Same anon: Actually it's Mikasa IMO who's most mentally prepared to kill someone. Armin's been rationalizing himself into it for ages now, but consider Mikasa's speech in the stable. She's bought into Levi's motivation speech about mass murder for the sake of humanity - and it's not simply for Eren's sake anymore, it's at the philosophical level. She's considerably darker at this point than Armin is, and possibly Eren, whose arc has been one of perceiving greater nuance rather than seeing everything in black and white.
Oh I definitely agree that Mikasa is the most prepared. I should have written clearly that I was only comparing Armin to the teammates who haven't killed yet, either. Obviously, all of them pale compared to Mikasa.
Though I kind of love the the heroine of this story is the most ruthless and determined even compared with her male teammates - that's pretty unusual, especially in action manga with the shounen demographic.
Then again, this chapter has certainly (further) debunked that Mikasa cares only about Eren. Obviously, she saved Sasha, Histora and random townspeople in the past, but here she saves Armin (this one's not surprising) and cries out for Jean even though she's usually pretty indifferent towards him. If she had been closer, she would probably have been the one to save Jean.
Though I kind of love the the heroine of this story is the most ruthless and determined even compared with her male teammates - that's pretty unusual, especially in action manga with the shounen demographic.
She's catching up with Levi, for that matter. I wouldn't say she's as ruthless as he is, at least not yet, but she's definitely more bloodthirsty. He sees violence as a tool, a means to an end. She wants vengeance. Look at her face after Levi's told them all to kill as many enemy combatants as they can, when she replies, "Yes, sir."
If she had been closer, she would probably have been the one to save Jean.
I'm not sure she isn't the one who saves Jean. The arc of blood we see going flying along with his hat strongly suggests that Mikasa threw her blade and decapitated the enemy soldier. Armin's gun is small enough to be hidden under his cloak, probably no bigger than the revolver Levi had trained on Pastor Nick under his own cloak many chapters ago. I'm no ballistics expert but I don't think a projectile from a smaller, older gun like that would spray blood so dramatically.
That said, I'd rather it have been Armin, because I want to see how he mentally processes having knowingly killed another human being for the first time.
I haven't kept tabs on how realistic the blood physics is (although if it's anything like the anime, not at all), but if the enemy soldier got shot in the neck, her own blood pressure would be more than enough to have some dramatic spray.
If it does turn out to be Mikasa who saves Jean, I wonder how Jean's opinion of her will change. He seems to idolise her beauty and strength, but isn't comfortable with how cold she can be. Even if he's grateful, I think his crush on her might be affected, and not in a positive way. While if the considerably less ruthless Armin shot the soldier, perhaps Jean would be better about it since it could be seen more as a 'last resort desperation to save a friend', rather than 'I'll kill because I need to'.
AYRT - I was under the impression that Jean's crush on Mikasa fell by the wayside a while back. I can't go digging through the older chapters right at the moment to find it, but at one point he's called her an "idiot" for putting herself in unnecessary danger.
Then there was the stable scene in the previous chapter, with Jean vehemently stating that he won't kill people and Mikasa saying that she's perfectly willing to. If he were still crushing on her at that moment, I can't imagine how her comments wouldn't have thrown a huge bucket of cold water over the crush.
I was thinking of the very zealous way in which he saved her from the titan when they were rescuing Eren, back in chapter 49 or so. But you're right, he hasn't said or acted like he still has the crush since, that I can remember anyway. So yeah, if there was anything left I reckon it's been pretty thoroughly extinguished by now, pretty certainly if he sees her decapitate someone in front of him.
I'd say that Jean's crush for Mikasa was still existent as of chapter 51 - his anger at Eren allegedly "peeping" on her (lol Jean stop projecting) makes the most sense if you interpret it as jealousy.
Don't know if current events will change his feelings or not. They might, though, since his crush on her is not an integral part of his character even if fandom likes to exaggerate it. Then again, it keeps getting used for humor and to highlight Mikasa's loyalty to Eren (since she remains so indifferent to Jean). Plus, if a character has a long time unrequited crush (in many manga/anime) there is often some dramatic "moving on" or "officially giving up" scene which is frequently prompted by him/her witnessing the main couple getting together in some fashion. The latter of course only works if Eren/Mikasa becomes a thing. As it is Jean seems to know that Mikasa has only eyes for Eren (which is probably why he has never flirted with her again after the "beautiful hair" scene). Jean just kept having feelings for her anyway, even if it was futile.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 02:01 am (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 08:50 am (UTC)(link)Though I kind of love the the heroine of this story is the most ruthless and determined even compared with her male teammates - that's pretty unusual, especially in action manga with the shounen demographic.
Then again, this chapter has certainly (further) debunked that Mikasa cares only about Eren. Obviously, she saved Sasha, Histora and random townspeople in the past, but here she saves Armin (this one's not surprising) and cries out for Jean even though she's usually pretty indifferent towards him. If she had been closer, she would probably have been the one to save Jean.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)She's catching up with Levi, for that matter. I wouldn't say she's as ruthless as he is, at least not yet, but she's definitely more bloodthirsty. He sees violence as a tool, a means to an end. She wants vengeance. Look at her face after Levi's told them all to kill as many enemy combatants as they can, when she replies, "Yes, sir."
If she had been closer, she would probably have been the one to save Jean.
I'm not sure she isn't the one who saves Jean. The arc of blood we see going flying along with his hat strongly suggests that Mikasa threw her blade and decapitated the enemy soldier. Armin's gun is small enough to be hidden under his cloak, probably no bigger than the revolver Levi had trained on Pastor Nick under his own cloak many chapters ago. I'm no ballistics expert but I don't think a projectile from a smaller, older gun like that would spray blood so dramatically.
That said, I'd rather it have been Armin, because I want to see how he mentally processes having knowingly killed another human being for the first time.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)I haven't kept tabs on how realistic the blood physics is (although if it's anything like the anime, not at all), but if the enemy soldier got shot in the neck, her own blood pressure would be more than enough to have some dramatic spray.
If it does turn out to be Mikasa who saves Jean, I wonder how Jean's opinion of her will change. He seems to idolise her beauty and strength, but isn't comfortable with how cold she can be. Even if he's grateful, I think his crush on her might be affected, and not in a positive way. While if the considerably less ruthless Armin shot the soldier, perhaps Jean would be better about it since it could be seen more as a 'last resort desperation to save a friend', rather than 'I'll kill because I need to'.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 01:30 pm (UTC)(link)Then there was the stable scene in the previous chapter, with Jean vehemently stating that he won't kill people and Mikasa saying that she's perfectly willing to. If he were still crushing on her at that moment, I can't imagine how her comments wouldn't have thrown a huge bucket of cold water over the crush.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 01:35 pm (UTC)(link)I was thinking of the very zealous way in which he saved her from the titan when they were rescuing Eren, back in chapter 49 or so. But you're right, he hasn't said or acted like he still has the crush since, that I can remember anyway. So yeah, if there was anything left I reckon it's been pretty thoroughly extinguished by now, pretty certainly if he sees her decapitate someone in front of him.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)I'd say that Jean's crush for Mikasa was still existent as of chapter 51 - his anger at Eren allegedly "peeping" on her (lol Jean stop projecting) makes the most sense if you interpret it as jealousy.
Don't know if current events will change his feelings or not. They might, though, since his crush on her is not an integral part of his character even if fandom likes to exaggerate it. Then again, it keeps getting used for humor and to highlight Mikasa's loyalty to Eren (since she remains so indifferent to Jean). Plus, if a character has a long time unrequited crush (in many manga/anime) there is often some dramatic "moving on" or "officially giving up" scene which is frequently prompted by him/her witnessing the main couple getting together in some fashion. The latter of course only works if Eren/Mikasa becomes a thing.
As it is Jean seems to know that Mikasa has only eyes for Eren (which is probably why he has never flirted with her again after the "beautiful hair" scene). Jean just kept having feelings for her anyway, even if it was futile.
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(Anonymous) 2014-06-10 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)but if the enemy soldier got shot in the neck, her own blood pressure would be more than enough to have some dramatic spray.
Like I said, I don't know enough on the subject to be 100% sure, and I do hope it's Armin for reasons of character arc.