Maysam Al-Ani

Hey, thanks for the comment. I’m not so sure what makes you think that the author doesn’t know where the story is going. Please tell me more about why you think that!

I feel like the story is being revealed in a very reasonable pace. In my article, I was specifically referring to the anime, not the manga. There are differences between the two. You need to keep in mind that us, the receivers, know as much as the characters know about the SnK world, very little. About the walls, the human race does not know where they came from, they just know they are. That means that they cannot build the protected area to be larger. Once the walls were discovered, people around the world made their way there. Like you said, it only covers a certain area and the transportation of that time period was not developed to the extent that anyone from anywhere could make it there on time.

Another thing for both of us to think about is that the characters still don’t know if there actually are people living outside the walls. There might be another walled civilization with Asians and Africans but we just don’t KNOW yet! Last thing, somewhere in the anime, I don’t remember clearly, Eren found out that the schools don’t teach the true history and anatomy of the titans. This is because, like I said, the characters still know so little. We also learnt that the reason why Eren’s father was murdered was because he knew too much! That tells us that someone, whether that is the religious cult or the government, knows something that they want to hide. There are people who know exclusive information and are using it to their own benefit. But, Eren’s father wasn’t supposed to know this information and that led to his sad death. With all of these things clearly laid out, it would be difficult for the author to make up stuff along the way. The fact that the author killed off the father from the very beginning means that the author thought the story through to very specific details. The author knows what exclusive information killed the father, he just wants us to hold on until the big bang is revealed! That information might help fans understand the reason behind everything 😉

Anyway, my article was simply stating that there are mixed reactions between the representation of religion and race. I’m not sure where the guy who kidnapped Mikasa fits in with this either…? Thanks again

I am! But, I’m also scared it won’t live up to my expectations 🙁

That can be said about any art or media form. But, when we are analyzing, we are also finding patterns. I found a pattern while watching and analyzing Snk.
It might be true that the writer was not thinking about these things as they were writing but we have to remember that a writer does everything for a reason, everything is deliberate. Now their deliberate choices may not be for the reasons I have concluded to, but thats the beauty of it, everything can be read in an infinite number of ways.
Surely the writer might have just incorporated the cult as an essence of hope for the people. Eren’s power is also an essence of hope, so why does there need to be a cult? In fact, I doubt the writer just wanted to incorporate a religious aspect just to gloss over it. If you read the manga, even towards the end of SnK, the cult holds a huge role in the storyline, perhaps the writer of the anime wanted to gloss over it to created a big BAM at the end.
Personally, I think the anime was just a teaser or advertisement for the manga, attracting watchers and getting them to continue and read the manga.
The reason why I think race and religion played a part in SnK is because it is based on humanity and all aspects of it. Whereas, like you said, other anime/manga do not mention race or religion. That is typically because the story is not about that, there is no reason why to, there is no need to explain ethnicities or beliefs. But in SnK has to have explanations to keep the story structure and realism strong because it is solely based on humanity’s nature, how they respond to threats, and their defensive mechanisms to deal with these threats. One of these mechanisms is religion! In regards to race, it is interesting that SnK brings up ethnicities (Mikasa). It could be read that SnK wants to portray humanity, which was once in different sectors of the world, coming together despite race to survive.
As you can see, there are endless possibilities and interpretations of SnK and any other text. I was always told by my teachers that as long as you can strongly support and justify your claims, you are right.

Its ok, we’re all human!

I don’t think SnK is trying to insult any religion in particular or any religion of the ‘real world’ per se. What I was trying to say in my article is that fans perceived that SnK was portraying religion, in general, in a negative light. So, I’m with you, I’m a Muslim and trust me, I know the real world and religion don’t have a fair relationship. But like I said, that’s the thing, since SnK didn’t specify to a ‘real’ religion and make a one up, it could be read that it is attacking religion as a whole instead of one specific branch.

I also agree that this anime found ways around cliches, which is very tough to do. Actually, I agree with pretty much everything you’ve written!

And, boy, or girl, (I don’t discriminate) do I love Mikasa.

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment! Have a nice day 🙂

Thanks for commenting!
Wasn’t it? This film has its own special spot on my top 10 films!

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment! 🙂

I’m glad to hear that! Anime and manga are an art form of their own.