Media Essays: Strong Female Character: Amity Blight vs. Mikasa Ackerman

Written by The Wandering Fox

Hello all it is I the Wandering Fox, and I am back with a post you may find interesting. With the media we live in there’s a particular clash between those who argue over what is a good female character. Theres female characters we love but there’s female characters who don’t work. So I decided to compare the characters who I like and dislike, but try and discuss what makes for a great female character.

I bring you Amity and Mikasa from The Owl House and Attack on Titan.

Amity and Mikasa are both quite iconic once you look at them, you know exactly what they’re from, either the hair of Amity tells you she’s from Disney, or Mikasa’s Survey Corps uniform tells you she’s from Attack on Titan. But who is it that is better as a character between these ladies?I’m here to tell you what I think. But first we have to explain who is who.

This does contain spoilers for both The Owl House and Attack on Titan.

Recap

With Amity Blight, she’s a teenage witch from the Boiling Isles who starts off as the top student of the school Hexside. At first she was a bully who took much pride in her work but Luz turns everything on its head once she enters her life, Amity at first angry and humiliated by Luz until she herself is once again forced to face the ugly truth within herself of how she’s a tool for Lilith and Odalia, slowly opening herself up to Luz and seeing Luz isn’t a bad girl, and finally confesses to Willow of exactly why she ended their friendship, with it revealed Amity’s Homelife is quite sad. Amity begins falling in love with Luz and stands up to her mum, accepts Willow doesn’t need a cotton blanket wrapped around her and ends up as a wiser ands kinder girl.

Mikasa Ackerman was rescued by Eren Yeager after her family was killed by smugglers and she had been with Eren since then, living with his family and joining the Scouts after Eren’s mum was killed. Mikasa went on many missions including having to save the world from Eren and must choose, either Eren or her friends. Mikasa kills Eren in the final chapters of the series, decapitating him and ending his homicidal path, burying his head under the tree he’d sleep at and would live a long life until dying peacefully in her sleep.

With those done, I want you to look at the characters. Now id be childish if I left it there. I think first I’ll list off the things which worked and didn’t work for Mikasa.

Mikasa: What Did Work?

I will say while I don’t like Mikasa as a character, I will say there was some moments in which she did well as a character, such as her urging Armin to get up and be strong after they thought Eren died and urged everyone to keep fighting, or how she made a man let several folks get through the gate to the next city after he tried stopping them, her killing a Titan inspiring a little girl Louise and her giving her a kind salute, and she is clever enough to cover for Eren and Jean’s fighting by explaining Sasha farted.

She did also try helping save Armin as he began to die.

I like as well how everyone begins arguing with her about Eren and his behaviour after the time skip, her mourning Sasha giving her some more moments to think of something else than Eren.

But I think thats it in what I think worked with Mikasa.

For why I think she didn’t work as a character is a mix of reasons but I think the main reason is her and Eren.

What Didn’t Work?

Mikasa was just obsessed with Eren to the point she had almost little character outside of being “she has a big crush on Eren and will do anything for him”, like seriously if you were a girl and happened to be getting closer with Eren, either mentoring him like Annie or Historia having a strong relationship with him, Mikasa will be giving you a face which just screams “HANDS OFF HIM OR I’LL BEAT YOU UP!”. Fine, if you don’t want any other girl with Eren, just tell him how you feel, but no.

In moments like him being kidnapped I understand she’d be desperate to get him back, but if he was helping Historia lift some legs Mikasa would be hovering over them giving Historia a death glare. Gosh if Sasha had moments with Eren would Mikasa give her a filthy look as well?

I get it, you love him, he saved your life as a kid and he gave you his scarf as his way of comforting you, but if the guy is gonna headbutt you, I say you should find another guy.

Yet here’s the thing. I don’t know if this was Eren or Yimir influencing her head, but in the final chapters we are in a dream reality in which Mikasa and Eren ran away and lived in the mountains together, leaving Marley to invade the island and their friends to die. I don’t know if this was Mikasa being influenced by Yimir or Eren but it kinda implies Mikasa doesn’t care about Armin or the others and would gladly leave them to die just so she could be with Eren, or wether this was what Eren wanted for him and her. Eren does urge Mikasa to forget him and is kinda begging her to kill him.

Mikasa does kill him then we get this image which takes away the emotional pain of the scene.

(WARNING: THE IMAGE BELOW MAY BE DISTURBING TO SENSITIVE VIEWERS! VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!!)

Yes. Mikasa is kissing Eren’s decapitated head and Yimir is smiling. What? You mean to tell me this is a heart-breaking emotional moment? I’m seeing a girl obsessed with a guy so much she is kissing his corpse.

Get this as well, Mikasa doesn’t really let go of Eren, for after she marries someone and has kids with him, she keeps bringing him and their kids to the grave of the guy she loved, then dies with his scarf still on her. Yeah, she never let Eren go. It’s okay to remember him, but you’re always rubbing it in your husband’s face she loves the dead man more and it’ll make your kids uncomfortable.

It doesn’t help how the series ends with it saying Yimir was waiting for Mikasa to set her free from her pain and agony but then Eren reveals Yimir loved King Fritz, the guy who almost had her murdered for freeing pigs, enslaved her, made her his personal Titan, forced her to have kids with him, and had them eat her. You mean to say Yimir loved this guy and comparing it to Mikasa’s love for Eren, loving him even after he got their friends killed and committed genocide on a huge majority of humanity?

I know some will say she’s friends with Armin but aside from her making him fight, saving him from kidnappers and trying to revive him, I don’t think of her and Armin as friends but more like they were guys who knew Eren. Then there’s Louise. Yes Louise became a idiot for joining the Yeagerists but Mikasa, saving her as a kid, doesn’t give a crap about her as she’s dying there, just wanting Eren’s scarf.

Okay you know me, I’m a sucker for romance, but if your girl is revolving around a guy, it's kinda misogynistic. She only exists to be wanting him while having almost no sense of bond with others or having something to do outside of your love for a guy. Its these reasons why I think Mikasa isn’t a good character and is kinda there to serve as a model girl for boys who want a girl who only wants them.

Amity

I will be fair and go over what I think didn’t work with Amity but go into what did.

What Didn’t Work?

For me I think more could’ve been done to flesh Amity out with some of the other casts like King and Gus, for she did step on King’s cake and didn’t apologise for it, and she and Gus don’t exactly do much with one another and he was bullied a lot, it’d have been interesting to see how she would’ve mended their friendship. I know her and King better worked together in season two, but it would’ve been nice to have her acknowledge she hurt King and is sorry.

I also think it was a bit annoying we didn’t get to see her relationship with Lilith explored given Lilith was her mentor, with fans liking the idea Lilith would’ve been a mother figure to her, being better than Odalia, but this is never mentioned again following the events of Covention. I would’ve liked it if this was explored more and showed Lilith learning from her mistake and making things right with Amity and how this leaves Amity desiring a mum like Lilith.

I think that's it for Amity of what didn’t work.

What Did Work?

Amity works better than Mikasa because her entire character doesn’t revolve around being Luz’s love interest. Some will try and say it is, but you look at her scenes in which Luz is not there and not on her mind, you have her in bed with a bad leg glaring at a poster for the Covens and telling it to shut up, already showing she’s walking away from the earlier desires she once had and in essence rebelling against her mum. There's also her reading books to kids and relishing in reliving her old storybooks as she is free from her mum and her friend Boscha.

You have the episode in which she makes up to Willow for what she did but still treats Willow like a baby, still showing to some extent she thinks she’s stronger than Willow and has to protect her, with her learning in Season Two to stop being like this and let Willow be her own kind of girl.

You have her relationship with her dad being a notable moment in Season 2 with her wanting to connect with him on an emotional level and how she makes it clear to him he has to own up and be a better father, coming around in the finale in which her and him end up having enough with Odalia.

Finally there's her telling Boscha in the second episode of the final season how she won’t be like her and she isn’t gonna be like her.

Yes, Amity being Luz’s girlfriend and there’s a lot of that to do with her, but she has her other traits, I.e stopping herself from babying Willow, looking after kids, walking away from Odalia and Boscha, and freeing herself from the life her mum had set for her.

You can always say “Stay away from my Luz” but it's not as cringe as Mikasa yelling at Eren or smooching his decapitated head. Amity is an infinite number better than Mikasa.

Conclusion

Amity might have some moments the series could’ve done with her but she is a character who is much more likeable than Mikasa, who only had a small amount of moments as a character but was always desiring Eren and never let go of him or how she doesn’t have much in her life, which is sad because Mikasa could’ve been one likeable character with her being a badass adorable or a girl who loves her friends.

See ya later guys.