Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?

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Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?

Attack on Titan is a dark and complex anime series that has kept fans guessing for years. One of the biggest mysteries surrounding the show is the identity of the narrator. In the anime, the narrator is voiced by Marina Inoue, the same actress who voices Armin Arlert. This has led many fans to question- Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?

Armin’s Perspective as the Narrator

Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?
Attack on Titan Manga Panel | Image via VIZ
  • Armin’s closing line is the culmination of the theme set up by Marco and emphasized through the repeated callbacks to his death.
  • The idea is that we can overcome generational hatred and fear of the ‘other’ through mutual understanding and empathy.
  • This capacity and desire for understanding are what makes Armin the commander of the scouts, and it’s why Eren thought Armin would be the one to both save humanity and go beyond the symbolic ‘wall’ that he had never been able to surpass.

This is why it’s Armin’s role to be the ambassador for peace, and why he chooses to tell the full story of their lives to abolish the idea and fear of the ‘other’ that led the previous generations to violence. the story he tells is…Attack on Titan itself.

The Creators’ Intent for the Narrator

Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?
Attack on Titan Manga Panel | Image via VIZ
  • Attack on Titan, for us, is a manga about cycles of hatred, a cautionary tale to the reader about how violence persists within humanity, and it is a story quite literally told by Armin to overcome those very issues in his own world.
  • His narration ties together Attack on Titan’s purpose. This is where Eren comes in. A main character is a vehicle for the themes of a story and, in a cautionary tale about cycles of hatred, what better vehicle than the person who narratively and thematically represents the cycle itself?
Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?
Attack on Titan | Image courtesy of MAPPA
Upon Eren’s ascension to the Founder, he’s connected to every Eldian throughout time, in a story that’s only ever told from the point of view of Eldians. Eren symbolically is the story, and literally, its message. Eren himself is the cautionary tale, and it’s because his ideology is not condoned by the very person telling the story, Armin, as explicitly laid out in the anime ending. Eren’s way isn’t the solution he wants to share with humanity.

The Juxtaposition of Armin and Eren

Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?
Attack on Titan | Image courtesy of MAPPA
Eren was goal-oriented, but when those goals proved themselves to be chimeras devoid of true form he simply reached further. he, unlike Armin or Mikasa, could never appreciate the little things that make up a life. Armin is teaching us his mindset is self-defeating so that we don’t fall into the same traps. Just like Eren showed Armin the sights he could never appreciate in the same way, Armin uses him to show us the dangers of an ideology where violence is the only solution. The violence that only begets more violence.

Armin’s solution is to understand, and his role is to get others to do the same. Hence he must achieve ‘peace’ in his lifetime. Paradis prospered and it’s only once his narration ends, once the world again lacks that understanding, that violence sprouts anew.

Conclusion

Is Armin the narrator of Attack on Titan?
Attack on Titan Manga Panel | Image via VIZ
Armin’s role contextualizes AOT, and it’s intentional that this theme of understanding plays a vital role in ending the Titan curse. Ymir, through Mikasa’s experiences, gains an understanding that frees her. Armin tries to do the same with the story itself.

The Titan curse is conclusively finished. Titans and paths were a creation of Ymir due to her specific trauma and they end when she frees herself from said trauma. The ambiguity in the final sequence is what the child will create, and what they will do with it.

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