Strange Panda

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Hey!! What do you think of Armin’s CT? Imo it looks dope!!

It holds a lot of symbolism and matches my meta - he is the symbol of spineless youth, thus looking sad yet what I also noticed is that his titan also resembles Uri’s titan. I will write another meta regarding this later on as the new chapter spoilers will come out soon so I will have more material to work with. But his design is very unique and much better and symbolic than Bertholdt’s. It’s also important to note how good Armin is at using the Colossal Titan, creating a big destruction yet even after using his titan he was able to go back to planning strategies without problem whereas Bertholdt was exhausted and was relying on Reiner defending him. I guess Armin is after all really our real mascot of the series, as he holds so much symbolism and through him we are also finally getting to see the Colossal Titan’s theme and symbolism shine which was never there with Bertholdt. Bertholdt was pretty much there to foreshadow us Armin’s future character arc and nothing more, with Bertholdt you had him using himself as a nuke like it was his biggest skill yet it is the first thing we see Armin do with no problem and it really makes you curious what other tricks he has in his sleeve and to what uses he is going to put his Colossal Titan.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Damn it dude, the hell is your problem? "stronger explosions"? "just a vessel for CT"? Feels more like you trying hard to convice yourself. Did you get triggered by isayama's Q&A where he talked about bertholdt and how he isnt finished with him yet?

And what exactly do I have to be “triggered” about?

That Isayama didn’t bother coming up with proper reason as to why Bertholdt inherited the Colossal Titan? When he himself stated that he dislikes such things as “natural talent” because there’s no depth to it and feels lazy? That he just randomly gave him marksman abilities? Even Marcel had more in depth throughout. That it’s obvious he was just a plot device because unlike other characters he never got character development? 

That Isayama also couldn’t have cared less about his background and about drawing his parents? That he never had any motive at all? It’s obvious the Editor couldn’t really be bothered with Bertholdt and his fans but Isayama pities them, he just came up with some answer for their sake but never thought about it before. Again, just proves Isayama always intended him to be just mere vessel for the Colossal Titan. He put way more thought into Reiner and Annie and that could’ve already be seen from the Guide Book when he said he looked into real life people to base their character designs on, while Bertholdt was nothing particular. They also have special characteristics, Reiner was described as a big brother like guy who deeply cares for others and did everything for is family., while Annie is a lone wolf with mad martial skills who did everything for her father. Bertholdt? Nothing. Why do you think he was ditched in Shiganshina out of all warriors and died as 2nd out of whole 104th squad? Because Isayama had nothing prepared for him, but since he extended the manga and said he wants to give everyone somewhat closure he had to throw him into the flashbacks and will draw him furthermore when Armin gets memories of him about how he used the titan. Actually now that I look at it it’s possible Armin shifted by cutting his finger which means those flashbacks were indeed foreshadowing for Armin, including the “God of Destruction” part. Why do you think he included it after Bertholdt died? And Bertholdt’s real feelings about Annie may also get flashback of their own I guess, because I’ts possible Armin and Annie may talk in future chapters. 

[impossiblystrangepanda]

What makes you think armins explosion is stronger than Bertolts? They look the same

Its easy to figure it out just by looking at it, Armin's explosion is depicted bigger and it reached all the way from the port to the plaza. It's also important to note it's just his basic explosion, if he decides to drop himself on Marley like a literal bomb it could be game over for them so Armin is probably the trump card Eren talked about.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Armin’s appearance and connection with the Colossal Titan

Finally after the long anticipation for his appearance, Armin is finally there and kicking!

And on his very fist appearance we see him shifting, without having to injure himself, causing explosion even bigger and stronger than Bertholdt in the Shiganshina district, who in fact added a speed to it which means Bertholdt’s apparent strongest explosion wasn’t even close to Armin’s basic explosion and one can just assume how strong his explosion affected with speed may be. This definitely confirms “The God of Destruction” from chapter 95 being a foreshadowing for him. 

Now there’s his new looks 

as if Isayama wanting us to take a hint, I think we all immediately thought of his prominent similarity with a certain person of royal blood 

which means Armin truly could be of a royal blood and him inheriting the Colossal Titan may not be a coincidence. On the topic, you could notice Armin’s eyes looking exactly like the Colossal Titan’s eyes now

Armin’s eyes

The Colossal Titan’s eyes

This also confirms that Bertholdt was indeed nothing just a vessel for the Colossal Titan and Armin was always fated to be the endgame holder. Isayama did state he created him just as a human version of the Colossal Titan because he realized it needed a person to pilot it beforehand. But the Colossal Titan plays a big part in Armin’s character arc. He was always there facing it, as if Isayama wanted us to see that there’s some kind of connection between them and now Armin will also have to face struggles of being the Colossal Titan, having to kill people, perhaps this explains this picture of the Colossal Titan talking to Armin, telling him “It hurts” in chapter 85

Armin and his connection to the Colossal Titan may be one of the most important things to the foundation of this story, oh and there’s this cover as well

furthering his association with the Colossal Titan.

Considering Armin might be connected to royal blood, eventually leading him to having access to all the memories of previous shifters of the Colossal Titan who attacked the Shiganshina, it makes sense why Armin is in fact the narrator of the story and why it starts with the Colossal Titan kicking off the plot. The first chapter title is also called “To you, 2000 years from now” so it could be in fact Armin telling the story to the future generations. It can be no coincidence that a titan’s suffering is shown especially to him and that he is one of the characters with most fleshed out arcs. As well as there’s Isayama always talking about the Colossal Titan’s gentle eyes and coincidence? He always talks about Armin’s eyes in that manner too, giving both of their eyes big focus.

Isayama also stated that the Colossal Titan is the symbol of spineless youth, which applies heavily to Armin who had a big dream which he eventually realized and matured from it, having no dream at all now, which Isayama talked about after the ocean chapter, where he stated he put once again a lot of focus on Armin’s eyes. Which is why his connection to the Colossal titan is so connected to Armin and why it makes a perfect sense for Armin to be the mascot of the series.

 I can’t wait to see what else Isayama has in a store for Armin, who may be one of the most important characters out there

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Well, well, looks like karma really came to bite Marley back in the ass. And they probably didn’t expect that the current person piloting The God of Destruction only took 4 years to master it and caused an explosion much stronger than their warrior who they thought would be more strong because of childhood training. They truly underestimated Paradis and its soldiers.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

As if Arumin wasnt enough of a joke by surviving scorching and 50m fall now you want him to magically grow up to 190cm because he gained the mighty ~GOD OF DESTRUCTION~ with his plot armor? Why so insecure? You think your fave needs to get short hair and tall height so that people will take him seriously? You Armin stans act as if say Bertholt grew magically taller after getting CT but newsflash: he didnt. Had enough of this Creators Pet but you are only making me hate him more

As if Reiner didn't survive crazy things right? Had his head blown but still survived. And Armin is grown up now, it's only natural to get excited about him looking different and potentially growing tall because he's the Colossal Titan now, enhancing his physical form. Isayama only made Bertholdt tall because he was the CT and he didn't look all that much taller than rest, especially on the cover of volume 24. Is it bad getting excited about your favourite character?

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Okay, first of all, Bertholdt Hoover was NOT a red shirt. Characters like Mina Carolina and Thomas Wagner were red shirts. Bertholdt meant so much to Reiner and Annie. It's Armin stans like you that almost make me HATE Armin. I honestly like Armin and his character, but saying all this bullshit about Bertholdt and how everyone will forget him is so immature.

I'm pretty sure Annie didn't even care to acknowledge his existence and Reiner has the warriors kids to protect, he's a strong guy who already moved on and lives for what he has and Isayama made it quite obvious that the warrior kids and Reiner feeling guilty and sorry for walldians and Eren is the biggest trait of his character. Sure he feels bad for what happened to Bertholdt but thats war and Bertholdt fought and lost. Reiner surely wouldnt blame the walldians for what they did to Bertholdt because he knows what they did to walldians was horrible.In fact nobody mentioned anything about Bertholdt, nobody felt for him when he died and his relatives are also dead, he's forgotten, just like that man who hung himself and who he projected onto. Besides he was the least fleshed out out of the trio just like Udo and Zofia were, unlike Annie and Reiner he had no backstory, no motives nor any prominent relationships.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

I want every single retarded fujo who loves Bert to die on my dick the moment it's proven Armin is indeed the best character.

It's not like Bertholdt will receive any further character development or focus and nor is he or ever was important for Reiner so the fans will eventually drop him for other characters (a big portion already did)

[impossiblystrangepanda]

you always claim that isayama hated bertolt and all that bullshit but receipts? Does it make sense for author to hate a character he himself made? Dumbass.

He gave him the worst character traits, never talked of him in high manner like he does with Annie and Reiner and created him as a redshirt.Reiner may not be perfect human being and was portrayed as imitating Marcel but Isayama himself stated he is a character with a lot of potential, an ideal caring man who likes sports and gave his character a nickname of "big brother" because he really is like oneAnnie is portrayed as just someone who goes with the flow and who doesn't care about others but we see that is not the case just like with Reiner really being like a big brother. Isayama said her name is supposed to emphasize how strong willed she is and always focused on her strenght and kicks and gave her character a nickname related to it because shes very strong girl.As for Bertholdt? He's been portrayed as a coward, weak willed, passive and detached and nothing in manga proves otherwise. It almost looked like it was not the case during Shiganshina but then on the roof before getting eaten he reverted back to his old ways of being a cowardly cry baby and died like one. Isayama never talked about him in a high manner unlike Annie and Reiner, he always critized his character and certainly SNK is not a place for weak willed people like him.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

connie and armin 190cm? Dude, you know 190cm is above average height and not something you reach out of nowhere with basic growth spurt, you need genes for that, kenny was always portrayed as tall and same with bertholt whos been taller than his peers since he was young, how could someone 160cm at 16 years reach the same height as someone whos been 160cm when he was probably like 11-12 years old and 192cm when he was 16? Biggest growth spurt happens in early teens + you need genes for it, logic

Why so petty? If Isayama wants to make them tall he will make them tall. Or are you a Bertholdt stan who is mad that he won't be the tallest from 104th anymore? Because another characteristic that made him "stand out" is being given to young boys who went through puberty through those years he's been dead?

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Lmao cant wait for bertolt fans to be pressed furthermore when its confirmed he was only there to serve armins character development. Why do they think isayama pushed him into further background.

Realization will slowly hit them once they realize the plot is much bigger than Bertholdt. He was just like Marco, nothing but a side character and a plot device. I guess it's still hard for them to accept that the only thing that made their fave relevant and "special" was taken from him and given to more deserving character. Isayama stated he created Levi as small man but with crazy skills so viewers will take quick liking into him because of the contrast and it worked, it's obvious he's doing the same with Armin as well. A blonde guy with big blue eyes and cuter appearance but wields the power of the God of Destruction. The japanese artists are already showing big anticipation and interest by drawing Armin with titan marks and new uniform, certainly it's working and I've also noticed Bertholdt being slowly forgotten and replaced in most cases so it's only a matter of a time. Bertholdt was nothing but a character who was failure that never achieved anything. He died without any character closure so it shows you how much Isayama "cared" for him.

[attack-on-erens-soul-deactivate]

Those eyes once filled with hope and dreams are now filled with anger and spite.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

Do you think we are going to see armin and his colossal titan next chapter? isayama said chapter took him longer to finish than usual and we will see why, hype!

No doubt about it! Isayama couldn’t hide his excitement about Armin wielding the power of the Colossal Titan in one of his interviews and since he is the last shifter to be shown Isayama will definitely blow us away! He has been slowly hyping us by talking about the Colossal Titan’s power rather than Bertholdt during the titan introduction, revealing him to be the God of Destruction and as well as the Strongest Titan. I have no doubt his new character design will be very amazing too. And considering its the last chapter of the volume I have no doubt Isayama kept the best for last.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

The trapdoor guy is definitely connie and damn look how tall he got! Hes definitely 190cm because hes a head taller than porco, now Im really curious about armin since hes the colossal titan now, no doubt isayama will make him very tall!

The SC’s reintroduction will be certainly one of the most badass moments in the manga and indeed, it’s hard to contain the excitement especially for Armin as he alongside Levi is the most anticipated character. Bertholdt’s successor would definitely shine much more.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

I've had the impression we just red two different mangas. Reibert and all the shipping thing apart il clear how Reiner and Bertholdt both cared for each other and always help each other. Now, you can ship them because they're five years apart and ew that's pedophilia. Ok, sweetie, now you're demonstrating me you don't even have the perception of the words you're using. Plz, that's bullshit. Pedophilia means to sexually desire a person in his pre-adolescence!!! SURPRISE! SURPRISED?

"I understand you don't ship the thing that'ok, I really don't give a damn, but you're talking without sources of fonts or EVEN THE IDEA OF WHAT PEDOPHILIA IS. Like a half of the world is pedophile now if we follow your suggestion. I usually don't speak so clearly but, come on! You can see what you want, but with knowledge of materials and without build up causes from nowhere. Don't have anything with you, just wanted you to know" Look, ever since Bertholdt died I've seen a lot of people draw him with adult Reiner, which is pedophilia as canonicaly Reiner is an adult man who has gone through a lot and has mental age of man older than 21 year old while Bertholdt was a naive 16 year old kid with a crush on Annie. So certainly shippers think this concept of pedophilia is cute.And as I mentioned, Reiner has a tendency to care for every person who he's acquaintances with. Since Marcel died, Bertholdt was the only other guy left so of course Reiner would be always with him. And after Annie was captured Bertholdt was his only comrade left, but take all of it away and you'd realize they were "friends" only because of circumstances. Reiner liked strong willed people like Eren, Marcel,Ymir, Annie etc. You could see him approaching all of those but as for Bertholdt? The only time we saw them privately interact was in the forest and before Shiganshina battle and in both cases Reiner didn't look all that joyed or relaxed, Bertholdt was nothing more but a naive guy with a crush on girl who couldn't care less about him to Reiner and he was kind enough to cheer him up about it saying that even Annie will fall for a guy who comes rushing to save her, quoting Reiner "even if its someone like you" its pretty obvious to me that Reiner didn't think much of him.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

hey fam me too i hate reibert xd reibrrt is suvh a pedofilic ship with irrekevant side kikk hes such a cunt that never was beneicial for reiner hes such a fgt i ont get he is that popular fujos r retardes xddddxxx

Reiner certainly liked people who have strong will and dreams, Bertholdt wasn't any of that which must've annoyed Reiner because Bertholdt also wasn't taking his duties seriously. And it is indeed weird to ship them now when Reiner is 21 now and Bertholdt an underage 16 years old. Bertholdt was popular because of him being the Colossal Titan but now it's over now, Armin has took his place and his fans are still petty because Bertholdt isn't the one and only iconic Colossal Titan now, actually he isn't one anymore and that's probably how Isayama always wanted it to be. Isayama already associates Armin more with the CT than Bertholdt and the plot is also much bigger than him, Isayama already portrays Bertholdt as the not really that important character to Reiner so his popularity will definitely fall down once the fujos give up.

[impossiblystrangepanda]

How can you say bertholdt wasnt important to reiner? bertholdt was the only person who never hurt reiner and cared for him uncoditionally seriously?!

Well, if that’s the case then why isn’t Isayama bothering to put some light into it or develop it on screen insead of developing it in background overshadowed by Reiner’s relationship with Eren and Annie or even Marcel? We can see in the flashbacks that Reiner always admired Marcel because he was their group’s leader, he was strong. Because of Marcel, Reiner started feeling guilt and remorse, because of Annie he regained himself and promised her that he will become the leader and get them all home, so we got to know it was Annie who he first promised to return home alive and not Bertholdt like everyone thought. He tried to understand her. He also related a lot to Eren during their trainee times and always watched over him, he treated him like his younger brother. As for Bertholdt? He didn’t really treat him as nicely as Eren, he really couldn’t have cared less, he said it himself that he was unreliable and despite knowing Eren killed Bertholdt he understood him and apologized to Eren for everything that happened to him. He played no role in Reiner’s character arc. And we also learn that Bertholdt had no role inside the walls and didn’t do anything the entire years spent there, it was just Annie and Reiner.  We also learn that it was Reiner who wanted to continue the mission so in the end Bertholdt really was nothing more but a vessel of the Colossal Titan and a person to asure Reiner would stay alive. Falco and Gabi play bigger part in Reiner’s life now and if there’s someone who will cause Reiner to strengthen up it will be one of them.