;_;
Impression
Not cool, Ishida. Not cool. Do you even have a heart? I swear, if it was Saiko who died instead – I would be reacting worse than I did with Hairu. Of course, that’s not to say that this wasn’t brutal as fuck, because it really was. It’s true that the death flags for Shirazu were there, with his reckless actions during the Noro fight implying that there would be consequences for him at the very least – but why did he have to suffer even in death? Shirazu doesn’t deserve that! If he’s going to be killed off, then to an extent I can respect that decision. I imagine all the hardcore Shirazu fans are taking this a lot harder than I am. But why make it the most suffering-filled death in the arc? What the hell did he do to deserve dying alone, scared and confused? He lost his senses, and thought no-one was beside him even though Urie and Saiko were. He died all by himself, and to him nobody was there for him. Why, Ishida? Could it not have been peaceful at least? Why is it that this arc has been one massive inter-character competition to see who can get shit on the most? I mean, just think of the death count so far. Off the top of my head, there’s:
- Matsumae
- Mairo
- Hairu
- Kijima
- Shimoguchi
- Michibata
- Kanae(?)
- Noro
- Shirazu
- Haise
And remember that these are all full characters with character designs and speaking roles before they were killed off. As sad as it might have been to see Shirazu call out for Sassan (we will never him say Sassan again) it’s better that he doesn’t know about what Haise has become. I think there’s an irony in that being one of his deathbed requests – because of course, he can’t see Haise any more even if he could have made it to the rooftop. I actually feel incredibly sorry for whoever ends up with the responsibility of telling Kaneki that the Qs leader, his precious subordinate, was killed. And imagine if Kaneki found out that he died in a fight against Noro, who it’s implied is the corpse of Eto’s caretaker which she’s now controlling through her kagune. The absolute worst-case scenario would be if Kaneki and Eto find out at the same time that Shirazu and Noro have died. A few other sufferers include Urie and Saiko, Urie in particular – remember how all his thoughts have recently started expressing genuine worry for his fellow squad members instead of how he used to badmouth them in private? Urie has gone through a hell of a lot of subtle development. Not only did he offer to give all the credit to a dying Shirazu, he even decided to stay with his deceased friend instead of leave with Washuu in order to fight Eto. Washuu needs to suffer. A lot. I don’t know about you, but I felt so angry seeing his stupid poker face that indicated he didn’t give a shit about his dying subordinates. Does he even know what morale is? What is he even doing during every single CCG promotion and memorial ceremony, counting his money in his office? And what does he think Urie and Kuroiwa Jr will even be able to do against Eto? Isn’t that just asking them go upstairs (faster than Ui) and die for him as fodder?
As for Kaneki and Eto, I’m finding their new dynamic really cute. I want to stress that I’m not saying they should be shipped together, which I know is an increasingly popular stance to take. And just like the red hair theory, I think it’s an increasingly stupid stance to take. There’s a lot of intrigue and banter in their current relationship, and both of them seem to be having fun trying to kill each other more than anything else – I don’t see any romantic tension at all. It’s also interesting that Eto seems to be treating Kaneki as an equal, and hasn’t looked down on him as much as she has on most of the other characters – like how she treated Haise, for example. She’s now speaking to Kaneki as a fellow one-eyed ghoul in their long-awaited battle.
I do wonder, though, whether Kaneki will mention something about Eto being Takatsuki Sen – he’s told her about his mandate to save her (but doesn’t seem to be too pleased about it all) which indicates that he remembers a hell of a lot about his former life, if not everything. It’s also pretty amazing that he cut off a chunk of her kakuja. Who was the last person to injure her, Arima? Do you remember how she tore apart a top-tier Special-Class team comprising Shinohara, Ui and Juuzou back during the Anteiku raid? We only have estimates as to how strong Kaneki is now, but if he managed to destroy Kanae and is putting up a fight against Eto with no reliance on his kakuja, I think he’s just gotten a boost in power level.
I… have no rights to say anything here… How foolish I was to not consider that one of them may pass away.
It was always a possibility. Shirazu went overboard with defeating Noro. I’m not sure how many frames were released, but I think it was implied he damaged a kakuhou or two. It’s just that because Noro died, we all assumed he’d won and would get away with being injured instead of dying. Ishida disagreed.
This chapter broke me. Shirazu
s death was so incredilly sad, with his confusion and his last words being the wish that they should swich off Harus life support and let her die. I said in the past that their where hints of Uries development, but god dammit, this chapter prity much puts him in my favorit character list. I wouldnt say that Ken slicing of part of Etos Kakaju is that much of a indication, she is obviosly just playing around with him. Speaking of Eto, how twisted can she be, turning her parential figure in a zombie that is controlled by her kagune and, juging by the last chapter, Noro still loved her dispite that. I am really intressted in Etos backstory and what turned her into this monster she is now.I think it was implied that Noroi died when Eto was growing up. ‘Noroi’ is his real name, but baby Eto probably couldn’t pronounce it fully and it became ‘Noro’. At some point, Noro was killed and that’s when Eto turned evil. She probably couldn’t bear the grief and turned Noro into an animated corpse using her kagune. Given that it’s just a skull under the mask, Noro must have been dead for a long time now.
This is… probably the kind of thought that should be forbidden. But what if, what if Haru could somehow… bring back Shirazu with that growth? Kind of like what Eto did. Was Noro really just a puppet? If he had full thoughts and feelings… but that’s insanely wishful thinking. Hmm. Insane, huh? Perhaps I’ve just gotten a littler closer to Eto.
sigh
I still can’t help but wonder what the details of that zombification are. Is the amount of mental awareness dependent on how well preserved the corpse is? These are questions that need answering. Fortunately, I think we’ll get them mainly due to learning more about Eto herself, as well as the nature of RC cells.
I read something elsewhere recently, about a parallel between Shirazu and a certain other character. And we all know how much Ishida likes his mirror effects.
Both characters are Rank 2. Both have younger sisters, and are blood type A. Both use an experimental ukaku, and were in back support during their final raid. Both were shown writing and handing in a will before a raid. Both selflessly charged in with a do-or-die attack to protect their comrades, and both received extensive injury from an attack by Noro in mid-air. Both had an antagonistic relationship with a rival classmate, and that classmate only showed the true extent of their feelings towards them after their death.
The other character? Takizawa.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe it would be better if Shirazu stayed dead.