𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺
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𝐀 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝

Firstly I would like to state that credit for mantis thing goes to my dear friend lali on IG. I wanted to share this here bcz I saw some people bringing the mantis killing it's mate thing to justify Mikasa killing eren thing.

When we take the Japanese symbolism a mantis represents the courage and strength in a person which makes them fight people larger than themselves (Mikasa fought back that thief who was bigger than her when she first gained her strength)

Now the butterfly symbolises cycle of transformation of a girl to a woman(Mikasa growing up from young innocent girl to a fighter), and finding your eternal love.

The mantis scene used here was when Mikasa realised that the world was a cruel place. The stronger would always prey on the weak, and you have to be strong in order to survive. The mantis scene was a reminder of the cruelty which was bestowed on her at such young age.

Combining both we can conclude that butterfly = Mikasa giving up her innocence and changing (metamorphosis) when her powers are awakened. And mantis symbolises her strength and courage to fight.

We are not using the literal act of these two beings here rather the metaphorical. I used reference from japanese culture to depict it. Ofc everyone can have their own interpretation, but aot being a Japanese manga the Japanese symbolism is more relevant here.

Thank you for reading .

Ps: Mantis thing was shown when Eren told Mikasa to fight. That was her remembering how her world is cruel & how stronger prey on weaker. That gave her the strength to fight as I stated above. Pay attention to the scene instead of taking it out of context to twist it.