The previously pinned post here :)

Og index of translations etc (up to Aug 2020) (browser only) here.

Links to notable translations etc below the cut.

Hi!! :D

Laughing at the initial thought that this was a little bit of throwing myself into the lion's den XDD But oh my goodness if the end of the story is that this has turned out to be a bit of a wild ride.

So first of all, I went to look up the scene and the lines themselves, which as per my listening and a wee bit of checking with some japanese sites is:

So, technical aspects, the "Abnormal [type]" is translated from 奇行種 kikoushu, 奇行 kikou from its kanji, literally "strange conduct/behaviour", means eccentric or unconventional behaviour. What's actually quite interesting is the use of (一)匹 (ip)piki for the number counter here, I've had a little bit of a discussion and feedback about this, this is basically the term that Eren used to refer to the Titans, and is a counter for (smaller) animals, whereas after it was pointed out to me, a non-extensive scan of the manga showed that 体 tai for human-shaped like figures is normally what is used to refer to the titans, or at least particularly during their expeditions. I had a very quick check and it's the same case in acwnr. I think it's an interesting point of note.

But next stop was one of the links I clicked on to find out more about this scene, because I vaguely remembered that there was more background about it, and it was the pixiv one.

And this is what the (shippy) pixiv writeup about episode 9 had to say about the scene, forgive me I was too lazy and this is churned out by google translate:

(Hilariously, the original japanese text does say Animedia, this is an interesting switch and bait by google translate....)

So, off I went to look for the original material for this, which, to cut a long story short, I eventually came to this:

And umm, I think that the translation given in the second picture is wrong. Japlish "tension" outside of a scientific context more typically means "excitement" or "(high) spirits" rather than literal tension. I've taken to saying "tension, the english meaning" in order to make the distinction with a family member who spends a lot of time dabbling in japanese stuff and we sometimes mush both languages together in our conversations XDD

And so I think the translation should be:

And as for the magazine excerpt? No translation was given but here's my attempt:

(Edit: to be fair I just remembered that threads (among everything else XD) are completely broken for non-users so I don't actually know if there was a translation given in a subsequent tweet)

() are for words that I add in, [] are for words that are originally there but are/can be omitted, and (()) are for brackets originally in the article.

And I'm... flabbergasted. The context of the article originally is that the scriptwriter was trying and failing to make Levi come out more bad-mouthed until Isayama himself came up with the lines. You can see how the line that I translated:

matches up with the google translate of the pixiv write-up of

confirming that this is the same article that they are talking about. However, the phrase 口が悪くなるように "in order to make him more bad-mouthed" in the original article had been changed up to a very neutral リヴァイの口調 "Levi's tone (of voice)" in the pixiv write-up.

And my goodness, if this isn't some level of representational fraud XDD The original intention is to show how rude Levi can be. And yes, the scene highlights Hange's disposition, how enthusiastic they are about the expedition, and the depth of their relationship`with each other, which is such that they are close enough with each other that Levi can make such a quip at their expense. But the point hilariously remains that Levi was being rude as hell.

And so, conclusion? I don't know, is it because of the action itself, or the translation that makes it sound like a pick-up line, or because of what shippers say about it? But oh my goodness if this is one in which the meaning of the article had been twisted to give such a false impression of what the original actually said by such selective conveyance of the relevant lines and paraphrasing. I'm kindof impressed that they've gotten away with it, not just on the english side which frankly I would find understandable, but on the japanese side as well here. I'm still flabbergasted about it.

Tl;dr I think it's safe enough to say that it's cute, but it's not meant to be a pick-up line. It's supposed to be Levi being crass with his words, which is in character.

But if I could end with something that I originally found while doing this other write-up (it's from a shippy write-up, so they're not being mean about it XD)

XDDD

Thank you for your ask and what a revelation! XS XDD

(Usual disclaimers apply :)

Okay, I admit that at first I was once again thinking about the knight analogy of Levi in the crate scene, that nevermind all of the discussion of the meaning of Levi's words, that it is the very symbol of paying tribute, that kneeling before someone (or genuflecting as is more accurate here since it's only on one knee as I found out XD) is undoubtedly a sign of paying respect. As a physical gesture, it certainly contradicts the notion that Levi is disappointed in Erwin.

But bouncing off my post about balancing unequal power dynamics, where I was thinking mostly about in what way the balance was readjusted through intention and their dialogue, while I was thinking that yes, Levi is kneeling and putting himself lower here, there's also the interesting point that Erwin had also lowered himself, and first. So it's occurred to me that Isayama might also be playing with one more interesting aspect: the visual factor.

Oops wrong one I mean

XDD

And so, I think that it is an interesting sequence of events through the crate scene, where it starts with them standing and the natural height difference makes for the disparity.

Again, perhaps a bit disingenuous and it should be more of this case:

But then Erwin goes and sits down on the crate, and the tables are turned, and Erwin is low not just mentally but physically as well:

Which means that when Erwin is finished with his monologue, it's that he has to look up to Levi. But in this case I think I much prefer the manga version of events. In fact I think the manga portrays Erwin's expression and the whole sequence of events better actually, where he is essentially waiting for Levi's verdict like a chastised child.

Which brings us back to my beginning thought for how it turns out, symbolically a knight pledging his allegiance to his liege.

But not just here, but in the office scene as well, it's that Erwin is sitting, and although there is good reason why he is seated to start with, nevertheless, I think it sets the stage for their confrontation, where Levi has the role of the one leading the questioning really.

And when he's not happy with the answers

and at the end of it

Again, visually, I think that the power is shown to be in Levi's hands actually.

But yeah, I think that sometimes we get a little too lost in the sauce of analysing the text and its meaning and forget that manga is also a visual medium, and I think that it is interesting to examine it too and consider that Isayama also makes use of it to demonstrate the disruption of the status quo.

PSA

So, long story short, there have been severe layoffs in Automattic, and tumblr is effectively currently being run by a skeleton crew. The advice is to back up your blogs.

Some more detailed information:

I used the Tumblr Backup Python script from the following post. It is quite technical and there is quite a lot of information to go through, but I think the instructions here are clear and detailed and straightforward to follow. One thing I'll point out is that if you are using the script that they give as an example:

that the "--i" that they give as an example is incorrect and will give an error, it should be "-i" with a single dash.

Good luck to everybody and stay safe! ^^

Ooo, this is an interesting piece of information that I'm wondering about the exact provenance of. I looked at the profile pages of the 3 of them and I'm wondering if it came from this?

However, (and fortunately I managed to obtain the original japanese books for this one), the original text does say 部下たち bukatachi, and 部下 buka for subordinate does very unambiguously mean to work under somebody, which patently isn't the case for Hange in relation to Levi, so I think that this is an error that wasn't spotted in the time it went to print. On both sides.

Hange's role is immediately identified as squad leader/分隊長 buntaichou in their profile page (as Erwin with commander), while Levi is introduced as "the most skillful/able soldier in the Survey Corps" (調査兵団で最も腕の立つ兵士), and in the final sentence with:

which the official translation actually skims over the details with "Not only does he inspire the troops" (which I wouldn't even accept as technically correct if we were going to be strict about it). But the way the text of his profile is arranged I think ends up making his actual status very ambiguous as to whether his rank is even official in the first place XD

The other thing the translation skims on a little is リヴァイと共に rivai to tomo ni in "Looked for clues with Levi!" on Hange's page in the box highlight, where と共に to tomo ni is a bit more accurately "together with", or "along with", which maybe it is extrapolating, but it gives the unconscious feeling that they are on a par with each other.

(As an aside aside, I never know how to translate 活躍 katsuyaku, it's something like "active at/as" or "carries out activities in" (actively participates??), it's the "Hard at work" part of it of the headline of the box highlight on Levi's profile page)

Again, apologies for my crappy phototaking.

In any case, it doesn't seem that this rank distinction was clear in the guidebook, because someone specifically asks about it and Isayama answers in the Frau Q&A that:

[my long winded post about Levi's rank and title]

And finally, to address that whole "equal footing" thing I was thinking about that I think sparked this, I have to admit that part of it was thinking about Hange's initial encounter with Levi in acwnr, as well as in terms of hierarchy, that sense of "answering to", which in the scheme of things, even if Levi is technically ranked higher than Hange, they are still both in the same tier where they both still answer to Erwin and have their own subordinates, one of them does not answer to the other, whereas at both/all points, Erwin is at a higher rank and hierarchy to Levi.

But if this isn't actually where it comes from please let me know!

Thank you for your ask! :)

(Usual disclaimer apply :)

You know the whole pro and anti-shipping thing? Where proshipping originally meant "ship and let ship", it actually meant "you do you", Your Kink Is Not My Kink And That's Okay and a policy of non-interference but it was actually the anti side that made out that the "pro" was short for "problematic" and that it's about supporting the most objectionable of ship material so that they could object to it and that's how we have the meaning of it that we have today?

Dealing with meta on AoT sometimes feels a bit like that.

And for the sillies, I'm going to present... this XDD

I was thinking about the concept of the equality of relationships, and I know that there are many people who like the appeal of levihan because they are equal partners. But it's also interesting to think about the fact that it is also because they do literally start out on an equal footing, that they are of equal rank or status, which doesn't really change when Hange takes on the Commander role (but actually it does, because Levi does stop referring to them as "shitty glasses" but by name, which is also another interesting point as I think it is as much to project that they and their rank should be respected as it is that he respects it himself), and so while it is touted as a feature, I want to play devil's advocate here and point out that that equality came built-in as well.

But as you may suspect XD, this is all a very elaborate lead up to the real question that I have in mind:

Can two people of apparently unequal power dynamics have an equal partnership?

Because I very much see Erwin and Levi's relationship as that of being partners too. However, I also think that it's the very literal fact of their being of unequal status, that Erwin was always a level or more up rank or status-wise over Levi, that's also the immediate discriminating factor in the consideration of their relationship as such.

However, Isayama also says that "About Erwin and Levi, (I) have always been thinking that (I) want to draw/depict (them) as an equal relationship (on an equal footing)." [x]

And so, the question is: how does one do that in a relationship that's already inherently unequal? And in the most simplistic terms, the power level of the higher one needs to go down, and the power level of the lower one needs to go up. And so, I think that the question to ask here is: Does Isayama show that? Does it happen?

Does Erwin hold that power over Levi? Does he cede his power over to Levi?

And the funniest thing to me is that, even in circles that dispute the relationship between Levi and Erwin, in pointing out that Levi had to tell him to buckle up and do the right thing, they seem to miss out on the fact that Levi is in a position to be able to tell Erwin what to do in the first place.

In a way, even from their first real challenge to each other in the main series, Levi is also in his own way like Eren: Erwin can command him to change his blades and gas canisters, but he can't make him do so. In the end Levi does it with a "okay I'm gonna do it, but it's because I decided to trust in your judgement". Cheeky bastard XDD

But yes, especially with the return to Shinganshina arc, I do actually see that ceding of power to Levi. The most obvious one being in asking him if he would take the syringe, but again, perhaps that is more for the fact of the notion that with great power comes great responsibility, and Erwin didn't want Levi to go into it blindly, to make a preset choice, but to understand the full powers that came with the choice he'd been given, should he accept. But in either case, what I've always thought was more interesting with the situation was that in doing that while the higher-ups were present, it really showed them that Erwin was very much giving that executive power over to Levi and that his decision was going to be the final word on it. Not Erwin's.

Again and again, I feel like while people are tripping over pointing out Erwin's flaws in his confrontations with Levi, they miss out on the power dynamics that is happening: Levi isn't deferring to him as a subordinate, and Erwin doesn't hold that power over Levi. Erwin could possibly have pulled rank on Levi in his office. He doesn't. He states his intentions, that he has to be there, but he doesn't override Levi's say in the matter ("regardless of what you think about it"). It's actually Levi who allows him to go with ill grace XDD, keeping a watchful eye on him all the way. (Although to be fair, it's curious to think about how things would have actually turned out if Levi still said no XD) But nevertheless, I think that there is a balance of forces here that isn't the most obvious, a push and pull that couldn't happen if there wasn't a semblance of equality in the forces, like a tug of war that would have toppled one way or other immediately.

Thinking about this with regard to the crate scene though, to skip all the many words I've written about this, in this case I actually had thoughts more about the tarot merchandise that had Erwin as the Hierophant (although I personally thought that as a reading, the reverse Hierophant would ba a more accurate representation) and Levi as Judgement (upright), because I think that often the part that gets missed out on is that Erwin was indeed putting himself up on a platter here to be judged by Levi. Not to mention that "give up on your dreams and die" was Levi speak for deciding that he'd(they'd?) go with Erwin's plan. (Yes, there were two plans, the escape plan that Levi proposed first, and then the gamble of a plan that Erwin is proposing, again something that seems to pass notice.) But definitely one side putting themselves down, and by default in this case the other side rises up in the balance of power.

And in the end, Levi holds the power of life and death over Erwin, or to be more precise, the power to reverse death. And again, I think that it is interesting to consider that it is power that Erwin had ceded to him in the first place, that he truly will have to make the choice, unhindered by any preconceptions as to what he should do.

It is a fascinating and unobserved full circle I think, that the power that is- I feel not so much like it was given over but like it had always been there in the first place, that Erwin had always given him a freer rein really but it's Levi who chooses to operate under his command, but in this situation it is explicitly stated, turns out to be the power that gets used to make the choice for him. And somehow I don't feel like Erwin would have had it any other way either.

I feel like trying to make a doll is like one of the funnier versions of "draw this in your own style" that one could come up with...