sentrakk:

I’ve had this theory for several months now, but I forgot about it due it not being relevant and just happened to remember it. I’m feeling optimistic about the future of Tokyo Ghoul now since the announcement about TG:re ending in three chapters just gave my theory even more power.

People have been talking about the possibility of a part 3, but I personally don’t think there’s any reason to introduce new plot elements and characters to the story since we only need to conclude all the unfinished characters arcs and plot threads from Tokyo Ghoul:re. I’ve for a long time had a hunch that Ishida might be following the three act structure with the manga when he divided it up into separate parts and this announcement about Tokyo Ghoul currently being in its climax and ending in three chapters might have just proved it. So this here is the three act structure:

And well, it seems to fit the story quite well. Let’s explore why:

The first act is usually used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships and the world they live in. Later in the first act, a dynamic, on-screen incident occurs that confronts the main character (the protagonist), whose attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first turning point, which (a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and © raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist’s call to action, (Will X recover the diamond? Will Y get the girl? Will Z capture the killer?).^[1] This is known as the inciting incident, or catalyst. As an example, the inciting incident in the 1972 film The Godfather is when Vito Corleone is attacked, which occurs approximately 40 minutes into the film. 

First part was setup which did all the world building, introduced the characters and mysteries of the universe to us readers. It was the set up portion of the story since we don’t really have that kind of focus in :re anymore. Kaneki’s, the protagonist’s dilemma here is about living and finding a reason to do it, finding meaning to live in this cruel world. The first plot point, which ends the first act therefore is him choosing death and tragedy, but thanks to his life being changed drastically in part two, he find his will to live. The change brought by CCG was the thing that saved his life.

Basically Kaneki dying was the first turning point of the story and this tragic “conclusion” applied to all the other characters as well. Kaneki only fully realizes why he wants to live in the climax of the story, which is this point we are in right now, the end of act 2 aka Tokyo Ghoul:re

The dilemma Kaneki was trying to solve all this time therefore matches the three act structure and only misses the third part, but let’s look at the second act closer before that shall we:

The second act, also referred to as “rising action”, typically depicts the protagonist’s attempt to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point, only to find him- or herself in ever worsening situations. Part of the reason protagonists seem unable to resolve their problems is because they do not yet have the skills to deal with the forces of antagonism that confront them. They must not only learn new skills but arrive at a higher sense of awareness of who they are and what they are capable of, in order to deal with their predicament, which in turn changes who they are. This is referred to as character development or a character arc. This cannot be achieved alone and they are usually aided and abetted by mentors and co-protagonists.

The first part after all never became quite as complex or ambitious as :re with what it was doing and didn’t develop Kaneki, or many other characters either in a positive way since it was only an introduction to them, the real meat of the story is Tokyo Ghoul:re, the second act. The big bulk of the character development the characters receive is in this part. The stakes keep getting higher and higher and the scale of the battles get bigger and bigger, the end even having Tokyo destroyed and Dragons. The story finally addressed the big One Eyed King plot point introduced in part 1 and it was named after it too. We also got introduced to the new main characters, the Qs and this part is longer than part 1. To sum it up, this part has way more going on than in part 1 since it is meant to be the “meat of the story” and the action constantly keeps rising.

If we look at this from Kaneki’s point of view again, Kaneki still struggles and keeps finding himself in worsening situations since he still doesn’t have the skills to handle everything. The failure of being the One Eyed King is a good example of this. He also deals with forces of antagonism since the big main conflict of the story is also in this part, which is Kaneki vs Furuta, the battle between two kings. He only ends up being played by Furuta, but starts realizing things thanks to this and his other struggles. The conflict with Furuta ended at the climax too, which is where we’re currently at.

Kaneki also finds new people that aid in him developing, which is his family at the CCG (Qs, Arima, Akira) and his old friends he reunited with. In the first part Kaneki kept spiraling downwards since he kept isolating himself emotionally and didn’t get the support he needed. This time that changed since this time everyone pushes him towards a more positive direction.

Basically everything fits perfectly, but guess what the only thing we are missing is? The resolution:

The third act features the resolution of the story and its subplots. The climax is the scene or sequence in which the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered, leaving the protagonist and other characters with a new sense of who they really are.

My biggest complaint with these news about :re ending in three chapters was the fact that only Kaneki’s character arc got to a satisfying point and everyone else was ignored apart from Furuta. Basically none of the characters are in a satisfying point with their arcs, but don’t have much to fix either, most of them only really need a discussion or two with their loved ones, which would help sort their thoughts and feelings out. There are lots of hanging plot threads too, but none of those are major and don’t need much time to address.

All we are missing is an epilogue or a resolution to the story since we currently are at the high point, the climax. The climax rarely is the ending of a story and it is followed by descending action as shown with this three act structure, therefore I believe that Ishida decided to separate the last chapters of the story from :re so that he can turn Tokyo Ghoul into a trilogy that follows this structure. I doubt this part will be long, but it should be enough to give the story and its characters a satisfying conclusion.