Mikasa & Annie – A Couple of Lost Girls [Manga Spoilers]
Thread analyzing the connection of Mikasa and Annie through the lens of the scene where Annie questions if Mikasa could kill Eren
In many ways, Mikasa and Annie are each other’s “counterpart” character – they’re set up as bitter enemies, rivals with more similarities than they realize, who are framed as needing to come together and understand one another to achieve
Which is why this scene & Annie’s lines are hugely important for Mikasa & Annie’s characters
It references one of the ways Mikasa’s trauma-induced worldview is challenged over the course of the story & sets up her choice in the climax of the series as well as Annie’s development
Originally, Mikasa’s very set on her priorities: she wants to protect Eren, the last of her family, & can’t afford for others to take precedence; she viewed other priorities as at odds with her goal so she believes she can’t afford to let other people & priorities in
This is a result of her childhood trauma- she’s lost her parents, foster parents, & hometown and wants to preserve the family & home (Eren & also Armin) she has left; it’s about protecting them but also about preserving the last of her childhood innocence
However, this is at odds with the person Mikasa is at her core: she’s compassionate and she wants family, so limiting who she cares about and her social circle to two people is not only unrealistic but at odds with what she wants deep down
To be clear, she’s compassionate, she’s always cared, but she repressed or wouldn’t allow herself to act on that care because of her trauma and concern that she needs to prioritize Eren (and Armin), she has to protect them to not lose them.
Trost highlights this inner conflict:
Which is why over the course of the series, we see Mikasa’s circle steadily grow. We watch her let more people in and care more & more about the larger mission and helping strangers
Like when she lets Levi bet Eren to make a deal with Reeves to save Trost’s starving citizens
This is not that dissimilar to Annie, who has repeatedly stated that her father is all that matters to her, but her actions bely this.
From saving Connie to trying to be a “good person” to Armin, Annie was able to care for new people, she just felt she couldn’t afford to
Like Mikasa, Annie’s fixation on only caring for her father is rooted in a traumatic childhood and a belief she can’t afford to care for anyone else.
In fact, Reiner specifically punishes her for saving Connie by pitting her love for her father against her compassion
So it’s explicitly Annie who questions if Mikasa can kill Eren but also says she understands.
Annie & Mikasa are counterparts who both have to reconcile with the fact that while they wanted to limit their care for only so many lives, they were unable to keep from forming bonds
Those bonds they inadvertently form indicate that while both women want to be emotionally closed off, they care more than they let on.
Moreover, despite traumatic childhoods that led them to latch onto their only “family”, their cool facades bely that they crave normalcy & home
This is one of the reasons why these two bond and work closely together during the final battles, shown relying on each other and caring for each other
Annie understands how hard it is for Mikasa to let go of prioritizing her “person” (Eren)
And Mikasa understands Annie’s desire for normalcy, which manifests partially in her desire to no longer fight
Mikasa fighting Annie yelling “Give [Eren] back” after abandoning her squad to chase Eren vs. yelling “Give Armin back” as she partners with Annie (& co.) to save Armin while they oppose Eren’s actions together highlight the ways things have changed for them since the beginning
Both of them were to a degree rivals, even before the betrayal, but they come to understand and rely on each other in the end.
It’s another way to show their growth and highlight the general story themes of the importance of understanding enemies and we’re all not so different
But it’s important to note that Annie ultimately reunites with her father despite resolving to fight while thinking he was already dead.
And Mikasa kills Eren but also continues to cherish his memory afterwards
They weren’t challenged to not care about their family, they were only challenged to expand their worldview and priorities beyond just one or two people, and to fight for more than their family and self-interest, tying back into Annie’s statement about Mikasa’s prioritization
And in finding strength to let others in, fight for more than their family & put aside their own self-interest for strangers, they face down the traumatic childhoods that prevented them from letting other priorities in
Finding beauty in a cruel world, something worth fighting for
