“I… will save you.”
Impression
Eto-chan is a bundle of sexy and crazy all rolled into one.
The psychotic giggling was rather unnerving, and partly because of that I had actually forgotten that full kakuja ghouls retained their sanity, and thus could actually form full sentences and converse properly. I think the episode in general was rather unnerving, at least for me – because I wasn’t sure what to expect. I felt a mixture of hope and worry, and that was largely reflected in what the episode actually adapted – we saw some really great scenes, whilst others were cut out completely or redacted into being less effective. One of my biggest worries was that they’d miss out the scene where Eto spits out Yoshimura and reveals herself to be Takatsuki Sen (it’s been obvious for a while, but that doesn’t make the reveal any less exciting) so I was thankful that was stuck onto the very end of the episode. That being said, I thought Eto was animated rather clumsily in general, although this applies to both One-Eyed Owls. And we never got one of her manga lines I was waiting for. For all the suffering Juuzou went through, it was actually redacted quite a bit in the adaptation – the way it went in the manga was that Juuzou initially lost a leg. Shinohara tries to protect him, and Eto responds to his valiant efforts by decimating him and then sawing off the same leg Juuzou lost, before exclaiming something like: “Now you match~!”
I was very hyped to finally see Arima though. It’s important to put things into perspective – it was hard to defeat Yoshimura. Many doves died in the battle against Koma and Irimi. And Eto is several times larger and stronger than Yoshimura is. Yet Arima, the CCG’s Reaper, managed to hold his own against her without any problems, displaying some fancy footwork and quinque-waving with Narukami and Ixa. He even got her to retreat. Arima is an invincible beast. Seriously, if anyone needs saving, it’s anyone that goes up against Arima.
Another redacted scene was the fated encounter between Amon and Kaneki. In contrast to Eto and Juuzou though, I think the subtle changes the adaptation made did slightly make up for what was cut out. The fight itself was pretty nice, notwithstanding the abundant use of smoke and dust, and many changes that were made (such as Kaneki removing his mask to reveal his single kakugan, and his rescue of the trapped CCG members) showed that he valued his humanity – the irony being that the drastic change made to this adaptation was that he joined Aogiri. On the other hand, it was a shame we didn’t get to see Amon with his Arata II, and Kaneki with his kakuja once more. We did get the scene where Kaneki asks for his name though, which was cool.
Now, as for severe changes. It’s because of these changes that there’s still lots of uncertainty floating about with how they’ll end this, and honestly I’m not sure why they’re still trying to make anime-original a thing at this point. For starters, why on earth are Aogiri even here? It’s supposed to be Eto acting alone, and only because Yoshimura is her father. And Kaneki is also acting alone, having decided to help protect Anteiku. There’d be no reason for Aogiri to help Anteiku, beyond the notion that they’d have an easier time picking off the CCG now that they’ve been weakened by the previous battle. There’s also a certain Touka still running around, who may or may not end up encountering Hide and Kaneki, who have finally met for the first time since the start of the series. Let’s see how that goes down.
Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 21
[SPOILER START]
“You’re like a freshly picked pineapple.”
What a psycho. He’s clearly beyond saving, and I can only hope that Amon hasn’t succumbed to whatever made Takizawa like this. Him having clearly been eaten by Noro in the episode implies that there really will be no adaptation of :re. Maybe that’s for the best. The rest of this chapter pretty much had each of the unfolding battles develop in increments, alongside some interesting comments from some of the characters. Actually, some have in fact ended – Juuzou is glad that Ayato has backed off, and Akira has gotten her revenge on Naki for what he did to her leg before the time-skip. The ending of the latter battle isn’t surprising – Akira still has a bigger and better role to play yet. Interestingly, Akira was using a whip in this episode of the anime, although it’s certainly not the right size and shape for it to be Fueguchi.
I wanted that Rank 1 to kill Roma. I guess I’ll have to make do with what I’m sure will be a more satisfying death at the hands of Haise or one of the other ex-Anteiku members she duped. We also learned that the current incarnation of the Clowns is in fact merely a remnant, which implies they were an old faction that supposedly split apart some time before the start of the series. It’s possible that they were Uta’s old ghoul gang, back in the days when he fought with Yomo. It would explain how Uta knows veteran CCG members like Hirako, much like how Tatara knows Houji.
[SPOILER END]
Apparently an official twitter post was made about Oshiete Yo’s return in episode 12. That has significant implications to me since I justified the new opening to many people as being more appropriate due to the more subtle drama and power struggles present in season 2, whereas season 1 was much louder and blatant. The difference is basically summed up by black-haired Kaneki vs white-haired Kaneki. If things are going to get loud and more conspicuous, ooh, we might be in for SOMETHING! I still… really want to see Eto train Kaneki to have an evolved, insect-like Kakuja that’s on scale like hers, maybe smaller. Perhaps that’s too terrible a thought.
Chapter 21 was just as you said though. The only thing to be curious about that’s directly related to that chapter is what display of power we’ll see from “Pineapple Picker” next time! [spoiler] As for whether he can be saved, that’s still up in the air to me. While Eto is certainly more sadistic than Yomo, I doubt she’d want to ruin a good experiment by keeping Takizawa starved in a totally damaging way, especially if he’s supposed to be an “Owlet” with an “evolved Kakuja”, which requires keeping his sanity to use efficiently… or not. Who knows, maybe it’s part of an elaborate plan to wear out Arima or just make him “dance” for her amusement.
As reaper-like as he is, Eto was definitely toying with him in that last fight. It’s hard to say whether she would win for sure using that bigger, slower form of hers. It might be more of a crowd control form to her… Because every now and then I have to remind myself that her basic form is a lot scarier than Arima ;_; Bloody, teleporting, rib stealing beauty she is!
As for the Clowns, I forget what chapter it was mentioned in but they are a remnant. Uta used to be known as ‘No Face’ when he had a bigger gang and one day their numbers were cut down by none other than Arima, Houji and Hirako. As for the remnant Clowns or Neo-Clowns, shoot, how many Rinkaku does Roma have?! Do THEY have Kakuja too? I guess there is more to be curious about as far as things directly related to chapter 21… [/spoiler]
It was used during Kaneki vs Yamori, wasn’t it? The final episode’s title is ‘Ken’, and I think we both know what battle we’ll be seeing. I actually don’t think OP1 would be too suitable during that… a continuous screech of random piano keys would fit it much more, and I think they’ve actually used an OST like that before.
[spoiler] I would feel so sorry for Takizawa if he was called ‘Pineapple Picker’. What a way to get a nickname. I think in general, I’m not a fan of the animated Owls. They seemed so much more deadly in the manga, and their size and the way they’re animated in the adaptation makes them look bulky and clumsy. The crazy laughing is… fine as it is though.
And Uta as ‘No Face’ is an incredibly chilling prospect given the events of Chapter 22. I may start spinning off these paragraphs about :re into separate posts given that the anime is ending, and there’s no better time than Chapter 22. [/spoiler]
Indeed it was used in their fight. You’re absolutely right that it wouldn’t fit as well as OP2 would in that fight. I suppose it might be used for some sort of action before things quiet down for THAT fight.
Who knows. Maybe Hideki and Touka will even get Kaneki out of there! However, as the song is ending Kaneki asks Touka how the others escaped, Hideki catches wind of large massing of Ghouls being found and Kaneki goes to ensure that neither CCG, nor Ghouls suffer immense casualties. So, you know, we’re all hyped up [spoiler] especially if we haven’t read the manga! But then… Kaneki gets there and most of the Ghouls are dead, if not all of them since Koma and Irimi are confirmed to have been saved in this adaption. Thus the fated fight begins and OP2 takes its rightful place ;_; That’d be Uta’s level of trickery right there! Anime-only fans would expect Centipede-kun to save the day, but we who also read the manga would know better…
The laughing is a nice reflection of Eto’s sadism, but I think her actions alone would’ve shown that she loved being a sadist. Owl in the manga seemed as though its movements were always elegant and so it was simply great at dodging blows with quick, short strides, rather than the animation where it seems more like an animal that moves erratically in general. I think the lack of weight behind Owls movements also made it odd, but adding cracks on the roof for each step would’ve been more work.
I doubt anyone but “mama”, our still partially alive Dove and Takizawa himself know of the pineapple metaphor he’s so fond of. Let’s keep hope for a better name! Anyway, I’d be all for TG: RE posts even if you only make them following detail intensive chapters! [/spoiler]
By the way, thanks for deleting those comments!