3rd and last page of this particular section about Erwin and Levi. Continued on from where my last post left off
Isayama: Then in vol 18, when Levi tried to take over command of the mission and Erwin wouldn’t listen, Levi was a bit angry at Erwin’s behaviour. Levi’s line, “I trust your judgement,” had a bit of an angry, “If something happens, this is your responsibility,” mixed with it. And right after, when he broke up Eren and Jean’s fight by using more violence than was necessary, it was actually Levi taking out that anger on them (laughs).
—That was very unfortunate for Eren and Jean (laughs). But the fact that Levi can take his emotions out on his new squad, you could say it’s because he has such a familiarity with them.
Isayama: They don’t treat him like a monster, so I think he feels a trust for his new squad that he’s never had before.
[TN: So Levi didn’t have as much trust for his old squad as he does for his new one? I wonder if his old squad looked up to him too much that it just put Levi under pressure in a bad way]
Levi noticed Erwin’s unexpected intentions, had just said farewell to Kenny, so he must have been feeling a sense of loss. And his new squad may have buried that crevice in his heart. That’s why in vol 17, even though he was punched by Historia, there was a bit of “You worked hard” and “You’ve done well” mixed in with his “Thank you”.
—That scene with Levi’s smile was a truly warm scene. And Levi’s liege, Erwin, begins pushing forward to solve the mystery of the titans.
Isayama: His unconscious dream became a conscious one, and as a human, the stable side of him was present even more than before. But even so, Erwin is not the kind of person who prioritizes his own dream. He follows through with his responsibilities, and when the time comes Erwin is able to give up on his dream and make the best decision.
If we were to compare, Erwin is a character in a similar position to Armin. Armin is chasing a dream that is pure and fresh, while Erwin’s is drenched with something very personal, you could say.
His father was killed because of a slip of his own tongue. He had delusions of a sort in response to that, and acted to achieve his own private goals. But before he knew it, he was at the top of the scouting legion and giving orders to subordinates. There was a part of him asking himself, “What am I even doing this for”. He was a paradox, a self-contradiction. So when he faced his subordinates, telling them, ‘for the sake of humanity’s future’, he felt like he was lying to them. He has been struggling with these conflicts and anguish all along the way.
Here’s the first and second page, thank you to @b00kcake for the easy-to-read scans! More coming soon.
—In the Uprising Arc, we start to see some subtle changes in Erwin and Levi’s relationship, don’t we?
Isayama: In American hero comics, they write about conflicts in relation to the phrase, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. In Levi’s case, if he didn’t have any power, he would just be a normal person without any responsibilities. But because he has power, he has become a person who is burdened with too much responsibility.
Levi himself realized this when Kenny said, “Everyone is a slave to something,” and asked him, “What about you?”. He is a slave to his own power. He felt a sense of duty: “I have to become a hero.”
…This can be said about Mikasa as well… The Ackermans serve their liege, so there are many of them who are able to exert their power to the utmost maximum.
—Huh?? (surprise) That’s information that hasn’t even been revealed in the story! It’s true that for Mikasa there is Eren, and for Kenny there was Uri. They both have a ‘liege-like’ presence in their lives…
Isayama: For Levi, that person is Erwin. He has acknowledged Erwin as an existence who he looks up to. It’s part of the Ackerman bloodline, or an instinctive part of them, you could say.
—I-I see… (surprise). Levi maintaining his surroundings and distance, and the way he avoids facing those who wander in, it’s all because of the huge power he possesses?
Isayama: He may have been scared of building deep relationships. Since he is living in a world where he doesn’t know when he’ll be eaten by a titan, he avoided having people he considered his family.
—Being the only one left as everyone dies around him… the pain he would feel. But even this Levi was able to build a parent-like, close relationship with his new squad.
Isayama: There are a few causes for this change in Levi, and one of them was when he realized Erwin’s intentions. In vol 13, when it was revealed that Ragako Village’s inhabitants had been turned into titans, Erwin smiled. Erwin smiled because he was thinking, “I was right all along”. But to Levi, Erwin is the person who once said to him, “let’s save humanity together”. So in that moment, Levi thought, “Isn’t that different to what he said before?” (laughs)
—It was a great surprise to him (laughs). So I wonder if Levi can accept Erwin’s intentions, then.
Isayama: Around the time of vol 13, Levi wanted to say to Erwin something like, “You’ve been hiding this from me, haven’t you.” But he just gradually stopped… He wasn’t doubting Erwin. It was more like, he felt Erwin was mysterious. This person who he considers to be an existence that is above himself, that there is still so much that he doesn’t know about him. And he realized that same person has been acting all this time with a motive that is childlike. He was interested and reacted with, “Well, it can’t be helped, I’ll help you with it then.”
[TN: fuck fuck fuck I didn’t even know that, how can people fucking deny that they’re equals?! Levi thought of Erwin as someone higher than him and yet he realized in that moment that no, Erwin is actually a child at heart with childlike dreams. And Levi didn’t doubt him, instead he wanted to go along with him. Fuck fuck fuck]
Then in vol 18, when Levi tried to take over command of the mission and Erwin wouldn’t listen, Levi was a bit angry at Erwin’s behavior. Levi’s line, “I trust your judgement,” had a bit of an angry, “If something happens, this is your responsibility,” mixed with it. And right after, when he broke up Eren and Jean’s fight by using more violence than was necessary, it was actually Levi taking out that anger on them (laughs).
I want to dedicate this to masksarehot. Masks, your fic He Chose Titans is a major guiding star in eruri for me. You write Erwin and Levi’s bond form despite all the hardships their world makes them endure and all their inner torments they are bound to suffer. And it reads true. Thank you for this!
I saw this on twitter, anyone willing to translate? I don’t know why they’ve underlined the last sentence.
“The person Levi admires the most” there you go!
Text beside Erwin:
What did you grasp (see/understand from this situation)? Who is the enemy in your opinion?
Translation:
Erwin Smith, the commander of Survey Legion. He excel in reading the true nature of whole situation (affair and everything). He is not someone to be easily agitated by the situation right in front of his eyes. He is also very popular, a person who is really suitable to be on the top of organization. He is the person Levi has most faith in
Note: Last sentence also can mean Levi’s most trusted person or Levi trust him more than anybody else
Of course given their circumstances, Erwin can’t give Levi any grandiose displays of affection, but sometimes it’s the little things that show he cares. There is a lot of canon material (as can be seen in my Eruri Facts tag) that point to their extremely trusting, respectful, and devoted relationship. Throughout their canon interactions in the anime, manga, OVA, and outside materials, you can really get a feel for just how much Levi means to Erwin. Here are a few instances I can think of off the top of my head:
At the end of ACWNR (and I mean the more accurate VN, not the OVA) after Levi lost both his friends, Erwin give him an inspirational speech about how Levi has the power to help defeat the true enemy: the titans. Instead of patronizing or coercing him, he empathized with Levi and gave him the choice to follow Erwin into war, and of course Levi did.
Erwin also takes Levi’s opinions into account, given that Levi always knows what the plan is even when others don’t. Erwin likely runs plans by Levi and the vets because he sees them as equals, not as subordinates. Levi rarely ever calls Erwin by his title because they’re on equal footing with each other. Even so, Levi trusts Erwin explicitly and more than anyone else and follows his every command (as evidenced by countless canon materials that list Erwin as the one Levi trusts most). In the manga Erwin always trusts Levi to follow his plans and complete whatever mission Erwin gives him, no matter how difficult.
Erwin also looks out for Levi. Remember during the female titan arc how Erwin ordered Levi to refill his gas? He did that to protect Levi from imminent death. Had Levi run off to fight the female titan with low gas, he would have definitely died. But instead of questioning his orders, Levi followed them with no argument and understood Erwin’s motives and chose to “trust [his] decision.”
In multiple canon magazine interviews, Erwin only speaks highly of Levi. He gave Levi an A++ rating as a soldier and has stated countless times how important Levi is to the cause. In their separate interviews he also praised Levi’s personality and leadership capabilities highly.
I know people are 50/50 on how canon the chibi specials and audio dramas are, but in both Erwin turns to Levi when he has problems. They’re shown to have a very friendly and trusting relationship and are obviously comfortable with each other. The fact that Erwin turns to Levi when he needs advice, whether about official or personal matters, speaks volumes about how much the Commander trusts his Captain. These extras may be “crack-y” but they’re official SNK material and depict the real relationships between characters that we otherwise don’t get to see in the main plot.
“The interviewer comes to interview Erwin but Levi doesn’t allow him to enter the room because the interviewer is very dirty (I’m quite sure that he(I don’t know the sex of interviewer so I assume he’s male.) isn’t that dirty but Levi’s standard is too high lol). Levi orders him to wait outside -“This’s a very important rule if you want to talk to Erwin.”
Erwin tells Levi to stop and apologises the interviewer for Levi being a clean freak who seems to cannot stand any uncleanness.”
WHAT??? OF COURSE ERURI ISN’T CANON PPFFFFTTT
“The bond of trust”
The one who gave Levi a motive to become a corporal is Erwin. Two of them are strongly united.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Levi doesn’t allow anyone to get at his heart except Erwin who is the only one he completely trusts.
it’s common to share clothes
‘Understood. You seem to have what I am missing. Until I understand what it is, I will accompany you.’
well, Levi you are still missing this thing???
“The trustful relationship with Erwin seems to be special to Levi. Although he doesn’t appear to give Erwin any respect, he always follows his decision. Even when it ends up with failure, Levi never shows any displeasure or doubt against Erwin. On the other hand, he tells Erwin not to worry and encourages him. A strong bond that got over win-or-lose and any benefit."
Also, at the snk game there was a conversation between Petra and Erwin in which it was said that Erwin was anxious about his choice of gifting Levi a white suit (remember the white suit Levi wears? yes, Erwin’s gift!). Petra reassured him that Levi would like it. I can’t find the exact post but trust me, I didn’t come up with this.
"The trustful relationship with Erwin seems to be special to Levi. Although he doesn’t appear to give Erwin any respect, he always follows his decision. Even when it ends up with failure, Levi never shows any displeasure or doubt against Erwin. On the other hand, he tells Erwin not to worry and encourages him. A strong bond that got over win-or-lose and any benefit.”
I thought the first word was “The lustful relationship with Erwin……” Almost choke on my morning tea, re-read again, trustful… yeah… it’s not lustful…..
– fanart picked by Isayama’s editors every month are Eruri in nature quite regularly. Like, yeah let’s publish this drawing of Levi shirtless and sweating and daydreaming about Erwin, we’re not implying anything at all lol
– Voice actors are Ono Daisuke and Kamiya Hiroshi. You know, the guys that are known for playing characters with gay sexual tension?
– the smartpass interviews. Observe how Levi never shuts up about Erwin in his private time. Read how they eat meals together alone after expeditions, and how Levi doesn’t like to let others into Erwin’s office.
– Levi and Erwin are the two most popular characters in Japan (this isn’t relevant, I just wanted to remind Erwin haters again hah)
Please add to my stupid list. Let’s lie in Isayama’s trash can together.
– They stared at each other in the rain in one of the smart pass stories.
-Erwin has said he was selfish in considering those close to him… including Levi.(see what I did there :’D)
-Erwin knows Levi isn’t simply a “clean freak” and allows him to cope as he needs.
-Erwin writes the mans tea off on the SL budget.
-Levi would have rather temporarily disabled Erwin to keep him safe that let him go on the excursion to Shiganshina.
-Levi goes from visibly tense to sighing and at ease when Erwin shows up.
-Unbreakable trust.
-If you count the drama CD, Levi insinuates Erwin is privy of his underwear preference.
-Also Erwin goes to Levi for protection from Mikasa.
-The ridiculous amount of tmi knowledge between those two and their old man bowels/health.
– Levi does. Not. Shut. Up. About. Erwin.
-They bicker and taunt like an old married couple.
– Sad Erwin? Insert a Levi with a shit joke and you have a smile and laugh.
Procrastination Station 