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kenkamishiro · 5 years

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zakki:re Q&A replies megathread

A translation megathread of the zakki:re Q&A contest letters Ishida sent back to winning contestants!

As far as I know there were 100 winners, though I only have around 40 in this post. There were more on Twitter, but some opted not to release them publicly on Twitter for personal reasons (such as if they asked personal questions). Some didn’t reveal their question, or all of Ishida’s replies, but I’ve tried my best to guess at their meaning if possible.

The ones I’ll post here are from Twitter, specifically if they came with pictures of Ishida’s art or handwritten replies. I’ll also mention some context if I felt that the conversation/topic between the OPs and Ishida was interesting.

If you see one that I missed, please let me know and I’ll update this post.

Enjoy!

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From songbirdfaraway (X):

No question or answer revealed. OP mentioned that since they drew Touka and Kaneki on the postcard they sent Ishida, that Ishida must have figured OP liked them and drew them in his reply.

From mochi_XIII13 (X):

A huge Juuzou fan. OP stated they asked something they’ve always wanted to know from the bottom of their heart for ages, and that they couldn’t stop crying when they got the answer from Ishida. (No question or answer revealed.)

From __rsks__ (X):

OP must have asked how Naki proposed to Miza, because:

Naki: (Oh yeah!) Dunno what kinda pose a “pro-pose-al” is, but I said we gotta be together ‘til we die!!

Miza: You didn’t need to mention that!

From choco__morinaga (X):

The answer was hidden because OP wasn’t sure whether Ishida minded if it was shared publicly since the info he gave in the answer wasn’t mentioned before. Ishida said it was okay to share, but I can’t seem to find OP tweeting anything about what the question and answer was.

Uta: It’s a secret. Just kidding.

From SatoshigeKiya (X):

OP mentioned they sent in a question that didn’t have anything to do with TG, and Ishida’s response:

Soba.

From 00ibushigin00 (X):

No question shown.

Ishida: Correct.

From tsukihoryst (X):

OP asked for Chie’s biography (one of two, actually!).

Hori Chie Birthday: September 30th 136 cm / 33 kg / 21.5 cm Currently on break from university. (Voluntarily on leave.) Hobbies: photography, travelling, going for walks, enjoying drama

Tsukiyama: Little mouse, what are you doing? Chie: I got asked a question.

From Hosaka_0405 (X):

Seems like it was a personal question, so I won’t translate.

From take2129 (X):

OP asked if Aunt Satou, Takizawa’s neighbour who was mentioned in his will, was killed by Ayato? But Ishida stated that it wasn’t Ayato who killed her, just some random ghoul.

From reirei_reina_ (X):

OP was so happy they got a nosebleed LOL. Not exactly sure what they asked.

Ishida: It’s great that I can know about the people who have been reading the series for a long time in this manner.

Touka: Thanks!

From cmnme17 (X):

OP’s question: Please give us more details about Hairu’s hairstyle!

Side: (fluffy bangs) Hairu: Hm...more details…?

Front: Long straight across.

Back: Looks like this from behind.

From go_t35 (X):

Seems like OP asked about the name of a fan club for Ishida based on another tweet of theirs (X)?

Ishida’s attempts: Ishida Club, The 9th Laboratory, Us [Oretachi], We [Wareware], umm? Muscle Lover’S [Kinniku Daisuki’S]. Please tell me of a good one you came up with.

(This is Tsukiyama-level naming lol)

OP later replies to Ishida, saying they were thinking of Sui Sui Club (“club” in kanji).

From 4njo_Usa (X):

OP’s question unknown.

Ishida: No matter how hard things get, don’t forget your goals.

From mishumi_jugem (X):

This OP also asked for Chie’s biography. Similar to the first one, except that she has blood type O.

Chie: Me? I guess I also like seeing drama.

From ChirolMaronLevi (X):

The question wasn’t sent by OP, but by his father. Both father and son are fans of TG (OP grew up reading Jump comics since the father reads them a lot), which amused Ishida greatly. OP is jealous, and his father is smug/happy about it lol (there’s a photo of him holding the zakki:re letter with a glove, with the letter itself wrapped in plastic, with a giant smile on his face).

Also a bit sadder to mention, but OP’s maternal uncle passed away from esophageal cancer. Hearing that his son (so OP’s cousin) has all the TG volumes, OP borrowed the letter from his dad to show to his cousin, which made the cousin happy.

Ishida: Isn't something like that decided at the very end? You're admirable. Please do your best to stay till the end.

From inou_uoni (X):

OP’s question: This is related to Tokyo Ghoul:re. Ihei Hairu has pink hair, but why did you make her hair colour stand out from everyone else’s?

Hairu: Cause I’m cute, of course?

From 3110_mai (X):

OP asked some question about Urie, and the reply:

Urie: Why indeed.

OP is really amused Urie doesn’t know the answer, and it might even be possible that even Ishida himself doesn’t know.

From GW3Q1od9vzXccOM (X):

Funny enough, the preview of the postcards Ishida tweeted shows more of this illustration. (I’m planning on also translating those postcards that weren’t posted by their owners at the end). But it seems OP was concerned about Ui’s smoking habits, because:

Ui: It’s fine, I’ve got strong lungs.

From paralysis_2626 (X):

Seems like OP asked where Furuta’s pseudonym “PG” when he was masquerading as Souta came from. This is what I could salvage based on OP’s multiple photos:

Furuta: Eh, what “PG” stands for? Huuh, is that what you’re asking…? What to do...hmm, alright, this is just between us, but the truth is...PG is [redacted by OP]. What!! Just kidding~ Actually, [mostly redacted, I can make out the parts where OP didn’t blur the text in another image, something about eating bulgogi]. Ahaha!

This is just my personal guess, so take it with a grain of salt. But:

Bulgogi = プルコギ = purukogi = PurukoGi = PG…

OP did mention they were going to get bulgogi after this, so chances of this being right are pretty high lol.

From ute9pmr1 (X):

I think OP asked about what animal Ishida would want to become to relax (for example, OP wants to become a sea creature became they’re drawn to the ocean).

Ishida: If I’m given time to relax someday...I’d keep working as a human. I don’t really want to become an animal…

Ishida later adds in a tweet it’s more fun being a human.

From hare__1127 (X):

OP got back a Houji from Ishida when they asked about hojicha (roasted green tea).

Above Houji’s head: It smells nice. Next to Houji: This is Houji-san.

From re_cord01 (X):

OP was debating whether they should keep it to themselves, but decided it’d be better for them to share so everyone can see (thank you OP, this is personally my favourite reply I’ve seen).

OP’s question: What is Kaneki-kun's life like now? (something small like a simple diary entry...)

Month X Day X

I wake up to the sounds of Touka-chan and Ichika's voices. For some reason, they're excited over some news on TV. I read through the documents related to Countermeasures [most likely something to do with the United Front] , and summarize my opinion on it until noon. Time for lunch. Since Touka-chan went out to the shop, I make lunch for Ichika using the rice I bought. "It tastes better than Mama's," she said, so I replied, "Keep that a secret from Mama." In the afternoon, I think I'll take a short walk with Ichika, and try visiting Anteiku with her.

From Nia__86 (X):

Question or answer unknown.

From OKASHI_monster (X):

Question unknown.

I wasn't prepared at all... If I think about this and that it makes me think, "Ah, I don't wanna do this," so there's times where it's easier not to think about it. It may have been better if I had a "there's all kinds of things huh..." kind of resolve.

From utahira_flour (X):

Question and the full answer unknown. (The postcard on the left is just OP’s message to Ishida about Uta and Hirako).

Uta: Try it out?

From gongon0514 (X):

OP’s question: What is the name of Hirako Take’s Shiba Inu?

Ishida: Kotarou.

From S8OkMMRsYsB7H8i (X):

OP’s fiancee got the reply from Ishida!

OP’s fiancee’s question: Why does Takizawa, when he became a ghoul, begin to hold his fingers in his mouth?

Ishida: Like infants, the reasons can include stress, and suppressing his appetite.

I actually can’t find the OP for some reason, so if anyone finds it, please let me know!

Based on Ishida’s preview of the postcards, it seems like OP asked how Hirako felt when he first got his dog.

Ishida: Something like this. Hirako: …(it’s a dog)

From tacto_0 (X):

Seems the question was personal, and I can only make out something about how once you’re satisfied it will end there.

The reason the mask is in the picture is because OP asked Ishida advice about making Kaneki’s mask a few years back.

From secret_fairys (X):

The first reply that Ishida worked on.

Ishida: I like guys that can win with a hard blow. The weapon is a two-handed sword. Dialogue bubble: I will cut you down.

From kuranosukezemi (X):

I can’t say what Ishida replied to OP since the revealed text doesn’t really say anything substantial, but seems like OP asked something related to the final chapter based on their tweet.

From @S_R_Snow (X):

OP must have asked what Touka named her keychain lol.

Touka: No...since I’m not the kind to name things… Yoriko: She called it Usakichi!

From @rio_080910 (X):

I have no clue what OP asked so the reply doesn’t really make sense. Basically if Ishida has tried doing something.

I never thought about it during serialization. But since it ended, I’m thinking it’d be good to try that kind of thing.

From @Utinni_jawamori (X):

OP seems to have asked a Star Wars-related question since Ishida drew Darth Maul.

Why of course...here. But I also like Count Dooku. Exar Kun symbol.

From @ume__oni (X):

Ishida’s reply was covered up by OP, but OP mentioned in their tweet how they named the onigiri Ishida drew “SSR onigiri”, and that they were thankful for receiving a reply despite their silly question.

Ishida replied to their tweet, and it seems like the question OP asked was about his favourite kind of rice or onigiri since Ishida mentioned something about koshihikari, a type of rice.

From bobriorio (X):

OP’s question: Is there a specific character’s expression that makes you go, “Drawing this face is fun, I love it!”?

Ishida: Something like this broken-looking face, for a lot of reasons…

From nato_noir (X):

OP didn’t mention what question they asked, but probably had something to do with the species of butterfly that appears throughout TG. They also mentioned they started reading TG in 1st grade of junior high, since Ishida addresses that in his reply.

From 1st grade of junior high! I'm happy to hear that. It may look like a "butterfly", but specifically it's a moth called a mock swallowtail butterfly moth. I drew it to symbolize the difference between humans and ghouls even though they look similar.

From Fyt120 (X):

Question is unknown.

Ishida/Matsuri: Even if it cannot be reached, it will be in your thoughts for eternity.

(Why do I get the feeling he’s talking about Urie lol)

From pencil_15 (X):

OP asked about Tatara’s biography.

Now published...!

Tatara (Zhū Lú) [朱鑪, 朱 means 'red' and 鑪 is fireplace, the kanji for Tatara] 186 cm / 96 kg Blood type A Hobbies: Go (taught by his older brother), reading (Takatsuki Sen)

From hachiyone_arai (X):

If you can't stop thinking about the person even though you know it will never happen, that is love. ...according to Matsuri. (I love Urie too.) Urie: No.

From nanasiFAST (X):

Miza: Hm...me? I don’t really rank the things I love.

From Ishida’s preview (X):

Top right - Saiko: Kah!

Bottom right - Maid.

Top left - Nakarai: Recently, Japanese waxwings, I think. (has a rock look to it)

Bottom left - Ichika comic: (you can read here)

I’ll just summarize what I can figure out here since so much of it is concealed.

Higemaru - I think OP asked about how Higemaru ended up working for the CCG because it talks about his history at the Academy and the Qs. Also that Hige really looks up to Urie and wants to keep working with him.

Akira - I think OP asked for advice on dealing with the difficulties with their transfer family, because Ishida suggests using phrases such as, “I see...” or “That’s why~!”. (The alternative is Akira giving Inoue-san (from the transfer family) a Mado Punch lol)

Uta - A personal question, in which Ishida mentioned something about how if OP realized they messed up, and doing what OP needs to do.

Letter below Ui’s - Hide in :re volume 14, huh~ Kaneki also lost his way in OG volume 7 and :re volume 16. [Something about other guys like Naki, and something about how deciding the most important thing is difficult]

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The end! If there’s any other replies from Ishida that you didn’t see here, please let me know!

#Tokyo Ghoul #Ishida Sui #zakki:re #Ishida Q&A #Translations #my translations #if you manage to get to the end #congrats :'D

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abjectaspiringfailure · 5 years

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Touka and Kuzen - contrasting managerial styles

TG 143

I wanted to take a look at Touka and Kuzen through the lens of how they handled situations differently, and how they handled their creations of cafes for their loved ones. It’s well known that Touka’s creation of ;re paralleled Kuzen’s creation of Anteiku. However, Ishida goes out of his way to show the immense differences between these two characters. This difference, and how it came to be, is portrayed in their backstories, and how they carry themselves in the actual story. This post will cover things in both TG and TG;re.

So, to start with, we’ll cover Touka’s backstory. Then, we’ll cover Kuzen’s backstory. Then, we’ll note the difference between these two characters, how it shows in their backstories, how it shows in their characters, so on and so forth.

TG;re 71

Touka’s first encounter with tragedy is at a very young age. Her mother and father are engaged by Arima. While her mother holds them off, her father escapes with her and her brother. The loss of her mother leads her father to engage in ghoul cannibalism and developing a kakuja. Eventually, he ends up running into multiple ghoul investigators lead by Shinohara and Kureo Mado and is captured by them.

There are two versions of the stoy here - according to Yomo in TG;re 71, Arata was targeted for his power. Touka’s story in TG;re 120 is that her father was killing ghoul investigators; there, we learn she laments her father’s decisions, and blames herself for his actions.

TG 71, 70

Touka and Ayato end up being turned into the CCG by the very human neighbors their father encouraged them to trust, respect, and make sacrifices for. Touka is forced to kill one of the CCG agents that attempts to capture them as a result, and they flee.

TG 71, 70

Of course, before he left, her father instilled lessons on Ayato and her. These aren’t the only ones, of course but they are the ones we’ll be discussing. Before leaving, Arata instructs Ayato that he must keep his sister safe. For Touka, he instructs her that she must teach him about life. These are things that parents often say to their children, but it ends up taking on a different meaning for Touka and Ayato due to their childhood. Because of their circumstances, Touka ends up shouldering these burdens herself, quite literally, in the form of Ayato.

Now, lets talk Kuzen.

TG 119

Kuzen grew up completely alone. He never had anyone but himself to rely on - as a result, he ended up killing countless humans and ghouls. He started cannibalizing at a young age not for the reason that many other characters do - loss of others and the desire for strength - but instead because he wanted to live a long life and not go hungry (this is reminiscent of Roma’s backstory TG;re 135). Because of his strength and willingness to kill, he comes into contact with V. V provides him with food, shelter, and clothes, and in exchange, he continues what he’s already doing - killing. Kuzen’s needs in regards to safety, food shelter, and clothing are met. However, he feels unfulfilled.

The hierarchy of needs is not necessarily linear, but, generally speaking, it goes like this: human beings have physiological needs (eg food, water, shelter), safety needs (eg not fearing death), esteem needs (eg a career), social needs (eg love and family), and finally this leads to self actualization (eg fulfillment of one’s potential). Kuzen’s physiological, safety, and esteem needs are all being met by his employment by V. However, he still lacks loving and belonging. He still isn’t reaching his potential.

TG 119

And in comes Ukina, serving Kuzen coffee. Ukina was, according to Kuzen, an undercover journalist. The topic of her current story was V, the organization Kuzen worked for. Kuzen believes that Ukina was unaware of his status, as he was of hers, and that they happened upon one another. Eto provides a different version of the story - Ukina approaches her father because she’s aware he’s a member of V (TG;re 64).

Ukina is the first person Kuzen ever connects with intimately. She teaches him how to read the complex kanji he cannot understand. Through Ukina, Kuzen finds a place of belonging and higher fulfillment. Kuzen gets close to Ukina; she accepts him even after she finds out he’s a ghoul. Kuzen spares Ukina, and they eventually have a child together.

TG 119

Eventually Ukina’s objective is found out. Of course, V cannot let that stand. V orders Kuzen to kill Ukina. He does so, with Ukina’s last words being her remarks about his loneliness. One thing I want to note here is that, contrary to popular belief, Kuzen didn’t leave V. He simply stopped being part of their secret police. He just flat out says this, in much more polite words. That’s what “unable to cut ties” means. That’s why every time he goes to “work”, he’s wearing a V uniform. It’s why Kaiko can just walk right up to him later on in Tokyo Ghoul. There’s a reason why Eto was left in the 24th ward, after all.

This isn’t to say Kuzen didn’t make his own moves against V (such as sheltering Rize from their view), but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a member still. All of the members of V are shown making moves against other members of V - eg, Kaiko, introduced as the face of V, helps Furuta kill the Washuus who are supposed to be higher ranking members of V. Arima and Furuta are both members of V and make their own moves against it. Matsuri also immediately considers members of V to likely be the culprit behind the attempt on his life. V in general is a very Darwinian organization that seems to compartmentalize and encourage, unintentionally or not, competition among its members as is common with authoritarian organizations.

Now that we’ve established these backstories before they began interacting in universe, lets take a look at how these two characters interact, and how they play off one another.

TG 71

There are substantial takeaways from these backstories, and what these characters actually value at heart. Kuzen’s story is a story of loneliness preceding tragedy - Touka’s story is a story of loneliness succeeding tragedy. Kuzen was always alone, but surviving. That is his state of being. It is what he knows. Touka’s situation was always with a family - making sacrifices to protect family, to survive with family. While both Kuzen and Touka ended up alone for a time, their actions and reactions are different.

It’s best encapsulated by Kuzen’s words to Touka after he hears of her and Ayato getting into a fight Tsukiyama, and splitting up once again. Kuzen’s words to Touka here aren’t exactly subtle - he’s not exactly being coy about implying Touka should prioritize herself over Ayato, by noting that fighting for family and food has its limits before mentioning Ayato’s violent tendencies. Kuzen then implies that Touka going for school and working at Anteiku would help her do better with Ayato. This makes no logical sense, however.

TG 71

The tragedy of Touka and Ayato was, from Ayato’s point of view, caused by humans. Arima took away their mother, followed by their father being taken away by Shinohara and Mado, followed by almost themselves being taken away by their own neighbors. They were betrayed by the very humans they suffered for at their fathers request. Touka is not only going to school with more humans, becoming friends with humans, she’s also spending time at Anteiku working as a human waitress, seving human customers, to pay Kuzen back. As a result, Ayato is being left alone, unchecked, and unguarded. Ayato gets upset and ends up running away, causing even greater chaos than he did when he was with Touka, and in much greater danger as a result.

This isn’t Touka’s fault. She’s a child herself in a very rough situations. Children running away from home isn’t uncommon, especially when they’re under stress and they feel they’re unappreciated and unloved, as Ayato does here. That doesn’t mean that he’s actually unappreciated or unloved, of course. The difference between a normal human teenager running from home, and Ayato running from home, is that Ayato’s family, in the form of Yomo and Touka, aren’t doing the smart thing and coming after him. They’re just letting him run rampant. Now, fortunately, this ends up working out for Ayato (YMMV) in that Aogiri Tree takes him in, rather than the CCG, or a rival ghoul gang that was angry at his attacks.

However, this is still the exact opposite thing that Kuzen intended. If it wasn’t for things that Kuzen couldn’t have predicted (eg Tatara), Ayato may very well have died. This is kind of a repeating pattern with him and it goes understated. So, before we go any further, lets go over his and Eto’s backstory again, before we get back to Anteiku.

TG 119

Ishida actually demonstrates how this plan failed, but lets go over this story, because there’s some obvious flaws with it.

So Kuzen leaves Eto in the one place that V will never find her. Inexplicably, Eto just comes out of nowhere, “filled with hatred of the world”, and decides to attack the CCG. During these attacks, she receives a lethal wound. Fearful that V might pursue Eto in addition to the CCG, Kuzen becomes Eto’s substitute and attacks a random CCG base, receiving a lethal wound himself.

Okay, lets start with Eto’s motivation for her attacks. This is only going to be briefly covered, because the Eto/Touka parallels post covers this attack more thoroughly. Eto didn’t just pop up out of nowhere, as we know, she was actively being hunted by V and the CCG to begin with.

TG;re 66

Noroi ended up like Noro because V killed him. Shortly thereafter, as coincidence would happen, the CCG decided to do a “whack a mole” operation where they run into Eto at the specific coordinates they were sent to investigate in the deep section of the 24th Ward. It really can’t be stressed just how low the odds of this are.

TG;re 127, TG 80, TG 95

The Goat base in the middle of the 24th Ward in the D sector was 5 kilometers below the surface. The place they were attempting to escape to by going deeper was E14. Sector F124 is described as being part of the “deep”. We’re not given any reference points, and because V14 was just below the surface, it’s not necessarily linear. However, Eto was still located over 5 kilometers beneath the surface at the minimum.

The 24th Ward is a highly confusing, inconsistent labyrinth that is incredibly hard to navigate. And yet somehow, inexplicably, Marude’s team happen to run into Eto in the deep section they were sent to investigate. The implication here is that V failed their mission of killing Eto, and then tried to follow up with the CCG to kill Eto.

Why do I say the CCG’s battle with Eto occurred shortly after Noroi was killed? It’s simple.

TG;re 62

Noroi isn’t present with Eto when she is attacked by Marude’s team. You’d think that as her protector, he would be. Even Noro isn’t mentioned at any time for the original Owl campaign, despite being a known as a powerful fearsome ghoul of Aogiri. Eto’s also explicitly a penniless orphan right after her rebellion.

This is the first sighting of the One Eyed Owl and Eto cited both her mother’s death and Noroi’s death as a reason she cannot accept V, and Eto’s battle with Kasuka Mado is a parallel to Touka’s and Hinami’s fight against Kureo Mado, wherein Eto plays the part of both Hinami and Touka.

TG 124, 16

Eto didn’t just pop out of the abyss a fully formed kakuja that just hated the world. She didn’t even have a kakuja when she started her campaign, it’s shown as just a kagune. She was provoked by the the world controlling fascists that were intent on killing her and even went looking for her in the place that her father said would protect her from them to begin with. Kuzen knows, even after he “protected Eto”, that V was still pursuing her. We know this because he explicitly says so.

TG;re 71

So, lets move on to the part where Kuzen says he protects Eto. Eto receives a “lethal” wound…

TG;re 61

…that isn’t lethal to a kakuja one eyed ghoul. She literally lost an arm. It’s just damaging her combat ability to the point she was forced to run against multiple special class level investigators with reinforcements on the way. This type of injury is a non issue when it comes to “survival” to someone like Eto, who can, for example, be sliced in half and then chucked off the top of a skyscraper and survive. A ghoul’s regeneration is only stopped when their kahukou is severely damaged.

Then Kuzen takes her place without informing her or coordinating with her, and then also receives a “lethal” wound…

TG 69

And this somehow makes V and the CCG stop pursuing Eto because why, exactly? What changed here? If anything, shouldn’t the CCG and V be more enticed to go after the Owl, as it just received yet another supposedly lethal wound, if said lethal wound was really considered significant to begin with? It’s not like Kuzen immediately stepped in minutes after Eto received her wound and covered for her while she escaped. She explicitly escapes on her own.

Lets look at the logic here from two perspectives, one where Eto is in hiding and the CCG and V don’t know her identity, and one where she’s in hiding and they don’t.

If Eto was in hiding, and CCG and V didn’t know who or where she was, they wouldn’t be able to find her immediately to finish her off anyway. She’s in no immediate danger danger of being attacked as long as she’d not found. In that case, Kuzen’s attack is pointless. Actually, it’s less than pointless - it’s pinning an attack she had nothing to do with on her, and giving the CCG valuable anti-Owl experience to use against her due to the similarities of their kakujas.

If the CCG and V does know who she is, then it doesn’t matter if Kuzen attacks again. This attack doesn’t change the fact that, in this theoretical scenario, Eto’s identity has been exposed. Kuzen’s just getting into another fight that is pinned on Eto and changes nothing.

How does this stop Eto from going on the offensive again and running into V or the CCG? What’s stopping the CCG and V from going after Eto while Kuzen’s faking his attack? Now that Kuzen just ran into some random fight completely unrelated to Eto and received a “lethal” wound, how will he be able to help Eto if she is attacked? The answer is “it doesn’t do any of that”, because we know what ends up happening.

TG;re 86, 69, 52

Arima engaged Eto so close to the time frame that he engaged Kuzen, you can even see that Eto hasn’t even gotten enough time to regenerate her arm yet. Eto was made into a figurative quinque of Arima’s at the age of 14 because Kuzen’s attempt to protect her had no logical way of doing so.

TG 139

Because Arima wasn’t referring to a replacement for IXA here when he said he needed a quinque. Because Kaneki was not literally a quinque he went around killing ghouls with. Arima was referring to a new metaphorical quinque to replace an old one. The old one being Eto.

This isn’t fridge logic, this is something Kuzen should have thought about immediately, and it’s not like he didn’t have time. Kuzen says that he immediately knew that Eto was his child, and consider the description of the Owl campaign.

TG 69

Kuzen had months to think of a plan to help Eto. This was what he decided to do. Kuzen’s plan was liable to fail. It never made sense to begin with in any way, shape, or form to accomplish its goal to save Eto, and so of course it didn’t. Why would it? Kuzen’s not solving any of Eto’s problems - making her feel loved, actually protecting her, giving her guidance.

If it weren’t for Arima secretly hating V and his job, and Eto telling Arima she wants to “fix the world” she would have been killed. Eto survived because of Eto. Lets compare this to Touka, who was in a similar situation with Hinami

If you’re wondering “what should Kuzen have done?” the answer is to ask Touka, who actually succeeded at her goals.

TG 23

I talked above how Volumes 2 and 3 of Tokyo Ghoul are effectively a parallel between Eto, and Touka and Hinami. It’s well known that Touka’s creation of ;re was meant as a parallel for Kuzen’s creation of Anteiku. There’s a reason for this. Lets take a look at how Touka handles the situations with Hinami and Kaneki that Kuzen’s also in, shall we?

TG 16

Kuzen left Eto in the 24th Ward. He tries to do the same with Hinami. Immediately, Touka gets enraged. You can’t just leave an orphaned 14 year old alone in the 24th Ward. The 24th Ward is considered one of the worst places in Tokyo Ghoul to live, let alone for an orphan. Children shouldn’t be left unattended in general…

While Touka’s reaction here (”Kill all the doves”) is an overreaction, it’s an overreaction to Kuzen’s overreaction. And yes, this is an overreaction. What logical reason is there for Kuzen to throw Hinami in the 24th Ward? I think it’s safe to assume it relates to the CCG confrontations that he gives moments later to Touka’s idea of killing all of the CCG.

TG 16

That still doesn’t make sense, though. Because even if he’s not on the radar because of his connections with V, Kaya, Koma, and Yomo are. A ghoul’s face being exposed is a big deal, yes, but the investigators had no knowledge of what Hinami actually looked like, and a simple investigation of his own could have solved that.

TG 20

To clarify this description is so vague as to be meaningless. It’s basically saying “this vaguely child sized person with a clover dress and a coat”. Hinami literally has to change her clothes and survive a few months and she’ll no longer fit this description in any way. In the end, there is a middle ground between these two sides - Hinami stays with a member of Anteiku and they protect her, and that’s exactly what happens anyway.

TG 31

Oh and also Hinami gets a haircut, grows because she’s still growing, and changes her clothes. Because she’s alive. The thing is, this is such an obvious and simple answer to the problem at hand that it should have been Kuzen’s first reaction. Touka’s not realizing this immediately is logical. Touka herself has a history of losing people to the actions of the CCG - her own parents directly, and indirectly Ayato. Touka being blinded by her rage is understandable.

Kuzen, meanwhile, has no excuse. He’s many times her age. He’s coolheaded enough to realize not to attack the CCG, and he’s old enough that he should have experience to realize the flaws in his logic. Again, like with his decision to “help” Eto, this is not a split second decision.

TG 17

As a result of him not doing so, the very thing he was trying to avoid, Doves dying, ends up happening anyway. And the very result he was trying to avoid, vengeful Doves, follows. This is a pattern with Kuzen’s actions. His actions keep leading to results he doesn’t want, because his actions have no logical basis of succeeding at anything he claims he wants them to.

TG 25

Kaneki, Touka, and Hinami subsequently are all almost killed. Kuzen and Yomo eventually show up, but they were mainly preoccupied with Kaneki and in the case of Touka it wasn’t even a last second save Hinami did. Kureo Mado’s quinque was in the midst of being swung meters away aimed at Touka’s head when Hinami cut it off.

All because Kuzen lacked the foresight to think that abandoning an innocent 14 year old in a hellhole was a bad idea. And he really should know better. Kuzen left Eto in the 24th Ward after Noroi died and he got… obvious results.

TG 32

Lets move on to Kaneki’s encounter with Tsukiyama. We’ll start this by making an observation of Touka warning Kaneki about Tsukiyama. This might seem insignificant, but it’s not. Touka’s warning almost worked, were it not for Tsukiyama’s cunning and Itori’s goading, Kaneki would have likely avoided the Gourmet Arc. It’s rather interesting comparing this to both Itori and Tatara’s commentary on Kuzen, where they both make a good points about Kuzen’s treatment of Kaneki.

TG 34, TG 54

There was literally no good reason for Kuzen to not warn Kaneki of the impending danger around him. We know Kuzen’s reasoning here, according to Yomo, it’s to keep Kaneki from getting caught up in the confusion. The problem is that’s already too late. Kuzen already knows Kaneki’s mixed up in V’s business, the CCG’s business, and the Clown’s business, whether he likes it or not. He knows, and decides not to tell Kaneki.

To get back to Tsukiyama, Kuzen’s reaction shows, once again, a lack of learning anything.

TG 40

This is one of the many times that Yomo starts to questions Kuzen’s decision, but doesn’t fully follow through with the thought process. And it’s hard to do so, which I’ll get into later, because Kuzen has many redeeming qualities. But that doesn’t change his downsides. Remember, his inaction almost resulted in three of his people getting killed, and resulted in two members of the CCG getting killed.

Tsukiyama himself literally almost just had Kaneki tortured to death and eaten alive by a group of hungry ghouls. They just finished having a conversation with Kaneki about this very issue. Yomo is clearly worried about Kaneki, and he has a very good understanding of his strength because he’s been training him. This is not stuff that has not already come to pass - this is stuff that has passed.

TG 40

Que Touka, almost as if it’s a joke and she was listening in on them. As if her expression directed at the discussion and Kuzen’s poor decision making, and not Loser. As if it’s meta commentary.

TG 42

Touka picks the opposite decision that Kuzen does, and is in the right. Had she not shown up, Tsukiyama would have likely eaten Kaneki and Kimi, and killed Nishki. You can’t really be hands off when the guy in question is trying to kill one of your people, you know? But Kuzen doesn’t see it that way.

TG 18

You could say that, in a sense, Touka is paying Kaneki back for his own disregarding of Kuzen’s direct orders saving her in the process. One of the patterns that goes hand in hand with Kuzen constantly getting the worse outcomes is of course, characters going against Kuzen’s will and getting improved outcomes.

TG 59

Kaneki’s rescue from Aogiri is actually an example of Kuzen doing the right thing. Still interesting to note that Touka immediately knows she’s going to save Kaneki and makes it known, which contrasts with Kuzen’s malingering on the issue.

TG 124

Kuzen’s stand at Anteiku was also just pointless. He frames it as a stand against V for Eto when Kaiko chats with him, but how does fighting at Anteiku do so? How does this protect or help Eto? How does fruitlessly dying against the CCG stop V from going after Eto? Again, it doesn’t.

Even if Kuzen was going to be chased by V, we know you can avoid them for years with occasional fighting (see: Shachi, Noroi and Eto, Rize pre-Binging). And if you actually want to fight them, there are better means than playing defensive against a bunch of CCG agents protecting literally nothing.

TG;re 140, 65

It’s not like this is like Rushima and Coachlea, where the goal is to split the forces of the CCG to enable a rescue operation. The diversion Aogiri Tree made was an absolute necessity for the success of the Coachlea raid. And it’s not like there are countless numbers of noncombatants who couldn’t defend themselves if Kuzen didn’t fight, like in the 24th Ward. The stand made there was a necessity to stop the slaughter of civilians.

Kuzen didn’t have to fight, and neither did the Dobermans or the Apes. A lot of people just ended up dying for no reason. Anteiku was just a place that could have been rebuilt, which is exactly what the rest of the Anteiku crew sans Kuzen and Kaneki did. It was literally a building, the people inside the building are what mattered. And Kuzen decided they had to die and then effectively blamed it all on Eto. Because regardless of whether or not that’s what he intended, that is what he did.

TG 128

Kaneki is clearly implying that this entire battle, this entire fight is entirely Eto’s fault here, he’s just not saying her name. We’ll get back to this later on, because it’s important, and it explains a lot of the Anteiku/Eto interactions.

TG 130

Now the Anteiku raid itself. Kuzen framed the entire thing as a fight for Eto. He brings Kaya and Koma along with him, but as noted above, this doesn’t actually help Eto in any way. As noted above, if Kuzen just ran away, hid himself, anything, really, there would be no consequences to anybody.

Touka attempting to rush to Anteiku was a foolish move, and it makes sense that Yomo stopped her. The problem is Yomo’s response to Touka’s response. Touka’s the only person in this situation who’s actually shown putting any thought into the situation, and yet she’s being belittled for it.

TG 130

Kaneki, Kaya, Koma, and Kuzen are all on suicide missions for no good reason, hoping that things will work out. Touka is desperately trying to understand, but can’t, because there is no logical reason for this to happen. People are just dying over a literal building. Touka’s objection destroys Kuzen’s argument here about redemption through death and how arbitrary he makes it. Yomo really has no good responses to Touka’s objections here, he just deflected with saying she’s too young to understand the thing that he himself doesn’t understand. He even outright agrees with her.

TG 130

He tries to play off her being confused by a senseless action leading to countless deaths as her “throwing a temper tantrum”. He adopts Kuzen’s policy of inaction once again, even though he feels this is all wrong. He even acknowledges this years later.

TG;re 171

The problem is that he still doesn’t see the pointlessness of Anteiku, here. No one does. Even Nishki and Kaneki were trying to rationalize the battle as Kuzen trying to cause enough chaos that the Anteiku crew would not be found.

“Or how it could have ended without losing Anteiku…”

We are literally shown how to have ended the situation without losing Anteiku, outside of a name change. It’s literally a situation that Yomo himself was in just months before in universe. It’s just that Yomo can’t bring himself to acknowledge the reality of Kuzen’s actions. He somewhat seems to have started to understand it towards the end of ;re, but not quite. On some level, he’s still trying to justify the battle. “Maybe if I had fought in that battle” is just that. The right answer would have been to… not fight.

So, what was Kuzen’s real reason for the battle of Anteiku?

TG 120

I think the answer is the same as it is for many characters in this series. We hear it from Touka, who rather purposefully shares many parallels with both Kuzen and Eto, talking to Kaneki, in an arc that is a parallel to Kuzen’s own. Saying this to Kaneki in the chapter right after Kuzen tells his story to Kaneki, and right before the destruction of Anteiku.

Kuzen didn’t establish Anteiku solely for Eto’s sake. He did it so he could say to himself he founded Anteiku for Eto’s sake. Kuzen didn’t fight the CCG for Eto’s sake. He fought the CCG so he could say he fought for Eto’s sake. He did it for the self satisfaction, a way to soothe the guilt.

Because Kuzen , just like Kaneki, hated being alone. And so he starts doing anything he can to stop from being alone, while paradoxically wanting to die while living as long as he can, like Kaneki did. Anteiku is a parallel to Kaneki’s story as a whole.

TG 126

Just as there’s a reason Eto was hunted down and forced to work for Arima (and yes, she’s forced to; the moment Arima discovered her identity, she has no choices left) despite Kuzen’s “protection”, there’s a reason that Anteiku was destroyed despite Kaneki’s “protection”. Because destroying Aogiri doesn’t solve the underlying issues that cause threats to Anteiku to begin with.

It doesn’t break the bird cage caused by V, it doesn’t solve the issues between humans and ghouls, it doesn’t even remotely encourage that. Destroying Aogiri doesn’t even solve the immediate threats to Anteiku in Tokyo Ghoul - V, and groups that work with them, like, say, the CCG. The groups who actually targeted Anteiku and actually destroyed it, and not just a theoretical that Kaneki proposed in his head.

TG 63

Because Aogiri never intended to attack Anteiku, a few individual members did of their own accord. Think about it this way: If they were intending to destroy Anteiku and kill all of its members, why would Ayato be in Aogiri when his goal is to protect Touka? There’s nothing that actually indicated that Aogiri had any interest in Anteiku outside of just checking out Kaneki’s worthiness as a possible One Eyed King.

Tatara, Eto, and Arima never even intended for Kaneki to be tortured in the first place.

TG 54, TG 75

Tatara actively writes off Kaneki and gives him to Ayato, not Yamori. Ayato, as in the guy who angers Yamori, and who Yamori didn’t want to cross. The reason Kaneki was tortured was’t because of Aogiri using Yamori as a roundabout means to do so (why would they bother doing so in such a manner?), it was because of, primarily, Nico’s extensive machinations enabling Yamori to do so.

TG 58

Kaneki projected Yamori, a guy who has less in common with the average grunt of Aogiri as Kijima does the random grunt of the CCG, onto the rest of Aogiri Tree. Yamori was legitimately hated by the Aogiri members as a whole, this is made explicit on multiple occasions. Yamori also rather explicitly has literally no loyalty to Aogiri Tree. His motive? “it’ll be fun”.

Yamori torturing Kaneki was explicitly treason here, in the sense that he had to commit treason to do so. The only reason that the Bin Brothers didn’t try to fight Yamori was Nico and the oncoming CCG battle. We’ll leave this at that for now. However, it’s made clear that Nico was the one who enabled Yamori to torture Kaneki by stopping Kaneki’s and the others’ escape at every turn and being the one who lead Yamori to him in the first place.

TG 139

The tragedy of the original Tokyo Ghoul wasn’t that Kaneki’s actions amounted to nothing because the CCG’s attack made Kaneki’s actions against Aogiri meaningless, and he decided to shoulder the burden of fighting everyone alone. The tragedy of the original Tokyo Ghoul was that Kaneki didn’t actually protect Anteiku, because his actions had nothing to do with protecting Anteiku. In the end, Kaneki ends up in an unwitting battle against the One Eyed King and is defeated before he can reach his goal of Anteiku. He fought a series of pointless battles against Aogiri, because a Clown set him up.

TG 78

That’s why Nico’s saying all this to Furuta in a chapter called “Diversion”. It’s… literally right there. Eto and Aogiri a diversion for Kaneki from his true goal: being loved and finding happiness. Nico even kind of just outright says they had Kaneki tortured because they wanted to see the changes a human goes through when they enter despair. There is a very, very good reason why Kaneki is always portrayed as being at his worst when he’s going after Eto in both Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul ;re.

They’re mentioning Eto indirectly here, and how she’s not the One Eyed King (Nico lied to Kaneki - not Furuta) to foreshadow quite a bit. The tragedy of the original Tokyo Ghoul was that Kaneki’s actions were meaningless the entire time, that he wasn’t actually fighting the real threats to his loved ones, and he learned the wrong lessons from his experiences.

TG 143

That was the point of this entire scene with the Clowns celebrating at the end of Tokyo Ghoul. Like, they’re even referencing Yamori’s line here. Kaneki went on some random warpath against someone who is mostly irrelevant to his happiness and could have even been an ally to him (like Tsukiyama, or Nishki), who eventually became an ally to him in ;re, but not the actual threats to Antieku. Kuzen is the same as Kaneki. That’s how they parallel. The only difference between Kaneki and Kuzen is that Kaneki was tricked and misled, whereas Kuzen wasn’t.

TG;re 71

Kuzen is completely aware of this fact. He knows his actions aren’t actually helping Eto. That’s the subtext here, even if Yomo doesn’t pick up on it. Yoshimura even lampshading that, more often than not, he gets the opposite outcome than what he wants in his statements here.

TG;re 62

I believe this scene to be grossly misinterprreted. The question I usually see pop up here is “Why is Eto getting so unreasonable here, so ungrateful towards her father?” There seems to be this perception that Eto could just walk in through the front door, that Kuzen would just welcome her with open arms. But there’s nothing to suggest that he would.

TG;remake 1, TG;re 62

This novel Eto drops in front of Anteiku is about the longing for parents, or in other words, a family, while living in a hellish situation. Just look how long he lingers on the novel she drops in front of his door. This indicates the novel itself has meaning to him.

TG;re 63, TG 124, TG 119

Consider that Eto looks just like Ukina. Now consider that Eto makes public appearances and has her novels known around the world. Kuzen even imagines Eto in his mind’s eye during his speech to Kaneki. The implication here is that Kuzen is just as aware of Eto as she is of him. The other implication here is that Kuzen’s lingering on Eto’s novel because he knows she just walked by and dropped the novel as a message to him.

The real question should be “How does Eto know who Kuzen is?”

TG;re 71

The implication here is that Kuzen came forward to Eto. Given his foiling with Touka, and his intentions with Hinami, all point towards one thing: Kuzen’s last embrace of Eto? Wasn’t from when she was a baby. It was probably shortly after she published her novel. That is how he knows V is still pursuing her. That is why she is so angry. That is how Eto knows who he is. That is why Kuzen lingered on Eto’s novel for so long. Kuzen did with Eto the exact same thing he wanted to do with Hinami. Only with Eto, there was no one to tell him “this is wrong”.

Eto started working as a novelist as a 14 year old. Eto was forced to become a child soldier as a 14 year old, fighting a war against V, who controls the entire world, as a 14 year old. Not for her own selfish ends, not for simple revenge, but for the plight of her fellow ghouls.

TG;re 65

And Kuzen’s not helping her, he’s not taking care of her, he’s not taking notice of her, he’s not actually doing anything for her. The opposite of love is not hatred - the opposite of love is indifference. And Kuzen comes off as being completely and utterly indifferent towards Eto’s struggles. Eto’s writing novels about living through hell, because she’s being hunted by V, other ghouls, the CCG, and the only support system she believes she has at that moment is maybe Arima.

TG;re 62

So when Eto walks by Kuzen having a happy fun time with his new family, while she’s suffering alone, when she’s being hunted by V, she gets upset. And it’s completely understandable. She’s struggling alone.

(this image is from TG 125 and TG;re 71)

Kuzen wished for Eto’s embrace, to have a cup of coffee with her. He created Anteiku as a home for her, the name being an anagram of her name and her mother’s name; but in the end, it never amounted to any more than a wish. V was never going to go away without someone to stop them, and Kuzen had already resigned himself to never be able to do anything to beat them.

Therefore, Eto could never come to Anteiku. Kuzen referred to Eto using such terms with fantastical connotations, but simultaneous common usage, such as “wish” and “miracle”. Perhaps that was by design? Because he knew the arbitrary requirements he designed to be met could never be. These words would have immediate meaning to those around him as merely expressing desire; but in reality, they’re acknowleding it’s pure fantasy.

We’ll contrast Touka’s inaction with Kuzen’s inaction, because they’re two very different things. Both Kuzen and Touka made homes for Eto and Kaneki respectively to return too, and both avoided grabbing them and bringing them to those homes. But the reasoning here is polar opposite.

TG;re 42

Touka doesn’t want to bring Kaneki to this home she made for him because by being part of the CCG, he’s protected. The investigators know his identity, and will search him out if he runs away. Being in CCG custody and under their protection? It’s the safest thing for him. Of course, if he does run, he will always have a home at ;re. Touka is actually ignoring her own wishes, her wish for Kaneki’s return, because she thinks this sacrifice is necessary to keep Kaneki safe - because she believes he’s safer without her.

The other part of this equation is, of course, Haise Sasaki and the members of the CCG. Haise Sasaki is just as much a part of Ken Kaneki as any other “personality”. Haise is not something that can simply be removed from Kaneki.

TG;re 121

Which is something that holds to be true. The moment “Haise Sasaki” became “Ken Kaneki”, Akira Mado stopped associating with him. Because names are not without meaning. Memories are not without meaning. The thing that brought Kaneki to Touka, was the thing that took away Haise from Akira.

TG;re 99

And in the end, when V and the CCG does come for Kaneki, even after his identity has been exposed and his face plastered all over television? Touka has Kaneki stay at ;re, fulfilling her promise.

TG;re 124, 123

And Touka is also forced into a situation where she learns there’s an army on its way to her location. So what do she and Kaneki do? They don’t fight a pointless battle they run, sending Kaya and Koma aways instead of forcing them into a suicide battle. While Touka is fond of ;re, she recognizes ;re as what it is: a building. Something that can be rebuilt, an inanimate object. Of course, things don’t go as planned, and Mutsuki, Aura, and the Oggai show up to fight Kaneki.

The violence Kaneki and Touka used here is proportionate to the threat they faced until they can find an opening to leave. Because the important people were sent off. They had already left, because that’s the logical thing to do when you find out an army is approaching your position and there is nothing of strategic value in the place you’re staying at.

TG;re 130

And even when the CCG followed, Touka still stayed with Kaneki. Compare this to Kuzen’s response to V and the CCG hunting for Eto, his teenaged daughter, who’s identity is not truly known by anybody. And hey, even if they come for you, guess what? Touka has the answer there, too. Touka had an objectively harder job than Kuzen at this point, because Kaneki’s face is now being plastered all over the news. Eto is a… relative nobody. V is hunting her down, they’re trying to kill her, but it’s not like her identity is known to such an extent.

Many people recognized Touka’s parallels to Kuzen with regards to ;re and Anteiku, but I’m not too sure I agree with people about what they meant. The reason Touka succeeded in making a home for Kaneki and Kuzen failed in making a home for Eto wasn’t because Eto “couldn’t understand Kuzen’s love for her”, but because Kuzen never made the right decision, and moreover, knew that in his heart. Touka makes this explicit by rebuffing every decision he makes at every level. That’s why she’s a better manager.

That is not to say that Kuzen didn’t make some very good decisions, because he did.

TG 9, TG;re 71, TG 125, TG 71, TG 47

Kaya and Koma were, at one point, violent ghouls who fought others often. Because of Kuzen’s leadership and guidance, they calmed down. They joined him, and became more peaceful. And not just them, but those who followed them.

Or lets use Yomo as another example. Kuzen saves Yomo’s life from Arima, then brings him under his wing. Mellows him out. This is going to be a pattern with Kuzen. Kuzen also saved Yomo’s niece and nephew.

For Touka, Kuzen acts as her father figure and sends her to school. Touka is noted to have “cooled” a lot from this. She established one of her most important relationships here.

For Kaneki, he gives him a family. He tells him, at his weakest moment, he has a place to be. Anteiku is a place of belonging Kaneki discovers when he, as someone who always felt he had nowhere to belong besides Hide, believes he has become a creature alien from both worlds.

He also gives Nishki a way to have relatively moral food. Nishki is also mellowed out by Kuzen’s actions. He becomes far more accustomed to peaceful interactions with others.

It’s just that, if you notice the pattern, none of these good decisions have anything to do with Eto. And indeed, good decisions make people more willing to make people overlook bad decisions. But it doesn’t change the fact that he failed Eto. It doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t help her. It doesn’t change the fact that he got people killed, because of decisions that had immediate, easily seeable answers available to him. But, a reoccuring theme of Tokyo Ghoul is this:

TG;re 159, TG 1, TG 47, TG 98

People really, really, really don’t like to acknowledge the bad. They only want the good. That there is a hidden truth to the world, a darkness, that no one wants to face.

TG 54

It’s best encapsulated by Kaneki’s statement here. Kuzen hid a ton of information from Kaneki - information Kaneki desperately needs. But at the same time, Kuzen gave Kaneki food, a family, counsel, and the ability to do things. Kaneki has very good reason to have doubts in Kuzen, but he writes it off as just his irritation and confusion. Irritation and confusion that was caused in part by Kuzen’s hiding of information from him.

As for why Kuzen treats Eto the way he does? He can say it’s V, but I think it’s more than that. Kuzen has some interesting wording that he uses when he goes on his speeches, pertaining to one thing: “Birth” and its negative effects.

TG 78

He first says it here, relating birth with anger, sadness, death and mass murder. But the best example, the one that gets cited as being “such a good speech”, is the one I want to focus on:

TG 126

“from the instant we are born, we are evil”

His speech itself is in reference to an interpretation to the idea of the Original Sin, which is literally the chapter title. The Original Sin, in the way Kuzen applies it, is the belief that all people are born filled with sin, more or less as Kuzen describes it. This speech itself comes off as kinda cool when you consider how it contrasts with his managerial position at Anteiku, his attitude, and his past, but as Kuzen describe the Original Sin, it’s arguably literally meaningless.

“acts which snatch things away are equally evil”

“life itself means evil”

Kuzen’s statement equates, say, Donato stealing children’s lives with Amon stealing donuts as a child. It’s honestly a really depressing speech. The speech comes off as someone who was forced to kill countless people to survive, and then willingly killed countless more at the behest of a conspiracy, attempting to justify themself. A conclusion so meaningless that “death squad member” is equal to “newborn baby”, which is literally the point, because he’s clearly trying to rationalize his treatment of Eto here with this philosophy.

TG;re 63, TG 119, TG 1, TG 70

Both Eto and Kaneki greatly resemble Arata and Ukina. Kuzen’s killing of Ukina is the darkest moment of his life. It is, quite literally, the only time that we ever see Kuzen shed a tear - that we ever see Kuzen truly express vulnerability to such a level. For Touka, this is a reminder of the good times she had, the more simple times. The time she spent with her father was special to her. Touka has positive memories of her father, who kept his darkness hidden from her; Kuzen has negative memories of Ukina, who he was forced to kill. The resemblances carry emotions that are completely contrasting, and further explain Kuzen’s avoidance of Eto.

“I know that I am ‘evil’, and so are you“

Based off of what Kuzen’s wording here and his mind’s eye view of a “violent ghoul”, he associated Eto with death, with destruction, with evil.

TG 40

Because when he’s describing a ghoul committing senseless murder, he’s thinking constantly of Eto. Eto’s body language actually contradicts his descriptions of course, showing immense stress. This is honestly just Kuzen projecting, which you realize in chapter 119, because he’s describing himself when he was younger and thinking of Eto. He’s literally seeing the worst of himself in Eto. And Eto also sees the worst of Kuzen in herself. That’s part of the reason why she wrote the Black Goat’s Egg.

Kuzen’s rebellion, in the form of the Battle of Anteiku, did nothing that couldn’t have been done better. No one ever got the chance to directly call Kuzen out for what he did, to try to get him to reconsider, Touka being the only one who even considered it, at least not in a way were it was trying to justified his actions. He staged this massive battle that legitimately served no purpose. All because, ostensibly, “for Eto”.

TG;re 86, TG;re 52, TG;re 69

The One Eyed King plan is something that has a limited time table to complete. And if Eto doesn’t do what Arima says, then he could force her to become the One Eyed King by attempting to fight her and killing himself like he did against Kaneki. Which is something Eto doesn’t want, because she thinks everything she touches dies. Because she thinks she’s toxic. I went over this in the Eto’s novels post, but the Black Goat’s Egg is basically about Eto’s self loathing and belief she’s toxic.

TG;re Vol 5 poem, Black Goat’s Egg excerpt

TG;re 74

There is some inference here, essentially the idea that Arima gave Eto the same choice he gave Kaneki when it came to Touka - it’s not explicitly stated, but there’s some hints. I understand there’s the idea that Kuzen and Eto made no attempt at reconciliation, and that’s actually understandable. But… I’m pretty sure the subtext is they did, because the literal text is that she’s bothered by his passing.

TG;re 65

Furuta brings up Kuzen here, and the death of those around her because of her actions. Something that really grates on Eto. Eto has no real response to Furuta’s points, because these things actually bother her, which is why she just responds with “I’m on the size of the weak, you’re on the side of the strong”. It’s a deflection about

Eto is planning on dying here to atone for her sins. She doesn’t think she’s someone worth living, worth saving. That’s why she smiles in the same manner as Kaneki after making a request for someone to do something they’re already planning on doing, for Kaneki asking Urie to save Mutsuki, and for Eto asking Kaneki to fight Arima. Eto is actually paralleling Kaneki throughout his “Reapernki” and “Shironeki” phases, and these parallels run back 13 years.

TG;re 68, 55

You’ll notice there was an awkward pause here from Eto that went completely overlooked during this conversation when Kuzen was mentioned by Kaneki. This isn’t her being angry. This is her not having anything to say when he immediately brings him up, the rest of her conversations with Kaneki being constant quick witted banter (that devolves into mentally ill rambling shortly after this, but).

This awkward pausing is actually repeated later, with Eto’s human father figure, Shiono. An awkward pause, followed by a joke. These scenes aren’t a perfect parallel; but they’re rather close.

TG 99, TG;re 119

There’s more hints of course, and it relates to Rize’s treatment by Furuta. You can actually see Rize here and the immense agony she is clearly in. This is a clear cut indication that Kanou donors aren’t given any type of pain supression system, and that more over, they’re fully aware of their surroundings.

Why is all of this relevant?

TG 143, 124

When you cut to Kuzen, if you look closlely you’ll notice that he’s smiling. And it’s in a panel that was paralleling an earlier panel, where he’s miserable when talking with Kaiko (with the panel mentioning Eto’s existence is a betrayal of V), but smiling next to Eto. Pretty hard to do when your body is hooked to machines and being harvested, right? The idea that the last panel we see of Kuzen was drawn this way for no true purpose seems rather unreasonable, no?

You can’t peacefully smile in immense pain like that. But you can if you’re not in immense pain. Kuzen would logically be on painkillers here, and since Kanou didn’t do this for Rize, it would logically be at Eto’s request. Is that a good ending? No. And this also doesn’t excuse what Eto did here. I think that will probably be hard to swallow given the general assumptions surrounding Eto, but I didn’t agree with the idea that Eto didn’t care for her father, because her actions towards him don’t make sense otherwise. I’m also not sure how else someone going through a painful procedure would smile and be completely asleep outside of painkillers.

TG 99

It further explains why Furuta knew to use Kuzen against Eto. If Kanou knew Eto cared about killing Kuzen, he would have probably mentioned that to Furuta. Kanou and Furuta were consulting constantly. Kanou knew, back when Kaneki confonted Kanou in his lab, that Kuzen and Eto were related by blood. Kanou had been aware of Kuzen and Eto’s relationship from the beginning.

To get back to Eto, the problem here is that Kuzen’s speech, his entire rebellion against V, is being framed as for Eto, but because how horribly he pulls it off it ends up being against Eto. Because no one actually benefited from the Anteiku battle outside of V; it was demonstrably meaningless in its objectives. But in the end, it wasn’t meaningless to the people it left behind.

Because everyone who survived Anteiku? They all worshiped Kuzen. And Kuzen just staged this massive fight, which meant nothing and did nothing, while framing it as for his daughter who they don’t know. The daughter they’ve been told is a horrible monster. The daughter they believe was the one who was being unreasonable, when Kuzen was the one who decided they could never be together. The daughter who objectively had no control over Kuzen’s actions at any time, but is being blamed for them regardless.

TG;re 75

Eto, of course, ends up saving the Anteiku crew from certain doom not once, but twice. It should be noted that Eto jams up the machinery here befoorehand, too, so even if she fails to manifest her kakujja, the Anteiku crew won’t die.

TG;re 75

And rather than trying to seek understanding or reconciliation they just. Don’t. Ever. Because there’s good reasons to have blood between them, but there’s… no attempt at understanding. Eto sincerely attempts to help them here. She is the only reason they are alive.

The idea she might be saving them because she’s keeping a promise, or she’s trying to help Hinami out, or they’re her fellow ghouls, or she’s Kuzen’s child, and therefore helping out family, doesn’t even enter into their mind.

TG;re 175

They don’t do much of anything both times, there was a refusal to even acknowledge her the second time. She actually shatters the Kuzen quinque, here, too. That’s how they were able to win against Kaiko, because he lost his SSS rated quinque that allowed him to effortlessly dominate them. They were about to be killed by Kaiko, and she’s objectively the reason they’re alive, and there’s a refusal to acknowledge her.

There was a refusal to even acknowledge her existence for the last 80 chapters. They’re literally doing the exact same thing that Yoshimura and Arima did to Eto. Well, except one person:

TG;re 129

#tg meta #tokyo ghoul #Touka Kirishima #kuzen yoshimura #ken kaneki #Eto Yoshimura #ayato kirishima #Renji Yomo #shuu tsukiyama #Arima Kishou #haise sasaki #Akira Mado #hinami fueguchi #Rize Kamishiro #Nimura Furuta #uta #itori

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ichirukilover · 6 years

Note

Lmao and rr and ih love to say that ir are the shitty ones. Honey who are the ones harassing the tg fandom and accusing a mangaka of ripping off an other manga? Who are the ones who think the world revolves around bleach? I feel bad for those who have to deal with their bullshit.

Anon I actually thought they were trying to use TG popularity to join them with their hell spawn and try to make her more likable, like they did with the Nardo fandom they wanted to connect IH with the canon couple and use their popularity to be more relevant but they only started ship wars with them too since no one gives a shit about ih. Now I have read they are accusing the mangaka of copying Bl/each? Ku/bo? They are bothering TG pages over it? I mean are they for real??? All this over a name??? That has not even the same kanji and it’s a really popular name??? WTF is wrong with these people??? They should be kicked out from the internet once and for all, they are always the same pests.

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holycow99 · 3 years

Text

石田お寿司 12/9/21 stream translation Part 3

This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.

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(t/n: ** means translation may not be accurate.)

C: Did you become high after finishing the manuscript?

I: Nope. I was drinking soju just now.

C: I can’t resist ikemen.

I: Aren’t all ikemen super good-looking? This might be bias, but I think there are more beautiful women. They’re oozing with feminine beauty, like their skin texture. I think women are more beautiful, and they have high sense of beauty. Aren’t beautiful guys rare? That’s why, you’ll easily get attracted to these people.

C: I understand what you’re saying. Women are all sexy.

I: No, you don’t. I never said anything about women being sexy.

*Someone commented about them getting bored of looking at beautiful men & women after a while.

I: I don’t think so. I think a beauty will always be a beauty. Handsome guys will also always be handsome as long as they take care of their appearance.

C: I won’t get tired of looking at beauties, but I won’t even look at uglies.

I: What a harsh thing to say. You won’t even look at uglies? This might turn into a topic about appearance discrimination. Well, we are not born equal. Humans are living creatures that are greatly influenced by our genetics.

(t/n: The answer below may be offensive to some people. Please be aware that everyone holds their own beliefs, so please be respectful. Do not throw hates on Ishida Sui you disagree with him. Thank you.)

C: I want to fight against my genes.

I: Everyone’s the same. Aren’t we here living for that reason? Fighting against genes and death. We fight against our genes and traumas. We battle against death, though we’ll surely be defeated. Lately, I think women are enemies of men and vice versa. This happens during break up as well, but men and women are battling each other. By that I don’t mean just by clashing head-on. Being together and understanding each other are a battle itself, in my opinion. I just think that men and women are enemies. I don’t mean that we can’t understand each other. Men live to conquer women, after all. That’s why I think we’re battling against our opposite sex. People who wanna be popular are fighting too. The men wanna appeal towards women. Of course, there are battles among men themselves. For women, they’re dealing with all sorts of things, such as protecting themselves from men or put up with the absurdity of men. Men and women are different, so I think we can’t help but to fight against each other. It’s our destiny.

S******: The progression from Tagame Gengoroh’s topic to this topic is amazing.

I: That’s right. We started from talking about Tagame Gengoroh to talking about this. We diverted from talking about Tagame Gengoroh, and now we’re talking about how men and women are born to conquer each other. This applies to both non-masculine men and non-feminine women too. It’s about fighting against gender.

C: I have a lover, but I don’t remember ever fallen in love. Is it strange?

I: It’s not strange at all. You might’ve been raised like that. It’ll be tougher for you if you keep on thinking about how strange or weird you are or that you need to fit in with your surroundings. I think it’s better if you can slowly accept yourself.

C: My ex-girlfriend had an arm fetish.

I: ‘My girlfriend had a breast fetish. What do you mean? Wait, it’s actually arm fetish! Hahaha! (t/n: Ishida misread the kanji for arm.) It sounds like I’m the one who has breast fetish.

C: How about a love counselling session with listeners for 30,000 subscribers’ commemoration?

I: That’s a good idea. It doesn’t have to be about love. I’ll answer questions from subscribers.

C: How about doing ‘100 questions to Ishida Sushi’?

I: I see.

MM: On the contrary, don’t you have questions for us?

I: Are you provoking me to?! I’ll pin this comment, since it’s funny. Let’s expose this comment. What the hell is wrong with you?! I don’t have one! Who cares?! Hahahaha. What a hilarious thing to say. I’m gonna expose you. I’ll let everyone see your comment until the next ridiculous comment appears.

I: When I was playing Ghosts n’ Goblins, there’s one person who sought my love advice. She’s dating with her childhood friend and they couldn’t converse properly through chat. I told her not to then. Surprisingly, she’s really asking for advice. It’s actually a real problem. She probably had someone she could talk to. It didn’t have to be me. I found it funny how I answered that question as I liked.

*Someone suggested to him to ask the fans questions.

I: Did something good happen to you guys recently?

C: No.

C: I cut my hair.

I: That’s nice.

People in the comments: No good things happened.

I: Isn’t this bad?

C: I went to Disney Land.

*Ishida reading people’s answers.

(t/n: It sounded like he’s rapping.)

I: There’s too much to read. If you ask me questions, it’ll end with me answering them. If I ask you guys, I’ll receive a lot of responses.

*Continue reading answers.

I: Isn’t this good? It means you guys have good things happen to you. That’s all for my question.

C: Do you believe in fortune-telling?

I: The only things I believe in is Shiitake Uranai. (t/n: Shiitake Uranai is a fortune-telling by Vogue Girls.)

C: Have you become interested in us?

I: Well…

C: This stream won’t end until Ishida Sui sensei ask 100 questions to us.

I: I see. I can, but I’ll just ask the questions. I don’t have that many questions though.

C: Are you a virgin?

I: Yes.

C: Tell me to go to bed early.

I: Go and sleep.

C: Sensei will ask us questions half-heartedly, so it’ll end quick.

I: That’s right. I’ll only ask questions.

C: Why is Shiitake Uranai so accurate?

I: It’s designed to be applicable to anyone as much as possible. And people only look at the part which only applies to them. So, they think it’s accurate.

I: I totally understand how you guys feel. Everyone must be feeling anxious every day. You’re anxious every day, but if you can find a small happiness in it. And then, everyone, for example, usually likes to hang out and having fun with their friends, but there are times where you wanna be alone. Aren’t you this type of people? Then, you also have dreams you’ve been thinking about for so long, but you can’t tell anyone about it, and you’re not confident whether you’re capable of realising them. You have these kind of worries, but you still pursue them because you think there might be something special out of it.** Aren’t you guys like that? Did I hit the bull’s eye?

(t/n:**This line may not be accurate.)

C: Just like you said.

I: Right? That’s why, people are convinced the fortune-telling is accurate because it predicts things that can be applied to anyone.

C: You’re wrong.

I: What a strong statement.

C: Are there people who aren’t like that?

I: It’s okay if what I said doesn’t apply to you. In conclusion, fortune-tellers are people who are able to skilfully put together all these ideas.

C: You completely missed the mark.

I: Really? Then, you must be gloomy even when you hang out with people, you don’t even have a dream.

C: I didn’t listen to it all.

I: Go away! Hahaha. Go listen again.

C: Before you started streaming, I thought you had a very strict personality.

I: How should I put it? I think I do have a strict side, but don’t act as if you know me. Hehe. If we talk alone, then you’re probably right. Let’s have a conversation together one day.

C: Have you written a one-shot before debuting?

I: I probably had. The TG one I suppose.

C: A question for foreigners.

I: Do I have one? What’s your favourite colour?

C: I’m thinking of sending letters to you.

I: Send it. I’ll read.

C: I like Chimpanzee. (t/n: This comment’s in eng.)

I: I never asked about that.

*Someone commented about fan letter.

I: I do receive and read them. I read all the letters.

C: Have you watched Demon Slayer?

I: I read until the 7th volume.

C: Are the letters we sent go to Shueisha?

I: Yeah. To Shueisha, then they’ll send them to my house if you submit it to Young Jump.

C: Why you don’t say anything about TG manga or anime?

I: I have my own reasons.

C: Do you play social-networking games?

I: Nope.

I: Can’t we just have an idle talk? (t/n: He probably said this because there were questions he’s uncomfortable with.) Maybe we’ll stop here. We’ve been chatting for an hour and a half.

*Someone commented about fan letters.

I: If you submit your letter to Shueisha’s Young Jump, it may get delivered.

*Someone commented about Dandadan.

I: I read the first chapter only. I thought It was good.

*Someone commented about the time Ishida fought against his fans in Smash Bros and got beaten up.

I: That was a shock.

Part 4

#ishida sui #tokyo ghoul #jack jeanne #choujin x #chojin x #ishida sushi channel

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hidewari · 7 years

Note

Those three dots look like a 松浦三つ星 (The design of 3 stars). I found some info on one page and if I understand correctly it says that this 三星 is a star of a general and it's a star of "winning the fight". Also this might not have anything to do with this but 三星 looks like a 三星堆 which in Chinese you read it Sānxīngduī; literally: "three stars mound" and it's an ancient Chinese civilization that mysteriously disappeared (probably was destroyed).

I looked into this and I did find something very interesting.

All the pages I could find with info were in Japanese, and Google translate wasn’t being a big help, but I think I figured out what what you’re talking about is. I think it’s the crest of the Mōri clan, which was a Japanese clan founded around the thirteenth century.

I think it’s interesting to note this about the family tree; the naming patterns of the Mori clan appear to be somewhat reminiscent of that of the Washuu, at least to some extent. These three samurai each have “chika” in their name. Chika is, of course, not only a component of Hide’s name, but was also the name that Yoshitoki Washuu went by in his youth.

Not sure if this is of relevance, but Mōri Tokichika’s son, Mōri Sadachika, was supposed to succeed him as head of the clan, but they were both killed. That sort of reminds me of what happened with Yoshitoki and Matsuri, although, Matsuri is thought dead rather than actually being dead.

Interestingly enough, Mōri Tokichika’s name (毛利時親) uses the same kanji as Washuu Yoshitoki’s name (和修吉時). In the context of Tokichika and Yoshitoki, “時“ is pronounced “toki,” however, it can also be pronounced “chika,” as we see with Yoshitoki’s original name; Washuu Chika (和修時).

This page seems to have the most information, but it’s all in Japanese so I have no clue what it actually says, however, I did notice something on the page that piqued my interest; this name.

A quick Google search is enough to tell you that 豊臣秀吉 is Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Every time I’ve made a post about Samurai clans’ significance in TG, his name seems to pop up. So I went to check out the wiki to see if I could get any more info on how Hideyoshi was involved with the Mōri clan.

Basically, during a war with the Oda clan, the Mōri aided the Ikkō-ikki clans (mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles who rose up against daimyō rule in 15th- and 16th-century Japan) by establishing a trade route between each other’s docks and harbours. The Oda pretty much fucked everything up by attacking their trade ships and attempted to destroy the Mōri fleet (but they failed). Some not very interesting stuff happened and the Oda essentially destroyed the Mōri naval threat after their second go.

The head of the Oda clan was Oda Nobunaga. He was a powerful daimyō and attempted to unify Japan during the Sengoku period. He’s regarded as one of the three unifiers of Japan, the other two being his retainers, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

#Anonymous #tokyo ghoul #hideyoshi nagachika #theory #analysis #my analysis

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midnight-in-town · 7 years

Note

Good evening! About that picture with Itori, Kaneki, "Uta", and Eto, you mentioned in the tags that Itori might have all 4 Kagune types like Rio, do you think they're possibly related somehow? Also what are your thoughts on Itori overall, she's pretty mysterious but there's one small detail that's been bugging me about her. Her bar is called "Helter Skelter", plus the mole on her breast and her knowledge of Hybrid birth when ironically Touka has a mole and is going through birthing..

Hello Anon and thanks for reading. :) Please check her tag for more posts about her because I’m literally addressing all of your questions in the very first page of her tag so far. Here’s a quick mad summary tho:

Shikorae = Rio

Rio’s brother maybe = Scarecrow = Hide? (crack theory)

Roma = Itori’s “protégée” and Roma = 50+ years old

=> so maybe Itori is older than she looks which would go with her introduction when she yelled that she was an old lady (joke or not?)

similarly Yomo couldn’t answer Kaneki when he asked ‘what kind of person’ Itori was and Yomo “doesn’t understand jokes” according to Uta, which is making me highly suspicious of her

no real idea whether Itori is blood-related to Hide, Rio or the kids in the 24th ward, but Itori’s mask has the 4 deck symbols (and each symbol = one kagune type in the TG trump cards) and 3 dots:

Rio has 4 kagune types

Hide and the 24th ward kids have the 3 dots

Roma probably came from the 24th ward as well

so maybe she’s a mentor figure to kids from the 24th ward, if she’s not blood related to Hide, Rio and/or the 3 kids Ayato found?

in that case she might be the Witch to Hide’s role of the “Witch’s servant” in that childhood play with Kaneki, which would also fit because he’s very good at collecting info

also she knows a lot about hybrid pregnancies, looked sad (?) while speaking about it and the cover of TG ch34 may depict a funeral for someone close to Itori

maybe she lost some of/all her own hybrid babies??

thus maybe that’s why she’s the mentor/older sister figure of kids who were originally from the 24th ward? => they become a part of her information network

I’m personally hoping she’ll have a role to play towards Touka’s own hybrid pregnancy

Please go read @eto-when-and-where‘s post: In The Penisman by Sensei, Itori’s lookalike was the mother of Hide’s lookalike

((and also she was the wife of the Penisman I think??? which is super funny because Uta once ate a dick in canon and ’you are what you eat’ lmao => /!\ be careful, with Ishida I can’t be sure that it isn’t actually going to become relevant at some point))

Here’s a breakdown of Hide’s name:

“naga” => link to the Nagaraj?? who most likely has a link to the Washuus?

“chika” => link to Washuu Yoshitoki’s real first name (”Chika”)??

“hide” => nah nothing

“yoshi” => link to the kanji (same reading) that every Washuu director add to their given name (Chika => Yoshitoki, Nimura => Kichimura)??

so if Hide somehow is blood-related to Itori, then maybe his dad is Washuu Yoshitoki?? Or Itori is just a mentor figure to some kids from the 24th ward like Hide could be.

There you go, pick up whatever crack theory you prefer LMAO! As I said 10 days ago, it’s really just thoughts at the moment, nothing can be certain, but for now I’m personally more rooting for a symbolic link between Hide and Itori (her being an older sister/mentor figure and teaching him how to gather info), rather than a blood relation.

Have a nice day. ^^

#tokyo ghoul #itori #nagachika hideyoshi #hoito roma #uta #yomo renji #rio #shikorae #washuu yoshitoki #24th ward #tg theory #anon #answers #my analysis

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arimayusa · 7 years

Text

thoughts on the tokyo ghoul movie

so I saw it yesterday and woAH the movie was amazing, but I ended up knocking out before I finished typing up all my thoughts, but now that i'm done with all my work for today, it’s time to post my opinions about the live action tg movie!! :D

(this is really long and includes a bunch of spoilers about the movie so it will be under the cut)

Masataka Kubota is an awkward adorable dork, case closed & Hide was really well casted too!

his cheerfulness and loud attitude really emphasized how opposite and introverted Kaneki is in comparison

I was happy to see that Kaneki’s desk was littered with books (like a crap ton of books), basically mplying he was a literature major without actually stating so + showing his love for books

SEN TAKATSUKI!!!! (sadly she wasn’t there but at least her name was mentioned)

omg Kaneki had such a stupid grin after looking at his calendar marked with "date with Rize"

only noticed it cause I saw it at the TG cafe, but Kaneki had a picture of him and Hide in elementary school taped on the top of his desk

the whole date with Rize was super awkward (especially the pasta part lol) but I think it created a strange (in a good way) tone leading up to the surprise of Rize’s reveal

omg the actress who played Rize was so good too :0 like the the shift in the pitch of her voice from shy and cute to the deeper, sensual one like in the anime when she revealed that she was a ghoul was so gooood

pretty sure the two people I went with were weirded out by how much I was giggling as Kaneki got flung around like a ragdoll by Rize

I thought the funeral scene was a nice touch, showing how Kaneki's been alone for so long (except for Hide of course)

Hide's drawing of a ghoul from the manga was still included even though it didn’t happen in Anteiku in the beginning (instead it was by on Kaneki's Campus notebook which was also on display at the TG cafe)

when Kaneki hallucinates Rize in his room, her shadow was a centipede on the ceiling!!!

that was a neat reference thrown in for the fans since we don't make it to Aogiri arc in the movie

that was one of the many things that only manga readers would've understood (which made the movie even more fun for me since that means if was made with that intention and care)

askdflkef when Touka threw cake at Kaneki after getting pissed off I was just like "lmao he's gonna get you a cake for your wedding later you know"

once again, of course Nishiki was perfect casting

I laughed a little too hard when Kimi was embarrassed & Nishiki kept staring at her chest with a blank stare while Hide and Kaneki just kinda stood at the door to his room

the Kaneki licking Hide's face scene™ was so funny (there’s all the Hidekane we gonna get y’all)

one thing that was real cute (cause it happened several times throughout the movie) was Touka telling Kaneki that he was an idiot and to stop crying and after the 1st time (when he learned he could drink coffee), Touka started saying it in a teasing tone rather than an angry one

the scene where Mado and Amon were introduced was actually pretty intimidating, it was right after they killed Hinami’s dad and Mado had Amon smash the ghouls hands with a rock that got bloodier as he continued (luckily the hand was off screen) in order to open

Amon's actor whoo boy (even my mom thought he was hot lmao)

oh my the scene where Mado held up the donut and asked "can you fall in love with this,” Amon was just staring at the donut (but we all know he was nodding inside guys)

(ok now this is me writing the day after aka today and I'm already forgetting the order of certain scenes so this may be slightly out of order rip)

Yoriko was so cute!!!! her actress was really pretty I wish we saw more of her...

I thought the food scene was kinda awkward though since it's wasn't at their school, but it was funny when Kaneki asked to have some too and Touka wouldn't let him have any

I was trying to look for Touka's bunny charm but I didn't notice it!! I did see something on Yoriko's bag though???

the “shuu” kanji scene was done a little differently but I liked it more

lol Hinami first asked Touka how to read the kanji but she didn’t know (because Touka-chan is bad at Japanese) so Kaneki explained

then Touka was just like "haha yeah that's it" pretending that she had just forgotten and Hinami straight savage calls her out, saying that Touka didn't know in the first place

Kaneki and Hinami both giggled at Touka and ahhh it was so cute, they felt like a family

the process in which Amon, Mado, and Kusaba determined who Ryouko and Hinami were made A LOT more sense in the movie than the animeit showed almost the entire process of them finding evidence starting from simply a string of fabric left behind on Hinami’s father’s clothes

*winks aggressively at Ishida and the director for the graffiti of a scythe and XIII in the background*

Hajime made his cameo the same way he did in the manga (and BOY DID I WANNA SLAP HIM RIGHT THERE that kid has a shady look on his face already I stg)

oh yeah the kagune! I thought they looked pretty decent actually

I liked how the scales shimmered and stuff, but of course some scenes kinda looked too CGI-y (especially the fight with Nishiki)

#blessed that they included the "I would be sad if you died Touka-chan scene"

the training montage with Kaneki and Touka / Amon was so cooooool (ok stfu Alyssa you just loved it cause you got to see strong Touka & shirtless Amon)

omg Kaneki apologizing after landing a hit on Touka for the first time was adorable ok

Touka's overalls when they went to HySy were really cute. I want to draw it when the movie comes out online later

idk why but I kept laughing at the little wrist watch radios that Amon and Mado had on their arms to contact each other???? it was just really weird and funny to see for some odd reason

ohh ok probably one of my favorite scenes was when Kaneki just started fucking speeding towards Amon's car which caused him to jam the brakes (bc some random hooded dude is just sprinting towards you in the middle of the street what else would you do)

then Kaneki just freakin jumps on it all slow mo and flips it over because he's dramatic like that

idk if this was in the manga but Doujima rotated and grinded Kaneki's kagune during the fight (which made more sense then a lollipop that Amon just swings around)???

besides some of the awkward shots in the movie, my only other criticism was that some of the fight scenes were drawn out way too long

Amon and Kaneki's was ok for the most part, but Touka and Mado's fight felt REALLY drawn out. they kept just standing and talking a lot

I tried it on when I was at the cafe but seeing Kaneki wearing the mask during his fight was way cooler and the shot of him unzipping it was noice

when Kaneki started losing his sanity during the fight with Amon, Kubota had this really psychotic laugh that made me giggle a lot ahhh

yo guys there was a bloody tear from Kaneki's ghoul eye that dripped onto Amon's right eye (his future ghoul eye)... like much wow such foreshadowing director/ishida

near the end, Amon brings flowers to Mado’s grave, but sadly Akira doesn’t show up cryy

all in all I thought it was a very enjoyable, pretty accurate adaptation (definitely one of the best anime live actions & *cough* better than the anime)

I went with two people who knew very little about TG, except for it’s premise, and they thought the movie was really good themselves (although a little too much blood in one of their opinions). Throughout the movie there was a bunch of hidden stuff for fans & probably a bunch more symbolism that I missed so I can't wait to rewatch it in the future (I wish I could go see it again this week tbh) and find even more stuff!!

oh one more thing! the credits were really pretty with BANKA playing in the background and there was some cool art during the scroll

I got pictures of three of them: the Owl/Dog/Ape, Touka's kagune, and Hinami's kagune!

#tokyo ghoul #tg #tg movie #kaneki ken #kirishima touka #amon koutarou #i really recommend going to watch it if you have the chance!!!#it was sooooo good

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pseudocitrus · 7 years

Text

a very basic guide on how to find doujin in tokyo

i went to japan recently and i love doujin so i spent a lot of time hunting around for them. i felt like writing about it, so, here's my write about how to find/buy doujin in tokyo if you have absolutely no idea how to do so :)

disclaimer: this is current as of sept. 2017. i write this from a foreigner's perspective, and also from scrambling together a lot of here-and-there online resources and personal observation. so, it's very likely that i've gotten some language/cultural things wrong, this is just meant as a post for someone who knows absolutely nothing and also meant as a memory helper for me personally lol. if i do get something wrong, feel free to correct me ^^

why buy doujin in japan?

probably the main reason would be that it's MUUCH cheaper. recently-released doujin cost around ~¥800 to ~¥1500, whereas older works can be ¥400, or even ¥200 each if your pairing isn't that popular. in the US, in my experience, doujin can cost $20 (or ~¥2000).

(as a note, some doujin are at a premium — for example, works by 3745 house are ¥2000 each, and i also saw some gearous art books for ¥5000.)

i also enjoy the treasure hunting aspect. being in the tg fandom and being weirdly fond of rarepairs, i felt really excited every time i came across kaneki/touka or even ones like tsukiyama&hinami, tsukiyama&kanae, tsukiyama&nishiki 😲

some stores allow you to buy “tax-free” as well if you have a non-japanese passport with a temporary visa (i think this is the kind of visa you need). for example, in mandarake, if you spend over a certain amount (¥5000~¥5400) then they'll refund you the sales tax. they staple a little customs form into your passport which can theoretically be checked by an officer who will make sure you have everything you bought in your possession and weren't buying it for a citizen. but, no one has ever actually like gone through every doujin title that i bought (thank goodness, honestly). you can remove this customs form when you depart japan.

where to get doujin

here are the “must-hit” stores!

mandarake

in case you don't know already (i certainly did not for a long time), mandarake is a good store to search for doujin! they sell a variety of used/new anime/manga/idol goods, and have shelves upon shelves of doujin, usually with “women's sections” (containing mostly BL) and “men's sections” (containing what you might think of as, like, “hentai”).

in tokyo, there are at least four “major” mandarake locations —

akihabara

contains the super large multi-level complex with a whole men's floor and a women's floor, as well as other floors for toys and stuff. this location isn't far from the JR akihabara station.

ikebukuro

contains a smaller mandarake which is very women-focused, with no “men's section” that i can remember. this particular location is beside a lot of k-books stores which contain merch and more doujin.

nakano

also accessible by JR rail, and a short distance from the station, through nakano broadway. i think this is the “flagship” mandarake, and there are like seventeen stores in one mall-like setting, nestled beside other goods stores, some of which also have doujin. the women's and men's sections are in separate rooms and i had good luck here finding other merch.

shibuya

the smallest mandarake of the ones listed — with more of a focus on retro toys, though there's tons of doujin and idol stuff here too.

(as a sidenote, i also went to osaka, where there are two mandarake. one of them has a live stage where the women's section is. the other organized their doujin in a way that i couldn't quite parse and was too shy to ask about.)

k-books

in ikebukuro there are like TONS of different kbooks buildings so be sure you're visiting the right one! each kbooks is a “something館” which means “something building.” for example, “コスプレ館” or “cosplay building” has a lot of cosplay stuff, there’s also a “games building” which contains games merch like from pokemon, etc.

for doujin, go to “同人館” or “doujin building,” which is on a road called “otome road” (and also has the mandarake nearby underground! also — there’s also a “k-books athlete building” near here which contains only stuff from sports anime! which is separate from the other one that has mercy for other anime. last time i was there it was half yuri on ice, haha.)

in k-books, you can get a points card for ¥100 which lets you accumulate points to get other goods when you buy stuff, idk. i didn’t actually research this that much because i ran into it only on the last day. seems useful tho!

melonbooks

honestly, i don’t know that much about melonbooks. the ones that i’ve visited were in nagoya and ikebukuro and they felt more “men”-centered. it seems there can be melonbooks-exclusive doujin here. could be worth checking out if you see one. my impression was that it sells stuff that is popular or recently released. if you are squicked by hentai, be warned that in certain “men”-centered areas they play it on small monitors.

tora no ana

i visited only a couple of these so i don’t know that much either, but my impression was that like melonbooks it sells stuff that is popular or recently released. anyway it’s probably worth looking at too! if you are squicked by hentai, be warned that in certain “men”-centered areas they play it on small monitors.

i was on the hunt for TG stuff mostly which isn’t incredibly popular right now, so i wasn’t as interested in tora no ana. (regarding tg, however, i think wherever you go you can probably find tsukikane.)

general tips before you set out

these are good things to get in order before you go hunting!

know what you’re looking for, specifically. if you’re looking for something specific, think get the title, maybe a photo of the cover, the artist name, and the circle name. make sure that you know the artist/circle name as it’s written in japanese (whether by kana, kanji, or roman characters). also make sure that you know how the japanese ship is spelled.

know what you’re looking for, generally. if you’re not looking for something specific, think of all the possible series/games you might be interested in. i went out for TG but then circled back to all the stores once i realized i really wanted to find something by mikami takeru, lol. (also, if i had done my research beforehand, i would have known that what i wanted was a certain mikami takeru anthology — instead i was a fool and ended up buying some doujin, and then ALSO buying the anthology when i found it later, and doubling up on some stories 😭). i also ended up in doujin sections for “games” and realized i was also kind of interested in phoenix wright and persona 5 and odin sphere. anyway, it’s just good to know ur facts beforehand.

know the store opening/closing hours and days. they tend to open kind of late, like around noon, and are open until later, like 8pm or 9pm. stores in japan tend to be closed on tuesdays (which can affect your overall plans). idk it’s just probably good to confirm things. also, it can be really small quarters in doujin stores, so consider going during weekdays when it will be quieter and easy for you to move around.

if you’re not familiar with the japanese alphabetical order, keep a copy with you. since things are arranged alphabetically and all that.

bring your passport! for the aforementioned sales-tax-free shopping.

how to find doujin

every store is kind of different. but, generally, if you’re in the “women’s section:”

there will be a small area for newly-released stuff for popular series, like doujin that just came out during recent events, ex. natsukomi. this area is fun to browse because the doujin covers are facing outward and there are small “sample” prints on the back that show more of the art style. older works are shelved normally and all you can see is the cover art. (all doujin are sealed in plastic which you can’t open in store.)

it’s also likely that there will be separate sections for overall genres — anime, games, “western” (like sherlock), jump series (ex. shounen jump, young jump).

popular series (which right now are yuri on ice, osomatsu-san, haikyuu, gintama, jojo, etc.) will often have their own “major section” after that, with lots of shelves devoted to them.

i wish i had a picture of this but i don’t, so just imagine shelves packed with doujin with little manilla folder tabs sticking out, haha. for less popular series, the series name will be written on these tabs. series will be listed in alphabetical japanese order.

within series, things will be organized by ship, which will also be in alphabetical japanese order. if the circle is popular, it will also likely be listed in a tab.

when you find the tab you want, the doujin pertaining to that tab will be listed to the RIGHT of the tab. keep searching shelves from left to right, up to down.

also — these stores can be overwhelming in their density of doujin. if you don’t really want to spend a lot of time searching, feel free to just ask somebody about it. i just said something that was probably silly like tokyo ghoul no doujinshi arimasen ka or tokyo ghoul no doujinshi sagashitemasu ga…. and an attendant will lead you to the section. while i was furiously battling my social anxiety i saw another foreigner just bust into the store with a picture saying “KONO MANGA ARIMASU KA?” and she got her answer and led to her desired location immediately, so, there you go.

for a not-as-popular fandom like TG, the sections in stores tended to be very small. the majority of it was tsukikane, but i crawled through everything anyway, and did in fact find like THREE WHOLE KANETOU doujin tucked away in there!! anything that wasn’t tsukikane (which tended to be arisasa and utayomo) was basically listed as “その他” or “other pairings.” if you’re looking for TG and are an english-speaker, it might help for you to look for TYUUNI! which is a popular circle and easier to spot than trying to read all the japanese. again, though, if you’re having trouble, don’t be weird like me, just ask.

this might also be a “duh” kind of thing, but, doujin with nsfw content will have “R18” somewhere on the cover. also, ships included in the doujin are often listed on the back. this doesn’t really help you when you can’t open doujin packs, but i noticed that some doujin recently have been including content warnings in the beginning that are like, “this doujin contains arisasa...it starts maybe looking like it might be sasa/ari, but it’s arisasa! if you don’t like this, please close the book.” idk if you are in a situation where you CAN open the book and read japanese and are squicked by pairings/certain content, maybe this will be valuable information 4 u.

general tips while searching

in stores like mandrake, there are footstools that you can use to access higher shelves, but it’s generally bad to use these for sitting. if you do this someone will probably ask you to stop, haha.

in stores like mandarake, there are also glass “showcases” (ショーケース) which generally contain nice merch but can also contain doujin. i went through a lot of trouble to find a mikami takeru anthology only to buy it and then walk out and realize there was one right in the store window for a slightly different price! it turned out the conditions of the two were different (with the display version being more expensive because it didn’t have a crease) — but maybe you care about creases! idk! check the showcase!

i’m pretty sure most stores have shopping baskets, if you see one you can take it to help carry your loads of doujin u are gonna buy.

also be careful about if stores would prefer that you make your purchase on each floor, rather than taking your unpaid-for goods to a different floor.

if you need to get past someone, you can say “sumimasen.”

it’s possible that different versions of the same doujin will come with different promotional material too, like an extra little flyer or something.

mmmm, that’s all i can think of now, will probably add some more later.

if you’re going be able to hunt for doujin soon — good luck/have fun! if not — i hope you get the chance to!

#personal #pseudochat #my own ref post #lol #long post

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