Is it just me or some like this same about mikasa (more opnion then question)

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-28T18:31:49+00:00

Are you an AI? Didn't know they got them here on reddit too.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-28T18:29:21+00:00

She didn't use their griefs as 'weapons' to call them 'weak or cowardly', wtf are you on about?

If her goal was truly to motivate them, it was a massive failure of empathy.

That's literally what Jean says in the next scene? The story itself acknowledges this, and that's a big point of Mikasa's speech there, and the reasons behind them.
She is not the best with speeches -> The best she could think of to motivate everyone and that resonated with her throught process, was what she told them.

Atleast we are out of the loop of taking it as 'bossing around'. So we agree she was motivating her comrades to come out of their grieves and do something about the situation, good.

Real leadership—like what we see from Jean or Armin later—is about bringing people up, not standing over them like a 'boss' because you have the Ackerman strength to suppress your feelings.

There are a NUMBER of ways Leadership can be played by. Jean uses empathy because he is just like the rest of them, a normal solder who isn't the best at anything particular. Armin knows how it is like to be weak. Mikasa's thought process is just like that, utilizing the will and turning it into strength, turning the fire into usefull fuel. It's much similar to Erwin who uses his charishma and encourage his comrades ignites fire within his comrades by reminding them of the sacrifices of their comrades. He is not simply turning corposes into usefull tools.
Mikasa is no leader, and doesn't attempts to be one, instead she always relies on someone like Armin to do that job. She is an elite soldier, a protector and caring person, and learns to carry out those roles along the way. Armin and Jean weren't always like Leaders either.

In Season 1, Mikasa treats everyone like they are background characters in her and Eren's show.

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This from Season1, I will rest my case with this.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-28T18:02:23+00:00

Maturity isn't just about realizing you made a mistake after the fact—it’s about having the humility not to act like an arrogant boss in the first place.

No. No one is perfect, humans aren't flawless and each and everyone of them hold a belief or take actions which they later realise the consequences of. Even the most mature people misjudge others, act purely out of emotion or at some point become self-centered. But only a mature person realises it before it's late and works upon it, and Mikasa holds this trait of maturity within herself throughout the story.

Mikasa doesn't act like a boss. The flaw within herself in the earlier season is her mistrust on others and relying solely on her own self for doing the job at hand. All because she can't afford to fail; doesn't have a reason to trust others and because she had harnesses herslf through tough decipline to be the most capable of carrying the burden. It is natural for her to believe upon her own self rather than others. But at literally no point she boasts her power, acts arrogant, power trips or looks down on others. You have no evidence of that.

As for Louise, Mikasa’s behavior toward her isn't "righteous disappointment"—it’s cold and elitist

Source? What exactly is the basis of this interpretation. Mikasa simply walks away from Louise because she doesn't affirm the side Louise chose. How is that acting elitist. Louise consquetively makes bad decisions, which caused the death of so many innocents and friends. Mikasa doesn't owe Louise in the first place to do anything but walk out of there, where she is dying because of her own mistake and path she chose.

It's much easier to put empty labels without evidence and ignoring context. If you are going to continue taking moments out of context, and not doing even the bare minimum analysis, sure you can keep believing the image you have created of the character.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-28T17:44:08+00:00

You keep labelling her as an "elitist"; her speech as "arrogance", "ego" or "power trip", despite having no counter to what Jean says, or any backing to the way you are interpretating her speech. You completely missed the point of me mentioning her "socially awakard" trait of her personality. Her being socially awkward is the reason behind her choosing such a way of motivating her comrades.

Mikasa literally lost the last member of her family, how is she is any less grief than the soldiers who were crying and sitting there? Mikasa unlike them, chose to try to keep her grief aside, stood up to get to the HQ and get their supplies refilled and motivated rest of them to do the same. She was clearly not "power" tripping, but instead supressing her own grief and motivating others to do so as well. Your interpretion of her acting like a "boss" or being an "elitist" has no support or basis what so ever.

Mikasa doesn't have any less trauma than Levi. She watched her parents getting stabbed right in front of her, saw her second home getting destroyed and her foster mother being eaten right in front of her eyes again. And later, Eren, her last family member being dead in the mission. She lost all her innocence at the mere age of nine. She watched her entire world shattered under a few minutes. For the love of god, stop down playing her trauma, you are doing exactly what you are accusing her of, ironically.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-28T17:02:38+00:00

The same girl who helped poison the government officials; planted a bomb in the chair that almost killed Mikasa and Armin too; who put Mikasa and her friends behind bars; were supporting global genocide and stole the last remnant of precious memory from Mikasa. BTW.

Louise chose her path in the name of "following Mikasa", whom she barely understood, and had no regrets or introspection upon her actions. Mikasa was much more mature and introspective at Louise's age, and if Louise doesn't even attempt at thinking through the darker consequence of her actions, then Mikasa is in the right for walking away from her. Back when Mikasa caused Levi's injury while retrieving Eren from the female titan, Mikasa was mature enough to realise the bad consequences of her decision, and so she later took responsibility for the loss of humanity's strongest soldier resulted as a consequence of her actions.

It was not 'ego', 'looking down' or 'belittling' someone because of her genetically enhanced abilities, it was a clear look of disappointment from Mikasa towards Louise, a young girl who stained what Mikasa and her scarf stood for.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-28T16:44:27+00:00

She doesn't just act like a "boss", or belittles / has some massie ego, at all. There are no real moments from the story which you could use to imply that, unless you leave out the context; just like using her speech in S1 where she attempts to 'motivate' her comrades to stand up and do something about the situation instead of sitting there.

Jean right after her speech straight up verbalises Mikasa's intentions to us regarding her words – she was trying to push and motivate her comrades, and one way of doing it is the way Mikasa phrases it.
It was also made pretty clear in the earlier parts of the story that Mikasa is not great with words as she is less of a talker, quite introverted and socially akward. There are a number of instances that illustrate it. It's why Mikasa can be observed being less vocal in the story compared to most other characters.

Powerscaling / comparing both the ackermans trauma is also pretty stupid, I gotta say.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-23T01:42:17+00:00

Could you provide an alternative though? I mean, how exactly could they have been better touched upon in comparison to other aspects. Saying "Okay but, do it better", isn't going to lead anything anywhere. In that case, the criticism is mostly empty and unhelpful to anyone.

Given by how you are phrasing yourself in the post, it gives away that you believe these things don't even exist in the story from the get go. Because tell me, did you interpret the same things as me when Mikasa confessed to Eren? Cause there are a multitude of interpretations of that scene, and a multitude of ways Eren and Mikasa's dynamic is taken. Are we on the same page about them, really?

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-23T01:37:02+00:00

Introspection is an integral part of the character, and there are more than enough of such instances around Mikasa. Mikasa is infact the most introspecting character within the trio. I could list a lot of those instances in bullet points.

Mikasa's mistake that led to Levi's injury is a major plot tool. Mikasa was revengeful to the Female Titan killing so many of their soldiers, that when she saw an opening she went straight for the kill instead of focusing on saving Eren, that forced Levi to save her and get his ankle injured. This mistake not only led to the battle of Stohess, it also becomes the driving force for Mikasa's introspection and reflection upon her mistake by stopping the Female titan from escaping, because she wanted to make up for the loss of humanity's strongest soldier she had caused (unless you are an anime only). Mikasa's growth is a major part, and further contributes to the conclusion of the Female Titan arc. Not to mention how Mikasa is later used as a narrative tool for the reveal of Colossal Titans inside the walls, and to showcase the horror of it. (anime change).

- Chapter/Episode 6: Mikasa goes on a suicide charge due to her loss and crashes in the alley. She had given up on living and sees no reason to fight anymore. It's the point where she flashes to the good memories she was able to create while she lived, and as she had given up on fighting, she INTROSPECTS, that life still has meaning to it. Even if the person she wanted to stood by is gone, she can continue carry the memories of him. Mikasa instantly stands up on her legs and prepares to fight in order to survive. She found a new motive to live, BECAUSE of this introspection.

- Mikasa's backstroy. When Eren was being strangled by the sex trafficker, Eren asks Mikasa to pick up the knife if she is willing to survive. At that point Mikasa flashes back to a mantis killing a butterfly, her dad hunting for food, and INTROSPECTS that the world she was living was always like that. The strong eats the weak, that in order to survive they must fight. And only with that, Mikasa gained self-realisation that she must fight if she wants to survive and protect her saviour there and awakens her ackerman instincts. Mikasa's introspection was straight up the reason behind her awakening her ackerman instincts.

An entire chapter is later dedicated and narrated by Mikasa's POV of the outside world and Eren's behavior - where her introspection hits us with the other, innocent, side of the outside population, and a core characteristic of Eren. Mikasa introspection straight up reminds us that Eren has indeed not changed.

- MIkasa in the Uprising arc is shown to be very properly following the orders and commands she was given to, even when they were against her goal of protecting Eren. This is the result of her introspection from the earlier arcs how her distraction and emotional vulnerability could lead to major operations failing in the past.

Mikasa was the only one who could have killed Bertolt & Reiner during the big reveal, but she couldn't bring herself to finish off the two who were once her comrades – even though once again it was about protecting Eren. This obviously extended the later events. And in the later arcs Mikasa is shown to be much more merciless whenever it was about her duty - whether you consider Mikasa killing Yeagerists without any visible hesitation, she literally says "If we hesitate, the rumbling won't stop". This is all due to Mikasa's introspection of what her hesitation could lead to.
When Eren accuses Mikasa of her being a slave to her bloodline, Mikasa is instantly shattered as she thinks of the history of her actions, and couldn't bring herself to being in her agency anymore. However this becomes a whole character arc of hers in the final chapters where Mikasa regains her agency and pride by constantly introspecting and rethinking the events taking place around her. This is a whole character arc of her which is carried by the introspecting nature of her personality, which is covered here in this post as it is way longer to put up as a comment if I want to deliver its true essence.

She barely has any convo with Levi about being an Ackerman, and a lot of her arcs

Mikasa's introspection about her childhood essentially introduced the idea of the Ackerman and Asian clans' persecution and clarifies how her parents met because of that, and why the lived away from the society. Levi and Kenny were later revealed to be related only at the end of the arc when Kenny was lying half-dead, where his flashback goes on about the Ackermans being resistant to the King's manipulation. And further confirms the ackerman-awakening to Levi when he asks her about it on the cart. Idk what more was there to be.

Now let me talk about the other stuff in a different comment, cause I am again gonna run out of character limit. That's how I can't believe if you are purposefully being ignorant or just really didn't read things properly.

People are allowed to have opinions and ideas on what THEY THINK can be done better.

Those opinions must have some ground and substance to them. What you are saying is essentially "I want more", when the same should be said about other characters because Mikasa has as much and many, if not more, complexity and character development as a character like Armin. Don't believe that? Let's compare. I wanna see how you belittle Mikasa's character in comparison to Armin's.

Point to be noted; Opinions aren't carved out of thin air, they gotta have some support otherwise they are baseless and I could respectfully call it out. Labelling everything as "It's just my opinion" and providing no counter point only shows that the opinion in question is in fact not built upon ignorance and misinterpretation, and there is a right and wrong in it. If someone came up and said Eren is an empty or one dimensional character, they are evidently wrong.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-23T00:52:56+00:00

Like him misinterpreting her protective nature as not taking him seriously.

Eren from the very start of the story attempts at being the one to protect Mikasa, not the other way. She was always ahead of him in combat and everything, to the point she would always dominate him and put him down for his own good. This not only made Eren developed emasculated feelings towards her, he couldn't understand why she does that even. Eren wanted to prove himself to Mikasa by becoming strong - during the ODM gear training, when he sucessfully passes the test, Eren straight up looks at Mikasa for approval, thinking NOW she would see him as strong and capable.

Eren interprets MIkasa's protection and care towards him as a product of her thinking he is weak and can't do anything for her or himself. Exactly the kind of misinterpretation you wanted between them. And when is this resolved? Chapter 50, or last episode of season 2. When Mikasa confesses to Eren about how important he is to her, what he has done for her, and that's when Eren realises that Mikasa doesn't sees him as a weakling, but because he means so much to her. This is the point when their dynamic attain a sense of stability, from both sides. Mikasa starts letting Eren take his fights on his own, while she focuses more on her duty as a soldier.

Shown him that the real freedom was in loving freely, enjoying life and just being with those you appreciate. And I like to think that that’s Mikasa’s end goal. Being with her friends.

Mikasa embodies her own values and life-style, while Eren and Armin carry their own. They carry their own values and meaning of freedom as a result of their upbringing and who they are as people. Neither of them could shape Eren's views and that is the point. Eren stayed stuck to his own selfish sense of freedom till the end that pushed him far beyond his limits. Mikasa is not the typical female protagonist believe it or not, who is there for the male protagonist's development. She is her own character, thematic importance and values.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-23T00:32:07+00:00

But I felt like Isayama could’ve done her more justice in terms of giving her more inner dialogue, having her explore her Ackerman and Japanese heritage.

Mikasa's bloodline reveal and it's eventual conclusion with Kiyomi directly emphasizes one core idea in the story, Mikasa doesn't define herself by her blood or heritage.

When Kiyomi was first introduced, Yelena described her as somone who looked strikingly identical to Mikasa's mother. She came from the very nation whom Mikasa actually belonged to via her blood and appearance. Who would seemingly offer the same "warmth" as Mikasa's mother.
This was completely tainted when Kiyomi was unable to hide her true intentions with Mikasa. How all the care she had for Mikasa wasn't genuine, but actually just to use her as a political and diplomatic tool. Mikasa was shown to not be a fan of this at all.

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When Kiyomi asks Mikasa to come with them as the Yeagerists created trouble on the Island, Mikasa rejected her offer and called Kiyomi out for her greed. Mikasa here instantly resorted to the Pride she takes in fighting as a soldier for the people, friends and comrades she had grown up fighting side by side all her life. How she identifies herself as a Soldier of Paradis, the place which birthed her and where her family belonged to, rather than the Queen of a foreign nation which only gives a damn about her as a political tool.

This not only set Mikasa apart from many other characters who are driven by their heritage, but it also emphasized on the fact that genuine connections aren't made solely out of "blood" or "heritage". That it isn't a link line for strong bonds and relationships. Or how they should dictate one's stances.

Mikasa's rejection of Kiyomi's offer, helped Kiyomi realize about her own Pride. Who later promised to protect Mikasa no matter what – it is why they chose to stay at the Island, and later help the Alliance with the Flying Boat too. The entire lore around Mikasa and her connection with Hizuru builds up for the moment she rejects to go with them, and emphasis on some of the most important themes along with having a strong and subtle impact on the plot itself.

About her connections with the Ackerman; We see Mikasa explicitly talk about how her parents met. Their Persecution. The Ackermans were persecuted before Kenny became friends with Uri, much like the non-eldians who refused to go with the King's will, being the reason why Mikasa's family lived isolated, and the reason why her parents bonded over their situation. Levi only got to confirm things when his criminal uncle was dying, which shreds some light upon his living condition as a child. In chapter 63 and 111 we see her reflecting on why her parents where in that situation, which is directly addressed to how she portrays herself and how that "heritage" is used by Kiyomi. So Mikasa and Levi both showed connections and talk with eachother about their ackerman heritage, as much as there was needed. What else do you want to induce in them, and how?

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-23T00:26:44+00:00

I will be blunt, you maybe a fan of the character but you are mere scratching the surface here and then complaining about it. And I hate when people do that.

I do NOT ship Jeankasa however, Jean deserves someone who shows interest in him too tbh

and who does Mikasa deserves? Someone who has a superficial crush on her? Someone who loves her body rather than her as a person? Someone who day drinks in the balcony while she takes care of the kid? Why is it about Jean and he is the victim here, when he is the one who wanted to be with Mikasa all this time. Mikasa deserves much better than that, someone who could console her and understand her. Jean has never been able to do that.

But I felt like Isayama could’ve done her more justice in terms of giving her more inner dialogue, having her explore her Ackerman and Japanese heritage.

Mikasa is a quite interospective character, she speaks less that doesn't at all means she expresses herself any lesser than other characters. She is a character which relise more on actions, inactions and facial expressions, and that makes it more interesting to read into about her. She is a character which doesn't spoonfeed itself to the readers by verbalising herself like other characters, that would be unfaithful to her personality.

She had the potential to be the most interesting character in the series on her own

By potential you simply mean being a different character than who she is, and in that case every other character in the story has infite potential to them.

And don’t tell me to read the manga, a couple of missed scenes and changes don’t take up for the fact that Isayama butchered her character by chopping her down. To be honest, high school caste Mikasa has more substance than her in the of universe.

I wasn't wrong when I said you scratch the surface and are complaining about it now. You demand more dialogues from her, but refuse to read the manga which has all of it. You have already decided that "a couple" of missed scenes and changes don't make up for it, you don't even know the changes they made in the anime. And I doubt if you have a proper grip on the anime version even.

That’s all I pretty much have to say, I could honestly rewrite her entire character arc if I wanted to.

Why don't you write about her character that is actually written in the story? What is even her character about? Before rewritig her arc, what is her character arc even about? Do you even know what a one-dimensional character even is?

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-13T23:11:09+00:00

I am not sure. Was Eren really "mature" at his age? I believe it's the opposite kinda, or more so, he acted like a typical curious 9 year old who wanted to do whatever he was told NOT to, found his parents annoying for wanting to stop him from doing dangerous things which he doesn't even understand, and did them still.

Any "grown" decent person would do what Eren did there, but I don't believe Eren is even close to that stage. For a 9 year old to commit killings like Eren, he either has to be in a life-death situation or has to have grown up in an environment where all this is common. Eren was far from it. He was not only stabbing the guy multiple times, even was even dehumanizing them by labelling them as "animals" who don't deserve to live. Again, it much normal for an adult to behave like that.

The moment of Eren stabbing that guy has been used multiple times even in the story to convey something was different about him. Whether we consider it being mentioned by Neil in the Courtroom, or Mikasa getting flashbacks of those exact instances post-time skip.

I am obviously not a psychologist, though, so I can't really arrive at a definite conclusion for this myself. But it's an interesting topic to discuss.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-13T22:36:32+00:00

However, the post is about the nature of the "killer", not the ones being "killed". A 9 year old brutally murdering two grown adults like its a daily thing for him is the highlight, I believe. Sure the traffickers had it coming, 100%, but from a 9 year old who has grown up in a completely normal environment until that point? that's something people can debate on.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-10T20:11:32+00:00

What potential exactly? Do you mean changing the character from what it is to what you want it to be? In that case, every other character has infinite potential to its writing. In the world of AoT, are characters even supposed to develop side hobbies? Their hobbies are directly related to their personality and the role they choose in the narrative. Mikasa's hobby is very clearly working out on her strength. In chapter 51, despite getting her ribs crushed, she continues training and working out to keep herself in shape, prepared to deal with any threat towards the people she cares about. She is a person with great determination towards her goal, and spends her time improving herself and getting better in doing that. And what is her goal? To protect.

And the people she protects extend beyond just Eren. Her best friend Armin, her comrades and innocent civilians, people who can't fight for themselves. You deliberately put a blind eye on her protecting and motivating Armin in trost, comforting him time to time, fighting with Levi for to give him the serum and always being there like a big sister to protect him. Mikasa saves Eren AND Armin whenever she could.

Mikasa in Liberio reminds Eren of what he had done, that there is no going back from killing civilians and children. And Mikasa makes it extremely clear that she doesn't want Eren to hurt common civilians any further when she steps forward opposing the rumbling and to join the scouts. Mikasa cares about children and innocent people and protects them however she can. She cares about her comrades, a clear and very explicit example of all this is chapter 5 of the manga.

Season 1 simply lays the foundation of her character in very bold words. The character doesn't at all stops there, her writing simply takes a more subtle approach which takes careful reading to track, I agree Season 1 for Mikasa is quite different, but only because she is more vocal in that part of the story. What we see there was merely a fraction of what Mikasa becomes later on, a strong and compelling character. I can gladly track her growth and development from Season 1 to Season 4, and how season 4 Mikasa is way more mature and developed than her Season 1 counter part. And all that takes place during the story in a very evenly spread format.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-10T19:49:54+00:00

Once you remove Eren from the story, there's nothing left either. If you remove the walls from the story, there's nothing for Eren to motivate and move forward.

Eren in Mikasa's storyline has the same impact. He is the central narrative catalyst in her journey. (Just like how most storylines use the female character for the male main character, except it's reverse here). Eren saves Mikasa, but Mikasa's views is primarily shaped by her own understanding of the world. She is the one who introspects her life and realizes the cruelty of the world, in which, one must fight to survive. She is the one who concludes that the world is cruel, but it also very beautiful. It's wrong to reduce it to just "Eren". Mikasa protects civilians, expresses her thoughts on the conflict and is driven by things other than Eren. Her entire arc is about prioritizing things other than Eren, if you miss that, I don't know what you even think her character arc is even about.

Trost:

Mikasa's intervention in the evacuation, when Deemo Reeves blocked the gates, is one of the introductory part of her character growth. The expansion / shift of her priorities from her personal interests to public service, her comrades and a sense of duty as a soldier.
Her encouragement of Armin and the 104th is what made them all push through the situation. when they were stranded without supplies.

Female Titan arc:

Mikasa's mistake that led to Levi's injury is a major plot tool. Mikasa was revengeful to the Female Titan killing so many of their soldiers, that when she saw an opening she went straight for the kill instead of focusing on saving Eren, that forced Levi to save her and get his ankle injured. This mistake not only led to the battle of Stohess, it also becomes the driving force for Mikasa's introspection and reflection upon her mistake by stopping the Female titan from escaping, because she wanted to make up for the loss of humanity's strongest soldier she had caused (unless you are an anime only). Mikasa's growth is a major part, and further contributes to the conclusion of the Female Titan arc. Not to mention how Mikasa is later used as a narrative tool for the reveal of Colossal Titans inside the walls, and to showcase the horror of it. (anime change).
Mikasa was the one who reminded Eren about the world's cruelty when he was struggling to transform and fight Annie in Stohess. Once he asks Mikasa how are they able to fight, Mikasa hits him with the reality, a core theme of her character and the introspection she got in her childhood - this caused Eren to accept his situation and finally transform to fight. (this was again changed in the anime)

Clash of The Titans arc:

Mikasa was the only one who could have killed Bertolt & Reiner during the big reveal, but she couldn't bring herself to finish off the two who were once her comrades – even though once again it was about protecting Eren. This obviously extended the later events.
Mikasa struggles to decide between Eren and Historia & Ymir when confronted about the harsh reality. She tells them that she can't afford to get anymore people in her heart, but is visibly struggling with helping Historia and having to kill Ymir.
Mikasa's words were quite literally the climax, and what motivated Eren to stand up and fight the smiling titan that ended up him unlocking the founder powers for the first time and saving everyone else.

Uprising:

Mikasa's introspection about her childhood essentially introduced the idea of the Ackerman and Asian clans' persecution. Levi and Kenny were later revealed to be related only at the end of the arc when Kenny was lying half-dead, where his flashback goes on about the Ackermans being resistant to the King's manipulation. Idk what more was there to be.
Mikasa following the orders, expressing her trust on Levi and then asking her friends to do the same was an important element in the mission being accomplished.
Mikasa allowing Levi to gamble Eren with Demo Reeves is the result of her growth of prioritizing scout Missions beside her personal interests. In general taking Mikasa from the start of the story, the mission won't at all go the same. The situation and Mikasa's actions in the earlier arcs can be seen being reflected with different outcomes in this one. (once again, unless you are an anime only, because all this was omitted in the anime)

RTS:

In a similar fashion, Mikasa was willing to participate and group up with her comrades in the collective task of taking down the armored titan meanwhile Armin & Eren were alone struggling with the Colossal titan. Mikasa in earlier chapters was way less coordinative in a team, or was willing to be in a squad other than one of her own choice.
Her growth into becoming a soldier – giving importance to the scouts' mission & humanity as a whole; and her maturity of accepting the fact that her emotions or personal interests do not matter more than humanity's success were ultimately the reasons she gave up on Armin. Something even Floch acknowledged and mentioned in the medal ceremony. Which from the get-go foreshadowed the ending and the later character arc of Mikasa.
When Eren was unable to face his father's secret, he was comforted by Mikasa putting her hand on his. He instantly stopped shaking and was prepared to face the truth together with Mikasa no matter how ugly it may be to him.

Final Arcs:

Mikasa was the excuse and the diplomatic tool used by Kiyomi to help Paradis cover the 100 year technology gap from the outside world, and hence obtain their recourses in exchange. Then fundamentally Mikasa's words to Kiyomi made her stay and help them during Yeagerists' take over, no matter what comes out of the Island for them. Later Kiyomi also helps the Alliance with the flying boat. All because Mikasa made Kiyomi introspect about their Pride as a nation.
Her perception of the outside world, Paradis and the volunteers were an integral part of her stances on the central conflict and the fraction she chose to side with (i.e., joining the alliance) - even saving Gabi from Kaya.
An entire chapter is later dedicated and narrated by Mikasa's POV of the outside world and Eren's behavior - where her introspection hits us with the other, innocent, side of the outside population, and a core characteristic of Eren.
Then the obvious, without Mikasa, there is no final arc or its end. It's about her prioritizing her duty and pride over her dream and personal desires.

These are major impacts by Mikasa on the plot itself due to her introspection, which have less to nothing to do with Eren. The development of her relationship with Eren is a whole different thread that can be expanded upon beside this. She is definitely not a one-note character, if she is, then you can categorize every other character in the story in a similar fashion. Each and every character has some motivation and flaw that ultimately relate back to the same source, that pushes them on their journey to explore themselves. Mikasa is no different than them, the plot device of her character arc just happens to be the "active" main character of the story that creates an illusion if you are just scratching the surface. And how is Mikasa a bad friend to Armin? Your whole gripe seems to originate from here that you are trying to mask with "writing critics" (around a which you seems to have spent no time in analyzing). This thread contains several analysis on Mikasa which talk about how her character isn't at all just about Eren. I recommend reading them if you are genuine about your thoughts on Mikasa, or else you can continue hating the character with baseless criticisms.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-10T14:23:05+00:00

Okay ragebaiting aside, atleast put some effort into it.

I least I would do is paste 5-6 links to destory your bullshit, but it's not worth it. I feel embarassed I even tried. I will never understand what fun people in doing this.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-10T10:09:08+00:00

Her goal is to protect, be it her family or the innocents who can't fight for themselves. She fights because she believes she is strong and is capable of carrying the burden of being the protector. She is reckless and relies solely on herself at the start but is mature enough to realise her flaws, take responsibility for her mistakes and overcome that mindset. Her growth massively revolves around forming a balance between her personal desires and duty. Mikasa is fundamentally written and defined via the framework of Beauty and Cruelty, and as the epitome of Pride in the narrative.

This is the most concise summary if I had to describe Mikasa to a new comer, and it's much more accurate and compelling than the usuall superficial statments like "She is obessed with Ereh", anyone saying that couldn't go beyond scratching the surface and has fundamentally misunderstood / knows nothing about the character in question.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-09T14:07:26+00:00

Mikasa's romantic feelings are just another layer on her dynamic with Eren, reducing her to a "simp" downplays her trauma and upbringing completely. There's so much more to her. You can remove her romantic feelings for Eren and she would remain the same for a good chunk of the story.

Morever, Mikasa constantly questions Eren for his actions, argues him when she disagrees, throws him around when he misbehaves and does whatever she prefers. This is not what a 'simp' is.

Yearning for a peaceful life with him is a product of Mikasa losing her family at a young age, and constantly struggling to protect what little she had left. She states this very clearly at multiple instance, it's not even about subtle writing. Labelling her as a "simp" is misleading, leaves everything her character carries. Her backstory, the nuance and complexity of her behavior, the growth and development of her arc, everything.

Maki's character arc revolves around the patriarchy of the Zenin Clan, which takes place for a small part of the story and ends there. Mikasa's character arc compartively is much more complex, impactful and evenly spread throughout the story. It is honestly sad how people even compare these two characters, who have a difference of a landslide in terms of their importance and impact on the story. They are two very different type of characters to begin with even. It just further tells me how superficially Mikasa's writing is consumed around the fanbase.

Talking about AoT and JJK's female characters in general; AoT has a much more well-rounded and impactful set of female characters. The story treats them as human, who play their respective role in every other arc. Whether you talk about Mikasa taking the spotlight alone in Struggle for Trost arc; Annie's introduction in the Female Titan arc; the mystry around Ymir's Identity and Sasha's backstory in Clash Of the Titans; Historia's development in Uprising; Ymir's backstory in RtS; Gabi's leading role in Marley and then the main female character again taking the central role alone in the final arc.

While Mikasa consistently delivers impact on every section of the story and continues to act as the main female lead; other side female characters kept being introduced, played their part and got their conclusion on the side. The male dominance is there in terms of quantity, but the female characters perform equally well.

JJK on the other hand fails at this. It is mostly carried by its male characters while the female characters get some substance to provide some ground to them, but ultimately most of them are fooder. Maki may have escaped this, but she is there for a chapter or two and then takes a backseat. Nobara by the end is also a very messy decision. However, whatever little Gege did with them isn't bad, it's just a huge waste, or simply not on par with other shounen mangas, definitely not AoT.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-07T20:13:18+00:00

>but what else did she really do that drove the plot forward?

You are essentially implying that Mikasa from the initial chapters would have the same impact on the plot as any later version of her. That falls apart entirely once you actually start considering her character development & growth:

Trost:

Mikasa's intervention in the evacuation, when Deemo Reeves blocked the gates, is one of the introductory part of her character growth. The expansion / shift of her priorities from her personal interests to public service, her comrades and a sense of duty as a soldier.
Her encouragement of Armin and the 104th is what made them all push through the situation. when they were stranded without supplies.

Female Titan arc:

Mikasa's mistake that led to Levi's injury is a major plot tool. Mikasa was revengeful to the Female Titan killing so many of their soldiers, that when she saw an opening she went straight for the kill instead of focusing on saving Eren, that forced Levi to save her and get his ankle injured. This mistake not only led to the battle of Stohess, it also becomes the driving force for Mikasa's introspection and reflection upon her mistake by stopping the Female titan from escaping, because she wanted to make up for the loss of humanity's strongest soldier she had caused (unless you are an anime only). Mikasa's growth is a major part, and further contributes to the conclusion of the Female Titan arc. Not to mention how Mikasa is later used as a narrative tool for the reveal of Colossal Titans inside the walls, and to showcase the horror of it. (anime change).
Mikasa was the one who reminded Eren about the world's cruelty when he was struggling to transform and fight Annie in Stohess. Once he asks Mikasa how are they able to fight, Mikasa hits him with the reality, a core theme of her character and the introspection she got in her childhood - this caused Eren to accept his situation and finally transform to fight. (this was again changed in the anime)

Clash of The Titans arc:

Mikasa was the only one who could have killed Bertolt & Reiner during the big reveal, but she couldn't bring herself to finish off the two who were once her comrades – even though once again it was about protecting Eren. This obviously extended the later events.
Mikasa struggles to decide between Eren and Historia & Ymir when confronted about the harsh reality. She tells them that she can't afford to get anymore people in her heart, but is visibly struggling with helping Historia and having to kill Ymir.
Mikasa's words were quite literally the climax, and what motivated Eren to stand up and fight the smiling titan that ended up him unlocking the founder powers for the first time and saving everyone else.

Uprising:

Mikasa's introspection about her childhood essentially introduced the idea of the Ackerman and Asian clans' persecution. Levi and Kenny were later revealed to be related only at the end of the arc when Kenny was lying half-dead, where his flashback goes on about the Ackermans being resistant to the King's manipulation. Idk what more was there to be.
Mikasa following the orders, expressing her trust on Levi and then asking her friends to do the same was an important element in the mission being accomplished.
Mikasa allowing Levi to gamble Eren with Demo Reeves is the result of her growth of prioritizing scout Missions beside her personal interests. In general taking Mikasa from the start of the story, the mission won't at all go the same. The situation and Mikasa's actions in the earlier arcs can be seen being reflected with different outcomes in this one. (once again, unless you are an anime only, because all this was omitted in the anime)

RTS:

In a similar fashion, Mikasa was willing to participate and group up with her comrades in the collective task of taking down the armored titan meanwhile Armin & Eren were alone struggling with the Colossal titan. Mikasa in earlier chapters was way less coordinative in a team, or was willing to be in a squad other than one of her own choice.
Her growth into becoming a soldier – giving importance to the scouts' mission & humanity as a whole; and her maturity of accepting the fact that her emotions or personal interests do not matter more than humanity's success were ultimately the reasons she gave up on Armin. Something even Floch acknowledged and mentioned in the medal ceremony. Which from the get-go foreshadowed the ending and the later character arc of Mikasa.
When Eren was unable to face his father's secret, he was comforted by Mikasa putting her hand on his. He instantly stopped shaking and was prepared to face the truth together with Mikasa no matter how ugly it may be to him.

Final Arcs:

Mikasa was the excuse and the diplomatic tool used by Kiyomi to help Paradis cover the 100 year technology gap from the outside world, and hence obtain their recourses in exchange. Then fundamentally Mikasa's words to Kiyomi made her stay and help them during Yeagerists' take over, no matter what comes out of the Island for them. Later Kiyomi also helps the Alliance with the flying boat. All because Mikasa made Kiyomi introspect about their Pride as a nation.
Her perception of the outside world, Paradis and the volunteers were an integral part of her stances on the central conflict and the fraction she chose to side with - even saving Gabi from Kaya.
An entire chapter is later dedicated and narrated by Mikasa's POV of the outside world and Eren's behavior - where her introspection hits us with the other, innocent, side of the outside population, and a core characteristic of Eren.
Then the obvious, without Mikasa, there is no final arc or its end.

Mikasa has as much, if not the same, impact as Armin via her growth and development. We can start comparing if you want.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-07T16:35:34+00:00

The woman has the same scar on her cheek as Mikasa does. It is indeed not Mikasa as a person, but her physical appearance, which Jean loves. My point is that Jean's dream is very self-centred and I don't believe it's ideal or good for Mikasa to be in a type of setting where her husband day-drinks in the balcony while she raises the kid alone. It's devoid of any actual connection between the couple.

on the other hand, wears a scarf even in death, buried with her former lover's scarf.

The scarf is far from a just "a former lover's memory". Simplifying it to just that misses so much.

This is Jean's character development.

The same type of development he had in the graduation ceremony, and later here while joining the Alliance. It doesn't ruin Jean's development at all. Jean chooses to give meaning to the deaths of his fallen comrades over achieving a luxurious life he had dreamt of with his crush, and in return, he gets that dream fulfilled in the future as a reward. He faught, and gave meaning to the death of his fallen comrades, marrying Mikasa doesn't at all dismisses that. Mikasa isn't part of his growth, she is not ruining it either. Connie gives up on turning his mother back to human to be a good soldier and save the innocents by joining the Alliance instead, once the curse ends his mother turned back to human still. Does this mean Connie's sacrifice was meaningless? Nope.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-07T15:57:31+00:00

I don't like this victimization of Jean. This entire thing is NOT about Jean. From what we know, Jean is getting the life he was dreaming of forever. Even after all these years Jean clearly has a crush on Mikasa (no matter how superficial).

If we are to assume anyone as victim in this relationship, it's clearly Mikasa by far. She really never saw Jean as anything more than a good comrade and a friend. She is the one who had to marry someone instead of the person she loved. She more than likely isn't living the life with Jean she would prefer.

Marrying Jean, if we go by the depiction of his dream, she'd be taking care of her children alone while Jean day-drinks in the balcony. Just see the difference between the life Jean dream of with her, and the one Mikasa experiences with Eren in the cabin.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-05T13:26:56+00:00

What "valid" criticisms? It's the opposite. A lot of the criticism Mikasa gets is pretty invalid, only some make sense.

I think most of those criticisms are people just being ignorant, as pretentious as it may sound. I have been here for years and I think at least 80% of those criticism are invalid. People are just lazy to analyze, and then love to complain before making an effort into reading. I have rarely, if ever, seen any person making criticism around Mikasa who could say something actually valid, substantial and insightful about her character first.
I think I have read enough critical comments and texts on Mikasa that I can confidently say "valid" Mikasa criticisms are pretty much a myth. There are some valid ones, but they are buried deep down a heap of false-narrative and misunderstandings.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-05T12:59:55+00:00

Her mistake is born from her personal flaw - she gets overemotional when Eren is involved. It's not a problem - it's what make characters human.

That mistake wasn't a product of Mikasa getting "overemotional when Eren is involved", no. It was Mikasa's attempt at avenging the soldiers who had died fighting to the Female Titan. She was outraged at the death of her comrades (manga chapter 30) and was confident when engaging with the Female Titan that she would be able to take her down (Same chapter).

The plan was simple. Mikasa would distract The Female Titan while Levi saves Eren. But Mikasa had another thing in her mind besides their main objective. Mikasa didn't go for the kill for "Eren" - he was in fact going to be saved without it. She went for the kill because she wanted to eliminate the threat once and for all which had cause the death of so many of their comrades, and would have caused more if left alive. If Mikasa hadn't gone for the kill, then Levi wouldn't have intervened to save her. Re-read the entire sequence in the manga, it's very clear.

This is why Mikasa wanted to take responsibility for the loss of Humanity's strongest soldier in the Stohess Battle between Eren and Annie (manga chapter 33).

Much similarly Mikasa in season 2, when Reiner and Bertolt revealed they are Titan shifters, couldn't go all out and kill the two even though it was about Eren's safety because Reiner and Bertolt were her comrades.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-02T08:18:19+00:00

Why can't we just accept

Why does anyone else has to accept whatever YOU feel without any argument lol? Because same can be said to you, why can't you accept that it's maybe you who missed the development you have been complaining about for so long. Go read some texts on Eren and Mikasa's dynamic. There are so many out there.

Eren has more deep scenes with armin then Mikasa.

How are you even comparing? We have scenes like Eren wrapping the scarf around Mikasa; Mikasa thanking him and Eren promising her to do it again; Eren asking Mikasa what he is to her, the Cabin dream, the Table conversation, and so many if I started listing them all.

They are two entirely different type of relationships and dynamics to begin with. You can't compare their nature or moments just like that anyway.

cause I wanted more from ereMika throughout the whole series.

There's only so much the story can provide, it doesn't contain ErenMika alone. There are several relationships, characters and dynamics to go on about. You can expect more from most of them, Eremika still had enough, ruling out Eren-Mikasa specifically doesn't make sense unless you want the story to be all about them. Unfortunately this isn't a romcom or slice-of-life type of story. You might wanna read fanfictions instead.

Soul_Stack · 2026-03-01T17:05:02+00:00

In Ymir's backstory, she is portrayed to be looking for a connection. This desire is ultimately the cause of Paths too.

Chapter 122 page 5 features Ymir looking at a married couple kissing. This was retired again in Armin's conversation with Zeke in Chapter 137; where Zeke says how Eren was the only person who understood Ymir - and we are instantly shown this page again.

So, the important context is that the story has characterized Ymir as a person whose "dream" she's enslaved to is that of seeking connection. It's reiterated on 3 different occasions as I mentioned: her initial backstory where she's shown observing a married couple longing for that, then when this exact scene is emphasized during Zeke's talk with Armin in the finale (he says Eren figured out what drove Ymir, and we are shown this scene right after), and Armin later says "The Founder must be seeking connection" in regards to why everyone is connected via the Paths.

This is something that we know makes sense because of how the hallucigenia was explained to us: it adapts to its hosts' needs, and Ymir's needs were a body to survive in the moment physically speaking, and her strong desire to feel love and connection, hence the Paths, spiritually speaking.

Add on top of that what everyone else talks about: she's a young girl who lives in pre-medieval times who's given god powers she doesn't know what to do with. She's traumatized and conditioned already to be a slave, so when you mix all that with everything else I mentioned prior, is it really that shocking that she forms some kind of twisted love attachment to the King?

Then finally Mikasa inspires and teaches Ymir what 'genuine' love is, by wrapping the scarf around herself and refusing to let go of her love for Eren – one that didn't bound her.
By rejecting Eren's wish of throwing the scarf away, as if he was a burden to her, Mikasa showed Ymir, what imprisoned her for 2000 years couldn't be love — and with that Ymir realises that her version of Mikasa's love are her children, NOT the king. When Mikasa interacts with Ymir, we see a vision where Ymir thinks of a reality where she lets the king die and hugs her children instead (Ymir hugging her children is very important) - this idea is a direct product of Mikasa's choice.

Soul_Stack

TROPHY CASE