linkspooky:

So here we have it finally stated in text. If the scenario is following Furuta’s plans, and the humans and ghouls have teamed up together in order to create a better future then why are the clowns still fighting on the side of V. 

It’s important to remember that clowns are entirely nihilistic ghouls, so much so they were willing to watch their own extinction as a species as long as they got a front seat to it.

Nico’s words here, Itori’s words here.

Donato and Itori’s own implications in this chapter.

That they’ve seen this all play out before in some form or another, tragic comedy after tragic comedy. So when Renji is called warm warm, I can’t help but believe he’s being called naive. 

That Renji’s worldview, his hopeful one comes not from having glanced at the madness of the world and overcome it by himself, but rather from not looking. That Renji himself is so straight forward and simple he doesn’t try to stray from his expectations. He hasn’t come to understand the wold and decided to trust it anyway, but rather his own reaction comes from a lack of understanding. A blind faith.

Renji basically says even agrees to as much with Take in “101″, ironically while the clowns are attacking in the background.

“Mutual understanding doesn’t require sharing everything with one another.” very convenient for Take who hates telling anybody anything, until everything’s already exploded in the background to say. It’s also the exact opposite of what Uta says in what the beginning and end title reference. 

Mutual understand is difficult because everybody thinks differently vs Mutual understanding doesn’t require sharing everything. Both of those are opposite philosophies, but I think it’s no coincidence one comes from a human and the other comes from a ghoul.

Uta’s words sound entirely pessimistic, even perhaps foolish considering right now he’s claiming to fight because the world has no place for ghouls when he’s fighting for a human and ghoul alliance, but to some extent ‘This world loves but humans” is right. 

The human ghoul alliance does not care about ghouls at all, we’re shown signs of this again and again.

The human ghoul alliance was not born out of mutual understanding, just like Take said they didn’t choose to share everything with one another, but rather to put their faith in different entities, the CCG and Kaneki Ken.

They all worked together to save Kaneki Ken, but even Kaneki himself doesn’t actually care that much at all about a world where humans and ghouls get along, just one where he’s personally accepted.

Hide himself doesn’t believe in a cooperation of humans and ghouls beyond it’s use to help save Kaneki. Do you know why I know this? Because Hide knew where Goat’s headquarters were all along, and he could have avoided this entire dragon mess if he just went to see Kaneki when Kaneki was leading a rebellion for ghouls, who needed a rebellion since they were at their highest time of persecution but he didn’t. The fact that he didn’t is telling. He’s a so called terrorist, but he didn’t even join in the rebellion that was challenging the established order. 

Amon and Akira had their change to join Goat too when it was challenging the CCG and they were both rejected by it, as both of their arcs had them realize that the CCG was holding them back from personal growth but neither of them did anything at all until a scenario presented itself where they could conveniently walk back into the doors of the CCG. 

The thing is also, Kaneki in no way has moved past only fighting because everybody around him needs him to, for various vague definitions of “everybody”. He even said “Everybody…” repeatedly the last time he used his kagune. 

Nobody in Goat cares for the peaceful coexistence for humans and ghouls not really, they’re either fighting to survive or because Kaneki. Nobody in the CCG cares that much about what will happen with ghouls after this conflict is resolved. They’ve made absolutely no plans about it, they haven’t even tried to discuss it. 

Even if they somehow magically all defeat the clowns and purge the remnants of V, there’s absolutely no guarantee that the world won’t simply return to the status queue, because nothing has been done on either side to actually understand each other. They’re only working together out of pure necessity and eventually if the entire world doesn’t end, that need will crumble, and nobody’s actually done anything to anticipate when it does crumble.

And that’s why Uta laughs at Yomo’s pure and simple faith. 

Because as he admitted a chapter ago, Yomo doesn’t even understand Uta. So why does he so badly want to end this conflict without death, with a person he does not even understand. What’s the reasoning for that? How is he going to trump Uta’s reasoning? Why does he want to be friends so badly with somebody he doesn’t know or understand?

He hasn’t thought of it at all though. There’s a curious parallel in the fight as well, Uta says this.

Yomo says it’s stupid to only try to reach him through violence.

But this move by Uta parallels the beginning of the fight. 

Amon stabs Donato straight through his heart, but it’s pointless because Donato just heals a moment later.

It’s an explicit set up parallel. Yomo says it’s pointless trying to reach him through violence especially when they’re mutually friends. Donato and Amon mutually love one another as well, no matter how twisted their relationship is. Yet Amon has only ever tried to comprehend Donato through violence.

Amon says while punching another ghoul who doesn’t even know who Donato is in the face. 

So, Yomo’s own rejection of Uta’s want to fight is on a flimsy basis in the first place, because the other person in his alliance is completely gung ho about fighting. In fact, Amon himself probably thinks that piercing straight through Donato with his spear, and then heroically triumphing over evil and returning home without even having to bother to think about him anymore is in fact the best ending possible for him. 

The two fights contradict one another. Donato actually does want to talk with Amon and understand him, but Amon only meets him with violence. Yomo doesn’t want to fight Uta, but Uta only meets him with violence and the ugly parts of ghouls.

Neither Yomo nor Amon though understand at all the people they’re fighting. Yet, they’re both people who claim to represent the hope that humanity and ghouls will someday get along. 

Whereas the clowns who have looked at and understood the world with a critical eye, have decided there’s only despair in it for them. So, how exactly can they be overcome by people whose hope is only born out of blindness? 

The only way to overcome them is to look honestly at the world and draw a different conclusion, but neither Amon nor Yomo have done that. In fact Amon’s explicitly been called to do that multiple times but he still doesn’t. He’s a ghoul who still fights mainly with a quinque, and who has yet to call himself a ghoul once. 

Yomo puts all his faith in Kaneki, and truthfully he does understand Kaneki’s inner strength and struggle because he’s been watching all along, but he doesn’t understand Kaneki’s shadow.

Yomo lives to protect his niece and nephew but… Who the fuck is Ayato?

There is however one character who has seen the darkness of the world, but still decided to live on without feeling the need to blind himself. 

The black and white pattern collar around his neck even resembles a classic clown collar. Google it yourself because if you try to google clowns you get about 100 creepy and not helpful results. 

There is a character who had a strong prejudice against ghouls, and then battled with it, came to terms, and accepted himself as a ghoul and it’s not Amon, it’s not even Kaneki.

So either Amon will defeat Donato, with no build up or attempt to understand ghouls, his self as a ghoul, or Donato even for basically the entirety of Re: (boo) or Amon will lose due to his lack of understanding and his simple world view. However, the side of coexistence won’t lose because there is somebody out there who is similar to the clowns and has suffered similarly to them, but unlike them hasn’t gone mad. Seidou even ends up saying a clown phrase at the end of his fight.

However, even Seidou’s conclusion is a temporary measure. After all despite saving both of them and supposedly living for them, neither Amon and Akira have even mentioned Seidou once, even though a return to the CCG, and a human ghoul alliance would be a perfect time to go looking for Seidou and remind him that there’s still a place for him. 

Both Amon and Yomo see the world in idealistic terms but it’s more out of a choice to take everything at face value, not out of genuinely seeing the darkness and choosing to see the light. 

That’s why point of view is so important. If you look at Kuzen and Ukina’s romance from Kuzen’s point of view for example, it’s a love story. If you look at Kuzen like Yomo or Kaneki does, he’s an extremely kind old man that saved them, but a lonely one because the big mean world got in the way of his miracle romance with Ukina.

From Eto’s point of view she was an accidental product of an investigative report and a sad emotionally desperate man who didn’t care about his kind, or even his daughter over his own comfort. 

And she’s not wrong. 

She’s not entirely right either, and there’s definitely an element of Eto’s complete inability to comprehend healthy love because of the entire lack of it she’s received her whole life, but that doesn’t make her perspective wrong either.

Mutual understanding is difficult because everybody thinks differently, that’s the point. Amon and Yomo take way too many things at face value in order to overcome this at this point. Yomo still sees Yoshimura as somebody who took care of him and took him in out of the kindness of his heart, not because Yoshimura was using him as a substitute for the daughter he should have been taking care of.

I’m belaboring the point of course, but I want to make it clear there’s a difference between what blind idealistis like Yomo and Amon perceive which is mainly just people’s projected image of themselves, Kaneki is a kind and understanding person who has friends on both sides, Kaneki is somebody who fights for his friends, and the shadow that the clowns implicitly understand. That’s why Amon’s reaction when Kaneki claimed that he was fighting only for his friends, and he didn’t care about the vast majority of people was to smile and see the nobility in it.

And Seidou’s was to call him out right away… like maybe half assing this kind of thing was a bad thing…Seidou’s callout produced something closer to the truth for both of them as well in a much shorter conversation. Seidou did not really want to give up responsibility and the weight of that cross, Kaneki only wanted something to fight for because he was empty inside. However, Amon and Kaneki’s much longer conversation really only reaffirmed their equally delusional beliefs. 

Anyway, that’s the conclusion to my essay on why I only stan Seidou. (This is a joke).
(Ps. Laugh, it’s fun!)