I find it pretty awesome that Kuzen’s small act of defiance against V has sprouted into a full-fledged rebellion against them. By abandoning them and their values to try to create a small locus of peace in the world they corrupted, Kuzen proved another world was possible – the world that his friends and pupils are struggling to create now.
Kaiko realises the connection when Yomo mentions Anteiku, and much like Furuta’s criticism of Kaneki in the preceding chapter, Kaiko’s criticism reveals much more of his own flaws than those of his enemies. He can only see the world through a lens of manipulation and domination, and since his foes aren’t controlled by him, he assumes they must be controlled by Kuzen. He fails to understand their individuality and independence of thought and action, inspired by Kuzen rather than manipulated by him.
Kaiko’s obsession with the order of the herd is seen in his frequent use of the ‘we’ pronoun, referring to the collective interests of V. This is in stark contrast to the selfish Furuta, whom Kaiko naturally did not get along with – particularly in regards to his bad manners, which defy Kaiko’s orderliness and propriety.
The uniform faceless mass of black hats, coats and katanas that makes up V emphasises this collective, with Kaiko acting as the spokesman of the whole. He cannot stand rebels. Even now he resents Kuzen for breaking from the collective, disrupting its perfect unity, and still wishes to force him back into it. In fact, nearly every time we see Kaiko he’s mulling over Kuzen. That’s one hell of an axe to grind.
In the first, he joyously proclaims that Kuzen’s rebellion has come to nought, laying his anxieties at rest, while in the background Kaneki and Eto, the successors of Kuzen’s legacy, talk; thereby proving Kaiko wrong. In the second, his frustration is so great he breaks even his own rule of manners by swearing at the effect of Kuzen’s legacy in fermenting rebellion and disturbing his ‘peace’.
But his paranoia is justified – that single act of rebellion has caused his entire house of cards to come tumbling down. In the first series’ final arc, V’s control seems an unbreakable birdcage.
It’s implied in this scene that V orchestrated the Anteiku Raid to punish Kuzen’s insubordination, placing their well-polished heel firmly over Kuzen’s head. But in the final arc of :re, it’s Kuzen’s legacy that triumphs over V, and as for their birdcage…
Eto reveals the fragility of their seemingly solid control in the panels below. It rests precariously on a balance that is bound to eventually be overturned by the legions of oppressed beneath it, both the ghouls being slaughtered and the humans tricked into an endless war.
The return of Eto, as Kuzen’s child, is the most explicit symbol of the triumph of Kuzen’s legacy. Kaiko even refers to her as ‘Yoshimura’.
The importance both of Kuzen and Eto herself in this arc reflects their significance in the Anteiku Raid. Eto was the first major destabilising element created by Kuzen’s disloyalty, and Kaiko directly attributes Eto’s actions to Kuzen:
So Eto’s victory over V is Kuzen’s victory as well, and like him, this chapter she has finally broken free from their control.
The spectre of revolution has long been coming for V, and Kuzen’s small disruption of the system has led to its full-scale collapse.
this scene broke my heart…. the emptiness in their eyes, the way they’re unfocused and cross eyed…..
even though Koma and Irimi are husks of themselves, being turned into living quinques… yet they’re still exchanging banter as if you’ve pulled the string on an old talking doll that’s glitching and repeating itself. Irimi chastising Koma as per usual, Koma wanting to get coffee, expressing that same desire as Irimi back in the Anteiku Raid
to have one last taste of Anteiku
they really did follow Yoshimura to the end
*LIES ON FLOOR*
Ooh I like this idea of a doll repeating itself, because it fits so well to what thing used to control them means. Spieldose means music box in German.
I think there are versions of music boxes where you just have to turn the handle/key, and it will then play a song automatically that has been put into the music box.
So Koma`s and Irimi`s bodies are like creepy music boxes. Kaiko turned the “gear” which activated the inner “mechanism”, and like the song that plays automatically, Koma and Irimi move and speak in a predetermined, automatic fashion, possibly repeating things that they have already said, like the music box following it`s music sheet.
That’s so cool! They really are like music boxes then- wind the handle and watch the ballerina twirl and dance on it’s own
One thing I don’t get is that the Washuus are the ones who allied with the old CCG to take the One Eyed Washuu down 100 years ago
and then they created V when the second OEG of the timeline showed up??
It was even around the same time as (or just before) they developed quinques for human investigators:
So when did the change of power take place? When did the Washuus become a part of V (as Furuta explained in ch101) and when did V start having the upper hand when they were initially supposed to be the Washuus’ creation?
Unless V really existed before the Washuus, but then it would contradict some stuff that was said in previous chapters, I’m just ????? lost?
EDIT: never mind, @linkspooky pointed out to me that we’re probably supposed to read the scene as followed
This little part that Kaiko is thinking…
meaning that he’s simply still super mad that his pal Kuzen left V behind for Ukina and Eto all these years ago.
TL;DR the Washuus still created V in order to defeat the second OEG of the timeline who threatened to overthrow the CCG just after WWII:
now if I could just know who this gal/dude is that’d be nice
I’ve also been thinking that the Washuu became a part of V around when the second OEK appeared. Maybe V is an amalgamation of various influential families, primarily consisting of ghouls. As a part of V these families are producing soldiers in the form of half-humans for the organization. One hint suggesting that there might be other Washuu-like families elsewhere, is Shao. She’s a half-human who was born in Taiwan, but was sent to Japan’s CCG from an external source. I hope that makes sense.
@donatoporpora yeah, excellent point about Hsiao or even Germany, which has always been referred to as the #1 partner of the CCG (and both organizations belonging in V could explain this partnership). We also still don’t know why Donato (who is Russian) was hanging around in Japan (not that there has to be a specific reason but eh).
That’s why the idea of a part 3 targeting a more international scale of TG’s world always sounded interesting (iirc Middle East was also mentioned by Yoshimura and there was also the link between the Rosewald and Tsukiyama families), even if I doubt that it’s ever going to happen by now.
In the end, it depends if V is really just Washuu/Japan-centered or if there might be a real international side to it (Taiwan and Germany at least) and I can envision both possibilities honestly. For example, maybe Hsiao could simply be born because at some point Tsuneyoshi visited Taiwan and had a fling with her mom, which is why she then joined the sunlit garden. Just like it could be what you said. 🙂
What we were told is that initially V seemed to be sunlit garden-only, but then they slowly opened their ranks to other strong ghouls (like Yoshimura)
which is why V now represents an organization that is encompassing the Washuu family and the sunlit garden (and why they can afford to get rid of the Washuus).
So maybe the same thing happened internationally, as in, the Washuus created V around WWII but then V slowly expanded over the years and ended having affiliations in other countries (Germany, Taiwan…).
Since it really seems the Washuus created V to defeat the second OEG of the timeline though, then I’ll stick with this timeline until we’re given more info. :3
So we saw everybody band together in an epic feat of teamwork, the question is why exactly did it not work in bringing owl 2.0 down?
It’s probably something as simple as the characters really haven’t grown enough to earn this vicotry. Which is what necessitates the clown shake down in the first place.
Here, let me demonstrate with a breakdown of Kaika vs Yusa, the only real character vs character interaction rather than character vs giant monster that we get in the fight.
First, he calls the two remaining members of Zero Squad Arima’s lapdogs. Not only that but Sheep that he herded himself. That’s a rather thinly veiled and obvious Jesus metaphor.
Remember, Arima Kishou died for our sins. Ishida likes to remind us of it approximately every five chapters that Arima Kishou is indeed dead.
Arima is so universally mourned by everyone it’s almost enough to make you forget that he was a morally ambiguous character to begin with. It’s almost like his death has wiped the slate clean on him.
As I’ve said before though, Tg: Re would never glorify suicide like that. Lately, we’ve been witnessing a slow deconstruction on Arima’s sacrifice. Including the facts that Take clearly does not know entirely what the big picture is, that he relies on Arima’s words too much, and the fact that Zero Squad has been whittled down to its last two remaining members.
Arima’s sacrifice of his own life to make Kaneki the strongest of all ghouls was destroyed when the CCG simply replaced him with Juuzou. Arima’s choice to leave behind the zero squad with Kaneki to protect him, results in two of them dying in an almost direct result of his choice not to tell Ui to avoid confrontation.
Take holds information to himself, and isn’t really super clear anymore on what Arima’s goals were to begin with. So, to summarize the story itself is still framing Arima’s choice to sacrifice himself ambiguously. As in there were some good things, and some bad things about that choice. However, the characters themselves still view Arima in exactly that light.
Yomo even brings up this exact same notion to Take. That Arima did a lot of bad things and hurt a lot of people, even if he was doing it for good ends ultimately those wounds go away, and Take basically says it doesn’t matter because Arima is dead now. He brushes off the opportunity to think critically about Arima, because no matter what he concludes it won’t change the fact that Arima is still dead. However, it does matter for the sake of the living.
Take, while still acknowledging that Arima is dead is still working tirelessly to earn his praise and following the orders of a dead man.
So much so, he fails to grasp entirely what Arima’s purpose in leaving Take the zero squad should have been. Even after losing two members in a pointless sacrifice, Take does not realize he should stop bringing Yusa onto battlefields with him and forcing the child soldier raised from birth to fight, to fight more.
Kaiko takes both Takeomi and Kuramoto out of the fight easily, but from a character perspective it’s clear why. Neither Kuramoto nor Takeomi have grown. Takeomi simply walks straight back into being a CCG officer, not even acknowledging what happened to his father and mourning him, and Kuramoto does not even try to resolve his conflict with Take, simply choosing to make a bunch of passive aggressive comments.
Remember, Kuramoto truly made himself vulernable for a moment when Take left. However, as usual he’s back to just making sly comments behind his fox face.
Kuramoto wanted to believe in him, that he had reasons to do what he was doing. His sense of betrayal came not from Take’s actions, but the fact that Take chose not to talk to him about it beforehand, and Take really hasn’t changed anything in that regard, so Kuramoto simply slinky behind his mask once more.
Then, to the meat of the fight. Kaiko’s not just mocking Yusa here, he’s mocking the pedestal that Arima is put upon by the zero squad. Which is why Kaiko chooses these specific reminders. Arima was a child soldier, just like Yusa, presumably just like Kaiko as well.
Then the juiciest moment of the chapter, while dangling a blade at Yusa’s neck he mutters, “Am I like Arima, yet?”
He’s not making the comparison between Yusa and Arima anymore, but rather Yusa and himself. Kaiko raised child soldiers obediently as a part of V, but so did Arima as well. Not only that, he did the exact same thing to Sasaki. Literally, every flashback we see of Arima presents him as being a cruel and ruthless teacher, even if he was one with good intentions.
So, what Kaiko is taunting Yusa about is that by drawing out the fight to test his strength, by holding a blade at his throat, really he’s acting exactly like Arima as well. “Am I like Arima, yet?” He’s challenging Yusa’s perfect image of Arima.
However, Yusa really does fail to respond to that in the fight way. Take just sinks once again into calling that name an honor. He adopts his perfect image of Arima that he’s using to fight for once more. Literally what Take should be saying to counteract that is “You’re not Arima, you’re you Yusa…” but Take can’t really grasp that, because Take himself keeps dragging Yusa into combat because that’s what Arima told him to do.
Which is why Ui fails to think critically as well. As touching as his rememberance of Hairu and Arima is, and also even though he’s leagues above Shuu who refuses to remember even Matsumae and Karren’s name, we should remember that Ui was given the oppurtunity to tell the CCG the truth about Furuta, Arima and Arima’s legacy and he chose to lie instead.
Even though, Ui himself much earlier was the one who grasped the nuance of the situation, that people were allowing Furuta to take power, not just Furuta being the only bad egg in the CCG. Blaming it all on Furuta, is probably something that Ui did to protect both Take and Arima’s name, but utlimately it’s the wrong choice, and one that brings him farther away from the truth.
Which is likely the reason why Ui is still smoking as well. His smoking is a sign of his own personal emotional repression. After Take tells him at least part of the truth of why he left, Ui says he’s going to be smoking a lot more now. He really hasn’t come to terms with it, and probably won’t until he’s set up confront Hairu, which may come soon.
However, at the end of the day the characters have failed to grow which is why instead of banding together to heroically defeat Owl, they’re exposed to round two. The heroic blow that Yusa dealt Kaiko essentially meaning nothing as it stitches itself up right away, the owl exploding and killing more just like when it looks it might be detained.
As per the usual in Tokyo Ghoul these problems can’t be overcome with fighting and strength alone.
As for what will happen next, considering this is an owl kagune I wonder if it’s bait to lure Amon out. After this explosion there probably won’t be many ground investigators left that can match it.
Amon showing up to help his comrades (and “for peace!”) against Owl 2.0 would make a lot of sense, especially considering that the current situation is rather strongly reminiscing of what the CCG tried to do with him in ch114/115 (with another parallel once Seidou hopefully shows up).
it would be interesting to see Amon trying to face the one who’s possibly Eto and thus half the responsible party behind him becoming a OEG, something he still can’t fully accept to this day.
I was discussing this with @amonmahboi yesterday but actually, Donato having “fun” with someone who’s possibly Eto (other strong possibilities being Hairu and Karren) as payback for what happened to Amon between TG and :Re would be a very ironic development, especially if Amon indeed shows up to fight that Owl 2.0.
It would be like “I’m stuck in the past because of my horrible father figure and despite becoming a OEG, but here I am fighting for peace against a monster who’s threatening my comrades, not knowing that this monster is actually the result of my horrible father figure seeking revenge for what happened to me”.
It makes a good setting for Kaiko’s round two when round one seemed rather hopeless. At least to me. Oh well, just some thoughts. :3
After all we know Furuta used the Clowns to kill Tsuneyoshi and probably all the other members of the main Washuu family (the ones who don’t have to hide their last name, unlike Furuta) but when it comes to the rest of the Garden, the rest of “wombs” like Rize and the children who weren’t a part of the 0 squad that escaped with Hirako…
Honestly I think they were not killed, because Furuta also gained the support of V as seen with Kaiko standing next to Uta in ch98…
So it’s possible Furuta spared the rest of the Garden as they were, just like him, victims of the old Washuu system.
Besides, if Kaiko joined Furuta that was probably because what Furuta was after (the annihilation of the main Washuu family amongst other things) was something he also was after and since V is mainly made of oddities from the Garden, I think there is chance the rest of the children, “wombs” and “defects/oddities” are still alive.
We can’t be completely sure of that, but it would make sense. Furuta got what he wanted, aside from Matsuri, all the other people carrying the Washuu name were annihilated but V stands by his side so it’s possible Furuta sparked a rebellion from within V and the Garden because he just wasn’t the only one who was completely fed up with this abusive and terrible system.
I hope we will really know if Furuta spared the rest of the Garden one day, but honestly I don’t think V would help him if he had killed a lot of them.
I hope this helped! Thanks for passing by and have a nice Sunday :))
midnight-in-town 