かねない weird usage?


I though かねない could be used instead of かもしれません, but only when the sentence
conveys a negative notion or danger. That being said, I find it difficult to
understand why is it used in the sentence below:

> もし本当にそんなことが可能なら、この人類の置かれている状況が引っくり返りかねない話だ！

This is an abstract from an Attack on Titan novel, so if the notion that "if
Eren's ability was true, this could change the tide of the war against the
Titans" were true, the かねない structure couldn't be used in this context, as the
そんなこと本当に可能なら clause would be definitely beneficial for the speaker of the
given sentence.




This is an old question that was bumped to the homepage by the
[Community](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/-1/community).

To be honest, I have never read or heard ～兼ねない used in a sentence that does
_not_ indicate something negative _from the speaker's point-of-view_. However,
after reading the sentence in question and doing some research (and being a
fan of Attack on Titan, if that helps), I found out that ～兼ねない simply means
something that **could happen** , something that is **not unlikely to happen**
, or something that is **capable of being done** , regardless of a negative
connotation. Consider the following definitions:

**兼ねない**

[Weblio
definition](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%85%BC%E3%81%AD%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)

> quite capable of ...; might happen; not unlikely to

[Kotobank
definition](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%85%BC%E3%81%AD%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84-465413)

> …しないとはいえない。…するかもしれない。

[Goo definition](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/43827/meaning/m0u/)

> …するかもしれない。…しそうだ。

Next, let us see how its opposite is defined to gain more information:

**兼ねる**

[Weblio
definition](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%85%BC%E3%81%AD%E3%82%8B)

> 〈ためらう〉 hesitate to do; be unwilling [reluctant] to do
>
> 〈できない〉 cannot do; cannot [【形式ばった表現】 can ill] afford to do; be not in a
> position to do; be unable to do

[Kotobank
definition](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%85%BC%E3%81%AD%E3%82%8B-465451)

> しようとしてもできない。…することに堪えられない。

[Goo definition](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/43827/meaning/m0u/)

> …しようとして、できない。…することがむずかしい。

From the above, I think it is clear that neither ～兼ねない nor ～兼ねる needs a
negative connotation to be grammatical.

Now let us go back to the sentence in question. I can't post images right now,
but checking the internet it looks like this sentence was spoken by Hanji, one
of the good guys and a superior officer of Eren, the protagonist. Below are
the original sentences and the ones before and after it.

**SPOILER ALERT**

> だから…一刻も早くエレンの力を試したい。今度は恐れずに試そう。 硬化の能力はもちろん巨人化の詳細な情報を。
> 特に…巨人を操ったかもしれないって…すごい可能性だ。 **もし本当にそんなことが可能なら、この人類の置かれている状況がひっくり返りかねない話だよ！**
> だから！グズグズしていられない！早く行動しないと…いけない！…だけどまだエレンにはしばらく身を潜めておいてほしい…

Sources:
[1](https://blog.goo.ne.jp/allen77/e/12639f89eec959ece1b1af4f0e6527f4),
[2](http://%E9%80%B2%E6%92%83%E3%81%AE%E5%B7%A8%E4%BA%BA%E3%83%96%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B0.com/%E3%83%8D%E3%82%BF%E3%83%90%E3%83%AC/%E9%80%B2%E6%92%83%E3%81%AE%E5%B7%A8%E4%BA%BA%E3%83%8D%E3%82%BF%E3%83%90%E3%83%AC52%E8%A9%B1%E3%81%82%E3%82%89%E3%81%99%E3%81%98%E6%84%9F%E6%83%B3%E8%80%83%E5%AF%9F%E7%94%BB%E3%83%90%E3%83%AC/)

To conclude, Hanji is saying that if it is really possible that

> Eren (could control the Titans),

then the current situation that mankind is in **could be** reversed. She is
not saying at all that this possibility is something that is negative from her
point-of-view, as she is one of the good guys who are trying to protect
mankind. In fact, from the sentences before and after, we can see that it is
something positive for her

> as she is looking forward to testing Eren's (other) potential power.

