User blog:Neetaku/A Rewrite of Attack on Titan

So, I don't really have a grand way to introduce this, aside from a few disclaimers about it:

1: The purpose of this blog is not to spend a lot of time complaining and moaning about Attack on Titan's story. One poorly-thought-out arc aside, the series is still one of the better manga series currently in serialization.

2: I am very much aware of the fact that the story Isayama has delivered so far is probably a few leagues better than any sort of fanfiction I could possibly dream up, that one poorly-paced arc aside. The real purpose of this blog is just to throw out an idea for how the series could have gone, and see how others react to it.

I think there was some more stuff I planned to put in the intro, but I can't remember what they were. If I remember, I'll come back and replace this with what I wanted to say. :D Otherwise, let's jump right into this.

Oh yeah, and spoiler warning.

Thomas Wagner and Mina Carolina
Now, anyone how has listened to any of my complaints about AOT in the past is probably going to be shocked by my first change: I would have Thomas and Mina survive the Battle of Trost District. Something that has bugged me for years about this series is the flippant way it treated literally everyone in the 104th who weren't either a part of the top 10, or personally linked to someone in the top 10. Why even show that Eren and company were part of an entire class of soldiers if you aren't going to utilize more than 8 of them in the actual story? You might as well leave out the entire Training Corps arc if you aren't going to use any of the characters you introduced in it.

From a storytelling standpoint, I understand why Thomas and Mina died. If you are going to create a world where you want readers to feel like the main characters are in danger without actually putting them in danger, then you need to have some sock puppets to put in the line of fire, so that it looks like people are actually dying. But how much better would that strategy work if you were able to make readers care about those sock puppets? That way when they die, not only are you tricking readers into thinking that Kruger and his friends actually in trouble, but you're actually drawing some surprise and emotion out of them, by killing sock puppets that may not have done much, but were at least able to stick around for a while.

So, we keep Thomas and Mina alive. I'd say keep them in Eren's squad in Trost, but add a couple of more people in. Let's say Samuel (this is an emergency situation they're in, he's not sitting this one out just because he has an ouchie on his foot) and Ruth. Samuel takes Thomas' death, and Ruth takes Mina's death. And Thomas and Mina are forced to retreat for help. In fact, let's tie that into how Connie, Krista, and Ymir find Armin: they were told where he was by Thomas and Mina.

After that, the rest of Trost plays out the same way it did. Except Thomas and Mina are still alive, and are among the recruits who join the Survey Corps.

From here on out, the manga plays out the same until we get to the Clash of the Titans arc. Here, the story branches off a bit again, with Thomas and Mina being among the recruits that take shelter in Utgard Castle. When the Titans attack the castle, one major depart is made from Isayama's story: when Reiner is bit by the Titan that infiltrates the castle, it is Thomas who cuts the Titan's jaw open, not Connie. As he's cutting it, his shirt gets caught in the Titan's teeth, but before he can get himself untangled, Ymir kicks the Titan out of the window, and Thomas is dragged out with it. The scene that follows is a gruesome one not unlike Mike's death, in which Thomas, who is left crippled by the fall, is unable to run or defend himself as he is devoured by the Titan he just saved Reiner from.

This also has the added benefit of fleshing out Ymir's character a bit more, showing that she is willing to sacrifice her fellow recruits without a second thought in order to keep herself and Krista safe.

I'll return to Mina, in a minute, but first I want to talk about:

Sasha
Kill her. She dies in the chapter she was originally intended to die in. That's it. I don't feel I need to explain why, but I will anyway. Isayama's intention to kill Sasha is painfully obvious from reading the story following the Clash of the Titans arc. She has had absolutely nothing notable to do, aside from a few "comedic" scenes, none of which have landed as well as the did in the 104th Training Corps arc. So she dies.

Back to Mina
From Utgard on, Mina takes over what little role Sasha has in the story. You don't have to grow up in a remote village in order to know how to use a bow, so I don't think it will be too much of a stretch. The only real loss of having Mina take Sasha's role is that you will lose the scene in the Return to Shiganshina arc where Sasha loses her mind over getting to eat meat. I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but I'm pretty sure the fandom can manage it.

She continues to take Sasha's role all throughout the series until the Return to Shiganshina arc, at which point she dies while fighting Reiner with the rest of squad Levi.

Conclusion (because this is an academic essay)
Although I have long argued that one of the biggest issues with Attack on Titan is a lack of danger for the characters, resulting in a complete absence of any kind of stakes, I also feel that most of the characters who do die should have been given more page time prior to their deaths. I think that the three simple changes I have detailed above would do wonders to fix many of the series' more glaring issues.

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Armin
He's dead, Jim.