Attack on Titan: The Essence of Masculinity (Anime Analysis)
Attack on Titan (or Shingeki no Kyojin in Japanese), which was first released in 2013, is one of the most violent, thrilling, and unpredictable anime shows ever conceived. Its depiction of the century-long David-and-Goliath battle between humans and titans have captured the attention of anime lovers around the world. However, not alot of people understand how it relates to people, particularly men. If you were a man, THIS is the kind of shows you would watch. But why is that?
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
-Marcus Aurelius
It is because the show represent the essence of masculinity and what being a man is all about. As men, we all want to be more masculine and demonstrate our masculinity, sometimes in extreme, excessive and unhealthy ways. The characters within the show represent some aspect of masculinity, and that is what we will look at in this piece. We will mainly look at members of the Survey Corps, the military organization that combats the fearsome and mysterious Titans, and see how their main masculine qualities can also be incorporated into our own masculine character.
Note that each character has different masculine qualities, and each masculine qualities are present in multiple characters, but we will notice that each character exhibits one masculine characteristic the most.
I am going the way of all the Earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man.
-1 Kings 2:2
Eren Yaeger: The Aggressive, Purposeful Masculine
Eren Yaeger, the protagonist of the series, is known for being a hot-head. He speaks his mind, is prone to fits of anger, has a lust for violence, and has sworn to kill every single Titan on the planet.
He embodies two of the most quintessential masculine qualities: aggression and a sense of purpose. He believes he was put on this Earth to get rid of the Titans, a goal of biblical proportions. How he fulfills this is how he demonstrates his other masculine quality of aggression. He can be irrational, impulsive, and brutal against the Titans. He has a very aggressive streak, fearlessly attacking any Titan that comes his way, sometimes at his own peril or the peril of others. His aggressive impulses and deep desire and drive to eliminate the Titans is given even more agency when he turns into his Titan form, making him more effective at fulfilling his purpose.
Men have been known in time past as the more aggressive sex. Men conquer empires, women build alliances. Why do you think more men are in prison compared to women? Men also are more driven by their life purpose more so than anything else, and they base their self-worth upon how much they can fulfill their life mission. Eren embodies such masculine qualities, which is what gives him power in the show.
Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.
-Viktor Frankl
Armin Arlert: The Intellectual, Problem-Solving Masculine
Armin is known by fans the world over as the smartest character on the show. He does not have alot of fighting prowess, but his ability to come up with creative solutions for the group in the most dire of situations has made him invaluable to humanity’s cause.
Men are born problem solvers. It is man’s drive to try to fight their way through barriers that restrict then that gives them great power and potential to do great things in the world. The masculine is analytical, thinking in sequences and diving into the details of a problem. The masculine is logical, strategic, and intellectually-driven.
Intelligence and intellectual prowess are largely masculine traits, and even though Armin does not exhibit what many would consider typical masculine virtues such as physical strength, dominance or aggression, he is still very much a masculine character for his ability to analyze situations and come up with solutions for the squad.
Developing one’s physical prowess is important to enhance masculinity, but intellectual prowess, as well as our logical and analytical skills, is what will present men more options to consider and more empires to conquer. Never forget the important contribution of intellect to one’s masculinity.
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
-Albert Einstein
Mikasa Ackerman: The Ideal Masculine Female
Mikasa is the most prominent female character on the show, and one of the most popular. She is one of the most skilled members of the Survey Corps, able to kill Titans with ease, and is fiercely protective of Eren and Armin.
Mikasa embodies what can be known as the ideal masculine female. The ideal masculine female is a woman that embodies masculine characteristics, while not losing her sense of femininity, which results in a perfect blend of the masculine and feminine in one person.
The typical masculine qualities she embodies are excellence, fearlessness, emotional strength, athletic ability, and sense of duty. She fearlessly kills any Titan in her path with ease, is level-headed in the face of great trauma, has high levels of physical fitness, and is driven by her duty to take care of those she feels responsible for.
The typical feminine qualities she embodies are compassion, nurture, adaptability, and sense of community. She has great love for her comrades, especially Eren who she has a special connection with as her adoptive brother. She can adjust to any situation, and has deep compassion for people beneath her stoic exterior.
As men, we want to be a perfect embodiment of feminine and masculine qualities. We do this by developing characteristics of both sexes. The most effective people in the world at whatever they do, men or women, can integrate both sides of their character into one being.
The union of feminine and masculine energies within the individual is the basis of all creation.
-Shakti Gawain
Erwin Smith: The Authoritative Masculine
Erwin represents a basic, universal rule about the masculine: The masculine essence makes a great leader. That is why there are more male leaders than female leaders in the world, and Erwin represents what an ideal leader should be.
The masculine wants to lead and take on responsibility. The masculine is decisive, assertive, and strong. A good leader requires the strength to keep their subordinates in line, to make decisions for the group, and to lead the team from the front. A good leader must also be able to set the course for the entire team. Erwin does all of this almost perfectly.
The masculine must not necessarily lead a team of other people, but they must have the qualities and skill to be able to lead if the moment arises. Leadership skills and traits can be learned by any man, and the masculine is enhanced in one if they have become capable of taking on a leadership role in the future.
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.
-Ronald Reagan
Levi Ackerman: The Competent, Skillful Masculine
Levi is probably the most popular character on the show, combining his unassuming appearance with his extreme power. He has the highest Titan kill count, and is known by all as humanity’s strongest warrior.
The masculine is competitive by nature, and the masculine seeks excellence and to become the best at what they are most passionate about. That is why men organize themselves in dominance/competence hierarchies, where the most competent men occupy the top. It is that masculine drive for excellence and building their skill that drives men to go to the moon, or fight bacteria, or build skyscrapers, or win championships, or build dynasties.
Levi is the embodiment of the masculine drive for excellence, competence and skill. No one else in the Survey Corps can kill titans the way Levi does. He is faster, stronger, and more agile than any other warrior. He is also an extremely instinctual and intelligent warrior, understanding how to best take out a titan and executing his plan. He attacks weak points methodically and with efficiency and precision.
The masculinity Levi presents should be a standard for all men. All men should strive to be the absolute best in whatever environment they operate in. There are so many ways we can be competent and skillful, so we must first find those areas of skill that mean the most to us and attack them, work on them, and build ourselves to reach excellence the way Levi has.
We can always kind of be average and do what’s normal. I’m not in this to do what’s normal.
-Kobe Bryant
Reiner Braun: The Strong, Dutiful Masculine
Reiner began the series as a very popular character on the Survey Corps, before it was discovered that he is actually one of humanity’s most dangerous enemies: the Armored Titan. However, during his time in the Survey Corps, he exhibited qualities such as loyalty, strength, and a sense of duty to the Survey Corps.
Reiner was also known to have a very quiet but strong demeanor, almost never losing his emotional composure. His ability to control his emotions and maintain his composure was what won the respect of many of his comrades until he revealed his true allegiance.
The masculine is sometimes drained by the world, which is why the masculine is rejuvenated by following one’s duty to a cause or absorbing masculine energy from others. Reiner’s loyalty and ability to mingle with the Survey Corps always ensured that he remembered his masculine duty to serve the greater good, and ensured that he had an endless supply of masculine energy.
Do your duty and leave the rest to the Gods.
-Pierre Corneille
Bertolt Hoover: The Anti-Masculine
Bertolt, or the Colossal Titan as later discovered, has traits than can be considered “anti-masculine”, or even unmanly. During his time in the Survey Corps, many of his comrades thought extremely little of him, which reflected on how little Bertolt thought of himself.
Typical masculine traits include courage, confidence, emotional stability and competence. On the other hand, Bertolt exhibited cowardice, low self-esteem, emotional instability and detachment, and incompetence. His comrades in the Survey Corps saw him as weak-willed, being easily swayed and influenced, often relying greatly on Reiner to fulfil his mission and give him direction. Only when in his titan form does Bertolt pose a threat to humanity. Otherwise, he would be easy pickings for the Survey Corps.
There are many qualities that can be considered emasculate. In order to fulfil our masculine potential, we must limit these traits as much as possible, and develop the masculine opposites of those traits. This is something which Bertolt never did.
Being a male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of choice.
-Edwin Louis Cole
Annie Leonhart: The Stoic, Emotionless Masculine Female
Annie, the mysterious blonde within the ranks of the Survey Corps who is later revealed to be the Female Titan, is known for her apathetic, stoic, emotionless, aloof, distant demeanor. Interestingly, such traits are also considered masculine, however they are considered highly negative traits.
Annie represents the negative side of the masculine female, a female who exhibits extreme masculinity, both the positive and negative forms, while lacking the warmth, supportive, nurturing traits of the feminine essence. She is a female that can be considered as having tapped too far into her masculine self so much that she has lost her femininity.
If women are to develop their masculine side, they should be careful as to not develop their masculinity to an extent that their femininity is sacrificed. Without the integration of ones feminine energy, a woman can become cold and detached much like Annie, which is not a goal worth pursuing.
The essence of femininity is to absolutely love being a woman.
-Madonna
Historia Reiss: The Developing Masculine Female
Historia, the last remaining member of the Reiss royal family, is well known within the Survey Corps for her kindness and nurturing and caring nature. She is shy and child-like, which makes alot of men adore her and become attracted to her. She is a clear example on a woman that exhibits her full feminine essence.
However, as she spends more time within the Survey Corps, her strength and confidence in herself grows, as she does more daring and courageous things in the midst of turmoil. As strength and confidence are masculine characteristics, it can be said that she slowly develops her more masculine essence and integrates that into her already established feminine nature. She is an example of a purely feminine woman developing her masculinity.
Women should look to develop their masculine side, and integrate it into their feminine essence. There will be times when a woman will be required to exhibit their masculinity, such as showing fearlessness by building their careers or moving to another place. Developing a woman’s masculinity will allow them to reach their goals easier and connect easier with men. However, women should never lose their feminine essence, as that state of being is where they will have the greatest power and agency.
Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.
Eleanor Roosevelt
The Titans: The Masculine Challenge
The Titans, humanity’s gargantuan, humanoid enemies threatening their existence, are the main antagonists of the series. They are near unstoppable to defeat, have struck fear in many within humanity’s ranks, and poses humanity’s greatest challenge.
The titans are the Survey Corps ultimate chance to fully demonstrate their masculine capacity. They push the soldiers to demonstrate skill, strength, courage, and intelligence. The Survey Corps are forced to use all their physical and intellectual acumen to take them down.
The masculine seeks challenges and grows through challenges, which is why the masculine always seeks to do better than they are. Men should seek challenges in life, as challenges will make them grow in their masculine essence, and allows men to exhibit masculinity in their fullest potential. Like the Survey Corps meeting the challenge of the Titans, the masculine must meet every challenge with determination and resolve.
To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.
-Gail Sheehy
We can look at the example of Attack on Titan to help us discover what parts of our masculine nature requires developing, and what parts are already established and in full display. When doing a self-reflection on what areas of our masculine essence needs work, we can look at the different character on Attack on Titan to see where we are lacking and to see where we are sufficient.
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
-1 Corinthians 16:13
Developing our masculine essence will give us more power, potency, and potential to reach our ideal selves. We just have to look at the difference ways we can do so. Attack on Titan gives us the tools we need to analyze ourselves and to develop that side, that energy within. We can find within ourselves, if we work hard enough, the unlimited and full essence of masculinity.
