Attack on Titan astrological exploration (Pisces nakshatras & Ashlesha)
PS. I strongly recommend you first watch the anime or read the manga before reading this, because it contains many SPOILERS (and it's a great anime).
I did many of the birth charts of voice actors for Attack on Titan and discovered that an obvious majority had placements in either Pisces nakshatras or Ashlesha. Here, I'll explore some potential reasons why.
Attack on Titan is about freedom and war. The world of humanity, in the protagonist Eren's mind, exists totally behind three mysterious Walls. And yet Eren had always longed to explore the world outside the walls where Titans, man-eating giants, wandered mindlessly. After the outer Wall is destroyed, it becomes obvious that Eren's belief that humanity was like "cattle" waiting to be slaughtered is true. So begin Eren's quest to achieve liberation from fear and the oppression of Titans.
Eren's English dub voice actor has Purva phalguni Sun and Revati moon.
Similarly, many other idealists in the Survey Corps (a military group in charge of exploring outside the walls, which Eren joins) also have Revati (a Pisces nakshatra) in their big 3.
Hange Zoë is voiced by Romi Park with Uttara ashadha sun and Revati moon. They are one of the few rare people who aren't confined by their hatred for Titans and conduct experiments on the Titans, treating them with greater humanity than anyone else. This separates Hange from everyone else, just as Eren's desire to go out of the Walls, considering the bloodthirsty Titans, distinguishes him from the masses.
Similarly, the commander of the Survey Corps, Erwin, is voiced by a Revati moon native also. Erwin's father is a teacher who theorises that the royal family within the Walls could erase memories, and that they erase the memories of everyone living within the Walls of the time they lived outside of it. When Erwin tells his class about his father's theory, the Military Police within the Walls detains his father, tortures him, then secretly dumps his body in a river. Freedom of thought is punished, and the Revati native is left feeling isolated.
Since then, Erwin is motivated to prove his father's theory correct and find out what had happened to force humanity behind these the Walls, showing perhaps why Revati yoni animal is that of an elephant. The elephant remembers what has happened and tries to transcend death. Through Erwin, his father's ideas continue living.
It is revealed later in the series that humanity has -in fact- persists beyond the Wall, and that the people who initially destroyed the Wall were agents tasked with destroying all three Walls so that Marley can mine precious resources beneath the earth in Paradis (the name of the island where the Walls are located).
Berthold and Annie are two of the agents hired by Marley. Annie is voiced by Uttara bhadrapada moon voice actor (another Pisces nakshatra) while Berthold is voiced by a Revati sun and Revati moon VA.
The reason they are chosen is because they are part of a special race of people who could transform into Titans at will with another type of injection. In an effort to liberate their families from racial discrimination in Marley, they become these agents/Warriors for the government, leaving their families and homes behind to fulfil a mission. Again, we see Pisces natives doing many things for freedom, but the show also shows that one person's freedom is another person's oppression. They feel guilty and conflicted about their role once they meet the people behind the Walls and realise they're just as human as the people outside it.
Interestingly, when Annie is caught, she uses a special Titan power to confine herself into a crystal so that she enters a coma. I've briefly touched on how Revati has connections to Sleeping Beauty, which is also relevant here with Annie's VA's moon in Pisces.
Zeke, Eren's half-brother, has Purva bhadrapada moon (another Pisces nakshatra). Zeke was also a proponent of freedom, except this time, he desires freedom from fear for every country outside of Paradis.
Because the people who live within the Walls can all be turned into Titans, he suggests that to end this discrimination, they should sterilise everyone who can turn into a Titan, thereby eliminating the line of people of this race. This reflects the Purva bhadrapada theme of being driven to extremes for activist causes.
When Zeke was a child, he discovered his parents were rebels against the Marley Government. Influenced by an unrelated mentor, he feared that once the government found out, they would turn his grandparents and him into Titans as punishment, so told on his parents to the government trying to save them. Interestingly, he switches sides again and betrays Marley later on in the series.
It is interesting how Purva bhadrapada is symbolised by the two-faced man, and how his betrayals are driven by his unique nihilistic perspective on how to deal with Titans. Perhaps it represents the side of Pisces which is willing to make deals with the devil as much as the saint in order to achieve what they believe is freedom.
Attack on Titan is an anime famous for its many deaths. This speaks to Pisces being the last sign. Purva and Uttara bhadrapada also symbolise the front and back legs of a funeral cot. Death has greater importance in Pisces.
Erwin leads a suicide charge so others have a chance of escaping. Hange takes on giant Titans by themselves so that others can escape. Zeke. Eren lets himself be killed by the woman he loves. There's the theme of the noble sacrifice. However, just because the characters die do not mean their legacy does not live on. They surpass death by making something which will last. For Erwin, his commitment to this idea greater than himself fuels his will to keep living.
This mirrors the selflessness in Christ who takes on the sins of humanity. There is the giving away of oneself for the greater good, which Pisces evokes through being symbolised by the two fish which has historically symbolised Jesus.
Death, in a sense, is necessary to finish off their character arc by showing the extent to which they commit to their purpose; without dying, it is almost as though the characters have not achieved their ultimate purpose. Of course, I don't mean that in a macabre way, but that death is the ultimate sacrifice which shows these natives' commitment to ideals rather than themselves.
Erwin knows that by leading the suicide charge he is letting go of his opportunity to prove his father right and know what information resides in the basement (which they were fighting for). However, he still chooses to die so that they have the opportunity of getting to that information. The ideal surpasses preoccupation with oneself.
There is also the theme of never truly being able to attain freedom. Despite everything Eren does, he is never truly, shown by how every action of his is shown to be predestined, including his death.
What's particular about taking the injection to become someone who can transform into a Titan is that you subject yourself to an early death. Death is necessary to achieve immense power. Eren causes the Rumbling at the end of AOT, deciding to end the rest of humanity rather than end those he loves/has grown up around who can be injected then turned into Titans. This is the ultimate symbol of freedom being achieved by violence and suffering.
Tetsuro Araki, the Chief of Director of the anime between season 1-3, also has Swati sun Revati moon, which again emphasises the Revati/Pisces themes.
As an anime to do with war, many of the physically strongest characters are Ashleshas. This includes Levi and Mikasa Ackerman, voiced by Ashlesha moon and an Ashlesha sun and moon respectively.
The Ackermans were protectors of the royal family with superhuman physical abilities before the king found them too powerful since they were immune to his memory distortion. Therefore, by the beginning of the series, they've since been isolated from society. This is evoked by Ashlesha an outcast nakshatra. Levi initially lives in the Underground while Mikasa lives in the mountain forests. The Nagas, Ashlesha's deities, are also known to live in the underworld.
Ashlesha portrayal is rendered opposite to Revati. Both are ruled by Mercury. While Revati represents the idealistic person consumed with the spiritual mission, Ashlesha is in Cancer, and thus its natives are far more concerned with protecting their close ones rather than world-changing ideals.
This is emphasised by the many Ashlesha voice actors also possessing Moon nakshatras.
Levi Ackerman has Shravana sun Ashlesha moon. His cold Shravana instincts stop Mikasa, whose Japanese voice actor has Rohini sun, from making rash decisions to save Eren. (Mikasa's Japanese voice actor has Pisces moon too, which emphasises the prominence of the sign in AOT).
In Ashlesha, the intelligence of Mercury is funnelled toward technical expertise. Levi is dubbed Humanity's Strongest Soldier being evaluated as strong as a brigade while Mikasa is said to equal 100 men.
Ashlesha natives, having grown up in a harsh environment, are not as naive/idealistic as Pisces nakshatras. Levi is also someone more dubious about Eren's powers and the risks it poses for humanity.
Nonetheless, Ashlesha natives are often inspired by the blind spirit/faith of Revati natives. Levi (Ashlesha moon), despite initially receiving a mission to kill Erwin, follows him because he believes Erwin (Revati moon) can see something he cannot. Similarly, Mikasa (Ashlesha sun, Ashlesha moon) is inspired by Eren's (Revati moon) bravery in taking on her kidnapper single-handedly as a child, so much so that she activates her Ackerman instincts and kills the man choking Eren, saving them both.
It is also interesting to see both Ashlesha's being associated with knives, since Ashlesha is associated with the snake deity Sarpa which is occasionally depicted as holding knives.
The Revati inspiration is also true for Jean Kirstein, voiced by a Hasta sun Ashlesha moon (another Moon-Ashlesha native), who initially mocks Eren's desire to become a Scout and go outside the Walls. However, after the Wall is destroyed a second time, he recognises that he doesn't want to stand back and let Titans take over without doing anything, so joins the Survey Corps as well.
Ashlesha is also prominent in the love stories in AOT.
Ymir is also voiced by a VA with Chitra sun Ashlesha moon. She leaves Historia, the girl she loves, and lets herself be eaten by a Titan so that Historia remains safe from the Marley government.
Mikasa protectiveness of Eren is also clear. There's a scene in the English dub where she says "pick your side, Christa. Eren, or the bitch I'm gonna kill?" While Armin, their other friend, represents the urge to venture into the unknown, Mikasa has always been about keeping Eren safe, even if it means sacrificing discovery or novelty.
Levi is also shown as being a protector of sorts. He is the one who is able to single-handedly take down multiple Titans and known as the chief protector of humanity.
Many Ashlesha's don't seem to care for anyone except those they're close to. Many, however, did feel guilty for bombing and attacking Marley.
The Nagas, Ashlesha's deities, are guardians of the Earth. In myth, they are known as half-human and half-serpent, just like the Ackermans are canonically superhuman in their strength. Ashlesha is also known as the clinging star which can be relayed to convey their devotion to loved ones.
To go back to the concept of death, it is interesting that although every character listed previously with Pisces placements, except for Annie Leonhart who goes into a coma, dies by the end of the series. Meanwhile,of the ones which have Ashlesha placements, only Ymir dies- Jean, Mikasa, Levi, all survive. This is really interesting just because of the sheer number of deaths in this anime.
Interestingly, there was a time when the mangaka wanted to kill Ashlesha moon Levi Ackerman. However, the team questioned his decision, asking whether or not his death would serve any purpose. The mangaka then decided against killing Levi.
Death is not an important development for these characters, because their stories were never about dying for a greater purpose. Instead, the characters who had voice actors with Ashlesha placements are used to represent the grief, trauma and damage which war can cause.
To give you a sense of how many characters have Ashlesha and Revati placements, this is from the season 3 poster.
In my next part, I'll be exploring some other secondary nakshatra influences on this anime.
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