At first I was confused as to why Ishida chose wings with cross shaped blades for Kaneki’s newfound hybrid Kagune/Kakuja in recent events, but it’s subtly clear that this was a reference to Archangel Michael. This battle between himself and Furuta may also be a reference to Archangel Michael Vs. Satan in both the Bible, and the epic poem written by John Milton known as Paradise Lost which the manga borrows quite a lot of reference from.
Throughout history, Archangel Michael is often known as the “Angel of Protection” and is the most powerful among all of them (Archangel’s being known as Chief of Angels, the highest class). He’s considered as a figure of leadership within the realm of angels, and is the patron angel that represents qualities such as righteousness, mercy, and justice. Due to this, he’s often depicted while wielding a sword, spear, or banner in most scriptural artwork. Some also believe the name Michael is another name for the word of God, similar to Allah, Jehovah, and many other names for God across different cultures and countries.
The connection to Kaneki is simple since he shares many of these similar characteristics as well. Such as his desire to protect everyone on multiple occasions, being a figure of leadership to guide ghouls out of subjugation towards freedom, and very merciful while fighting and often spares his enemies instead of blatantly killing them. He’s also associated with various godly figures like Abraxas, Odin, and Jesus himself since he spent 3 days inside Dragon after being consumed underground before rising again due to the aid of his friends.
In the epic poem Paradise Lost, Satan is introduced as an arrogant, deceptive, fallen angel, and tragic hero who resents God and his angels due to his disinclination towards being controlled and led by God, and thus denies his authority and ownership as his creator. This is similar in nature to how Furuta resented his father Tsuneyoshi for his methods, his family the Washuu, and his home at the Sunlit Garden due to his childhood, and eventually overthrows and kills him to begin his tyrannic rule with both V his fellow half human rejects from the Garden, and the Clowns.
However in the poem, he fails to overthrow him, is brutally wounded by the Archangel Michael who was given a sword with the ability to cut through the substance of angels by God, and is banished from Heaven and cast down to Hell for all eternity. This is similar to how Kaneki clashed with Furuta and overcame him in the underground currently in the manga.
Furthermore this ties into Rize’s role in the final arc of the story since she was directly referred to as the Dragon. In the Book of Revelations in the New Testament, there’s a massive war in heaven between an army of God’s angels led by Archangel Michael, vs. the Dragon and his rebel angels. The verses in specific are:
(7) Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. (8) But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. (9) The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
— Revelation 12:7–10 (NIV)
In correlation to the manga though, this may very well be hinting towards a final clash between Kaneki & the Alliance possibly led by Hide since he’s associated with the Magician tarot, vs. Dragon Rize & V to conclude the story. Since :re has a more hopeful message though, it’s possible that Rize will hopefully be redeemed instead of slain since Kaneki admitted he didn’t hate her during his inner monologue in Dragon.
It also brings things full circle since the manga began with Hide and Kaneki encountering Rize, Kaneki going on a date with her, and then meeting her demise by Furuta who dropped the steel beams and took away her freedom. This comes full circle now since Furuta is the one facing judgement this time around, Rize has apparently regained her freedom and is more powerful than before, and Kaneki will likely be responsible for stopping her with the aid of Hide and his friends.
hamliet 