Attack On Titan is no stranger to romance, but one oft-forgotten pairing is critical in establishing the series' stakes and themes. From a distance, Attack On Titan might not seem to be a series which emphasizes romance. Yet, one only needs to consider Armin's steadfast visitation of the crystallized Annie or Jean's eventual pairing with Mikasa after Eren's death to realize that Attack On Titan simply mobilizes romance uniquely. In Attack On Titan, romance serves as an instrument to build out its world and the connections within it.

For that reason, Attack On Titan's romances are often unexpected, serving to bolster broader themes or thoroughly grounded in the series' legendary foreshadowing — to the point of being effectively concealed before finally appearing. Few romances are as critical as the relationship between Historia and Ymir. Because the relationship is ultimately fleeting compared to many of Attack On Titan's more enduring couplings, and because it's slightly indirect, fans of the franchise often fail to give this core couple the time and thought they deserve. In reality, Historia and Ymir showcase Attack On Titan at its most groundbreaking.

Historia and Ymir Show Each Other How To Navigate Attack On Titan's Ruthless World

The Unlikely Pair Build Each Other's Trust And Confidence

The origin of their relationship is Ymir discovering Krista's real identity by overhearing a discussion about her, finding her intriguing enough to the 104th Training Cadets. Ymir was a Titan who, by unclear means, came to penetrate the walls of Paradis. A foundational trust eventually developed. Historia was very skeptical of people's intentions because of her royal heritage, her feelings of being an unwanted child, and the meanness others would subject her to. Conversely, Ymir was made leader of a cult who would try to send her to her death, leading her to be entirely misanthropic and detached.

The mutual mistreatment by powerful individuals led both characters to be guarded. However, after Ymir saves Historia by turning into a Titan (season 2, episode 5), Ymir is the first person to whom Historia divulges her real name. Ymir develops a deep love for Historia despite her general misanthropy. The two would save each other regularly until Ymir was taken away. Historia's relationship with Ymir had a major impact on her character: she emerged far more confident, but always scarred — especially as she realizes (counter to her expectations) that Ymir had died, her Titan powers given to another.

Historia and Ymir Defy Conventional Representations Of Lesbian Lovers In Anime

Attack On Titan Reaches An Effortless Height Of LGBTQ+ Representation

As a general rule, anime has become more progressive in mainstream depictions of same-sex relationships. This progressivism, however, sometimes comes at the cost of well-meaning but practically ineffective (or even harmful) representation. It shouldn't necessarily be a point in Attack On Titan's favor that there's an effortless fluidity in its depiction of same-sex couples, but it is. The fact that Historia and Ymir are same-sex lovers is neither understated nor exaggerated. Attack On Titan mobilizes this relationship to all the emotional effects that a heterosexual couple might have.

Given the history of "hysterical" depictions of women who love women, there's a natural caution toward the unrelenting devotion Historia and Ymir show one another. In effect, though, the relationship has more of a Shakespearean feeling than it has the overdetermination of tropes. Perhaps accidentally, Attack On Titan plays out its most tragic and earnest romance with two women over roles that would traditionally be opposite-sex.

Ymir offers herself as a sacrifice to Reiner and Bertholt so they don't return to Marley empty-handed. This was an act of self-sacrifice for Historia, committed by someone who hates self-sacrifice. Then it becomes perfectly clear: in its world constantly lauded for realism, Attack On Titan makes room for precisely one "storybook" romance — the romance least likely to be found in an actual storybook. Ymir leaves Reiner a letter intended for Historia before her death; the last line expresses her regret that they would never get to marry.

Attack On Titan's Tragic Pair Is, In The End, Simply Sweet

The Duo Is Attack On Titan's Attempt To Show Reason Doesn't Rule Love

There's a tendency with more masculine anime like Attack On Titan to validate emotional facets by intellectualizing them so they manifest a broader, "necessary" purpose. While it's abundantly clear that Historia and Ymir are a vehicle for wider narratives about control and geopolitical situations, there's something else about their relationship that deserves recognition among Attack On Titan's couples: its sincerity. The thing which makes this pairing so groundbreaking is, at least partly, its spontaneity: it has no real "reason" to emerge, yet it does, and it does with totalizing devotion.

To make this clearer, one can compare other shōnen pairings. In Naruto, one has Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Sakura, or even Shikamaru/Temari — all relationships which seem to build logically on a coherent attraction or connection which arcs back to the earliest moments of the series. Dragon Ball has Goku/Chi-Chi and Vegeta/Bulma; Seven Deadly Sins has Meliodas/Elizabeth; YuYu Hakusho has Yusuke/Keiko. Although recent efforts like Komi Can't Communicate work harder to show spontaneous romances reflecting the bizarre element of chance that permeates everyday life, overall, shōnen has placed an overemphasis on "logical pairings" via manufactured pragmatism.

That a lesbian couple can emerge by chance, without fanfare, outside comment, or a sense of ordaining logic beyond coincidence and circumstance, shows how forward-thinking Attack On Titan was. This isn't to say that real-life romances happen without reason; only that they are complicated — more complicated, and far less convenient, than shōnen usually its. All of Attack On Titan's romances carry an element of believability and humanity at their core. Where it builds romance, it builds it thoughtfully. But there is simply no romance in Attack On Titan as groundbreaking and thoughtful as Historia and Ymir.