#and touka still so pretty in every panel

[bookdragonofsomekind]

******Manga-Monday 01******

Tokyo Ghoul Volume 01

Summary: 

Meet Ken Kaneki, a shy college student who loves to read. One day Ken’s dream finally comes true when a charming girl named Rize decides to go on a date with him. She seems to be the perfect girl for Kaneki. She even reads the same books as him! Even better she has the same favourite author! What could go wrong now? 

Happily ever after.

Unfortunately Rize is not a big fan of fairytales and seeks a different end for her date. 

Poor Kaneki.

Characters you will meet in this volume:

Ken Kaneki 

Hide 

Rize Kamishiro

Touka Kirishima

Dr. Kano 

Hisashi Ogura 

Yomo

Mr. Yoshimura  

Nishiki Nishio 

Quotes I particularly liked:

"I’m not the protagonist of a book or anything, I’m just a normal college student who likes to read, but if I were to write a book with me as the main character it would be a tragedy." - Kaneki 

"The bird struggles out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever would be born must first destroy a world." - Herrmann Hesse/ Kaneki 

"You are both ghoul and human at the same time. You are the only person who has a place in both worlds." - Mr. Yoshimura  

My thoughts:

What brought me to read Tokyo Ghoul in the first place was my boyfriend. You can absolutely blame him for this project. Tokyo Ghoul is one of his favourite manga series. 

You could say that I’m a fairly new beginner when it comes to manga and anime. I only started one and a half years ago with watching anime regularly and I think a year ago with reading manga. 

(You can also totally and absolutely blame my boyfriend for this)

So starting Tokyo Ghoul I’m not completely new to the premise of the story. My partner already told me a few things about the story and characters. 

Just a small disclaimer that I wanted to get out of the way.

So let’s start…

First things first Tokyo Ghoul is written and drawn by Sui Ishida and was published in 2011. I’ve gotta say I love the art style but also dislike it sometimes. Throughout the first chapters the illustrations are easy to follow and wonderful to look at. But when the action panels start it gets a bit tricky for me. That might be because I have little experience with manga of course. But I wish that he would have drawn some panels with a bit more clarity. 

Kaneki at first seems to be the typical side character even though he is absolutely the main character of this story. But with characteristics like being shy, reading a lot and having a non existing social life (except of course for Hide, his best friend) Kaneki would not have been my first pick as an interesting character. But what makes him interesting is his reaction of the tragedy that befalls his life. He keeps fighting with himself to accept what happened to him. Frankly he doesn’t really know what happened to him. But as he learns more about his new self and the world that changed before him he still is set on denying being a monster and separating himself from the "monsters" around him. He is and always will be human (we will see about that).

He is very strong willed. Which is not always a good thing. He’s also pretty good at talking himself into the depths of depression. 

It was a bit weird for me that he doesn’t tell anyone (not even his best friend) what happened in the alley with Rize. He keeps to himself. Tries to deal with it without help from the outside. He decides to be alone in this matter. 

Even when Hide tries to break through to him. Hide is the polar opposite from Kaneki, loud and he appears not to be the brightest. But as you read on you learn that that is definitely not the case. He notices a lot and he is a very capable people reader. He senses danger. (Something that Kaneki is not as good… unfortunately for him).

As Kaneki is being changed the world around him changes too. Or at least Kanekis perspective of it. Where in his eighteen years he never had an encounter with a single ghoul he now is trembling into them at every corner. 

And we quickly learn that not every ghoul is the same. I really liked Touka for example. She felt very real. She is someone who has a lot of anger inside of her. She implied many times throughout the volume that she didn’t have it easy in life. Being treated shitty from the human side as well as the ghoul side. By just confronting Kaneki how cake tastes or how easy it must be to eat all the time whenever you want. She is scarred from her life and knows the rules how to get by. 

On the other side we have ghouls like Nishiki to show the complete opposite. I’ve got the feeling that Nishiki is the "standard" ghoul in the story. By that I mean a cruel, asshole who doesn’t care about humans but is pretty good at disguising as one and being charming just to get what he wants. Manipulative, greedy and absolutely power hungry. As he doesn’t only treat Hide (kinda his prey) like absolute shit but also Kaneki (a ghoul just like him (who looks to be a bit inferior against Nishiki)). Not to mention the rivalry between ghouls which is portrayed in the territory fights we’ve seen in this volume. 

And then again we meet Touka's boss aka Mr. Yoshimura . He screams father figure to Touka and I could imagine that he will also be a great influence for Kaneki. He is just cozily nice (except for the human flesh in his fridge). He didn’t waste a minute to offer his help to poor Kaneki. And even after Kaneki doesn’t take his first "present" he still wants to help. Mr. Yoshimura  achieves something that didn’t happen before. 

Let me explain what I mean by that. I think and believe that so far Hide was the only good thing in Kanekis life. Of course Kaneki read or drew and found joy in that. But what I mean is that Hide was and is so far the only connection that Kaneki has to his "real" world. He goes out to dinner with or introduces other people to him. So of course Kaneki saw Hide as his only hope to ever live a normal life again after the incident with Rize. 

But Mr. Yoshimura  achieves to give Kaneki a sliver of hope to live a normal life again. And Kaneki, just by asking if he could work for him in his restaurant, takes it.

Not really a character but a thing that I really liked was when Kanekis ghoul side showed up! I really enjoyed the chaos that broke loose between Nishiki and Kaneki… and how Nishiki didn’t even have a chance. I will call it muscle memory from Rize and yes people could say that Kaneki is overpowered from the very beginning. Being good at fighting and all. But I like the fact that he just went feral and annihilated Nishiki (something he deserved). 

Minor characters like Dr. Kano appears to be pretty sus to me (Who transplants organs without permission ?!) just like Hisashi Ogura the ghoul expert (I’m still asking myself how he knows so much about ghouls). I think they will (and I hope, I want the answers!) appear again.

The world building so far is nothing to be mentioned that much. It’s the world we live in but with predators on top of the food chain that aren’t humans. The volume doesn’t explain too much what’s up with the ghouls but I’m fairly sure we will see more of it in future volumes. What we know so far is pretty dope! Ghouls don’t have a choice… they have to eat humans or else they will die. Their weapons seem to be their kagune, they have changing eyes, are kinda indestructible and then the usual heighten sense of smell, very strong and totally sassy. 

All in all it’s a good opening to a story and I’m definitely intrigued to read on. There are many questions still unanswered and I really really hope I will get them answered. 

Please leave your thoughts and be kind and don’t spoiler anything!

Thank you for taking your time!

Please feel free to discuss your thoughts, I would like to hear them!

I will see you in a week with a new volume!

[xellzios]

Touka this chapter:

Me:

[warlordgab]

Analysis of shipping: Revisiting detracting arguments

I know some people were expecting more content here, and I'm sorry for taking so long to put this thing together. This post will be a little different from the other analyses you’ve seen here...

It's no secret this blog is mainly about LuNa...

...and NaLu

And several post made here are meant to showcase how their respective stories build them up through consistent bonding; defend their position as potent relationships by means of evidence and logic; or both.

We know standing next to each other in the same panel or frame are not “moments” if the context and/or the story doesn’t turn them into a meaningful interaction.

We know a girl slapping a guy is not something inherently romantic, and it’s not a defining trait of a potent relationship, specially when context says otherwise.

We know that brief rescue scenes are not always the sign of a potential romance as there are several elements needed to turn them into actual moments for a pairing

But, there are some arguments that persist because shallow shippers think they give meaning to their premises, disprove the potential another pairing has, or both. This post will deconstruct a couple of those arguments used to argue against LuNa and NaLu's position as potent relationships in their respective stories.

1) Romantic pursuit Vs. Consistent bonding

I was going to call this one the “Touka Argument”, or Touka's Rhetoric. Naming it after FT's Touka...

...she seemed to be the embodiment of nearly everything shippers argue against relationships as LuNa and NaLu until we got a comedic plot-twist worthy of a trolling writer.

Still, the argument goes a little bit like this: any one-sided pursuit of romance should become part of the endgame pairing. It doesn't matter if the story doesn't take such "affection" seriously, it doesn't matter if it is meant to be a joke with little to no weight, all that matters is the character actively looking for romance while proclaiming “love.”

A character who appears much later in the storyline openly expressing "love" for the MC. Meanwhile the MC shares far more development with a romantically inactive girl.

Some shippers may argue that the girls or guys who are actually "in love" are the ones who will win their object of affection. Others may admit this is a extremely subjective matter as some of these girls end up winning, which makes it hard to analyze this stuff properly. But, there's one thing that helps people to keep an objective perspective: development

If we take a look at relationships like Gruvia from Fairy Tail, we get to see that their most powerful scenes are not the ones that involve the characters being all mushy over each other, but the moments of actual emotional significance; actual build-up...

...created by impactful moments

Some of Hiro Mashima's works prove he's aware that what truly matters in this particular regard is not how often a character makes claims of love, but how much development she or he has with a significant other.

What about Eiichiro Oda and his works? We got one notable example from the Whole Cake island arc

One sincere gesture of kindness from Sanji (the local pervert and Casanova wannabe) was enough for him to get to Pudding's heart...

...when he shattered the image she had of herself as monster with that gesture, and later an armor-piercing question, she ended up falling for him as he was the only person on that island that saw her true face and still deemed her as a beautiful woman instead of a monster. Sanji had such impactful moments with Pudding without going "horny" mode on her.

Other authors know that this kind development is needed for the logical progression in both good storytelling and decent characterization. They may not say it out loud, but their works speak for themselves while showing even characters who are not looking for romantic love can eventually develop such bonds.

Take a look at relationships like Kenshi and Kaoru from Rurōni Kenshin...

...they became an item, despite neither of them being romantically active, because they bonded over time, supporting and caring for each other, to the point of developing a much deeper connection. No over-the-top corny lines nor becoming all horny on each other; it was just consistent bonding, which ultimately triumphed.

It's shouldn't come as a surprise given the author of Rurōni Kenshin mentored Eiichiro Oda.

And to add it more to the irony, there was another girl interested in Kenshin who got a role much greater in the anime than the manga, and who was more mild-tempered, feminine, and seductive.

Another mangaka who understood this matter is Seishi Kishimoto, brother of Masashi Kishimoto (of Naruto fame), and author of O-parts Hunters.

The moments shared by the main characters led Ruby to become Jio's emotional support, and both of them to get emotionally attached to one another. Another girl was interested in Jio, but consistent bonding made Jio and Ruby's connection remain as a potent relationship... as well as some other plot points.

And of course, there's the critically-acclaimed Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood for anime-only watchers) by Hiromu Arakawa.

Edward and Winry. Two well-written characters who weren't  romantically active before ending up together, yet their relationship and later upgrade made total sense... I could name Roy and Riza too, but that would be overkill.

The point is that it's not the romantic pursuit (or gag-like claims of "love") that makes or breaks a pairing; it's all about the moments that leave an impact along with shared experiences which give a strong companionship the potential for a relationship upgrade.

2) Every shonen story is the same story?

While this argument sounds ridiculous, it serves as an umbrella for several other claims some shippers may use.

A lot of anime fans know that most popular shonen stories, such as Dragon Ball, usually feature underdeveloped relationships. So, more often than not, shippers may claim or imply significant moments and actual development mean little to nothing in a shonen story. This reasoning can be easily mixed with the "romantic pursuit" argument.

Another related argument is the "informed attribute," which means you can off-screen the whole relationship and just let a character or narration "tell" you how a pairing happened instead of "showing" you how they developed. Basically, a violation of "show, don't tell."

While it's true several shonen stories share similar tropes, the more you examine each story, the easier it becomes to tell them apart.

Eiichiro Oda wrote a story that could easily fit the concept of "romance," as in a dramatic narrative treating themes such as heroism, idealism, mystery and adventure...

In fact, according to Sugita, a former One Piece editor, "Oda revealed that One Piece was something of a deliberate subversion of Dragon Ball through having a vastly more complex story and characters, while Dragon Ball is a manga infamous for its simplicity."

This is consistent to Oda's own statement: "I write ONE PIECE as dramatically as I can. If I had written a pure battle manga, it would have been easily defeated by Dragon Ball."

Given the amount of themes the series covered and the engaging emotional narrative, the argument of this story being the same as every other popular shonen doesn't hold up. The characters are all bound together as true companions not by a desire to become "stronger," but because they're "in love with adventure" as the author put it.

What about Fairy Tail? Hiro Mashima wrote a fantasy shonen series centered around thematics that are common in other shonen stories: Companionship and Family.

While some people already commented how the manga seems to have strong similarities with One Piece, Hiro Mashima had his own ideas when making the story. As he himself said once: "Usually a shonen manga starts with just a main character, who then slowly accumulates his or her allies as the story progresses. But in the world of Fairy Tail, everybody pretty much knows each other at the beginning. That was sort of what I was going for." 

In another interview he even stated one of the thematic differences in relation to his previous work: "Rave Master was about friends saving the whole world, but Fairy Tail is about closer-knit relationships."

This is consistent with what we've seen in Fairy Tail, as the titular guild is all about that theme, how different people of several backgrounds are connected by intimate bonds and the search for exciting adventures.

What about the characters?

Both Eiichiro Oda and Hiro Mashima (just like many other mangakas) grew up watching and/or reading Dragon Ball. But, are their main characters Luffy...

...and Natsu...

...just mere replicas of Goku and other shonen heroes?

It's true that many authors follow the shonen hero archetype when writing the protagonist of a series. Both Luffy and Natsu are golden-hearted idiot heroes, and both of them have personalities that reflect the idea of "No Challenge equals No Satisfaction."

But, unlike Goku their ultimate aim is not all about following an endless cycle of self-improvement. At their core, both Luffy and Natsu are thrill-seekers who are constantly looking for fun and adventure.

Luffy is all about freedom, and even if he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, he can still display actual leadership qualities when the situation calls for it. Natsu, like some other of his guildmates, is a mischievous trouble-maker but still pretty much the embodiment of the values of Fairy Tail.

The more you examine both characters, the more differences you can find...

All of this is related to shipping mainly because people may claim "every shonen story is the same story" to justify pairings that do not have enough canon material supporting them.

So, if the hero and the heroine have a far more substantial development and actual chemistry, shippers who oppose such characters getting together may imply the following: "if several popular mangakas make their official couples with no regard for moments or build-up, why Oda or Mashima should be any different."

Because each author is different, and even if their stories use similar tropes from time to time, elements like themes, purpose, focus, plot, and characters will vary from writer to writer.

3) Anime Vs. Manga

'It's easier to watch a series than read a story'

Which is why whenever a manga gets an anime adaptation, if the story is good, its popularity rises.

However, sometimes the directors and writers of the anime do not share the same vision as the mangaka. And people who are up to date with both mediums can perceive such differences. Dragged out fights, OOC moments, inconsistencies with plot points from the source material, etc. are common place in some adaptations.

But, some directors and other staff members take some liberties to add "shipping fuel" according to their own views and taste.

I apologize in advance if this comparison offends someone, I’m just using it as an example. The anime adaptation of Bleach made by Studio Pierrot featured some ship tease...

Such scenes weren't written by Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach. And they could easily pass as something "romantic."

However, during an interview, one of Bleach's editors, Toya Taichi, stated that "in Kubo sensei’s mind, Orihime is the heroine character and Rukia is a comrade" and he later summed it up as "feeling like a pal" (相棒 in japanese).

When it comes to modern japanese storytelling, the term "heroine" (ヒロイン in japanese) is interchangeable with "love interest." Orihime herself was even present in the Shonen Jump heroines covers. But, people who take filler scenes as the real deal may think otherwise.

When it comes to Fairy Tail, A-1 Pictures did a decent job in adapting the story but they also added shipping fuel, small things like Gray following Lucy and getting teased by Happy for it, or the big things like the non-canon expansion of the flashbacks involving Lisanna, which some people still treat as the signs of endgame pairings.

People who watched this version before reading the manga are more prone to overhype relationships that have little to no supporting evidence from Mashima's works. Fortunately A-1 Pictures toned it down later, too bad some shippers never forget...

If we talk about One Piece, the story is very different to say the least. TOEI Animation didn't stop in this regard, as some people may recall I already posted several of the changes they made for the sake of ship tease, and unlike A-1 Pictures they keep going and going with the moments they keep adding being more and more blatantly shippy (specially with Nami and Sanji) as time goes on.

Since One Piece is very long-running manga, more and more people only watch the anime and they take all those additions as the real deal despite the heroine of this story sharing far more development and solid chemistry with the hero.

However, not every fan is into well-developed relationships, so not every manga-reader will go LuNa/NaLu. Same could be said about anime-only watchers, as not all of them are swayed by filler, so not all of them will disregard LuNa/NaLu if they like consistent bonding.

The point is that the anime adaptation has a strong influence in how the fans perceive the story, the characters, and the bonds they build. And not every anime adaptation presents a favorable image of the in-canon premises made by the mangaka.

Here’s a little bonus:

Who's the One Piece heroine according to Oda?

When talking about Strong World, the movie he wrote, Oda said “I really wanted to make a ‘hero saves the heroine��� story." A movie about a hero (Luffy) saving the heroine (Nami). He added: "You might think otherwise, but I had no intention of bringing in someone new to fill that [heroine] role. So when I had to think about whom to use for it amongst the straw hats of course that meant Nami.”

He also stated in 2019, when an interviewer addressed the fact his wife is similar to Nami, "They say a mangaka often marries a person who's similar to the heroine."

Across the several years the manga had been going, Nami often appears in the Shonen Jump heroines covers due to her role in One Piece.

You can see the latest Jump heroines poster here

Who's the Fairy Tail heroine according to Mashima?

One of his latest works (HERO’S) answers this question...

Context: Ellie is talking about Haru, Natsu, and Shiki (the heroes of Rave, Fairy Tail, and Edens Zero). Each one of these girls has the role of "heroine" in each of their respective stories. One of them even ends up with the hero.

BONUS: The Elephant in the room

As you probably noticed, I used a lot of official statements to back up my post. However, even those who oppose LuNa and Nalu use those kind of statments...

In the case of One Piece, several fans considered "romantic love" a concept completely foreign from the series due to a couple of quotes from the author. When asked about this particular subject, Oda stated that the members of Straw Hat crew are "in love with adventure." And later when asked again, the mangaka said that since this is a shonen story "romance isn't depicted."

Based on these answers, several fans created the myth of "romantic love" not existing in One Piece. Many held onto this conclusion with so much intensity that they always dismissed the bad girl Alvida's obvious attraction to the hero (Luffy).

However, as a clever and perceptive reviewer pointed out we're talking about the same author that once claimed he doesn't kill characters and went as far as to say "I hate when supposedly dead characters come back to life." Yet his story has a couple of "supposedly dead" characters who turned out to be alive. No spoilers here.

Some of his statments are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. He said "romance wasn't depicted" but as of recent years it's been a thing in One Piece...

...Señor Pink and Russian are one example of how traditional romance gets integrated in both story and characters. So, using the author's words to invalidate all possibility of romance in One Piece no longer works.

Ironically, haters take Oda's old claims literally when talking about Luffy, but they completely forget about it as soon as someone mentions Nami or Robin in this particular regard. A clear display of a blatant double-standard...

When it comes to Fairy Tail, some haters love to quote that Natsu and Lucy are "more than friends but less than lovers."

Yet, they choose to ignore that in recent years, when asked about the relationship between these characters, Mashima himself replied: "I feel that the Natsu and Lucy ship is more suitable."

Some time before that statement, during a New York Comic Con, when asked what he feels is “right” in this regard Mashima held up his drawing of Natsu and Lucy...

...so everyone could see his answer to the question.

So, using Mashima's old quote to deny the plausibility of a relationship upgrade here and there is not going to work either.

If people want to defend a pairing or prove a potent relationship has what it takes to become canon, they should try to stay true to the author's works, and the story's internal logic, instead of trying to find a way around them and/or promoting a baseless process of elimination, all to justify another premise.

Consistent bonding, chemistry, and natural development coming from the author’s works should be superior to mere rethoric, hype, and/or anime filler

[thefandomsurfer]

Who do you think are the best looking characters in tg?

Alright Im gong to be a little cheater-Because a characters outward appearance changes in ‘best looking’ to me. Like whos the most aesthetically pleasing, who has my favorite character design, and all that stuff.  I know that your talking about like ‘whos the hottest characters?? Who would you fuck though??” And Im not that upset by it-Because there are good looking characters in Tokyo Ghoul lol

Characters shouldnt be dwindled down to looks-But i’ll still do this. All of these characters are much more then just pretty faces and I hope I’m not coming off as belittling or something.

Just keep in mind who I think is the best looking isnt subjectively the best to everybody~Also I wouldnt date any of just on appearance either. Thats a different list lol This is a long one so have a ‘keep reading’ lmao

Alright my favorite character designs would be, this is not who the hottest are,-

My boy of course lol. Hes not ‘hot’ to me but I do love staring at him. I love his stitches and the way his hair is drawn. My favorite stitching pattern is the one he has while fighting the twins-But my favorite in general ‘look’ for him is in Re:. Hes just really-really nice to look at. ^^ Next would be-

Haise is a dork and I love him~ Once again-I dont think of him as “hot” at all. But I love to stare at him. His hair is so fluffy and his face is just nice. I love the black and white hair together-Its different to me and is just…pleasing. I love his character design haha.

Karren is a very underrated character in my opinion. But I’m not here to talk about her character-Im here to talk about her looks. I love her hair, her eyes, her face everything. I think shes just-very, very nice to look at. I still wont count her at the ‘best looking’ in hotness but I think shes very pretty, very nice to look at. 

Last one for character designs is-

Something about Saikos eyes and the way her hair is-Its draws me to her. And she has a cuteness factor thats also amazing. Shes smol, adorable, and cute. I just like to look at her panels. 

Now for the real meat and potatoes I know you want. Still going to cheat tho lol

I’ll do five female characters and five male characters-Since both are really good looking. 

Females-

5. 

Kimi is beautiful and just-Damn Nishiki I see what you see in her.  I have a weakness for the ‘hair being pulled behind one ear’ and Kimi has that and I just-Look at how beautiful she is. Shes so, so good looking. I love her appearance so much.

4.

You’d be hard pressed to find a scene with Hsiao NOT being hot as hell. Like shes very curvaceous, has a beautiful face, her legs are to die for and thats not even part of it. Her hair is also just. Ugh shes so good.

3. 

Kurona is yet another underrated character-In looks and personality. Shes very good looking to me, her hair style is one of my favorites in animes-and her pupilless eyes are just stunning to me. I love how she looks-Even with the ‘body horror’ element to her I still love it. I dont know maybe I’m just weird lol?

2. 

Touka is literally just so. Attractive. Is every sense of the word. Her half bun hairstyle, her blue fluffy one, her normal one-All are just so, good looking. I dont remember a scene where she looks ‘bad’. 

1. 

Akira is just. So pretty, so beautiful. I cant NOT look at her when shes on screen. I just-I love her so much and her looks are unparalleled to me. All of these women are beautiful-But shes on a whole other level to me. I know most people prefer Touka, Rize or Eto-But I think shes my favorite beauty.

Honorable mentions- Eto, Hinami, Itori Hairu, and Rize.

Now for the men-

5. 

I mean just like-Look at him. Hes so good looking? Like to his hair, to his body, its just all-really, really good looking. lol I dont know what else to say other then that lol.

4.  

Everybody in the fandom already knows how good looking this man is lol. I dont even have to explain it much. I love his piercings, his tattoos and his hair and hair style is all attractive. Hes an all around 10 you know?

3. 

Tsukiyama is so pretty? Like I love to stare at him. Especially in Re:-He had underwent a total glow up and Damn. Am I loving it.

2.  

Literally everybody should know by now just how HOT AS FUCK Urie Kuki is. Hes a literal fireball. Like hot damn dude-Can you just NOT distract me for a full five minutes?!

1. 

Mutsuki is just really, really good looking. I love how his hair is, how his eyes are-Everything. I just really love how hes been drawn-And always look forward to it next time-Not just because of my love for the character-but because of how attractive he is to me.

Honorable mentions: Kaneki, Yomo, Ayato and Nishiki.

Soo-Yep there you are~Hope you dont hate my list to much lol. Im going to go to sleep now because I havent been to bed yet.

[kyanitedragon]

Tokyo Ghoul Anon has returned! Now that I have your permission I will ask you what your favorite moments in the Manga were?? You can do some things in the anime as well since I know Root A did its own thing sometimes! I loved the part where Hsiao and Higemaru helped Aura and When Saiko and Urie did the same for Mutsuki. I also loved Seidou and Kurona vs Amon and Seidous backstory with Amon. Juuzou at the auction is also a fav of mine haha

Takizawa’s development in that fight was amazing! And yes! Juuzou’s auction scene was so good!

Okay. This was so difficult. There’s so many great scenes and moments in the series and I’m sure I’m forgetting about several that I love.

But I’m going to kind of cheat and divide your question into 2 parts, because I have scenes that I love for different reasons:

My favorite scenes thematically/emotionally

My favorite scenes for enjoyment/humor

Thematically:

If you couldn’t already tell… I like angst.

#1: The “Even though you’re a ghoul” scene, which I talk about here (x)

#2 - Chapter 160. The one where Touka goes to rescue Kaneki from Dragon. That entire chapter. 

There’s no dialogue whatsoever, but every panel holds so much emotion. She’s so desperate, so tired. When she finds his arm, and screams because she thinks he’s dead and she’ll never find him. But she composes herself and pushes on. The whole chapter is so powerful and emotional. It doesn’t even need any dialogue.

#3: Kaneki’s torture

I like it better in the manga, but I will say that the voice acting in the anime is perfect. Kaneki’s lines break my heart each time I watch it. Especially the “Why couldn’t you live for me?!” And although not manga-accurate, I love the aesthetic of his hair turning white in that gif.

In the manga, the torture is pretty different and much longer. You find out that his aunt was abusive. And Kaneki snaps at Yamori fairly early on, after he finds out Yamori lied about letting his friends go. 

And the lines. The lines are so raw. It’s so sad and painful: 

“Though the purpose of those instructions escaped me at first, I realized the task was meant to force me to retain consciousness as much as possible. And I clung to those numbers. Using my head distracted me.”

“Let’s say I knew a secret, and this torture was meant to make me talk. Then perhaps I’d still have a little piece of mind. But meaningless torture where torture itself is the purpose… What is there but despair?”

“In the background, I heard somebody laughing. It was me. If I just went mad like this, oh how pleasant it would be.”

#4 - All of Hide’s CCG manga scenes. His time in the CCG is spent much differently than in Root A.

You can tell that each time he talks to the investigators Hide is choosing his words very carefully. He’s plotting something. He’s choosing how much to tell them and when. Whenever I reread these chapters now—knowing that the Anteiku raid and sewer scene happen—it hurts my heart when he tells the CCG that he knows Kaneki. Hide knows that the CCG is closing in. He knows they’re going to get Kaneki eventually. And the card he chooses to play is—tell the truth. Tell them that he knows Kaneki, knows him well, that’s he’s his best friend and thus cares and trusts Kaneki. It’s clear Hide didn’t want them to know that much, but at this point its his best play for keeping Kaneki alive.

#5 - “It may not be stylish, but live”

I think this scene speaks for itself. It’s so sweet and meaningful just how much Kaneki thinks of Hide. That at his lowest point he imagines Hide there with him, encouraging him. And telling him that when he sacrificed himself, he wanted Kaneki to live, and to live on with him. And of course Hide then says that iconic line. And the line “I’m so lonely without you…” combined with Kaneki’s tears always breaks my heart.

Enjoyment/Humor:

Juuzou giving Haise the money back that he stole, and how confused Haise and Shirazu were over this. It still amuses and terrifies me just how perceptive Juuzou is. (I also love any Juuzou and Kaneki/Haise interaction. They’re my favorite brotp)

The anime version of Kaneki vs Yamori: The animation is beautiful. I love the movement of Kaneki’s kagune and seeing it release from his back up close and the colors and how much Kaneki uses it to maneuver himself around. The finger cracking and him being a badass and getting his revenge on Yamori. All with Unravel playing in the background. It’s all just so good.

That one Tsukiyama omake: “This is a real punch!” *punches Kaneki* “And a real kick!” *kicks him* “And this is!” *throws mask at him* “A real boomerang!” *Clonk*

The omake with Aura’s baitless fishing hook. “I just enjoy letting down the string.” “What is this child doing?” It’s such a stupid joke but for some reason it makes me laugh each time

Kaneki’s fight with the 6th Ward ghoul Gil. You get to see how great of a fighter Kaneki is now. Banjou’s concern and Tsukiyama’s certainty that Kaneki will win. Kaneki taking Gil down, and then apologizing for being violent and rude despite Gil starting it. As much as Aogiri changed him, he is still very much Kaneki, and I love the soft moments like that apology that show this.

[pyropsychiccollector]

I normally wouldn't waste a post on this, but it is kind of morbidly fascinating. I'm not even a fan of Lucy, and I feel the slightest twinge of pity for the total loss of dignity she's experienced in this spinoff. It's like.... Lucy has crap happen to her all the time. We've seen her in the buff enough times for any appeal to wear off, and yet this stuff happens to her with increasing frequency in the spinoff.

Don't believe me? 3 of the 4 chapters thus far has some quirky moment that's presented in a comical way, but is ultimately perverted or just torturing the girl in some way.

Chapter 2

We've seen Makarov spank Lucy as far back as Phantom Lord arc. Nowadays, the client will nestle between her boobs like it's no big deal, and it's made more comical by Natsu shove his hand between them to get the guy out.

Chapter 3

Weird jellyfish thing springs into Lucy's mouth of its own accord. For what reason, we don't know. To attack her, to possess her, to get pervy inside her, to play with her.... who knows? We never find out what the deal is with these things, but apparently Natsu and Lucy struggling to get these things out of their mouths serve as a "dorky but cute" Nalu moment. .... Yeah, from where I'm standing, this was just a weird moment, but hey~ Natsu ate the thing and he's fine. Lucy's mouth went numb, though....

Chapter 4

.... And in the latest of "Lucy has no dignity" Weekly, she actually gets stripped of her bikini by fish that turned on Team Natsu because they're here to defeat the "Water Lord." She'll most likely get a new change of clothes from her Spirits or by changing into one of her Star Dresses - because fans looove to see those in action~ - but this still makes this the umpteenth time she's been stripped, partially or otherwise. You'd think the fans would get tired of seeing this, but I'll bet you they'll write it off as humor and just another Nalu moment because of the next few panels.

Yeah, Natsu saving the day again.... Not like Gray, Erza, Wendy, or Carla could've stepped in. Only Natsu could've done it, right?

Having said all this, Fairy Tail is no stranger to fanservice. That much should be obvious after just watching one episode of the anime. However, the point of this post is that Lucy has been even more underwhelming than she was in canon; she's the very picture of comic relief, when at least in canon she made an effort to hold on to even a single strand of her tattered dignity. If you like the over-the-top humor present in this spinoff, good for you. If you think each of these hilarious moments presents an iconic Nalu moment.... you might want to check your head, 'cause you're clearly grasping at this point. None of these moments are really applicable to a "shipping" moment - if every moment where a friend saved a friend could be registered as a shipping moment, Fairy Tail would be an orgy. .... As would every anime/manga for that matter.... The main problem lies in Natsu, who doesn't indicate he feels romantic feelings for Lucy at any point; though Lucy's crush also hasn't been present in this spinoff so far. If you disagree, do feel free to point out the specific panel that contradicts either of these points.

That's just my thoughts. Feel free to defend your ship if you want. The spinoff "kind of" seemed interesting when it started out, but now as it drags on, it's seeming rushed and not so well put together. I might not have been expecting them to do much with Juvia and Gajeel, but the investigation into Touka kinda bore fruit pretty quickly. We might still be in the dark about details about her character and past, but at the least, she's been made to appear very suspicious and potentially plot-relevant. Unless she's suddenly made to be a red herring, she's likely going to be connected to the "Water Lord" somehow.

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 171 Review

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.

[linkspooky]

Tsukiyama and Furuta: Two Moons Heading Towards an Eclipse

If you flip this number down it’s.... absolutely nothing. If you flip and reverse it, ie what would happen if you were to place it in a mirror than you get a backwards nineteen. If you just flip it it looks sort of like a 16 in the wrong order. If you take the numbers as individual, an upside down six can be the lovers in reverse while an upside down 1 could represent Hide as he was just mentioned in the last chapter. They could also not even be numbers but representative of a moth’s wings instead. They could also be moths wings as depicted at the beginning of the chapter. 

They could also just be a pun on the word orgasm [x] with japanese numbers. My point is things can have many possible interpretations so try not to refute the assertions I make in this post with ‘that’s a nineteen’ or ‘that’s representative of the sun’.  Anyway, continuing forward read under the cut for the explanation and yes I actually do get to Tsukiyama. 

Generally if you want to put a tarot number in this manga in reverse it’s been upside down. Not reversed and then mirrored, that’s not really anything to do with tarot that’s just... da vinci mirror code. 

The sun in reverse sort of relates to this situation: 

The Sun reversed indicates that finding the positive aspects to a particular situation may prove to be difficult. The clouds may be blocking out the warmth, and preventing you from feeling as though everything is on track. You may have experienced setbacks that have damaged your enthusiasm and optimism and have perhaps led you to question whether you can really achieve what you have set out to achieve.

However I find it too positive, and as usual I sure do love being negative about things. It doesn’t make sense to me, the sun being in reverse would indicate that the moon arc is ending, but having sex doesn’t really resolve any of Kaneki or Touka’s issues. Sex isn’t really a net positive or a net negative, it’s just neutral. 

Nonetheless, the Sun is never a negative card, so this is only temporary. The obstacles you see can be easily removed if you put your mind to it. It may just take a little more effort than usual.

Having sex, or advancing their relationship might solve their relationship arc, but it’s tangential to their individual character arcs. The sun is too much of a net positive here for me to see it as appropriate. For imagery reasons, Kaneki crying and then sitting in Touka’s lap could be a connection to the naked baby on the sun that is in itself a symbol of rebirth.

The child playing joyfully in the foreground represents the happiness of our inner spirit when we are in tune with our truest Self. He is naked, having nothing to hide  

 Kaneki isn’t really experiencing a happiness of his inner spirit though, considering he started crying in the middle of sex and could not explain why. This isn’t to say that Kaneki felt worse after having sex with Touka of course, but that the act of having sex with Touka doesn’t really have much to do with finding commune in his inner spirit. He literally, couldn’t explain why he was crying. The line “Why, indeed?” is a parallel to when he could not explain why he was crying to Touka.

There’s also the fact that they’re having this sex in the darkness, with black borders around the panels and constant cut to black. I hope this makes a good case for why I think the sun isn’t exactly the perfect fit for this scene. The sun in reverse doesn’t indicate darkness, or the moon, it’s still the sun just in reverse. That leaves two more possible tarot interpretations, the lovers and the tower both in reverse.

The lovers reversed indicates that you are avoiding responsibility for the consequences of your own actions. You have made a rushed decision based purely on your desire for instant gratification and now you are trying to lay the blame on others or on fate. 

The lovers can also indicate inner conflicts being at war with external forces. It suggests disharmony and difficulty in being able to balance your own inner union. The lovers reversed may also reflect that feelings within a relationship are not mutual. One person in the partnership might have stronger feelings than the other, and may be more emotionally involved. 

This is closer, Touka and Kaneki are basically ignoring the whole outside world to have sex right now. The timing is pretty spectacular considering they’re both on the run from the law, and they’re not really Bonnie and Clyde. There’s also allies they have to meet up with, and the Oggai are a real pressing threat for every ghoul that the two of them claim to be fighting for. 

A real and pressing danger which outsiders like Takizawa seem to acknowledge but neither Touka nor Kaneki really do. Which is in line with both of their characters as they’ve always fought for personal relationships rather than the big picture affecting all ghouls. The problem with taking a siesta to boink therefore being that Touka and Kaneki’s lives no longer belong solely to themselves. They themselves have made the choice to accept the responsibilty of this revolution, and it’s not something that only Kaneki wants, but also something that Touka wants to fight for.

Ayato makes the point that they’ve all chosen to make everyone rely on them, so to go back now and act on personal feelings like their life solely belongs to them at this point is betraying that choice. In Ayato’s words it makes them half assed, because it means they care less about their committment than they presented themselves as having done so. 

Which is part of why Kaneki’s flaws seem so much more stagnant in Tokyo Ghoul Re: than original Tokyo Ghoul. Tokyo Ghoul was Kaneki’s story through and through, it was the tragedy of how he failed to change in time to survive in the ghoul world. Re: is the story of a king, a king’s story is not as personal by its nature because it has ramifications that affect the entire world. 

Therefore yes, Kaneki and Touka’s decision to have sex is an ignoring of consequences just for the simple logical reason of rendering themselves vulnerable right now while they’re being sniffed out by the oggai, if both of them were to die then the revolution would be snuffed out before it could ever truly have begun. It’s also okay to judge them for this because Touka and Kaneki both want to be important figures in this fight. It’s different than two people just trying to have sex on their own time. 

Inner feelings being at war with the outside world... that’s obviously the moon arc so no need to dwell on that. The final part is interesting though, it indicates that one may not love another as much as the other. Now to get this out of the way, of course I think their affections are mutual to an extent. You have to be blind to not acknowledge that Touken is canon by this point. 

In this case though, I actually think Kaneki’s feelings might be stronger than Touka. At least when you look at the way that Kaneki uses people he is close to.

You look like you’re about to die. Between the two of us, the only one who thinks it was okay for you to just up and leave.... was you. 

Touka says it outright, she would be willing to have sex with him to prevent him from wanting to go off and die. Kaneki says it indirectly a few chapters earlier. 

Kaneki wants somebody to attach himself to, and Touka wants to be that person of attachment. It’s a reaction in opposite directions to the same basic problem, they’re both afraid of people leaving them. In a way it’s an unequal love because Touka can never value Kaneki the way Kaneki wants to use her, as a reason to live, as a symbol for all the good things that make life worth living. 

There are criticisms of Touka’s character that she bases herself entirely around Kaneki’s actions and what will make Kaneki stay around, or what is good for Kaneki’s well being but tha’ts not entirely true. A more nuanced view is that Touka since losing everybody at the Anteiku Raid, has shifted her priorities to try to ensure that her loved ones stay near her. Kaneki is just the crux of this issue, the symbol of all the important loved ones who left her, he himself inserted himself into that position by making that promise.

“Don’t leave me alone.”

That being said, defining yourself entirely by the relationships you have in your life and trying to keep them around is in and of itself a flaw. That is unless you think Touka has some secret agenda she has been running entirely offscreen when it comes to managing Re:, but even in that case we haven’t been presented any of that onscreen so until it gets focused on in the narrative it might as well not exist. 

So we have two characters with flaws that render their love unequal, Touka wants to be a point of attachment and Kaneki wants someone to attach himself too. Just because the way in which they are codependent weirdly complements one another however =/= a healthy relationship. However since we are in the arc of people finding refuge in one another and using that as an excuse to hide from the truth, it’s understandable why the characters would make this mistake. Touken is a bit of a sad and tragic relationship, it’s always been. At it’s core it’s a struggle of people from two different worlds trying desperately to connect. 

The snake in the fruit-laden tree behind the woman suggests the story of Adam and Eve, the fall of humanity from grace, and the temptations of the world.

The couple in the garden also have strong connections to the story of genesis. Something Touka and Kaneki parallel heavily right now. Think of it, Re: and Anteiku before it was a place where both of them were sheltered and allowed to be mostly innocent to the world. To them it was like a paradise. Both times it was completely destroyed and they were ejected from it however. When Adam and Eve lose their innocence they look at each other naked for the first time and begin to make love. 

The story of Adam and Eve is much like one of Touka and Kaneki, a fall from innocence but at the same time they gain knowledge of right and wrong and self actualization. At some point theoretically the idea is that Touka and Kaneki will decide for themselves what they view as right and wrong, rather than following simply what Yoshimura or Arima told them, or endlessly substituting new parental figures to guide them. 

Another clear parallel is that Kaneki and Touka are placing themselves as male and female figureheads of a new revolution. Ignoring the pregnancy thing, if Kaneki and Touka were to succeed in their revolution they would be the figurative parents of an entirely new world, one where their descendants both humans and ghouls would be able to coexist. 

Touka is pictured with the apple several times, but different from Eto and Furuta who are both tempters offering the apples to others, it is Touka who bites in making her the eve in this situation. The manga has already given us a good summary of Eve’s actions, and her reason for biting into that apple.

Sound like Touka and Kaneki at all? Surely she did that because she wanted to love a man, yet you say she wanted to be loved. It’s a good summary of their relationship and the tragedy of Touka’s own self conflicting selflessness. 

Which is finally where I can start talking about what I think the most accurate tarot number to be read from that imprint in the bedsheets is, the 16 in reverse or the Tower. At first these situations seem only superficially connected to the tower arc, but allow me to make my case on how all the dangling plot threads from the tower are finally going to come to roost this next arc. 

First off, the meaning of the tower in reverse compliments the moon arc well:

Upright, the Tower indicates a time of great turmoil and destruction, which will eventually bring with it change and regeneration.

 Reversed, however, the Tower card indicates that you are simply delaying the necessary ‘destruction’. You need to go through this difficult time in order to learn an important lesson. Do not resist it. Even though it is shocking and hard to deal with, it is a very important part of your life journey.

Similarly, the Tower reversed suggests that, while you consciously want change and transformation, you seem to be afraid of these two things. You may feel that change and transformation may bring with it destruction and pain, and thus you are resisting this.

Characters consciously wanting to change but being unable to do so is basically the theme of the past ten chapters. 

Every character has had their moment to show how they haven’t changed at the core despite everything they have gone through, because to them change is too painful a thing to face head on, and now we are finally getting to the lowest point of that with Kaneki and Touka. That’s not to say sex is a bad thing, but it is very primal in a jungian sense. There’s almost no better metaphor for characters acting on their most basic desires, no wonder both Jung and Freud lenses are so sex obsesed. 

In seeking comfort in each other, both of them prioritizing their fear of loss over their duties and the change they want to make to themselves and the outside world Kaneki and Touka both stagnate the necessary change they need to go through. The tower is a scary card yes, but it’s also an optimistic one. People have a tendency to dwell on the loss, but after loss comes rebirth. That’s the entire point of Kaneki’s supposed goal of breaking the egg and transforming the world, but he himself shies away from it. 

Just like in the lover’s card, it’s also specifically a man and woman who are falling. Quite morbidly you could say this is the result of their sudden spiritual awakening, the two of them are thrown off the tower together and lose control upsetting all our old notions about the relations between subconscious and self consciousness. 

If it’s truly invoking the tower here, then this connects back to an old scene in :RE. That time when Kanae and Tsukiyama were experiencing their own version of the Tower as they attempted to find enlightenment of themselves in the clumsiest and most disastrous way physically possible. 

1) The building that the final Tuskiyama Raid took place in was called the Lunar Eclipse

(Imperial scans translated it weird, it’s supposed to be Luna Eclipse). 

2) It’s the first place where Furuta showed his true nature as a moon character

Furuta as a character is one who exists to bring about an eclipse and invoke the moon card. At the moment he stands as the biggest obstacle in the background to the characters own enlightenment while at the same time encouraging them to indulge in their own shadows. He’s also been physically invoked with the moon before. 

3) It set up the major incidents of trauma that are driving key character’s right now, namely Urie’s loss of Shirazu, Haise’s leaving of the Q’s, and Ui’s loss of Hairu. 

Furuta calling back to Hairu’s loss is a deliberate callback to that time, and I believe he’ll repeat this temptation again and again for the point I am about to make later. Let’s continue with listing these parallels though. 

4) It’s the last time Tsukiyama had an arc in regards to his family, and Karren’s final words to Tsukiyama are the same kind of emotional openness that Touka and Kaneki are experiencing now. 

The same way that Touka and Kaneki are now falling off the tower, Kanae and Tsukiyama were in their own arc. However they are not given the same resolution that Kaneki and Touka were, mainly because of one active interfering participant.

Which is ironically enough, Kaneki himself is the direct reason why Kanae died before either of them could get proper closure or growth to finish off the great conflict between the two of them. Kaneki made a deliberate choice to sacrifice Kanae at Tsukiyama’s expense, one that he has yet to face any consequences for in the narrative. 

Clearly there are a lot of loose ends both emotionally and plot and character wise from the tower arc, and this arc is the continuation of them. Which is why from this point forward this post will be dedicated to where I think Tsukiyama’s arc will lead him next and why it is going to be an important continuation of his character arc which has been left in suspension since the raid arc. 

As to the image above, Tsukiyama just deciding to forgive Kaneki before he even apologizes is obviously not the proper way to resolve a conflict. If anything it avoids conflict so Tsukyiama can pretend everything is as it always was. This is what he thought he wanted after all, a false return to those days when he was a member of Kaneki’s kru.

In a way it’s what he always wanted, but Tsukiyama is not satisfied from what we see in the omake. We already know he dislikes being treated as a wallet, to the point where he gets jealous over somebody who Kaneki basically treats like a servant.

Chie has a point though, the way that Tsukiyama views relationships si that he can simply just be important without putting any of the actual work in. It worked with Chie because Chie doesn’t really care, she has a fondness for Tsukiyama yes but she’s not driven by closeness or loneliness the same way Kaneki is. Kaneki is difficult as a person to navigate, but Tsukiyama then doesn’t really see him as a person to begin with which is a major reason that stops them from getting close. 

It’s from the start of their relationship, Tsukiyama refers to Kaneki as his gourmet food which belongs only to him. Chie acknowledges that part of Tsukiyama doesn’t really feel that way but there is a distinct difference between Tsukiyama’s conscious and subconscious minds. 

In other words he’s an excellent example of a moon character. He has, all of the symptoms of the moon that others characters are exhibiting in this arc. His main method of satiating himself is obsession and pursuit of aesthetic reasons to live when in reality he’s quite emotiionally distant and lonely. Most of his actions are in trying to satiate those actions by, in a nihilistic way, moving from obsession to obsession. Chie even comments on this.

Which is what makes his connection to the only other moon character, Furuta, even stronger.

Furuta even drops him by name, which is a pretty major signal that the two of them are going to have a connection at some point. After all our first introduction to Furuta is when Tsukiyama brought Kaneki to the gourmet club. 

The way they present themselves is even similiar. Early Shuu Tsukiyama is close to a clown in motivation, where he only seems to care about living life for the pursuit of aesthetic desire rather than forming substantive relationships. We later learn that’s not the case but it’s also Shuu himself who has to learn this lesson. Also talk about unsubtle, there’s a moon directly drawn on his face. 

While Furuta/Souta are introduced similiarly, most of the details of their character deliberately contrast each other to set up a foil. 

Furuta is actually quite good and intelligent at shutting down his emotions and only ever wearing masks, and Shuu is the opposite, he thinks eh’s only reacting to the aesthetics and passion for food but actually he ahs real emotional issues that are super uncontrolled and also transparent.

They both quite clearly deviate from the actual clown mentality in different directions. Shuu’s “I care about the aesthetics” is a lie he’s convinced himself of because he can’t process his own emotions. 

Furuta’s clownish nature is a kind of repression and a really bleak coping mechanism for being born into a tragic life. They’re both at removing themselves from their emotions, but Shuu genuinely believes it and Furuta knows it’s a sham. 

These two are both moon characters, they experience emotions they athey don’t understand but just assume they are about aesthetics and comedy because that’s the only framework they can deal with their actual emotions. Tsukiyama even pretends his attachments to people are purely aesthetic when they are so obviously not. 

There’s also situation parallels, they were both born to families that have a great deal of influence over the ghoul world. The Tsukiyama’s however primarily use their influence to give other ghoul’s a place in society, while the Washuu stomp out ghouls from society. Tsukiyama himself is an unwitting heir like Matsuri who cares more about personal freedom than his responsibility, while Furuta is closer to Karren a cousin who is instead treated like a servant to the family and loses their sense of personhood because of it. 

Even their birthday poems are total and complete opposites. Shuu’s is one of calm reassurance that life is going to work out okay, while Furuta’s is telling you to laugh because the world is awful and then you die. 

Then the question is, if Shuu is a character heavily associated with the moon why has he done absolutely nothing this arc of note so far? My answer is that Ishida likes to play with his cards close to his chest, but there are a couple of hints as to what might happen next.

I think it’s important that Shuu was the one to interrupt the initial Touken talk, and also he does so with news o the real world, that thing that Kaneki and Touka oh so conveniently avoid a lot.

This was also shown a few chapters ago, a clear and obvious “Behlit” and in the same chapter a deal with the devil happens. 

If you take this entire brewing arc as a parallel to Berserk, a certain scenario can be mapped out. In Berserk Bejlits are stone fetishes of unknwon supernatural origin said to govern the fate of humanity. They are primarily used for summoning the angels of the God Hand, at which point the owners are granted a wish in exchange for a sacrificed. 

The most major activation of a Behlit we see in Berserk, is one where Griffith chooses to sacrifice his comrades in order to pursue his goal of being king. The strongest parallel we have right now is that in Berserk the main characters Guts and Casca, finally connected and had sex right before the Eclipse happened. 

This is just going to be summarizing Berserk for a second so let me just, Kaneki and Guts have several parallels that can be drawn between each other. In particular Guts tastes happiness for the first time in the band of the hawk and then leaves it because he is unsure of himself. This is a repeating thing with Guts several times, he’s unable to grasp happiness because he’s generally lived a miserable life up until this point and is afraid of losing him.

Gut’s abandonment of the hawks sends Griffith into a downward spiral which culminated in him becoming an emaciated husk of his former self (Tsukiyama) and having his tongue cut off (Kanae). What drives Griffith over the absolute edge though is overhearing Casca and Guts make plans to leave Griffith eventually and start a family of their own. Hearing Casca and Guts act of their own free will especially when Griffith is so close to losing everything impacts him greatly because he viewed them as objects that belonged to him, so them leaving is the final nail in the coffin of his own downfall. Griffith attempts suicide. 

When they rush to find him though, they encounter the eclipse. Which is when the godhand descend and slaughter the band of the hawk. I don’t think an exact parallel of this is going to happen in TG of course, but there are parallels that can be drawn between the main character.

Tsukiyama in the past has seen both Kaneki and Touka as objects of interest, and any emotional attachment to them has always been framed in this lens. Rather than a love triangle, their decision to confide in each other to that extent could be what pushes Tsukiyama to the edge. Especially when he wants to be close to Kaneki and seen as more than a wallet. A solar eclipse is also what is happening metaphorically in the manga, when the moon blocks out the sun and the characters lose all of their insight causing their shadows to grow even deeper. 

Griffith of course is a character who is willing to stand atop a pile of corpses and climb their in order to become king. The same blind and destructive ambition is reflected in Furuta as he climbs to the head of the Washuu family and declares himself Washuu king, building his pathway there on the bodies of dead ghouls and humans alike. 

In this case Griffith the betrayer can be represented in two persons, Tsukiyama for his complex emotional relationship that exists on the outside of Touka and Kaneki’s own relationship, and then Furuta who propels forward with blind ambition. Tsukiyama is also defined by his selfishness in his own relationships as Touka points out. 

(Just leave the other aspects of Griffith’s character aside for now). 

Therefore if Tsukiyama and Furuta were to ever come together, a disaster and a betrayal quite like the eclipse is likely to happen. We know three things about Tsukiyama’s character arc going forward, one that his character arc should have him letting go of the idea of Kaneki he clings so tightly onto.

In his great moment of character development he even rejects Kaneki and fights against him. If Shuu is ever able to move forward he first must let go of this idea of Kaneki in his head. 

Second he has yet to properly mourn Kanae. Part of the reason why is because after they died, he was immediately told that Kaneki did so for his sake which must have complicated his feelings on the matter. Repressed feelings are never a true way of dealing with them though, so Kaneki’s direct hand in Kanae’s death is something that should boil to the surface sooner or later. Especially considering the unacknowledged hypocrisy that Kaneki is a once Dove who slaughtered ghouls en masse now claiming to fight for them. 

This could also tie into Furuta’s way of tempting Tsukyiama away from Kaneki. If he still has Hairu’s body, then it’s likely he could still have Kanae’s as well. Kanae’s even already had Noro’s kagune inserted into them. Furuta could offer Kanae’s revival as a way of bringing Tsukiyama over to his side, especially if the alternative is working with somebody who doesn’t regret much less care about killing Kanae.

Third and most important is that Tsukiyama is basically Kaneki’s second in command at this point. If there was anybody who could bring a devastating fissure to the group spiderweb of delicate bonds which holds Goat together at this point it is him. He acts as defacto leader when Kaneki is gone, is in control of gathering assets for them, and even knows the codes. 

There is no better point of infiltration than Tsukiyama, and also considering that Tsukiyama saved both Naki and MIza’s life, and has a close relationship with Hinami he might even be able to take a few key members with him. Hinami I think is most important because like any youth she needs some form of rebellion against Kaneki, because watching her repress all of her emotions for Kaneki’s sake is just getting painful at this point.

Notice how, quite predictably her and Akira’s supposed reunion had no emotional growth for Hinami or acknowledging of Hinami’s feelings and centered entirely around Akira. It’s almost like Hinami’s too selfless for her own good or something. Her time in Aogiri, her decision to join them was pretty critical for her move to grow up and towards her own independence but now she’s back to attaching herself to Kaneki again. 

There you have it, my long and far fetched guess of how Tsukiyama will factor into the moon arc and also the big explosion that might finally get these characters motivated. 

[breakfast-at-anteiku]

ASDfLSDKFASDASD:SADSADSLKK AYAHINA AFTER ALL THIS TIME AAKGALSDJASJLDASD

x A WHOLE ARC WENT BY WITHOUT THEm INTERACTING AND  I JUST????

[Warning: TG:re 117 spoilers, long-ass post, AyaHina spazzing]  [More general spazzing about every other thing in the chapter in my next post]

[PS I promise you, the spazzing will become coherent under the cut]

x I’VE JUST BARELY RECOVERED FROM THAT ONE PANEL OF THAT NEW OMAKE WHERE AYATO WAS PRETTY MUCH IN THE BG but they were together anyway I’ll talk about that in another post but;;;;

x AYAHINA. IN THAT ROSE GREENHOUSE. WHERE AYATO WAS ANGSTING ABOUT HER. THANK YOU ISHIDA SENSEI. 

x I wonder what’s so special about this hideout? Did they have dates up here when it wasn’t used as meeting space? Was this where they had a few of their firsts? Did Hinami pick this hideout because of the roses? Orrrr did she grow those roses herself and Ayato took care of them for her? 

Okay I know I’m reaching BUT THINK OF ALL THE POSSIBILITIES. AyaHina fic writers, GET ON THAT SHIT.

x She chose him, out of everyone else, to talk about Akira. 2 points to this:

1) This is the first AyaHina interaction SHE INITIATED. Now I’m seeing some reciprocation narrative-wise. It’s very unlikely that Ishida would write it like this if this was still one-sidedly AyaHina.

2) She could have talked to Kaneki directly. Or Banjou, who has been shown to discuss the matter with Hinami already. Or even Touka, who was with her in the fight against Mado. 

But she chose Ayato, who has had no significant interaction with either Mado. The only reason he could even be there is as a close confidant of Hinami, and that speaks volumes. They’ve spoken about this before - probably when they were still in Aogiri. That she trusts him with the basest of her fears is proof of this. And the clincher? He understands.

Gundammit. This ship.

x Also, I want to see fanart/fanfic of Hinami pulling Ayato aside for this. I would but I’m swamped with AyaHina week as it is

x ALSO OMG ISHIDA GAVE US THIS JUST IN TIME FOR AYAHINA WEEK I’M??

x Can I just talk about my precious angel for a bit? Look at how young she looks here. I think it may have been said before but she’s been wearing her hairpins when she never used them while she was in Aogiri. I think there’s a bit of significance there - she’s gone back to her “child-like” pre-Aogiri state, where she’s surrounded by people she loves who love her just as much, who probably care enough to give her small luxuries, like hairpins and time enough to wear them.

x For someone who has gone through about 4 changes in alliances (neutral > Anteiku > anti-Aogiri > Aogiri > Goat), about as much as anyone else, her core personality has not changed. It was just something we had inferred in previous TG:re chapters, but her dialogue in this chapter is solid proof. She’s still kind and wise and introspective, even if she’s a little more melancholy.

This plays into why I like AyaHina so much - she’s put more of her own values (kindness, tolerance, patience, filial love) into Ayato, than his own (violence, anger, hatred) into her. This is so significant, because these were the exact values that he had shunned when he left Touka and Anteiku. Somehow, Hinami had gotten through to him, and we can safely assume that there were some strong feelings towards her involved in that development.

x “That’s why... I still can’t.” Even if we say that her values of forgiveness and patience still hasn’t changed, she still has a hard time forgiving. I take it for granted because this is Ishida’s superb writing at work, but he could have just as easily written Hinami being the one to chase after Akira’s forgiveness and not have angst of her own. I’m just so happy that Hinami is as well-rounded a character as any of Ishida-sensei’s.

xASDALKDSA CAN I JUST??? SAY??? THAT THESE ARE MY TWO MOST FAVORITE PANELS OF ALL TIME AND I SIMULTANEOUSLY HATE AND LOVE IT?

x I MEAN. Look at how beautiful Ayato here is, first of all. Long fingers. Exquisite bone structure. Hair falling lazily over his face. Dark broody eyes all concerned at his waifu and feeling all of her emotions.  His ear isn’t pierced with a safety pin any more. What.

x And then there’s the fact that he most definitely reached out and eased Hinami into his personal space. This boy. Who hated the world. Is now most definitely hugging the softest cinnamon roll in the history of TG:re. 

x BUT. Look at how Ishida paneled this shit. He stopped short of a shoujo manga hug. He didn’t even show Hinami. CHRIST. I know he was trying to maintain the focus on Hinami’s dilemma, but even just a little bit of hugging??? Pls???

So. Ah. tl;dr, I LOVED THIS CHAPTER. WHAT THE SHIT I LOVED IT.

[thefandomsurfer]

My top 20 favorite Tokyo Ghoul characters

I usually only do top 10s but like...I love so many characters in Tokyo Ghoul it was really hard for me to do?? So I did more. Also DO NOT GET offended. Even my honorable mentions are very...very dear to me. (Also the places are just how mush I, myself, enjoyed the character not how great the character is or that your opinion isnt valid. And I skipped most of the Suzuya squad because they would probably dominate my top six or something and that wouldnt be fair haha )

Honerable mentions:

Hide:

Itori:

Arima:

Matsumae

Kimi

Nishiki:

Shirazu ginishi

THE ENTIRE SUZUYA SQUAD (Nakarai, Mikage, Mizurou, Hanbee.)

Now onto my list!

20.  Shuu Tsukiyama

I really didnt like him much at first. He made me uncomfortable and really annoyed. I mean, yeah, certain times I thought he was pretty funny but he made me more and more unnerved the longer I saw him. But then when I saw his nicer side and especially during seeing his loyalty and love for his family he started to grow on me. And now hes on this list!

19. Rize Kamishiro

Rize always was interesting to me. I wondered how she got to where she was, why she was so important in the ghoul world and just how she got to be so strong. Not to mention her characters personality made me very compiled to her. Then I got her backstory and understood her more. I liked her even more and began to respect her character. 

18. Renj Yomo

I always liked his ‘silent protector’ vibe even before finding out his backstory. I thought he was loyal and smart. And then it was revealed that he was the uncle to some very improtant characters and it made me love him even more. His backstory contributed to his gruffness and protective nature and not to mention his kagune is freaking AWESOME.

17. Ayato Kirishima

Hes grown into someone I really enjoy. I...really didnt like him. He hurt Touka and acted like an ass the whole time. Then I saw a softer side when it came to Hinami. He was so concerned and cared about her so much that it touched me a lot. And he was a little more calm and controlled compared to what he had been in the first series as well. He developed into someone who not only cared for his love interest but his family and those important to both of them as well.

16. Amon Koutarou

Amon, poor poor Amon. This guy has went through a whole lot during his time in the series. And hes accepted a lot as well. I always liked Amon even before everything like changed him. He seemed like a really cool guy who truly did what he thought was best. Then he learned what we the audience already knew. That ghouls weren’t as bad as everyone thought they were. And then fought for peace. And that coupled with how much he tried to help Seidou and loved Akira made be like and respect his character even more.

15. Kurona Yasuhisa

Another character I really liked from the beginning. See, I have a weakness for twins. I always loved the idea of one and think that no matter the relationship they are always interesting to watch in media. And her relationship with Nashiro, while not explored a whole lot, was still prominent and known. And her denial about her death and the form of insanity she went through because of it was both sad and entertaining to watch. The fact that she started to think about forgiving the person who killed her as well was...amazing. Over all I wish she was explored a bit more but am happy with what I got.  

14. Urie Kuki

Another character that I slowly learned to appreciate. He started out as someone who cared only for his own motives but after losing someone who he hadnt realized he cared for he begun to care for his team and mant to protect them as much as he can. Becoming someone worthy of their loyalty and love. Going as far as to save one of the ones who betrayed him and tried to kill him just to get them all together again and keep his promise to his dead friend.

13. Ui Koori

Im not sure what made me drawn to him? Maybe his relationship with Hairu or his sense of Justice? I dont know but I do know that I like seeing his appearances. His fights and thought process was always fun as well. Over all Im not sure why I like him all I know is that I really do haha 

12. Ken Kaneki

Okay I know, its basically illegal to have him so low on my list but honestly? I never really got that deep into his character? I mean he was sweet at first but then he was kind of boring? And I liked Haise a lot but really didnt like the reaper? The OEK one is cool and all but I still never got overly attached? I dont know. But I will say he is cool and I love how dedicated he is to his loved ones. And how honest he is about his flaws. Its really nice to see a protagonist that admires that he is selfish in certain ways and isnt always trying to do things for ‘the greater good’. And will do cruel and horrible things when push comes to shove. It makes him seem...a lot more human and tragic. Yet the fact he still had his happy ending made me happy for him. After the hell hes been through he deserves it.     

11. Seidou Tawkizawa

Seidou. He...certainly needs a little help. Poor guy was such a innocent kid before his whole life was turnt upsidedown. I’ll be honest...I thought he was kind of annoying at first and then very scary later on. But after seeing a bit of his side of how everything went down and how much he cared for Akira and Amon my liking for him skyrocketed and I couldn't wait to see him again in the next chapter. How he sees himself and his future...it just hit to close to home for me. And soon enough he became one of my favorite characters.

10. Haise sasaki

Ahh, my favorite of all the Nekis. I really, really liked him. How parental he was with his squad and his storyline always interested me. The amnesia thing has always been one of my favorite tropes. He, to me, was a perfect mix of Kuroneki and Shironeki. Having the lightheartedness and empathy of Kuroneki and having the toughness and ability to fight as Shironeki. I liked how goofy he could be (i.e dressing up as women) and all his little moments with Akira, Arima and Juuzou. But he was a dream, nothing meant to last, so he had to go. But that does NOT mean I didnt enjoy watching him the most.

9. Kanae

I just really like her. I think her backstory is sad but not overdoing it and her dedication to Tsukiyama was certainly something that drew me to her. At first I thought I’d hate her but found myself sorely mistaken. And I cried a whole lot at her death and the touching moment when Tsukiyama, the person she loved so much, called her by her real name and accepted her despite

 the fact she thought she never deserved anything even similar to perhaps she’d be even higher had she stayed longer but she left far to soon.

8. Eto Yoshimura

Eto is very interesting and fun to watch. Cruel and mean, yes, but also unpredictable! She never failed to make a impression on me everytime I saw a panel of her. I was always wondering ‘what will she do next?’ you know? I absolutly loved watching\reading her. Her backstory made me love her even more seeing as she had a bit of a struggle to get to were she is now.

7. Hairu Ihei.

Hairu is someone else I dont know why I like so much? We didnt see her much at all and what we did see of her was little. But something about her drew me in. She was cute and I didnt expect much from her but found out she was pretty strong. Also with how sweet and air headed she acted I already liked her a little, the strength was only a added bonus. I only wish we got to see more of her. 

6. Uta

Uta, someone who I already liked, only grew on me as time went on. I thought he was funny, unique and very good looking. And as time whent on, and seeing how twisted he could be, it only made be want to see what would happen next with him. Whose side he was really on. Things like that. But then his fight with Yomo made be see him in a more emotional light. Seeing how close he was to him and still was in in a way. It was sweet and only made me like him even more. 

5. Akira Mado 

Akira Mado. At first I never thought much of her. Just a sort of bland character who had lost her father. Nothing new, nothing interesting. But her relationship with Amon certainly made be feel a little closer to her and made be pity her at the end of the first manga. But then in Re: I grew a lot closer to her really quickly. Her character seemed more open to others and friendly. Her realtionship Haise especially made me like her a whole lot. Then all her confusion and journey forgiving and accepting ghouls made he so interested and caring of her character. How much she wanted to protect Seidou and the fact she still loved Amon-It just...Made he love her. So much. 

4. Saiko Yonebayashi

Saiko is a very funny individual that I didnt like much at first. I thought she was more or less dead weight and didnt understand why she was their to begin with. But the more we got to know her the more that I grew to love her development and character. Shes funny and kind but also strong and determined. I love her a whole lot. How determined she is to do what she thought was right and how much she cared for everyone in her squad despite her own initial unwillingness to try and work. All things I love about her. 

3.  Tooru Mutsuki

Now I know how much this character is hated...And I understand too. He did a lot of twisted and messed up things. Stayed on the bad side a long time, attacked Touka and his squad helped turn Kaneki into  a monster...But his backstory and the personality we were originally introduced to made me love him so...so much. It didnt matter much to me what he did because I knew why he did it and not to mention...Mutsukis one of the most interesting characters to analyze because of his mindset. Also the fact he tried to redeem himself and felt guilty about everything he did...It shows that he is trying to do better and he is. I just....really, really love Mutsuki.

2. Touka Kirishima

Touka is a very rough character, and I get that some people just dont like her, But I loved every second of her. The person with a rough outside slowly breaking out of their shell and becoming gentler as time goes on- its something I have a soft spot for. Loyal, selfless, strong and knows what she wants. A woman who is strong without being controlling or mary sue. I never got annoyed or bored of her and looked forward to seeing her every single time a new chapter was put out. And also her protectivness towards Kaneki, her child, Ayato, and Hinami made me love her all the more. Shes also got my favorite Kagune of the whole series-Yet another thing I love about this character.

1. Juuzou Suzuya

By FAR my absolute favorite character in Tokyo ghoul. Now dont get me wrong-Im well aware of his faults. And I know he wasnt on the good side for a while either, But even though these things are there, I love him anyway. Hes so interesting and his backstory was so heartbreaking. When I first saw him I was indeed mildly creeped out but it also made me curious. The more I saw of him the more I wanted to analyze and get to know his character more. And right when I thought I got to know him-The one person who saw him as a person and treated him as he should be treated was taken away. This caused Juuzou to experience his first emotional loss in a very long time. And he changed. I personally enjoy his more mature personality compared to his more bloodthirsty one but love both either way tbh. And hes also very adorable when he wants to be so thats always a plus.    

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 172 Review

It would seem that we are very close to the end of the arc, which also means the end of :re. I sensed part 3 is on the horizon. With that said it begs the question on how much change awaits. It’s all on Kaneki to handle the last and prominent problem. The end is near and Ishida is set to go all out with a bang. With a surprisingly emotional end to Amon and Donato, and the badass and hyped start to Kaneki versus Furuta, it’s certainly going to end strong.

As I said before in my last review, I am a fan of Amon and was really glad that he was able to get a closure with Donato. Hell, he won the fight after a series of beating he received. What I didn’t expect is how emotional this bout turned out to be from the moment Takizawa called him out on his struggle. It is better this way to invest it more than a simple revenge bout.

Donato was decapitated, though able to speak for a while before he dies out. Nico did heal his head to speak for a bit, so that make sense for its universe. It’s eerie how he laughed at his loss though. I understand that fans would find it strange, though Ghoul RC cells and what not is something takes imagination to accept. It was also established that there are Ghouls that could speak without a body for a short while, like how Roma was speaking before Urie sliced her face off to end her for good. I believe it was Ishida’s way to have a strong Ghoul’s slow death moment.

It does reward us a really emotional scene that I wasn’t expecting. If it wasn’t for the last chapter, I would think this is just purely revenge and justice storyline. Donato isn’t asking us to feel bad for him, rather establishing how he has been always in the dark and corrupted side of living. Interesting that he’s the third Clown King that the title was given by the second; not sure if Ishida wants us to theorize it. He’s the definition of what CCG once defined Ghoul as and he capitalized it to the very end.

He was everything that you must hate him as a villain. It helps with the visual of him laughing his way out to death. Every time the panel shots his smiling face, he meant every word of it and it’s disgusting to fathom. He came a long way to meet his fate at the hand of his one and only “son” Amon, which even he said it was the most fitting end. His grin in the last chapter makes sense with how perfect the setup is for him to go out, but Ishida goes in deeper with the later scene.

As his death was going to be a cold and dreary end, Amon adds in for the powerful emotional impact. After learning about his inner feeling, it’s a bit surprising that he kept his straight face for so long. I know this is his enemy, but a small crack on his face can happen. I got a bad feeling that his last words were going to be really sad.

Donato talked about his life as a villain; Amon talked about the memory. Those moments he recollected can be argued to be contradicting to everything what Donato finished saying; it’s night and day difference. The fact he remembers those days prove how much dear they are to him, even after the moment of “betrayal” or rather heartbreak. Those times cannot be erased and it will always be effective to Amon, no matter how much he denies it. It was supposed to be a simple revenge story, but it became sorrowful.

What did it for me is Amon elaborating how he has all the reasons to hate him, despise him, and wanting to get a closure; yet, it was too much to bear the emotions he still have. Amon crying for him is so disheartening yet humanizing. His words never felt so powerful. It’s not easy to kill someone who raised you and it’s even harder when you loved someone dearly. Amon couldn’t hide that fact and that’s why he finally let out his genuine feelings. It’s the development that was long waited, but the cost was always severe.

Donato’s final laugh is really interesting as it leaves on ambiguous note. He was called “father” by his cherished “son” and it makes his story into a masterpiece. He laughs with tears until he finally dies. Was he crying from laughing so hard because of how perfect the story was or crying from sadness because of how he was seen like a father to Amon, who arguably the only child he legitimately cared for?

There were many hints from the past that Donato was always fond of him as well as vice versa despite the disconnecting thoughts. They both found a connection to remember in the orphanage; it’s only fitting for one to end another. I thought this was one of the best death scenes of the series. It was eerie, cold, and teary by the end; I was sold by the reactions. Ishida is at his best when exploiting the emotion in subtle and explicit way.

It’s not really funny but I find it comical that Owl is now stopped, only we still don’t know if it was Eto or not. It left with CCG and Ghouls about to approach it, ending before any confirmation. You got to wait for a bit longer. Ishida is probably at his best when teasing. It’s a small scene but I find it charming with Touka sitting beside Saiko whispering “Maman.” Seriously, Touka should adopt her once this arc ends.

It’s evident that this could very well be the final volume of :re when it shifts to the main event: Kaneki versus Furuta. This is the only part left to cover, which would mean that there will be a Part 3. It does make sense seeing how much of a setup this last arc has ensued so far. It would make sense to have another time-skip to clean the awful mess from Dragon. Who knows. Maybe Ishida will pull a Golem Hearts and solve all problems in a matter of a chapter.

I love how the battle begins. First of all, for those who believe Furuta has everything all part of the plan, despite his more or less doubts, fans can be at ease with the fact he was genuinely surprised that Kaneki is alive. Honestly, if he did say it’s part of the plan, that would be too much. Anyway, I was under impression that there will be some serious discussion to be hold but Kaneki waste no time and nearly take his head off.

I laughed at how Furuta reacted; believing Kaneki wants to ask questions. There’s one problem: he don’t care. I feel like Shuu in Part 1: drowned by his badassery. It feels like this Kaneki is the embodiment of all Kanekis before it; basically, when he fights, he becomes Kuroneki as fans would call it. If so, that is awesome. Clearly, he’s done with Furuta’s shit. Poor guy, he thought he’s against a Shounen Protagonist.

I got a good laugh at the narrator while Furuta runs for his life. It opts for describing Furuta’s character in that very moment, only to turn out it’s his monologue. That is pretty funny. He had the nerve to put himself as the hero of the situation. I also laughed at the callback to him versus Eto when he felt like he had some sense of déjà vu. This small scene is rich.

Speaking of déjà vu, it isn’t entirely one until he actually pulls the similar stunt when pleading for mercy, only to surprise attack. Not going to lie, I thought that was it and Kaneki just loses. I don’t think I need chapter 143 déjà vu as well. Also, I thought those Kagune came from Furuta, but it appears to be from Dragon. That is unless Rize is behind the shadow; that would be freaky. It looks like either Furuta knows how to trigger it or it is assisting him.

When it comes to accelerating the hype level, leave it to Ishida to handle it; only thing is he did it too good. It finally comes down to this very moment between the two with everything at stake. Kaneki thankfully wasn’t down and out; only got push back with no sight of fear. Furuta gets his V trademark sword ready and announces his secret: he’s strong. Color me shocked. The hype level goes through the sky with Kaneki getting back up and ends the chapter, cracking his finger. Oh yeah. A complete badass beat down is in order. This is so hype. I must have Unravel ready for the next chapter.

I have to say, the artwork here is outstanding. Ishida went above and beyond here to execute deep heartfelt emotions between Amon and Donato. The details during Kaneki versus Furuta are really good. I like how clean and sense of badass aura oozes out from Kaneki’s line “Don’t care.” The double page is great despite Kaneki getting knocked back; it’s the surrounding that impressed me. It balanced out with the last page that is just pure hype. The dialogues are strong as well; whether it’s the sincerity mood or comical and horror, it has best of both worlds.

This chapter was pretty stellar from beginning to end. I was awed by the emotional end between Amon and Donato with strong dialogue delivery and touching expressive display. Kaneki versus Furuta is off with a strong start with comical and badass reactions. The artwork stepped up and the ending is hype. Seriously, don’t pull chapter 143. I loved it for narrative, but this one doesn’t need it. Go for broke!

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 162 Review

At last, we have the answer to Furuta’s plan. Well, that’s what I want to say, but Ishida decided to pull a bait and switch the focus. On one hand, it’s a shame that we have to wait for another time to understand Furuta and V’s motive. On the other hand, the chapter does deliver more theories and questions that may result to a new direction for the next part of the series. Most importantly, it also delivers an emotional roller coaster with blissful character developments and heartwarming reunions.

Let’s focus on the emotional trip first before raveling on the new twists and turns that was dropped by certain characters. This is one of the best emotional pieces that I have read from this series and the character doesn’t have to die to make it happen. Kaneki is not dead since his brain is still active, which is not really a vegetable state as well. It doesn’t remove the sorrow however. The scene has the atmosphere of mourn or funeral with sleeping Kaneki being watched by his loved ones as they all grief and stay around; waiting for a friend to wake up one day.

We’ll talk about more about his condition later, because the starting point of friends gathering begins with Kimi. As I said in my last chapter review, Kimi wasn’t celebrating because of Kaneki. True, there’s also more to it as well, but she personally wants to save him because she owes him her life. What a woman she truly has become. Seriously, I thought she was just a love interest, but she has grown significantly. From there on, you can argue on which character or moment is the best of the reunion all day, but all of them are special.

Touka was left alone as Hide goes out to check on the perimeter, which leaves a complete reunion of Kaneki’s Ghoul friends. Nishiki’s part is short and sweet with his way to show his grief. He does like to run his mouth, but because Kaneki is in a coma, he cannot; that expression speaks volume. It was reassuring to see Hinami again, along with Banjou and his friends, whom I don’t recall seeing them in a long time. I got to admit, it was pretty sad to see Hinami with one leg. I don’t know if she can regenerate her leg, but it’s still heartbreaking to see her in that condition. Regardless, she is happy to see her big brother alive and that’s good enough for me to warm up.

Shuu is always the best when dealing with strong friendship. The flowers with the definition of never forget is so like him, and it was touching to say the least. The man truly has class. It’s good to know that Miza is in good condition; joining along with Ayato and Yomo, who are just standing by the door. It’s still sad that Naki died; unable to rejoice with everyone as a family.

In fact, I really adore this scene to be more of like a family reunion; similar to like when a person dies, all old friends and family members reunited in one room. It somewhat has an undertone of a wake, but it also captures the deep connection that Kaneki was struggling to find. It makes the theme of his character wonderfully rewarding; so long Ishida doesn’t tarnish that but you know him. This is true happiness that he should not lose.

Although it is arguable on which scene has it best, my personal favorite reunion is with Saiko and she is a bona fide definition of a charming little angel. First of all, she is fine, though it is left on anyone’s guess on her status, whether she’s a Ghoul or a Human. The answer may wait a while, but this moment is what matters the most. I purposely emphasized the reunion to be filled with Ghoul because it plays a subtlety mention that Saiko is friend with Kaneki as a Human. What makes it brilliant is how Akira and Amon bumps to her, wondering if she’s going in or not. They didn’t think anything but wanting to see him because he is their friend. No status would separate that fact.

It’s actually impacting for Touka welcomed them with no grudge or anything; this series seriously came a long way. Saiko immediately approaches to Kaneki, which is sweet since she was behind Amon and Akira in the first place. It really hits the top emotional level when Saiko looks at Kaneki and lays her head on him; wanting to be by his side. “Maman” somehow got me whimpering... It’s really emotional with that one panel of everyone standing by his side. Ishida has been on point on the artwork display of deep emotions running high. It is sublime.

As for the other Qs Squad, I really like how Ishida is handling Mutsuki’s road to redemption so far. She understood her action deemed as unforgiveable; enough for her to lose any right to make amend with those who she has hurt. Thankfully, Ishida didn’t brush everything under the rug and let the consequences and regrets elaborated and understandable. Then, we have Urie, who has to be on top 5 best characters if there’s a new popularity poll.

Honestly, this is my personal favorite part of the chapter and it is simply incredible. If you somehow, someway for whatever reason don’t see Urie as a great character, this chapter can make you into a believer. He has grown to an amazing height of his character. I like how he calmly and gently tells Mutsuki to meet Kaneki to start strong on her redemption; otherwise, she won’t progress. He evolves so well that I can cry right about now. The best part is his character reflection since that moment when Kaneki harshly told him the moral of strength.

I always thought the advice he gave was not really wrong, but not really the best to follow. Thankfully, Urie finally blurts out that it did affect him but not made him. I seriously love this piece of writing of how he simply recaps his life after Shirazu’s death and while it helped him to get stronger, he thought it was wrong. It leaves to great written dialogues to convey deep meanings behind it.

We don’t need a long reel of flashbacks because we know what he has gone through and each of the moments matches perfectly. It describes his character from his painful start to his wonderful ongoing person that shaped him perfectly. The last development he had is reflected here in a powerful meaning. He owed everyone for saving him; he just hadn’t noticed it. That can fall to anyone in real life; we can be blinded to see what we have is helpful and beautiful. God bless him, he has seen it and he will cherish it to the end.

That takes care of the emotional side, it’s time for another round of theories and a new what the hell revelation. To begin with, Kaneki’s body is now a mystery. It is said that it’s no longer resemble to a human, which makes it harder to read the problem. I feel like that’s a sign of what’s happening to those who is subjected to Dragon; case in point, Rize. It’s still not determined if Rize from last chapter is the old but newly made or fragment of Kaneki’s thought, but if we go by Kimi’s theory, it might be the former.

She sheds the light that the nucleus is the source for Dragon to move, but since he’s removed, it died out. The problem is that at a different ward from the first, it is still standing. Her theory is that each spot has its own nucleus to function, rather than one main source that was Kaneki. This would make sense on why Rize was born or whatever in the last chapter. Furuta had a nucleus in him and purposely gets eaten, so he can awaken her. If so, that would mean other nucleus are being used, right? It would suggest that someone else is about to be newly born as well. Who? I got some ideas but maybe I will wait until next chapter.

The megaton bomb is dropped here and this makes the whole path very interesting yet confusing. It was good to see the CCG to discuss the thought of working together with Ghoul, though confliction still stands. It’s not going to be that simple, but leave it to Furuta, because he’s about to make Tokyo into Ghoul City.

Hirako recalls Arima’s warning that is still puzzling and one would think Dragon was it. It turns out it wasn’t that. While others are joking with his uneasiness, Hirako looks pretty worried on what he’s about to say. Arima’s message is that every single human would turn into a Ghoul. That is a hell of chilling words that is sadly happening now.

I assume that Arima learned this from being part of V Organization. If that’s the case, this could explain that Dragon was green lit by them rather Furuta went out of his way to do it behind their back. Hirako and presumably Arima didn’t know how but know that’s the plan. It is hard to understand their agenda at this point. Why would they create a city of only Ghoul? All this time, did they want a One-Eyed Ghoul for this plan rather than eliminate the obstacle? Again, what happened to the first Dragon incident exactly? This really confuses me.

Marude is seeing drastic change of Tokyo with human turning into a ghoul. It finally hits him; what if the Dragon monster is only a bluff and it has another body? If we go back to the theory, it could mean each of them has their own host. It’s confusing but I do believe we will get many answers before the part ends. We are definitely far from over. What’s not over is Kaneki as he surprisingly wakes up. This is great yet very puzzling. I want to rejoice, but something tells me things aren’t exactly normal. Why wake up now and what about his body? Ishida, what is your plan?

This may not be the chapter you were waiting for when it comes to Rize, but this sheds more theories to her awakening. That said it contains very emotional scenes of old and new friends reunion, wonderful result of a character development, and the ending that could be a miracle but perhaps not. I tried not to be optimistic for a happy ending, but dammit I need it. Something is about to go down…

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 163 Review

Don’t you love that feeling when everything is going well despite the chaos since it only reassures that good thing comes for those who wait? You may have to wait for a long time to completely feel that way. This was a heartwarming comfy chapter with Kaneki recovered from his sleep and a tender reunion to kick off. Sadly, the outbreak is far from over; it just never stops.

It starts off pretty good as it capitalizing not just the destruction that Kaneki technically caused since he was a vessel to Dragon, but the trip of accepting his guilt of action. His expression says words that this is not the old him that would feel deep depressing. It’s not to say he doesn’t care about it. The surrounding has him feeling uneasy but moving ahead as he intends to adjust his new way of living.

The flashback begins with a reunion and while it was tough to squeeze in all of the reactions like everyone must get a spotlight, Ishida did a really good job to squeeze as many as he can without stretching it. It was cut a bit short since the bigger news is to get his body check and continue to deal with Dragon, which is for the best. Besides, it’s obvious that everyone would react heavily, just done off-screen.

When it comes to on-screen, the reactions are touching and each of the characters has their way of expressing it. It was adorable for Saiko to hug Maman after so long. It’s like watching a daughter at long last reunite with her beloved father. Nishiki is very like him, with his angry expression yet his words and follow-up shows his actual feelings. It amazes me on how all of these characters have real convincing connections with Kaneki, so I am compelled by their reaction. Touka’s scene was short and sweet. A hug from his wife is all he needs to know how relieved she is; happy wife, happy life.

The question behind Rize’s newborn self remains unanswered, yet I feel more clues towards her state of being are contributed by Kaneki. Granted, she may not have the same effect as him, but if it does, then we could grasp an idea. Kimi doesn’t know much of him still, though he states that his eyes are perfect now and his headaches are all gone. If I recall Nishiki’s theory, he said that perhaps Kaneki will look young again by going cannibal. Perhaps consuming so many cells as Dragon changed his body significantly; almost like the perfect body. Not only that, he also looks younger than before or at least had the best sleep ever and he is as polished as ever. Hmm…

What makes up for the lost time of reunion was how everyone had their input to tell Kaneki the current situation. Kimi told him that Touka and Saiko are in one room because they formed a pact to stand against a threat. I don’t know why but seeing Touka and Saiko together in that panel makes me think Kaneki already has a wonderful family with a daughter. Who said he’s not the father already? Anyway, Nishiki reconfirmed that Human and Ghoul are temporarily united, though it might become much more than that.

Amon stepped in to tell Kaneki that it was all because of Hide that got them together to save him. Kaneki’s reactions in those three panels show how stunned yet maybe confused that Hide is alive. The hype for their reunion continues to rise and it’s a damn shame that Hide is away from the area. The timing of departure seriously needs work. Kaneki has to settle with Hide after that questionable last moment that left him believing he has killed his best friend. This is still a mystery on how he was able to live and who helped him.

I have to admit, I got excited when I saw Urie and insisted that he should give Kaneki a tour outside. If anything, this was among the top 3 most hyped up reunion to wait. This is easily my favorite part and it was a pleasant treat to the memory lane. In fact, I meant that in a literal sense since they actually gone back to the early days and recollect that it was a road that they have drove through. It’s nice that Kaneki have a conversation with his human friends after he was avoiding them for what he believed good intention. It’s definitely a new him with reconciling his connections. That said it is clear that he still working on it.

The best part is how Urie talks to him like a normal close friend, rather than an arrogant prick he once was. Development is an amazing feature. I like his presence displays it as a matured, professional leader as he reports the crisis and how they managed to lessen the damage. Saiko stood overnight to evacuate the civilians and she’s like, “Yup, it’s what I do.” That small detail of Urie looking proud at her accomplishment hits the sweet spot.

The best part of that part (if that makes any sense) is Urie let him know that if anything is bothering him, it’s best to express it with his words, not with his face. The line about pondering things alone got me all teary. Seriously, how could you not love this guy? That was wonderfully addressed that not only Kaneki gets more comfy but it perfectly described Urie’s character development with one simple line. He knows that feeling all too well and he won’t let anyone to go through that negative road. That’s inspiring right there. A simple line can hold a deeper meaning.

It speaks volume that Kaneki is more willing to let his friends to help him out and allow them to approach him like he’s your friendly neighbor. Saiko, as charming angel she is, would like to visit him to talk about many things like the good old days. Saiko is seriously too good for this series and no, I’m not even bashing it. It’s just a great compliment to her and her upmost adorable nature. Kaneki replies with a yes and a smile that must be protected. He is truly reborn as a better man.

Of course, Ishida doesn’t think we need a happy place, so things go dark once a random Ghoul starts eating flesh. I would admit, it would have been hilarious if Urie somehow regressed his character to the very beginning and starts killing Ghoul for a promotion, but this isn’t a gag series, so I am perfectly fine. It’s his job to hunt down Ghoul that is killing Human, so he has to act now. At least he was reasonable about it, so his character remains undamaged.

The woman was all apologetic and that’s when things are becoming very strange. Kaneki remembers her back in CCG and knows that she is a human. Well, more like she was and that’s how they are introduced to the concept of human turning into ghoul in a blink of an eye. Everything is about to get worse.

Okay, so this part with the woman eating a person stunned me, because a fan remembers her. She actually was from chapter 20 of the original series and after looking it up, I was stunned.  It’s not that she’s relevant that shocked me; it’s the fact Ishida has everyone in his book and use them for later moments, including Hajime. Basically, every character will get something. She was the one that belittled Ghoul as nothing but a scrub during the interview with Kaneki, so Ishida decided to get a laugh by making her into a Ghoul. Karma is indeed a bitch.

What’s also funny yet alarming is that we got breaking news live on the big screen. It tells me a few things. The chaos is far from over as the Fourth Ward is under attack with Dragon’s little monsters. Peace? What’s that? That’s an eye opener for everyone, especially Kaneki; the destruction doesn’t need him to go on. Lastly, we have ourselves the boldest reporter of all time: Furuta. News media really can’t catch a break anymore, can they? At least we will get an interview from one of those monsters. Looking forward to it.

It was a relaxing and kind chapter that we solely needed before the cliffhanger. The reactions to his awakening were short yet pretty sweet. The mystery of Kaneki’s new body continues to intrigue. The reunion with the old Qs Squad, minus Mutsuki, is delighting and good feel moment. The cliffhanger flares up that we are far from over from this problem and I believe we may get a better insight of Furuta’s agenda in the next chapter. I think it’s now a good time to give some answers. Then again, we have been trolled before, so we shall see…

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 154 Review

It’s the Qs Squad Family Reunion and everyone is having a blast. One is screaming for honor, only to awaken the true Dragon named Hsiao, and the other has portrayed the volume cover, only much spookier and still deranged lunatic. This is a very healthy family. In all seriousness, it’s the reunion that needed to happen for a while and this action-packed chapter started up with the sight of concluding the family dilemma.

The good news is that Touka is safe from Mutsuki. Urie casually throws the metal detector; pretty much signify that she has a job to do. I’m so proud of Urie and his righteous move; a character that you can truly rely on. That said it could be a bit worrisome to know that Touka is off to find Kaneki…alone. I guess that one area isn’t the only metal spot to detect. Anyway, the point is that Ishida better not play the similar fear from the previous move of her going out alone. Perhaps we should worry later.

I don’t know if there are fans that believe that peace is made like everyone’s a coolest guy ever, but it’s interesting that Urie and Hige made it clear that the pact is made in a “last resort” option. It’s abundantly clear before that is the case, so peace isn’t completely established. If the Human accept Ghoul after the operation is over, then do so, though it will take time, unless it actually does change in a second. It begs the question on what direction they will go after this is over.

Once Mutsuki engages in combat, the rest of the chapter is action-packed and it’s pretty good. Surprisingly, it mainly focuses on the new members of the Qs Squad as they’re settling with Aura, which is fitting. It consist team work display in which is always amusing to watch. It’s always good with Hsiao in battle, though it’s good to see Hige to be part of it. In comparison with Mutsuki’s position, this is more towards on emotional conflict of a friend in a misguided position.

Aura’s emotional disturbance being exploited is probably why the chapter went complete focus on the new Qs Squad. I can understand where he’s coming from in terms of human’s sacrifice will go in vein if they just accept Ghoul like a missing brother. The last thing I do need is how one is completely cool with every bad deed from one side without any sorts of “evenness.” You know; the coolest guy ever. That said the problem is how he draws the conclusion based of it.

It has a sense of racism from the position of Aura bashing Ghoul. After series of chapters of Human trying to work with Ghoul and how they are presented as a “same people” approach, Aura is rather immature in a maturing world. It’s amazing to see the hypocrisy from him as well. When he is making Human the greatest species and nothing else, he uses Kagune like that’s a human thing to have. That’s a clear indication of blinded boy who needs a wake-up call bad.

The chapter does enlighten his relationship with his aunt, which is why he has changed negatively in the first place. It’s abundantly clear that she holds a strong place in his heart. Again, I understand his position of struggle but his attitude and action is no doubt in the wrong angle. I only heard from some that this indicate that he loves her romantically. I only see it as a kid that cherishes her because of her safety always in peril. I mean if it is what some has said, so be it. Bottom line, this is why he lost his cool.

While the action is nice and all, it does help me to appreciate these characters further; in their rights that is. Hige is a member that can get more out of it in the future, so if he lives through this, he could get more development if utilized well. I do like him personality wise. He’s a nice caring guy that can stand up in midst of combat, but trying to comprehend the situation of friends fighting each other. Outside of Saiko, he’s the friendliest of the team.

Hsiao is no stranger to the fans and this chapter is no exception. I thought she was great as usual; clearly Ishida’s most worked up/favorite character of the new members. The reaction from Hige is pretty funny, I can’t blame him. A pissed-off Hsiao is a scary sight. She straight-up kick him down hard; I thought his neck got twisted again. If I was him, I probably regret everything and say, “gomen nasai….”

This battle is a deciding factor once it’s all over. Those who live will probably get more developments and personal problems. Hsiao has been getting worked up since her intro. I remember the Omake of her day dreaming Hairu. I wonder what sort of relationship she had. Granted, Hairu is dead, though oddly reviving her does fit in for a character development subplot. Anyway, it all depends on the outcome.

As for Aura, my assumption from this chapter is that he’s a misguided child that can be, I’m ready to shield myself, redeemed. Yes, he’s an arrogant fool and yes, kicking Hsiao’s chest is probably a point of no return to many, but because of his separation from Mutsuki’s scene, it is possible that this conflict could result to that. Mutsuki did easily persuade him in the beginning and that is telling. If we have to redeem one, he should be that guy.

With that said the argument for Mutsuki for redemption seems to be on fire at this point. The cliffhanger is interestingly good for rising up the fear of something unexpected is bound to happen. I thought I was looking at the panel wrong when two giant fists collided from Saiko, only to realize Mutsuki did it. That’s right; she can copy their form because it turns out that she can control her RC cells like a bona fide Ghoul.

I’m impressed on how careful Ishida was with her hidden Kagune’s potential as well as her type of fighter. Every Ghoul has their own portrayal hence the nickname and such; so it’s fitting for Mutsuki to be look at as a copy Ghoul. It’s interesting that the missing piece from Chapter 108 about Mutsuki’s RC Cells rating is revealed to be 3; that would only mean she is good as a Ghoul can get. It also explains why she manages to outlive from Yomo’s surprise attack; she gotten control of her Kagune with all the “enhancements” she has partaken. Keep in mind, she was doing well until a sudden surprise attack that she least expected.

Her growth most likely began after Rue Island Arc once she found out who she is or rather accepts her insanity. It’s no wonder why Saiko scented blood of humans from Mutsuki; it all adds up to this very moment. It fits Mutsuki to be considered as Copy Ghoul since she portrayed as Kaneki with eye patch, then Torso’s killing style, and now she was able to replicate Saiko’s fist; Ishida’s clever hint of her character to become.

It’s a very good chapter with the focus of concluding the bad blood. The visual is pretty solid with action set pieces. Mutsuki does have really nice yet creepy Kagune at the end, but all the more fitting to her corruption. It does feel like it’s the case of point of no return. If it’s true, it is for the best as much as I don’t like Urie and Saiko are about to face. Anything could come out of it, more so than simply terminating those two. We won’t know until next time…which is next year….huh….

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 153 Review

“One Piece of Trash” is a fitting title for the chapter that involves with a deranged lunatic that needs to understand for good. When they are trying to live in peace, there’s always someone that doesn’t fit all too well. Is the solution has to come down to death? This chapter has set up for the answer that I have been waiting for. This is a straightforward yet really enjoyable chapter that sets up for an exciting yet terrifying development for a corrupted family.

As you remember, Mutsuki doesn’t give a shit about anything else; so long Kaneki is with no one. Well, how awkward it will be once she learns that Touka is not only his wife, but she is carrying his child. This battle is between these two that should have been settled since the beginning. Those panels practically set the tone to be just that: finish the fight.

The tension does run high here outside of that battle. Dragon wakes up and is about to raise some hell against Tokyo once again. Where is Godzilla?! Just when the people had enough problem on their hands, Kimi has to pressured everyone to get the operation done because the fact is Dragon can actually grow larger, which means it will be much harder to search for Kaneki. You can pretty much say, “Game over, man! Game over!” In other words, the time limit has begun and the thought of fighting head-on is upsettingly tensed.

To make the matter worse, like all monsters in media, Dragon creates mini-Dragons or Kagune human shaped monsters to sweep the city in a smaller scope. At least this series did provide a logical reason for this moment to happen, let alone a tie-in to grander scope of its lore, so I can actually appreciate the little spawns. It’s just funny that every large monster seems to have that ability by default. It is terrible for them to fight once again in a deeper pressured state.

We then have a pretty badass display of awesomeness from The Avengers. The team consist Amon, Akira, and Suzuya with his Squad; that is a pretty damn great team. I would love for more unusual tag team mixup. Marude always amuses me with his reactions to the greatness. He is all calm watching them kicking ass with a simple barely considered praise. I think he just saw too many craps for today.

The one part that I am concerned is the possibility of these guys growing tired and weak leaves an opening for V Organization to ambush. Clearly, that small skirmish of theirs won’t be the last time we’ll see them in this arc. Don’t forget the Clowns, though maybe they are going to stay away and watch throughout the arc. It could be overthinking on my end, so who knows.

It’s such a relief to know that Miza is alive, though hurt. It sucks that she wants to see good deeds, yet took a bad hit from an ambush that could have kill all of them, Touka included. I like to hope that saving her would bring good luck in the future. Ishida, please spare this moment for once. The Qs Squad found her, so this sets up for a reunion and it won’t be for long now.

The battle between Touka and Mutsuki has been pretty good since their first encounter and this one is no exception. I adored Ishida changing the scenery and format of its battle; putting into good use with its setting. The visual is pretty engaging with its scenery and a changeup to choreograph. It’s like watching a Platinum Games (Bayonetta/Metal Gear Rising) boss battle, though less over-the-top and slower pace for intensity approach.

It has really good paneling that made me aching to turn the next page. Every strike has that sense of devastation, so if Touka takes a hit, it really feels fatal. When she doesn’t, you feel relieved yet still tensed because the battle continues. They both were evenly matched and have share of clever maneuver. Of course, Touka is handicapped going into the battle, but it is riveting to watch her still kicking ass. Thank God, the whole pregnancy thing didn’t excuse her to be sidelined. Granted, it’s best for her to do so, but…yeah, conflicting…

The battle stage is pretty engaging. These two perform airborne attack, wall and even Kagune bounce, and so on. It’s a good twist to the action choreograph, which is always a joy. It’s a shame to think that the anime won’t do it justice. I would love to be surprised, but my gut tells me that I should not place hope for it. Sigh…

My favorite bit of the battle is Touka knees the shit out of Mutsuki from the chokehold. Funny…I just reviewed another series’ chapter that involves kicking and it’s done by another great heroine. Anyway, it’s so satisfying to see Touka hit her like that and practically taunt her with Kaneki being her husband. Not the best day Mutsuki is having.

I do fear for the baby because Ishida has inserted that into the factor since Touka got worried for pushing over the limit. It leaves an opening for a miscarriage ploy and that worries me. I hope Mutsuki doesn’t know, or else I’m going to have bad School Days flashback.

It does piss me off to see Aura sneak attack Touka like a slave boy. Mutsuki’s motivation has gone through the roof after learning about Kaneki. This does raise the thought if she has no possibility to turn back and let Touka go. If she somehow gets persuaded to stop, it would be a miracle moment.

The chapter is largely focus on the action; it goes by quick, but the ending is a real hype boost. The Qs Squad finally arrives for an unpleasant reunion; this is going to be really interesting. Two simple words from Urie are all what need to be said; just stop. This time, there’s no more backing off for him, which shows a stronger leadership and character growth in general. Last time he backed off, now all he has to do is play safe and end this for good. Will it end well? Find out next time!

It’s a pretty enjoyable action packed chapter. It’s always great to see some cool display of awesomeness as well as seeing Touka still standing strong until that sneak attack. The ending is hype because it’s the faithful moment of Mutsuki as a character as well as the Qs Squad as a family. It’s seriously going to be nerve-wrecking.

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 141 Review

This chapter is unbelievable...in more ways than one. It's close to the end of the volume and everything is reaching its end. One battle that left me incredibly satisfied; one battle left me horrified, grasping for air. Ishida is set to close this arc either in a relief despite with some losses or overwhelming tragic.

The chapter contains two battles: Yomo versus Mutsuki and Aura, and Squad 0 versus Touka and Hinami. The first part is incredibly satisfying yet it started with a terrifying feeling. I honestly thought Yomo was next to die, even though Naki is still unconfirmed for now. After reading the chapter, it hit me; I can now say this is the most heart pounding chapter of the arc so far. The intensity and the feeling of every moment count are profoundly used here. Ishida basically got my complete attention.

Yomo versus Mutsuki was pretty tensed and fulfilling by the end. If you believed that Mutsuki using Shounen logic alas emotional use would actually work, that is not the case at all. It's as if Ishida was truly mocking the idea, so he allowed experiences to determine the victor. Still, I was glued with each passing panels; shivering to turn the next page. The badly wounded Yomo was still fighting like a warrior, but he was taking some really bad beatings.

The best part is the moment Yomo finally uses his grand plan or trap on Mutsuki. He uses sewer water to enhanced lightning tremendously and electrifies Mutsuki to a burning crisp. That was brilliant; the man is a real trooper. Watching Mutsuki getting burnt is very satisfying; she got what was coming.

Speaking of satisfying, Aura is next and Yomo does not kid around. Aura goes outrage and tried to avenge Mutsuki, but Yomo practically makes him into a damn fool. He grabs Aura with his hand and just with one hand, he snaps his neck. That was hardcore, like holy shit, Yomo was really strong; definitely MVP of the chapter with no doubt.

Is Mutsuki dead? I get the feeling she's not, despite being burnt. As for Aura, I actually don't know if being snapped like that is considered death for a Quinx but part of me thinks that even if he is alive, something tells me Mutsuki will eat him. That would be a new low for her. Either way, he got what he deserved; it was a complete justice. It was all around satisfying and awesome display for Yomo.

The next battle is like the total opposite: begins with greatness, only to end on a brutal defeat. I was really hyped to see the next battle since Yomo outsmarted and defeated his opponents; leaving me eased with nothing could go wrong with Hinami. Well, shit; I was incredibly foolish to believe that.

The performance from everyone is stellar. Actually, same can be said for the first battle. It all leaves to skills and reflexes. Hinami kills Squad 0 members with Touka got her back. I am surprised that she can still fight in her condition, but it's fantastic to see them working together. It becomes a tag team match with Hanbee and Suzuya entering for the main event and my God, it's intense.

One last note: Furuta considered Touka and Hinami as baits. I don't know if he's hinting for the arrival of Dragon or not, but I don't like it at all. Maybe it's just regarding to the Reaper that is Suzuya, but you never know. That mindset vanishes once the action kicks in.

It's a hell of a rush to see who will get the fatal blow. Suzuya is a beast, trying to take on two alone. Touka takes the knives yet protected the baby; she has so much to lose that it's chilling to think one slip up will cost everything. Ishida is taunting us like an asshole. Touka is strikingly great here because of her reflexes; dodging all of Hanbee's strikes. Hell, she even fights back because she has to protect everyone, including her child. Touka is useless? Hah! I laugh wholeheartedly at that thought.

It's rather funny how the scans release is not one of the better qualities, but it is one of the great moving visual. When there's a lot of going on, it's done in a rapid speed reflexes movements; leaving more panels to use for more action scenes in a single page. When there is a significant moment, it is highlighted impressively. The feeling of Mutsuki and Aura getting what it was coming was full of satisfaction. The raw display of snapping neck is crazy but badass. The man did have some Resident Evil quinque, but oh well. Neck snapped!

I can't help but think there's a halo above Suzuya. I know it's a text bubble saying that he's the reaper, but somehow, that felt purposely placed. In any case, the floor room battle is tensed with anything can go anywhere. I was on the edge of my seat. Then...the last part happened.

It's been a while since I was livid at a fictional display. The second last page has that fearsome tension with Hinami close to lose energy in which would lead Suzuya to attack. It plays off that Touka has to get there on time to save her. It's thrilling because Touka is doing her best to fight and protect everything. She tried to reach to her but the damn Squad 0 slows her down. Suzuya reaches to Hinami and it's either Touka saves her, someone else does, or she will get hit.

Hahahahahaha!!!!!

Hinami gets brutally slashed!

It has to be the most unsettling image I have witnessed in this series so far. Sadly, it's a great visual of brutality; the amount of blood splatter is bone chilling. It's sickening to see someone innocent as her to get fatally hit. I'm awestruck to see her in this display and I know she's fighting, so it's bound to happen, but good god, not like this. It's one dreadful last panel that I won't forget.

It's a chapter that plays around with your emotion. You would feel awed, amazed, and satisfied with Yomo being awesome and the defeat of the two. You would feel tensed, thrilled, and stabbed with Touka and Hinami fighting but one fail to protect from harm. It's incredible because of how much investment I had for it. But the fun ends here. The next chapter is the deciding factor. Touka...is...next...