ningen-suki:

Of course you may, kind anon.

So, Isayama was asked this question and three different people heard and recorded his answer. Since it’s three separate people hearing something by ear and recording it down afterwards, the wording is slightly different for each of them. But all three definitely heard the same nuance, and also the implication that he specifically likes TALL people and not just people taller than him.

Here are the three different accounts of the ‘tall’ part.

The first person recorded his answer as:  小さい人って背の高い人を好き (Small people like people who are tall) (x)

The second person recorded his answer as:  背の低い人って高い人が好き (Short people like people who are tall) (x)

The third person recorded his answer as:  背の低い人って大きな人が好き (Short people like people who are big) (x)

What he was trying to say was that since Levi is particularly small, he would probably be attracted to someone the opposite of him. Someone particularly tall.

Isayama used the word 背の高い人 (se no takai hito) to describe Levi’s type. This literally means ‘someone who is noticeably tall’. For example, it is often used as a compliment, since tallness is associated with models and attractiveness.

If I wanted to point out a very tall friend of mine to someone else, I would use this word to describe him. ‘That tall guy over there’. Because his tallness is a noticeable feature that is recognizable. Even if someone has no idea what my tall friend looks like, using this word would tell them to look out for the guy who is ‘noticeably tall’.

If Isayama wanted to say that Levi likes people who are simply taller than him, he would have said 自分より背の高い人が好き (jibun yori se no takai hito ga suki). This literally means ‘he likes someone who is taller than himself’.

But instead Isayama was trying to put emphasis on the fact that Levi is noticeably short. Because he is noticeably short, he probably likes people who are noticeably tall. Because they are his opposite and it would even him out. That was what Isayama was trying to communicate with his answer.

The average height in Japan is about 170-175 cm. I have noticed over there that this word is not used to describe someone unless they are above average height. Only a person who is approaching 180cm or over would be described as a 背の高い人 or ‘person who is particularly tall’.

I hope this answers your question!