heroic appearence he used to put on his basic desire of being loved. I think cont.

that desire is important, but it can be the only thing making Kaneki not emptry and him turning in a flesh monster is like the physical representation of this. For Kaneki to become “human” again (and I think TG is a narrative in which what a human is may be the centre) he needs more. If he can find that more or not will decide his fate imo. Also if the Quinx are the one who stop Kaneki that would be useful for Mutsuki too who may understand his role and relationship with Sasaki better.

I agree.

There’s nothing wrong with having a basic selfish desire to keep you going when you feel like you’ve lost everything else. Hell, something as trivial as wanting to find out what happens next in a series I’m following has gotten me out of bed before. For Kaneki that desire currently is wanting to live with his wife and child, which is far more substantial, and even noble/beautiful in some ways.

But the point is just like you say: Kaneki can’t stay there. Using Touka as the only thing to keep him going isn’t a permanent fix, because Sasaki wasn’t for Mutsuki and Hairu isn’t for Ui, Shinohara isn’t for Juuzou, etc. Basically hyper-focusing on one person can lead to you doing terrible things out of desperation to keep them around. Ui fought Hirako and in that fight Hairu’s cousin was killed (though to be fair to him communication might have helped *side eyes Hirako*), Juuzou fought his friend and almost killed him to keep a vegetative or possibly already dead man alive, and Mutsuki’s hurt Saiko by going after Yoriko, ignored Urie, and harm’s come to Aura.

My guess is by “human,” you mean ghouls and humans alike, and I agree. 🙂 I hope Kaneki is able to recover from this lowest point of his. And yes, what’s happened to Dragoneki is a very physical warning to Mutsuki, and also to Juuzou, to Ui, to all of them really: if you make this one person your everything while also ignoring everything around you that you already have (most obviously in Mutsuki ignoring the Quinx, Juuzou his squad–which is why I’m concerned that one or more of them might die at Dragoneki’s hands, and Kaneki having a zillion options to avoid getting to such a desperate place), you risk being transformed into what you never wanted to be: Mutsuki has parallels to Torso now, Juuzou is acting like Rei again in terms of being a puppet, Ui has partnered with ghouls and knows full well that it’s wrong, Kaneki who couldn’t bear the thought of hurting adult CCG agents has eaten children. Basically, you risk becoming a monster. In the case of Kaneki, quite literally.

Thank you so much for the ask!

Healthy Love, Unhealthy Application

Or how I, a huge Touken shipper, have mixed feelings about Kaneki’s focus on Touka this chapter, and think Ken still has a lot of growing to do. I’ve written this and this so please don’t take this as me criticizing the ship, because I am not at all. I love Touken and think they are fundamentally good for each other, but that doesn’t mean everything is flawless in their relationship.

Ken’s fighting to save her life here, but he’s forgotten that a) she’s said before she doesn’t need him to protect her. It’s true though that she absolutely does need help here, but he’s been thinking about how he wants to protect her since he married her, and that’s not really acquiescing to Touka’s explicitly stated wishes.

And b) she loves children. Touka’s choice–the one she said she believed was the right choice–was to protect the children. Specifically, it was to protect her child, but when she left Hinami, it was to protect all the children in her care.

In addition to being pregnant herself, she cares for the Aogiri kids… whom it doesn’t appear Kaneki was thinking of at all this chapter considering the fact that he implied he still doesn’t consider ghouls to be people.

Yes, it’s impossible to protect both Touka and her kids and all the Oggai here, but we’ll get into that in a bit. There’s likely a reason Ishida brought up Touka’s lingering resentments towards her father for choosing to pursue vengeance rather than nurture his own children at the beginning of this arc, which all leads to me asking: do we really think Touka is going to be a-okay with Dragoneki slaughtering the Oggai and just brush it off? I think that would be out of character for her.

Yes, Kaneki had no other options here because basically everyone was going to die. But he had like a trillion options before it came to this that he should have explored and didn’t. I don’t think Touka is going to let him off the hook for this because she never has let him off the hook before. That’s what I love about her character and their relationship: she is upfront with him about his shortcomings and identifies his faults to him. I doubt very much Touka will be “well, since it saved us, it’s fine.” She may understand, but I think she’s also going to have mixed feelings if not outright anger at her husband for letting it get to this point and for going as far as he did. That doesn’t make her love for him any less strong, because all relationships have conflicts. If there’s hope for Dragoneki, and I believe there is, he will have to face what he’s done, and Touka’s perfectly positioned to point it out to him since that’s what she’s been doing the entire time they’ve known each other.

And there’s another reason why Touka may have some anger towards Kaneki for this: taking that first bite, even a few kills, is understandable given the circumstances. But did Kaneki need to shred all the Oggai? Certainly he’d have to kill some of them to be able to save his loved ones, but is this all really necessary?

The Oggai that Ishida made a point of showing as terrified children before this raid began? (I doubt that wasn’t intentional.)

Did he need to send his kagune into Hajime’s 11 year old face?

Was that so he could live and see Touka again, or was that because he was furious, even if understandably so? I can easily see Touka making this exact point to Kaneki. Kaneki’s paralleling Arata right now: he’s pursuing vengeance rather than simply saving those he loves. And it’s turned him into a Dragon–a mythological monster creature that thrills and fulfills the plan of the story’s nihilistic villain. Even if Kaneki really did have to kill them all, I don’t think the narrative is suggesting this is a good turn for Kaneki.

So, basically: choosing to live because he wants to see Touka again: good. Having someone or something to hold onto when you have nothing else is something I relate to and it’s not a bad thing.

But applying this by murdering children whom he likely did not have to all brutally murder: not a healthy application of said good choice to live (and given the themes in TG of war affecting the children most, I kind of don’t think we’re supposed to see it as a yay Kaneki moment, but rather more of a gray moment: it’s good he wants to live, but it shouldn’t have gotten to this point and shouldn’t be carried this far).

Because this choice–to slaughter more than necessary–doesn’t have to do with Touka. It has to do with Kaneki himself and what he wants, not what she wants. I’m not saying Kaneki’s love for Touka is toxic, but love shouldn’t be more about you than about what the other person wants, and Kaneki needs to learn this (it’s kind of a calling card of his character: he struggles with this). I’d bet on Touka pointing out his own self-focus to him because she’s done it before, so again, this isn’t me saying their relationship is doomed or unhealthy, just that it needs good communication, and that it’s a more complex situation than “yay Touka inspiring him to live!” or “look what Touka made him do!” (not that she made him do anything, blame Fruit and blame Kaneki himself for that).

Does “Dragon” qualify as a Full Kakuja for Kaneki? As of now until we get more information, it seems like a blob of bodies/RC cells mashed together given form. And as far as his aging goes, shouldn’t cannibalizing on over 100 Oggai alongside Furuta and countless investigators pause his aging for a long time and fix his bodily issues or completely reverse them for a long while? What are your thoughts on this hamliet? Have a good evening btw!

I think so, yes.

I don’t know that he’s going to cannibalize Furuta–I personally think Fruit-chan won’t die laughing and therefore will make it out of this alive, and eating the investigators won’t really help because they aren’t ghouls.

We don’t know how the cannibalizing works in so far as slowing the aging goes–but eating a large amount doesn’t seem likely to me to have long-lasting effects. Like, kind of like eating a big meal, you’ll be extremely full/Kaneki will be extremely strong for awhile, but when it wears off, you’ll be right where you started. Roma, for example, was probably cannibalizing most of her life, not just as a kid.

I definitely think it will help for–well, until Kaneki finishes what he needs to do (and I think he will see his son born), but I don’t think eating the Oggai fixed his aging problem. He’ll either have to keep cannibalizing, which I doubt for story reasons, or Kimi sciences everyone out of the aging problem, or he will eventually die after achieving coexistence for ghouls and humans, hopefully surrounded by his loved ones. Fingers crossed for option two, but option three also seems quite possible.

Thank you for the ask, and have a good evening as well!

Oh good I was worried it was something…unhealthy. Also I agree Kaneki should’ve tried to talk to Hajime and Mutsuki to get them to reconsider their allegiances. He could’ve made a couple powerful allies, but he doesn’t seem to know how to capitalize on possible advantages when they’re presented.

Yeah, exactly. Like Hajime literally asked him to make him an ally, and Kaneki didn’t even respond. He just walked away.

Mutsuki showed up and asked him to come back. Kaneki’s not wrong to say he can’t, but he is wrong not to offer Mutsuki any kind of explanation.

I never noticed this before, but it looks like Mutsuki is actually crying in the first panel.

Saiko would have joined him; we all know she would have. If Saiko and Mutsuki both allied with Kaneki, Urie would probably have come around.

And that’s one of Kaneki’s tragic flaws. He doesn’t realize things until it’s too late because he’s too focused on himself. He had no option but to eat the Oggai in the latest chapter, but where I still fault Kaneki (and I love him so this isn’t me hating on him) is that he had about a zillion options to avoid getting to this place.

Actually, no, Kaneki. You had about a million choices that could have led to a path other than the one you’re currently on. Basically Kaneki seems to think he’s a hero in a Greek tragedy whose tragedy is determined by fate and the gods; in reality, Kaneki’s in a more Shakespearean type tragedy, wherein the hero’s poor choices lead to their downfall (that’s an oversimplification, but those types of tragedies are often discussed in literary studies).

The good news is, if someone can get through to him, he could maybe make another choice other than rampaging through Tokyo as Dragonzilla. That’s what I hope for, because like I said, I do love Kaneki and can relate to him.

I like Hajime as well, he’s as strong as comical. The fandom’s hate on him kind of make me sad, it sucks that he killed the 0 Squad but from his point of view he just killed the traitors who where siding with ghouls. His parents were killed by ghouls too. Though I can’t believe he and Furuta died that easily, wasn’t Hajime supposed to be a kakuja as well ? Yet we haven’t seen him using it even once. Him, Furuta and Mutsuki can’t die now, c’mon Ishida (I don’t care about Aura though).

More Hajime love! Join our (understandably, but still too small) crew.

Yeah, that’s true about his point of view. I think there is a darker part of his motivation as my other child Shio points out after they capture him:

Basically, he wants revenge. But that’s really not so different than, like, most of the characters in the cast. It’s not different from Yomo’s hatred of Arima for killing his sister, and it’s certainly not different than Touka taking revenge for Ryouko’s death by killing Kusaba. In fact I’d even argue Hajime is less responsible: he is a traumatized child (ELEVEN years old!) being exploited in a war between two immature kings.

Please remember the Oggai Kaneki killed were screaming for their mothers and about how they didn’t want to die a few chapters ago. I’m not criticizing Kaneki for doing this: I think @kingkishou says it best here. He really doesn’t have a choice now that so many innocent lives are on the line, including the lives of other children–though Kaneki had plenty of choices leading up to this that could have led to a different outcome. Like capitalizing on the fact that Hajime worshipped him and trying to win him over like Hajime literally wanted him to do.

I don’t know if Hajime is supposed to be a kakuja–can you point me to a chapter where this is mentioned? I still have some hope for Hajime–Kaneki definitely killed many of the Oggai, but if any of them survive it would be him. Hide (probably) lost his face to Kaneki but survived; Hajime lost his face in an obvious callback to not just Hide, but to what happened to his parents:

And to what he did to the members of Goat guarding him.

Which again reinforces the theme that vengeance is an empty cycle that repeats and repeats and repeats and needs to be broken. Also the idea that this cycle winds up affecting the children most of all. Unlike Hajime’s parents, unlike the Goat guards, unlike Kaneki, Hajime is too young to fully comprehend his actions.

But I agree with you about most of these characters not being dead. I actually really do like Aura, though my hopes for him surviving the manga as a whole are Not High. In terms of likelihood of being dead now, I’ll honestly say of the four you mention Hajime is most likely to be dead: I’d rank it from least likely to most likely as:

Mutsuki (there’s no chance he’s dead)

Furuta (he’s not dead yet but I can’t rule out he might die next chapter, but I still think he shouldn’t die laughing so hopefully not yet)

Aura (foreshadowed to hulk out in Saiko’s manga)

Hajime (if any Oggai survive–and they should–it would logically be him).

Thank you for the ask!

Eto vs. Furuta Round 2

I would really love for Eto, if she’s alive, to have a role in thwarting Fruit’s plans. Because it doesn’t seem to be a great one–I’m not sure that uniting to kill a common enemy is a good way to ensure the cooperation of species, but maybe that’s what he intends: for everyone and the entire city to work together to die. The response to Eto’s last novel, on the other hand, at least seemed to show that empathy could be a solution in which people get out alive (as @arvendell has said to me). If Eto is dead, this could still happen if the theory that Hide has been working with Eto is true, and Hide is able to calm Dragoneki.

Basically I just want Eto to be like not today Satan to Furuta even if it’s from beyond the grave.

(I also don’t think Furuta has the right to die if he dies laughing, so I don’t think this is the end for him just yet.)

Is Hajime truly dead? I can’t believe he died just like that without meeting Amon. Is there any possibility of him still being alive? :'(

Another Hajime fan, thank you.

So my honest answer is I don’t know, which you can take as I do have some hope. Mostly because of the Amon thing, plus I feel like it’s likely at least one of the Oggai will survive and we know like only Hajime and we know Mayuzumi’s name but nothing about them. Hajime’s the one we’re emotionally invested in for better or for worse. It’s possible after losing his face (it’s okay hajime Hide is doing fine) he ran because he’s clearly really powerful. But right now that’s just speculation. I’m not super optimistic but yes, I do think it’s possible he survived and I’m going to keep my fingers crossed.

It will be so sad if the quinx do manage to kill Kaneki… they will fulfill their assigned role from the beginning, to kill Haise if he ever to go berserk… but, that to say, i’m not sure it is just quinx’ job now, most likely everyone’s job, Kaneki is so huge now… can we just get the old nagaraja that destroyed underground city to do the job? He seemed to be the same size as Kaneki… We kind a need him now xD

It’d be incredibly tragic, and it’s definitely what Furuta seems to have planned. Generally if it’s something Furuta has planned I think we should be hoping the characters run in the other direction, and there are some things Furuta as the current writer of Kaneki’s story hasn’t planned for, like I discussed here. Furuta wants the world to unite around defeating Dragoneki:

But everyone he wants to defeat Kaneki loves him or has ties to someone who loves him. Furuta is the moon. He is deluded, and yes, Kaneki is Dragon, but I question whether defeating Kaneki bringing peace is fitting with the story’s themes, which seem to counter Furuta’s philosophies if anything.

Thank you for the ask!

it’s disappointing to know that haise didnt consider quinx as his real family too. just ‘as if’ and ‘make-believe’:(

Well, I can’t read Japanese, so I’m not sure of the precise connotations in the original text. If anyone can comment on that, I’d love to hear about it. Here’s how MS translates it on top and how JB translates it below:

How I read it wasn’t that Haise considered them a “fake” family, but rather a family of his own making, a makeshift family, not the family he was born into, but the one he created. As a personal note, I’m not very close with most of my biological family for certain reasons, and I have a group of friends I consider my family, the family I chose, rather than blood family. I think I’d use similar phrases to describe them (“pretty much family” etc.). (That’s part of why the Quinxes’ dynamics with each other are among my favorites in the series.)

That being said if there is anything negative about it, it would not be the first time Kaneki didn’t fully understand what he means to people.

Thank you for the ask!

Maybe Amon will parallel Haise, and will fight with a new reformed QS including the OG members, and new members to defeat Kaneki. I hope so at least.

Yeah, there is definitely some indication Amon and Kaneki might fight again, or at least that they will oppose each other. Their talk was brushed over after having been built up for so damn long in the original manga that the most logical reason it was brushed over to me seems to be that there will be another talk incoming, when Kaneki and Amon are opposed to each other again.

I apologize, I’m not sure what you mean by parallel Haise–that he might replace Haise in the Quinx squad? Well, Amon is tied to Saiko and fought Urie and Mutsuki before… we shall see.