IX - Unravelling Tragedies

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE MANGA SERIES TOKYO GHOUL AND TOKYO GHOUL:RE BY ISHIDA SUI. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

"If, for argument's sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role it would certainly be a tragedy."

What happens if your first date goes wrong? What happens if an innocent boy got murdered? What happens if his life took a wrong turn? What happens if he changed? Tragedy happens. That happened to a normal boy studying at a normal university living a normal life. He became a completely different person. A person who is a tragic hero with a tragic ending.

Kaneki Ken is an 18-year-old human studying Japanese Literature at Kamii University. He is a shy and reserved person, with only Hide Nagachika as his only friend. He is very fond of reading novels, mostly the bestselling author Takatsuki Sen's famous works. He is extremely gentle and appears to be optimistic most of the time. However, beneath his selfless and gentle nature is an underlying fear of being alone. Ever since his mother died, Kaneki has developed his personality to resemble his mother's. He despises the idea of solitude, hence he tries to protect those dear to him so he would not have to face his fears of being alone in the world.

In the first chapter, he and Hide were listening to the news about a ghoul attack in the 20th ward in a coffee shop called Anteiku. Ghouls are a carnivorous and cannibalistic species that are only able to feed on humans and other ghouls. They are as close to humans as possible: They normally have the same physical appearance and intelligence as a human with the exception of diet, mentality and inner biology. In Anteiku, Kaneki told Hide that he has a crush on a girl named Rize. Kaneki was eventually arranged a date with Rize. They had a great time with each other until Rize tricked Kaneki into entering an isolated alley, revealing that she was a ghoul targeting him. Rize attacked and wounded Kaneki in the abdomen, but died later when steel bars fell on her and completely killed her. To save his life, the staff of the Kanou General Hospital under the direction of Dr. Kanou decided to transplant Rize's organs into him. From then on, Kaneki became a half-human, half-ghoul.

He later learned of this when everything that he ate tastes disgusting, because ghouls can't eat normal food. He lived only on water for days, until Touka, a waitress at Anteiku, found him and offered him human meat. He can't bring himself to eat because he still believes he's still a human. He struggles to find a place of belonging as he does not fully belong with neither humans nor ghouls. When his world is suddenly transformed over night, he loses his sense of self and struggles to find his identity among the disorder that was brought upon by this tragedy.

He joins Anteiku as a part-time waiter and learns how to live as ghoul. He met other ghouls who lives peacefully and learns that they can also be humans, as they possess humane personalities, characteristics, feelings, and emotions. Kaneki eventually asks himself who are the real monsters and the real humans, as there was a federal agency that serves as a criminal investigative body in cases connected to ghoul called the Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG). They believe that all ghouls are evil and should be killed. They even kill those who are living peacefully and won't hurt a single person, like a ghoul mother who was only trying to protect her daughter from being harmed.

"As my fingers and toes re-grew like fingernails or hair over and over and over and over.....and over again, every single time I got the feeling that I truly, truly, truly was a monster."

Kaneki was abducted by the Aogiri Tree, a terrorist organization of ghouls who were targeting ghoul investigators. There, he underwent a constant torture at the hands of a ghoul named Yamori. Kaneki's personality changed. He throws aside his previous ideology of "being hurt rather than hurting others" pledging to crush those who dare to threaten his place to belong. In his subconsciousness, Kaneki eats "Rize", the image of his ghoul self. This represents how he now accepts the "ghoul" within him yet not influenced by it, instead being the one who surpasses it. Kaneki becomes more ruthless and brutal in order to protect his friends, all the while maintaining complete composure. He no longer fears his ghoul side. By embracing his ghoul nature wholeheartedly, Kaneki has given up on being "human". Kaneki yearns for strength and power to protect others therefore becoming more arrogant, as shown in his new ideology that as "the strong", he has the right to "devour the weak" - an ideology held by Yamori.

"I led me by the hand, as if to fill the niches in the memories in my oozing brain fluid. Without even a destination, we kept walking. Disgusting clouds were floating in the sky. I already know what will happen to me the next time I wake up."

Kaneki begins to revert back to his old personality from before being captured by the Aogiri. He enters a period of soul-searching, seeking to reclaim his human side as well as becoming uncertain about the path he has taken to become stronger. At the near end of the manga, Kaneki returned to Anteiku to help defend his friends and loved ones from being annihilated by the CCG. He was eventually killed by a ghoul investigator named Arima at the last chapter. Kaneki had a whole introspective moment after being defeated by Arima. Coming to terms with his old self (leading his younger, black haired self by the hand) and acknowledging that his new self has been equally flawed. This signifies the end of his character arc in Tokyo Ghoul and the beginning of his new one in Tokyo Ghoul:re.

After a timeskip, he is currently living under the identity of Haise Sasaki , as a First Class ghoul investigator, serving as the mentor of the CCG's Quinx Squad and a member of Team Mado. His memories are lost to him, yet he is slowly beginning to understand what his past self was like through those that knew Ken Kaneki, such as his friends back in Anteiku.

Kaneki Ken is one example of a tragic hero with a tragic ending. He went through a lot of painful things to satisfy his desire to protect those who are dear to him. He knew he was weak before therefore succumbing to his "monstrous" side. Such a pity; he deserved nothing of all these horrible things.

Since you know that I'm a huge anime fan, I've decided to do a blog post about one of my favorites. I have watched and read a lot of animes and mangas, but Tokyo Ghoul is something that cannot be replaced. The plot is so huge and mindblowing and the first chapter just got me hooked. The characters are really meaningful. They gave me a lot of fucking emotions just oh my god I cried a lot over this series I love it so much