Transcription of J Michael Tatum's thoughts on Eruri
I took it upon myself to write up a transcription of J Michael Tatumâs (writer for the English dub of SnK and voice actor for Erwin Smith) thoughts on yaoi Erwin and Leviâs relationship. I thought this way it might be easier for people to read, since he shares a lot of interesting headcanons and analysis about the series in general!
Source:Â The Attack On Titan Voice Panel Tokyo in Tulsa 2014.
Question: What are your favorite character dynamics, specifically?
J. Michael Tatum: From the show or just in general?
JMT: This is going to sound kind of self-serving, but I really like the dynamic between Levi and Erwinâ [applause]. Not because I think theyâre a couple; I mean I can dream too, but I donât necessarily think that the text so-to-speak supports that, though it doesnât say that they arenât! But regardless if whether or not they have any romantic feelings for each other, which we can argue until the cows come home, there is definitely somethingâ some mystery to their friendship that we as an audience are left to our own devices to infer, which I think is interesting. I love very subtle exposition, you know, thatâs like, how is it that Levi was a real bad-ass and for some reason Erwin was the only guy that was able to get him to straighten upâno pun intendedâand [audience laughter] I didnât really mean to say that I think Erwin and Leviâ!
I mean, honestly, even as a writer, I donât quite know what their relationship is because itâs honestly complicated. It may be that theyâre just friends. It may be that Erwin was just like, âI see a lot of myself in you, so Iâm going to kick your ass because I know what you need to keep from dying at an early age by being a dumbass.â And it could just be that they have this kind of brotherly relationship that Levi himself is kind of bound and obligated to make. I mean, I think itâs pretty clear that whatever else their relationship is, at some point, one of them saved the otherâs life and feels a debt to the relationshipâwhatever it isâfor just being alive, and that drives them, constantly.
But they have this weird⊠like, when they actually talk to each other âand they only share the screen a handful of times in the entire series; theyâre not together very often. And when they are, theyâre speaking very curtly, and theyâre speaking about military maneuvers like, âOh, what do you think we should do about the She-Titan?â Or whatever. They donât go, âHey, remember that time? Like when we were kids? When you kicked my ass?â They never do! They never discuss their past. They never discuss it.
Again, getting back to what I said earlier about all the drama of human dynamics being compacted into this world where, you know, you donât have time to speak your mind or talk about things that we think really and truly matter in our life, such as feelings, or, âCan we explore this? Iâm confused, I want to talk this out with you.â You donât have time for that when youâre besieged on all sides by huge giants that want to eat you. So if there IS a romantic element to their relationship âand there may beâ itâs kind of sad how it canât be realized, because they simply donât have the emotional breadth or space in which to do it, because the first order of business will always be survival. So, I like that they leave it unstated, which leaves your imagination to run wild and go: God, I feel for them, because thereâs so much they canâtâlike, they canât even have an obvious friendship because theyâre moved by this path like, âwe have to do this, we have to do thisâ. Their sense-of-self is very precariously balanced by what they have to do, which is just to live another day. And in their case, that their people live another day because theyâre in charge of everyone elseâs lives. And the burden that puts on them leaves them no time to go, â[sigh]⊠letâs go grab a beer and talk about getting a puppy!â [laughter]. I mean, itâs never going to happen while the titans are around so itâs making everyoneâsâeveryoneâsâinterpersonal relationships much more succinct. Tragically so, because thereâs simply no time to be yourself. No time to live and survive and not get eaten. Think about that for a moment: thatâs pretty Erwin.
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