#aogiri raid arc

[kyanitedragon]

"One, two, four... Can I think of these as that many more limbs?"

#tokyo ghoul #ken kaneki #kaneki ken #kagune #rinkaku #shironeki #tg edit #tgedit #tg anime edit #tg 1x12 #tg rewatch #aogiri raid arc

[eltheabberation]

takizawa for the character ask

My first impression: “Oh who’s that guy again? Eh I’ll just look him up. Oh hey that one- WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED??” Other than that I basically just didn’t care about him cause I just wanted to get back to Kaneki.

My impression now: I love him so much he’s my little guy he’s so silly I want to run him through a meat grinder he means the world to me he is my world he deserves the world he’s ruined my life and made it better and I love him for it <33

Favourite thing about that character: Assuming I can’t say everything uh I love the irony of his character. Becoming everything you hated. Getting everything you wanted superficially but losing the reasons you wanted it in the first place. All that good stuff.

Least favourite thing: His ending :( “oh he disappeared and was never seen again and fought rogue ghouls as a half-kakuja-“ NO. FUCK NO. AFTER EVERYTHING HES BEEN THROUGH HE IS NOT GETTING THAT SHITTY OF AN ENDING. HE SHOULDNT HAVE TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS BULLSHIT ANYMORE HE SHOULD BE LIVING A NICE PEACEFUL LIFE WITH HIS LOVED ONES.

Favourite line/scene: Uh, god there's a lot to choose from... Honourable mention to his little speech about fear (mainly because it's so funny in context "oh you're scared of me cause I'm different" no I think its because you murdered their coworkers in front of them but go off ig). My favourite probably has to be his internal dialogue during the fight with Amon in the lab raid arc, a ton of great lines in there. But I also love every scene he's in so y'know.

Favourite interaction that character has with another: Probably his fight with Amon during Rushima and then his moment with Akira after. Gives me brainworms.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: Shikorae! They may have only had one on-screen interaction but they are FRIENDS I swear. Also just the rest of Aogiri in general. I wanna see how this crazed ex-dove fits in with the rest of their organization.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: Uh... human Takizawa kinda reminds me of Matsuda from Death Note but that's all I've got.

A headcanon about that character: He adores boy band pop but is incredibly embarrassed about it. His sister likes the same bands as him and he always acts annoyed that he's being "forced" to go to concerts with her but he secretly begs her to buy tickets for him too. He has an ARASHI poster in his bedroom. Hide introduced him to Backstreet Boys and they listened to it together sometimes before, well, y'know.

A song that reminds of that character: I’ve got a few but I’m gonna go with The Mind Electric. Idk I think it fits his mental state pretty well and also a lot of lyrics could tie into parts of his character. Also quick shoutout to the Demo 4 version cause the “see how I laugh at you” part reminds me of that one scene with Ayato.

An unpopular opinion about that character: Don't have one really

Favourite picture:

This one <3 He’s just being silly here which I love. Look at this overdramatic loser <33 (This image makes me have. thoughts. but I'll talk about them some other time)

#there are so many things I want to ramble about when it comes to this fucker but #not right now #maybe later I’ll make separate posts to ramble

[tharizdun-03]

Tokyo Ghoul Review

I am moving some of my Twitter threads over to Tumblr as well. This is one of them.

Tokyo Ghoul was great! Overall, a very well constructed, tightly written story that explores its premise with plenty of ingenuity and power, largely thanks to Kaneki, all culminating in an amazing final arc. Mostly really strong art too. Very excited for :re.

Favorite Characters: 

1. Kaneki 

2. Amon 

3. Yoshimura

4. Arima 

5. Touka 

6. Tsukiyama 

7. Suzuya

Favorite Arcs: 

 1. Final Arc: 9/10 

2. Aogiri Tree Arc: 8/10 

3. Decision Arc: 8/10 

4. Lab Raid Arc: 8/10 

5. Gourmet Arc: 8/10 

6. Doves’ Emergence Arc: 7.5/10 

7. Post-Aogiri Tree/Timeskip Arc: 7/10 

8. Nishiki Arc: 7/10 

9. Introduction Arc: 7/10

Ken Kaneki

Kaneki is undoubtedly the best character in the story, and it’s horrifying watching this sweet, kind person gets broken down by the cruelty of the world, to the point of madness.

Kaneki’s arc is mostly a realization of abandoning coping mechanisms and adapting the survival of the fittest mentality. There are a couple of interesting things to dig into here.

The coping mechanisms start in early childhood, with his mother working herself to death in order to financially support both her, Kaneki, and her sister. And Kaneki keeps building up this denying image of her that he’s had since childhood, that she was strong, and noble for it, which gets broken down during the Aogiri arc.

He lashes out and admits he doesn’t truly admire his Mom for it but confesses that he wishes she just chose him instead, this being reinforced by Kaneki not being able to save Shu and Haru because he stood by his mother’s ideology.

So, he abandons it, and takes on the survival of the fittest ideology instead, pushing people away, to focus on getting stronger in order to protect them.

Of course, it doesn’t go too well, his mental state keeps deteriorating cause of the trauma. And we keep peeling off layers, and just like his mother, the true reason he’s doing this isn’t to protect the people he cares about but because he’s scared of being alone. 

HHust like his mother was afraid of losing her sister and becoming alone. She wasn’t kind, she was a coward, afraid of solitude. Just like Kaneki, who isn’t truly doing this to protect his friends, but more so because he's scared of loss.

I get that, but to be honest, I didn’t feel like this was communicated enough throughout the story? The whole keeping people at a distance because he’s scared of getting hurt and more protecting his friends for his own sake rather than theirs. I’m thinking of something similar, Evangelion, where that’s a core theme very integral to Shinji, for example, and immediately easy to pick up on. But this, when they revealed it, I had to think back and wonder, ”how often did he really act like that? Not a strong vibe I got from his behavior.” Maybe these are things that will be reinforced later, or I just missed cues, but I get the overall gist of it and am cool with it. But I dunno, I guess it just kinda feels like the story treats it as bigger than it actually communicated it being, at least for me. I think I'll be fine with it later. The issue with the story and Kaneki feeling aimless fixed itself later on tho, so no longer a problem at least.  Either way, Kaneki's arc is mostly as good as it is because Ishida executes what does work, so incredibly well, a large part being how he draws the consequential mental breakdowns, etc. Might not be a super unique character arc, but one of the better-executed ones of its kind.

Koutarou Amon

Amon, I think, is fairly straightforward, we got the whole was raised by a ghoul, and because of that, was open-minded enough, even if subconsciously, for Kaneki to make him realize something, and a big part of his motivation after that point isn’t just to eradicate the ghouls, but to try and understand the one ghoul he knows is different. He doesn’t want Kaneki to die, not just out of some innate curiosity, but because it’d also answer why he’s alive at all, why he was spared. Amon is also instrumental in Kaneki's development, who questions him if he really wants to be like other ghouls, which is a key moment in grounding Kaneki again, appealing to his humanity. It's really neat how they both affect each other in that symbiotic kind of way almost. Amon is a character that has so much potential yet to be realized, so I don't think he’s actually dead. I hope we get to see him in :re, maybe in more direct contact with the ghouls. Would be a cool opportunity for him and Kaneki to each explore the opposite side of the conflict.

Yoshimura

Yoshimura's really just this high up because of his incredible backstory. I think the whole, fell in love with a human girl who was so in love she'd be willing to cannibalize (need that) for their baby to be born, but then having to not only kill her, but also abandon their child for her sake, and finding out years later that because of it, the child has grown up to hate this world, and when fatally wounded, to once again, protect her, he takes over the identity of the fabled Owl, that's so touching.

Going to such lengths just to protect his daughter, dreaming of one day sharing a cup of coffee with her, and it being denied. I think that’s all fantastic. Not just on its own, but how that enhances everything else, and I am very interested in where :re will take that.

Kishou Arima

Arima struck a chord with me. When the CCG had to write a will before their mission, and we learned that no matter how hard Arima thinks about what to write, he can’t ever come up with anything, so it always ends up blank, that's deeply sad to me.

He strikes me as a person that devotes so much to his job that he has no attachments outside that, a job which he probably thinks of very mechanically and might not be too invested in itself either, he just has nothing else.

His battle with Kaneki was very somber, with a certain sense of inevitability permeating throughout. I think Arima feels for Kaneki, and I think it was his decision to save him and take him into the CCG. Would love to see more of him.

Touka Kirishima

Touka is a character I just find really endearing. Her sad backstory with her bother, a sadly all too common one in this world, forces them to approach the problem in different ways, which is an interesting dynamic that I hope keeps being developed.

The chapter when she called Kaneki out on his little pretend tragic hero schtick is great stuff from her, and how she tries to balance her normal human life, muah. She was sadly absent for most of the latter half of the story tho but hoping :re makes up for that.

Shuu Tsukiyama

Tsukiyama is a character archetype that just kind of appeals to me a lot, you know, the Hisoka type, and I overall liked what he contributed. I do think after the gourmet arc that he didn't really do a lot, but him crying at the end when Kaneki leaves did give me the impression that it’s not just tears over his prey walking away, but he’s grown to genuinely care for him, having stuck by him for so long with no real short term rewards. But, I'd need more, but what we got was cool.

Juuzou Suzuya

Suzuya can't help but give a very immediate strong impression, and while I liked him, his backstory is what finally got me really intrigued. It makes sense that after all that torture and abuse, eventually, he got desensitized to it, and to cope with it, learned to get used to it, to enjoy it. But in the end, we see that he seems to have genuinely grown to like and care for Shinohara, as he mourns, a first for him.

Conclusion

I don't really feel like going through all the arcs, and honestly, a lot of the story is fairly straightforward or things I need :re to expand upon, so there's not much I'd have to say.

So, just some concluding thoughts. I do think the final arc is far and above the best one, and ending it all in, tragedy, basically, is a bold and powerful note to finish with, and I’m guessing :re will give us a more uplifting message after much struggle. 

I’ve been told, and noticed it myself, that OG Tokyo Ghoul does seem to very much be set-up. It’s great, effective, fun set-up, but set-up nonetheless. There’s a lot of potential and payoff to be realized, and I do want and expect :re to get into the more complex thematics, deeper character development, and unorthodox storytelling. This very much just feels like Part 1 of a larger story. I'm ready for Part 2.

Score:

Original Twitter Thread: 

https://twitter.com/Tharizdun03/status/1511025105564057607

#tokyo ghoul #twitter thread

[elmaxlys]

I'm gonna send myself for the character ask game <33 Uta, the absolute clown, I dare you to say something offensive ♡

Ooh thank you! And, well, I sure will try not to 😳

favorite thing about them

The whole Clown business. It's absolutely bonkers and powerful and it pleases me greatly

least favorite thing about them

Drawing. the. fucking. tattoos. they are a PAIN

favorite line

There are so many I love. I'd want to say I cannot live with you nor without you but that's Martial. Then there's "We're friends, right?" *screams eternally* and also. oh god. "Make me feel alive, Renji" like HELLO?? and then that discussion he has with Donato, I can't quote it all here. And also-

brOTP

Difficult choice between the 4th ward gang and the Clowns :')

OTP

Utaren

nOTP

Is it bad to say anyone that's not Renji? Anyone that's not Renji.

random headcanon

Gender whomst?

unpopular opinion

I have removed myself from the main TG fandom so I am not quite sure what opinions are popular or not nowadays :v then again aspec hc are never popular so I'll go with that. I absolutely see Uta as aspec. (I see all my favs as aspec help)

song i associate with them

There are a bunch but right now I'll say Carnival by Ghost Town 🥺

favorite picture of them

Rn I'll go with this one because Uta with Roma's hairclip?? hello?? that's cute af - but know that the entirety of ch 168 to 171 from :re as well as ch 111 to 113 are in there. But damn there's also the oh so iconic Auction outfit as well as the Clowns raid arc that was absolutely lovely, and Uta in that Roma flashback and that one in zakki and vol 12 cover and the "sorry i was in my teens" in ch34 and THE AOGIRI RAID IN OG??? How am i supposed to choose?!

also this page bc it lives rent free in my brain thank you for your attention

-

send me a character and I'll tell you

#thank you <3 #all of that said with love #uta #tokyo ghoul #ask games

[abjectaspiringfailure]

I've seen posts arguing that Anteiku (and by extension :re) didn't really practice coexistence. While it advocated peace towards humans it had no human staff, and it's members would kill humans if necessary. That being said, do you think Koma and Irimi secretly despised humans? During the Anteiku raid, Irimi called Hachikawa a "dirty little human" after he insulted her, and Koma mockingly stated humans had such dull senses. In regards to Koma, in :re 104 he agrees when Kaneki tells him to "hold

down the fort,“ and Irimi notes that he didn’t want to go to begin with. This is in contrast with the aogiri arc of the previous series, when Yoshimura told him to stay at Anteiku while they rescued Kaneki, he expressed disappointment that he wouldn’t be able to "go wild.” I think I might have realized why he didn’t want to go. Part of the mission involved fighting the Clowns for the CCG (the organization that destroyed Anteiku and killed all of his old friends), and the other part was obtaining suppressants for Akira Mado (an investigator who fought in the Anteiku battle).

TG 130

So for Kaya and Koma, I don’t think they despised humans. I think they had racial attitudes like most characters in TG, certainly, but I don’t get the impression they despised humanity. Kaya insulting an enemy doesn’t mean much outside of her personal attitude. For example, Kaya saving an elderly woman she didn’t know, even if she’s being disrespectful towards her. Koma’s lamentations seems more like it’s him joking more than anything to me.

It’s possible he didn’t want to be involved with fighting the Clowns for the CCG to save an investigator, but in the end they were being framed for mass bombings so he’d have to get involved. That was the primary reason that GOAT decided to get involved to begin with.

As for the coexistence thing. I think this touches on their attitudes. Anteiku taught people that the system was okay and that rebellion was hopeless, so you should just accept it, so as to minimize casualties. I think Anteiku encouraged complacency and acceptance of circumstances, rather than coexistence. We see this even before we have the bigger picture, with Kaneki being advised by Yoshimura that he needs to accept his circumstances, and we see this with Touka and many other ghouls under Yoshimura, which I’ll get into just below. And the reason why is simple

TG 119, TG 48, TG 124

Yoshimura refuses to actively oppose V for much of the series, directly working for them. I feel like this is skipped over in a lot of discussion surrounding the character and Anteiku’s role in the original Tokyo Ghoul, but it’s very important to understanding the decisions he made.

Anteiku members as a whole are not a part of V, but Kuzen is until he’s excommunicated in chapter 125. That’s why every time he “goes to work” he’s wearing the V uniform, and Kuzen himself makes clear he’s still a member of V, just not as a member of its death squads. You can piece together his role and its philosophy. Kuzen was still acting in the role of a peace maker, just not through violence. He voiced acceptance of living in the bird cage.

TG TG;re 63 TG 112, 113,

All of Kuzen’s recruits from before the series, that is, Kaya, Koma, and Yomo, are either stated or implied to be investigator hunters. These are characters who threaten V’s power and upset the status quo they’ve created. If ghouls are focusing on investigator hunting, they’re weakening the CCG’s grasp and thus causing or increasing the chance of indirect damage to V and its ideology. They’re giving people the impression that rebellion against the status quo is possible.

He made minor rebellious efforts against V, (hiding Rize, for example) but he mostly kept his head down and apparently just did what he was told. That is,, until Aogiri Tree started breaking the cage, and he had already handed over the metaphorical reigns with regards to Eto and the next shop onto Kaneki, Yomo, and Touka. Then he finally made a stand, though it was… pointless.

TG 5, TG 13

Anteiku doesn’t attempt to stop humans from being predated upon, and supposedly Yomo and Touka, who aren’t exactly minor players in the scheme of the Anteiku organization, get their meat from kills. Anteiku does provide “moral meat” but it also designates areas to be hunting grounds for ghouls to predate. It won’t even protect its human customers if they’re being targeted by ghouls, with ghouls being expected to protect humans they didn’t want eaten, like Kaneki and Hide.

TG 52, 16

For what I was talking about above with Yoshimura pacifying members of Anteiku - look at Aogiri Tree’s rebellion. Banjou didn’t think rebellion against the CCG was possible, because defeating the investigators is supposedly something that will just lead to the investigators immediately sending more and crushing you. Except that’s not what happens. It calls back to Touka’s idea that was dismissed as hopeless by Kuzen and Yomo. Except it’s not. Touka’s idea actually could work, to some extent. This is part of her foiling with Eto.

But Aogiri Tree also polices ghouls that don’t join their cause that they don’t go on a rampage, and instead feed on investigators. We can see how bad this policing can get for ghouls with the Aogiri escape arc. There’s a reason why the CCG was able to keep quiet that Aogiri Tree controlled multiple wards and removed the CCG’s ability to fight back, outside of leaks on the internet, and why they covered up Aogiri’s existence as long as they could.

TG 16

Which to Yoshimura isn’t worth it. “You should just accept the way things are now and not try to change anything”. Anteiku’s version of coexistence was given V’s stamp of approval. It doesn’t actually work though, because it’s just concessions in the hopes the people you’re attempting to placate won’t just eventually come after you anyway for reasons outside of your control. Which doesn’t work too well. Especially in a situation where the goal of the organization you’re facing is genocide.

Sorry this took so long. I know you were more focusing on Kaya and Koma in your question but the Anteiku coexistence thing really caught my attention and I think it directly relates. I don’t think Kaya and Koma despised humans. I think they had their racial biases, and I think there were humans they made clear they hated, but they did things that are inconsistent with a general hatred of humanity. Kaya in particular.

#tg meta #kaya irimi #Koma #Tokyo Ghoul #Tokyo Ghoul meta #Kuzen Yoshimura #Touka Kirishima #Anteiku #Aogiri Tree

[blvvdyindustries]

Anybody else feel like instead of outright killing Touka, Mutsuki will instead lead the Oggai to :re?

That way everybody dies again, the cafe is destroyed…again, and Kaneki might be captured…AGAIN. It would be a parallel to the Anteiku Raid Arc.

#bitich he's gonna end the series this way isn't he #oh my fuckin god i figured out the end the series #it would be a parallel to the anteiku raid #but this time to break the cycle hide will show up at the last minute and save the day instead of kaneki #*screaming* #evrry arc we've had up to this point has been a parallel to part 1 #this arc is the decision arc #the last one was the kanou lab raid #the one before that was the aogiri raid and subsequent cochela raid #the lunar tower was kaneki's torture arc #the auction was the gourmet arc #and the torso investigation arc was the introduction arc #tokyo ghoul:re has been one giant parallel #this means that the next arc must parallel the anteiku raid #tg theories #tgre theories #tokyo ghoul re #tokyo ghoul

[xbrokenxtragedies]

(Haruma Mira, bisexual) i saw Ayato Kirishima/Black Rabbit in amber falls yesterday. they look pretty good for being 24! He was listening to Man or Monster by Zayde while on their way to work as a human services assistant. i guess they’re originally from Tokyo Ghoul, but i’ve never heard of there! i heard they remember being recruited into Goat happening from back home

Continue Reading

Ayato is pulled from the ending of the Third Cochlea Arc

The memories of his life are still intact, such as the taunting death of his mother and his father, as well as being subjected to hate and hunted by humans due to Ayato being a ghoul. 

One evening his father never returned home, therefore Ayato and his sister Touka assumed ghoul investigators found and killed him. After their father’s disappearance,  the two of them visited a friend of their father’s and at first, she was kind but when she learned of them being ghouls she sold both of them out. They managed to escape as Touka used her kagune to kill the investigators. This memory still is vivid in his mind. 

After running away from home, they found Anteiku, where they were taken care of. As they grew up, Ayato started to act violently. When Touka started school and began to be more open to humans, Ayato believed they might end up just like their father, therefore left in search of more power. He would have to depend on no one but himself. The human world would result in him becoming weak, and he hated being weak, he hated weaklings and he’d never allowed himself to be one of them.

He wandered the wards of Tokyo where he caused chaos and bloodshed and claimed multiple feeding grounds until he was convinced to join the Aogiri Tree and then became an executive of the organization. This is a substantial part of him. He joins the search for Rize at their request and breaks into Anteiku effortlessly. Ayato is then reunited with his sister but that quickly is interrupted by two other ghouls. When he notices Kaneki smells like Rize, Ayato cooperates with them in taking Kaneki. His sister tries to attack but Ayato effortlessly beats and defeats her.

 When he was a boy he made a promise to his dad that he would protect Touka at any cost whenever she would get in trouble, thus the reasoning behind later taking the alias “Black Rabbit,” and wearing a second mask. This was done to have the CCG mistake Ayato for Touka, and therefore track him instead of his sister, covering up Touka’s actions and cleaning up after her bad reputation. He also often beats her before anyone else can leave her for dead. Though he never told this to her, instead he put on the facade of his hate for her. 

He is one of the strongest ghouls

Despite his complicated past with Kaneki, Ayato partners with him and the two break out dozens of ghoul prisoners. This intensifies the war between Ghouls and Humans. After the occurrence, many raids between both sides take place, a lot of which Ayato is in a charge of in which he kills most of the investigators by himself, as well as some in which his fellow ghouls help.  He also always tries to save ghouls despite always portraying himself as cold. The raids continue for years and in the most recent one, Ayato is struck down and almost killed until his sister comes in and saves him. 

One month after the raid, Ayato was brought to a place where Kaneki declares the Black Goat, a ghoul anti-human organization that would fight against the CCG and force other organizations to create a world where ghouls and humans can live in peace together. All these recollections still sit in his mind vividly. 

In the face of everything that Ayato went through, he still has anger over his past, as well as anguish over the lives he did loose. Although he is trying to be a peacemaker now, Ayato has no problem still striking and killing humans if it comes to that, even in this new city, 

#amber:intro #tw:death mention #tw: violence

[hamliet]

TG’s Chiastic Structure and Final Arc Predictions

What's a chiastic structure? Glad you asked. It's a narrative structure used in a lot of epics (the Iliad and Odyssey, Paradise Lost) and modern classics as well. Harry Potter and Star Wars employ it, as do maaaany books of the Bible (no I didn't take several  entire classes in chiastic structure when I was in college why do you ask; hi Professor B I hope I'm making you proud rn). It basically refers to a paralleling structure, wherein events or motifs parallel other events and motifs, forming a chiasm if you were to chart it out. (It's also referred to as ring structure.)

Here's my handy dandy chart for TG's structure:

I'm using arcs as dividing points and this is reeeeeally simplified but I'm going to discuss the motifs used in each arc and how they parallel each other. This is not to say the arcs only parallel each other in this sense; for example the first six arcs of both TG and :re parallel each other really eerily well, and of course the Fool’s Journey is a structure of its own, but I'm specifically describing the chiastic structure layout (which is also present) so I'm sticking to that in this meta. Yes I switched the Cochlea and Clown Raids arcs because I think that works better (keep in mind arcs are broad frameworks I’m using, remove the arcs and the motifs used would all work together chiastically but for the sake of simplicity and also the fact that I simply don’t have time for that rn I’m using arcs). Let's start in the middle. The Torso investigation Arc and the Auction Arc. Notably, these arcs are about the Qs, and they're about Sasaki struggling to fit in with his new "family" and yet being perpetually reminded of his family back in Anteiku. We have Touka appearing to Kaneki at the end of the Torso investigation as the Nutcracker investigation picks up, and we have Hinami appearing to save him at the end of the Auction Arc.

Both of these arcs tell Kaneki he belongs in two worlds. With the Qs family and with ghouls, and that humans and ghouls are not so easily separated into good and back, black and white. We see this when Saiko, the one who is ostensibly human, chooses to not save Kaneki from Takizawa, but Hinami on the other hand chooses to save him (both Saiko & Hina are coded as children of Kaneki).

The Anteiku Raid and the Rose Arc. Gee, look how the most tragic arcs in the mangas--the arcs in which we see the most deaths (or fakeout deaths) of characters we love--parallel each other and how Kaneki’s confronted with how badly he just wants to be loved the entire time. 

They also represent Kaneki losing his sense of security--in the Rose Arc when he gets his memories back and in the Anteiku Raid when he loses his memories. Tsukiyama also wants to save Kaneki in both of these arcs.

Next. The Lab Infiltration Arc and Cochlea/Rushima. Both involve a major clash of CCG agents and ghouls, characters we love on both sides. They also represent the ends of Kaneki's spirals--as Shironeki, when he violently injures Banjou and realizes he doesn't want to do this, and as the Black Reaper when he attempts suicide only to see a vision of Hide who reminds him to live.

Also, the idea of parentage is important in this--in the Lab infiltration arc, in the first TG, Kaneki confronts Kanou, who made him into the ghoul he's been. In Cochlea, Kaneki confronts Arima, who made him into Sasaki the CCG investigator.

In Kanou’s case it’s that Kaneki was a random, and in Arima’s case, he chose him. Beyond just Kaneki though, there are important interactions in both arcs involving Akira, Amon, and Takizawa as well, Kurona confronts Juuzou in both, and the concept of Kanou making ghoul-human hybrids contrasts with the Sunlit Garden also making ghoul-human hybrids.

The Aogiri Arc and the Clown Arc. How interesting Uta plays a role in both, and the question of why Uta went to save Kaneki then when he isn't necessarily a benevolent character is finally answered in the Clown Arc.

Both also represent Kaneki making decisions, but terrible decisions that will set him on the path to tragedy. Kaneki chooses to embrace the need to be strong in the first TG Aogiri Arc and to be the OEK in the Clown Arc. Ayato also plays a prominent role in both of these arcs and in a sense helps Kaneki make these decisions, for worse in the Aogiri Arc and for better in the Clown Raids, though this positive decision Kaneki makes in the lab won't last as we know. The Gourmet Arc and the Goat/24th Ward Raid Arc. What do these arcs have in common? Firstly, Touka and Kaneki connect (and get married).

Also romance is prominent in both of these: Nishikimi in TG (it does correspond to The Lovers) and Touken and Akiramon in the Goat/24th Ward Raid Arc. We see Tsukiyama's romantic obsession over Kaneki contrasted with Mutsuki's romantic obsession.

Both of these arcs contain some of the most brutal violence in TG--the Oggai, and the Gourmet Restaurant, and while int he first TG it horrifies Kaneki (and he'll later enact revenge for it), in :re he falls prey to it. Next, the Doves Emergence Arc and the Dragon Arc. Our first introduction to the human ghoul conflict, in which we see the ghoul and human divide, and the arc in which humans and ghouls decide to work together. Mado insists humans and ghouls are different; Touka suggests empathy.

Now, it looks like it's going to be too late.

Kaneki notably in each one follows Touka. He accompanies her in the Doves Emergence Arc to help save her, and she saves him in the Dragon Arc--the point is he has little agency in both of these arcs, but chooses to take responsibility in both. He chose to let Amon go and begged him to run, and in his arc Kaneki at least vowed to take responsibility. Also, both of these arcs introduce us to this woman:

And then we have the introduction arc and what I believe is the (long) final arc of TG, Judgement, in which we're getting zombies probably and in which we have Furuta and Rize as the final antagonists.

This whole story started because of Furuta and Rize and it will end with them. Kaneki is just a pawn, just like he was in the introduction arc, but a pawn who can do things out of love for his friends but needs others to help him. Also, look which characters were prominent in the introduction arc:

Nishiki, who now has Kimi back and will probably be important if Kimi aims to save everyone, and Hide, who also just so happened to return.

Also fear not shippers. The first chapter of TG began with a date. I’m pretty sure the last chapter will be Touka giving birth, but yes, TG had romance in the beginning of it so I’m still fairly certain we’ll get closure for certain ships. Also, Yoshimura appeared so I expect closure for him.

#tg meta #tg ramblings #tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul re #tgre meta #tg #tgre #kaneki ken #touken #mutsuki tooru #quinx #tsukiyama shuu #Rize kamishiro #furuta nimura #kurona yasuhisa #juuzou suzuya #hideyoshi nagachika #my meta

[ghoul-caps]

  Tokyo Ghoul

1) Introduction Arc - Kaneki is thrown into the world of ghouls all of a sudden. He needs to face this warped reality and cling to his senses while the hellish hunger eats him alive.

2) Nishiki Arc - Faced against his first enemy - Nishiki - Kaneki has to find his inner strength to use his kagune for the first time. Both his friend Hide and his remaining humanity are at risk. But will he be able to control his new-found powers?

3) Doves’ Emergence Arc - Even though Kaneki finds a shelter in Anteiku, his peace doesn’t last long. The investigators of CCG are on his trails and our protagonist has to battle as a ghoul once more. In the middle of everything is a ghoul, Hinami, whose protection is of utmost importance and will change the worldview of the righteous Amon himself.

4) Gourmet Arc - Kaneki manages to find even more data about the case with his inner demon, Rize. Along the way to the truth he gets lost and eventually falls in the hands of the narcissistic Tsukiyama, who even gets innocent humans in danger in order to fulfill his wishes. Touka and Kaneki now have to face the Gourmet on his own territory.

5) Aogiri Tree Arc - The magnitude of the story changes once again. Kaneki is now sought by a terrorist organisation which will stomp everything along its way to reach their global ideals. While Touka faces her brother Ayato and their morals clash, Kaneki has to go through endless torture at the hands of Jason. Eventually the bird breaks the shell again, and Kaneki raises victorious over Jason’s corpse, now determined to change the world - even if he needs to eradicate all his enemies one by one.

6) Timeskip Arc - Behind the mask of the murderous “Eyepatch” is Kaneki Ken himself, supported by his loyal group. Various ghouls fall and are killed as this self-proclaimed peace slowly engulfs Tokyo. As both the CCG and the ghouls take a breath from battling, Dr. Kanou continues his wicked experiments in the shadows. Until…

7) Laboratory Raid Arc - Kanou is now persecuted by both the CCG and Kaneki Ken. As both parties clash in the cursed underground of the Yasuhisa Manor, Kaneki’s world is shattered once again - the truth as he knows it no longer exists. In a final attempt to make sense of this shattered reality and survive, Kaneki falls into the pit of despair and releases his kakuja. The newly-awakened berserk Centipede devours his way out of the lab, but at a great cost.

8) Disbandment Arc - The dust settles over the tired Tokyo. Kaneki wanders among the corridors of his past and meets with Touka, Yomo, Uta, the manager and even Rize. Big decisions have to be made, and Kaneki takes the vital step towards peace and disbands his peace-making group. The future doesn’t seem too dark now. But fate takes a different twist.

9) Owl Suppression Operation Arc - The chess pieces are all into play, while the chessboard falls apart. Anteiku burns as the clashes between the CCG and ghouls echo through the city. Everybody has to escape the past with as few losses as possible, as the reality shifts, destroying every bit of uncertainty that remained. Kaneki has to meet his sins once again against Amon and the Shinigami himself. The ashes fade away and everything becomes a distant memory…

#Tokyo Kushu #tokyo ghoul re #tokyo ghoul #tk #tg #anime #manga #re: #poll #tg edit #arc #votes #owl #owl suppression #disbandment #laboratory #nishiki nishio #kaneki ken #aogiri #jason #touka #hideyoshi nagachika #hide #ccg #doves #centipede #kagune #kakuja

[sesshomarusoryuha]

Forget Me Not ~ Karren Von Rosewald ~

Due to the aftermath of Dragon, there are 8 more oviducts that have made their way across Tokyo. In order for each oviduct to remain in a functional state however, it has to have a nucleus host inside to keep it active as a sort of symbiotic battery. As seen with Kaneki, the host is presumably given a surplus of RC cells which in return keep them alive longer and reverse their telomere to halt or reverse aging effects. 

Similar to Kaneki's relationship with Dragon, there are likely other people inside of the oviducts that are spread throughout the wards as well to keep them stable for an indefinite interval of time as Kimi stated earlier. 

Thanks to this, it's been speculated that a few characters will be revived in a zombie fashion during this final arc of :re to haunt and judge many of the current cast members so they can grow away from their past and make better decisions in the future. This also correlates with the themes of the 20th tarot card in the Major Arcana, Judgement.

 Upright: Judgement, rebirth, inner calling, absolution

“The Judgement card suggests that you have had a recent epiphany or an ‘awakening’ where you have come to a realization that you need to live your life in a different way and you need to be true to yourself and your needs. You have opened yourself up to a new possibility – to lead a fulfilling life that serves your higher needs and that offers inspiration and hope to others. You feel as though you have had a ‘calling’ in life, and you are getting much closer to the point where you need to take action. Something that was lying dormant within you, some unconscious knowledge or truth is finally being awakened and brought into the light.”

The character I’ll be discussing though is of course, Karren/Kanae Von Rosewald, whom we know died earlier on in the manga. The relationship between her serving Mirumo and Tsukiyama Family subtly foils that of Kaneki and his Aunt. 

Instead of being welcomed into her new surrogate family at the Tsukiyama's and shown proper empathy for her loss, she lived under the identity of a male in accordance to her father's wishes for a heir to carry on the family line since he brothers died protecting her. Thus she sealed off her identity, relinquished her agency to become a servant, and couldn't embrace who she truly was in her newfound household despite simply wanting to be loved and praised.

While it's not painted in the same light, this is identical in nature to the time Kaneki started living with his Aunt but couldn't be himself since she would verbally abuse him to the point where there was no comfort to him living there, and he ended up feeling lonelier than ever when he only wanted to be in a family that accepted him. 

The foil between Karren and Urie is prevalent here since the two lost relatives and were moved to new families, Tsukiyama's for Karren, and the Quinx for Urie, and embraced their professions instead of speaking up about their true feelings. 

This is something Karren successfully tore away from towards the end of her arc when she broke free of the stitching that bound her lips and symbolically regained her agency during the dying moments where she pronounced her love for Shuu while saving him so he could live on, and was accepted for who she truly was. 

Whereas Urie sadly still struggles to abandon his work ethic at the CCG which comes into conflict with him being able to properly speak up and express his emotions and thoughts to Mutsuki. Because of this he has yet to properly support him and discover each other’s pasts, which gets in the way of them growing closer to one another and forming a relationship.

Instead of Shuu living on for the sake of the Tsukiyama Family like Karren had died to achieve however, he is abruptly saved by Touka and Yomo, and greets his father who actually broke out of prison to survive the the raid so he could see Shuu. As a result he treats everything that happened as water under the bridge and goes back to following Kaneki once more while completely avoiding confronting him about everything that took place. 

After flying from the Lunatic Eclipse Building with her body perfectly intact, she was likely scooped up by the CCG to be made into a quinque. Around that same time period though, Aogiri swooped in and attacked the CCG transport trucks that were also holding onto the deceased Shirazu and countless other bodies. 

Since we know his body was moved to Kanou’s lab for experimentation, it’s entirely possible that her body was also taken in the process as well and is likely being used as a host to keep one of the eight oviducts functioning currently.

With that out of the way, guess who made his reappearance in this final arc after being missing since the earlier half of :re during his prime relevance? Mirumo. 

So to make a wild prediction for how her revival sequence will play out.. Karren will lash out and kill Mirumo in the process of the fight since father figures and mentors typically die for their sons or other characters to grow in their absence, which will then result in Shuu being forced to put her to rest.

In the aftermath Shuu will replace him and adopt the mantle as the head of the Tsukiyama family since he previously resolved to live on for their sake during the climax of the Rose arc, and also mourn Karren’s death and erect something to remember her by in return.

This will lead him to grow away from viewing Kaneki as a master whom he has to serve and dedicate himself to as his sword, but more along the lines of a friend and ally.  He also needs to confront him about being responsible for the death of Karren as well as his family associates since he was an active member of the Tsukiyama Family Extermination, and never said sorry or made proper amends for what transpired. 

Something else worth mentioning is, during the middle of the Rose arc after Kanae clashes with Urie, she states "That damn triangle eyed bastard... next time I meet him... I'll kill him... for sure!" but never faces him again after that instance because of her death. 

So perhaps Urie will be present alongside Shuu to aid him against a revived Karren, since he as well lost a family member that he promised to honor but forgot about after the events of said arc. This will hopefully allow him to take ques from her, and develop the ability to express his feelings properly. 

Her brothers Nathanael and Arunolt, who died while defending her during their  escape from the CCG’s grasp bear an uncanny resemblance to both Urie and Shuu, two characters who can be coded as knights symbolically in the manga. This is ironic since in fairy tales, knights are typically sent on quests to slay the dragon so they can unite with the princess, and the two of them will have their own personal “dragons” to defeat later this arc. 

Credits to @hamliet for pointing this bit out, but another nice detail worth bringing up is that Karren's mask after being "Noro’d” via Eto’s Kagune, shares resemblance to Dragon.

#karren von rosewald #tsukiyama shuu #mirumo tsukiyama #ken kaneki #urie kuki #tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul re #tg re #tg meta #tg theory

[kyanitedragon]

Oh man chapter 62 hits different when you read Tokyo Ghoul Past right before it

Kaneki tells this to Rize...

and its pretty clear to the audience that his aunt was lying the whole time, just sleazing money off her sister

and it seems like Kaneki was unaware of it, or at least in heavy denial

But he wasn't.

Because in TG Past, when Kaneki's 15, he directly realizes this...

We even get to see that two-story home in Ch 62

Versus where Kaneki and his mom had lived

#tokyo ghoul #tg past #tg ch 62 #tg #tg reread #aogiri raid arc

[dreamofcentipedes]

Parallels between Anteiku Raid and Dragon Arc

Kaneki fighting an enemy one-on-one underground while the greater battle rages above

CCG battling an Owl

Eto revealing herself from the Owl

Devil Apes and Black Dobers

Ayato sacrificing himself so Kaneki can go on like Hide in Anteiku Raid

Tsukiyama, Yomo and Nishiki who avoided the Anteiku battle are now on the front lines

Aogiri interfering at the last minute (Eto & Naki)

Hide playing an instrumental role, via the CCG, in rescuing Kaneki (from Dragon in this case)

Feel free to reblog with more if you find them!

#tokyo ghoul #tg meta #tgre 175

[midnight-in-town]

“the raison d’être of the Clowns”

Assuming Editor-san’s line is actually relevant this time, I’m just super excited about the prospect of knowing more for different reasons.

First of all, the one who founded the Clowns was Roma, but she also said that...

...the others might not know it was her. Whether she meant Itori, Uta, Nico, Donato and Furuta or small fries who joined the gang, that’s not certain. As a side note, the “grand party” she’s talking about might be referring to the conflict between the second OEG of the timeline and V, since we know Roma ended up being defeated by Tsuneyoshi in his youth. 

Anyway, if the others really don’t know Roma was the founder though, then it may mean that...

the reason they all ended up joining is not necessarily closely related to Roma’s own reasons for founding the gang (which mainly was fearing getting bored), which is logical if Roma actually was the youngest out of them all (not counting Furuta) and even if Itori’s description of the Clowns does encompass Roma too.

Secondly, in the new chapter, Donato said this...

... just before Itori rambled about their group while watching Yomo and Uta fight, and precisely as Kaneki was meeting with Furuta. 

In other words, it’s a perfect lineup to understand what’s exactly linking all of the remaining Clowns and why they finally decided to step forward onto the stage after (what was implied to be) so many years of staying in the background and pretending to be the audience.

In fact, we even got a little hint a while ago that the Clowns had some sort of leading figure who had a plan about Kaneki, thanks to Uta:

And while I'm aware that Uta is a real troll and taking him seriously shouldn’t happen, at the same time, it still makes sense for Uta to have been talking about Furuta in ch31.5.

After all, the Clowns are currently playing for time for Furuta, they helped him overthrow the main Washuu family, they followed his directions during the Clowns’ raid arc, etc, and besides, Roma also said this in ch135:

...which is a direct throwback to the current arc, since Furuta purposely recreated a situation (using Kaneki amongst others) that paralleled what had happened with the Nagaraj 100 years ago because he seemed to have been seeking the same results.

In other words, either the “raison d’être” of the Clowns is directly linked to Furuta’s goal of “super peace” or, more simply, Furuta offered them a way to “keep cracking jokes on stage so that they wouldn’t go crazy”, which is why they’re helping him.

Personally I’d rather buy the latter than the former, even if we’ll see next week, because Uta expressed that he didn’t understand “his boss” more than once...

...which would mean that he probably doesn’t understand the finality of his goal either, so whether there is “super peace” or not, Uta literally doesn’t care. 

Then again it’s logical, since we already know why Uta is in it thanks to ch116 (”I’ve always been quite the reprobate and that’s why I want to stay in the thick of it. Because it’s lonely on the edges”). That’s why he can still refer to Kaneki as a “special customer” and kinda root for him, even if he’s currently helping with Furuta’s plan, because ultimately he’s only after fun.

Same for Roma, which is another example making me think that Furuta simply gave the Clowns a reason to look forward cracking more jokes on stage to avoid going crazy because...

and mostly, we know that if “super peace” is really about Furuta turning humans into ghouls, well, Roma would also give 0 fuck about it:

I’d also say same for Nico for similar reasons as Roma:

because “a society with ghouls at the very center” (Aogiri’s goals) looks to be what Furuta is after as well (if you forget that the toxin in higher rate is also dangerous to ghouls).

For Itori and Donato, it’s slightly trickier. Donato denied being the same as Uta in ch116, because he’s not “as sentimental” as him, while also having a past that’s made of constantly being deprived of what he held dear:

...so whether he’s like the others (cracking jokes to avoid going crazy) or truly looking forward to “super peace” (like V, I guess?) is not so evident, at least to me. Whichever allows him to get “another place of tranquility”, maybe?

Finally, about Itori, she’s a complex one too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if what she said about the Clowns was literally the last shield she had to herself:

...which would mean that every joke is really nothing but a way to counter going crazy out of being tired of despairing. After all, there always seemed to be an existing contrast in her words and attitude, as if to imply that she isn’t sure where she stands:

using Kaneki as a toy to get info vs still giving him genuine heartfelt advice; 

calling the Clowns “the ones who’d watch this play come to an end from the box seats” vs “the ones cracking jokes on stage to avoid going crazy”;

having a mask that’s hinting at a strong/deadly/rampaging ghoul when she was never ever seen fighting (and doesn’t even seem to enjoy it?)

lastly, she was constantly seen drinking in TG and while it might not be alcohol but plot relevant, it could also be used as a sad imagery.

TL;DR the Clowns all have sad backstories, that’s for sure, so when it comes to how their (personal or collective) “raison d’être” aligns with Furuta’s plans, it may not be with Furuta’s goal of “super peace” directly (rather I think that’s V, except maybe for Donato, tho’ I’m not sure), but because he’s providing them with more occasions to seek what they enjoy or feel so lonely about. 

Sorry for rambling, keep in mind that it’s just my take on it and for all I know it’s going to be wrong next week, but still I hope it made sense. I’m just loving these chapters. xD

#tokyo ghoul #furuta nimura #uta #itori #donato porpora #hoito roma #nico #tg:re169 #tg theory #clown gang #pierrot gang #obviously that is if 'super peace' really is Furuta's goal #i mean in ch143 what he said was that he wanted/enjoyed 'living without a meaning' #so maybe 'super peace' was meant to convince V to follow him even if it's not his real goal at all #idk we'll see on monday #plz also note that the clowns going along with Furuta was foreshadowed because of how they all like Kaneki #since Kaneki and Furuta are foil to each other

[murasaki-murasame]

I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to do entire posts about each episode of :re season 2, but episode 14 was really good and I have a lot of things to say about it, so here we are, lol.

It still might crash and burn later, but for now I’m still enjoying it, even though I’m clearly in the minority.

Anyway, the rest will be under a cut since it’ll be long and also spoil the entire series.

In a lot of ways, I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this episode, even though a lot of it technically went the way I expected. Like how they decided to end on the note of Arima slitting his throat. But a lot of the stuff in-between was interesting.

I was kinda surprised that they actually included Yomo’s entire backstory flashback about how Hikari and Arata got killed. I kinda figured they might cut it out, or at least heavily condense it, but they kept it pretty intact. I’m glad they did, though, since it gave this arc some much-needed thematic content.

On a more minor note, I appreciate that the anime doesn’t bother with some of the little things the manga did in order to set up chapter by chapter cliffhangers. In the Yomo-Arima fight in the manga, there was a whole cliffhanger where it looked like Yomo got killed, but that doesn’t really work at all in an anime when you don’t have to wait a week to see how the scene progresses, so thankfully they don’t even bother with stuff like that. On the one hand, it probably contributes to the overall feeling of the fights being less ‘intense’ than they were in the manga, but on the other hand, I very quickly got burned out by the constant, unnecessary cliffhangers in the manga. So this is much more pleasant in my opinion.

The other big change, from what I remember [beyond the fact that this episode just focused on continuing the Cochlea arc instead of swapping between it and the Rushima arc like the manga did], is the stuff with Hide. I feel like I’m gonna need to sit on it for a while to sort out all of my feelings about it, and in general I’m very curious to see how they handle his character later on once he actually returns to the main story, but my immediate reaction is that I think I actually prefer this to how the manga handled it.

As much as I love Hide as a character and basically everything surrounding his relationship with Kaneki, I never actually liked how Ishida handled the whole plot point of how Kaneki ate part of Hide’s face at the end of the first series. At the very least, it was executed very haphazardly, and a lot of it felt kinda clumsy and unplanned, with the flashbacks that Kaneki had to it at this point in the manga being some of the more glaring examples of it. It still to this day bugs me that, in the manga, we never got any clear answers for why Hide knew to find Kaneki there, why he knew to lead him to Arima, why he was willing to let Kaneki eat him, etc etc, and I feel like even once he came back into the story, there was no real impact to it, and the story spent absolutely zero time exploring the concept of how Kaneki’s feelings of guilt would change after knowing that Hide’s actually alive. And the specific way that the initial flashback to the sewers was handled always felt like a blatant retcon in general, and it just didn’t really cleanly fit with how the scene was initially portrayed in the first series.

So honestly I can totally live with the anime heavily changing how it handles this entire plot point. It’s always been a bit of a thorn in my side, so I’m glad they pretty much cut out the stuff that annoyed me the most, and kept the really nice stuff.

And also, I think that the whole detail of Kaneki being suicidal in this arc still makes total sense even without the whole lingering thread of him thinking that he murdered Hide. It’s pretty consistent with Kaneki’s personality in general to be suicidal and want to throw his life away to protect others, so I think it still works totally fine. And it also avoids the kinda awkward dissonance the manga had where the idea of Hide’s self-sacrifice got unironically glorified by the narrative and never criticized or explored at all, but it was used to say that Kaneki’s self-sacrificial attitude was bad and stupid, which still feels kinda hypocritical to me.

I wish the hallucination scene could have been a little longer, but it was still really nice and effective to see Kaneki finally open up about how severely he misses Hide. I still think that it’s a very effective scene even if you remove the context of him thinking that he killed Hide in the first series. Also, the :re character designer’s take on Hide is cute as hell and I can’t wait to see more of him later on.

We’ll see how it goes, but I’m really hoping they change things a bit later on so that he shows back up again a fair bit earlier than he did in the manga, since it felt like by the time he became relevant again, he was immediately overshadowed by everything else going on, and there was no time to do anything with him. So I hope they bring him back into the main cast a fair bit earlier, so they have more time to work with.

I’d actually kinda forgotten about it at first, but I guess they also skipped over Kaneki’s flashbacks to being kept prisoner in Cochlea, and how he lost his memories. To begin with, it’s entirely possible that they’ll just bring it up later, like during Arima’s whole dying monologue or something, but honestly I don’t think it’s a huge deal. It doesn’t tell the audience anything that couldn’t be easily pieced together. It also put an even more overtly off-putting slant on Kaneki and Arima’s relationship. It reminds me a little bit about how the manga outright spells out that Akira is intentionally acting as a mother figure to Kaneki because she was told to do so by her bosses to manipulate him more effectively, but I prefer how the anime cut it out and just let the audience think on their own terms about Kaneki and Akira’s relationship.

Other than that, I don’t think there’s too much to say about this episode itself. Although I did quite like the choice of translating that one line from Furuta as ‘teeth-hee!’. That was pretty good.

I know this post is mostly just about episode 14, but I’ve been thinking a lot over the last week about the writing choices made in episode 13, in terms of how it dives straight into the Cochlea/Rushima arc, and the more I think about it, the more I think I really like it. It’s not completely perfect, but still.

I think people forget that the overall start of the whole Cochlea/Rushima arc in the manga was where the pacing of :re in general started getting notably unbalanced and wonky, and a lot of things just kinda happen or get introduced with very little set-up. For example, the manga doesn’t exactly give much more of an explanation for how the CCG found out about the Aogiri base on Rushima. We just kinda find out soon after the time-skip that they’ve already started their raid on the island. And even the introduction to the second generation Qs was basically just ‘here they are, here’s their names and a few personality-establishing lines, OK now we’re going to do other stuff now and forget about them’. It basically ended up being a running joke that the Qs got more and more unimportant as more of them were introduced.

I’m at least assuming that some of the details like the way that Urie and Mutsuki in particular feel betrayed by Kaneki abandoning them will get touched upon once we properly go back to the Rushima arc, but that’s really most of the relevant stuff that episode 13 skipped over. It was also a bit sad to see them cut the dinner party scene with Urie and Matsuri, but honestly I’d prefer the anime not do anything with Matsuri at all as a character, if the alternative is them handling him as badly as the manga did in the long run.

Also, another important detail is that the manga also intentionally took us out of Kaneki’s head for a while after the time-skip. There was a good like eight or nine chapters or so where he was basically just being moody and we had no idea what was going on with him. So it’s not exactly a surprise that episode 13 also involved us not getting a look into his head.

I also really like that the anime is way more focused in how it’s just showing one arc at a time, whereas the manga was a lot more liberal with how it kept jumping between Cochlea and Rushima. And as someone who was reading the series as it came out by that point, trust me when I say that it was pretty agonizing. This is WAY smoother. To put it into perspective, Kaneki’s hair turns white at the end of :re chapter 75, but after that it doesn’t really return to his fight with Arima until around chapter 82, which ends with Arima slitting his throat. So the pacing here really does feel WAY more satisfying.

It’s also part of why the anime probably feels faster to people than it actually is, since it’s front-loading the Cochlea arc much more heavily than the manga did, and pushing back the Rushima arc to later.

And on that note, it looks like we’re actually going to have a Rushima arc episode next week, which is a little bit surprising, since I thought they would go through the entire Cochlea arc at this rate before going to the Rushima arc. But this is fine. We left off on a pretty satisfying cliffhanger with this episode, so I’m down with the anime shifting to an entirely Rushima arc-focused episode now.

I’m curious to see exactly how much of the arc they cover in the next episode. Considering that about half of volume 8 and all of volume 9 of the manga was focused on it, I think it’d take some substantial cuts for them to cover it all in one episode. The preview/synopsis for it seems to focus mostly on the Suzuya-Kurona fight, and the Tatara-Houji fight, but it also looks like it’ll also include some of the stuff with Takizawa, and at least some of the Mutsuki-Torso stuff. But even aside from that, there’s still stuff like the flashbacks to the time Amon and Takizawa spent with Aogiri, the raid on Kanou’s lab, and the whole scene where Marude assassinates Yoshitoki, so I don’t exactly think they’re going to get through all of that in one episode.

So after the next episode, I suppose it’s just a question of if they can wrap up the remaining threads of both arcs in one episode, or if they’ll need two. I guess we’ll see.

In the long term, I still have no idea exactly how the anime will be paced after this whole arc ends, but either way it looks like we’d effectively be left with seven or eight episodes to adapt the last seven volumes of the manga, so I’d expect there to be some substantial cuts and changes to make it work. Hopefully it’ll work well.

#murasaki rambles #tokyo ghoul #tokyo ghoul :re

[samisnotlegend]

Chapters: 2/5 Fandom: Tokyo Ghoul, 亜人 - 三浦追儺 & 桜井画門 | Ajin - Miura Tsuina & Sakurai Gamon Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise/Nagachika Hideyoshi, Nagachika Hideyoshi & OC, Nagachika Hideyoshi & Ikuma Momoichi Characters: Nagachika Hideyoshi, Ikuma Momoichi, Kirishima Ayato, Suzuya Juuzou, Shinohara Yukinori, Amon Koutarou, Mado Akira, Marude Itsuki, Kirishima Touka, Shimomura Izumi, Kaneki Ken, Arima Kishou Additional Tags: Temporary Character Death, Descriptions of gore, Canon-Typical Violence, TW for suicide-like descriptions, plot important OC, post aogiri-raid arc, Hide POV, Hide-centric, Ajin!Hide au, BAMF!Hide, but also flawed!Hide, Not A Fix-It, Things will get worse before they get better, You've been warned, uses elements of both Ajin and TG, but knowledge of Ajin is not necessary, Romance is very minor, Character Development, Introspection, Hide has a backstory Series: Part 1 of Ajin!Hide AU Summary:

Hide gasped, his heart beating furiously in his ears. He struggled upright, head woozy as blood rushed back into all his organs. With a snap, his chest closed and the kagune slid harmlessly off him, only half the size it had been before. It shattered like glass when it hit the asphalt. Finally, he got his feet underneath him and stood, swaying for a moment. The pain of death and his last thoughts lingered for a second longer before disappearing.

X

Or, Hide discovers that he's quite bad at dying.

#Chapter 2!! #shared sentiments #tg #tokyo ghoul #ajin #nagachika hideyoshi

[linkspooky]

Hide and Saiko: The Terrorists Who Don’t Do Anything

I’ve been suspecting it for a long time, but after this chapter it’s become quite clear.

Both characters are observant of the environment around them, and driven by simple and pure emotions of love. I don’t want to understate how genuine these emotions of love are.

It’s love in both cases, that is their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. 

I know I occasionally float a “Hide might be an ultimate antagonist theory” as a thought exercise but my interpretation of Hide has always been the most boring Hide theory of all, that he really is just somebody who wants to look out for Kaneki no matter what, and his strongest abilities are being a slightly clever and observant kid.

That’s exactly it though, in the realization of Hide as somebody whose in it for Kaneki, not only does the good nature of his character shine, but also his several limitations. This discussion is not to degrade Hide, or Saiko, but rather to render both of them as characters whereas before this point they’ve just kind of floated around in the narrative.

A character needs to have a flaw, in order to have conflict, and then an arc. For all of those people who want to focus on the positives of Hide that’s fine, but his role in the story will always come from his negatives. As if there’s no conflict, there is no story. So for the people who want to see Hide as important, ironically, he has to be flawed in order to be important in the story. 

I think it’s important also that Hide hangs around characters like Amon, Akira, Marude, characters who otherwise are told to the audience they have importance but have yet to be punished narratively for showing a clear flaw and therefore end up doing little to nothing for arcs at a time. It’s my opinion that this arc is there time to shine finally as characters, and therefore be punished as characters. 

The question is then, after spending all this time writing a huge disclaimer about it what exactly do I believe Hide’s flaw to be and how does this connect to Saiko?

“Do I need another reason? He he.”

That is exactly it though, how far exactly has Hide gone for Kaneki? He loves him, so he’s willing to face down Kaneki as a giant red monster in order to try to save him and pry him out of it, yet apparently that love wasn’t strong enough for Hide to do something so simple as tell Kaneki he was alive. 

What Hide says much earlier, is pretty illustrative of his role in things so far.

All Hide has done so far is watch, which is to say he’s acted entirely passively. Even if his intentions were good and wholesome which once again, I believe they are, ultimately his actions amount to nothing. Hide says the reason he went to the Auction was to watch for an opportunity to save Kaneki.

Hide hears at the auction, the sounds of Kaneki being tortured but ultimately does nothing. Other than make a small move in the hopes that somebody else will do something.

Which is where we get the parallel to Saiko, Saiko also hears the sounds of Kaneki screaming from torture over the loudspeakers.

Ultimately though, Saiko does nothing. She hesitates terrified to face Seidou, and yet we see in the same situation that despite the danger from both the CCG and the other members of Aogiri it’s Hinami who moves.

Hinami who remember had the least to gain in this situation. Who was protecting something that did not even remember her anymore as her brother, unlike Saiko who wanted Sasaki to come home safe to her, and Hide who wanted to save Kaneki in this situation.

Utlimately what moves Saiko is not Sasaki’s own pain, but rather the fact that he might leave her. That she might lose her space of refuge in him.

So despite Hide having good enough reasons not to move, the fact that the Washuu were hunting him for one, or that he wasn’t powerful enough to face Seidou on his own it ultimately doesn’t really excuse his inactivity, because we see somebody who did take that risk, and for that fact got punished over and over again for Sasaki’s sake out of pure love for him. Hinami sat in prison for six months because of this selfless decision of hers. Neglected to the point of near insanity and despair. 

Yet ultimately, Hinami is able to do something that Hide and Saiko are incapable of. Confronting Kaneki, which is what happens when he finally comes to see her again.

Which is thematically ultimately what Hide needs to do, not to save Kaneki but rather to confront Kaneki about himself. While Hide’s inactivity did play a role in it, taking the blame for it all and saying that he needed to save Kaneki or make better use of himself is also flipping the exact opposite direction, and not really looking at the situation at face value. 

Hide and Saiko are ultimately characters with good intentions, but their huge fear of confrontation is ultimately what leads them to reinforcing the status quo rather than challenging it.

Hide pretty clearly says the reason why he didn’t want to move was because the Washuu were after him, but Hide also never really took any steps himself against the Washuu, and always relied on other people to move on in his stead. In fact, Hide actually moved against the one person who did a really good job of getting rid of all the Washuu. For the sake of the restoration of the CCG, the thing that every other terrorist group in the manga has been against. 

Which is why it strikes me so odd that Hide and Saiko get referred to as terrorists, because both characters (Hide at least did live on his own for awhile and hide from the law), don’t actually want to break apart the systems that ideally are the one thing terrorists are for.

I mean, Saiko didn’t even show up for the supposed “rebellion” against the CCG that she inspired. She literally slept through it, even though she was the one who was so concerned for Yoriko’s sake she left it entirely up to Urie.

Hide also this arc, showed up not to help Goat fight against the 24th ward raid, but rather to help out Urie, who is somebody he didn’t even know even though he claims his real goal is to be doing all of this out of love for Kaneki. So, Amon and Akira as well, claim that they can be finally motivated to move out of love for Kaneki.

Yet we see scenes in the past where they could have stayed around and helped him, but rather left for their own purposes. So, what exactly is so different now?

Narratively it’s because their back is against the wall, and that is the main flaw. They don’t act, they react. They act with no agency for themselves and therefore only take direct action when someone else acts upon them. 

If somebody punches you in the face, and you punch them back you aren’t the one who started the situation. It’s not a unique character action on your part, most people would react violently if somebody else walked up to them and punched them in the face. 

Therefore there is a clear difference between acting with agency as a character, and simply reacting. Hide and Saiko, and by extension, Akira, Amon and Marude react to this whole situation. They act like they can save Kaneki now, but have little to no self awareness for how they let it get that bad in the first place. It reminds me of “Saved from the Web”.

Saiko temporarily saves Urie, but she doesn’t do anything at all to address the behavior that caused Urie to end up like this in the first place. The next significant arc, we see that Saiko is back to pushing Urie to handle everything on his own because she doesn’t come with him to rebel against Furuta, and we see that’s also the exact same lesson Urie has internalized upon himself. 

Ironically it’s why the chapter is called “Saved from the Web” but we see at the ending, despite Saiko’s actions the web is very much still there. 

So we see again in this arc, characters like Saiko and Hide who still care very deeply for Kaneki but ended up doing effectively nothing to save him from Dragon.

In comparison to Hinami, who was once again able to step up and act at great personal risk and detriment to herself.

She’s the one who ends up totally broken at the end of this arc, while Hide and Saiko are still looking up to things as if there is still hope.

If you take the remake chapter as canon though, it’s also implied that Hide’s fear of confrontation has been a thing with Kaneki since the beginning. The implication is pretty clear here, that he simply watched and let Kaneki go on the date with Rize despite knowing how dangerous it was, because he was afraid of the confrontation otherwise.

So we ultimately have the flaw in their love. Saiko and Hide can have all of the love in the world for Sasaki, but if they’re unwilling to confront him, and only want to love him from afar than their love will never reach him. 

Both characters, who are strong, clever, and observant in their own right, but instead choose to be passive and take orders, or operate almost entirely through others. 

Which means also their own individual characters have not done much, or had much time to shine. If Saiko and Hide want to be able to act on their love though, to save Sasaki and Kaneki, then they have to actually be able to do that. To move on their own volition and not just when things are forcing their backs against a wall to move, and also to actually be able to confront Kaneki, not just face him with 100% accepting love. 

As ultimately, the person they are trying to save Kaneki from now is not V, the Washuu, or even the CCG, but rather his own self. 

Yet I wonder if the characters present around them even have the visual clarity necessary to see that. After all, both Akira and Amon are so persuaded by the thought of Kaneki’s love for Hide, and their own reasoning of wanting to save their friends and yet...

As we’re reminded in Title they’ve completely forgotten about Seidou Takizawa’s existence, their own friend in need of saving. 

If Amon and Akira are the couple in coats in the above panel, (it matches the overcoats they’re wearing here) they’re shown distinctly walking away from both :Re and Seidou himself. 

It’s important to remember that Amon’s already said this sort of thing before.

His entire purpose for those three years was to save Seidou and Kurona, yet when they both save him, Amon completely forgets about them and doesn’t even ask about them when he wakes up. Apparently he wasn’t that concerned for the people he spent three years searching for, once he saved them once.

Now, after running away from Kaneki, once again Amon wants to save him and believes that’s a worthy enough motivation to move. Seidou, thankfully already has a response for this.

Amon waited until Seidou had already killed Houji to save him. Why? We might never know but it’s hard not to suspect that there’s an element of convenience and avoiding confrontation to these timings. Amon picked a point at which he could swoop in and be the hero to Akira, rather than showing up and having to oppose Akira and Houji in order to protect Seidou from them, because they were the ones who were trying to kill him in that situation.

Then there’s Akira and Amon in the current situation as well. They had no interest in helping Kaneki when his goal was to take down the CCG and Furuta for the sake of ghouls, and were happy enough to simply spectate the conflict as if they had nothing to do with it.

However, when it came time to fight Kaneki as a ghoul who was rampaging against humans, a fight where they could conveniently, finally join back with the CCG again one that did not reflect the moral amibiguities that Furuta brought up when he became it’s head, to once again be unambiguous heroes saving Kaneki and Cooperating from the CCG, only then, suddenly do they find the will to move. 

Anyway, I’m repeating myself by this point but I think it’s an important fact to nail down. The love of almost every character in this series is flawed, and despite good intentions the lack of situational and self awareness here in these characters charging in to save Kaneki, is likely only going to make the situation worse. 

Until these characters actually rebel, or move to save Kaneki when there’s actual risk to them and their beliefs, until they start to break the cage, Saiko and Hide, and the rest of Marude’s gang are really only going to be terrorists in name only.

Or perhaps, the terrorists who don’t do anything. 

#tg meta #meta #saiko yonebayashi #hideyoshi nagachika #amon koutarou #akira mado