thing). But you can't say Eren isn't a developed character -- he's gone a long way from being the helpless kid that couldn't save his mother from a Titan.

Also, I don't see how Erwin is more developed than Eren but he is definitely very interesting. And he's become a very likable character for me as well.

It's not really a matter of the supporting characters overshadowing the main, Isayama just did a fine job of making different characters appeal to different folks.

jreginald said:


I think that's more a case of you liking those characters more than Eren. I acknowledge and respect Armin for being smart as hell but not so long ago, my brothers would always mention how useless and annoying he was (see ep. 5). His growth does make him more likable but I still don't find him to be such an appealing character. But the same can be said about Eren, my brother also finds him annoying & stubborn. But I like Eren because he's the persistent type. There were a lot of things that made me like Eren (saving Mikasa at a young age, saving everyone from the Titans when he first turned into a Titan, bursting through Titan Clause, protecting Armin & Mikasa from the cannonball, protecting Mikasa and everyone with The Coordinate, etc.) even though he's not exactly the most developed character in the show (mainly because he's still so stubborn, but that's not exactly a bad thing). But you can't say Eren isn't a developed character -- he's gone a long way from being the helpless kid that couldn't save his mother from a Titan.

Also, I don't see how Erwin is more developed than Eren but he is definitely very interesting. And he's become a very likable character for me as well.

It's not really a matter of the supporting characters overshadowing the main, Isayama just did a fine job of making different characters appeal to different folks.

GodlyKyon said:
None of the characters make me feeling anything in this series, except MAYBE Annie...

Old_Raven said:

You dont enjoy Erens burning hatred?? That was the selling point to me.

Old_Raven said:

You dont enjoy Erens burning hatred?? That was the selling point to me.

GodlyKyon said:


I think I might have forgotten what it was like in the beginning of the series. But I guess, Eren was actually one fo the better protagonists. But over the long period of time I think my opinion changed with the focus on plot rather on individual characters... IDK, I may feel for them, but not on the level where I would remember them as succinctly different.

pwnagekitten said:
You got it all wrong bitches, Historia is Queen of humanity, Ymir is Queen of titans, and in order to bring peace to humanity they have to marry.

Plot resolved.

:P

pwnagekitten said:
Thing is. I never said Eren wasn't developed, you might want to read my post again - I said that other characters I provided as an example seem MORE developed then him.

While I can definitely see some growth in Eren's character it's overshadowed by some other characters in the manga. Yes, to me Armin (from a helpless nerd turning into what I believe will be a ruthless person with morals of sacrifice that will clash with Eren) , Ymir (her especially, character development just in few chapters put most other chars to shame), Erwin and few others are 10x more interesting and seem more developed. But that doesn't mean that I hold a personal bias against Eren because he's nowhere on my list of favorite characters, or because he falls in the annoying shonen trope. (even if he IS a lot more level headed now) I simply observe the flow of story and character development so far.

If I had one complaint that would be Mikasa. The only time I actually felt she evolved was when she thought Eren was dead (which was even extended in the anime version). Other from her being a usual bad ass I don't feel much for her. There are minor hints that show that she may be good friends with Sasha and maybe it should be a tool for her development somehow...

Godtier_Taste said:
I'd like to have Historia as my queen... no! She is my queen... sorry Reiner... she's mine dude.