So, am I the only one who thinks that the background on Itori’s Root A card looks like that city down in the 24th ward?
And let’s not mention the “3 dots” thing. I mean, guys…
…Seriously she’s…
…
shady
as hell!
I know I’ve theorized for a little while now that the Nagaraj might be Uta since he always had a bigger presence than her in the story, amongst other things, but frankly she’s clearly my second suspect.
Honestly, I’m still rooting for a link between Itori, 24th ward kids and Hide. There is still something unexplained about the Nagaraj “sharing his life force with the world” and we don’t know where those kids came from (where are their parents?).
Secondly, about Itori and Hide, I find it fishy that Itori seemed to know about the pregnancy while Hide found out about the wedding when no one told either. There is also the fact that Hide knew exactly where to find Touka and co after Itori left them.
And then there is Hide’s shady act in general when the Clowns and V are the last two mysterious groups of the story, but Hide being with V would contradict the idea that he was “in the way of the Washuus”, which possibly leaves a link between Hide and the Clowns (and btw “Nagachika” when we just learnt that the Nagaraj was a Washuu and that he looked like Uta who is a Clown is one more hint, for me).
In the end, I really think Uta is a OEG, whether it is because he’s the One Eyed Washuu, or a clone, or a garden kid who received his kakuhou…
which he wouldn’t necessarily be if he were the son of the One Eyed Washuu, you see what I mean?
Besides, seeing all the parallels between him and Kaneki…
as well as what his neck tattoo implies about coexistence and his own words to Yomo…
…I really think that he’s the one who “bore pain and loss all to be recognized by someone or something” and that in the end he “ended up paying the price”, before he became a Clown who’d always get the last laugh.
So for now, all that Uta said about
…It’s just more reminiscent to me of a OEG who couldn’t really find his place because of the circumstances of his birth (or transformation if he was grafted by V), rather than because he’s the son of a OEG who went through all that.
However, at this point I’m not dismissing any possibility because I can’t really trust Sensei after that new birthday art (red herring vibe). So please keep this possibility in mind and we’ll see whenever new hints come our way!
Thanks for passing by Anon, have a nice weekend!
EDIT: unless we’re considering that, since Sensei said that he gave Uta some of his hobbies and that the Touken Baby is supposed to be born on Sensei’s birhday, then Uta as the One Eyed Washuu’s son would parallel Kaneki’s baby buuuuuut that’s really too big to be true isn’t it? xD
I think Touka accepting herself and her nature as a ghoul is something that still needs to happen. I expect Touka reuniting with Yoriko and seeing that Yoriko accepts her and still loves her even if she is a ghoul will be the turning point for her.
It’s something that seeing Kimi accepting Nishiki brought up:
(not sure if that translation is a little bit too over dramatic :’D)
This quote from Days is particularly relevant to Touka’s feelings over being a ghoul:
“What the hell do you know?! It’s all because I can’t eat, because I could be a target at any time, all because I’m a ghoul! No matter how much I try, there’s a wall I can never jump over, and there’s happiness that I can never have. But I’m still hanging on to life. Despite it all.”
So Touka learning she’s allowed to have happiness and to see a world where that wall between humans and ghouls is torn down will also be important for her.
As for her breakdown, I think she already had it:
Tears are another form of catharsis and Touka rarely EVER cries or lets herself give into those types of emotions.
We were led to believe Touka would get angry and lash out again
but typically Touka’s angry outbursts have only ever made her feel worse (aka the bridge scene with Kaneki). So seeing Shuu’s speech cut through her despair and frustration to give her a sense of renewed determination was a pleasant surprise.
In saying that though, I would like to see more of her own insight, especially in regards to this scene and Touka’s flashback to the Anteiku Raid:
“All we can do is live while losing things.”
That mind set is all good and well in the world where there was no hope for ghouls, where the tragedy was hanging above their heads and their back was pressed against the wall. But now they have a fighting chance at saving Kaneki and uniting humans and ghouls so it’s not gonna cut it any more.
Now it should be “We can fight so we don’t lose those we love.”
Touka is clearly on that path:
(that steely determined gaze though *thumbs up*)
Now I would just like to see some inner monologue from her rejecting Yomo’s words back at Anteiku (sorry Uncle)
Depending on how this whole Rescue Kaneki mission goes though, my answer may change. If the tragedy comes back full force, then Toukachan breakdown about not wanting to live while losing things anymore would be ace.
I know right! How many times did she save his ass, give yourself a little credit girl! But that was 4 years ago now, and I think this is especially tied into Kaneki’s whole deal taking on everything by himself to protect his loved ones and Touka’s own struggles feeling powerless to help. Not even counting all the times throughout TG, in :re Touka has helped save Shuu, Hinami from Cochlea, Ayato (x5436), Yomo and the crew in Cochlea too, helped evacuate the 24th Ward. But in terms of saving Kaneki himself, Touka probably feels that the scales have tipped in his favour. Which they have.
Kaneki ended up at the CCG as Haise, losing his memories for 4 years, because he was trying to save Anteiku.
Then in Cochlea, he saved Ayato, Touka and Yomo from Arima
and again from Kiyoko and Mougan
and then of course the moment which got him into this Dragon mess
Kaneki has suffered a lot as a consequence of him trying to protect everyone by himself. And even though this is a flaw on Kaneki’s part, I think it has weighed pretty heavily on Touka.
This arc for Touka has been about her feeling powerless. Back in :re cafe, she confronted Kaneki because he was leaving her behind again to protect her when she wanted to be by his side. Protecting him too.
And it started off well with Kaneki asking her to come with him, accepting her wishes and not pushing her away.
But once they went underground she had to take herself out of the action when she got pregnant and you can see this is something she struggled with. Feeling as though she was a burden, struggling under all these terrifying changes in her life, carrying a pregnancy she’s not even sure will work out, having Yoriko in trouble and not being able to save her, worrying about adding to Kaneki’s own struggles.
Specifically, it’s been about her struggles feeling like a source of weakness.
Touka has always been fiercely protective of her loved ones, so becoming the one that needed protecting has gone against her base character traits and it’s bringing up conflicting feelings.
We saw throughout this arc her heading towards an outburst [x]. But Shuu’s speech cut through that despair and brought them all renewed hope. Instead of the anger, Touka let out some much needed cathartic tears and we see her going from despair
lost and indecisive
to renewed hope and that fierce determination
Touka spent the first part of the series constantly getting Kaneki out of a mess, but since Aogiri arc Kaneki has been the one taking on the burden of protecting Touka, purposefully leaving her out of things so she stayed safe, sacrificing his own safety to save her and the others. This is something that Furuta said and Kaneki recognised himself was his undoing
So Touka wanting to return the favour and save Kaneki this time isn’t that odd. Everyone banding together to save Kaneki is proof in action that his relying on only himself never would have seen him reach his goals.
Well, now that the entire fandom seems convinced that Uta is the original one eyed king I suppose it’s my job to once again be contrarian and argue the exact opposite of that.
This art itself seems to spoil Uta’s identity as a one eyed ghoul. Rather than have it act as confirmation of him as a one eyed king though, it seems more likely to me that these hints aligning Uta’s true identity as the one eyed king are a red herring. My reasoning being this, what if instead of his ghoul eye the eye Uta is covering in this picture is his human one? As the other eye is visibly red, and Uta intentionally designed Kaneki’s mask to also cover his human eye in favor of his ghoul eye.
Hello Anon! Well, I’m definitely not an expert, I just have different takes on it because I’m not sure it’s as simple as OEK = Uta, considering the last two chapters and I love Uta, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ truth is, I’m just rambling. xD
Anyway, about your question:
If we look at this three pictures all together, then it seems that if Uta were to be a OEG or the One Eyed Washuu, his kakugan would indeed be on the right side.
Now looking at what he said…
I’m wondering if we’re supposed to understand that he said his right eye only is a tattoo or if, in general, he’s implying that he tattooed both his eyes to hide the fact that he had only one kakugan.
Imagine the following: in general it’s not that he has one kakugan that’s constantly activated, but more like he’d only have one that’d show up when fighting, hence him tattooing both his eyes so that no one would find out. However as he said, “the color fades away in a couple of years”…
and it seems he wasn’t bullshitting us on that. x)
So for now, I’m tempted to say that his kakugan might be on the right side, like the first three pictures seem to show and that he was just implying that the black color of his right eye (like his left eye) was due to a tattoo when Haise asked. Of course, that’s if One Eyed Washuu = current!Uta.
In case it’s actually on the left side though, then that would mean that the Uta we know isn’t exactly the One Eyed Washuu of 100 years ago, but that’s a possibility I already considered here and here (even if the biological explanation of the second post is probably not that accurate, but it’s just to give you an idea).
I hope it helps, if just a little. Again, I’m no expert so take it all with a grain of salt. :))
For Anon above: we’re again facing the same issue as this morning. 🙂 I’m definitely thinking that Uta’s a OEG, I have been ever since ch84, but this year’s birthday picture seems to imply that his kakugan is on the left side, compared to last year’s which showed his right eye:
So anyway, we’re down to 3 big possibilities for now (as far as I can see):
One Eyed Washuu = current Uta (and somehow, the kids and Kimi are wrong despite us missing a mole) => his kakugan should be on the right side
Uta = clone of the One Eyed Washuu somehow => we don’t know (yet?) what decide the side of the kakugan => left or right kakugan is possible
(at the same time Kaneki was called the very first success of ghoulification attempts iirc and, even as a success he got “complete” just recently (ch144), so my thoughts are all over the place about this possibility)
I personally see this new birthday art as a red herring. It’s definitely implying that there is a link between Uta and the One Eyed Washuu, and it’s not the only hint, but there has to be a trick somewhere, because it’s not Ishida’s thing to reveal anything in advance. :))
Hey so you guys know how bothered I am by how exactly Arima got the title of OEK, right? By the way he passed it onto Kaneki, it sounded like it had to be inherited. rather than him and Eto just deciding to use it. So I’m wracking my brain for hints I could’ve overlooked when it dawned on me…
… if we’re all picking up what Ishida is apparently putting down, it’s possible that it was given to him by Uta. How?
Arima was 22 when he and Hirako fought Yomo and Uta. He was 22 again when the above panel mentioned the Clown extermination. Arima and Eto met about three years before then…Those are Aogiri leaves diagonal from the mask…
It’s also implied in that same chapter that Hirako already knew that Arima was a demi-human, and that they worked as partners exclusively for six years (Hirako avoiding promotion to avoid splitting them up as a First Class)…
until about two years before Kaneki underwent the operation.
There’s some pieces missing (or maybe I’m forgetting something), but I think if this part of the story ever gets told, it will have to do with the Clown’s involvement with Aogiri.
It’s also possible that Uta and Arima were in each other’s orbits far before any of that happened.
Kanou stated before that Yasuhisa Nanao was involved in some “research” within the CCG, and I’ve theorized before that he may have lead some of the operations surrounding the Sunlit Garden, as a man previously described as “Sunshine Itself”.
If Uta was really ~20 here (cough ~120), then Arima would have been around 19– close to the time he met or Eto.
SO YEAH. This is probably not a very important detail to some people but I’m really interested in learning more about the Garden, Arima’s OEK title, Uta’s involvement in this mess, and how it all comes together >:)
That would also explain why the Clowns’ annihilation left a few of them alive and well. :))
Hello Anon! Well, I’m definitely not an expert, I just have different takes on it because I’m not sure it’s as simple as OEK = Uta, considering the last two chapters and I love Uta, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ truth is, I’m just rambling. xD
Anyway, about your question:
If we look at this three pictures all together, then it seems that if Uta were to be a OEG or the One Eyed Washuu, his kakugan would indeed be on the right side.
Now looking at what he said…
I’m wondering if we’re supposed to understand that he said his right eye only is a tattoo or if, in general, he’s implying that he tattooed both his eyes to hide the fact that he had only one kakugan.
Imagine the following: in general it’s not that he has one kakugan that’s constantly activated, but more like he’d only have one that’d show up when fighting, hence him tattooing both his eyes so that no one would find out. However as he said, “the color fades away in a couple of years”…
and it seems he wasn’t bullshitting us on that. x)
So for now, I’m tempted to say that his kakugan might be on the right side, like the first three pictures seem to show and that he was just implying that the black color of his right eye (like his left eye) was due to a tattoo when Haise asked. Of course, that’s if One Eyed Washuu = current!Uta.
In case it’s actually on the left side though, then that would mean that the Uta we know isn’t exactly the One Eyed Washuu of 100 years ago, but that’s a possibility I already considered here and here (even if the biological explanation of the second post is probably not that accurate, but it’s just to give you an idea).
I hope it helps, if just a little. Again, I’m no expert so take it all with a grain of salt. :))
js if uta is using his kagune to make his whole body/face (hide the mole, give himself piercings/tattoos, etc) bc he is literally all malleable kagune after the original OEK shenanigans I am going to scream
like is this is literally uta with his kagune put away I’m gonna fuckin lose it
midnight-in-town 