Why is it that the animators can't include shirtless Levi or shirtless Erwin but have no problem with Zackley's disgusting shit machine?
Why, indeed, Anon?
I’ve seen a good amount of people commenting on other things WIT left out (the majority of the torture, important conversations, etc.), and a lot of people have been blaming censorship. While this is a possible explanation, it isn’t a particularly good one in my opinion. Let’s dig a little deeper into it.
If censorship was at play we could assume that it was done to avoid offending the sensibilities of viewers. Or, perhaps, that Japanese television has certain standards regarding censorship. They do, in fact (showing genitalia is not OK for instance), but this doesn’t adequately explain the lack of Shirtless Adonis Erwin and Surprise Shirtless Beefcake Levi. After all, shows like Hunter x Hunter and Dragon Ball Z both showed male characters shirtless and also drew their nipples. These shows were aimed at a much younger audience, so the censorship explanation doesn’t really hold water.
Instead, these choices were purely that: artistic decisions. We have no idea how much influence Isayama had regarding these choices, but they’re clearly deliberate.
Many of the graphic elements to the torture scenes were left out- this paints Hanji and Levi in a somewhat better light as characters, in my opinion. On the other hand we got Zackley’s shit machine in all its glory, highlighting that Zackley is not a good man. He spent years, YEARS, thinking about that thing, and they showed it- down to the frilly socks. All I got from it is that Zackley is not to be trusted, he is a wolf in a rather crappy sheep disguise, an we should keep our eyes on him. After all, in his conversation with Erwin in the carriage, does he not say some things that make Erwin pause and think? I doubt these were off the cuff remarks. Zackley is a man who plans. For years. For shit machines. But I digress...
As for the lack of shirtless Levi and Erwin, I’m sad about it too. They pretty much couldn’t avoid shirtless Eren, the dude is like that for many chapters in the manga. So, if you’re into that, then you’re all set! But the two grown-ass men I really wanted to see sans shirts were straight up robbed. I’m particularly sad we didn’t see shirtless Levi because the cognitive dissonance of his physique in the manga is so perfect and borderline hilarious. Also, I love me some thicc Levi.
Who knows, maybe we’ll get a fanservice-style beach episode? (Oops, my inner troll is showing a little.)
To soothe your sadness I’d recommend fanart.
Glorious Shirtless!Levi: here here here and here
Flawless Shirtless!Erwin: here here here and here
Also, as a bonus: both of them