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abjectaspiringfailure · 5 years ago

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Words of Advice - Eto's parallels with Amon, Touka, Kurona, Kaneki, and Suzuya

I wanted to take a look at both Eto’s conversation with the twins and Amon’s conversation with Suzuya in the same arc. That is, what Eto and Amon were saying to both the twins and Suzuya, and why they were saying it. Furthermore, I want to address that what Eto says to the twins is something we’ve all seen before with Amon and Touka’s past conversations with Kaneki.

(TG 98, 25, 3)

While Amon’s similarities with Suzuya are well known, Eto’s similarities with the twins, but specifically Kurona, is something I think isn’t noted enough. I also wanted to include an analysis of both Kurona and Suzuya respectively in this analysis - and what Eto’s and Amon’s words to them both meant.

(TG 97)

The first time Eto meets the twins directly is in Kanou’s lab. She runs off when Aogiri meets Anti-Aogiri, but she’s not really trying to escape here. If she did, she could easily outrun them and they’d never find her, as evidenced by her later usage of her superior agility to evade them and make them lose sight of her. Instead, Eto gets just far away enough from the battle where her conversation with the twins won’t be disturbed, and then waits for them to meet up with her. Eto says a lot of things to the twins, but what are her opening and closing interactions with her pertaining to?

(TG 98)

Her opening is taunting them. Specifically, in regards to the fact that they have small kagunes. Now, what’s her closing interaction with them? The last question she asks them is “what does a ‘former human’ think about eating humans?” Note that she puts “become a ghoul” and “former human” in quotes - that’ll be important later.

The twins themselves are no longer able to eat normal food. They are forced now to eat what ghouls eat - other people, be they humans or ghouls. Eto’s words to the twins here are actually similar to the same words said to Kaneki by both Amon and Touka earlier in the manga, with some interesting contrasts. To get into what Eto’s actually saying here, we should compare those situations, and contrast the twins eagerness to be ghouls with Kaneki’s hesistance.

(TG 100, 5)

Notably, Kaneki and the twins are (at first glance) seemingly complete inversions of this state of being. Kaneki had literally no choice in the manner of his ghoul conversion, where as the twins chose to give up their humanity. He was attacked by Rize, and Kanou used his as a convenient test subject, his first experiment using Rize, as preparation for the twins ghoulification. He laments leaving the perceived safety of the human world, and preceived entering into the violent and turbulent world of ghouls.

This is partially because Kaneki hadn’t realized the omnipresent cohabitation status of ghouls among humans. While Kaneki lived a rough childhood, thanks to Hide, he was protected from the harsh realities of his world. But this is especially so especially so with regards to ghouls.

(TG 7)

So when he becomes a ghoul, that’s what ends up becoming among the most shocking things to him in a series of shocking revelations. That the ghouls were always there, this violence and mayhem was always within walking distance, it’s just only now becoming tangible to him. His denials of being a ghoul, and his persistence to claim he’s human, are understandable. First impressions are important, and Kaneki’s first impression, his first few face-to-face encounters with what he acknowledges as ghouls, are incredibly violent.

His predation by Rize, followed by Touka’s killing of a man right in front of him, then his own stumbling upon a freshly killed human by an unknown ghoul when expecting to find a nice home cooked style meal, then watching Nishki kill that ghoul and threaten to kill him, and then topping it off with Nishki being fought off by Touka. Kaneki’s outburst towards Touka makes sense in that regard. His only reprieve from this violence was Yoshimura’s brief offering of food up until that point.

(TG 8)

The idea that he, a person that never engaged in violent acts in his life, would be forced to do battle with other ghouls just to survive is a horrifying prospect. His fears are shown to have a strong basis in reality, and he almost loses his life along with Hide’s later on when he fights Nishki. It’s only because of his willingness to do anything for Hide, and the immense innate power of Rize’s kagune, that he survives his first battle. Even then, this almost backfires, and he needs to be bailed out by Touka before he ends up eating Hide.

(TG 95)

But the twins are completely different. They were there to witness the deaths of their parents at the hands of a ghoul. After this, they were brought into the CCG to become ghoul investigators, as many orphaned by ghouls did.

(TG 102)

So they were brought up with the experience of the horror ghouls could inflict against their loved ones, in an environment that taught the dehumanization of ghouls, and found themselves surrounded by others who were in the same predicament. Instead of receiving proper mental health treatment and counseling, they’re turned into weapons against ghouls. Amon’s speech here is likely meant to represent a microcosm of what they’re taught in the institution. Ghouls are just monsters. Ghouls kill everyone they can. They ruined your life - now they’re going to ruin others. Unless they’re stopped. By you, of course.

If a firsthand experience with a ghoul killing your family when you’re a child is the only experience you ever had, Amon’s speech sounds like a nice ideal. Amon, a man they greatly respect, lays it out so simply here. A very black and white justice for a black and white world. You save the world by focusing on getting rid of the bad people.

(TG;re 66)

Reducing the “enemy” to a vague and easy identifiable “other”, rather than acknowledging their existence as anything other than evil, makes things so much simpler. Everything, all of it, it’s their fault. It’s a comfort, in a sense, because it’s easier than thinking about the implications of one’s actions and making choices of your own. And if you start by putting this idea into the mind of children, they’re easier to influence because they lack experience in the world to tell them otherwise. However, this type of thinking can easily backfire. For example, if someone else is aware of it, and is willing to use the same tactics to subvert this programming.

(TG 102)

The twins’ encounter of Suzuya, which we’ll be going into more detail later, likely factored into their disillusionment with the CCG to some extent. From their point of view, the CCG knew that Suzuya was killing animals and was dangerous, but they didn’t care. They knew he was being a “problem child” but they let him roam around free. Instead, they saw the CCG as merely gossiping about Suzuya towards other students. But that’s nothing compared to what Kanou shows them.

(TG;re 93)

Kanou comes into their lives and shows them this new truth. Presented with this new reality, with such overwhelming evidence, they instantly turn on the CCG and humanity. Because when you remove nuance, it’s easy to turn on the “other”. Many times in Tokyo Ghoul, a character changes their entire life outlook by realizing that things aren’t always as they appear. Sometimes, this works out. Other times, such as here? It does not. Because there is no real attempt at understanding at any level, because Kanou really didn’t want them to understand. Kanou wanted them to learn the lesson he wanted them to learn, in the way that most suited his agenda.

(TG;re 93)

Just as Kaneki was sheltered from the world of ghouls, they were sheltered from the world of humanity. They were told a simple truth - humans good, ghouls bad. So if ghouls aren’t the problem, humanity then becomes the problem. The CCG becomes worse than ghouls. After all, they’re the ones who are really distorting the world.

Kanou’s usage of their parents, and his usurpation of the role of guardian figure in their life can’t be understated in how important it was in his manipulations of the twins.

(TG 102)

Their idea of a good afterlife is an afterlife where everyone meets their parents. Placing emphasis on family, blood or otherwise, is common in Tokyo Ghoul. But for the twins, it’s probably one of their defining features. And its understandable. Their childhood before the tragedy was happy, they were well loved, and they always had one another.

(TG;re 93)

So when Kanou comes in and appeals to them with a new justice, when he appeals to clearing the disgrace of their parents, of course they jump in on for ghoulification. Kanou’s making an appeal in the light of the idea that he’s their father’s fellow researcher, that he is on the same path as their father was. He was a collaborator like their father was, and he is now having the same crisis of consciousness he once did. But now, unlike then, they have a means to fix it, and stop further tragedies.

If you actually take a step back to think about what Kanou’s proposing to the twins here, it makes no sense from a logical perspective. Turning into ghouls doesn’t somehow bring back their parents. It doesn’t stop the immoral ghoulification experiments, because they’re literally undergoing the ghoulification experiments.

(TG 102)

The twins dismissal of Suzuya as just a pseudofriend of justice is, in a sense, a rebuke towards the CCG they once aspired to join. Kanou took advantage of that mental blindspots the twins had. The idea that the world was simple black and white from years of propaganda and horrible trauma. He appealed to the idea that they were special, that there was something only they could do, as Amon and the Academy instructors did. He became the parental figure of their life, using the nostalgia of their old home and wonderful life to win them over. All because he wanted some experimental test subjects.

(TG 98)

Which is exactly what Eto says here.

Kanou never revealed his overarching plan. He never explained how ghoulification surgeries would fix the “distortion of the world”. So of course this was never going to work out for the twins. He never really planned it to, and they trusted him in full. This isn’t the twins fault, here, Kanou never should have manipulated them in this manner. They were indoctrinated and emotionally unstable children that he took advantage of. Kanou manipulated them into the same situation that Kaneki ended up in - and he made them complicit with his own actions.

(TG 98)

Eto tells the twins have no one they can rely on but one another with this statement. They’re just two ghouls, with no ghoul family or friends, and no place in the human world. They’re not as extraordinary as they think they are, as evidenced by her effortlessly dancing around them. They’re cocky, and understandably so, given their constantly reinforced “unique” status for most of their life, but that’s not enough to cut it. There’s more here, but we’ll focus on that part for now.

Because if all you have to rely on is one another, that means you have to protect one another, right? They need to stop trusting others, put up barriers between themselves and the outside world, because others are just hurting them. Which brings us back to her closing statements, which are reminiscent of Touka’s and Amon’s own words to Kaneki.

(TG 98, 3)

Touka’s questioning towards Kaneki highlights another similarity between the twins and Kaneki - what they’re eating, and what they’re no longer eating. Both Eto and Touka question the twins and Kaneki respectively about what food tastes like, but like above, the contrasts are obvious.

(TG 3)

In Kaneki’s case, he never considered what it was like to be a ghoul. He just considered that type of life hell after becoming a ghoul for a few weeks - he says this to the face of another ghoul who had just helped him not too long ago, without even considering their feelings. He’s begging Touka for help while telling her that her entire existence is horrible. Her blatant dismissal and belittling of him, while asking her own pointed questions on how easy it is to live as a human compared to a ghoul are meant to voice her own frustrations at this situation.

(TG 25)

Kaneki didn’t have a choice to become like this, but neither did Touka. Touka didn’t ask to be born at all, let alone be born a ghoul. She simply is a ghoul. No more, no less. Touka didn’t decide that she wanted to eat humans - Touka simply is forced to eat humans.

(TG;re 63)

The twins chose to undergo a procedure that they believed would change their entire species. They chose to give up the comforts of the human world - its relative safety and security - for the troubled and dangerous life of a ghoul. They, like Kaneki, didn’t actually consider what it meant to be a ghoul. Choosing a body which, as Eto would later describe it herself in ;re, as being otherwise only acquired as being “born wrong”. A body that leaves one alone.

(TG 98, 25)

Amon’s questioning of Kaneki here about the number of innocent people ghouls kill and eat is misplaced for Kaneki, obviously, but it’s less so if he were to be saying it about other ghouls. Like Kurona and Nashiro. Eto’s questioning here is very piercing to the twins, because the twins weren’t really thinking about the consequences or logic behind their transformation. The twins chose to become the very thing they were originally training to fight against. They chose to opt into the world of ghouls, with nothing but themselves to rely on, simply because Kanou told them it was the right thing to do.

(TG 98)

Eto’s saying these things to them, but they have no recourse against her. They can’t physically stop her, because her agility is many times greater than their own. They were smart enough to figure these things out on their own, but Kanou went out of his way to influence them. To warp the CCG’s own propaganda for his own usage, giving them a new (but ultimately familiar) sense of purpose. That’s why this reaction is so strong here. Nothing Eto says here to the twins are things they couldn’t figure out on their own, or, on some level, already know to be true.

“Baby kagunes”

“How many people have you killed?”

“What does a former human think about eating humans?”

Eto chooses to focus on the twins’ small kagunes and closes on their eating of other humans because she criticizing them for eating humans, and not cannibalizing other ghouls. Because if they were cannibalizing other ghouls, they wouldn’t have small kagunes, they wouldn’t be as weak as they are, and they would know the taste of other ghouls, and not humans. She makes her point clear by effortlessly dancing around them.

TG 98, 64

It’s not a coincidence that Kaneki mentions cannibalism in this very chapter, right after Eto’s confrontation with the twins, referencing and taking on the mannerism and logic of Yamori while doing so. Cannibalism is the secret to Kaneki’s strength, and is the reason he is able to become as strong as he is as fast as he does. This is incredibly relevant to Kurona’s and Nashiro’s stories. Kaneki is compared to the twins multiple times in this arc, but as we later learn from Kurona, Kanou was always comparing the twins to Kaneki.

TG;re 109

As we later learn in ;re during the laboratory raid, he makes his obsession with Kaneki clear to the twins. He declares Kaneki a success and berates the twins as failures because Kaneki is far more powerful than the twins. While Eto opens and closes with the twins lack of ghoul cannibalization, the meat of her interactions with the twins is that Kanou is just using them.

Right after Eto’s confrontation with the twins and Kanou’s confrontation with Kanou, the CCG arrives. Both of the twins and Kaneki get into battles against Suzuya and Shinohara respectively.

TG 98, 101

The twins completely ignore Eto’s warnings about their lack of strength and skill, and that they can’t rely on Kanou. In fact, they fall into the same pitfalls against Suzuya that they do against Eto minutes earlier. Just like how Eto dances around the twins signaling her superior power, Suzuya does the same. It’s clear the difference in their skills and abilities is there, but the twins are disregarding that fact - they still believe their own power and skill, due to how exceptional it is, will carry them through. There just isn’t enough time for them to properly process the information, and Suzuya and the CCG are enemies that arrive conveniently enough for them to ignore the revelations.

For Kaneki’s part, Kaneki’s… just kinda lost it, of course, because he’s overworked. So, lets compare these two fights. The parallels are immediately apparent. Kaneki and Shinohara are the “seniors”, while the twins and Suzuya are the “juniors”.

TG 101

Both Kaneki and Shinohara use kakujas, be it through their own or through their quinques. The twins and Suzuya, meanwhile, fight with just kagunes and regular quinques. The point is communicated rather easily - the seniors are more powerful than the juniors. However, there is some foreshadowing of who will win their respected fights evident even before the battle, and it’s actually kinda clever.

Adapting to environments and growing is key to success in life, and especially battle. Both Kaneki and Suzuya have “ugraded” over their “baseline equipment” using Yamori, cannibalizing him in the literal (Kaneki) and metaphorical (Suzuya) sense. This puts them a step above the twins and Shinohara, who are using the same “equipment” and level of training as they do in their first canonical fights in the manga.

During the course of the battle, both Kaneki and Shiro take nearly the exact same wound.

TG 104, 103

A blow right to the kakuhou. Kaneki even takes this wound from a bikaku type quinque of similar power rating, wielded by a more experienced, stronger investigator, who has had their strength enhanced even further by a kakuja quinque. By all rights, Kaneki should be the one who dies. His injury is far worse. But as anyone who’s reading this should know, he doesn’t. He goes on to defeat Shinohara.

TG 105, 103

Meanwhile, Kurona is forced to flee from a victorious Suzuya. Kurona banks her hopes on Kanou - her “father” - saving her sister. But of course, he doesn’t. He tells Kuro to discard Shiro just as he told Kuro to discard Madam A. He’s entirely callused, and his response of “We can just have you make new friends!” may as well be worse than mockery. He doesn’t even make an attempt to save Nashiro, or put in the effort to alleviate her suffering, or console Kurona.

TG 105, 107

And the reasoning for why Shiro’s injuries were irrecoverable is simple - because Kuro and Shiro only had one kakuhou due to their lack of cannibalization. When her only kakuhou was too damaged, she was unable to repair it. She was unable to heal the injuries Suzuya inflicted on her. Kaneki, meanwhile, had multiple kakuhou, and by taking a bite out of Shinohara was able to fully heal his wounds.

TG 99

Her lack of cannibalization leads to her lack of power. She loses her fight against Suzuya, and subsequently, she banks her hopes on Kanou saving her sister. But Kanou doesn’t save her sister, because Kanou doesn’t actually care about Kuro or Shiro. Kanou merely saw the twins as a means to an end - and failures to that end. He had hoped that killing their emotions would, in some way, increase their power past Kaneki’s.

TG 98, 62

Eto’s comments about Kanou buying their home meaning nothing? Her comments about how her parents were the only ones who truly loved them? These are mimicking Kaneki’s own thoughts on his situation with his aunt. Kaneki’s conclusions, based on his analysis of his aunt’s actions, is similar to Eto’s judgements on Kanou. That this is the last thing that Eto says to the twins before she starts bringing up the fact that they’re just eating humans, is again, meant to stress they can only rely on each other. That they need to put barriers between themselves and others, while making themselves as strong as possible.

TG 89, 92

That Kanou would turn on the twins is actually foreshadowed well in advance.

Kanou is remorseless (something he himself admits), and entirely dedicated to his goal. To him, there is nothing he will not sacrifice. He actively encouraged Kuro to abandon Madam A the moment she becomes inconvenient to protect. He speaks only of Kaneki with his daughters and laments the failures of his floppy that has rejected Rize’s kakouhou. His doing so with Nashiro right next to him is meant to foreshadow the treatment Kanou himself will put Nashiro through. Of course he would abandon Shiro at the drop of a hat, just as he abandoned the floppy when it went on the “Taro route”, just as he abandoned Madam A.

However, this doesn’t make Eto’s methods of communicating what she did correct. A more proper method to communicate a warning is shown just chapters later.

TG 107, 101

Because Amon’s warning to Suzuya is similar to Eto’s warning to the twins. Amon warns him not to split up from Shinohara, and not to be so calloused about Shinohara’s life, because he’ll regret that. Amon actually showed concern for Suzuya earlier during the battle, he’s just only getting the chance to voice it to him now.

TG 100, 107

And just like the twins, Suzuya brushes it off. But the difference between the two situations is rather clear cut. Suzuya has more time to think about his situation, and he’s being told this information from an ally, not an enemy. Come to the 20th Ward battle, and Suzuya does exactly what the twins did: ignore the warning given.

TG 134, 101

He decides to engage Kuzen while alone, just as he did the twins. And just as he did the twins, he confidently proclaimed that he was going to take something from his opponent, only to have something taken from him. Against an even stronger opponent. Suzuya attempts to use the same strategy he used against weaker opponents whom he had the advantage over, against a stronger opponent who had the advantage over him.

TG 134, TG 102

Suzuya’s leg injury is not as simple of a patch job as it is his stomach wound. It’s a far more debilitating of an injury that removes him from the battle. Much like Kurona, he treats his wound as if it’s not a big deal. Kurona saying “she can heal” and Suzuya saying “it doesn’t hurt” foreshadowing what happens to both Nashiro and Shinohara. Because Nashiro doesn’t heal, and Shinohara does hurt.

So of course when Eto shows up, he’s in perhaps the worst possible position. While the entrance became synonymous with Eto later on for much of the fandom, it didn’t originate with her.

TG 135, 136, 60

For example, we see a similar event with Suzuya earlier on. Both Eto and Suzuya end up breaking blockades of overly confident opponents, leading to their allied forces subsequently making the charge in the ensuring chaos.

TG 136,141, 60, 77

Followed right after by the overconfident forces dismaying that their plans were foiled. Both sides mention one of their more important fighters, both of whom were incapacitated by Kaneki, who defeated them in their kagune derived states, and defeated them in their kakuja derived states. Both Ayato and Takizawa, the ones who brought attention to their lost ally, end up being taken by Noro and make their next on screen appearances with Aogiri Tree. Both of the characters Kaneki defeats but refuses to kill end up leaving Aogiri Tree, and end up fighting against it either metaphorically (Yamori as a quinque) or literally (Amon as a One Eyed Ghoul).

TG 54, 49

When they’re introduced into the Aogiri arc, they are very similar. Both are small and childlike in stature and mannerisms. The stitching on Suzuya’s arms and legs makes the appearance comparable to Eto’s bandaged arms and legs. The stitches on her hoodie lining up roughly where Suzuya’s are; the stitches on his neck, on her scarf. Even his hair has the same type of general as Eto’s hood, and her own hair when she pulls it back. The character design of these two character elicits immediate visual comparisons to how similar they are.

TG 135

That’s the reason that special attention is brought to Suzuya and Shinohara when she makes her entrance. So of course, now Suzuya is the on the receiving end of the type of pain he inflicted on Kurona and Shiro.

TG 107

Because Eto was watching the entire engagement on the monitors. She saw Suzuya’s response to Amon, and she saw Suzuya’s fight. And while she’s seeming to talk about Amon here, she’s actually not. Or rather, she’s talking about who Amon was talking about - Suzuya. There’s a reason why the chapter Eto begins torturing Shinohara has a flashback that directly parallels the Yasuhisa twins when Suzuya began torturing them. Eto’s reaction is in response to this chapter, as Suzuya’s reaction is a response to the twins reaction earlier. There is a reason why Eto isolates Shinohara and tortures him specifically, rather than anyone else.

TG 137, 103

The flashback immediately opens with Suzuya being told he has his new quinque Sasori (Skorpion as most people know it now), which is the name of the chapter wherein Suzuya tortures the twins. Shinohara tells him to use his knives for the good for others, but instead he uses them for himself. Shinohara’s comments about humans breaking is mimicked by Suzuya about breaking ghouls. Suzuya’s comments about not caring about people he doesn’t like and wanting them to die coalesces into gleeful torturing the twins physically and psychologically, forcing them to watch one another as he makes them die.

TG 137, 102

He was actually ecstatic to jump at the chance to do so. Suzuya wanted to kill the twins ever since they saw him the night he encountered Tokage and was framed for the murder of the animals by the staff. He thought the twins hated him the entire time since the academy. The irony is that they actually didn’t. The hatred, up until this point in time, was entirely one sided on Suzuya’s part.

TG 102

Kurona and Nashiro actually stuck up for Suzuya, despite his eccentricities. Despite seeing him crushing ants all day and avoiding class, things that would normally be red flags for others. They didn’t actually think badly of him, and they doubted he’d be capable of killing cats and dogs like the staff member attempted to imply. They didn’t even care about his past of being raised by a ghoul. This only changed when they saw him that night, but they still didn’t hate him. Even when they met in the lab, Kurona didn’t seem to be angry at Suzuya, so much as take his employment as confirmation of Kanou’s words about the corruption of the CCG.

That is, until he tortured her as he made Nashiro watch. Then made her watch as he killed Nashiro, mocking her all the while, taunting her all the while. The thing is, this was logically what was going to happen here.

TG 103, 122

The very same tactics that Suzuya learned under Big Madam are being employed here against other children who have been manipulated by a parental authority figure. Note that when Suzuya says “after 46 more times, please die” he’d already hit Kurona six times. The total number of hits (51) is the same as the number of seconds he was hung by meat hooks in his flashback to his treatment by Big Madam. What Suzuya is doing here is acting out the trauma inflicted upon him as closely as he can. This is entirely the fault of the person who decided that Suzuya needs not be brought into psychiatric care, but sent out to fight against other children as a soldier. That person being, of course, Shinohara.

TG 122

Shinohara knew exactly what he was doing here. He was warned, rather explicitly, that Suzuya had incredibly dangerous tendencies. Suzuya needed severe psychiatric help, not having his skills for torture and murder further fostered and turned on other children in the form of Kuro and Shiro. Shinohara rightfully recognizes that Suzuya is a victim, but then proceeds to overturn the decision to keep him out of the CCG’s academy.

Note that the discussion wasn’t about punishing Suzuya for being forced to kill for Big Madam. The discussion was about the CCG’s standard operating procedure of turning victims of ghouls into indoctrinated soldiers. Suzuya was deemed to mentally unstable to become a CCG investigator due to his violent tendencies. This is what leads to Suzuya being framed by the CCG Academy for killing animals. This is what leads Suzuya to assault a police officer and physically maim him. This is what leads to his hatred and downward spiral against Kurona and Nashiro.

Shinohara had every warning sign even before the twins. After the assault on the police officer, Shinohara says this:

TG 137

Had Suzuya not reacted as he did, he wouldn’t have triggered Eto’s reaction here. What Shinohara tells Suzuya is that if he gets angry at someone, he should act out that anger on him. But Suzuya didn’t, and took out that anger on the twins. Now as Suzuya promised, Shinohara suffers the same fate as Nashiro. That’s why this scene pops up during Eto’s torture of Shinohara.

TG 137

Eto’s not just referring to Suzuya and Shinohara here. She’s referring to Suzuya and Kurona.

TG 143, 107

Because at the end of their respective battles, both Suzuya and Kurona end up in similar states. Both of our two survivors take their respective partners to doctors. Both of the doctors tell them that there’s no real chance of survival here for Nashiro and Shinohara respectively.

TG 110

Amon’s words to Suzuya at Kanou’s lab weren’t empty. He was speaking from his own experiences. After all, Amon’s partner at the time is Akira because he lost Kureo, a mentor figure to him, as Shinohara was to Suzuya.

Because when Kureo Mado split up from Amon, that was when Kureo Mado needed him the most. When Amon’s talking to Suzuya here, this is what he’s thinking of. The loss of his mentor - the loss he wants Suzuya to avoid. Suzuya doesn’t take Amon seriously, because Suzuya’s not in a position to understand. He struggles to understand why anyone care about death, because people die all the time. And technically speaking, he’s correct. But empathy is what makes people care about the death of others.

TG 28, 137

Suzuya empathized with Shinohara - and as Amon said, Suzuya regretted his rash decisions. In the end, both Amon and Suzuya ended up sharing the same loss.

Amon’s focus for Suzuya was on staying with the mentor figure and family you care for because you should fear losing the ones you love. Eto, meanwhile, focuses on increasing personal power and putting barriers between oneself and those around you.

This is not the only character that Eto interacts with whom she does this with.

(TG 114)

The subtext of this scene is that Eto was encouraging Hinami to cannibalize, as she cannibalized at her age, even if Hinami doesn’t realize it at the time. Because the “worries” Hinami has are related to her weakness, and the fastest way for a ghoul to grow in strength is to cannibalize. Eto’s own struggles against a Mado Senior are what got both Hinami and Eto on the CCG’s radar, at least publicly.

(TG;re 43)

This is also made explicit with her confrontation against Kanae (which is another discussion entirely in and of itself which is too big to cover in this post or honestly, even one post). Eto has an obsession with the power gained through cannibalization. This is part of Eto’s complex, brought on by her own personal insecurities.

(TG 62, TG;re 3, TG;re 73)

Characters having complexes is brought up multiple times throughout both Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul;re. The above three are notable examples and just plainly explained. For this I’m only going to briefly touch on these examples to explain the point. That is, how it shows in their actions. We could go more in depth with just his complexes, but for now, we’ll keep it simple, and I’ll make another more in depth post later.

(TG’re 83, TG 139, TG 138, TG;re 74, TG;re 65)

Arima’s obsession with eyes is a result of losing his own eyesight, which is caused by his ghoul parent DNA causing artificially fast aging in his otherwise human body. He takes out his anger by engaging in extreme sadism towards ghouls. Specifically, for this complex, he goes for the eyes, but especially ghouls’ left eyes whenever the opportunity presents itself. When looking straight at someone, it’s like looking at yourself in the mirror; the image is flipped. Your right eye looks into their left eye, and vice verse. He’s gauging out his own weak eye that he sees in others. He’s resentful of their eyes.

There’s more to Arima than that, of course, but I’m using this to demonstrate Ishida’s usage of complexes to assist in explaining or elaborating upon character action, which he bakes into his characterization. Eto’s obsession with cannibalization hints at a similar, but obviously different, obsession with kakuja power.

(TG;re 61)

Eto’s loss against Kuriowa was a wake up call about her own weakness, that she was nowhere near as powerful as she thought she was. Despite her statement here that she tried to win through quantity, she still didn’t stop increasing her own strength and continued to cannibalize.

(TG 136, TG;re 61)

It’s pretty evident in her kakuja when she was 14 versus her kakuja when she was 24. Eto never stopped acquiring personal power, even if she gained an army.

TG;re 86,

I’ve brought this up in other posts I made, but all implications are that Arima treated Eto as his own Quinque before he decided on Kaneki. The stance Eto takes while Arima looms over her is no different than the stance Kaneki makes for a reason - because Eto and Arima weren’t equals. Their walking side by side is even preceded, in the chapter before, by Haise walking side by side with Arima.

(TG;re 86, 85)

It’s the same thing, just from a different perspective. Even everything Eto says to Kaneki is the exact same thing that Akira tells him in the first chapter of ;re. Even Kaneki’s stance with the Qs behind him communicates the same general image, and the same general message. “You must either surpass Arima and create One Eyed Ghouls more powerful than him to create hope for Ghouls/CCG”.

TG;re 86, 1

This is highly relevant to the discussion at hand - because Arima rather explicitly uses a mother figure to manipulate Haise to his own ends in Akira. This is meant to communicate that Arima’s involvement with regards to Ghoulification programs of both Aogiri and the CCG. This makes sense, of course. Arima is the One Eyed King; he’d want as many One Eyed Ghouls on the board as he could get.

TG;re 15

Arima is deferred to by Yoshitoki of all people with regards to whether or not Urie’s frame opening should be allowed. This is meant to indicate that Arima is directly involved and highly influential in the Qs program. This makes sense on multiple levels - if your goal is to create investigators that surpass Arima, Arima’s approval makes sense. He’s the best gauge of his own strength. Yoshitoki also defers to Arima on multiple occassions throughout the manga and trusts him greatly, such as thinking of him on Rushima, or discussing Furuta with him.

Urie’s curiosity is meant to lampshade the importance of this scene, which when taken into account his reveal as the One Eyed King, takes on a new meaning. It’s because of Arima’s recommendation that Urie be allowed to undergo the frame opening procedure that leads Urie down a dark path that leads him to lose control of himself and go completely berserk on multiple occassions.

TG 98, TG;re 45

I bring this up because the way that Eto describes the twins as being used as Kanou isn’t that far off from the way Arima manipulates Haise in ;re using Akira. In fact, it is literally the same thing. Arima picked up on the trauma of Kaneki’s childhood and his abuse at the hands of his mother leading to his deference to authority figures and mother figures in particular, especially those who are willing to use corporal punishment (eg Akira Mado). Akira also looks past his “killing” of Amon to literally embrace him. This information is also introduced during Eto’s torture of Kanae to indicate the relation of those two events - but again, that will be an entirely different post.

Eto is not speaking about Kanou’s manipulations and the twins without reasoning - she’s speaking about this from her own experiences. Eto wasn’t strong enough on her own to defeat V or defend herself and what she cared for, so she ended up under the thumb of Arima. Eto’s first appearance as a One Eyed Ghoul also shows she has “merely” an ordinary kagune, and this appearance is implied to be shortly after Noroi’s death.

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, in Eto’s first chronological appearance as the One Eyed Owl, she doesn’t have a kakuja, and it’s a direct parallel to Touka and Hinami’s experiences with Kasuka Mado.

TG;re 66

It’s actually explicit that a strong impetus for Eto’s rebellion was, in fact, the loss of Noroi. Because her mother was dead before she could remember, and she says she’s unable to accept Furuta’s premise about “peace” as the one on the receiving end of that “peace”. Most likely, given how these situations played out, Eto wasn’t cannibalizing ghouls until after Noroi’s death. In fact, it’s actually rather likely she wasn’t eating like a ghoul at all.

TG 98

This explains why Eto is putting “become a ghoul” and “former human” in quotes here; because this doesn’t logically make any sense for her to do so for the twins. They did not quote-unquote become ghouls and they were not quote-unquote former humans, they became ghouls and they are former humans. Eto’s quotation marks here only make any form of logical sense if she’s talking about somebody else; and the only logical person here for her to be talking about aside from them is herself.

So her main thrust in all of her discussions with other ghouls is that they should be cannibalizing, that they need to enhance their ghoul power, because otherwise they’re weak. And if you’re weak, you’ll lose what you value. You’ll be alone. Someone will manipulate you. Keep strong, because only your parents will love you, and push others away, because they’ll just use you.

Eto targeted the twins because she could relate to them. They made a similar choice to what she made, choosing to “become a ghoul” and becoming “former humans”. Their situation with Kanou was what she saw as analogous to her situation with Arima. Arima and Kanou even end their stories the same way.

TG;re 82, 149

Because both Arima and Kanou decide to kill themselves in front of their adopted child after they got what they wanted. Arima wanted a One Eyed Ghoul that could beat him, and Kanou wanted the Washuu’s secrets exposed. Both decided that their final act would be to exert power over their adopted children - Arima depriving Kaneki of his decision to have both of them live, and Kanou depriving Kurona of her revenge. Neither Arima or Kanou ever really cared much about the damage that their deaths would cause. There is far more to the situation than that, far more, but for this post, we’ll stop it there.

In the end, both Eto’s and Amon’s words, and Suzuya’s and Eto’s subsequent actions giving meaning to those words, inform most of the character development Kurona and Suzuya undergo in ;re. The varying ideologies of Amon and Eto inform both Suzuya and Kurona greatly. This is very noticeable in Kurona.

TG;re 53, 56, 81, 87

As one of the characters Kurona takes on the most is, in fact, Eto. But Eto’s advice fails Kurona, because Eto herself never managed to successfully manage her own issues. Eto’s advice no longer has the proper context and came too late for Kurona to properly use it. Nashiro had already died, and her cannibalization which allowed her the strength to overpower Suzuya was rendered meaningless because she was already alone, just as Eto is alone. Pushing others away is a dangerous game even if you’re not already alone - and Kurona has no one.

TG;re 80, 87

Amon’s advice to Suzuya, meanwhile, is still highly relevant to his situation. Suzuya manages to change himself so substantially by his experiences in TG, that by TG;re, he’s seen in a different light. His subordinates follow him, not because they’re his subordinates, but because he genuinely cares about those around him. He’s a completely different person. Physical strength and acknowledging the reality of your situation are, of course, important. But no amount of strength can allow you victory if you are well and truly alone. Quantity is a quality in its own right - and while there are no certainties in life, as these situations show, they do help tip the scales in ones favor.

TG 107, 106

This is foreshadowed by Kaneki’s interactions with Amon and Banjou in Tokyo Ghoul. Does Kaneki manage to defeat Shinohara in battle? Yes. But Kaneki’s goals are not related to being the strongest and killing Shinohara - his goal is to avoid loneliness, and protect the ones he loves. Kaneki’s become strong and developed a kakuja through his cannibalization - but his isolation and loneliness are killing him metaphorically and physically. Kaneki is individually stronger than any one person of the CCG members he fights at the Kanou lab raid, but he ends up losing his fight against Suzuya and Amon because he is alone, worn down, and uncertain.

Kurona and Suzuya are quite alike in that their situations were negatively impacted by the bad decisions of both humans and ghouls. However, the differences between them stem from the differences between humans and ghouls in the world of Tokyo Ghoul. Suzuya is afforded the protections and safety of the human world - while Kurona is not. She’s alone, fighting both humans and ghouls alike.

You can’t save anyone if you, yourself, are not saved. Amon was “saved” by his friends, as Suzuya was by his family (his squad). Note that “saved” is not the same as “flawless” - both Suzuya and Amon have immense flaws that make them so appealing as characters, things that they address through confronting their emotions and theirselves. Eto is someone who, as I mentioned earlier, has too many issues of her own to give as good of advice as Amon.

TG;re Volume 5 Black Goat bonus

Eto is, of course, aware of her own short comings. She sees herself as inherently toxic and believes everything she touches dies - like her mother, or Noroi. This is communicated partly through her novels and their negative endings for characters. Her using such a harsh tone with the twins and others (such as when she later pushes Hinami away after initially showing her kindness), as opposed to Amon’s friendly tone with Suzuya and others, is meant to keep them away from herself.

There’s more I’d like to discuss about all of these characters, but I’ll just leave it at here for now. I feel like I can always add more and I haven’t really been putting out any content recently.

#tokyo ghoul #tg meta #Eto Yoshimura #kurona yasuhisa #juuzou suzuya #kotarou amon #Ken Kaneki #Touka Kirishima #Arima Kishou #akihiro kanou #yukinori shinohara #Nashiro Yasuhisa

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yawmanzo · 6 years ago

Text

Yaws Personal Reflection on Touka Kirishima

I'd like to start of with this quote by Touka in the novels.

“What the hell do you know? It's all because I can't eat, because I could become a target at any time, all because I'm a ghoul! No matter how much I try, there's a wall I can never jump over, and there's happiness I can never have. But I'm still hanging on to life. Despite it all”

Followed by this from part 1.

And of course this from Yomo.

As you can see there’s a pattern, and if I wanted to I could indulge you with a fuckton more Touka quotes/panels to further exemplify these, but I digress because I ramble too much and words alone aren’t enough to truly encapsulate everything in its entirety😒.

Alrighty then, let’s get this long rambling journey started! I dub thee:

“Strength in weakness and Weakness in strength”

What makes Touka such an interesting character for me in terms of her writing is that there’s a lot of nuances to her that make her so fascinating to read. Because of these elements, I feel as though leads to a general misconception/misunderstanding of her character in favor of either completely overlooking or simply dismissing them and marking them as purely simplistic and well… not important/uninteresting. I for one believe that there lies a profound complex simplicity and simple complexity of sorts to a lot of these nuances that can be very easy to miss, but are of crucial note to consider, most especially the subtleties to her growth in :re alongside many important thematic elements of the story, other characters and herself.

Adjacent with this is her own personality, decisiveness , selflessness and immense sheer mental fortitude in the face of adversity; living while losing things, moving forward with the little they have, in the hopes of gaining as little or as much as they can towards a peaceful world where such a thing is virtually taboo for ghouls and humans trapped in the bird cage.

Additionally is her journey being the opposite to Kaneki, wherein he became more ghoul like than human in pursuit of strength (since human is normally denoted as weak). Meanwhile Touka underwent an opposite journey in which she became more human like than ghoul, and there’s a fine dichotomy/conflict for balance between the two that we see with the tribulations faced in the story. In other words strength in weakness (Ghoul- human) and weakness in strength (Human-ghoul) and the various connotations.

Moreover is the conflict she herself feels as a ghoul in viewing herself as a monster, thus wanting to be more human,

even when others view her in a different light in conjunction with the earlier harsh actions she would make for the sake of her survival and of others.

We even see how she saves Kaneki numerous times when she didn't really have any obligation to do so in the beginning after considering his own plight in the world as a half ghoul with no place to belong to via Yoshimuras explanation. It’s due to her caring nature that on the surface comes off as very “hard” due to the exterior she puts up as a result of the life she’s lived.

Special mention to when he almost ate Hide after fighting Nishki in his starving state and her stepping in,

thus saving the both of them, something that made Hide very grateful towards her for. (And Hide being hype wing man since chapter 1)

And although her threatening to kill Hide and Kimi in relation to their human relations with Kaneki and Nishki comes across as very cruel, its also due to the volatile position that they have in human society as ghouls for security and safety.

For all intents of purposes, their safety takes preference, and we see how this does change in her being able to trust them with their secret, because it’s a risky one that could lead to them losing everything.

Which as we know, that level of trust didn't exactly work out too well for her and Ayato as little kids that forced them to fend for themselves in the world.

There are several instances where she does come across as real vicious and as Kaneki says “scary”, but also very caring in her own way during many stages of part 1 when he needed someone the most in the world, which is something he remains eternally grateful to her for in his life. She provided that foundation for him in the ghoul world.

As Uta mentions, she's continuously walking a very tight rope between both worlds and there's a constant struggle faced with everything that she deals with in which she simply cannot afford even the tiniest of slips.

What Touka has wanted from the beginning is a chance at a normal peaceful life, away from the violent lifestyle she was forced into as a ghoul, and all the battles and killings she has had to partake in.

Her envy for the life that humans live, her hatred for herself in being a ghoul yet longing for peace and understanding between both species are ones that continuously drive her character forward. ([x]- @encase great explanation of this!)

It’s always been the characters of a set case between her and Kaneki as stated earlier. Kaneki a former human was forced into the ghoul world yet was already living a violent and miserable human lifestyle. While Touka lived a harsh ghoul life which initially had somewhat of a human like upbringing with Arata and Ayato, before that life was lost. There's also her curiosity in wanting to learn more and be a part of the human world. (@wishes-upon-dreams has lots of good novel shots!)

These are two symbolic thematic attributes of Tokyo Ghoul between these two alone, and all the complications that come with it.

Another worthy line from her in the novels is wherein she and Kaneki make human food for Touka to give to her friend Yoriko after a misunderstanding they had.

Touka remarks on Kaneki attempting to taste the food whilst being aware that he's no longer a full human anymore. Kaneki admits that in the moment that fact was lost on him due to how the food looked and of course him wistfully remembering being able to eat and taste all these types of foods. She comments on which scenario is worse between the two: one who's lost an ability, or one who never had the ability to begin with.

“Who has it worse- someone who was never equipped with a function, or someone who had it and lost it?”

AKA Kaneki losing his ability to eat human food, and Touka never having the ability to eat human food.

Well at least her pregnancy later on gave that nice little cake development parallel.

So... a lot tend to dismiss her as too weak or bland of a character, or how her relationship with Kaneki stripped away her own “independent” character. In other words, her role of importance got reduced. Which… yeah there were times that her appearances got sidelined and so forth in us not seeing her as much. But I'll mention that briefly later with regards to Ishidas writing style with some of his characters.

Firstly, with the “independence” part… a characters relations they have with others doesn’t make them weak that goes concurrently with their very own distinct development. (obviously depending on the circumstances mind you and how its established)

In fact the narrative in TG shows how taking things up solely alone leads to more suffering and increased burden that ultimately comes crashing down towards said character without the bonds they form with others. (Eg Kanekis main flaw that Touka opposes with selfish V selfless that she explicitly exposes him for in part 1 with the bridge scene) Note that there are semblances that both invoke and affect each with in a complementary/similar yet opposing way that I've talked about before in the Touken reflection.

Kaneki takes everyone's burdens by himself in order to protect them, but he's not really the selfless martyr he thinks he is. They never asked for his protection, in fact they want to help and be with him, but he's terrified of losing them, thus opting to shoulder all their burdens. He pushed them away and avoided them in order to protect them, AKA Hide and Touka. In doing so it hurts both sides immensely in not being able to really save the other.

Touka can not only see a bit of Arata and Ayato (soldier of Aogiri) in Kaneki with regards to the whole pursuit of power and strength by waging war and advancing violence to protect, but also a bit of herself in some her own actions done to protect those she cares about that they themselves did not ask for. She hits the nail right on the coffin with him because she knows how he is, because she has that affect on him.

This is seen in the novels to an extent with her fighting off students that made fun of Yoriko. Yoriko mentioned that she didn't want Touka to do that for her even though it hurt her. The situation simply just made her more sad, along with Yorikos own lack of self worth in feeling like she was a burden to Touka.

When Touka partakes in her revenge against Mado and the doves for killing Ryouko in order to protect Hinami

a similar thing happens (which wasn't all violence as seen by her trying to give misinformation to the CCG and stir attention away from them).

Hinami laments that she never wanted revenge, but was rather just sad. In both instances Touka doesn't understand why her protecting them through those means was wrong at first, but we see how it affects her in each case with regards to the feelings of those she cares about.

Touka mentions Ayatos reluctance in not wanting to learn more about human society and wanting to safely protect him when it's the same human society that led to their parents demise and one that is systematically established to kill them . After all, humans are just food to them as ghouls, and ghouls are monsters to them right?

With these genuinely selfless actions and ideals, she realized how they pushed the people she cared about. Actually it's quite sad how Touka is always getting abandoned by those she cares about in her life, such as Hikari,Arata,Ayato,Kaneki, Hinami, Yoshimura, Irimi, Koma, Yoriko etc etc. Obviously each of these throughout her life have different factors to them through her own actions and those of others that led to being left alone and or tragically losing them.

Along with this is generally her struggle in communicating/expressing her true feelings towards others through words alone which can often lead to ironic misunderstandings in the moment that she regrets many times.

(which is a trait she shares with Yomo and Ayato).

“I'm really bad at sorting out my feelings, and although I try to put up a good front, I'm incredibly immature, and I hate that about myself”-Touka

Man the novels really are such gems with extra insight to her character. In essence you can show how she does have good intentions. She really doesn't want to lose more of her loved ones and be alone, unless it involves letting go in certain situations and considerations.

I’m not necessarily justifying her relapse in actions here, but you can see just how pissed off she got with Kanekis tragic heroism vendetta

,that and well the man straight up lied about not leaving her alone. (thanks Hide for the chin tip).

Yes Kaneki does genuinely want to “protect” his loved ones,

but he's doing it all wrong in never even considering their own feelings in regard to his whole quest and them being unable to help him, hence being selfish and not wanting to be alone himself. As we see, it’s something he eventually realizes due to Touka’s effect on him.

(which is another thing that both share, fear of being alone that they express differently yet similarly) Cool how the whole rabbit motif is used to exemplify this too, since they can die from loneliness due to the strong relationship bonds they form.

Doing everything alone is a constant no no in TG. Cough Kenny boy, rely on your loved ones, they love you. Though we see how and why he and many others in the story become that way with the whole “you're weak and lack of ability” perception for power and strength. It’s very understandable for many of these characters and it’s quite profound with the many layers to it aside from just the physical that at times come across as very contradictory. “Weakness in strength and strength in weakness”

Tangent, but this also goes in conjunction with Uries development in overcoming that very same flaw he had himself to where he realized it faster than Kaneki did.

And of course the whole point of the dragon arc to show that people, in other words everyone (ghouls and humans) HAVING to rely on each other to combat a common threat and achieve coexistence when needed to even with the flawed prejudiced nature of the human world towards ghoul kind.

Anyways, back to Touka chan.

I really do not believe Touka to be a “weak” character. In fact she’s very strong in her own way since there’s many different types of “strength” and complexities to many of these characters. One who’s strength does not solely rely on her physical abilities or quick thinking/hard work (I mean hell she caught up to years of school at a late age almost gearing up to go to Kamii university which is for proper smart students whilst working at Ainteku). And of course her curiosity on learning more about the world with regards to humans and ghouls that she later instilled in a rather practical sentimental manner as an “advisory” figure.

Ya’ll remember when she was basically hood AF in the streets with that underground ghoul dialect?

By the way holy hell she can speak two languages, that's pretty dope. Except for those skills in Japanese literature... lol that’s just a Rip😂

Point being there are many different testaments of complexity and strength she possess as her own character away from just “the physical”.

Growth

Touka’s character matures and grows a lot in :re becoming more passive, cool headed and wiser as the manager of :re. Like when I first read :re bruh, I was always like “woah this is Touka now? Damn she's changed so much” (and got more thicc)

even with some of her distinct traits still being there… Like her blunt and direct 0 fucks teasing sass, I love me some sass. She definitely lived up to Aintekus legacy and then some with Yoshimuras influence.

She valued the importance of peacekeeping as manager of :re, and its implied that her, Yomo and Nishki performed those roles, similar to how Yoshimura did with the bits of informants they had from others as well.

She became not just more empathetic but generally more sympathetic to an extent, understanding and kind towards others most especially those that wronged her, those she cares about and those she herself has hurt in the past. We see this time and time again.

Few examples include her giving Shinohara the flowers

tying into her forgiveness arc with Arata, the violent CCG perpetual cycle in general, and also got tied in with Juuzou

which got referenced as a point of contention for their characters during their encounter underground.

We see this with Shuu and her explanation for why cafe :re exists as an homage to Ainteku for humans and for ghouls to feel safe in (the spiritual home of coexistence) , as well as a place for Kaneki to return home to, as Yoshimura once wished for with Eto.

Touka prioritizes his well being and happiness over hers, even with the flawed situation wherein they both care about Kaneki in their own way and have differing viewpoints.

Shuu admits to Touka that she’s right in him being an egotist, alongside seeing her point of view when he fights Haise.

Touka also admits that she understands where Shuu is coming from, because she does desire for Kaneki to be with them.

Both parties raise valid points in their own way since they do genuinely care, however the difference in intent further shows that selfless nature of Touka in waiting for Kaneki to come back when HE needs to, not by forcing him when Haise had the whole Haise/Kaneki memory personality conflict that he needed to resolve himself that we see in the Rosewald and Cochlea arcs.

It’s also interesting to note how Kaneki in part 1 distanced himself to protect her from the ghoul world whilst being aware that she as a ghoul can never truly live with just being solely in the human world and the dangers that it possesses in it’s own right towards ghouls.

In :re she means for him not be brought back into the ghoul world due to his suffering in it for so long in order to protect his well being and happiness.

Yet the human world he lives in the CCG is also categorized by violence, suffering and conflict that Haise/Kaneki gets further thrown into. Plus we see how Shuu himself feels about that world due to what happened with his own family in their battle against CCG and Kaneki/Haise being a ghoul investigator. Both cases show how genuine and flawed these motives are, yet also painting the feelings they have in caring for the other in their own distinct ways that's not as straightforward black and white. “Selfish V Selfless”

She forgives her brother Ayato because she understood him to an extent with his faults (not that she ever harbored hatred for him in the first place because she loves him).

Touka sees why he did the things he did because. He wanted to become stronger in Aogiri and protect her, even though he hurt her, as Kaneki exposed to him in their fight. Cue 103 god damn bones.

“Does it hurt? I think Touka chan experienced more pain than that”- Kaneki

Yeah nah... That’s just tough😂 Later on we see how Ayato took this to heart by taking on the Black Rabbit persona in order to lure CCG investigators away from Touka, thus clearing her tracks.

With this she goes to assure him with sincerity in directing him in the right path moving forward despite everything, thus mending their complicated sibling relationship in their own Tsundere Kirishima way.

She gives Kaneki his will to live through her loyal love, influence and support spanning years and years of waiting with the undying faith she possesses towards those she cares about and to him. Not that she had to herself anyway since Kaneki always held her on such a high level of importance in his life throughout the whole story with ALL his personalities and their whole evolutionary dynamic as a whole.

That's another thing about her, that fierce faith is truly special despite the instances it isn’t rewarded.

I mean when this man was on the verge of losing everything and giving in on his plan to die in style, the thought of her and everyone else dying kept him going along with the Hide inner monologue during the Arima fight.

“It may not be stylish, but live”

She allows Goat and the lost ghouls (including the Aogiri children) to use cafe :re as their safety hideout away from CCG, that has CCG members themselves (AKA 0 squad). Once again reinforcing that spiritual home of coexistence.

Side note- another cool tidbit is seeing Toukas natural maternal instincts with children, something we saw bits of with Hinami and Ayato in part 1 as well as the novels.

Her taking care of the ghoul children with Hinami and reading to them were always super adorable to see in also foreshadowing her as a mother and just generally a very kind caring person which she's always been at heart.

Next big demonstration of her growth we see is the convo with Amon in which they both come to a mutual understanding of the circumstances that forced their actions in such a cruel world of kill or be killed.

alongside her offering advice to him about going to see Akira in relation to her feelings about Kaneki.

Then there’s the Akira convo with Hinami: which remains one of my favorites indications of how much she’s developed from part 1 (also because of how similar Touka and Akira are in many ways... I love em). Chapter 120 was one of the first major steps towards seeing how these characters can break the human/ghoul violent perpetual cycle with general empathy and even sympathy to an extent as difficult as it may be. To instill hope into their world, where all they knew was hopeless continuous bloodshed.

Being able to confront Akira directly with what happened, not being focused on continuing the cycle of revenge.

Going on to showcase some semblance of being able to relate with her own experiences and of their fathers in painting the cruel intricate nature of both sides in regards to the actions they take- be it survival, revenge, power to protect, or all the above. Thus slowly shifting Akira’s ingrained beliefs and perspective to it’s core.

It's interesting how Ishida mentioned inspiration from a war documentary applied in the reconciliation between Akira and Hinami , and Touka was the one that initiated that through her development and teachings from others and her own life experiences.

(Shout to Sen for the translations! @kenkamishiro)

Mind you this was a VERY complicated and tough situation wherein those wounds aren’t somehow magically healed between them, but at the very least the continuous cycle of vengeance was subverted in order to move forward.

She's often seen as a very forgiving person towards others in :re, too forgiving at times actually, which is one of her biggest strengths and weaknesses. Or that she doesn't “fight hard” enough and let's go too easily. But one can also see why she's like that, mainly due to the priorities she sets and well… she ain't got time to dwell on things like revenge, war and violence anymore even if it's completely warranted and justified. She's seen and experienced first hand what that does to herself and others time and time again. She knows the script and prioritizes moving forward away from that, even if it hurts her and them having to constantly pick and choose in the process.

As long as a situation of conflict can be resolved in any way, they'll continue to live and survive in the world. Mental fortitude is a big strength of hers when it comes to pressing forward in the face of adversity.

It’s even more notable to notice this development when looking back at the violent, angsty and tragic harsh life she lived as a ghoul with Ayato from childhood towards their teens years. After all it's a kill or be killed world, one where the strong take from the weak, and the weak are the ones that perish.

That and how viciously she lashed out at others, herself and the world through violence and rage due to that bloody ghoul lifestyle. The hard harsh exterior, soft kind interior continuously interchanged, intertwined and crossed several thresholds.

Highkey nice heavy parallel to Hikari and Arata though. As Yomo mentioned, Hikari used to be quite savage back when she was younger until she calmed down later on in life with her family, and where Arata was a really kind pacifist type ghoul, her death led to him later becoming a “monster” out of revenge that resulting in his downfall. In many ways also applying to both Touka and Kaneki with their own unique divergences. And of course the parallels between Ayato and Yomo in regards to their respective pursuits for strength and revenge.

“The world is power, let’s use power to decide who’s superior. Careless idiot. You are weak. So you lose. Just like father.”- Ayato

“Who is the strongest? I fucking am”- Kaneki

“...I want to become strong”- Yomo

“I also need to get stronger”- Touka

“Strength in weakness and weakness in strength”

“Strength” and “power” as a whole is extremely intricate, with all the different types of it in its many variations/forms that come with their own respective advantages and disadvantages.

So many of these different attributes and aspects we see to be something that many characters in the story come to admire from Touka as a person, a ghoul , sister, friend, wife and manager of :re/ fellow leader of GOAT along with Kaneki and right hand man Shuu.

Sure Ishida could have definitely utilized and actually showcased more scenes with her doing things in which we could see a lot of this development/moments onscreen, especially the first half of :re (as a matter of fact I’d be on the first train to destination MORE TOUKA STUFF AND WRITING EMPHASIS PLEASE)

But one can also deduce the salient impact of her smaller scale actions/motivations that attribute to the plot, many characters and the very essence of the story thematically and even that of her character. A phrase I always use to describe that belief is “Yo Touka is doing bits” which basically means how those moments may seem really minuscule at first, but are actually very meaningful.

This also includes her evolving personality from part 1 as a consequence of the melancholic and painful stoic adverse nature of the world that genuinely did affect her for many years on end. There’s also kind of parallel with her really. Second half of part 1 Touka scenes weren’t as much in favor of Kaneki and other characters development, but they were very impactful in their own moments, in contrast to the first half of :re with a similar sentiment.

Plus I mean well, one can see how much Ishida struggled with writing his main cast of characters in :re with part 1 characters and side characters with some getting more development/ specific writing priority over others in different fashions alongside MANY plot points and concepts. That and yes several plot points and character interactions with her did get dropped in the story/didn't get as much development on screen as they should have, which mind you isn't just exclusive to her character alone like in the case of several others. One little missed opportunity is the Yoriko reunion that didn't happen on screen which was really unfortunate as that would have been so emotional to see for them both, (and me since I kept waiting for it)

But at least she saw her wedding with Bujin to make sure she was ok

and them reuniting offscreen during the end time skip was good. Ichika loving aunty Yorikos bread and Mucchans apples is a blessing, so thank goodness for that.

And yes there's a lot of other stuff that could be mentioned as well that would have been great to see onscreen, but eh what can you do.

While many favor her character in part 1, which is fair because my god she was fire AF🔥

it’s also important to notice all the subtle factors that led to her personality and growth shifting the way it did from a teenager to young adult whilst still maintaining her distinct “Touka” traits (then again I love her in everything so😅). That’s the whole point of it, to show how people change in life, what would be the point if she remained the exact same as part 1 in terms of writing?

Again, different strokes for different folks, but I personally appreciate both depictions and find them very fascinating in their own rights especially with their flaws that continuously kept me glued to her character even with the discrepancies in screen time.

In other words, I find her journey very interesting to read and interpret, particularly since there’s a lot of writing cues to her in favor of being designated in deciphering rather than explicitly stated in all lines of text and dialogue. Perhaps that’s the main issue with some aside from the whole her not being shown as much? The fact that a lot of the writing is nuanced in several ways and not as right in your face with text panels/ inner monologues and inner character thoughts emphasized and fleshed out? Either way, those visual cues/elements of show don’t tell and at times “less equals more” being implemented in the story are ones that always make me so passionate about her character. To ascertain her thoughts, feelings, actions and motivations when the narrative doesn’t state it as right in your face but rather deduced through the already established notions and elements that are set/keep getting set.

I have no idea if I’m making sense😑

But yeah that’s how I see it. Like something as simple as her just not saying anything, or words being omitted in favor of emphasis being placed on subtle visual representation in a panel just makes me want to always see more of her and decipher her thoughts without her even having to state all of them outwardly. This conveyance without the need of many words (which don’t get me wrong would be greatly appreciated in many instances!) doesn’t really hinder her as boring to me, rather very intriguing, but again each to their own you know?

Continuing on her desire to be with those she loves and not be alone, in other words to gain as much as she can with the little available while losing things. She told Ayato the same sentiment which can ESPECIALLY be meant for Kaneki too.

“Rely on others for a change”

An aspect of her strength stems from her ability and strong personality in which she carries herself when all the odds are against her, and when she herself is very limited to what she can achieve by herself alone in the world, yet continues to fight either way. In other words… she’s realistic in seeing the world as it is with all ones flawed strengths and weaknesses in the face of the tribulations they face and the choices they must make for better or for worse, positive and negative. It also shows the priorities she places in fighting reactively, in other words when she HAS to or in regards to those she cares about where she would rather avoid using violence to solve conflicts in :re unless pressed to do so in response to something or when pressed.

Eg. Saving Shuu from CCG investigators that were on his ass.

The Kirishima family and Banjou squad Cochlea fights to save Hinami thanks to Kaneki’s aid.

Versus the Arima squad members

Sneaky sister save as mask 33.

and versus Arima himself (which honestly that's just a Rip for the whole family).

Being aided by Eto to push on forwards.

Fighting off Special class Kyoko Aura, Mougan and other CCG members with the other ghouls namely Yomo, Banjou, his squad and Hinami when they themselves were already fatigued. And of course protecting Ayato

showcasing her emerging two wings with that based Hikari Yomo lightning ⚡⚡

Later combining forces with Kaneki and 0 squad to escape.

Then there's her fight against Mutsuki that endangered not just her and Kanekis lives, but led to the destruction of :re. The whole shit underground wherein they got attacked whilst already starved and with little resources, forcing retaliation to survive.

And of course operation save Kenny and Tokyo with dragon. (Title drop)

That doesn’t necessarily make her “weak”, or one who doesn't do much fighting because she's a damsel, particularly when she’s PREGNANT from 128 to the 170s. She fights only when pushed to do so.

Again in 123-124 she held her own against Mutsuki (who’s very strong) when her cafe got destroyed by the oggai and kept her cool, suppressing her emotions when taunted with Yorikos fake “fate” in an attempt to get her all triggered (once more showing her development in :re as part 1 Touka would have definitely lashed out in justified rage)

We see she's clearly hurt by this in 124 despite her trying desperately to subvert that fact and not showcase that much emotion when Kaneki asks if she's ok. She's obviously not as another home/dream of hers got crushed, and its conveyed so effectively yet subdued without her even saying much via her vulnerable posture and her switching the subject to Hide in order to deal with her own feelings about Yoriko, but also that of how Kaneki felt about both Hide and Touka in this painful situation.

Both distanced themselves from their friends in order to protect them, yet yearned desperately to see them. Kaneki did the same with Touka and Hide, Touka did the same with Yoriko and Haise/Kaneki, and as was revealed via talking about Hide- was something he couldn't do anything about. Because if he thought about it, he'd just be consumed by the desire to see them again. Cue Akon “Lonely, I'm mister lonely” and them rooting like rabbits.

You can see how without even saying anything through her facial expressions how Touka feels,

She’s able to connect everything in regards to how they mutually feel the same about this with their friends and their own feelings for each other. Both were terrified of the other dying.

Which of course led to them finally being able to close that gap of loneliness and pain in which they made love and consummated their relationship.

Despite all the fuckery of the world around them, all the war that they were in, for just one moment they were finally able to experience happiness in the darkness that both had craved for so long with each other, and it speaks volumes to one of the most important and emotionally resonate symbolic messages of the series. Breaking the barrier between both worlds.

Ghoul-Human

Hell speaking about the unplanned pregnancy, let’s go back to the human esc journey. The narrative has explicitly explained the dangers of human food consumption for ghouls since the very beginning.

In her fight with Ayato, it’s clear how this type of lifestyle has considerably weakened her full ghoul potential in reference to her one Ukaku wing

and lack of that cold ghoul intensity she used to have as Shuu states.

As mentioned before, Ayato finds her wanting to be part of human society (that denotes weakness) to be idiotic and dangerous due to what happened with their parents and Arata’s upbringing.

Leading his pursuit for ghoul strength and hatred towards humans in Aogiri (which does change through his own development later on)

Yomo also criticized this during their training via her eating Yorikos food to fit in so much at school (novels and part 1)

and the Itori talk to Kaneki about the failures of ghoul-human hybrids which also gets referenced later with the flawed half humans.

Later we see Touka ask Kaneki about how Eto was kept alive with Yoshimura a ghoul father and Ukina a human mother. The difference of course is the reverse in the situation for a ghoul mother.

And of course Mutsuki’s taunting during their second big fight where Touka was at a clear disadvantage.

SHE KNOWS human food is bad for her body due to its weakening effect. It's been a reoccurring thing for her ever since her upbringing with Arata and what influenced her curiosity in wanting to understand humans and the world they live in. Simultaneously it’s almost like she herself is fighting against that known fact and still trying desperately to fit into some kind of normal human esc style of life as a ghoul when she knows she realistically can't.

To be able to enjoy things like cake, burgers and so forth when her ghoul body prohibits this. After all as ghouls they have no choice but to eat humans. Kaneki himself is even baffled by the lengths she would go just to uphold Yorikos feelings over her own. I mean she could easily just lie and not eat the food at all right?

And yet she still goes the extra mile to not only protect Yorikos feelings whilst endangering herself because she cares so much, but also fight against the notion of her being a ghoul to an almost foolish extent.

It’s why the whole “don’t die, push through me, live” as she’s forcing herself to eat human food to try save her unborn child Ichika is so powerful in contrast to the strong will by Ukina (a human) who actually can digest and cannibalize human meat for her hybrid child Eto.

For a ghoul to eat human food, is essentially like hell, and if she didn't, her body would naturally consume the foetus, furthermore adding to the perception of her being a monster by taking her own child's life. Her chance at becoming a mother and starting a family would be lost. That's why she’s willing to do anything to give her child even the faintest 1% chance of survival, regardless of how it may hurt and weaken her or how slim the possibilities of success are. [x- great commentary by @mamasaiko and @lilacflamesss !)

That’s why her becoming pregnant didn’t hinder her character to me, it restricted her full potential absolutely, but it also presented the opportunity to put her into extremely constrained dangerous scenarios wherein her immense fortitude and willpower would be tested to its limits with regards to her ability to always make choices, for better or for worse. Again it’s that strength we see numerous characters admire from her. The hybrid pregnancy is something that should be a very positive thing and very well is as with the whole hope and symbolic aspect of the series for some semblance of light in the darkness.

It presented the main core message of coexistence in breaking away from the tragic cycle that several characters looked towards, yet it was also one due to situation/wrong timing that added more struggles and tribulations to be faced. THAT’S THE CONFLICTING DILEMMA that was so damn enthralling and stressful AF to bear witness to!

Her being able to make tough choices time and time again whether she likes them or not. The underground alone had her being forced to lead the ghouls (including children) out of danger and leave her loved ones in order to protect herself, her unborn child and the lives of those ghouls. From Yomo,

to 0 squad,

to Hinami all in quick succession… SHE DOESN’T WANT to leave her loved ones, she hates doing that with them having to protect her and being abandoned. But in the situation it’s something she HAS to do by trusting them with that faith. In fact we see in her situation with Hinami how desperately she tries to aid her even with her weakened condition by getting all pissed off.

It was only when Hinami told her to go protect the children did she finally make that choice.

We don't even see her clouded facial expression or her thoughts, their blocked, which further adds the front she's trying so hard to put in order to remain strong and keep going even though we know it's absolutely killing her inside. She tries to reach out Hinami, but she knows she can't waste more time in hesitating with her decision given the situation, because if she did… well they'd all get fucked.

It's also quite poignant to note the arcs of both here. Hinami herself is still by all means a child of sorts, or rather a young adult protecting her older sister figure, as Touka did for her in part 1 and the novels.

Hinami's character development is one for strength and self worth, and it was depicted very beautifully yet sad with her monologue about her own perceived weakness she expressed to Ayato and how she viewed Touka and Kaneki in being a burden to them, hence seeking strength by joining Aogiri.

Hinami was able to fight side by side with Touka in her weakened condition, both watching each others backs.

Which is something that makes Touka proud in how much Hinami has grown, yet it also adds to the whole “living while losing things” in that situation in trusting her strength against such volatile odds in order to press forwards with her own survival, that of her unborn child and that of the other helpless ghouls when she hates doing so but has to do so. Like Ryouko did for Hinami.

Special mention is Hinamis admiration for her stemming all the way from the beginning “strong, delicate, beautiful”. You did wonderfully in becoming all that and more with your development too Hina👏

When she sees Yorikos letter, SHE WANTS TO SAVE HER and you can see how shocked and pained she is her just by her facial expression

but given Goats very volatile position and Kaneki “dying” at the time, she simply can’t as it would jeopardize their whole organization, and thus she chooses her family, Kaneki and their child when Kaneki himself struggles with his own indecisiveness that could have truly been a trap to lure them into action not based on fortified assurance.

This is another instance Kaneki greatly admires in contrast to his flaw in being indecisive and choosing.

The circumstance itself places this cruel obligation on her to make those choices, but she makes them either way because she has to, otherwise as we’ve seen in TG, failure in making a choice leads to more tragedy. Shit even MAKING choice or choosing not to MAKE a choice can still very well result in that. She COULD have very well elected to save Yoriko, similar to how they went to save Hinami in cochlea (with Ayato, Yomo and Banjou squad) or save Kaneki when he get got captured by Aogiri

in contrast to how she elected to save Kaneki in the dragon arc (joining forces with CCG and the ghouls). These are all separate choices due to different circumstances and considerations that she makes within those emotional situations, and I love the little line in 148 that she says to Nishki.

“What should I do?”

She contemplates all the factors and elements available in making a choice. Can they with just the ghouls save Kaneki and Tokyo at large? How do they do that in the first place with the limited resources they have? All she’s known is loss, so... should they just carry on living with that for their own survival when Tokyo is in danger? [x]

Like… there's a lot of unspoken suffering that she was going through in that whole arc alone. Her very own husband and father of their child who called her a monster in the beginning,

became one himself in order to protect them and see her again by devouring most of Tokyo consisting of humans, ghouls and children when they were all on the brink…

That's tough... and really fucked up. But given the pushed situation (that sure could have been subverted prior), a choice had to be made once again in which they'd face the consequences either way.

Whilst I’ve said that a defining trait of hers is that decisiveness and ability to choose, she herself always contemplates her choices and the consequences thereof even when they are purely emotionally driven. Should I do this? Should I do that? What if I had done this? What if I had done that? In fact that’s the thing about TG in general with MANY characters. As a matter of fact it applies to the whole cast in general really.

The choices they make, and how it’s not always about whether they are “right” or “wrong” but about how they’re made and how one continues pushing forward from said choice. “Forever choosing, forever being chosen”

And of course the dilemma between one's desire for even the tiniest semblance of happiness opposed to the tough predicament they face and all the outcomes that results from it that prohibit such.

“Why do things have to be like this?”

Her breakdown at the end of part 1 added greatly to that during the Ainteku raid where they lost everything. She wanted to go help everyone, she didn't want to lose them, yet Yomo stopped her because they had to choose not to in order for them to keep on living with Yoshimura, Irimi and Komas sacrifice, otherwise it would have all been for naught. “Live while losing things”

Kaneki chose to go fight in order to aid/protect everyone because he was tired of not being able to do anything anymore. As a result, it led to his subsequent “death” and tragedy (with the exception of buying time for Irima and Koma v Arima)

In fact he ponders what if he had chosen to stay away and gone with Touka and Yomo. Perhaps he'd have been able to work with them in the new cafe?

Perhaps if Touka and Yomo went to fight with Kaneki they'd make a difference? Perhaps if Kaneki didn't go all alone in 143 of :re the situation may have played out differently in contrast to how Furuta exposed him?

The answer is yes, no, maybe, maybe not. No one knows, and it's easy to continuously contemplate every single possibility and theoretical outcome. All that matters is how they have to make those tough choices and live with them, no matter the cost.

Also the fact that we only rarely see her true vulnerable, insecure and visible emotions other then when she's like... angry or something is another trait I find very interesting. Because when we do, it’s impactful and hits home just how much she tends to internalize within herself. In other words, the front she puts on. Her always suppressing her emotions with that strong mental fortitude speaks volumes of the struggles she continuously undergoes internally and externally.

That emotional breakdown was just building bruh.

The fact that we don’t have to be told exactly what she’s thinking or how she’s feeling, but are rather shown how she’s trying to hold herself together even with her face either turned away from the reader or her turning her back in several panel illustrations denotes so many melancholic elements to be interpreted within the story.

Another side note- some are actually quite funny and aesthetically appealing to me. She just looks so tired/bored and like... done with everything with those half lidded eyes that convey so much (Idk I just relate heavy AF with that😂)

Hence always looking for those subtle details in her character that add so many layers. Ooo also the times when we get to see both her eyes (true feelings), that's super cool.

Relying on the strength of others is not weak in wanting to help protect them. I mean nothing is wrong at all in wanting to become stronger by yourself for the sake of others, but going completely solo and shouldering all those burdens with just one's own strength is completely detrimental to the highest degree.

In fact her fighting with that pregnant condition when she shouldn’t have and being able to fend for herself before said condition along with her Ukaku stamina issues, stress, lack of sleep and starving inevitably prohibited her full potential is in itself also inspiring. Like dude wtf she's out here fighting with all those disadvantaged restrictions that endanger her? That's badass. Being faced with the predicament of WHAT TO DO versus WHAT ONE CAN DO with limited means. And yet with all that, she still dug Kaneki from dragon by herself after fending off Mutsuki

and the dragon clones

with the timely aid of Urie, Saiko. Even Mutsuki, the one she fought prior and tried to reach out to peacefully given the dire situation and not their own personal differences.

Symbolically the wife of Kaneki, and children of Haise Sasaki came together to save him in that instance with the foreshadowing of the Qs and dragon.

Touka was key to the dragon arc in general. That was the point of the whole arc, further showing the fruits of her development as well, combining strength with others, both humans and ghouls. All elements needed each other to succeed. There’s a reason Hide went out to look for Touka in the ghoul camp.

Not to mention how crucially important these two are throughout the narrative in reference to the fool's journey namely the Magician (Hide) and the High Priestess (Touka) to the fool (Kaneki)

“The Magician and High Priestess are absolutely equal in importance and value. Each is necessary for balance” [x]

He himself was extremely vital in gathering all the different sides and information for the pieces to be in place such as Marude, Urie, Kimi with the CCG, recruiting Amon and Akira, and of course Touka with the ghouls.

Touka leading the ghouls there after being ignited by Shuus emotional fire speech

and all the assurance to combine their strength and efforts with the CCG was a true indication of that. Great stuff by all 3 Aces (Touka, Hide, Shuu) right there. [nice catch! @kanekikenunot]

Touka coming up with the ring idea was of extreme importance, in fact it was the very idea that kick started the whole operation in the first place!

Beforehand was her translating the underground ghoul dialect thanks to Ayatos adventure underground

in order to form the pieces necessary to ignite the operation by condensing the seemingly impossible search for Kaneki to being more focused and fortified to the point that they could track him down with Shuu and Mirimos influence with the metal detectors.

Worthy note is the perception she emits to Hide in always not being able to save Kaneki and him always saving her. We know she has saved him numerous times physically, emotionally, and mentally and the same with Kaneki to her, but it's important to note how she mentions “this time”.

It's like despite all the times they've saved each other with all those different aspects, something always caused them to get separated or to face more and more suffering painting all the times as somewhat futile. And this time, given the monster he's become, she means to truly save him at all costs no matter what.

And my god, chapter 160 is one of my favorites due to the parallel with 145 where Kaneki lost control becoming dragon with it having no dialogue whatsoever in favor of pure visual storytelling.

You could just feel the sheer immense strain, pressure, rampant despair and pain of Touka desperately trying to save her husband.

A Silent Scream is what I call these two chapters that I talked about before, wherein the omission of words paints the whole “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

Her breakdown was so emotionally resonate with how we hardly see her like that. Referencing back to the visuals without having to be shown lines of text or dialogue. Something as simple as her finding Kanekis hand grasping her parents ring (the bond that ties their own marriage together) in pressing forward like a centipede with Touka as his sole motivation and strength, is definitely something that destroys her in which you can just hear the horrifying scream she emits.

Because she's not just reminded of her impending failure with the current situation, but also the tragedy that befell her own parents, and the cycle of revenge she was a part of with Mado that aided in her ability to empathize with Akira and Amon. [good eye! @dreamofcentipedes]

It's these little tiny details that are always there, and while sure some may be a stretch in providing more depth/ over reaching, they remain considerations that add so much. For a moment she ponders if the tragic cycle is something they'll never be able to break free from, whether it's something that will always keep them trapped in the birdcage, unable to fly towards a clear blue sky, something she always looks towards in many panel illustrations. [x]

And yet despite it all she never gave up, her faith kept pushing her forwards to continue the mission. And she was able to succeed. Her efforts and choices were not in vain.

Yo... scope this little line here.. “Don't push yourself ok”

Touka… Dude… We don't deserve you honestly. Finna say that after all the fuckery you just went through in pushing yourself... smh

Still out here not resting waiting for your man's to wake up and be ok.

Top tier I swear...(PLS GET SOME SLEEP)

Which then shows another instance of that non verbal communication during her embrace with Kaneki. Within that one swift motion and the “thump” sound effect presumably of their hearts beating, she conveyed all she needed to without having to say anything.

Thank goodness she was finally able to rest by the end and chill with Saiko is best Saiko, because honestly… She needed that.

And although she had to continue waiting (god how long has she had to that ?) for her loved ones to return,

that fierce faith was fortunately rewarded with Ayato and Kaneki returning in the end.

Like I said, one of the many reasons I admire Toukas strength so much is that it strays away from the typical norm that would usually warrant a narrative tool in making one “weaker” via the ghoul-human journey just for the sake of it or for her to be “helpless”.

“Go, you are not just some onlooker, nor are you powerless. You just have other things to protect right?”-Yomo

And I just… really want to root for her to overcome all the odds that are placed in her and everyone else's paths in whatever way they can. “Strength in weakness, weakness in strength”

It’s not exactly an underdog story classification, but instead to me points out an interesting conflict between ones seemingly futile (at the time given the high failure rate) yet deepest desires/ wishes for some semblance of hopeful happiness in the world. And ones need to survive by any limited means often being forced to make hard to impossible choices accordingly so to protect and live with the few means available to them that they can achieve by themselves alone, and or with that of others.

Bruh… I could go on rambling forever and I'd still be missing several points😓 that many others have mentioned too. But essentially her undying love, selflessness, compassion, faith, and strength are qualities that have always stood out to me in their own right since the beginning until the very end. And in general it’s just truly satisfying that by the end all her suffering, waiting and perseverance paid off. Although it was never explicitly stated, many (including myself) speculate that she did open up another coffee shop by the end, which would be a really nice ribbon bow touch to that as well. 3rd times the charm?

She was finally to gain the normal life that she never thought possible with the combined efforts of both sides, the worlds that Kaneki found a place in. Being able to peacefully live with her family, husband, baby girl Ichika (with another boyo on the way) and loved ones.

Her wish for happiness was granted.

Personally Toukas character journey has truly been a pleasure to witness over over the course of the series, and it’s one that has forever put her in such a special place in my heart, compelling flaws and all😄

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hamliet · 7 years ago

Text

The Vanishingly Slim Line Between Protagonist and Villain

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” --Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

I could get into how this quote applies to Kaneki and Furuta’s narrative coping-mechanisms, especially with Kaneki and the tragic protagonist idea, but instead I want to ramble about Furuta and Arima, who foil each other extremely closely, and the weirdly different framing around them as characters despite them being even more like each other than they are like Kaneki. As a trigger warning this meta is going to heavily deal with suicidal ideation, because for a manga with the main theme of “live,” the framing around Arima’s death has been... odd to say the least. I guess this ramble (it’s really more a ramble than a proper meta, soz about that) might be an attempt to make some sense of a death I see as profoundly tragic and heartbreaking in the manga (Arima’s), via Furuta’s character.

What makes a villain, in TG? I think it answers the same paradoxical way it would answer the question of what makes a monster: everyone is a monster, and no one is a monster. To quote SnK’s Armin Arlert:

I don't like the terms "good person" or "bad person" because it is impossible to be entirely good to everyone. To some, you are a good person, while to others, you are a bad person.

Everyone’s a villain to someone in this story, and so no one’s really a villain. Everyone is both victim and perpetrator. Everyone is a person. It’s not so much that every TG character receives redemption; it’s that our perspective on them changes first, and then most of them go on to live which means redeeming themselves to an extent.

Commonly this week in the deluge of hate for Furuta I’m seeing the assertion that Furuta as the villain ruined Kaneki’s life (which Kaneki himself says is not the case in 159) and also Rize’s life. Which, I mean, sure, because he dropped steel beams on her and later mined her and teamed up with Kanou who originally mined her. But there were multiple years in-between those events, and the whole reason Furuta got his hands on Rize again was... not because of him searching her out and dragging her back.

It was because of Arima. Arima is the one who recaptured Rize and murdered the one person who truly, wholeheartedly, loved Rize unconditionally without wanting anything in return.

Arima is also the suicidal favored son of Tsuneyoshi who also carried out a genocide against ghouls with the goal of making himself a villain with the hopes that someone (Kaneki, but Amon & Takizawa were also considered) would be strong enough to kill him and thus unite all ghouls to take down the organization preventing them from living normal lives--but like, the other one, the not-Furuta one. It’s not a coincidence Ui went from clinging to Arima to clinging to Furuta.

Does this excuse Furuta? No. His actions are condemned in every way by the manga. But why then does the manga seem to have a kinder view of Arima? Is it just because he loved Kaneki? Quite probably that explains the framing, since the manga likes to comment on how from a certain perspective anyone is a villain like the Armin quote above, a la Shironeki killing people we don’t care about and then Shiromutsuki going after people we do care about. (I wrote more about that here.)

It’s perfectly fine and I have no problem with people liking one and not liking the other because either can be triggering, so that needs to be respected. But from a narrative perspective, if you say “cool motive still murder” about Furuta, it applies to Arima too. But it’s not that simple for either of them imo. Both Arima and Furuta were forced to become child soldiers, knowing they would die young, raised in a rape garden. They’re victims, too. In the end, Arima committed suicide, and it’s heartbreaking. And he didn’t have to die/it wasn’t inevitable, as Kaiko notes for us:

Hence I don’t think it’s a controversial opinion to presume that Arima did not want to live with his guilt (compounded by having years of depression after growing up as a child soldier). But why does everyone in a manga that discourages self-sacrifice and encourages living over suicide then laud Arima as the god of death who died at 33 for our sins (like the Jesus symbolism isn’t subtle)? There are some hints that the framing around Arima’s death is not something we should be taking as the manga honoring everything he did or saying the ends justified the means.

Motives matter in how you're perceived--but they don’t actually matter to the victims who are still, you know, dead, or missing their loved ones.

Touka and Ayato will never get their mother back. Yomo will never get his sister back. Rize will never get Shachi back. That’s even what Furuta’s using to taunt Kaneki in the most recent chapter: the fact that no matter what Kaneki does, it isn’t going to bring the dead back. (I think we all can agree that whoever Owl is--probably Hairu--it isn’t a life worth living.) What’s done is done.

Kaneki himself acknowledged that he had a role in creating Dragon when he decided to bear the weight of his sins. Was he solely responsible, no, Furuta orchestrated it of course, but the manga and Kaneki accept responsibility for his role in it too; that’s all I’m saying:

Good for you, Kaneki, grow my son grow. It’s like what Urie tells Mutsuki: admit what you did. Face it. That’s the way to redemption, not in dwelling on the past (it’s also what Hsiao tells Aura during their fight).

Like Arima, Kaneki earlier did not want to live with the memories of what he’d done, so he tried to kill himself. Mutsuki, the same thing, but both of them chose to live. All of these suicidal characters are plagued by guilt for things that both are and are not their fault.

So how does this apply to Furuta? Well, if motives matter, does the fact that Furuta wanted to take down the Sunlit Garden--aka not really different than what Arima wanted--matter for him? I think the manga and all us readers might initially be like well... not when it comes to the people he harmed like Kaneki, like Rize, like Hajime. Because that harm remains. Good motives don’t justify the pain. If you act like a villain, with good intentions or not, aren’t you a villain? Or maybe, perhaps, there are no villains, and no protagonists? Perhaps there are just people. But objectively, if we say that about Furuta, we have to apply that to Arima as well--or perhaps his motives do matter in terms of his value in the story, just like Arima’s do.

So if Kaneki decided to live and bear the weight of his sins, knowing much of Tokyo will never forgive him, and Arima could not, Furuta needs to be offered the same opportunity, like both Kaneki and Arima had that choice. Furuta is not narratively condemned to die any more than Arima was, and that’s the point. (Keep in mind that given that Furuta and Arima were both given favor explicitly because of their innate talent--aka what they could do--so the concept of facing wrongs and trying to right them has got to be absolutely terrifying, because I doubt failure was much of an option in the Garden (especially if freeing Rize is indeed what cost Furuta his favor with his dad).) If Furuta rejects this offer, as he seemed to kind of reject the beginning of Kaneki’s empathy this chapter:

...well, choices matter, so it really is on Furuta to decide whether or not he truly wants to die or whether he wants to live. If the manga fulfills his suicidal wish, he needs to regret it firstly, and it should then be used to dismantle the “St Arima who died for our sins” attitude by illuminating the tragedy of it all. Like, if Furuta isolated himself, so did Arima. Characters note this multiple times, and it still breaks me because Arima too didn’t believe he deserved to be loved. Furuta just took the mask off Arima as the CCG’s mascot of sorts, and off the CCG as a whole. Which is what Furuta’s entire role in the manga has been--taking the mask off the CCG’s actions, off Ui’s, off Kaneki’s, off Mutsuki’s, off Arima’s.

If Furuta does choose to live, it has to be used to show that if Furuta could recover, so could have Arima--not to condemn his choices, but to portray them honestly as tragic. The fact that our other two suicidal parallels, Kaneki and Mutsuki, are recovering show us you can recover from the darkest of spirals, but it’s up to you to decide to redeem yourself, or drown. Importantly both Kaneki and Mutsuki had people to cling to, but Furuta, like Arima, has isolated himself. However, if Kaneki truly empathizes with him, that could help convince him it isn’t hopeless. But I don’t know; personally I’m not entirely that optimistic but I’m a pessimist about all characters living usually (sorry Yomo I thought you were gonna die like a million times) so who knows.

#tg meta #tagging it that way even tho it's more a ramble #tg ramblings #tgre #tg #kaneki ken #mutsuki tooru #furuta nimuta #arima kishou #sunlit garden #suicide tw #depression #tgre 174 #kamishiro rize #shachi

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sparda3g · 7 years ago

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Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 171 Review

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Emotional attachment can lead to complexity within a person. “Easier said than done” is one quote that will be thrown around a lot when it comes to settling the issue. It’s up to their companion to relieve them from despair or among themselves to accept it. The arc is drawing near to the end as one battle ends, another one coming to a close. After a long period of waiting, it was well worth it for this emotional driven chapter.

It’s a bit challenging to say which scenario is the best part of the chapter. Sometimes I like the first half more, sometimes I like the latter. Both scenarios carry the similar theme of attachment to the world and its people, human and ghoul. When it comes to connecting themes and character’s growth, Ishida shines brightly with his delivering on his compelling characters.

I thought the last chapter concluded the battle between Yomo and Uta, but instead, we got a definitive ending here and it’s all for the better. It’s good to know Uta didn’t die from that devastating attack. Granted, I had a hunch he was going to live, but if he did die, that would be a bit easy. The chapter treated us with a really delightful ending to their bout and if there’s more room for the series, a really good future for the two.

Uta goes into greater detail on his thoughts on life itself. The way how he described his life in the past compare to the present somewhat reminds me of Citizen Kane. In that film, there’s this “checkpoint” of a man’s life that often look back and think that’s where the path was decided. Uta had fun back then because nothing in life mattered, even when they break their legs, him and Yomo. It began to change when Yomo was heading towards a different path alas Anteiku with Yoshimura. If Uta doesn’t follow or move anywhere else, what does he have left?

I thought it was pretty sad that Uta did in fact try to help Yomo to avenge his sister because it was like his way to keep him together. You know how many stories go about revenge won’t reward you greatly, if not any. This one is no different but it doesn’t address the obvious, rather use strong words to not only address the morale but connect to Uta’s despair. They couldn’t avenge for Yomo’s behalf, but now, Yomo has move ahead of it, because the world is changing.

Uta is a man that watches the world change but don’t adapt any of it. He has tried enough to adjust, or rather recover from the losses but he just couldn’t change. Every man adapts differently; he’s just harder to crack open. Honestly speaking, I am amazed and moved by Yomo as of late, which is funny considering how much of a mute guy he was. I know he let out his inner feelings when the moment is right, but his connections and thoughts speak to me.

Yomo comes off genuine with his words that it’s a bit unbelievable. Okay, no more knocking on him; I actually like his character a lot. The thing about his words is the fact they are sincere and relatable. He doesn’t come off as a leader or spokesman for a noble peace prize; it’s just two friends talking like friends. Surprising how Yomo did once come close to become another Uta on simply saying life sucks. He lost many loved ones before joining with Anteiku and convinced himself that cruelty is inevitable. When the café was burnt down, his reaction didn’t match up to his thoughts. Easier said than done.

It’s relatable to his thoughts about what should he have done instead of following orders to stand back and watch it fall. Many of us would often think about the past action and debate if it was a mistake or not. What I really like about Yomo transcribing his past is how we get a better view of his character. He was a mute person, but his subtle reaction clued you in how he really felt about it. The most obvious display is against Arima, but it’s also the moment of change for the better.

It’s ironic due to how Arima revolved Yomo’s character for past vengeance yet it intertwined with the present with Ayato and Touka. It’s no longer about fighting for the past cause. It connects very well to theme of attachment since Yomo is now fighting forward to see what rewards him, good or bad. Uta was avoiding the change around him, so nothing seem to progress. He’s there to adjust other’s life. Yomo is part of the world changing and contributing it till the end, hence soon to be a grand uncle. Best grand uncle ever, that’s for sure.

It has a charming way to end the grudge with Yomo willing to allow Uta to earn his desire. Yomo only wants for the best for others and prefer to be taken alone and him alone. It makes sense since Uta was only part of Clowns to change shape of others, even though his target has been only on Yomo. I like how Uta’s reply simply state that they are adults now. These two had a good sit down chat over their problems and reason each other like adults. It also implies he is finally stepping forward and hopefully for a better path.

The charm is how they start talking like good friends again. The topic is amusing because even the characters themselves can see the obvious pairing that is Kaneki and Touka. Who knew that they’re shippers since the beginning? I still remember when Uta asked Kaneki on his opinion on Touka; now it makes sense. The parallel panel is a nice way to end the battle; past or present, some things never change.

The rest of the chapter belongs to Amon and Donato though not without some new revealing details that was well timed for connecting themes. You got to credit Amon to keep on striving against Donato, even against the odds. I know some fans are tired of him getting wrecked, even though most of them are understandable; however, this time is actually relatable, reasonable, and powerful.

To my surprise, Takizawa isn’t there to join along the battle with Amon or even watch him to die. I was certain that the former was going to happen. It came close that Takizawa was pulling the old Shounen method of “Don’t interfere. He is fighting for his honor!” However, the reason to not to interfere is valid because Amon is actually struggling to himself. It wasn’t because Amon is weak or outclassed completely, though wouldn’t mind to be the case. He simply can’t kill Donato due to his attachment.

Whatever the missing pieces from the last chapter were are found here, including Tomoe. Like I said before, she had the perfect chance to kill Amon, but she didn’t do anything. Although she has some pity, it shouldn’t stop her. What stopped her is fear of losing a purpose. All she has left is vengeance and that can be settled now if she like, but then what? Not a single word came out from her after that thought. It’s a small yet valuable moral to exploit on fearing to fulfill their selfish wish.

The part that got me compelled is the flashback scene with Takizawa versus Houji, back at Rue Island. It was a bout that was skipped entirely, and I never knew why. With how Ishida put two and two together, I can understand clearly why it was on hold. In retrospect, fans including me believed Takizawa overwhelmed everyone, but the truth is in and it turns out that Houji held back and accepted death.

It humanizes the theme further because that bout was more emotional influence than a typical a monster versus humans. I was left believing Houji was a cold guy that had no remorse, even though I believed he drew a tear while confirming their next target. Takizawa was a loose cannon but that one expression opened his mind; Houji did care and felt sadden to end up this way. You can argue on why he was sad like regretting to save him before, but the bottom line is he was hindered by emotion and Takizawa technically took it for granted.

Basically, Takizawa’s purpose is to watch Amon develop or die before anything. If he steps in and somehow defeats Donato, what does Amon gain from it? It’s equivalent to a guy who wanted revenge on a criminal, only to be killed by another. No lesson will be learned and if there’s no other way around it, the man is lost. Amon has always been one of my favorite characters of the franchise. I find it appealing whenever he gets a development. While the bout as a whole is pretty solid, it transpires to one of the best humanized development that the series has offered so far.

What intrigued me about Amon the most is his justice system and his origin with Donato. Normally, it would be a simple premise with a boy who grew up with an evil father-figure, now against his kind. While he did embark that journey, he however remained attached to him despite everything he stands for. This portion would challenge readers if they are fine with his struggle despite one is clearly evil. The context is what saved it for me and bonus, shined his character deeper.

It’s a complicated scenario where a character meets his/her faithful enemy who is also the one who fathered them. It has a great parallel display of his tie with Kaneki and the current situation. The two prime examples of his divine character development. He has stuck to the code of justice system based on CCG. His hatred from his past went on Ghouls and killed them for what he believed was right. Once he becomes a ghoul, his view started to change.

It’s a shame that those who are so high up on their code would be forced to be a Ghoul alas force them to wear their shoes. He established a while back that not all Ghouls are evil but they are classified as one, so that may never change. I do wonder about the aftermath, which I still press on for part 3 as long as there are other elements left unsolved. Basically, Amon established both Human and Ghoul are largely the same, and yet he can define who is real evil and Donato is one. So why can he kill him if that’s the case?

The most powerful part is how he finally developed his view about the world being twisted. Remember how he told Ghouls or Kaneki to be specific that they’re the one that ruined it. After what he has gone through, he realizes the world would be twisted by anyone and among them is him. If he let Donato roam free, he is no better than anyone he’s against; a cruel irony. It’s intriguing with Takizawa realizing late of Houji’s emotional attachment result to a sad end while Amon realizing late would result to a good end. Not everyone have a same meaning and he has to deal with it.

The ending is interesting. Amon makes a sword shape weapon, though it can be considered as a cross; a fitting design. Donato looks at him and smiles like a proud father. Amon finally pushes through and takes a huge portion of his left’s side body; similar with Kaneki to Amon in Part 1. Amon actually concludes that he loved Donato and he can’t be hold back because of it.

If it wasn’t for its context and delivery, it would be difficult for readers to accept to like a murderer. The point is Amon and Donato did come a long way in their life in the orphanage. It’s hard to dispute any connection and detach any love they harbored in the past, especially since childhood for Amon. Growing up as such isn’t easy to forget and set free. Even if he seeks for vengeance, it didn’t grow out of air. The bond exists and he had to accept that fact no matter if it is wrong.

After a long break, this chapter was a great return with emotional connection with these characters. The art is pretty solid with its nice use of parallels and expressive feelings. Yomo and Uta have a relaxing bromance ending and Amon and Donato are closing their feud soon with a strong message. It seems like this arc will end in this volume. It’s a only matter of time.

#tokyo ghoul:re #tokyo ghoul re #tokyo ghoul :re #tokyo ghoul #chapter 171 #review

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epraim1992 · 7 years ago

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OWL 22

I think Arima was resurrected and might appear next chapter. In chapter 162 Kimi speculates there are more nuclei. In 165 Kimi revealed there are 9 oviducts and one entered it’s disintegration phase, I believe that is Arima and he is hatching similar to Rize in 161.

There has been foreshadowing from Ui. The only reason he worked for Furuta was he hoped Arima and Harui could be brought back,

Ui’s hope wasn’t just based on faith either. He did have proof that the dead can return to some form of life.

I think there was more foreshadowing in chapter 151 with tarot numbers. Ishida drew OWL capsules with numbers on them. I think OWL 22 is for Arima because the Fool is zero, which he is tied with, and can also be 22. It’s facing 15 the Devil. The Owl has appeared and it has been described as a Devil and coming from the 9th circle of Hell. I also think it will stand for Arima. Chapter 166 is titled et and I think it’s inspired by the popular phrase “et tu Brutus?” from the assassination of Julius Caesar. In that chapter Kaiko carries a dagger and calls Arima a traitor. The 9th circle of hell is also mentioned which is reserved for traitors and where the Devil resides.

I believe the Dragon carrying Arima’s nucleus has been already been revealed. It is the one that matches Kaneki’s drawing from TG.

It’s the second Dragon kakuja after Kaneki’s caterpillar which was prominently shown. I noticed something interesting. It’s size increased dramatically. From it’s appearance in 146 to 152.

I think it was because it took in Arima’s nucleus. In 146 Dragon gets knocked off a building in front of a mysterious woman with a checkered pattern dress. I always thought this was more significant because for one the JSDF stated they cleared the area and the significance of the checkerboard pattern. I believe this woman was carrying the nucleus just like Furuta.

I also think those two mysterious Zero Squad members appeared in chapter 152. I thought my theory was wrong because they made no further appearance. But what if they weren’t looking for Kaneki but for Arima. Maybe Arima filled them in on plan to bring him back. If chapter 165 means what I think it means they found him.

I have a feeling that Arima will turn out to have been the puppet master the whole time. Eto claims their plan was to raise a ghoul to be the hope for ghoulkind. But that always sounded like bullshit to me. Eto is a sadistic monster and Arima was empty inside. It seems like everything they did helped Furuta succeed at his goals which is what Aogiri wanted as well. Also it reminded of the quote Furuta said about how to control people. I don’t think the throne of the One-Eyed King was supposed to take out the CCG but it was the distraction. If I’m right I think Arima will wipe out Furuta and his faction. I think Arima’s role in the revolution will be to fight the battles. I still think there are enemies to be fought, there is the GFG and the Chinese anti-ghoul agency with ties to the CCG.

If Arima returns then what role will Kaneki have? Will rejoin Squad 0? I don’t think so. I don’t think Kaneki’s role was never to be a dictator like “Rize” said. I think he will take on the role Yoshimura envisioned for him.

#tokyo ghoul re theories #tokyo ghoul:re #tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul theories

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coromoor · 7 years ago

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TG movie comments

So last night I dragged along my cousin (who knows absolutely nothing about TG) to watch the live action movie and I just wanted to ramble on about a few things, including some of my cousin’s comments from someone who isn’t already a fan :)

I absolutely loved the movie! There were so many little details for manga readers to pick up on, but they weren’t presented in a way which would detract from the experience of someone who was new to the series. My cousin really liked it too, enough that she wanted to watch the anime afterwards to see how it compared, so I guess it hit the goal of what a live action should do; appease established fans of the story and draw in new viewers to seek out the manga/anime to get more of the story!

The casting was amazing all round. When we watched the anime, and could compare the characters between the two mediums, Cousin mentioned how spot on they were. Even flipping through my manga to a page with Yomo, she picked him out which i was surprised about considering the different hair colour and age. I think it’s probably because the actor was really spot on with Yomo’s -__- expression!

Kaneki on the date with Rize was SO AWKWARD, painfully so. I was getting so much secondhand embarrassment from him :’D Comparing to the anime, Cousin mentioned that too- how he wasn’t as awkward in there. It was cute though! I get the feeling to someone who doesn’t know his character, he would have come across as a bit creepy rather than endearing though hahaha

There were a few scenes which were cut out/changed for necessity but so many small details were kept the same (insignificant things like Kaneki guzzling milk out his fridge which I was oddly touched that it was kept in haha)

Probably one of the only things, they cut out Kaneki calling Touka a monster after he asked for her help in the alleyway which I thought kind of diluted down her reason for why she was so salty at him. But at the same time, they did add a few gentler moments from Touka to balance it out (gotta get that tsun to dere ratio just right ;D)

Like I had suspected from one of the stills, Touka scooped out a handful of cake from the garbage and threw it at Kaneki during her “tell me, what does cake taste like?” spiel and it made me cackle thinking of the cake throwback at their wedding

HAJIME MADE A CAMEO AND I WANTED TO SEND HIM TO TIME OUT IMMEDIATELY

Ryouko’s death was so sad, and just before the end, they made everything very still and silent as she turned to Hinami and locked eyes with her

Like the anime, the movie used Kaneki hallucinating Rize to show his inner conflict. He’d look in the mirror and see her reflection instead- it was really cool.

Funny Kaneki and Touka moment; when Yoshimura first took Kaneki into Anteiku and served him coffee, there was a really touching moment when Kaneki realised he could drink it and he started crying, there was emotional music that tugged at your heart strings.... and then Touka ruined it with “Don’t cry, dumbass” TOUKA PLZ. In the last scene of the movie, everyone was back to working at Anteiku- peaceful and happy- and Kaneki got emotional again and started getting teary. Touka again: “Don’t cry dumbass” but this time with a little smirk and Kaneki smiled too. It was real cute.

This scene was done spot on with her kagune and everything- I got so emotional

That’s not the only scene that was almost a direct adaptation of the manga. They tended to do that in more important moments- have a camera shot directly out of the manga

Seeing the “Hinami, I think your Mother was trying to tell you to live” part was also sad considering whats going on in the manga right now- probably the worst week to be having Hinami feels in the movie ToT

The movie made Kusaba real cute and likable. His actor was a perfect fit. It worked well to make you invested in his character and make an impact with his death.

The training montage with Touka and Kaneki was AMAZING. It switched back and forth between them fighting in the dark dirty underground and Amon training in the pristine CCG facilities. In one part, Kaneki finally got a hit on Touka and went over to her like “I’m sorry Touka-chan!!! are you--” at which point she got him back with a kick :’D

Hide was cute af, no surprises- his energy was a welcome contrast to Kaneki’s quietness

Nishiki was GREAT too, I don’t know what sorcery it is but Nishiki is spot on in every single adaptation

There was the COOLEST moment after Kaneki was about to eat Hide- Touka and Yomo showed up and they were so badass standing there at the door and activating their kakugan at the same time

Another cute moment, Hinami asked Touka what a word in her book was and she had a look like “ahhhhh..ummmm...” then nodded Kaneki to help her instead. When he explained, Touka reckons “yes that’s what it is” to which SAVAGE Hina replies with “you didn’t know it either”. Touka got mad at Kaneki for laughing before joining in with the giggles and it was cute af

Sen Takatsuki’s books were SO COOL, the covers were spot on and Kaneki had them all in a stack in his room

At one stage, when Kaneki started hallucinating Rize, the camera panned up to the ceiling with the shadow of a centipede and its scuttling legs. It was a nod to Kafka’s Metamorphosis which was one of those cool details that were there for manga readers.

Speaking of Rize- the scene where she attacks him on their date was creepy af, it was good shit

After Mado was killed, they had the scene with Touka leaning on Kaneki and Yomo piggybacking Hinami and it was very nostalgic ToT

It was super gory- I like gore but I’m not very good at it so both me and my cousin were both turning our heads away all the time :’D I’d sneak a peek at her sometimes and see the most horrified look on her face, it was hilarious. A few times I knew something was coming up so I’d cover her eyes for her hahaha SO MUCH BLOOD HOLY SHIT like ... everywhere

Hinami asked Kaneki about the quote “the bird fights its way out of the egg, the egg is the world, who would be born must first destroy a world” and he demonstrated by cracking an egg and it was cute af- the relationship between Kaneki and Hinami was really sweet

An interesting change was when Touka wanted to go kill the investigators to protect Hinami- instead of Yoshimura being against it, Yomo stopped her and told her off but let her go off after a nod from Yoshimura. It made it seem like he was ok with what she was doing.

#tg movie #tg movie spoilers #wow that got longer than i expected #oops :'D #lots of detailed spoilers

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linkspooky · 8 years ago

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Omake + Meta = Ometa

It’s time once again to over analyze the omake. Jokes? What are those.

All of the omake cited in this meta are translated by @kenkamishiro and can be found on this tag [x].

Mutsuki’s Power Level

The first omake to have anything potentially of substance is the confrontation between Shinsanpei and Urie. A confrontation which also results in a return of Urie 400%, but we’ll get to that in a moment. The new details are the tidbits that are shown in Shinsanpei and Urie’s brief exchange of words.

Let’s cover that and more under the cut:

The first is that Urie mistakes Mutsuki for Aura at first, which supports the notion that Aura at this moment exists as a foil to Mutsuki which is the reason the two are so often being partnered up.

Shinsanpei mirrors Mutsuki’s own transformation from a timid personality to one that revels in violence. He also shares the same eye motife, as seen above either one or both of Shinsanpei’s eyes are always covered only revealing themselves when he becomes especially bloodthirsty. Shinsanpei’s mirroring of Mutsuki though is to a much more minor extent and for lesser reasoning, something the omake seems to acknowledge even with Higemaru calling him an “Aunt-Con”. Perhaps by foiling Mutsuki to a character whose motivations are much more shallow and petty, as Aura herself does not want Shinsanpei to avenge her, it also highlights who despite the anger that Mutsuki justifyingly feels at the world for abandoning him and the suffering he’s endured, his current acts are in a way just as selfish as Shinsanpei’s.

There’s also two more pieces of foreshadowing, Shinsanpei hints that Mutsuki is actually much more powerful than Urie currently is and somebody who needs to be competed with. This was also hinted as far back as the Donato fight, where it was implied that Mutsuki had a much higher rc cell count already then Urie who was hitting dangerous levels.

As for how he attained these levels, it’s implied as far back as 100 that Mutsuki has been killing and hunting humans. Perhaps even eating them in service of strengthening his kagune. Which would also make sense with what Shinsanpei implied next, that he too like Urie could reach the same level of kagune formation when he framed out. Something that probably would only be possible if Shinsanpei began to eat human, or even ghoul meat alongside Mutsuki. His humiliating loss to Kaneki Ken could have served as proper motivator to do so.

The Return of Urie 400%

Urie 400% has always been foreshadowing for Urie’s inevitable transformation into a kakuja. If the fact that it already happened is not enough proof to convince, I’ve already written a meta on it here [x].

As I’ve highlighted though, this return of the Urie 400% is even more monstrous than the previous one. It has features such as giant protrusions from the shoulders, and multiple eyes. The first has been shown to be a trait of Urie’s framing out, while the second is a trait of many Kakuja’s before Urie, Eto, Tatara, and Kurona to name examples.

Thematically it makes sense for Urie to frame out again too, as previously he was saved from facing any real narrative consequence for his own actions by Saiko. In other words he was “saved from the web.” However despite literally endangering the mission and attacking his own comrades something that was eluded to be punishable by death if a Quinx were to lose control of themselves, Urie was promoted.

A promotion that he did not in any way earn considering that he literally broke the one biggest rule of the Quinx. Not only that but there is a great deal of fallout one would presume from Urie smashing his frames entirely and becoming a full ghoul, something that the audience has not witnessed. There is no mention of what Urie is now eating, or if he’s being treated the same way Sasaki was, or if he’s truly become a full ghoul despite all hints that he indeed has. Urie has not even begun to sympathize ghouls, only being moved to action because of his feelings towards humans, Yoriko and Bujin in particular. The obvious conclusion then is that Urie’s character arc is not done yet but rather Saiko served as to Urie, what every character has been doing to ignore the consequences of their action in this arc. That is to deeply engage with personal relationships instead of looking at one’s self.

The consequence for this might be Urie being set up as what he hates the most.

Urie being placed in a life or death situation with no Quincke against Furuta and two of the strongest ghouls in the series may force him to frame out and if he has truly been eating ghoul meat instead of human meat in order to sustain himself now that human food is impossible to eat, he might even develop a full Kakuja. In that case Furuta would have all the evidence he needs to frame the murders of Kuroiwa and others on Urie himself, and place him on the execution block. After all, Furuta put a special focus on witnesses when he made his move against them. Furuta’s word in that situation would count far more than Urie’s.

The suggestion in the omake that Shinsanpei himself might also be capable of framing out the way that Urie did is also a deadly suggestion for the future of the Q’s. After all when Furuta makes mention of his dragon, what shows up is a picture of each of the three first generation Q’s still alive.

The Q’s project was also originally credited as Tsuneyoshi’s idea. Perhaps Furuta might even use Urie’s framing out as a power play to gain control of the remaining first and second generation Q’s in order to form his dragon, or even worse he might expunge them from the CCG entirely and declare them a threat to safety which would cash in Saiko’s own foreshadowing laden words “I’ll become a terrorist” in a way she never would have wanted to come to fruition.

Hanbee’s Death and Suzuya’s Changing Sides

Nakarai misunderstands in the omake and says that he would probably kill Hanbee if the fighting were to end. This joke is a part of a long running series of gags where Hanbee is injured by a member of Suzuya squad, or a member makes a light reference to hurting him. In fact Hanbee has been shown stabbed in the head too many times in the omake to make it a mere coincidence.

This also makes sense as a narrative consequence to Suzuya. He said himself that he might just become a ghoul were the conflict to end, he’s already thinking of switching sides. The thing that currently keeps him in place is the fleeting hope that Shinohara come back, and the idea that he has to act in Shinohara’s memory.

The same way that Urie has not learned to see Ghouls as people, Suzuya has not learned to sustain loss in any kind of way. All he can do is hope for the increasingly impossible return of Shinohara, the first human connection he has. Even when surrounded by four people literally devoted to his existence, Suzuya cannot stop his pining for Shinohara because he cannot feel and move on from that loss.

The Suzuya Squad also, act as a sort of buffer that prevents Juuzou from really facing consequence. They protected him during the Kurona fight even though Kurona was a case of reaping what he sewed by killing her sister all those years ago and having yet to show any remorse. When Uta played withhis feelings for Shinohara, it was Abara still who snapped Juuzou out of it immediately rather than Juuzou facing those feelings and snapping himself out.

If the bubble were to be removed than Juuzou would grow, and grow he must if he’s a character that exists within a narrative.

Child’s Play

This entire omake seems to be hinting at the fact that 24 year old Furuta, 23 year old Kaneki are about the same general maturity level of thirteen year old Ayato when he first said that quote.

It’s a further hint that both kings are really just children playing a game. Something that was also hinted at in the previous omake too when Kaneki turned crucial information into a game of 20 questions.

Kaneki also refers to himself as a child when conversing with Furuta in the past, Furuta calls him his baby faced boss when facing off in the cochlea with Rotten follow, and Kaneki’s shadow image of himself, the incnarnation of his memories when he was still Haise was that of a child. Furuta at the same time was born at a leap day, and refers to himself as being only six years old in his birthday poem.

A Dummy, That’s what I am

Finally, I think it’s important here that the omake shows Yoriko’s general obliviousness towards ghouls.

She refers to them as “those monsters”. This is the same character whose best friend is a ghoul and who is currently being executed in her name. The fact that she thinks of him falling off a building is a twofold reference, one that Kuroiwa literally was pushed off of a building and survived when Eto landed as the one eyed owl. Revenge probably for what Kuroiwa himself did to her when he was only fourteen, as Eto references falling in her flashback. The second is her musing that a ghoul might not be able to survive a fall from that height is a reference again to both Eto and Kanae who did fall off a particularly large building, though one survived and one did not.

It’s probably not anything particularly meaningful but it’s an interesting case of parallelism at least. Iwao also says something that is important towards his and Bujin’s characterization.

“We’re both quite simple people” both Bujin and Kuroiwa are shown to be to the book to the point of it being a flaw. Their own actions against ghouls may een be for reasons as simple as Yoriko’s, that they simply are oblivious to the fact that they might feel human emotions. The same way Yoriko describes them offhandedly as “those monsters” as if she barely knows about them, even though she spent a good portion of her life with one.

It speaks again of the privilege that humans have to be above this sort of conflict. Iwao and Bujin to this point have never needed to relate to ghouls, or treat the CCG as anything other than a 9 to 5 job they participated in. The same for Yoriko who married a ghoul investigator while knowing nothing about ghouls and inadvertantly led him to her best friend a ghoul herself. Yoriko’s fatal flaw in this case is her own obliviousness. Perhaps she did not deserve to be executed by that fact or exploited the way Furuta did, but Yoriko herself even scolds herself for not noticing.

For buying into the simple illusion that Touka was perfectly happy eating her food, the easy lie that they were happy all along in their simple friendship. Had Yoriko bothered to notice, Touka would not have been all alone in her pain.

#tg meta #meta #tokyo ghoul meta #urie kuki #yoriko kosaka #iwao kuroiwa #takeomi kuroiwa #suzuya juuzou

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