“I see… I was not the only one who was afraid…”

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Impression

“Haise. Am I… scary?”
“…Yeah.”
“Why?”
“You’re asking… why? Because you are… strong.”

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_re 31 Img008An incredible chapter this week. I’ve had trouble containing my excitement all weekend after seeing some of the raw spoiler images. At long last, the auction is over, but we’ve been left with a couple of massive reveals and developments. The first of those is as regards Haise and Kaneki – the mentality of the former with regards to the latter going forward will be very different from how it’s been up until now. It wasn’t quite a ‘merger’ between the two as per my speculations, but Haise has accepted Kaneki to an extent, and is willing to accommodate his presence. All this time, Kaneki has been pleading for Haise to ‘look at him’ – not (just) so that he can seize the chance to tempt him into the darkness, but because Haise has been getting the wrong idea about him all this time. Before Hinami, he was terrified at the supposedly savage monster who lived the first twenty years of his life. But now, the Kaneki that appears in his mind is just a kid, and this change is a major step for their future relationship going forward. Haise seems to be willing to take requests, too – his bold request to Arima must have been influenced by his inner Kaneki in some way.

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_re 31 Img005And what a request it was. I literally froze when Arima appeared and had his men surround Hinami – and like Hinami herself, I thought she was going to die for sure. It was the worst possible scenario – apart from Kaneki, when has Arima ever spared a ghoul? It’s also debatable whether we can say that what Arima did was ‘sparing’ him. I have a feeling that Arima knows full well that Haise was lying to him, or at least was aware that there was more to it than what he could see – but when he lied, he was still Haise. And that’s what I think Arima was there to check. He’d just finished another operation, and yet he rushed over to check on Haise – out of concern, perhaps, but also definitely in case he started reverting and going on a rampage again. At any rate, it seems pretty radical to let Haise just keep a pet ghoul like that, even if Hinami is most likely willing to live in the house with him and the rest of the Quinx Squad. Or will she be thrown into Cochlea?

_re 31 Img006My initial prediction for Floppy arriving on the battlefield was that it would be either Rize or Amon, and that they’d help unlock more of Haise’s memories. As the newcomer turned out to be Arima, that little idea was temporarily foiled – until Amon actually did appear, with Kuro at his feet no less! Amon is indeed Floppy, and despite being only featured on a single page, that was just about enough to tell us about his current situation. He is most likely a fellow one-eyed ghoul experiment – but a failed one, assuming that Takizawa and his mentally-broken state counts as a success. Before the auction, Eto told Ayato to ‘finish it’ if Floppy ever came – meaning that Amon isn’t with Aogiri, but instead was with them. But unlike Takizawa, in the face of all the torture he did not descend into madness, and managed to escape. If he’s helping the CCG clean up, it means he’s essentially anti-Aogiri – and the symbolic reversal is thus complete. Amon is now forced to live as a one-eyed ghoul, and is now in the same position Kaneki was in after he experienced his torture. And Haise is forced to live as a human, and is now a First-Class Investigator like Amon if he gets promoted as a result of his ‘distinguished service’ in the auction raid. But seriously, how long has Ishida been planning this for? Look at this!

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It’s like ‘Halfway’ all over again! I presume ‘Yasuhisa’ is Kuro, and the absence of Shiro does suggest she’s dead. At least Kuro is alive. Maybe not safe, but alive. Rescue her, Amon! I wonder what Amon thought of Kuro and Shiro when he first found out they were one-eyed ghouls. At the time, their appearance was just to make him believe in the existence of the concept, but I do wonder whether he would have killed them if he had to directly confront them. He is a kind person, but also one very much driven by justice and a hatred for ghouls. Now he’s in the same position they were – but I can’t see him eating humans at all, which is probably why he’s cannibalizing the Aogiri members he defeats. When he meets Haise, the two need to have a nice, long chat.

If we consider this arc as :re’s Hinami arc, the next arc will involve Tsukiyama and his father. There have been parallels – Haise has discovered more about himself like he did at this point in the original series, and Hinami has been ‘rescued’ from certain death at the hands of a scary, white-haired dove. I cannot wait for the impending argument between Hinami and Saiko over onii-chan and Maman.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. The Traveler (@IWHBYT)

    That feeling when you find your parents delicious though… Seidou ;_; I hope he can be saved.

    1. Vantage

      “MOMMY! DADDY! I’M SORRY! I CAN’T HELP IT! I COULDN’T HELP IT!”

      ;_;

      …I completely forgot about that. And I still remember that scene with Takizawa talking to his mother before writing his ‘I don’t want to die’ will before the Anteiku raid. I too would like him to be saved, but I think it’s over for him – Akira might be of some help, but I don’t know. Not after all he’s done to his ex-colleagues.

    2. Plinfan

      Year, I can`t see him going back, aogiri has completle broke him. I mean, jesus, he got turned into a ghoul, got tortered for how knows how long, they forced him to eat his parents(!), and after breaking him completly they twisted the remains of him into a insane killing maschine. The only thing I hope for him is that someone takes him out of his misery. On the other hand sasaki and kaneki might not have completly merged but they accept eachother more now, so that is a stepp in the right direction.
      The last thing I noticed in this chapter was a short lock at Shirazu and Urie. It seems the operation definitly left a mark on the quinx (Urie going berserk; tooru maybe comitting cannabalism; shirazus belive that ghouls are all monsters; Saiko being the only one of the CCG knowing that haise lied), I think this is going to lead too a massiv charater development of all of them.

      1. The Traveler (@IWHBYT)

        Frankly, I wouldn’t see any hope for him either if Akira, Amon and Kaneki weren’t still present. It’s not at all guaranteed, but they can definitely have an impact if given a chance. Well, them more than anyone. Plus, I believe Takizawa is only a half-kakuja right now. If he achieves a fully formed kakuja he may be freed of his insanity, if not his guilt. Granted, having a complete kakuja may only remove the insanity he has during his half-kakuja state.

        I know it sounds like a shot in the dark, but given that a kakuja is a mutation and affects a Ghoul’s body greatly, even psychologically, do you see why I hope it might remove his insanity? At that point, if he could just talk to Akira, Amon or Kaneki before his guilt kills him…

        [Plinfan], you’re very right about the changes to the squad (heh, I can actually call them the squad for real). Vantage mentioned the way Saiko and Hinami might impact and have an impact made on them by the Sasaki-Kaneki “hybrid” in due time. I was extremely interested in seeing where Shirazu would be taken by the revelation of Nutcracker’s gentle side (people even speculate she may still be alive – a hybrid Ghoul would be valuable to the CCG)!

        Last but not least, I’m looking forward to possibly seeing Urie and Tooru bond. Tooru can teach him all about it being okay to not be number one, as well as possibly being the first of the Quinx he really bonds with. On the other hand, Urie calling Tooru a woman may just be the first positive experience that Tooru has ever had being called a woman in a long while, which may lead to Tooru gradually feeling more comfortable in her own skin.

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