You know, I think that the reason Kaneki is still apparently okay despite everything he has gone through is possibly for the same reason the ghoulification operation with Rize at the very beginning went so well.
After all, Kanou had never any real idea as to why Kaneki grew up to be “such a splendid specimen” when initially he was just supposed to be a preliminary test to the Yasuhisa twins…
…and he never was able to reproduce the same perfect result. So maybe there is something there, even if I don’t know what.
Also I’m thinking that if Kaneki is truly so damn resilient after everything he went through, maybe that’s something he genetically passed onto his kiddo in Touka’s belly. ♪(ﾟ▽^*)ﾉ⌒☆
Three generations of Phantomhives & quotes:
“In this country, there exists a secret agency under direct control of the Queen. In every civilization, there is both a ‘police society’ and ‘an underworld’, and Great Britain is no exception. The rogue organization known as Phantomhive covers up any number of criminal acts carried out by the Royals and will stop at nothing to eliminate any and all who may seek to harm the royal family. By all rights, they function as the royal ‘shadow’… A ‘Phantom’ which should never have come into being.”
“Even if you reach a place from whence you cannot return, you will never utter an unsightly scream or beg for help in front of anybody. You proud hound of the Queen.”
“Our family line has rather strong-willed women.”
“Because you possess such great power, you continue to forget more and more the weight of the irretrievable. You only come to realize it when you can longer support yourself…”
“They were serene and beautiful like the moon rising silently in the blackest night sky and in an instant I realized that they were ‘special’. I wanted to know what made them so special and then I came to learn the truth about them and their true identity as the ‘aristocrats of evil’.”
“If I’m going to die at some point anyway, I’d rather do so without regrets.”
“Despairing, grieving, standing still, what good will they do? Even the dead can stand still. But here I am, alive and standing on my own two feet with my own strength.”
“Don’t defy ‘Earl Phantomhive’.”
“Poetry over philosophy, embroidery over cooking, dancing over chess, be an angel who knows nothing. That is how girls born into a nation of roses are raised. I was just like that too. But… I stood apart from other girls in one respect.”
“The existence of a family controlling the underworld is some kind of an urban legend some people don’t believe in.”
Disclaimer: post-163 HC I cooked up after Ken returned from exploring the ruins of Tokyo.
::::
Anything, everything unnerved him.
He felt like he was in a dream, too good to be true but also too cruel to be lived.
Ken was overwhelmed by the fact that he woke up surrounded by the people he loved, albeit incomplete. He was surprised by the news that the CCG and GOAT formed a temporary alliance, was shocked to find out they were in the same camp. His heart felt full at the notion that his wife was there with him, his lungs constricted at the thought that his best friend was alive.
It felt like it was too much.
But what surprised him more was what remained of the city he once lived in – the ruins of the once peaceful and bustling streets where he would take a walk, where he took his first mission, where he spent his life – everything was gone, replaced by debris, empty broken down buildings and blood.
And the presence of monsters created by his folly.
His heart fell at the notion that he helped create this, his stomach full of heavy, molten lead of guilt. As he stumbled upon a small room the base had given after he said goodbye to Urie and Saiko, his eyes were downcast as quiet, as unrelenting thoughts plagued his being.
He destroyed his home.
He took small, careful but hesitant steps inside the room, his hand tracing the painted walls that withstood the onslaught of this nightmare. He could remember the meetings that were held inside these rooms once upon a time.
“Why are you just standing there?” A voice asked, still groggy and raspy but made his heart skip a beat nonetheless. She sat down and patted the space next to her, inviting him.
Ken looked at her and smiled slightly as he went towards the bed and sat right beside her. Even with all the plague that was in his thoughts, seeing her alive and well was enough to make him breathe at least. He carefully removed the hair that blocked her eyes and gave her a small smile – he had missed her so much, had been so scared that he wouldn’t see her again – seeing her in front of him was enough to make him feel that something was right at least.
“Did you get some rest?” he asked, his voice husky and warm, something that was always present when he spoke to her.
“Y-yeah.” Touka looked away as a faint blush crept on her cheeks, the feeling of relief washing through her at the thought that he was real, that he was in front of her.
Warmth crept on the hand that was beside him, and before she knew it, he had already taken it between his and squeezed it tight – as if reassuring her, himself or both.
“How was your trip?” she asked nervously, trying to form a conversation as her mind reeled from his touch and the feelings that threatened to burst out of her chest. Her eyes scanned his form as guilt and sadness danced in the somber gray orbs.
She knew it must have been too much for him to take all of this in, just like it had been for her.
“I-I,” he started, trying to find the words as his eyes looked at the floor, unable to look at her in the eyes.
He was so scared he had ruined everything for them.
Briefly, he swallowed as Touka patiently waited for him to speak, finally breathing out as he squeezed her hand again. “I didn’t want this,” he blurted.
He didn’t know how he could make amends with what he had done, didn’t even know how to take responsibility for what he had caused. As time passed, he felt that the world had given him an overwhelming burden he couldn’t bear. Touka could feel the way his voice broke at the words. She could feel him tense as he struggled to come to terms with his thoughts.
Guilt was eating him alive.
She sighed, closing her eyes briefly before producing a small smile. “Look at me,” she said tenderly, using her free hand to touch the side of his jaw and make him look to her eyes when he refused.
He was hesitant, but he gave in and finally rested his eyes on the dark blue that only held relief and joy that he was back.
It made his heart melt.
“Whatever happens, I want you to remember that we will find a way together. You’re not alone in this, Ken.”
Ken. She had accepted him – the whole him, a man who had his share of faults and failures. She had accepted him as Ken, the boy who loved books, who was a good cook. She did not see him as the one-eyed king nor as the monster who ravaged Tokyo.
She leaned on his shoulders and closed her eyes – just like what she used to do, her form lighter and at ease. It felt like his burden became more bearable to know she was here with him, that she would be supporting him. “We will always be with you, holding your hand.”
To her, he was simply Ken – her husband, her friend, a person she loves.
“Hold me,” she asked as they lied down, her head resting on the crook of his arm. He took her in his arms and feasted upon her scent, her warmth, her presence.
“Get some rest,” he whispered wistfully, holding her tightly as he rested his cheek on the crown of her head. Briefly, he kissed her forehead tenderly, letting his lips linger just long enough to feel her warmth as she closed her eyes.
He had her at least, just like he had his small family – his loved ones. Maybe someday he would be able to see this town rebuilt and bustling again, would be able to enjoy the small walk to a nearby park or the coffee’s rich aroma inside a shop. He would do anything to atone for his shortcomings, to set things right so that his child would be able to enjoy a peaceful future – so that he could be together with his family.
If the feminine hand is meant to be touka (it doesn’t necessarily have to be, it could be Rize as my original reading of this image was that it represented Kaneki’s tendency to seek comfort and blind himself in it). Which is what he does for a small while in the scene with Rize in the temple.
Once again a temptation of sorts, you don’t have to go back, you can stay here and seek comfort in blindness. We even see her caress him and there’s an emphasis drawn on hands pretty much this entire chapter several times over.
That being said I’m not reading the female hand as romantic necessarily, but both hands offer Kaneki tempting comfort. However, if it was Touka I would say that the reason his ghoul kakugan is flaring is not because he’s stressed but rather because he finds comfort and peace with his ghoul side as a result of his relationship with Touka.
All of these comforting things came about as a result of his ghoul side, yet for the longest time Kaneki has associated his ghoul self with the worst parts of himself, trauma, death, etc.. and we see that carry to Kaneki’s opinion of other ghouls besides ya know the ones he likes.
However, at the same time the closest thing Kaneki has to a symbol of life for himself is Touka, who is definitely a ghoul. Which is why his he’s a little bit contradictory about these things.
So Touka, really just interaction with other ghouls should be something that prompts Kaneki to find more comfort in the ghoul side of himself. I mean he’s yet to do that at all, or like recognize that ghouls are people, but that’s probably the trajectory for where his arc is going.
Was Rin’s journey to the past foreshadowed from the beginning? Will Rin interact with someone in the past/affect some happenings?
BE is currently on hiatus and so, even if it’s gonna be a bit frustrating, we’ll have to wait till May to find out what’s gonna happen in chapter 100. Even so, based on what we learned from chapter 99 (through Mephisto’s words), I think we can already start making some predictions. And I got a few.
This theory is about what I think we can expect to see/learn from Rin’s journey to the past. And also about the possibility that Rin’s journey was foreshadowed to us since the very beginning.
I’m not excluding that this is a meaningless detail of course and that Sensei didn’t redraw it for the current flashack, but if it’s actually relevant it must have happened between the moment he was stabbed and the moment he was taken to the hospital.
Did something else happen on December 14th? Does it have to do with the fire, for which we still don’t know the cause and culprit by the way (nor how Tanaka managed to escape the house and go to the hospital, injured as he was)?
midnight-in-town 