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Kaneki eats with chopsticks while Hide with a fork at the american themed restaurant

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He is saying this about Big Girl... please tone down the literature referances a bit kaneki

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In continuation of my Volume 1 post:

I had said that volume 1 is when Kaneki first starts to grown into his own and grows independent from Hide. And this sequence is a very good portrayal of that.

Hide had helped and covered for Kaneki all this time, now Kaneki steps up when Hide is the one who needs help. He does so by using his kagune for the first time. He breaks away from the human world and the safe space Hide had created for him to act, destroying his world.

The next chapter is titled "Hatch". Neat.

In chapter 9 we start to close Kaneki's dilemma of not belonging anywhere, neither ghoul nor human, with Yoshimura's suggestion that he is both and belongs to both worlds. This also means he isnt solely tied to Hide anymore, and we see Hide start to contemplate that. This is where the roots of Kaneki and Hide's somewhat disfunctional relationship stem from I think. This change of balance where Kaneki starts to grow distant, no longer dependent on him.

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The rest of Volume 1...

The chapter 2 cover is where the chair imagery starts. Aka my favourite visual symbol in tokyo ghoul. I will find them all to dump into one post.

The first time Metamorphosis is mentioned. The significance of this story is obvious, but again, I would like to think about the time before the surgery. Kaneki must've felt that alienation even before he became a ghoul. As a child he didnt fit in with his peers. He may as well have been an insect, with different interests and a different perspective to life.

It is no wonder that Touka disliked Kaneki for so long. He reacted to her with disgust the first time he met her as a ghoul. His own self hatred reflects on Touka too even if he doesnt mean it to. It must be hard on Touka to have the chance to be seen by a human for the first time and get this reaction. She thinks he views her as disgusting.

This becomes apperant the more ghouls we meet. But it looks like ghouls play especially nice with humans to never be suspected. They only start to act like themselves around other ghouls. This is very obvious when Touka meets Kaneki after he gets turned and thinks she is with another ghoul.

Going back to Kafka and Metamorphosis, I think his intense reaction to being a ghoul is, while normal, influenced by his fear of being percieved as different too. He is also afraid of being alone.

Rize's last line?

This detail of Touka casually removing the chain of her coat as she says that "She will save him from a ghoul's fate"

The chin hold, first time it appears and gives us a hint of just how perceptive Hide really is.

Hide pretended to be asleep in this volume 2 times at this point. He was listening while Nishiki and Kaneki were fighting and as Kaneki and Yoshimura were talking. I think what matters isnt that he knows but that this will influence him to keep the distance Kaneki put between them. This isnt exactly something he can help Kaneki with like he always does, he isnt a part of the ghoul world. He will have to keep helping from the human side.

Overall this volume mostly focused on identity and belonging in my eyes. And I will do a follow up post about one last thing I want to touch on, also about finding your place and standing on your own...

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From the end of volume 1 mini comic.

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Gonna make this Rize from the first chap my icon. It's too good

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The famed first chapter: Tragedy

I mean, I am sure not much is left to say about this chapter. And I am not going to make a post about every chapter either, man I hope not. But we all know first chapters are special so it goes...

Some core ideas we will see later in the series are set, like The Black Goat's Egg.

This we know is foreshadowing Kaneki's transformation, with Rize being The Black Goat and Kaneki being the son. But I think this only doesnt cover why he likes this book even before that. He must be associating it with himself and his mother already. At least in my eyes. We cant say that Kaneki inherits violent impulses from his mother quite yet I think (I am reluctant to referance :re for now) so I am going to come back to this point later. But many interpretations can be driven from this. Like simply Kaneki relating it to his mother's self destructive behaviour that he also takes on himself.

There is another referance to a book, a real one from a real author. Strangely I have never seen this one discussed before, dont remember it brought up either so it could be a throwaway detail, but who knows. I am leaving a note here just in case. Plus, maybe it requires you read The Setting Sun and I have not.

Not relevant, I just like the idea too (ᴗ_ᴗ。)

Rize uses the "I am on a diet" move. It works too well because people just assume it is a girl thing and dont question it further. I just want to mention that I like it when characters weaponize gender based assumptions like this.

Another note: Kagune are introduced here, when they werent a thing in the tokyo ghoul oneshot.

And Kaneki uses a pen to attack but really just distracts, this was omitted from the anime. Rize must have been expecting something stronger than a pen that she took the attack seriously... Anyway someone draw Eto stabbing someone with a pen shaped kagune

Rize's last words, "Why me?", she never did believe she was at fault, until her last breath, I kinda admire her for that.

That is the first chapter. It takes its time compared to the oneshot, it isnt as loaded with background characterization as we will see more later...

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Starting from the oneshot...

This was pretty fun and I gotta say I loved it. It was actually the first time I read the oneshot! So it was able to surprise me.

The version I read is by Kawa Scans.

What a delightfull image to see haha!

So this one shot features only a few characters from the manga. Kaneki, Yoshimura, Touka, Shinohara and lastly the ghoul activist guy on tv. The early versions of them that is... but they are easily recognizable design wise while their personalities are quite different.

One shot Kaneki honestly reminds me more of manga Touka here. He is angsty from the start because he is a ghoul from the start. Not an artifical half ghoul.

Meanwhile o.s. Touka seems to be an innocent human girl, with her carefree life and simple fears contrasting Kaneki's ghoul struggles.

(Kaneki trying to eat a sandwich lol)

She talks of fearing being eaten by a ghoul, much to Kaneki's discomfort.

I was kinda annoyed she would just be simple a foil character but then...

Anyway, the philosophy the pacifist ghouls go by is different here. Less developed. Ooooor in other words, they arent pacifist at all. It seems that the way Kaneki decides to feed is by going after the bad ones.

Like I said, kinda under-developed. It's a very basic way of thinking, not all that just or fair as one may think at first. But I think it makes sense for Kaneki's character here. I will get back to this later.

Kaneki is being suspected by an early version Shinohara, his personality is very similiar to that of the manga Mado Kureo's. Shinohara is targeting Kaneki because he thinks the recent binge eater ghoul that targets young girls is a teenage male ghoul, on the logic that teenage boys like feminine bodies. He makes fun of the ghoul activist on TV that comments the binge eater must either be an obese or a brat ghoul. While Kaneki thinks the binge eater must simply target young girls because they taste good.

Either way, Shinohara pins that Kaneki is a ghoul because of the way he grimaces while eating and rushes to the bathroom afterward. So Kaneki dons his mask to go kill Shinohara before he himself is killed. It seems like Kaneki is losing until...

(Kaneki's face again haha)

Man I love Touka...

So she was the binge eater. The TV commentor was correct that the ghoul responsible should be young (Kaneki later mentions that younger ghouls have a bigger appetite) and Kaneki was correct that the eater mustve simply liked the taste of young girls. Really emphasizes the arrogant ignorance of an investigator like Shinohara here.

Her being a ghoul is hinted at as well in the way she says she is on a diet and how she kept her friend away from those men who she knew could be ghouls. Obviously things like this are also explored in the manga but this one shot has a small page count to tell its story and I think it is remarkable that details like these that deepens the characters could still be hidden in. And there is more...

The last character revealed to be a ghoul is Yoshimura. It is hinted all throughout with the way he is clearly looking after the young ghouls without them realizing it. But it doesnt seem obvious at first because he always offers them sandwiches and eats them casually himself. But here's the thing:

Kaneki and Touka are inexperienced. Because of how young they are, and they dont seem to have any adult figures to teach them either. Touka is glad Kaneki is there to teach her, who is older than her, which means there must not be anyone else. (This also explains Kaneki's eating preferance. Eating bad people was just what he came up with on his own. He isnt aware of any alternatives. Wasnt taught any that are more discreet.)

Eating human food is perfected with practice. And Yoshimura mustve had a lot of it already. So he offers them human food often to practice. (But also offers Kaneki coffee after to make him feel better)

Yoshimura is later shown (not actually shown, but he recognizably says "Kaneki-kun and Touka-chan" as there arent any other characters who refer to the kids as such) eating the ghoul activist guy. He is saying that kaneki and touka should handle their meals more deliciously? kinda hard to decipher which I am guessing is because the translation has been off all throughout this scan. But I think he targeted the ghoul activist because his knowledge is too accurate and therefore dangerous to ghouls.

I want to finish this post off with this image of Touka and Kaneki failing to eat sandwiches

I think this was the part of this oneshot I enjoyed the most. The way they are really just dumb kids trying to figure out how to live as ghouls, relying on eachother and with the help of an older ghoul looking after them. It makes this one shot unexpectedly sweet and endearing. I wasnt expecting that at all but I am glad nonetheless. It put a smile on my face. I would read a tokyo ghoul alternative of the misadventures of young ghouls Touka and Kaneki and their caring grandpa.

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This is a blog I made specificly to record my experience rereading Tokyo Ghoul. I had first experienced this story years ago when I was a teen and I read it in english, a language I wasnt entirely fluent in back then, I had my reasons for even though they are a bit silly.

I didnt think about tokyo ghoul for a very long time after that, until I randomly came across a page from :re and I was suddenly filled with all the sentiments I once had for this series (thus the meaning behind my url. The fixation came back from the ashes). I had forgotten how much it had meant to me back then, not only because I was a teen and this was an edgy manga. It actually managed to affect me in many real ways.

I was quite invested in the story and characters even if it didnt actually feel like that to me at the time. I wasnt exactly great at recognizing my own emotions, in fact, I am still terrible at it. But it is undeniable that it had all meant something to me and as a person that is rarely actually feeling something real for fiction, that says a lot.

I fell in love with the art. I looked and looked at some pages for such a long time that they were still clear in my memory years later. I tried to find every single related illustration for the series I could. Looked at those some more. I probably wouldnt have been inspired to take my own art seriously and tried to get better if it wasnt for that. Now I am more in love with art than ever, or rather, I finally came to recognize my love for it and this manga has a part in that.

I spent a lot of time reading and rereading to try and understand all the little details, referances, symbolizm, foreshadowing and call-backs with my not enough english. Once I had figured out this series had a way of giving information in indirect and subtle ways, I was more than determined to try to figure out everything.

But well... I wasnt entirely succesfull and that is part of why I want to do a full reread, recording all my thoughts here and appreciating all this story has to offer now, with the help of my newly gained fluent understanding of english.... I still refuse to read in my own language. I do not trust those translations at all.

I will try my best to not get carried away and savor everything slowly, so that I dont miss anything. But yeah, we'll see...