Takatsuki is too cute.
Impression
Exciting stuff. On the surface it might seem like nothing much has happened recently, but there’s more going on that you might think – and all the pieces are slowly falling into place now. Beyond expanding their territory, it’s now clear that Aogiri is aiming to recruit – which makes a lot of sense in hindsight. Yamori is dead, Nico has presumably left and I can’t remember what happened to the Bin Brothers, which leaves Ayato, Kaneki, Eto and Tatara in terms of executives. That’s not very many ghouls at all, and it’s now clear that it’s not that we haven’t seen much of Aogiri Tree – that’s pretty much it, and there’s no-one else around. In order to increase their numbers they’re going around intercepting the CCG and their woefully inadequate carriers, releasing ghouls like Naki – whom I never liked, by the way. I felt a mixture of mild amusement and irritation at his little breakdown, and spicy Kaneki did a good job of responding to him. The irony being that he was the one who cannibalized Jason, which made Juuzou’s job a lot easier. Guess teaching Naki to write was his way of apology. But yeah, the aim seems to be Cochlea, which means that ultimately there hasn’t been too much divergence from the manga. Kaneki’s anti-Aogiri group in the manga had members including Banjou and Tsukiyama, both of whom have infiltrated Aogiri presumably to help him – so they ended up near him regardless of what he chose to do. Tsukiyama never really was affiliated to Anteiku as much as he was to Kaneki himself, in the end. What a silly goose.
So the relevant participants in future events are still gathering, just in different ways. Kuro and Shiro are no exception. I didn’t think there was enough Kuro and Shiro actually, and they only stuck around long enough to reveal to Kaneki that they too only have one kakugan. It’s the first time we’ve seen the post-Aogiri Kaneki falter from his cool, piercing gaze – and there’s a good reason behind his surprise. Similarly, this is the first time other one-eyed ghouls have explicitly appeared, when they’re supposed to be incredibly rare – and not only that, because both of them are sporting identical rinkaku kagune. Which also happen to be identical to the kagune he shares with… Kamishiro Rize. Hmm.
There was also a scene with Hide and Touka, meeting for the first time in what must be a while. It’s always very difficult to ascertain just exactly how much Hide knows, and he’s one of those characters who convey a lot by their unspoken expressions – chances are, given his intellect he knows more than you think he does. This scene was very nostalgic, especially given the recent events of Tokyo Ghoul:re. I won’t be forgetting the fact that, whenever Kaneki is hiding something, he places one hand on and rubs his chin.
My favourite scene of the episode was by far the book signing event, where Hinami meets with Takatsuki Sen face-to-face. This meeting happened with Kaneki in the manga, and I thought it might be exciting to have Touka come instead – which is why I was disappointed when she eventually didn’t tag along. Koma tailing her was a much less exciting prospect, though at least her safety is ensured that way. Takatsuki is just as cute as I thought she would be! While you should know by now that Tokyo Ghoul is not a show that would ever introduce useless characters, I think Takatsuki came off a bit too strong in the sense that the anime gave out some very blatant hints. Her cryptic gaze and response to ‘Kaneki Ken’ should have been enough and maybe even too much at this stage, especially as she didn’t end up doing anything. Maybe fewer people would have made a connection if Eto didn’t have such a sexy smile.
Tokyo Ghoul:re
[SPOILER START]
This section is quickly becoming a place for spoilers of stuff that hasn’t yet happened in the anime, but that I’m looking forward to. Next week sounds like it’ll be some stuff with Rize’s potential father, while the appearances of Kuro and Shiro alongside the CCG’s hospital investigations imply that Kanou will become involved as well. But yeah, I was hoping for Eto to have kidnapped Hinami and brought her back to join Aogiri a couple years earlier than she would have. Or for her to have refused to return Hinami’s book to her, saying she’ll give it to Kaneki herself. That would have been fun!
As for :re itself, all I really wanted to say was that Haise looks surprisingly legit as a girl. I completely didn’t recognize him at first!
[SPOILER END]
One thing is for certain: Tsukiyama and Nachi are a lot easier to appreciate when you get to choose their vocal expression while reading 😛 Although, the creep factor and level of annoyance, respectively, are well within reasonable limits for mere characters. I’m sure Nachi will be much better when he’s not wailing over Yamori. I hope.
I also think that the bit with Takatsuki was too obvious. However there’s a whole other mystery involved with her that newcomers won’t see coming just yet. They may also be doing it on purpose to more or less get it out of the way, while still retaining some subtlety, since she’ll be interacting with a certain someone a whole lot more from now on.
I dearly hope we’ll learn more about Shiro and Kuro since… [spoiler] we didn’t see them all too often in Tokyo Ghoul and they have yet to show up again in TG: RE. By the way, I hope that if they fight with Juuzou in this second season or another time in RE, it’ll be a better fight. They gave Kaneki trouble and then Juuzou took them on a little too easily ;_; They better both be alive!
Kaneki makes just as good looking of a girl – http://safebooru.donmai.us/posts/1851175 I wonder what Akira thought of the cross-dressing suggestion though. She might be wanting her own daughter now, hehe. [/spoiler]
I don’t mind Tsukiyama, I’ve sort of grown used to his antics by now! It’s also great seeing such an upbeat and energetic Tsukiyama, if you know what I mean. His relationship with spicy Kaneki has always been a vague one, though by this point in the timeline I do think his obsession is already more than just wanting to eat him. As for Takatsuki… given her smile, maybe it’s time for her to become a Cinderella Girl!
[spoiler] It was her smile, her fixation with Kaneki and the way she swings her legs under the table. Maybe even her laugh, if viewers were paying enough attention. I hope they are doing it on purpose, because the revelation that Takatsuki is Eto came near the very end of the manga, during one of its climactic moments. Granted, Eto never had much of a presence before then, and it’s different now – but we haven’t seen any of it. Nothing much has changed from the manga plotline apart from Kaneki’s affiliation. Kuro and Shiro had better fight Juuzou, they’re taking special care in showing us what he’s up to each week. More importantly, their arrival means the imminent presence of Kanou and Rize, and I’m hoping Kaneki grabs her instead of Yomo.
Akira makes me feel sad over what Haise might do once his memories return. Akira and Amon are the only people I care about in the CCG -I’m not particularly attached to the Quinx, at least not yet- and it would be nice if they stayed relatively happy. Would an awakened Kaneki stay in the CCG? Return to being violent? Go into hiding? [/spoiler]
[spoiler] That’s a VERY attractive possibility! I wonder if Rize would respect him as a Ghoul now. I don’t think she could beat him since she seems to have never cannibalized. Heck, she might even pull the “son” card since she’s like the “Black Goat” and Kaneki is her “Egg”. Oh the fun Eto would have watching that, especially if she knew they both read ‘The Black Goat’s Egg’ xD
Speaking of Amon, it would be interesting if he was captured and modified to be a Quinx. I suppose I’m really just wanting him and Akira to be together whether as squad mates or romantically. As for Kaneki, his white-haired form certainly seems a lot more savage than when we last saw it fully in control. [/spoiler]