Where there’s anime, there’s romance. It doesn’t matter what genre it is, there’s bound to be some element of romance. Even for Attack on Titan — AKA possibly the least lovey dovey anime on the planet — there’s romance. So if you’re wondering if Eren ever actually had feelings for Mikasa in Attack on Titan, here’s what you need to know.
Do be warned that this article contains spoilers for the series finale, so if you’re still early on in the first couple seasons, you may want to look away.
Eren’s Feelings for Mikasa in Attack on Titan, Explained
The short and unfortunately vague answer is, we don’t know for sure if Eren ever actually loved Mikasa in Attack on Titan. However, it at least seems likely that he did have romantic feelings for her and probably would’ve even gotten together with her if the circumstances were different.
The first bit of evidence we get of Eren’s possible romantic feelings for Mikasa comes up at the end of season 2, where Mikasa comforts him as he’s unable to transform into a titan to get revenge for Carla. In this scene, Mikasa seems to want to kiss him, but even though it doesn’t happen, something seems to awaken within Eren and he promises to protect her and wrap the scarf around her for as long as she wants.
After that scene in season 2, we don’t really get any further hints about his feelings for Mikasa right up until the series finale. During Eren’s chat with Armin, he has his infamous breakdown where he exclaims that he doesn’t want Mikasa to find someone else after he dies. He wants her to continue loving him for “10 years, at least!”
Again, he never actually says that he returns her feelings. But from his breakdown, it’s quite clear that he at least feels some sort of sadness about the possibility of her moving on and them never getting a chance to get together.
In addition to that, we see that Eren also spent some time with Mikasa in the Paths, right before she kills him to end the Rumbling. During this sequence, Eren and Mikasa live a peaceful, idyllic life in the woods, away from all the conflict. Things feel peaceful, and it can be inferred that this is their way of seeing what things between them would’ve been like if the situation was different and they were allowed to live their lives freely.
All of these scenes come together to strongly imply that even though Eren might not have loved Mikasa as much as she loved him, he did at least have some romantic feelings for her, or at least entertained the possibility of them ending up together.
It’s important to note that he never explicitly says that he loves her, and things are deliberately kept ambiguous. That being said, Eren has always showed care and concern for Mikasa throughout the entire run of Attack on Titan, and with the finale scenes, it seems highly likely that he did reciprocate her feelings as well, even if he never showed them.
And that’s all you need to know about whether Eren loved Mikasa in Attack on Titan. Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more information on the show and the finale, including who the kid is in the post-credits scene, and how Mikasa managed to change Ymir Fritz’s mind.
