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Tokyo Ghoul thoughts and reblogs of theories |not spoiler free | side blog | (mostly) shipping free blog | unless you don't mind me flooding your dash with tokyo ghoul meta reblogs don't bother following me | mostly untagged stuff

[kenkamishiro]

Lost in Translation: Choujin X chapter 1

Fun fact, I was planning to do fan translations for Choujin X with a scan group until it could get a simulpub release, though I didn’t expect it to get one from the very first chapter lol. I’m happy though since it means everyone can read it right away and it doesn’t mess up my schedule.

So instead I’ll be making comparison notes between the EN and JP text to supplement the official translation. I’m not doing this because the official TL is bad (I actually think it’s pretty solid and I hope it will maintain this quality) but because it’s inevitable for something to be lost in translation, and it’s nice to have that additional context for theory crafting and whatnot.

If you want to read it on Twitter instead, the original thread is here, but this is the proofread and way more detailed version 😄

Keep reading

[kenkamishiro]

From Ishida’s twitter (X):

Drew an illustration for the New Year. I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

My goal for 2021 is to not overwork myself. Thank you.

[coromoor]

I’m reminiscing about how Ishida posted this art of Touka

with an excerpt from Takatsuki Sen’s novel “Dear Kafka” [x]

The child who has forgotten how to go home has forgotten the act of going home itself. And so once again, the child wants to die. 

Those lines are obviously about Kaneki, and that alongside the imagery of Touka gazing out the window waiting for him to come home is so nice. The same theme is used in the lyrics from “Remembering” from the TG:re anime when Haise first met Touka

The sun shines on the bleak horizon It’s just another day I look out at dimly lit buildings and think of you I dreamed you’d be beside me, that we will meet again 

[coromoor]

Ishida’s Poetry Collection

For anon. A masterlist of all the poems/prose Ishida has written for TG to go along with his art for future reference and so I can add all the songs Ishida has mentioned to my playlist

Prose

‘Talk It’ Miscellaneous art [x] and translation [x]

‘Don’t Hit Me Father’ art [x] + piano composition and poem [x] + song referenced in caption, Q by Queen Bee [x]

‘Beside The Window’ art [x] + song Same Story by Humbert Humbert referenced in caption [x]

Rize [x] + poem translation [x]

Touka, Ayato and Yomo’s Birthday art [x] + monochrome version with poem [x] and translation [x] + song referenced, Hyperballad by Bjork [x]

Juuzuo’s Birthday art [x] and poem translation [x] + Twitter caption translation [x] with song Smile, Lazarus by the cabs [x] and translation of lyrics [x]

Akira’s Birthday art + song referenced Eiga by osterreich [x] and translation [x]

White haired Kaneki with black spears + song Belfast by osterreich [x] and translation [x]

Haise wearing the Eyepatch mask + instrumental composition [x] and translation [x]

Tsukiyama’s Birthday art + instrumental composition [x] and translation [x]

Furuta’s Birthday art [x] and translation [x]

White haired Kaneki in a beam of light [x] + instrumental composition [x] and translation [x]

TG:re Volume 5 Kaneki illustration and translation [x] 

Extras | Song References

Touka skull art [x] + caption translation [x] + song referenced Munuo/Incompetence by osterreich (TG Root A OP) [x] and lyric translation [x]

Haise Birthday art [x] + song referenced in caption, Hinaichi by Queen Bee [x]

Kaneki [x] and Arima [x] Birthday art + translation of caption [x] + song referenced, I want darkness by 不可思議/wonderboy [x]

Kaneki bonus illustration [x] + song referenced, Saigo no Koto by osterreich [x] + lyric translation [x]

Touka and Kaneki sleeping art [x] + caption translation [x] + song referenced, Pain by Haruka to Miyuki [x] and lyric translation [x]

Kaneki and Hinami Cochlea arc art + song referenced, Wazurau by osterreich [x]

Ishida titled Chapter 74 ‘eF’ which is also the name of a song by Ling Tosite Sigure- translation of lyrics [x]

Arima art and caption ‘I will not permit you’ [x]

Small caption for Mutsuki’s Birthday art and translation [x]

Kaneki’s Birthday art with Touka [x], the song referenced, Surrender by Buzzmothers [x], and the translation of lyrics [x]

Amon’s Birthday art [x] + song referenced Kimi ga se by ircle and translation of caption [x]

Art of Tsukiyama from Ishida’s twitter + song referenced Peaceful Hell by osterreich [x] + translation of lyrics [x]

Art of Black Reaper Kaneki from Ishida’s twitter + song Luxurious Bone by osterreich (TG Jail theme) [x] and translation of caption [x]

Rio art [x] + song referenced in caption, Merci Deux by osterreich [x] + lyric translation [x]

Ihei Hairu art + song referenced, Hibi no Awa by osterreich  [x] + caption translation ‘Break Failure’ [x] + lyric translation [x]

Various translations were done by @makyun, @randomthoughtpatterns, @sunset-tower, @tokyo-fushu, @kenkamishiro, @suzune-tgre and @drowning-in-theories! Thankyou for all your hard work for this fandom! <3

Thanks to @lunaamatista for the additions!

(If anyone knows of something I’ve missed please feel free to let me know and I will add!)

[abjectaspiringfailure]

The Manager’s plan to protect Eto explicitly failed to protect Eto

(if “keep reading” doesn’t show, click profile)

I bring this up in quite a few Eto posts I made here, so I thought I’d explain briefly here. So, there seems to be this sorta omnipresent idea that when Kuzen took Eto’s place, this was a logical plan and worked, solely on the basis that Kuzen (Yomo’s story is a relay of Kuzen’s story) said it did. The problem is that Ishida makes it clear that this is factually not the case. Characters get things wrong all the time in Tokyo Ghoul (for example, “Kanou implanted a kidney in Kaneki”; “Rize’s steel beam incident was an accident”; “One Eyed Owl is the One Eyed King”, etc); this is one of them.

Keep reading

[synthwave2010s]

Aren’t those mouths part of Kaneki’s kagune? You only ever see them in that single panel wrapped around the quinque.

[kakujaeto]

Yeah, I think it’s mentioned that the quinque was made from Yoshimura’s owl, but either way yes you’re right Kaneki’s kagune had the mouths at that point too, and he was trying to stop Arima’s attack.

[synthwave2010s]

And I hope that didn’t come as across as arguing against Yoshimura being a bad father. He unequivocally was, and was narratively punished for it. I just don’t think Ishida needs to muck up the timeline he gave us to accomplish this.

Plus, I think the panel where Arima mentions where he got the kakuhou for the quinque is one the nicest hands Ishida ever drew.

[kenkamishiro]

[talk it] translation

Translation for Ishida’s poem written on 20170730 titled [talk it]. Please let me know if there are any mistakes or if you have any questions about the translation!

Keep reading

[linkspooky]

Tokyo Ghoul Group Reading #11-15

Sorry, I got a little bit behind so I’m going to pull double duty today. As always the reddit thread is right here, and I’ll be doing a post of my live impressions and thoughts as I’m rereading. I’m trying to remain as spoiler free as possible so I encourage everybody to read along. 

Another illustration cover page,it’s fun how Kaneki’s has an eyepatc already before the design of his mask was even revealed and Touka’s has both eyes. Chapter title is masks, Mask in a jungian sense is just the eye that every person presents a different part of their personality like a mask depending on the context of the social situation and who you’re talking to. It’s the Jungian model of the Psyche, specifically. A quick way of explaining it is you would not start cussing up a storm in front of your grandma even if you usually do it in casual conversation. 

If you’ve played the persona games you’ve encountered this. 

Persona

Jung said that the Persona is an element of the personality which arises “for reasons of adaptation or personal convenience.” If you have certain “masks” you put on in various situations (such as the side of yourself you present at work, or to family), that is a persona. The Persona can be seen as the “public relations” part of the ego, the part that allows us to interact socially in a variety of situations with relative ease.

Those who identify too strongly with their personas, however, can run into problems—think of the celebrity who becomes too involved with his or herself as the “star”, the person who cannot leave work at work, or the academic who seems condescending to everyone. Doing the aforementioned can stunt someone’s personal growth a great deal, as other aspects of the self then cannot properly develop, crippling overall growth.

The persona usually grows from the parts of people that wished once to please teachers, parents, and other authority figures, and as such it leans heavily toward embodying only one’s best qualities, leaving those negative traits which contradict the Persona to form the “Shadow”.

Okay, this is just funny visual humor from Kaneki’s misunderstanding. I guess it also counts as foreshadowing for what Kaneki’s mask will eventually look like, an eye patch and a half mask covering his mouth. 

Another instance of Kaneki not really understanding that ghouls can appear, feel things, and have daily lives just like normal people. Part of this is Kaneki’s outside perspective, and part of this is Kaneki being stuck inside his own head. If you think about it the only person he really socializes with is Hide, so not just for ghouls but humans too he probably doesn’t see a lot of people living their lives separate from him. There’s also the fact that Kaneki and Hide are so close together that their lives are intertwined. 

Here we have some early tarot symbolism. Uta is associated with the sun and insight which is the self realization and the knowledge gained after facing the shadow of the moon. Notice how to gain this new piece of knowledge about the ghoul world and the knowledge Kaneki gains in this chapter, he first has to descend down stairs and then he sees a sun, albeit a partially obscured one on the wall. 

The checkerboard floor is going to become a reoccuring symbol of the world, but right now it still applies to Kaneki. Remember, Kaneki’s viewpoint at this in time is very black and white. He’s extremely shocked by the fact that Touka occasionally looks and acts like a normal girl. Binary opposition is related to this idea. 

A nebular opposition (also binary system) is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another.

Basically all things which are opposite must always oppose each other. So a ghoul has to always act the opposite way a human would, black is the opposite of white and white the inverse of black, but usually in literature you’re instead comparing the binary opposites to prove the opposite point that they in fact do not hold. That even a ghoul can act and look like a human despite us perceiving them as always in opposition, always in black and white. 

This is an easter egg in the original one shot for Tokyo Ghoul Kaneki who was a full born ghoul who at the beginning already had a sense of justice in what he did in the ghoul world and a purpose, wears a clown mask as depicted in the leftmost panel.

Oh Kaneki, judging on appearances again. 

Here we have another instance of Kaneki’s lack of perspective. Kaneki thinks what he’s endured so far is the absolue worst but in fact, it’s but a taste of wat a ghoul endures every day. This entire chapter is about perspective. 

Thirteen is a number associated with death, so is 4, that’s some pretty quick symbolism. 

When Uta says that older women like Kaneki more, that’s probably a reerence to Kaneki’s black goat’s egg, or his tendency to always find himself subconsciously attracted to two faced abusive women because that’s the only thing he has experience with. However, I can’t elaborate fully yet because it’ll be important later. Suffice to say, the Black Goat’s Egg, a son who uncosnciously imitates the tendencies of his mother is really important to Kaneki’s character. 

More of Kaneki’s lack of perception. To be fair Touka has threatened to kill him, and does intentionally try to push him away because she’s afraid of showing vulnerability in front of anybody especially him, but still the information Uta points out is criticial to understand that people live much more complicated lives that Kaneki perceives. Remember the chapter starts out with Kaneki musing how weird it is for Touka to dress like a normal girl, like he always expects her to wander around lookng like a villain from a slasher movie or something. 

The conversation here is interesting twofold, because one it has literal meaning the more Touka learns about the human world and the more she interacts with it the more she puts herself in danger for being discovery. This is going to be a theme later, as there will be much stronger ghouls who do not bother to assimilate at all and the manga will questions whether one path is stronger or weaker than the other. This scene has a second metaphorical meaning which is where the manga starts borrowing heavily from Eva. Basically, what Uta is discussing applies to Kaneki as well. If you avoid people all the time, then you’ll never get hurt. Not just from super powered murder ghouls, but people in general if you distance yourself as far as possible you can never argue with them, never have your feelings hurt by them, and never feel betrayed but the price you pay for that is loneliness. So, Kaneki’s musing of what’s the point of getting close to people if you’ll risk hurting yourself in the end is important to his character. Remember, Kaneki really has no close friends except for Hide who pretty much never really challenges Kaneki’s borders, understands him as much as he needs to be understood and often socializes in the place of Kaneki and never pushes him. Hide is Kaneki’s entire world, and Kaneki really won’t exit that world unless pushed. Kaneki’s main method is avoidance, he thinks if he avoids everyone then he can avoid pain from them, which is why he’s always keeping himself at a distance and acts passively to avoid any kind of conflict. This is also why he can’t yet see why Touka would risk exposing herself.  

Kaworu: You are extremely afraid of any kind of initial contact aren’t you? Are you that afraid of other people. I know by keeping others at a distance you avoid a betrayal of your trust, but while you may not be hurt that way you musn’t forget that you must endure the loneliness. Man can never completely erase this sadness because all men are fundamentally alone. 

More of Kaneki’s inability to perceive complexity in people, Uta seems calm, quiet, thoughtful, but at the same time he’s rather callous about life and kills people and Kaneki has a hard time associating those traits with violence. 

More of the manager failing to explain things directly to Kaneki, even though it’s critical life threatening information. 

A cute Uta to close out the chapter.

Mission, probably just a reference to the beginning of the Daughter arc. 

He’s such a literature nerd. 

Kaneki’s reaching out to touch his chin again when he’s deceiving Hide for a second time. Also an important observation of Kaneki seeing NIshiki’s girlfriend Kimi he automatically assumes she’s another ghoul and that a human would never willingly associae with a ghoul, way to project your own fears about Hide there buddy. 

Kaneki’s learning more as he goes along, this is also a reference to Kaneki’s main arc in the story which is to learn about the world he had previously been completely ignorant of and find his place in it.

I told you Kaneki can’t really perceive Touka as normal without imagining her as a slasher movie villain because he’s witnessed her violence before. People are either violent or not violent, and he usually sees humans as default not violent. 

Kaworu voice: You’re extremely afraid of initial contact aren’t you?

Still, that’s a good method of hiding Kaneki’s social anxiety. Of course he assumes all ghouls are scary by default and is terrified with them, they’re murderers after all and he’s lived as a human until this point. However, the fact is Kaneki is just as scared as initial conflict with humans. If this were a human AU and Kaneki was just meeting a bunch of regular humans for the first time after getting a part time job his reaction to everybody initially “He is scary” would probably be exactly the same, because he’s avoidant by default. 

It’s funny because Yomo is just as socially awkward as Kaneki is.Kaneki would never guess that, though. 

See, it’s irony and flipping of christian symbolism because Dove’s are usually symbols of peace but because Kaneki is alligned with pacifistic houls right now instead the symbolism becomes flipped and the White Dove is associated with conflict and death. 

SUPERHERO LANDING! 

So once again, Kaneki sees the violence inherent in dealing with human corpses and breaking a taboo by stealing the corpse of a suicide victim, however Renji not only understood the suicde victim enough to guess the circumstancs by which he dies, he also peacefully prays for the victim and tells Kaneki to step aside when he starts causing a fuss.

Kaneki once again doesn’t really perceive that a ghoul might be thanking the dead person for their meal, and respectful of the sacrifice possible it came for making their meal.

There’s a lot of references to the dead, and graves, and respect for the dead in this episode. The fact that these peaceful ghouls are so careful around the dea,d and that even one of them is keeping a grave is going to be a contrast later.

This is an important line for Kaneki as he defines a lot of his life from his relationship to his mother, because she was really his only parental figure in his formative years. This will be important later.

Here’s Amon. 

Those eyebrows.

This is pretty obvious, “This will be important later.”

The name tag says “Hajime Hazuki” this will also be important later because they drew emphasis to the nametag.

Now, remember the contrast to begin with. Amon dehumanizes and violates a grave whereas the ghouls at the start of the chapter were talking about how important that mourning the dead and being respectful to the dead are. As ghouls aren’t perceived as humans they’re not even offered the basic respect of the dead that humans are.Also it’s a good establishment of Amon’s hypocrisy, Amon dehumanizes and violates someone while claiming about how the world is wrong. His actions here are going to lead to the violation of a mother and a child, while claiming that he’s doing this all for the sake of preventing any more orphans like the ones he sees brought into the CCG from being created. This happens in the same chapter Kaneki declares that a mother and a child are important in any world, human or ghoul. 

Chapter title is a reference tot he Kanji which Hinami and Kaneki discuss later on in the chapter.

Kaneki’s insability to perceive complexity, he’s only seen Hinami as a cute young girl before seeing her as a ghoul, but now he’s reminded right at the forefront that she eats human meat. 

It’s interesting because Kaneki presents himself as a very soft and sensitive perosn, but at the same time Koma calls him out right here he’s not really thinking about Hinami’s feelings right now and didn’t think to apologize on his own. 

Reference to the chapter title. 

Yomo says this earlier, and so does Fueguchi now that ANteiku despite being pacifists aren’t really commited to any kind of ideology, they simply do this because Yoshimura asks. As a body they’re not only pacifists they are entirely passive due to the ghoul world being only one you can hide in for so long, later it narratively becomes a flaw for them their passivity.

And the foreshadowing at the beginning of the chapter is cashed in. Sudden shower, can also mean a sudden shower of tragedy.

The fact that she’s holding her mother’s hand with a wedding ring will be important foreshadowing for later, as is the clover which is a symbol connected with Hinami. One of the most obvious is them as symbols of fortune, while she still had her mother protecting her Hinami lived a fortunate life indeed and much more fortunate than most ghouls who grow up either abused or with no parents at all. The fact that she was loved in her formative years becomes important in her arc later.

More of Amon being his charming self.

Once again, just like Kaneki who is very surprised by ghouls even acting remotely human we have the perspective of a violent outsider to the ghoul world violently othering ghouls. Not only are ghouls incapable of having the emotions of a normal human, but if they form bonds it’s obviously just pretending for the sake of tricking humans. Any human like gesture on their part is seen as a deception. Othering is a tactic which defines what is human by marking out which is not human, and therefore those who are other cannot be included under the label of human.

Here we have a conflict between Kaneki’s need to be relevant in situations, also rubbing against his fear of being at fault or failing others when he does take action in thoes situations, a conflict which usually renders him entirely passive and reactive as making decisions for himself means he will be the one at fault. Saving those two would require him to become a murderer who kills humans, or if he does act and fails to save them then it would be his fault for being weak.

Here we have even her last words to her child stolen away from her, making it completely, utterly dehumanizing. This becomes important later how Mado cannot understand why a ghoul parent would protect a child when we learn more about his character, considering he has more in common with Ryoko than he might realize. 

[yawmanzo]

Yaws Personal Reflection on Touka Kirishima

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

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

Followed by this from part 1.  

And of course this from Yomo.

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

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

“Strength in weakness and Weakness in strength”

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

Afficher davantage

[littlemissymonster]

Throwback: How to piss off a Tokyo Ghoul fan.

[eightspringdays]

Oh. My. God. The. Keyboard.

[lacuna-matata]

*SCREAMS FOR 5 YEARS*

[saiko-b-deactivated20200106]

@lacuna-matata I don’t get it??

[lacuna-matata]

@saiko-b and anyone else wondering…it’s because this random not-that-important closeup had the most amazing hyperrealistic animation ever while the important stuff like the Shachi fight and Anteiku raid looked like utter shit with serious inconsistencies such as Hide’s sheet dramatically flying off then being back on him like 10 seconds later.  THIS POST goes into more detail about some of the shitty TGRA animation by Studio Pierrot.  Based on our collective salt during TGRA airing about the animation quality/consistency/lack of coherent plot/missing MC/this list could go on for days…that image alone is now enough to make many of us relive that entire mountain range of salt and our crushing disappointment in TGRA overall.  Hope that helps!

[melo-9ba]

☕️

[sassyastarion]

This English acoustic version of the Re opening sung by Co shu nie is so good ;__;

[toukyoghoul]

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[caterwauldoves]

:re Finale Observation #1

The finale chapter of Tokyo Ghoul: re is titled: Song of the Goat.

The word tragedy derives from the Classical Greek τραγῳδία, tragōidia, which translates to “goat song”.

Ergo, given that the translations are accurate, the finale chapter of :re can also mean tragedy.

[myurlgiveswidomsouregretseeingit]

Nagaraj ≠ Underground King

Short Summary: Nagaraj is not Underground King but quite the opposite of it.

I know many, myself included always thought that Nagaraj that destroyed underground city was same Underground King who supposedly built it (which didn’t made any sense), however as I was rereading and thinking more about it I’m starting to think that “Nagaraj” isn’t Underground King but rather his enemies. Kagune left there, isn’t one of Underground King but his said enemies.

Which would be V and Washuu aka two snakes from Uta’s tattoos.

Please be warned things I’m about to write are huge speculations on my part. Not to mention things I’m about to write shall be long read.

Spoilers, this theory shall be divided into next sections and contain following:

Why “Nagaraj” is mostly just figurative over literal (Very Short)

V = First Snake

Brief Mention of mah girl Eto

Uta’s tattoos of two snakes + connection to V and Washuu

Washuu = Second Snake (”Nagaraj” behind kagune)

So lets get this new crackpot of mine started.

“Nagaraj” Vs Nagas

Nagaraja is said to be king of snakes while Nagas are race of serpents. Interesting thing about this entire case that further makes me believe “Nagaraj” isn’t anyone’s name is for start difference in translations.

In Jaimini’s translations it is said that Nagaraj was one who destroyed it all which is king of snakes, while in MS translations it said that Nagas destroyed it all which are serpent race (V).

Regardless of Nagaraj or Nagas, lets go onto said V and how they come as first snake in all of this regardless of translation.

V Aka First Snake

V was created because of actions of Underground King in first place.

Lets take good look at this. Not only were they formed specifically to deal with ghouls and that said one eyed, but they’re also number one reason why that one eyed went to underground in first place.

But how does V come as Nagas the serpent race? I suggest reading this but to quote thing from there that not only indicates on V as Nagas / Nagaraj but Washuu as well being said Second Snake:

“ Someone on the Tokyo Ghoul wiki commented that if you combine the kanjis common to the names of all the Washuu family heads, you get the name “Vasuki”. (I know nothing of Japanese so I can’t comment on the accuracy of this, sorry). Vasuki is a King serpent in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Vasuki is a naga.”

And boi but Kaiko got some serpent looking eyes there speaking of which.

Man literally got eyes like said snake there.

(Brief short mention of Eto), What I found interesting during my research is that mortal enemy of said Nagas is Garuda that is said to have form of large legendary bird that despises Nagas. This might connect to Eto as she despises V (Nagas) and has enormous kakuja as well as alias “One Eyed Owl” (though Garuda is more connected to eagle tbh).

Back onto V. So we have “Nagas / Nagaraj” who destroyed city of Underground King and V who are connected to said “Nagas / Nagaraj” that were created to destroy said Underground King in first place. This is that first step there that makes me believe that kids from underground weren’t talking about Underground King but his said enemies and that they were ones who wrecked city which makes far more sense then said Underground King who built it to destroy it.

However while kagune in underground might belong to someone from V (looking at Kaiko), I far more believe it from someone that is Washuu which I shall talk about last since now Uta’s tattoos are next.

If Uta Was “Underground King” Then His Snake Tattoos Might Refer To V + Washuu Over Himself

Lets take quick look at Uta’s two snakes tattoos.

First one are two snakes that appear to be surrounding kitsune (Japanese fox with magical ability to shape-shift). 

While second one appears to be of sun with two snakes init.

Funny thing is that both of these connect to V and Washuu as well as Uta himself. Lets start with second one.

When we think about sun symbol then what are two things coming to our mind?

One is Sunlit Garden which is founded by Washuus and place connected to V themselves as well. Hence how come both V ans Washuu might represent these two snakes in that sun in one way.

Second thing that comes to our mind or should I say person when it comes to sun symbol is Uta as someone who has not only sun tattoo right over his chest where his heart is located tattooed on but also sun symbol on his shop.

And he is also connect to sun tarot. 

Now even in this second way, V and Washuu might come in once more as two snakes assuming Uta truly was “Underground King”. 

(Link to Uta being Underground King theory)

Now it is time to get onto that first tattoo which is two snakes surrounding kitsune, which is where Uta comes in.

In 2014, Uta was drawn in illustration with kitsune mask on side wearing getup that looks awfully like silhouette of Underground King from chapter 128.

Other little fun fact about his kitsune link is that it also links to his alias of “No Face” as in Japanese legends, faceless ghosts (Noppera-bō) are often believed in legends not to exist but be mere disguise of kitsune. 

This all brings us to his two snakes surrounding a kitsune tattoo. If he truly was our guy from underground all these years ago, seeing this tattoo in particular, then my suspicions of Nagas actually being V (Washuu as well) might be further correct considering V was Underground King’s mortal enemy.

And before we go onto Washuu, I just want to note that if you look at position of snakes around kitsune then it beyond reminds on position of that huge kagune underground which brings us onto Washuu next and why I think that Washuu might be behind that kagune and not Underground King.

Washuu Aka Second Snake

Ah yes. The very thing that destroyed the city that is said to belong to said Nagas / Nagaraj. Position of it does remind on Uta’s snakes tattoo now doesn’t it? But that is not only thing this kagune leftover reminds on.

It looks like dragon when you look at it now doesn’t it. And what was thing Furuta said again in very same chapter that Underground King plus creation of V was mentioned?

How interesting name there, with quite peculiar statement to boost.

Thing we all know regarding said Washuus is that we never saw their kagune. Yoshitoki was killed off-screen. Tsuneyoshi as well. Only Matsuri remains but even he hasn’t showed his kagune yet. It is as if it was being hidden on purpose so we don’t know.

Our best stop would be Rize but we don’t know how much “Washuu” her kagune is meant to be. Regardless of it, thing we saw from people who have Rize’s kagune like Kaneki is that their kagune kind looks dragon-ish.

While kagune’s look depends on user’s imagination I do believe in base look of kagune existing that gives some sort of similarities to those sharing that kagune (coming from same blood). 

Since Washuu are just like V connected to Nagas / Nagaraj, V actually might as well be called splinter group of Washuu, then my bet is that huge kagune come from someone that was Washuu. 

Which is why it is possible that Uta’s tattoo there might refer to two snakes (V and Washuu) surrounding kitsune (him).

Very minor thing I thought to include assuming all of this might actually be onto something is thing from chapter 98 in where Uta was only one who had mask on when Kaiko was present.

This obviously might not be anything since Uta might have wore it just because but if we take all of what I just said into consideration and this was history that Uta may share with members of V (Kaiko himself even) then it would make sense why he is only one wearing mask in this moment. 

As always, we shall see but thought to share this thing that has been going trough my mind for quite some time.

[nagirah]

The Final Judgement

The thrilling saga of my “why TG is not ending yet” theories continues as I try to prove why this is not a matter of Ishida rushing his story to a premature end and he has actually planned to end :re at chapter 179 for a long time as well as to have the resolution arc as a separate entity. There seems to be a common theme in these latest chapters that supports this.

These current events parallel the end of part 1 in several ways, we for example have Ui, Juuzou, Hirako and rest of the gang battling the Owl

Kaneki going off on his own underground, because he’s tired of not being able to do anything

On the way a friend of his sacrifices themselves so that Kaneki can keep going forward and they go missing in the process

And he in a big underground area meets Arima and Furuta who he has to get past by using force. If Arima technically was the main villain of part 1, Furuta was that for :re, they are the obstacle Kaneki is meant to get past. 

The main difference here is that while in part 1 Kaneki decided to die and succumbed to his flaws, here he is doing his best to live and move forward. Kaneki actually managed to learn this lesson and won thanks to it, his change in attitude highlighted by his discussion with Furuta. Kaneki never got past V14, but here he finally took one step closer to his goal and this is where the parallels end and he gets a happy ending, right?

There is a twist however, because Kaneki despite his pretty speeches about living has not yet reached the complete end of his journey and is instead still in the middle of Judgement, not the World. The biblical symbolism present is referencing the Book of Revelation, which happens to have an event called the Final Judgement. Also, in two poems Ishida has written in the past, the theme of judgement is present and those poems seem to match the current events rather than anything that has happened before. Judgement seems to be a recurring theme, which is important, because it is not the ending point of the journey, those V14 parallels I talked about just now will be relevant too.

Before anything else though, I’ll just roughly go through some of the Book of Revelation symbolism in the One Eyed King and Dragon arcs to get this started

In the beginning a scroll with 7 seals is presented to the Throne of God and it is declared that only the Lion of Judah, the Lamb, is worthy to open it. The Lamb was given praise and angels along with creatures from Heaven and Earth fell down before him.

I believe the Lamb in question is Kaneki who was given the role of the One Eyed King by Arima and Eto who represent God.

Both Arima and Eto are like gods in the series, Arima even has the nickname God of Death and is seen as one by the CCG and ghouls

Eto especially has a lot of biblical symbolism associated with her, for example the instance of her talking about Genesis with Karren and wanting to become her god. If Arima is the one who ultimately made Kaneki become the One Eyed King during Cochlea arc, Eto did most of her part of the job back in Tsukiyama Extermination arc by awakening his memories using Karren. The biblical symbolism with Karren and Eto becoming her god is what she tried to do to Kaneki as well

Both Arima and Eto were basically in the position of a God for Kaneki, Kaneki even was like a son to Arima (plus Eto wanted Kaneki to become her child) and has some Jesus symbolism associated with him. For instance him being stuck in the Dragon and being in coma lasted pretty much exactly three days before he woke up and was reunited with his loved ones.

Kaneki is also associated with goats a lot, with the book Black Goat’s Egg and the fact that he even named his organization Goat after becoming the One Eyed King, therefore it’s fitting that he is also the Lamb.

His role as the One Eyed King can be considered the scroll since once all of the 7 seals are opened, the Apocalypse begins, just like how Kaneki’s time as the One Eyed King only led to ruin, destruction and loss of lives. Even if Kaneki technically failed as a King, the outcome still happens to fit with Eto and Arima’s ideas of what the world will look like in the future. For Arima:

And Eto’s world that is yet to come

It is just around the corner though since once the Apocalypse is over, the old Earth and Heaven are replaced and there’s a new order of things in the world. What the story is heading towards is in fact quite literally a factory reset, but I’ll get to that more in detail later. What matters is that when Kaneki was given the scroll, it led to what it was supposed to lead to, the Apocalypse.

The six seals of the scrolls are undone and there was a great earthquake, the sun became black, every mountain, island were moved out of their places etc. Mankind hides from the one who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb. The seventh seal is then broken, followed by half an hour of silence and destruction that devastates the Earth.

Typical apocalyptic events occur and this is represented in the story. The way the borders of the pages became black during Kaneki’s time as the Dragon might represent the sun becoming black, mountains and islands being moved out of their places is the same as all the buildings being devastated and there was an earthquake as Kaneki became the Dragon. Most notable one is chapter 145, which has no dialogue as it most likely represents the silence. Once the seventh seal is broken, numerous different kinds of devastating events occur that kill a huge chunk of humanity, but one particular thing Ishida seems to reference a lot is the bottomless pit.

As the star opens the bottomless pit, smoke rises from the Abyss like smoke from a gigantic furnace darkening the sun and the air. From the smoke locusts come out who are commanded not to harm anyone or anything except for people who were not given the “seal of God” on their foreheads. Locusts were commanded by the Abaddon, the angel of the Abyss who many interpret to be Satan himself.

This is a reference to the oviduct that houses Rize in the 19th ward since the place where she’s situated at is told to be a huge cave that seems pretty bottomless as Kaneki peers down it.

Furuta also has the key to the place where she resides before being interrupted by Kaneki. The bottomless pit is actually the place closest to Hell and Underworld where the Dragon is eventually banished to for 1000 years.This works since the Dragon present in the Book of Revelation is actually Rize rather Kaneki since he was just a tool Furuta used to turn Rize into her current form

Rize also represents Satan who commands the locusts as she is the one creating them and has St. Peter’s cross on her forehead. The Dragon in general is meant to represent Satan/Devil in the Book of Revelation.

The smoke rising from the pit is the poison that infects people with ROS and blackens the sky and the locusts are the kagune monsters that attack everyone and spread the disease in the process.

Since Rize is the true Dragon, Kaneki and his Dragon form represents the Beast emerging from the sea.

The sea being the sea of corpses from Kaneki’s mind where all the people he killed during his rampage went, the place by the Torii gates in his mind where he talked with Rize 

It’s also noted that the Beast has a fatal wound, which they had miraculously healed, Kaneki too managed to heal his grave wounds and stop his aging by becoming the Beast.

There is also a second beast that emerges from the Earth known as the False Prophet. He exercises authority on the previous beast’s behalf and caused miraculous signs that cause people to follow the Beast. He is also connected to the Dragon.

The False Prophet is Furuta since while in the Book Revelation they would be the two Beasts, in TG they are the two kings that are very similar to each other. Kaneki’s Dragon form was also technically Furuta’s ally and it was what he called it himself too. People worshiping the Beasts was seen soon after Itori, who was working with Furuta, tried to manipulate the people from Goat.

While it wasn’t during the actual Apocalypse, we also saw the huge cult like following Kaneki had as well as the fact that Furuta himself was quite popular himself and even had a fan club.

The Beasts were good at making people follow them and worship them. There are probably some other references too, but these are just some of the bigger ones I noticed. What this all seems to be leading up to is the highlight and climax of the Book of Revelation, the Final Judgement.

Jesus finally returns to Earth, which the Beast and False Prophet try to fight with armies of their own before they are defeated. The Beast and the False Prophet are cast into the lake of fire while the Dragon is imprisoned in the bottomless pit for 1000 years. The Dragon is freed after 1000 years, tries to deceive all nations in four corners of the Earth and gathers people to fight the God, but is eventually defeated and cast into the lake of fire as well. The wicked dead and all of those who died during the thousand-year reign of Jesus are resurrected and judged. A new Heaven and new Earth replace the old ones and there is no more death or suffering as the old order of things has passed away.

Kaneki’s Dragon form, the Beast, has been defeated and while he was stuck there, he technically was working with Furuta, the False Prophet. And like I explained before, Kaneki has Jesus symbolism associated with him so he also takes the role of the one who fights and defeats the False Prophet, leading to both of the Beasts being taken down in the end. Rize the Dragon meanwhile is imprisoned in the bottomless pit, which was where all the smoke and locusts previously came from. Kaneki now has been imprisoned in the bottomless pit with Rize and is going to be stuck there for some time, which is going to represent the 1000 years of peace before he comes out with Rize and a new conflict arises. Kaneki caused the Dragon to be stopped so he as the Jesus is the one who allowed this period of peace to exist, which of course is followed by the Final Judgement after those 1000 years of imprisonment.

Kaneki also seems to take the role of archangel Gabriel, who resurrects the dead in the Judgement tarot card and is one of the angels that causes the Apocalypse to happen.

His appearance is like that of an angel with wings and crosses with a white color scheme. Chapter 164, where he gets his angelic appearance, is even called “The White One”. Archangel Gabriel blowing his horn on the Judgement tarot card is the thing that makes the dead rise from their graves and in the Book of Revelation a trumpet blast is said to proceed the resurrection of the dead. On the card is depicted a sea where caskets float and this sea of corpses is a recurring motif with Kaneki. There has been plenty of foreshadowing and teasing in the story about bringing back the dead, but we have yet to see any kind of payoff for it. Furuta mentions this being possible, but the Beast, Kaneki’s Dragon form, of course is not capable of doing it.

As the dead are resurrected, the old Heaven and Earth are replaced and like I mentioned before, it is essentially a factory reset. The factory reset that Eto wanted to see and who coincidentally happens to have returned just a few chapters ago even if that would be kind of pointless if there’s nothing left for her character to do in these final chapters. Arima is back too in a way, in spirit at least, during CCG’s fight with the Owl (Oh, and Hairu, the prime candidate to be resurrected is there too)

The Judgement symbolism carries over to Kaneki’s personal character development as well since with Fool’s Journey he is not at the World yet despite all his revelations, he is still at the Judgement.

The Judgement card calls for a period of reflection and self-evaluation. Through meditation or quiet reflection, you may come to a point of deep understanding about the common themes throughout your life and what you can do or change to avoid these situations in the future.

The Judgement card suggests that you have reviewed and evaluated your past experiences and have learned from them. All the pieces of the puzzle of your life are finally coming together to form one, integrated picture of your life story. This integration has healed any deep wounds and you are now in a position to put the past behind you. Your memories no longer haunt you, and you are able to understand and value what has happened to you and what it has taught you about life.

This is exactly what Kaneki talks to Furuta about, he has had his moment of self reflection and found peace with has past and where he is right now. He has had time to think about things and learn from his old mistakes, the past is no longer something that hurt him, but it is something that turned him into the person he is and gave him everything he has. He is completely content with it.

Judgement is about finding absolution. Through a period of self-evaluation, you will feel cleansed of your ‘sins’, wrongdoings and mistakes, and you will finally be released of your guilt and sorrow about the past.

Kaneki also acknowledges the fact that everybody in this world hurts each other and finds absolution. Kaneki committed a grave sin by becoming the Dragon and killing half of Tokyo, but he doesn’t get stuck on it and moves forward, he is at peace with everything that happened

You may even feel a calling - a personal conviction of what you are meant to do. If you are in a low period, in need of hope and absolution, Judgement can show you that renewal is at hand.

That doesn’t mean Kaneki is going to ignore all his wrongdoings and instead of just feeling guilty, he decides to take responsibility for his actions. This is Kaneki’s resolve to do something for the sake of people around him, him being tired of not being able to do anything and that resolve is not shaken even by Furuta as he moves forward towards his goal.

The angel on the Judgement card also represents the Fool’s higher self calling them to rise up and fulfill their promise so Kaneki doesn’t just physically represent the angel in question.

You may be at a crossroads, aware that any decision that you make will bring about significant change. The choice can be an obvious one, or perhaps the only viable one. You know that this choice must be made and you are facing it with maturity and level-headedness.

He is making his choice despite being hesitant to kill Rize, because he believes this is what must be done to save everyone, even if it has its downsides

Kaneki is at Judgement, but he has not reached the finish line yet. The World card is about reentering the world with a complete understanding and Kaneki at the moment is basically stuck in the Underworld and has to get out. The moment Kaneki emerges from the pit is the moment he has reached the World and is the moment he has to become more involved with the world around him. Kaneki is going through his trial of Judgement, but the end is not that near yet.

This finally gets us to the poems that Ishida has written that are pretty much about this event and these latest chapters. You can read it fully here.

Interesting thing to note is that poem is divided into three sections. I’ve already talked enough about how the announcement about TG:re ending was handled in an extremely unusual way so I won’t get into that now, but one of those strange things was the three chapter countdown we got so suddenly. My theory is that the three chapter countdown for the climax of the story is meant to represent the Final Judgement and each of these sections describes one of the chapters. The first section should represent chapter 177 and is from Kaneki’s point of view.

(1)

The end of the trial

All lies are being revealed.

All sins are being judged.

A reference to the Final Judgement and Judgement phase of the Fool’s Journey. Facing Rize is the end of the trial for Kaneki and Furuta was what started it.

The first thing that disappoints you is anger,

and if you’re sick of being mad, then it will try to kill you.

This bit is rather vague, but it seems to fit with Kaneki’s feelings toward the world and Rize. He is no longer mad at the world, but currently it and Rize too is trying to hurt him

A god that is willing to murder for atonement,

is no different than you people.

Kaneki is being put into the position of Jesus or an angel and is doing all this to take responsibility for his actions. Ultimately he is put into a situation where has to kill Rize to atone for his actions and in this chapter he even talks about how he is not special compared to everyone else.

Next is a single leaf from a fig tree

that conceals a body without leaving a trace.

It carries through while it is still vivid.

In Garden, Adam and Eve covered their private parts with fig leaves after eating the forbidden apple and becoming ashamed of the fact that they were naked. Before that they were free of sin, but this event changed everything and when they were banished from the Garden. This is probably a reference to Rize who escaped from the Garden and started living irresponsibly and “in sin” until she was captured and ended up in the fate she currently is in.

As blood spills in that moment, you softly laugh.

Blood spills as Kaneki attacks Rize

(2)

The ark is being swayed like a casket.

V called the Dragon their Ark

It is swaying like a casket since both Kaneki and Ayato got trapped inside as it collapses and the V agents too are finally defeated and this is the end of their journey, the Ark only led to V’s doom

“It’s okay if a cute person catches your eye!”

And then I went blind.

God is resentful because of his lost eyesight.

This is a reference to Kaneki’s first meeting with Rize. He at first regretted catching Rize’s eye, but in chapter 176 came to terms with it and thought it was a good thing since it helped him meet all the important people in his life.

It is in quotes though. Not only did Rize catch Kaneki’s eye, but Kaneki also caught Rize’s eye

And she went blind thanks to it as it was what led to her capture by Furuta and her current cruel fate. The one who feels resentment about the event is Rize

Because of your self-righteousness,

how many have had their blood spilled,

how many have suffocated in the depths of the sea?

Reference to Kaneki’s flaws what eventually caused him to fail and kill half of Tokyo and also perhaps a reference to events even before that where Kaneki caused the death of lots of people due to his flaws. This also happens to be a something Rize and Furuta to an extent share with him

It is what Rize called Kaneki out on at the Torii gates, but as Kaneki tried to move forward, Rize stayed behind

The buildings are gravestones floating in the sea.

And as they creak, the crooked foundation

one day breaks with a quick snap.

If Tokyo is the sea where all the people Kaneki killed died, the buildings that were wrecked by his Dragon form in the process are the gravestones along with all the other oviducts, including the one Kaneki and Rize are in right now. It too breaks with a quick snap in this latest chapter

That is when you experience the dull figures with your eyes.

That is when you stack up the limbs of someone you love.

That is when you get tired and fall asleep.

It happens, so abruptly.

Submerging beneath the sea again.

Kaneki falls asleep inside the Dragon and submerges beneath the sea once again, this time unable to escape.

Stacking up the limbs of someone you love could refer to Ayato since Kaneki was trying to look for him before he got stuck inside the Dragon or it could be referring something yet to come since it is talked about later in the poem.

People are bound to lose.

Our gradual burial at sea.

Everyone I know has died,

and I cry to the point of dying.

Before long, everyone became a pillar of salt

and it too, dissolved into the sea.

(3)

If the world ends for someone I know, then that’s okay.

The cradle swayed and disintegrated.

The sea filled up with salt and dried out.

A throat is punched with holes, and all the blood began to sing.

You will no longer be able to stop laughing.

When the world ends, the last person alive will truly think he is a villain.

It has been pointed out several times during these last chapters that everyone will eventually die

Kaneki however was not bothered by it as he said he was going to always strive forward.

This time it seems like he was the one to “die” while everybody else lives, a repeat of V14 despite the poem suggesting there being an inversion of Kaneki surviving while everyone else dies.

I already mentioned how Kaneki is connected to the resurrection of the dead when I talked about him being Gabriel of the Judgement tarot card and this is how it might happen. Furuta already talked about how the old Nagaraj shared some of his life force even if he probably killed more people than he gave life to.

After, which he turned into stone.

Perhaps the stone in question represents the salt pillars in the poem, the act of taking and giving life goes with the all of Judgement symbolism too. Kaneki eventually is going to be the key to resurrections according to all the symbolism I already talked about so perhaps now that Kaneki is separated from everyone else, he feels like he’s the only one left on Earth, feels like everybody he loves is dead. The V14 parallels I talked about still apply since this is the exact same thing that gave Kaneki amnesia. After his confrontation with Arima, he was stuck in a jail cell and wanted to reunite with everyone before being made to believe that they were all dead.

Now too after his confrontation with Furuta, he ended up being imprisoned again separated from all his loved ones, just like now he is meant to stay away from them for “1000 years” before the Final Judgement can occur. After all a total destruction is needed until the Earth and Heavens can be reborn and it was said that those with Washuu kagune have the power to change the world, this being Rize and Kaneki’s kagune too

Maybe Furuta was right that it was all will be in vain, or maybe it’s just a brief obstacle to be overcome. The world being reborn would be a valid reason for Ishida to separate the final resolution into its own part rather than include it with :re, it would also give it the same feel as Part 1 had when it ended. I’ve also before talked about why it would be a valid reason to divide TG into three acts, the third one happening right after the climax.

There’s also another poem that Ishida released, the Phosphenes poem found here: (x) The art that came with it is interesting in particular, because the number in the corner is almost the same as 179, the supposed final chapter that I believe will be about Kaneki and Rize

If behaving like a god is a sin,even the act of creating life would be blasphemous. Wouldn’t doing this be mocking the gods?

The act of creating life is brought up again and as I previously pointed out, whatever Kaneki now does underground might lead to resurrections, creation of life that even Furuta talked about. The poem seems to be implying though that something even worse than creating life is being done.

Wanting to be judged, I entered the prison of my own free will.I play around with sludge in a silent room.“So you’ve come back again,”I was being cursed at with a timberless voice.

That place was dazzlingly beautiful.

Again, Kaneki entering the bottomless pit to meet Rize can be considered his final rite of Judgement and that quote probably belongs to Rize as she meets Kaneki again after he left him at the Torii gates. Kaneki drowned in the sea like she hoped he would and they’re now reunited.

The area formed from kagune is sludgy, but yet so beautiful as Rize herself looks like a godly being. It’s important to note that this meeting with Rize is the climax of his Judgement, the end of the trial as the previous poem said. Kaneki moved to Judgement after his meeting with Rize at the Torii gates and now he’s reunited with her at the sea of corpses and being tested to see if he can truly move on and reach the World, end of his journey.

I was starving to death, and thenfrom when I was gnawing on someone’s body,that’s right,from that moment, it all became strange.There definitely have must have been poison in there.Only beautiful merely to the eye, andshit.

This reminds me of the myth of Persephone who was abducted to the Underworld (coincidentally this bottomless pit where Rize and Kaneki are right now is also near the Underworld/Hell) and ate some pomegranate seeds that forced her to stay there during winter months since she had eaten the food of the Underworld. Chapter 162 happened to be called “Holding a Pomegranate” and it was the chapter where Kaneki woke up after returning from the Torii gates where Rize is. The reverse happening now is fitting, especially now that the latest chapter talked about the poison Rize emitted.

There’s a spider lily too, an ominous flower that typically bloom in graveyards and is associated with death. They grow in Hell and guide the dead to their next reincarnation. They specifically symbolize lost memory, abandonment and never meeting someone again.

I don’t want to put anything in my mouth, I don’t want to hear anything.I don’t want to see anything,anything at all.

The three wise monkeys are related to the sins we’ve committed and therefore fits with the theme of Judgement.

Place myself on a scale, along with the things being sold off,along with the ripped-apart bodies given away in pieces,along with playing by peeling off scabs, don’t, don’t.

Throw away everything you don’t need out the window.It’s okay if you fall and die.Until the very end, lend your ears to just the sounds fading away.

Once again this seems to be related to the previous poem and Kaneki losing people that matter to him and being left alone, the scale line in particular reminds me of chapter 140 of part 1.

This was the last moment of self reflction for Kaneki before his end and with all the V14 parallels we will probably get this too since the inner monologue in chapter 177 was instead more meant to be a reference to Yoshimura’s words (x) I suspect the next and last chapter will be exclusively in Kaneki’s head, because of this and also because of the parallels to events 100 chapters ago. Latest chapters have all had a reference to something exactly 100 chapters ago, between 76 and 176 there was this moment with similar paneling and theme about living

In chapter 77 we had Urie venturing and finding Torso, in chapter 177 we have Kaneki venturing underground while and finding Rize, both struggling on the way

In chapter 78 we have Torso explaining his backstory and Mutsuki becoming sympathetic towards him despite all the awful things he’s done to them. Chapter ends with Mutsuki potentially about to meet their end in the hands of Torso after having been captured by them for a while

In chapter 177 we have Kaneki feeling bad about killing Rize since he was always sympathetic towards her despite her originally trying to kill him and starting his tragedy, now Rize traps Kaneki and potentially is about to get him killed. The reason I mention this is, because chapter 79 is exclusively about Mutsuki, them being stuck inside their own head and realizing new things about themselves. A moment of self reflection and discovery just like what Kaneki went through in V14. Chapter ends on Mutsuki discovering something awful they’ve done while they were spaced out and start laughing like a maniac. 

Sounds similar to the end of the last poem, doesn’t it?

A throat is punched with holes, and all the blood began to sing.

You will no longer be able to stop laughing.

When the world ends, the last person alive will truly think he is a villain.

This Phosphenes poem though finishes with this:

Hey, how many things did you get that you wanted?

Kaneki in the end found all the things he wanted, but…

…the field is filled with our old friends, red spider lilies. 

We are once again going through a period of transition, Kaneki has “died” and his loved ones are left waiting. The manga will end, but soon a new part will be made that continues after a time skip. A new manga for a new world, which is fitting since this references the Book of Revelation. There will be “1000 years” of peace before the bottomless pit is opened and out comes the Dragon with Kaneki and a new conflict arises. It won’t last long though since it is easily stopped and soon after all the dead are resurrected and their sins are judged. This is what part 3 will be about and once Kaneki comes back, he’ll have completed his trial of Judgement and reach the end of his character arc. In the end the Judgement always leads to the World, which in both the Book of Revelation and the Fool’s Journey is a happy ending.

[1of4-basedanon-deactivated20170]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Volume 5 Omake 8 (Album)

TL by Tammy @ drowning-in-theories CL by anteiquinx

[kingkishou]

The Garden, Love, and Lost Days 

There was one important little slice of information on the first page of the most recent chapter that was so casually dropped that it could be easily missed– something I’ve been waiting for for a long time that confirms the overall atmosphere of the Sunlit Garden:

“Tsuneyoshi dotes on him more than any of the other illegitimate children”

I think we can gather from this alone that the children in the Garden were treated well, with affection and care from their father. There was structure and playtime, a beautiful location where individual activities were encouraged (more than one has listen “drawing” as a favorite hobby), and an overall feeling of love. Their childhoods were full of “halcyon days”, as Hairu put it in the light novel, Quest.

Now, to clarify, I want to do my best to convey something about expressing love in Japanese culture that differs somewhat from how many of us understand it in the West. Put simply, people don’t really say “I love you” with the same sort of flexibility that we do in English. There are exceptions of course, but generally speaking, it isn’t something that’s thrown around.

There is a literal translation which you might’ve heard in songs or seen on television before, and that’s aishiteru. You can say the ambiguous suki (“like”) or daisuki (“really like”, which is a little closer), but overall “aishiteru” is something often viewed as  pretty friggen dramatic when said in real life. As I’ve heard it put by various Japanese bloggers on the subject, “it something you’d say on your wedding day” or “you’d say it to your grandma on her deathbed”. In certain situations, it can even come off as creepy or stalkerish when said to the wrong person. 

I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce this idea, not only in regards to the Garden, but in Tokyo Ghoul as a whole, since I’ve read time and again that “x-person doesn’t really love y-person because they didn’t say it or show it [in a way that’s familiar with my culture]”. That’s understandable, but absurd once you realize that not all cultures express love in the same way.

So, with not explicitly stating “I love you!!” in big neon letters kept in mind, there’s also a social concept in Japan called omoiyari, which translates loosely to having empathy, sympathy, consideration, and understanding towards others. Having a lot of omoiyari is generally a good thing, and showing a lot of omoiyari towards your fellow citizens is paramount to a happy, healthy community as a whole, and even more so in your interpersonal relationships. It’s understood inherently through actions that there’s love between two people, not simply by confessing love verbally.

We have similar concepts in the West, but it’s something that isn’t as intrinsic or deep-seated in our culture.

***side note, just to reiterate: people do say “I love you” and “I love him/her/they”, it’s just that where’s typically a good deal more weight to it than it does in the West, where we say “I love [ice cream, anime, cats, etc]”. It’s just that the word itself is a little more flexible in English, as it can carry different connotations.   

Anyway, the reason I want to talk about this in terms of the Garden is because I’m hesitant to say that Tsuneyoshi didn’t genuinely love the women and children he tended to in the Garden. 

That’s evident in the way that Yoshitoki affectionately behaved towards his father, and it’s evident in the way that Yoshitoki vied for closeness with Matsuri. It was shown through the books Arima picked out to give Haise, and how Haise regularly cooked for the Quinx. These are learned feelings and actions of people who understand love, and who know how to give it. 

Tsuneyoshi’s love wasn’t shown on paper through hugs and kisses, but symbolically through images of big bright floral fields and the mention of his “doting” alone.

But! Obviously there were problems that arose from that Tsuneyoshi’s particular brand of love. Arima mentioned that he did express favoritism, and Furuta flippantly suggested that Tsuneyoshi “probably doesn’t even remember my face”, indicating that they grew distant as his actual purpose as a member of V caused a rift.

And that’s where things get really muddy. Tsuneyoshi might’ve loved his kids when they were little, but he isn’t exactly getting Dad of the Year Award. He was running an empire after all, and sometimes you’re just shitty and want to put your pride and power and money ahead of the people you created with the intention to use as tools. 

He loves his kids, but will exploit the living fuck out of them for a little cash. Like Toddlers and Tiaras but with more ghouls.

Either way, it makes sense that so many of the kids like Arima, Hairu, and Furuta would find themselves stuck trying to fill the void as adults. As their already-large families continued to grow, and the chasm between themselves and the love that they knew as children became wider and wider, their individual responses of despondence or anger or cries for attention came as absolutely no surprise.

Arima, a bright, thoughtful kid described as “gentle” by the narrator in Quest, became cold and detached as his peers and ghouls alike began to use words like “monster” and “nihilist” to describe him– words he learned to agree with.

Hairu was sweet and well-meaning even in adulthood, but she suffered from a nostalgia that left her longing for the old Arima to return to her, along with all the beautiful memories she had of them in the Garden. Even she misunderstood who he became, and openly admitted to competing against her peers by killing more ghouls for his approval. That was the last thing he wanted, but she died thinking of him nonetheless. 

Furuta, a “timid” boy who played with girls and flowers, learned to slap a smile on and deflect his pain with boisterous comedy. He would get attention– good or bad– by any means possible. Love was something he could force with enough torque, and everything became a game as he grew to believe that nothing mattered anyway. 

To wrap up, I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was all sunshine and rainbows. Each and every one of the kids were trained with the same barrage as the last. Innocent sparring could have started when they were young, but it was clear that they were subjected to higher and harsher standards as they got older. Furuta’s manic fighting style immediately reminded me of the way Kaiko tormented Yusa, you know? That’s not something someone learns solely on the field.

As a matter of fact, maybe it wasn’t sunshine and rainbows at all. Maybe Tsuneyoshi really didn’t give a fuck. Maybe it was just an illusion of love that strung the kids along and fooled them into working harder for it’s return when the curtain finally fell on their Garden days. 

Or maybe it wasn’t so black-and-white.

Even so, in the end, the Garden kids all became people living to make up for what they lost. They wanted someone to praise them, to think about them, and to understand them. They wanted love– some believing they no longer deserved it– and spent their fleeting days trying to feel it for just a little while longer.