Attack On Titan Fans Applaud Creators For This Well-Written Character
"Attack on Titan" has become one of the most popular anime in the world (via Polygon). Mixing dark medieval fantasy with body horror and steampunk science fiction, the series has created a unique style all its own. The anime also explores how fascism can turn minority groups against each other, making them focus on fighting for the favor of their leaders rather than turning their ire against those in charge.
It's this element that the Final Season of "Attack on Titan" has leaned into the most over its first two parts. On the other side of the ocean, Marley keeps all Eldians in ghettos and forces them to wear yellow armbands. The only way out is to become a Warrior, fighting for Marley to secure the freedom and safety of their families through violence and bloodshed against other nations.
From this perspective, the traitorous actions of characters like Reiner Braun (Yoshimasa Hosoya/Robert McCollum), Annie Leonhart (Yu Shimamura/Lauren Landa), and Bertholdt Hoover (Tomohisa Hashizume/David Matranga) begin to make a lot more sense. These Warriors did what they did because they felt they had no other choice if they were going to make a better life for their families. However, there's another character from the Final Season whom fans are really starting to relate to as well.
Fans think Gabi is exceptionally well-written
Gabi Braun (Ayane Sakura/Lindsay Seidel) is introduced early in the Final Season of "Attack on Titan" as a promising member of the latest batch of Warriors. With her fierce anger and hatred for the enemy, she becomes something of a dark mirror to protagonist Eren Jaeger (Yuki Kaji/Bryce Papenbrook).
On the r/attackontitan subreddit, u/GrumbleMumble1 had particularly high praise for the character and how she is written. "I was a part of the hate train of Gabi ever since she killed Sasha. ... Then, the last few episodes made me rethink her entire character," the user explained in their thread. "Honestly, Gabi is one of the best written characters in this entire anime. She really shows what brainwashing and corruption can do to a person."
Raised as part of a family with a history of military service, Gabi aspires to live up to Reiner's example as a Warrior and never even thinks to question the propaganda she is fed from a young age. However, after she meets the family of someone she killed, she begins to see through the lies about the enemy being unfeeling devils.
u/illEagle96 also had high praise for the handling of the character, pointing out how her story "portrays the mindset of child soldiers, brainwashing propaganda and nationalism." u/udithsethu doubled down further, saying, "Gabi is probably a top 5 best written AOT character."
Gabi was partly inspired by a female Eren drawing
As it turns out, even "Attack on Titan" creator Isayama Hajime sees a resemblance between Gabi and Eren. "Gabi — she has a similar feel to the female Eren I drew during a Bessatsu Shonen event," Isayama said (via Bessatsu Shonen). Gabi absolutely feels like an analog of Eren for the opposing side, but she also shares similarities with Sasha Braus (Yu Kobayashi/Ashly Burch).
For her part, Ayane Sakura, who provides the Japanese voice for the character, spoke about landing the role in a translated interview from Attack On Fans on Twitter. "It turned out that they chose me to be Gabi and I didn't even know it," she said. "The anger, the will to fight, and the desire to protect," she went on, speaking of the role, "these are things Gabi, Falco, and the soldiers do regardless of gender."
While the reaction to Gabi was mixed at best when she was first introduced, it seems that fans are finally coming around to her. Her fate remains a mystery for now, but the Final Arc of "Attack on Titan" will be arriving in 2023 to let us know whether she will survive the apocalyptic events of the series.