Yes, he does! I addressed that in my answer. It’s another parallel between Kaneki and Amon and Akira–they all think of themselves as better than. I’m going to quote this meta I wrote on Kaneki and apply it to Amon and Akira with some adaptations:
Kaneki absolutely loathes himself. He sets up seemingly hypocritical
boundaries like “killing ghouls fine, killing humans no, but I’m the
ghoul king” because it’s literally the only way he can live with
himself. It’s a maladaptive coping mechanism. He does not believe he’s
worth love if he isn’t good enough, if he isn’t kind enough…
Amon sets up this “I’m a ghoul investigator and so are you Takizawa!” boundary in order to save Takizawa, even though they are both ghouls and they are both murderers at this point so there is no logic in that argument. But it’s how he lives with himself. Being a ghoul investigator was probably his way of paying back what happened with Donato as a child, of him atoning for it really–but he can’t.
Amon cannot forgive himself. And furthermore he cannot face himself. He’s fighting with the other humans and didn’t tell them he was a ghoul even though that might have actually helped convince the CCG to work with ghouls. He doesn’t want to accept his ghoul nature for the same reason Kaneki has a hard time accepting it: because to admit that he has been turned into the creature responsible for his trauma as a child, known only for killing (though that’s inaccurate) is terrifying for him. He does not want to be Donato 2.0, and by running from becoming Donato 2.0 by becoming a ghoul investigator, he teamed up with Mado (aka Donato 2.0) and became Donato 3.0. It’s tragically ironic.
As for Akira, love has always been caught up in her father since her mother died when she was so young. And Mado always viewed himself as justified killing ghouls because of what happened to Akira’s mother. So therefore love for Akira has always been tied up in having a purpose to live, and that purpose has always been tied to killing ghouls. Without that hatred, as she herself says, she’s empty. Additionally, Akira is struggling with the same black and white worldview Kaneki sets up: if ghouls are the same as humans, then she and her father are murderers, and if they are murderers and their purpose for living was wrong, do they deserve to live at all? If her father was a sadistic child murderer, how can he also be a kind father to her? (Which he was, btw.) The answer is because it’s gray, it’s all gray, but Akira is struggling to accept this.
Amon and Akira are hurting children internally as well, just like Kaneki. But that doesn’t excuse what they are doing by pretending to be better, because pretending is never a path to self-actualization. Enter Donato. And Takizawa.
…was not ok, M has a serious problem with violence, yes, but it was
also symbolic that people meant to protect him (akira his superior, or
his mother) protecting his agressors instead (takizawa and his father) i
did find karmatic M attacking T bc it was T’s ambush that put M in
torso’s reach, that whole figth was levels of gray with A later
attacking M and the Qs, the fact that S just killed a whole squad is
never even touch after, yet it seams that Ak & A where given the
moral high ground…
… where given the moral high ground after that, after all M is the
monster, M attacked S and Ak, but so did S and houji, M is the one that
goes into a dark path after while Ak, A & S get to peace out the
story & come back as heros later, im not saying that attacking Ak
was good, it was wrong, but everyone there was wrong, and we see M admit
that he killed and that makes him a murderer, and it burdens him, yet
Ak is proud at how many ghouls she killed and using feguchi and that
just bothers me
I don’t hate you, don’t worry! And while I really
love Akira and Amon both as characters, I have similar frustrations with
them. (Amon especially because his arc is pretty pathetic in :re
whereas it was fantastic in TG.)
I mean, I think the moral
high ground examples you’re citing are more problems with the fandom
always wanting to demonize Mutsuki than with how the story presents
them. It wasn’t shocking to me that Mutsuki crushed Takizawa’s balls or
stabbed Akira. It was wrong, yes, but it also wasn’t technically illegal
according to the laws of the CCG (the laws are wrong though).
But
I would say that I disagree about how Akira and Amon are characterized afterwards.
Akira made the morally right (according to the story) decision when she
broke with the CCG to save Takizawa.
Of course that action is perceived
as good by the story. But since then, Akira and Amon have not been
heroes–they’ve needed rescuing from Takizawa, who saved both of them,
because he is the hero in their story, as he always wanted to be. He just hasn’t realized it yet. My guess is he’s going to have to save their asses from Donato pretty soon.
Also
Akira has not expressed pride in her actions since 120, though we have seen her express that her father wouldn’t be happy with her. She expressed a very conflicted
worldview at that point, because it was undeniable to her that ghouls
were not monsters after Hinami and the Aogiri kids, but to admit that
you’re a murderer–just like we’ve seen with Kaneki–is not easy to do.
Plus, if this happens as Akira says, her father’s legacy is tarnished
forever… which is what Touka told her to do, but Touka also needs to do this with Kaneki who is a parallel for Arata (admit that what he did was wrong).
It’s no coincidence this was said in a conversation between Touka and Akira because this is a way they still need to grow, both of them.
Yes, I am bothered that they just get to waltz
back into the story after abandoning Goat, because the right thing to do
is not to run away, it’s to create a better world and if you don’t know
what that looks like (see Akira and Amon’s emptiness talk in 121) you
figure it out.
But then again, what they did is not much worse than what
Touka and Kaneki did, because they also made no effort to find out what
that might look like as recent chapters have bluntly stated to us.
Akira thought Kaneki killed Arima too because he lied to her about that,
so she probably had a hard time coming to terms with that (and yet Hinami was forced to hug it out with her, so ughhhhh there’s definitely hypocrisy there). I’m not saying it’s right.
I’m saying it’s understandable.
Along those lines, Akira
and Amon foil Kaneki in that aspect: always seeing themselves as better
than, because that’s how they cope with what they’ve done. It’s a coping
mechanism as much as Kaneki’s brokenness is a coping mechanism. It’s
their way of feeling as if they deserve to live, because to live they
need a purpose, and their purpose for Akira was taught to be being liker
her father, and for Amon atoning for what he helped Donato do. Except
Akira does not want to be like her father, not deep down, and Amon
cannot atone for that because a) he was a kid and shouldn’t be faulted
for it, and b) you can’t bring back the dead.
Now as a
ghoul, Amon can’t see himself as morally superior, though he tries.
Hence why he can’t actually accomplish anything–not saving Takizawa,
not saving Kurona. He refuses to acknowledge that he’s been made into a
representation of what he’s always been: a murderer, and just like
Donato (and Mado) a child murderer. He’s not better than Takizawa. (This is why I think Hajime is very
important to Amon’s arc.) Until he accepts this, he’s stagnating. At least
currently he and Akira are trying to help ghouls, but like, they can’t
really help them from a moral high ground that is built on sand because
they don’t actually have a moral high ground.
Since Kaneki’s recently made progress, I really think Amon and Akira are next on the docket to get that revelation. I also believe Akira will have to give Fueguchi back to Hinami and apologize. At least. She better. And Amon better apologize as well.
… hirako, and he did so well that 4 of his kids died in least than 6
months, Ui probably knew the whole part about sacrificing the oggai to
make dragon so i want him as far as possible of both hajime and yusa
until he gets his priorities correct, im not sure takeomi qualifies as a
responsible adult, marude can even handle hide, everyone at ccg didnt
even care about the oggai and everyone in goat has reasons to hate the
oggai, i would say the government but they’ve failed mucchan before
You’re not bothering me, don’t worry!
Well… I’d say definitely not Mutsuki. Y’all know I stan him and he’s my fave but the idea of him raising a traumatized child when when’s a traumatized child himself is a no for me. Which isn’t to say traumatized people aren’t healed through relationships with other people because that is a big part of it (seriously, the ‘Mutsuki needs to concentrate on himself not on a romantic relationship’ argument against Mutsurie makes me laugh because like, as if falling in love with someone else can’t be a way to help you fall in love with yourself; they’re not inherently separate). But a child is a whole different matter.
Even within the story, TG has set up the importance of the parent-child relationship. Hajime clearly needs a parent, not an older sibling, and Mutsuki is not able to provide that for him. Mutsuki could be there as an older sibling/mentor for him! But Hajime also needs a parent since he is only 11 years old, and so Mutsuki could still be a part of his life but not like, have Hajime living with him.
I agree with you that Hirako shouldn’t raise him either given that he will presumably be raising Yusa and that isn’t fair to Yusa. Marude is not prepared to be a parent, neither is Takeomi, and obviously Touka and Kaneki can’t do it.
The only candidates I see are:
Ui, but as you’ve said, there are some issues with that too (though I don’t think they’re insurmountable according to the story)…
…or (more likely imo) Akira and Amon. Akira was already like Haise’s mom and Amon, frankly, while he needs to get over himself, is also linked to Hajime… and Akiramon parallels Touken, and Touken’s gonna be parents. If Hajime is indeed alive (please! lol), I think he’s almost certain to resurface with Donato when he confronts Amon, and therefore it’d make sense for him to move on with Amon.