I loved reading your take on chapter 126 and Levihan. It brought back so many emotions. Thank you so much for that ❤️
I'd love to read your take on chapter 132 as well. You really made me curious with this:
"What we are not shed any light on here, is how Levi would have answered her question. But I do believe we get an answer for that in 132, when he literally dedicates his heart to her."
Wow thanks so much Anon! I’m really glad my interpretation of it resonated with you 😊
Omg 132 - so I would love to give my take on it, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to highlight anything that hasn’t already been said by some of the amazing Levihan meta writers and blogs already out there. Specifically, let me shout out @nocturnalmk and her masterlist here because some of this content is what got me thinking about 126 in the first place. Her own stuff and links to others regarding 132 are definitely worth checking out! Particularly, the information about Hange’s ‘unrequited love for Titans,’ and how Levi phrases this, is essential.
Also - this all ended up reaching a little past 132 and into later chapters too - hope that’s okay!
So I’m not sure if, after thinking about it more thoroughly and doing a little more reading, the way I phrased it previously is really correct - the idea that Levi dedicates his heart to her. It’s actually kinda more painful, in my eyes.
Disclaimer - here on out is my interpretation of events - everyone will see things differently and so I am no way claiming this is the only or correct way to look at these scenes. Anyway, on with my rambling then -
Let me explain firstly about the scouts’ salute and what it means.
It’s both the action and the words which give ‘shinzō wo sasageyo’ it’s meaning. Translated literally, shinzō is the heart, and wo sasageyo is to dedicate. As to who’s - yours, mine, his, hers - this is inferred from the context of the words. It’s abstract, mainly - more concerned with the action than the owner of the action. At least this is as much as my rudimentary Japanese tells me.
Another thing to note is that ‘shinzō’ is the word used for the physical organ, whereas ‘Kokoro’ is the heart when we talk about it in an emotional or spiritual sense. In light of this, when soldiers salute, it’s not the fortitude of their minds and the spiritual soul that they’re dedicating to the military, it is their literal hearts.
Think about that for a moment.
They are pledging their hearts - the organ that is responsible for keeping them living and breathing - to the military’s cause. In essence, they are pledging to lay down their lives for the cause. If they have to die - if they have to literally hand over their beating heart to whatever fate awaits them - they will do so.
The thud of the curled fist over the heart cements the promise - almost like one is literally saying - yes, here it is, in my chest, and I am giving up ownership of it. It’s no longer mine. My life is no longer my own - it belongs to duty and to the military, even if in the end I have to give it up.
So then let’s take a look at how the final salute between Levi and Hange goes:
(The fact that he calls her four eyes again here will always end me.)
I find these and the following panels especially heartbreaking, not simply because of Levihan’s goodbye, but because of the complex weight this moment holds for both of them, in terms of the ownership they have over their own lives, and the choices they are and are not able to make. It ties into the whole theme of freedom that runs through the heart of the manga.
In Hange’s final moments, it’s never been more apparent how far from freedom both of these characters are. They are not free, because they pledged their beating hearts to a cause, and now one of them must pay up.
Hange realises this. Like in the forest, she’s already made her decision when Levi speaks to her, because she’s true to her duty and she knows that it’s time to give up what she’s always promised she would when the time comes. But she’s terrified, still. Of course she is. This is why she can’t look at Levi. This is why she’s sweating profusely. This is why she tells him to just let her go.
It’s not the titans or death that she’s terrified of, though. How many times have we seen Hange face off with death? How many times have we seen her charge headfirst into hordes of titans without fear or care? Too many times to count.
But now she’s scared. Because something has changed.
No, it’s not death she fears. It’s her own ability to keep her promise - to dedicate her heart and body and life to the Survey Corps if Levi stands before her, looks her square in the eye, and asks her not to.
Hange is scared that Levi is the one thing that will crumble her resolve.
Why?
Because Hange heard Levi’s answer to her private, selfish wish from the forest earlier in the chapter. When Levi, in his typical direct and yet not direct at all fashion, insinuated that while her love for Titans may go unrequited, there are other loves in her life which will not.
Like her love for him.
That is how I interpret that earlier moment - as I said before, the links above are essential reading - and when you look at the moment of their goodbye in light of that, it cuts so deeply.
This is the face of a man warring with his own resolve, just as Hange’s is so close to cracking before his very eyes.
Levi’s expression goes from defiant, to defeated, to devastated. Realisation sets in that they were never free at all, and as people with integrity, neither of them could ever abandon the duty that they’ve pledged their lives to.
Even for each other.
So instead of pleading with her not to go like he clearly wants to from that pained expression, and the fact that he followed her even though she couldn’t bear to face him, Levi instead gives his blessing.
He presses his fist to Hange’s chest because he knows that it really has come time for her to ‘devote her heart,’ to put her money where her mouth is and give up her life for the continuity of the Survey Corps.
The hardest hitting part of these panels is not the way he puts his fist to her chest - not the idea that this is some ‘secret romantic gesture’. Because it’s really not. It’s devastating. What we should really be focusing on is how hard it clearly is for Levi to bring himself to do that - look at how pained he is. What it takes for him to make himself repeat that promise that now chains Hange to her fate - to her imminent death - and leads her living, breathing body away from his.
He doesn’t bring his fist to his own chest because it is not his heart - his body, or his life - that is going to be given up. It’s hers. And he wants to fully acknowledge that. What duty is costing him. Why he really does need to fight on and make what she devoted worthwhile. Sound familiar?
He probably could feel her heartbeat against his hand - a reassurance that in that moment, she was still alive and well in front of him, very physically present. Her whole life still ahead of her, with possibilities and opportunities and choices and freedom. But she gave all that up. She volunteered it readily, and even though Levi could have stopped her, he never would have. Because that’s just not who they were.
As is fitting, the final member of the Survey Corps to sacrifice themselves, and the last salute by Levi, prove to be the things that best encapsulate the idea of ‘shinzō wo sasageyo,’ and the true weight of that promise.
She didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to let her. And although the other characters look neutral or with small smiles, Hange looks filled with longing and pain. Notice how Levi never once says any of it was worth the sacrifice.
Levi is the only one in the end freed from his duty - the sole beating heart left out of so many, as symbolised by his final salute. The single tear is telling of what it cost him to get there.
Welcome back :) for me one of the most important part of ch132 was the twins' different views on dealing with their 'subordinates' . Can you give your analysis about this? And also what do you think about Vincent's meaningful glare?
Thank you! :)
The twins indeed had some different reactions to Vincent’s explanation about what the work of a Lord consists of:
I’d say our Ciel’s words seem more caring and sympathetic. He really seems concerned about the people while the twin’s thoughts are more practical in regard to keep everything running.
It feels like our Ciel’s words are more that of an innocent child who wants everyone to be happy and is genuinely caring about the people, wanting to grant all their wishes for the sake of the people. Contrarily, the twin sees the bigger picture and the people more like means to ensure that everything is working well on the estate. While our Ciel sees the people as individuals the twin rather sees the whole collective.
And I think both views are important for a Lord. To see both, individuals but also everything as a whole, is probably necessary to keep the estate running while ensuring everyone’s happiness and therefore loyalty.
Vincent is probably aware of that, too. That’s why he’s paying so close attention to the twins’ reactions.
As @akumadeenglish and @midnight-in-town already said here and here I, too, believe that Vincent is trying to observe and assess his sons’ capabilities to be the future Earl and Watchdog. Sure, the real Ciel was trained to inherit the titles and he was the rightful heir but I feel like Vincent also had plans for our Ciel. Maybe that’s why he always seemed to dismiss any talk about our Ciel’s education. Perhaps Vincent even thought that both twins could become the future Watchdog together (as @shinigami-mistress has proposed here).
There’s something else I noticed in this panel. The twin is talking about “we” and the people working for “us” aka both twins. So he’s already assuming that our Ciel will stay with him later. It seems like he’s not even considering that our Ciel might live his own life one day. Which is also why he’s reacting so strongly after our Ciel tells him about his own dreams of opening a toy shop in London.
