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For those of you that have seen Attack on Titan, you have no doubt encountered episode 5 where Eren is devoured by a Titan; followed later by episode 8 where it has been revealed that he has been alive this whole time.
![[image loading]](http://operationrainfall.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Attack-on-Titan-Eren-leg-crash.png)
he is a sad man...
I've encountered this phenomenon where main characters die and come back to life in other popular manga/anime, most memorably in series such as Dragon Ball Z (Goku about 10,000 times) and Ash in the Pokemon Movie.
![[image loading]](http://thedaoofdragonball.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/goku_meditate_full_lotus_episode_208.jpg)
getting bored up there? It's been a couple of times now hasn't it...
I really used to think this was a cop out: a lazy drama technique to intensify the story and shock the reader/viewer. But I've come to view it as much more than that: specifically regarding Attack on Titan.
Like many others, I see the Titans as not only the literal figures of gigantic beasts, but representations of real world problems that we all battle everyday. They could represent heavy work loads, job/family commitments, and depression. We see characters throughout the anime fight valiantly against the Titans, just as people in real life fight everyday against their own problems (maybe its sticking to your diet to lose weight?)
These problems can be anything in varying orders of magnitude ( which is why there are all different shapes and sizes for titans) . What I've come to realize is that dying in the anime represents failure to overcome the problem in real life.
It is possible to lose track of your diet and go back to eating how you used to, or succumbing to your workload or falling under the spell of depression. There are challenges we will all fail at one point. Dying represents the ultimate failure: you weren't just bruised or injured along your path, but you were absolutely and utterly destroyed. Defeated. There is no coming back.
...or is there?
I think what the animator is trying to tell us through Erens miraculous survival is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you fail at something in life SO HARD THAT YOU THINK YOU MAY NEVER COME BACK (ie died), there is still a chance for you to come back. But not as the same person. You will be reborn into someone with a new and different outlook on life and its challenges: so different from the old you that it would be necessary to view them as two different people.
So if you've failed at something so hard in life and see no way out, just remember the story of Eren, or Ash, or Goku. There is always a way to keep on fighting, but it may require a different 'you' . A 'you' that has been dramatically altered and shaped by previous events which will attempt the same problem from a different perspective.
It is interesting to think about how many people have been 'reincarnated' throughout their lives. I'm guessing the ones that take the most risks would fail most often, and have to be born again constantly. And this is how we evolve through life, and get better at what we do every passing year.
 
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The only way to improve yourself, in really any way, is to be challenged. This is true for fitness, intelligence, skill development, the list really goes on. The more you challenge yourself, the more you can grow (Bulgarian lifting, becoming a master in chess, practicing micro for hours on end).
But, as you push yourself harder and harder, challenge yourself more and more, the risks grow greater and greater (tendinitis, depression, insomnia, carpal tunnel). Every challenge you face, no matter how great or small, can make you grow and can make you suffer.
The greatest challenges can break you, even kill you, but if surmounted they can do far more than that; they can re-make you.
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On July 27 2014 00:53 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote:
The only way to improve yourself, in really any way, is to be challenged. This is true for fitness, intelligence, skill development, the list really goes on. The more you challenge yourself, the more you can grow (Bulgarian lifting, becoming a master in chess, practicing micro for hours on end).
But, as you push yourself harder and harder, challenge yourself more and more, the risks grow greater and greater (tendinitis, depression, insomnia, carpal tunnel). Every challenge you face, no matter how great or small, can make you grow and can make you suffer.
The greatest challenges can break you, even kill you, but if surmounted they can do far more than that; they can re-make you.
In regards to what you say, I argue that BOTH can happen...
A challenge can both kill you (you finally give in to depression and stay at home for weeks with anxiety), but then if you can get through that (with someone elses help or by yourself) you have been born again and given a second chance, but this time you will approach things differently
Even an incurable condition such as carpal tunnel can lead to the death of your career as a progamer. But if you can get past this fact, it can open up other opportunities such as coaching (see EG.Fear for an example)
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On July 27 2014 02:29 firehand101 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2014 00:53 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote:
The only way to improve yourself, in really any way, is to be challenged. This is true for fitness, intelligence, skill development, the list really goes on. The more you challenge yourself, the more you can grow (Bulgarian lifting, becoming a master in chess, practicing micro for hours on end).
But, as you push yourself harder and harder, challenge yourself more and more, the risks grow greater and greater (tendinitis, depression, insomnia, carpal tunnel). Every challenge you face, no matter how great or small, can make you grow and can make you suffer.
The greatest challenges can break you, even kill you, but if surmounted they can do far more than that; they can re-make you. In regards to what you say, I argue that BOTH can happen... A challenge can both kill you (you finally give in to depression and stay at home for weeks with anxiety), but then if you can get through that (with someone elses help or by yourself) you have been born again and given a second chance, but this time you will approach things differently Even an incurable condition such as carpal tunnel can lead to the death of your career as a progamer. But if you can get past this fact, it can open up other opportunities such as coaching (see EG.Fear for an example)
I may not have been too clear by what I meant by surmounting a challenge. At least for me, recovering from the harmful consequences is also surmounting the challenge. Failure is forever living in the shadow of your defeat, and of what you were before.
Failure is falling, and never picking yourself up again.
You will make mistakes, and you will face the consequences of those mistakes. We're only human after all. What we can do, though, is recover from those consequences, learn from our mistakes, and become more than we ever were before. Or we can fail. We can look back, and say "I'll never be that good again." We can live in the shadow of what we have achieved already, and never aspire to more. That is when we truly fail, when we are crushed by defeat. Everything else is merely another step on the path to greatness.
On an unrelated note, carpal tunnel isn't actually incurable. You can do some stretches, attach a splint, whatever until your body automatically lowers the pressure in the carpal tunnel. Worst case scenario you get surgery, but, surgery still being surgery, it's actually not half bad. Even though it involves permanently snipping open the tissue that creates the carpal tunnel, that tissue seems to be somewhat unnecessary, like an appendix.
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On July 27 2014 12:23 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2014 02:29 firehand101 wrote:On July 27 2014 00:53 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote:
The only way to improve yourself, in really any way, is to be challenged. This is true for fitness, intelligence, skill development, the list really goes on. The more you challenge yourself, the more you can grow (Bulgarian lifting, becoming a master in chess, practicing micro for hours on end).
But, as you push yourself harder and harder, challenge yourself more and more, the risks grow greater and greater (tendinitis, depression, insomnia, carpal tunnel). Every challenge you face, no matter how great or small, can make you grow and can make you suffer.
The greatest challenges can break you, even kill you, but if surmounted they can do far more than that; they can re-make you. In regards to what you say, I argue that BOTH can happen... A challenge can both kill you (you finally give in to depression and stay at home for weeks with anxiety), but then if you can get through that (with someone elses help or by yourself) you have been born again and given a second chance, but this time you will approach things differently Even an incurable condition such as carpal tunnel can lead to the death of your career as a progamer. But if you can get past this fact, it can open up other opportunities such as coaching (see EG.Fear for an example) I may not have been too clear by what I meant by surmounting a challenge. At least for me, recovering from the harmful consequences is also surmounting the challenge. Failure is forever living in the shadow of your defeat, and of what you were before. Failure is falling, and never picking yourself up again. You will make mistakes, and you will face the consequences of those mistakes. We're only human after all. What we can do, though, is recover from those consequences, learn from our mistakes, and become more than we ever were before. Or we can fail. We can look back, and say "I'll never be that good again." We can live in the shadow of what we have achieved already, and never aspire to more. That is when we truly fail, when we are crushed by defeat. Everything else is merely another step on the path to greatness.
Exactly. I'm saying the anime death/reincarnation represents. Being utterly crushed by defeat and thinking you will never be as good again is akin to dying in an anime. When you are reincarnated, it feels like you have a second chance: when it all seemed lost, you have a second shot to prove yourself.
This is actually awesome, thanks!!
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EPT
