Attack on Titan OVA: Lost in the Cruel World - reaction & review

Thank you so much, that makes my day!!!!!!!! :D I'm so happy you love my reactions!!! And I'm happy to have you aboard my Patreon, yay! Have fun binge-watching some full-length reactions!!! XD And thanks again!

Melissa Moore

Love seeing your reactions to this series! Probably the most engaged I’ve seen a reactor be with not only this show, but other shows as well. That alone made me make a Patreon account! Keep it up! Looking forward to more to come! In the meantime, it’s time to go back and watch some previous episodes without the pesky copyright cuts.

Such a great analysis! I love what you pointed out about Eren representing freedom, but dying due to his intentions towards his friends. Hmm, so what it reveals for Eren's character is why it's so crucial to the main plot...!!! Also, LOTS of cute moments haha. WHOA, I love the idea that the "dream" is real reality and Mikasa dreamed up our reality to cope with Eren's death!! Freaky!! Thanks for the recommendation on the manga, too!!!

Melissa Moore

Wow, I had missed watching this OVA until today before watching this reaction. Very surreal, very trippy and dark. It shows how much Mikasa truly cares for Eren, beyond any brotherly bond that many presume is the basis of her affections. It goes beyond that, and she doesn't overprotect Eren either out of a sense of just gratitude or obligation because he had saved her in the main timeline. She feels just as strongly in this new timeline because she loves him and wants to be by his side. Mikasa said it several times in the main reality, and as we saw at the end of Season 2, facing certain death, she all but confessed her feelings, that Eren taught her to live with a sense of purpose, with courage, with strength, and most of all, with hope. It inspired her love for him. The moment with the scarf, again in this new reality, is a moment of true kindness and compassion for Mikasa, a genuine and sincere gesture from Eren, real hope in a cruel world. But as we psychoanalyze this, Eren also embodies the desire for freedom, like the Wings of Freedom of the Scouts regimen, and so strong is his desire that it also embodies death, for he will die trying if he must, no matter the cost of it freedom must be his. Like Mikasa says, Eren "carries death within." But if we pay attention, it is not Eren's dreams that kill him. It is the love for his friends, his desire to help Armin and throw him from the balloon, or like we saw in the flashback in Season 2 trying to get the bread for Armin, or like we saw way back in the sixth episode, Eren's desire to help Mikasa and spare her from a horrible fate. Eren willingly sacrifices himself for his friends. This are all points of Eren's character that we need to keep in mind to understand him, so this OVA was extremely relevant. Lots of awesome and cute moments here, the wild dogs, the scarf, the little dolls, the symbolism of the mirror mask, Mikasa's whole different demeanor, not so much because her Ackerman instincts did not activate, but because she had not faced grief, death, cruelty at the most fundamental levels. One interpretation too is that this OVA is the REAL timeline, and in order to cope with Eren's death, having missed seeing him again and giving back the scarf, Mikasa dreams up or hallucinates the main reality to have Eren around a little longer, and so messed up that she loses her parents in that one in order to always be by Eren's side, for him to survive more years. I loved this OVA, a lot to say about Eren and Mikasa, a lot more meat and substance to it, glad I finally saw it, it might be my favorite. Check out the manga Lost Girls, which is all 3 OVAs plus an extra chapter of Annie and Mikasa just talking about their views, ironically that was the only chapter I had read before watching the actual anime episodes finishing with this one.

David Caine