Hi I have a TG ask if that's ok. I was wondering what your thoughts are on Touka's tendency to wait for the people she loves to come back when they leave her behind (Ayato/Kaneki/Hinami) instead of chasing after them. Do you see it as a character flaw or the right thing to do? Sorry it's a bit of a random question, it's just something I've been thinking about recently
Hello Anon! Yeah, sure, it’s okay. :) I hope I remember the series clearly enough to answer you properly!
In my opinion though, I don’t think it was a character flaw: after all, Touka didn’t always stay behind and wait. In fact, in TG whenever she ended up waiting after people was also because of the consequences of her acting up and causing some avoidable damages in the first place.
For example, Hinami. At the very beginning, Touka tried to help Hinami and ended up angrily killing several CCG investigators, including Mado, which only brought her a lot of guilt. So when Hina made the choice to go with Kaneki, she didn’t have it in her to stop her, also because that meant that at least Kaneki had someone who would bring him joy & comfort by his side.
If you remember, she also expressed the will to go and fight alongside the rest of Anteiku at the very end of TG, but...
...in the end Yomo made her see that maybe she ought to live thanks to the sacrifices of others.
In fact, I’d say that Kaneki is the one who rather illustrates being unable to let go and chasing after everything that he believes is within his reach, which was presented as a character flaw throughout the series [x].
Meanwhile, Touka learnt the hard way that surviving didn’t mean lashing angrily at everyone who wants you dead. Remember Arata, who couldn’t mourn Hikari properly and chose to attack the CCG, leading to his downfall instead of dedicating everything to taking care of his children (I’m not saying he was a bad father, far from it, but the fact remains that they ended up being orphans because he couldn’t let go of his hatred towards the CCG).
Then there were many other events, which is why Yomo bitterly reminds her that she needs to make all these deaths count, instead of trying to constantly fight against the system.
Anyway, in my opinion all that development in TG is why in :Re it made sense that she learnt from her previous mistakes and avoided chasing after people when it would have led to more casualties than anything good.
One of the most significant examples is Yoriko when she was arrested by Mutsuki. Where Kaneki took all his allies to save Akira in a previous :Re arc and was definitely ready to go save Yoriko for Touka’s sake, Touka was not ready to see Kaneki and others put themselves in danger just for one person’s sake, even if it pained her greatly.
I honestly thought back then that she was immensely brave for that choice, even if many criticized her for it. It’s not like she was condemning Yoriko though: after all she knew back then that Yoriko had married a CCG investigator (Takeomi), so she left Yoriko’s fate to other people who loved her and she was right to do so.
Similarly, it’s not like Touka never fought again after the Anteiku raid arc: she did go on that Cochlea raid, to protect Ayato and save Hinami, just like she went after Dragoneki to save her husband. Because fighting for family is often unavoidable and absolutely necessary, which is when she always stepped up.
Then again, I do believe that Touka learnt immensely from the example of her father. He loved his kids for sure, but they still came after his vengeance against the CCG and that’s how they ended up without one another. So it makes sense that Touka wasn’t going to make the same mistake when she resented it so much.
That’s why I can’t see it as a character flaw, especially since she always was there to protect the people closest to her when it was needed. My opinion though. :)
I hope it answers your question? Have a nice day Anon!
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