Feels like Isayama forgot about her.
Spoilers ahead!
Summary:
- Mikasa used to be one of the main characters of AoT.
- However, her backstory wasn’t explored enough, and she played less of a role in the story after the timeskip.
- This happened to many other characters.
During the first arcs of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin), it felt like the main trio of characters was going to be Eren, Mikasa and Armin.
That was true for a while, but later on, Mikasa mattered less and less for the story. Yes, she was essential for the resolution of the anime — she was the one who killed Eren.
Still, Mikasa was one of fan favorites early on, and seeing her role diminishing disappointed them. She had much more potential, and it feels like we were scammed out of having more screen time for her.
Mikasa’s Origins Subplot Wasn’t Explored Well Enough
Mikasa’s subplot of being of Asian descent didn’t really go anywhere. Yes, she ended up meeting Kiyomi outside the walls. Still, that never actually mattered in the grand story, and the significance of Mikasa’s origins wasn’t explored while she was within the walls — and that’s where it really mattered.
Moreover, Mikasa didn’t even get an arc of her own. Even Historia did (although it was a small one), and fans wanted Mikasa to get one as well.
Yet she wasn’t even relevant after the timeskip until she killed Eren. It feels like Isayama forgot she even existed in the first place (granted, she didn’t even play much of a role in the plot in the last arcs before the timeskip).
It’s a Major Issue for Attack on Titan in General
This isn’t even an issue unique to Mikasa. After the timeskip, the focus shifted to characters from outside the wall — like Gabi, Zeke and Reiner. While fans tend to like them, this also undoubtedly hurt the development of other fan favorites.
It’s understandable why it ended up that way. The genre shift that happened with the timeskip required a different set of characters to function.
That said, this genre shift was somewhat controversial, and many of the beloved characters from earlier in the series were completely forgotten. Mikasa’s character after it was basically just shouting Eren’s name until Isayama decided it’s time for her to do something.
While Attack on Titan has its fair share of strong female characters, it’s somewhat ironic that the one it was initially praised for was mostly irrelevant in its final arcs. This upsets Mikasa fans a lot, and that’s partly why her killing Eren was also controversial in a sense: the scene felt like it came out of nowhere.