Here you'll find posts on Tokyo Ghoul theories and analysis with a big focus on Hide. Messages are very much welcome, although the answers may come in the interval of very late to never.
Hello San and I wanted to ask about your opinion on Furuta? Basically what's your theory/meta on his intentions and his ultimate plan, (especially with the whole Shirazu fiasco) and of course his recent partnership with Sasaneki? Also I might as well ask if you think he's Souta and if he's affiliated with multiple organizations or just the clowns. I'm sorry for throwing a bunch of questions at you. I just love this character so much and always wanted to see your analysis on him.
Sinceso much time has passedsince the time this ask was sent to me and so many wonderful metas were written about Furuta, I feel embarrassed repeating the same things or trying to come up with something unique.
There isthis really amazing post bymadame-pongo-de-pompadour that examines Furuta and his relationships with women indepth, I definitely suggest it {x}. So far, I’ve talked about Souta’s 5 of Cups{x} and about Furuta and Matsui’s similarities {x}.
But how about the the reason Furuta was in Kamiiuniversity? Knowing Furuta, it wasn’t a random place for him to be at and hehad some sorts of work there. I think he was in Kamii either to see someone, orhe was actually there to gather info on someone by observing. Assuming he targeted someone we were introduced to, the Kamii students we know of are Kaneki, Hide, Nishiki, Kimi, Kiyama and Sankou.
Kaneki no longer went to university and I honestly think Kiyama won’t be of anyinterest for other characters’ intricate plans (plot twist, he is the OEK, Tsuna’s father and he owns the :re buidling).Kimi would be a good target if Furuta wanted to mess with Nishiki (which he hasn’t done yet) and I lovethe idea of Sankou making an important appearance in the TG manga, but I reallythink Furuta was there for Hide (I know, biased af), especially since he appeared right after Furuta was introduced.
1) Hidewas doing work (he was taking down posters of Kaneki,something thrilling for Furuta to see) with the rest of the committee members,which means this was organized beforehand and probably happens on a regularbasis at a fixed time period. Easier for Furuta to arrange his plans.
2) ConsideringHide is one of the most mysterious, dangerous and sneaky characters around, whoknows enough about ghouls and was working for CCG at the time, he could havedefinitely been of interest to someone like Furuta.
3) Asa bonus, if by any chance Hide turns out to belong to the Washuu clan, thiswill definitely interest Furuta further.
Since everybody and their mother are related toFuruta one way or another, because he is everywhere, it wouldn’t be surprisingif these two enigmatic characters know each other, or at least Furuta knowsHide.
And to take it a step further, if he andHide are related somehow, Kaneki being chosen as a victim for Kanou’s half-ghoul prototype was not coincidental atall. We know Furuta had history with Rize that has left him quite bitter, butout of the many victims she had, what made Furuta choose to execute his taskwith Kaneki at hand? It’s inFuruta’s nature to play around with other people’s emotions and strip them of theirhappiness (and any other positive feelings). And Hide’s happiness lies inhaving Kaneki by his side, something Furuta took away very skilfully.
Possibly Furuta felt an urge of destruction and jealousy. Because despiteHide being the way he is (with all his secrets, shady life and actions) thereis someone who cares for him and accepts him. A kind of loveand happy life Furuta never got to experience. So it wouldn’t be unnatural for him if hewanted to take away this from someone else.
Perhaps in Furuta’s eyes, his and Rize’srelationship is a parallel of Hide and Kaneki’s relationship gone wrong.
“I am right here,” the voice said, “under the apple tree.”
ch.73, pg.14
While perhaps not a tree and definitely not an apple one (because as far as I know, apple leaves don’t have toothed edges), the first time we learn of Hirako and Arima’s relationship, they are depicted under some sorts of plant.
“My life is very monotonous,“ the fox said. “I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow.
ch.141, pg.17
”One only understands the things that one tames,“ said the fox.
ch.123, pg.11
tg:re, ch.8, pg.11
“Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me …”
“What must I do, to tame you?” asked the little prince.
“You must be very patient,” replied the fox. “First you will sit down at a little distance from me–like that–in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day . . .”
Vol 4 omake {x}
“Goodbye,” he said.
“Goodbye,” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
tgr:re, ch.74, pg.5
“Men have forgotten this truth,” said the fox.
“But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose …”
do you think that there's significance between the hair of hair color in the series, (i.e. kaneki from black to white to white with black then to black again or juuzo from white to black) cuz i think hide's also going through that change(?) if that's possible XD looking forward for your explanation!
Yes! I think change in hair colour plays a big significance and is a unique change for each character, despite them sharing hair colour sometimes. Of course, Ishida doesn’t base his characters solely on hair, but he seems to play around with the idea and colours can serve as a nice hint for certain things.
I’ll talk about hair colour tropes and colour symbolism in general, concerning Kaneki, Juuzo and Hide’s colour change under the cut, so heads up, it will be a long post.
Before that, a quick recommendation of tokyoghoultheories’ much more elaborate post on hair colour in the TG universe for those who haven’t seen it. {x}
I think people have commented so, so many times on Kaneki’s hair, so I’m doing a very quick recap on my own and will stop to talk more thoroughly on the latest change from chapter 75.
KANEKI
Black:
Kaneki’s initial black hair is to represent him as someone mundane. It can be associated with tranquillity as well. Black is the domineering hair colour in Japan and we see a lot of the characters (especially the side ones) in TG have a black, simple-styled hair. The beginning of the manga started with Kaneki as an ordinary boy with ordinary wishes, but then it turned out his past and future are not normal at all, which leads us to-
White:
The obvious reason of the change being the stress from Kaneki’s torture. White hair is associated with one shutting themselves from the world, as well as showing coldness or certain lack of compassion. After this change Kaneki is often shown bottling his emotions, as well as cutting ties with the people he’s become close with.
White and Black:
During his time as Haise, Kaneki’s hair became fluffy growing black hair changed length mostly connected with the levels of stress he was enduring. It seemed the whiter his hair became, the more stressed he was and vice versa. This shift in colours can also represent his inner struggle between his previous and current life, as black also represents new beginnings.
Black and red(?):
Although not confirmed, for a few chapters in :re, starting from ch.53, the white ends of Kaneki’s hair seemed to be soaked with blood from his head wound, creating a mixture of black and red (growing to full black during the time skip). It’s no surprise that red hair colour is associated with impulsive, highly active and sometimes aggressive characters. They seek to survive at all cost. Red is often a colour connected with both life and death (Kaneki “waking up” and Haise “falling asleep”). As for black-
Black:
This time the black holds a different connotation from Kaneki’s black hair from the beginning. Here, black is a colour of elegance, power, formality and protection of oneself by isolation.
Black haired characters are said to be able to feature any of the other colours’ characteristics (without white in some cases) because of black being a mix from different colours as well as black hair often having highlights in other colours in anime and manga. This flexibility makes Kaneki good at hiding his true intentions and personality, as we rarely got a glimpse of his thoughts during this period. Black hair is a connotation for a mysterious and dangerous character.
Hiding your true personality includes looking amazing as the opposite gender:
And now for the fun part, Kaneki’s white hair change from chapter 75:
In his latest hair change, whether it stays just in his subconsciousness or actually manifests in reality, Kaneki’s hair turning white is not a return to his old self, but a transition to something new. Just like the two blacks are not the same, so are the two whites.
This white hair represents a new positive change in Kaneki’s attitude from his previous behaviour in the current arc.
White hair is a symbol of purity of the spirit. It’s also a colour connected to resilience. White is the easiest colour to get contaminated by other colours, so pure white shows the character’s strength to remain true to themselves. Kaneki’s feelings of wanting to keep on living and find a reason for doing so can be represented by these traits.
ch.75, pg.16
White hair is also associated with the lack of connection to the physical world. This rejection of the real world is only temporary for Kaneki, as we see him coming back from his subconsciousness in the end of the chapter, but his mindset is the one from the inner world, where he has decided to keep on living.
ch.75, pg.18-19
White hair can also be connected to simplicity of the character, which in no way is meant as offence, but rather to bring out their humbleness. We can see this in Kaneki’s pose and clothes:
ch.75, pg.17
compared to Hide, who is standing up and is basked in light:
ch.75, pg.17
Simplicity can also be seen in his dialogue with Hide, which seems quite light for the situation Kaneki is in.
—
On a side note, Kaneki changing hair colour in his subconsciousness when he talks to Hide can be connected to the feelings of happiness and hope:
Once black for the happiness from times of normality, when Kaneki read books and spent time with Hide. Hide gives Kaneki hope by accepting his ghoul nature:
ch.136, pg.16
And once white for purity, the feelings of Kaneki’s own desire to keep on living, despite everything bad that has happened. He gives himself hope by using Hide’s manifestation:
ch.75, pg.17
—
SUZUYA
For Suzuya’s hair change, things are different. While a lot of the times Kaneki goes though a forceful change, Suzuya’s was natural and came from his own desire to change.
As a white-hair, we again have the characteristics of purity, lack of humanity and isolation.
Suzuya lacked humanity in certain occasions in the beginning, but there was also a lot of purity in his behaviour:
ch.122, pg.5
Suzuya’s white hair may also be a symbol of his old belonging to the ghoul wolrd, instead of of the human one, as white-hairs are often connected with the unearthly.
The isolation he went through gradually melted, especially with the help of Shinohara and sadly, probably reached its breaking point when Juuzou lost his mentor.
The change in Suzuya’s hair is connected to his improved ability to cooperate and be a good mentor and leader figure.
Currently with black hair, Juuzou is shown to have remained as an Investigator that does not fit the norm, but has also became very skilled into communicating with others and putting his trust into his squad as well as other Investigators, like Tooru.
ch.132 VS :re, ch.29
As a black-hair, Suzuya posses the traits of power, talent, danger and has shown elegance.
This is probably my sentimentality speaking, but I like to believe Juuzou dyed his hair in tribute to Shinohara (who seems to be sporting a black hair, rather than a brown one, in Ishida’s coloured art). The addition of wearing all-black clothes in :re seems to add to this idea, as black is viewed as a colour of mourning, including in Japan.
HIDE
I am currently not absolutely sure what his real hair colour is, but it seems to be dark brown. Though this can be because of the colours mixing, so until we get more canon material I will go over both possibilities, brown and back.
First, for Hide’s bleached colour: blonde.
Blonde-haired characters are often rich or noble:
that watch is probably worth Arima’s salary for 5 years and Hide just casually goes biking with it
And right away you can see just how much bullshit there is in the blonde traits suiting Hide.
Because Hide just plays to be naïve when he is in fact, incredibly sharp:
ch.7, pg.7
And is often shown unhappy and concerned, especially when Kaneki is not around:
ch.47, pg.17
Though he is probably still rich, blond or not, not gonna lie
Just like his hair, his personality, constructed around the blonde hair characteristics is a farce to cover up his true nature. Ironically, in Japan one would dye their hair blonde to stand out. In Hide’s case, he dyes it to fit in the crowd. As a person who carries the general appearance of someone sloppy, easy-going, loud and energetic, it would be very befitting to have a obviously-not-natural-blonde look to add to his persona.
Even more ironic is that brown is considered the hair colour of the “normal” characters. Brunets are often associated with stability and consistency, like Hide’s rational mind even in the tightest situations and his desire to help Kaneki from beginning to end. Brown haired characters are also okay with the way they are and have accepted their role in society.
If we see Hide sporting a brown hair in :re it might be a sign that he has left his mask behind and is ready to show his true self more openly or is ready to face whatever he’s been hiding from by bleaching his hair all these years.
Brown as a colour is associated with friendship, homeliness, concentration, courage, energy and longevity. However, it is also a dogmatic colour, meaning Hide might not be a solo player anymore and fit at least to some extend specific norms.
Both brown and blonde have resilience as a characteristic, which Hide possesses:
Doctors hate him! Tokyo boy ends up taking a nap when he should have been severely injured. Learn his ¥100 trick here.
ch.7, pg.14
The darker a brown hair becomes, the more traits the character shares with black-hairs. This can explain Hide exhibiting both brunette and black-hair traits.
As a dark brunette or black-hair, Hide posses power and formality.
He’s shown elegance in the way he is able to escape death-threats.
And is definitely a person who isgood at hiding his true naturewhich makes him threatening and very mysterious.
Whichever of the two dark colours Hide appears with, as mentioned above, it will be a sign that Hide has left his mask at least to some extend and will perhaps show his true persona and motives more clearly.
For quite some time there have been discussions concerning the highlight of Take’s throat in the omakes as well as his additional art (you can see the original post here {x}). I’m here to give you my two cents as to why I think this is not foreshadowing a genuine clash with Arima or him killing Hirako.
Let’s start with the ominous quote from his art:
“Let us fight. Even if the God of Death will point his blade at my throat.“
On first glance, interpreting this quote can lead to the notion that even if cornered by death, Take will fight until the very end. This would be a reference to his line in ch. 143:
ch.143, pg.12
(that’s called “raising a death flag”, senpai)
If given an order, Take would most likely fight until death (which we almost saw happen when he was fighting Eto in the Anteiku raid).
However, the specific usage of “Shinigami” or “God of Death” in this quote definitely raises an alarm, because we have a person that is strongly associated with this title and that was Arima Kishou, Take’s CCG partner of many years. Then this happened:
:re, ch.58, pg.16-17
And a new God of Death appeared.
A conflict between Kaneki and Hirako, as short or indirect as it may be, is quite possible at some point. It doesn’t necessarily have to lead to death. Rather than any personal vendetta, a clash might happen simply because Take is doing his job as an Investigator or both of them want to protect something. It’s much harder for me to say where Take stand with Haise on a personal level, because he can be practical or show mercy when it comes to ghouls, like in Irimi’s case, but that doesn’t necessarily means he likes (all of) them.
Here are a few more points I find interesting in correspondence to the topic:
Kaneki and Take have clashed two times up until now: once in TG {x} when Kaneki disarms Hirako and once in :re {x} in which Hirako shows amazing stripping skills, by removing his coat in the spawn of a panel. Neither of them was deadly wounded during these confrontations. And Take surely remembers he was spared.
Kaneki, as the Shinigami, currently owns the “blade” which was Take’s old quinque – Yukimura 1/3.
Both are some of the few who’ve managed to get closer to Kishou and are interested in understanding him.
Speaking of which, a repeating element through both mangas is that in a lot of Hirako’s appearances Arima appears along his side and even when he is not there physically, Kishou might appear in Take’s thoughts.
Arima is also with Take when he almost dies. Twice.
{x}
TG, ch.141, pg.17
In the latter scene Arima, even if Shinigami, saves Take from dying. (And I hope he didn’t just stand there while Take was coughing his lungs out and actually saved him from the senbei).
Which makes me believe that if we do get a death scene, rather than Arima killing Hirako, Arima might be there when Hirako is dying.
One last thing to take into note is that Take has been Kishou’s partner for a long period of time and Investigators who share this kind of bond have shown to be ready to give and sacrifice a lot for each other. Even one of the meanings of Take’s deck card, 7 of Swords (in tarot it corresponds to 7 of Spades) reveals that
“something you thought lost will be returned to you. This may include the rekindling of friendships and old ties.”
or how the two of them are a team once again.
In connection to this, a wonderful detail noticed by tulipxiv (you can read their theory on this here {x} as well as other Hirako metas) is that Take, especially when fighting is involved during work, seems to stand closely behind Arima’s right side. You know, the one that’s his weakness and everybody who knows of it try to attack there:
ch.73, pg.14
ch.111, pg.19
ch.113, pg.10
{x}
And even in the one where they conquered Rue Island and beat the shit out of everybody before Amon can arrive to save the situation:
{x}
what do you mean this is not what happened
Depending on how you view those two’s relationship, the meaning of the gesture changes, but the high possibility of Hirako knowing Arima’s weak spot is the same. I’ve chosen to take Hirako’s position as a sign that he is ready to defend Arima, just how Arima has done for him, if push comes to shove. And perhaps that will cost him something.
Hello! Before I go on, I want to say, I really respect and admire you for your amazing theories and work :3 I wanted to ask, if Hide is a Washuu, could it be possible that his hair colour is not natural/the actual colour? All the Washuus we have seen so far have dark hair
Thank you for your kind words! :’)
I believe around the time TGRA started coming out and with the first episode’s ending card, featuring Hide among other characters, Ishida has been drawing Hide with dark roots much more openly (see below). For example, in the TG Jail scenario book his dark tufts are quite long, reaching the area around his ears {x}. So I believe he bleaches his hair.
This dual colour could be the result of, say, heterochromia of the hair. However, if it was a biological cause, I believe his hair colour would have more consistency through time. Heterochromia hair grows normally, despite having two distinctive colours. Thus, as Hide’s blonde hair gets longer, his dark hair should get longer as well and vice versa. Which is not the case in these:
ch.68, pg.14
His eyebrows also change colour from dark to light occasionally, which makes me believe he’s bleaching them as well.
Hide bleaching his hair will also fit his nature of being secretive and concealing. Just as he hides a lot of personality traits under the disguise of a cheerful, easy-going guy, he could be hiding his appearance by dyeing his hair.
Back when I was a young grasshopper I made this post exactlyabout Hide bleaching his hair and how it can be related to the Washuu family: {x}. Now I have some new thoughts connected to this topic, but I’d rather stick to the old post until further insight.
Anonymous said: 86 in ASCII is ‘V’. If Hide is a Washuu wouldn’t there be a high chance Hide is the “ghoul” wearing the 86 mask?
I think whether V or not, Washuu or not, the chances of 86 being Hide are the same in each of these situation. For me the interesting part of guessing his affiliation comes after the revelation of who 86 is, if it ever comes.
But this does make me wonder if all these years of Hide hiding and being mysterious is actually connected to V and an attempt to avoid facing them or the Washuus. It would be very interesting if after all this time he spent in hiding, in the end, he had to go straight into the lion’s den for Kaneki’s sake.
Anonymous said: Hi .. Doesn’t that dude who wears a mask with the number “86” look familiar! I wouldn’t say hide !! but I don’t know . what do you think, thanks 💕
It might be Hide. Since he tends to show up at the weirdest places in the weirdest (yet best) times, why not? The story behind how the hell he ended up there would be very amusing. In the end it turns out it’s actually Nishiki and he tried to dye his hair and fucked up.
The other noticeable trait about the 86 guy, besides his hair, manner of speaking and bara neck, is the way he talks about Takatsuki Sen’s book. This is either a guy who’s a fan or it’s Hide lying his ass off about how much “The Bileygr King” should move everybody’s heart.
ch.65, pg.15
First of all, by this point, Hide most likely knows Kaneki’s name in CCG is Sasaki Haise (especially if he was the one to send the book for Kaneki’s birthday). He’d make the connection that the main character No Name (whose name sounds like Sasaki’s in Japanese) resembles Kaneki and that the author has plans for his future. And I’m pretty sure Hide would not be thrilled about a book written about his best friend ending up as a dramatic hero.
Another thing is, Hide never seemed to particularly like Takatsuki’s books.
ch.109, pg.8
(Note: Eto’s line is more accurately translated as “Sounds delicious.” So no freak outs.)
As you can see, he’s rather dismissive of her work. He remembers details with ease, but can’t remember the name of a book he’s read? The only thing that catches Hide’s interest out of everything Takatsuki has written is the single story of an imprisoned cannibal in “The Hanged Man’s Muffin”, most likely because it reminds him of an actual ghoul being imprisoned by CCG. But he never says the plot or the characters from the book made him emotional in any way. Just that this one story is interesting. That goes to show just how much he distances himself from Sen’s work. And how he’d be lying if he said her work touched his heart.
I think Hide’s uninterest comes for a long ago established fact – people who like Sen’s work usually connect with it (and her) on a certain level. Although both Eto and Hide hide themselves among society behind a mask of cheerfulness and an easy going attitude, their core ideologies seem to differ in some ways, resulting in Hide not really enjoying her books.
I like to think that manipulators don’t particularly take interest in Sen’s books, because her work affects people and their emotions, which, in a way, is manipulation itself. Some manipulators can perhaps see how her words work and it’s definitely not pleasant to feel someone trying to manipulate them. It may also remind them what they themselves do so bluntly quite often.
For now we’ve seen two manipulators, Hide and Furuta, that like to read:
But just don’t seem to be that interested in Takatsuki.
Anonymous said: Uh, hello .-. I'm always scared about Hide's will :( His will wouldn't has meaning if he's alive. This would crash the impact. Ishida isn't that bad as a writer, I think. And you? What do you think that he wrote? What's the meaning behind his will?
Anonymous said: do you think we'll ever find out what Hide wrote in his will?
If it’s relevant to the plot, we will discover what he wrote. It was a really detailed scene, so it’ll probably have a meaning in the future. I honestly don’t mind if we never do see what was inside, because the will’s function doesn’t necessary indicate literal death. As in many other cases in TG it can represent death in the form of change. Very befitting for the representative of the Ace of Spades. Hide might return with a different appearance, personality or even name. In that sense, this will is the last wish of Hideyoshi Nagachika as we knew him in TG.
Thank you for your last meta about the fool's journey! Can I suggest another interpretation of the Moon card which is far less spiritual (and probably less interesting) and which is primarily based on how the arc has been set up and on some association which were made in the manga? It's really simple: Eto is the moon, Furuta is the crayfish as you said. The two Towers may be Cochlea and Rue Island, the two places where the action will take place (cont)
They are both isolated places and Rue Island is a place Aogiri chose to hide themselves from CCG while Cochlea is a place which forcibly divides its prisoners from society and the rest of the city. Plus one of the tower seems surrounded by the sea to me while the other seems to be on the land. The dog in this arc may be Urie, he called himself one while talking to Matsuri and he is an accepted member of the society who is going to an Island inhabitated by monsters to tame them.
Plus he has accepted his organization’s rules and he is willing to follow them even if he disagrees in order to obtain his objective. The wolf could be Ayato who has decided not to follow Aogiri’s plans and to go help Hinami (or so it seems for now). Plus Ayato being a ghoul is an outcast of society and doesn’t have any right. There is also the omake in which he is dressed as the bad wolf and Hinami is Little Riding Hood. That’s all!
Those are some really interesting ideas, thank you for sharing them (and sorry it took me so long to post them)! It goes to show just how many different ways the cards can be interpreted :) Great job on the detail about the omake in which Ayato is the wolf!
kids taking out their embarrassing parents to play
Thank you for 2500+ followers!!!
Thank you for being patient with my slow ass all this time. I’m sorry I don’t answer all messages, especially the anon compliments (please, please, please go off anon so I can thank you privately and properly for all the kind words). I’m not sorry for spamming you with...whatever the hell I post is.
Also, just to officially confirm that I’ve started a side blog @sans-san-skulks for things I find nice, where I’m even more tragically inactive than here.
I don't know about you but Matsuri seems even at a young age seemed rather cold toward everybody. I do wonder sometimes if Matsuri had a normal childhood (which I doubt).
I absolutely agree. Hedefinitely didn’t have a normal childhood, but then again, which Investigator’schild did? OTZ
I find thisvery interesting pattern in both him and Furuta, as representatives of the youngerWashuu generation. They both live a caged life, bid by their desire for recognition.
Most of all, Matsuri and Furuta concentrate on thisone single thing in their lives, which allows them recognition and control
Matsuriputs everything he has into his work, so he can climb the social ladder andstand at the top, where he can control the situation.
Furutaobtains a lot of information which makes him feelpowerful and in control of the events and those around him.
Both alsoseem to lack the love they want to receive
For someoneknown as calculating and cold-hearted, Matsuri seems to take a very biginterest in others’ relationship status (especially knowing the whole storybehind the Mado family’s marital situation) and openly searches for adiscussion on the topic. Matsuri isn’t able to live a life where he chooseswhom to marry out of love and rather, has to fulfil his duty to the Washuu family.Perhaps he is so interested in others’ romantic encounters, because he, himself, thinks that he can never have such a thing.
Furuta, onthe other hand, believes he lacks the love of his father. Judging byhis message on his birthday, he most likely doesn’t feel loved by anybody as awhole, but he actively tires to gain the attention of those around him, whether it’s in a good or bad way.
(Also, where do their mother figures stand in their lives?)
Both have aplace to hide from their troubles
For Matsurithis was Germany. The countrywas an escape from his duties as a member to the Washuus (like marryingsomeone he doesn’t love for the sake of his family). Matsuri says he wouldn’thave returned until Yoshitoki dies, which, for me, points to his desire to runaway from this caged life for as long as possible.
Furuta’shiding places are every affiliation he’s joined. While doing that, he dons amask and plays another person or at least subdues some of his characteristicsfor the sake of blending in. By getting into a role, he invests himself intothe task and manages to get away from his problems - whether it’ll be theforever-cheerful Souta, or the always-helpful investigator Furuta. The onlymoment he actually had to think about his issues made him break andlose his composure.
Want to start a betting pool where Hide is resting peacefully? My first suggestion is Tokyo, followed by Hawaii. Kaiko seems like a person who’d have a penthouse there.
Now is a good time to mention I’m pretty sure Hide is alive.
I really think it’s not a good idea to completely trust Kaneki’s perspective and narration from V14, especially when he had a wound in his stomach and was struggling internally. Clearly some parts of this sewers flashback are missing or aren’t complete (like how we are not given Kaneki’s face {here} considering it’s a very important and emotional moment). Don’t forget we still haven’t seen Hide actually die (and with the ending of TG I wouldn’t trust Ishida even with that).
Right now, Hide and Amon’s “deaths” give Kaneki a reason to sacrifice his life and justify it as something that is “okay” (for more on the subject, @floppyamon has a really nice post {here}). Since he thinks two of the humans he respected the most died because of him, it’s only right he gives his life in return for a noble cause.
The other reason for this “Hide is definitely dead” situation is that Kaneki never learned about the danger Hide can bring. Until the very end of TG, in Kaneki’s eyes Hide is the sharp, but normal human boy. So of course he’d believe Hide died in V14. The furthest Kaneki has gone in his estimation of Hide is to note “I am scared of Hide” in ch.30 concerning his analysing skills and that’s not even cutting it close. While Kaneki was wondering how to conceal his identity as a half-ghoul in front of his friend, Hide was rolling on the streets choking a ghoul.
Back in the first novel, Sanko actually warned Kaneki specifically about this: “(…) you need to look at Nagachika-kun’s abilities with more objectivity.” {x}
i was such a believer of the washuu hide theory but doesnt furuta kinda wreck it now that hes been revealed as a washuu?
Why no, not at all, if anything, the Washuu family just became even more interesting and complicated for me.
I don’t think the revelation that Furuta is a Washuu (directly) concerns the issue of Hide being a Washuu. Hide was neither shown nor spoken of in this chapter for the theory to be rejected. Until proven otherwise, I will continue to consider it as neither debunked nor proven.
Please consider the following facts:
The Washuu family has side branches. Who is Furuta’s father has yet to be revealed. Although, personally, I do consider the chances of Yoshitoki being his father are somewhat high, we need further confirmation for it to be official.
Matsuri is stated as the eldest son twice (in ch.14 and ch.60). This shows he has at least one more brother. But there is nothing indicating Yoshitoki has exactly two sons. More than one younger brother is very possible.
"I think during the Tsukishima annihilation..." you mean Tsukiyama? Hehe, I'm sorry. I just had to. Your theories tend to be so popular, I don't want you to wake up some day and then realise this slight typo in your post while your theory post already got 1000...00 notes
Oh god, I’m so sorry for the super stupid mistake.
when you’ve had too much Haikyuu in the past few weeks and you don’t differentiate between Tsukiyama and Tsukishima.
Thank you for writing to me and clarifying things! I’m terribly sorry to everyone for the mistake m(_ _)m
I remember you mentioning something about 'The Fool's Journey' and how it's one sort of segmented into different stages... so, if that's still going on, what stage are we up to now, do you think? Thank you so much!!! xx
I think during the Tsukiyama annihilation mission we had a moment with The Tower (16) involving the rooftop development and Eto’s arrival, but all in all, I think from then to now we are solidly in The Moon (18) phase.
About the Tower (16)
The card pretty much sums what happened in the previous arc:
There is an extra for volume 5, in which Kaneki depicts his metaphorical climbing of a tower (full translation here {x}).
The key words also explain the situation quite well:
Quarrels, disruption, upheavals, catastrophe, Divine intervention, reversal of fortune, destruction of old structures and ways, misfortune, accident, humiliation, sudden change, liberation
In the end of the arc Kaneki regains his memories and I think the following message of the card suits the situation:
We are so ashamed of our shadow that we build a persona or labyrinth within to hide it. We then find ourselves in the unhappy position of having to put more energy into the disguise than anything else. Psychologically, we use more energy to keep secrets of which we are ashamed.
The Tower tarot card illustrates that neither the physical nor emotional structures we build are stable or permanent, but rather, can be destroyed suddenly, bringing with it the changes we attempted to avoid.
About The Moon (18)
The Moon card focuses on the inner turmoil, fears and uncertainties and most of all – deception, illusions, things not being what they seem.
The Moon card is a symbol of living in a fantasy world. This could be a reference to the cage:
In the next segment you’ll see how the Fool’s Journey looks at this stage. I’d also like to comment on the different symbols on the card (moon, crayfish, dog and wolf, towers) and how they connect to different characters.
Eto, Kaneki and the Fool’s journey
At this stage of the Fool’s journey, the Fool is vulnerable to the illusions of the Moon (18). The Moon depicted has a female profile within, and is associated with delusion and deception.
The moon on the card is depicted as a female figure and is supposed to hold the characteristics of “The Great Mother” from who lives come and to whom lives return. I believe in this case the moon is Eto, who is ‘a mother’ to Aogiri, to the revolution of ghouls, to the ones she tortured and she also suggested to make Kaneki her child:
ch.56, pg.6
We can see Kaneki is interested in Eto, her motives and thoughts and listens to what she has to say. He is vulnerable to her presence and her words and is definitely getting affected. This is something Eto will use to her advantage and influence Kaneki as she likes. While she might tell him certain truths, such as the Washuus working with ghouls and V and Rize being connected, what is actually the full story?
Deep-seated fears and anxieties also arise. The Fool is susceptible to fantasy, distortion and a false picture of the truth.
The Moon directs a calm face upon the unrest below, signifying spiritual wisdom and knowledge.
Eto also observes the chaos with a calm face, because this is what she wants – to break the current twisted cage and create a new world. In such an unfair and wrong world, unrest is a good thing.
The Moon opens the way for bizarre and beautiful thoughts to bubble up from the unconscious.
ch.61, pg.18
ch.64, pg.4
Eto uses images that easy to visualize to agitate those who follow her: there is a cage, CCG should be destroyed, if it’s taken down ghouls will leave freely. She uses the image of the OEK as a symbol of change and rebellion and romanticizes No-name’s (and in turn her own) plans and deeds as something that fights for a noble cause.
The Fool ends up being lost and bewildered.
Furuta
The crayfish is a symbol we’ve seen connected with Furuta:
Source: {x}
The crayfish represents the unconscious fears of failure and despair. This creature also represents the often disturbing images that appear from our inner depths.
Although Furuta is a rather mysterious character, we can see him bring a sort of despair and disturbance with himself:
ch.50, pg.8
He doesn’t mind killing both ghouls and Investigators, because he doesn’t see them as anything more than murderers.
Arima and V
The dog depicted indicates the result of it’s adaptation to it’s life living alongside man. The wolf, in contrast, represents nature’s untamed creation.
The dog and the wolf can represent two parts of one person (say, Kaneki), or a lot of different characters, since many fit the criteria of being a “dog” or a “wolf” in some way.
For example, Shachi can be a “dog”, because of his adaptation to human life and his coexistence with people, especially his teacher from whom he learnt. Rize can be a “wolf” because of her “untamed” nature and unpredictable mind.
In recent chapter we see a lot of Arima and V, so in this case I’d say Arima is the one who lives alongside humans rather than be one himself:
ch.42, pg.10
He takes every order he’s given without questioning and has a hard time expressing emotions and his affection for people he cares about.
On the other side, V are the “wolves”, because they are named “kings”, they “rule” the situation:
ch.64, pg.12
I’m more inclined to beliebe that perhaps in the long run characters in the manga will have to face those two sides of themselves and lean towards one in certain situations, which will have its consequences.
The Towers
The towers in the background indicate man’s protection from the environment.
We have yet to see what Kaneki’s up to. So far, his appearance in the arc is a very small portion and we don’t really get an insight on his thoughts and plans, but have to judge what is going on through his actions and speech solely.
