SNK Is Absolutely Still The Story It Has Always Been And The One That I’ve Loved From Day 1, With Characters

SNK is absolutely still the story it has always been and the one that I’ve loved from day 1, with characters that live up to who they are, and a message that means something. Contrary to so many opinions about it disappointing out there, I can’t disagree more.

I love that SNK has always been about the fact that we don’t have to do anything grand or have any specific purpose in life to live a life worth living. From “he’s already special because he was born into this world” to Eren always chasing after freedom “because I was born into this world” to this chapter where Armin voices how he thinks he was born to live those simple, trivial moments where he enjoyed things/his friends, they may not seem like anything spectacular but it’s precious to him and then finally, having even Zeke who still wants to euthanize Eldians, realize that life is worth living for the one moment he enjoyed–this message has always been clearly repeated in this story and it’s beautiful.

Despite how cruel the world is, despite all the pain, suffering and actual hell they live through, there is beauty. Beauty in the small moments, beauty in people most important to you and spending it with them even doing something as simple as walking together or playing ball–it’s not significant, it doesn’t always have to be something major or even something that changed the world, but it can still be precious. And THAT right there is why this story is so powerful, so beautiful. A message that gives hope, that shows that hope exists even when the world is ending, just like how Armin says his friends are still trying to fight and haven’t given up because in spite of everyone that has died, there’s still those that haven’t.

Life is worth living because they are born into this world, because there are things they enjoyed that they still remember even if it’s trivial. Even Zeke admits that he wouldn’t mind being born again and he wishes he realized that there was beauty in the day earlier. And I think that realization gave Zeke a well ended death (I never even liked him personally, but he died well and it was meaningful).

Speaking about the characters, I feel they are absolutely who they have always been. They all play their role, they all did what they had to do. Armin. Jean. Reiner. Etc. And yes, Levi, too. I’ve seen so much criticism about Levi not making the correct “face/expression” or how he killed Zeke without hesitation, but his shock features make perfect sense to me.

This is not Levi killing the “monster” he’s always been going after time and time again, this is not the “beast” that tried to kill Levi. In these last moments of Zeke waving him over, this is Levi killing a human being. *Another* human, not a monster. This isn’t a fight the way it was all the times before, this is purely one-sided Zeke inviting Levi to kill him and simply Levi doing what he has always had to do. Zeke is truly just another sad human that Levi has to kill (one of many he has killed time and time before), and when Levi kills him it’s not a “I finally killed the monster” reaction, but a “this is another sad human I have to kill to end this war” and it’s fitting.

They are quite literally in the middle of the end of the world, rumbling and all happening around them, so even IF it’s obvious to Levi that this isn’t a battle, that this is Zeke letting him kill him without putting up a fight, Levi knows what he has to do, so he does so. Their world has always been about split second decisions, no hesitation, no regretting the choices you make but making them on the spot because it can literally be between life and death as we have seen over and over. In this case, they’ve literally said in the previous chapters that the beast titan is their goal, that “maybe if we kill Zeke, it will stop the rumbling”.

So yes, when Zeke appears, of course he’s just going to kill him without hesitation. They don’t have time to hesitate and they surely don’t have time to “talk” to Zeke. It’s not even about just fulfilling a promise or what people like to say “Levi only cares about killing the beast titan now”, it’s about the fact that they’re trying to stop the rumbling here. What he did makes sense narratively and it’s who he’s always been. Also I completely disagree with those saying Levi has lost his purpose now because Zeke is dead, so he can die. Death is not freedom. Death is not happiness. They did not all fight so that they can die.

Anyways, there’s so much more about this chapter and the characters that I love and so much more to take in. (Also yes, even Eren, I think post-time skip Eren is who he’s always been and I absolutely am and have always been still in love with his characterization. I can’t wait to see his final thoughts.) I don’t usually say anything on SNK chapters because this fandom is literally one toxic or disrespectful to Isayama opinion I disagree with after another. But I’m feeling a lot for this story ending and I am in love with it as I have always been. It’s a masterpiece and so are it’s characters. Anyways here’s my shit take into the void with it. That’s all.