With :re ending and Kaneki likely falling asleep inside Dragon for a long period of time before his inevitable reawakening, there’s a few set of characters I’d like to discuss who could potentially have the most pivotal roles in the upcoming epic.
Another important detail, is that Ishida likes to use Poker Suits for symbolic purposes in his manga quite a bit. As a lot of people have noticed, thus far we have King (:re), Jack (Arima Spinoff), and Joker (Suzuya Side Story), but the suits of “Ace and Queen” in specific aren’t present yet and will more than likely be used as titles for the sequel.. probably in some random language.
The first character I’ll be discussing is Rize Kamishiro, who’s name can also mean “Age of the Gods” depending on the kanji used. I admittedly don’t think she’s dead, nor will die in general, at least until her role is fulfilled in Part 3. She has a link with the Queen suite in specific, and alongside that correlates to a few royal figures symbolically.
Hel is a giantess/goddess who rules over the identically-named Hel, the underworld where many of the dead dwell. Her name’s meaning of “Hidden” surely has to do with the underworld and the dead being “hidden” or buried beneath the ground.
Satan is described in the New Testament as the “ruler of the demons” and “the god of this age”. In the Book of Revelation, Satan appears as a Great Red Dragon, who is defeated by Michael the Archangel and cast down from Heaven. He is later bound for one thousand years, but is briefly set free before being ultimately defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire.
Both figures fit her well considering she found underground as the source of the oviduct toxin that converted human into ghoul, they of which originate from Arabian mythology as demons from the underworld.
Secondly she was referred to by Furuta as Dragon who was later beaten by Kaneki who parallels Archangel Michael in this instance and sealed her underground. The symbol on her forehead is also a clear reference to the Leviathan/Satanic Cross that represents fire and brimstone, which is commonly associated with Hell.
Something else I’d like to note are the Anteiku Raid parallels present in this scenario. Back in Part 1, Kaneki was killed by Arima under the sewers of V14 who put his violent, ghoul nature represented by Shironeki who was formed after a tulpa conversation with Rize, to rest. In reality though he spared him, and this led to his human and ghoul personas blending to form Haise, a more balanced persona who Kaneki referred to as “a peaceful dream”.
Now in :re we see Kaneki who is a direct parallel to Arima in this instance, killing Dragon Rize underground and putting her rampant oviduct to rest to reveal a more peaceful, human looking Rize.
As @sentrakk mentioned in this meta recently, there’s a lot of Christianic symbolism at play that correlates with the current story.
The Beast and the False Prophet are cast into the lake of fire while the Dragon is imprisoned in the bottomless pit for 1000 years. The Dragon is freed after 1000 years, tries to deceive all nations in four corners of the Earth and gathers people to fight the God, but is eventually defeated and cast into the lake of fire as well. The wicked dead and all of those who died during the thousand-year reign of Jesus are resurrected and judged. A new Heaven and new Earth replace the old ones and there is no more death or suffering as the old order of things has passed away.
We’re now at the phase where Dragon is symbolically imprisoned underground for 1000 years. After a brief timeskip to represent the Dragon being freed after 1000 years, we’ll see Rize who parallels the Dragon reemerge from her slumber to spark a new set of events, meaning our queen is more than likely going to survive this ordeal and be a central character in Part 3. Perhaps to parallel Haise, she’ll return with a personality reset after awakening. When all of these events are said and done, she may be able to overcome her tragedy and live the normal life that Furuta couldn’t.
The next character is Hideyoshi Nagachika, who doesn’t exactly have a character arc yet and could be explored in depth a lot more in Part 3. Alongside Shuu, Touka, Haise, Rio, and Kaneki himself, he’s a member of the Ace Card suite’s.
In particular, there’s a lot of mystery surrounding Hide’s origins and where exactly he came from. We still have no insight on his backstory, possible relatives, where he came from before befriending Kaneki in school, or what exactly his motivations are in the story right now outside of aiding Kaneki and the CCG.
This also connects with the fact that there’s seemingly a connection between him and the 24th ward, what with the three dot pattern apparent on the cloaks of the children present in an illustration of him. The kanji in his name “Hideyoshi Nagachika” is also a minefield of hints that could mean a multitude of things depending on the usage.
If he does have a connection to the 24th ward or underground in general, it could also explain why the Washuu were after him, because he never gave Amon or Akira a clear explanation as to how he was in their way. It’s possible that he could be a half human who managed to escape from the Sunlit Garden with important information on the Washuu that could have led to their downfall.
And lastly, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the events of the sewer incident during the Anteiku Raid and how exactly Hide escaped with his injuries. So all in all another confrontation between the two to clear up that event and their relationship in general is important.
And finally Amon Koutarou, who was rather hidden throughout the course of :re until his recent reappearance. In Part 1 he was essentially the deuteragonist of the story and we often shifted back to his perspective as an investigator while focusing on Kaneki’s journey as a half ghoul. Then when :re came, Haise took on the investigator role while Amon lurked through the shadows as a half ghoul, but we hardly had any shift back to his character or what he was up to.
If patterns hold true, in Part 3 we may see the focus shift back to Amon as the protagonist while Kaneki spends some time underground. You’re probably wondering, “what would Amon even do in the story?”, but there’s quite a lot of points revolving around his character that has yet to come full circle. Big thanks to @amon15 for pointing out some interesting lore involving Amon’s arc.
The first point of development for Amon should be breaking away from the CCG system, because we all know “investigators fighting for peace” is bullshit, especially since there’s a lot of shady things circulating around the organization.
It’s also possible that Amon knew the Washuu were up to no good but chose not to act on it, considering Hide freed him from Aogiri and they remained in contact afterwards, and he’s also connected to Marude who was doing research of his own on Rueshima at the same time Amon stormed the island to save Akira and Seidou.
As Kaiko also enlightened us on a few chapters back, the Washuu were consuming the bodies of dead investigators. If this happens to include Mado’s body as well, it should act as a big catalyst for him to abandon the CCG and make his own path.
This intertwines with the fact that the Quinx as well need to break away from the CCG, because as Saiko mentioned in Chapter 132, the CCG is a slaughterhouse that no one should be a part of, and Shirazu’s body as well is still missing.
Considering she especially out of the 3 first gen Quinx has yet to receive a proper character arc, joining up with Amon and becoming a “terrorist” should be a positive change of growth for her. This is also ironic considering Saiko and Urie on a few occasions have confronted Amon, and foil him in many regards. Urie’s father Mikoto could have also possibly had his body consumed as well, which further adds to the fact that he needs to abandon his work ethic there.
Another important issue Amon has yet to reconcile within himself, is his ghoulhood. He still sees himself as more of an investigator fighting for justice rather than a ghoul, evident by the fact that he continues to use his quinque while fighting around his loves ones instead of his Kagune. To come to a proper acceptance of himself and his abilities, he needs to rely on both Takizawa and Akira to unify his human and ghoul halves properly.
Akira to understand and accept him regardless to show that he’s still capable of being loved as a ghoul, and Takizawa to show him how to properly make use his ghoul abilities and get adjusted to his body. In return this will lead to Takizawa being accepted by Akira and realizing the more human side of his nature that he’s been rejecting since he consumed his parents.
Now on to the next point, the murder mystery revolving around Kurona’s father Nanao Yasuhisa who was the president of the Sphinx corporation, had a secret lab below his mansion, and provided the CCG with ghouls blended in bottles for some unknown purpose. However, he tried to leak information about the cruelty taking place on ghouls in the research and was likely silenced in the process.
After being informed of Sphinx and the shady dealings of the CCG by Eto in Chapter 115 like ghouls being blended in bottles to form an RC cell liquid, Amon pondered on what to do about the case but never got to the bottom of solving it since he had no one to report the situation to since it directly involved the CCG as a whole.
Since the Washuu and V are relatively taken care of at this point and there’s nothing getting in the way of Amon investigating the murder surrounding Kurona’s parents, he should reunite with her and bring closure to this case once and for good, for the sake of her, and her parents. He does kind of need to repay her for saving him from the lab, and she needs her character arc completed, so this would be a great way to do so.
It’s also possible that the Sunlit Garden is tied into this as well since half humans from V like Kaiko who were born there needed a way to halt their aging, and an influx of RC cell liquid to reverse telomere could have been a temporary solution. We don’t know much about the Garden as a whole either, so this could lead to exposition on the facility and the events taking place there.
And now on to probably the most important aspect of his character arc that didn’t exactly go anywhere yet despite there being various foreshadowing and reference, the kingly symbolism surrounding his character.
There’s many royal figures correlating to Amon that you can read about here, but the figure Ishida likes to parallel Amon to the most, is Odin, the One Eyed Ruler of the Norse Gods. Some quick similarities between them would be..
~ In Old Norse texts, Odin is depicted as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir, and wearing a cloak (Amon hiding his ghoul eye, and the quinque he often uses, Doujima)
~ Odin is often the favorite god and ally of outlaws, those who had been banished from society for especially vicious crimes, as well. (Amon working alongside Hakitori and Takizawa, CCG outlaws who are outcasts of society)
~ He maintains close connections with the berserkers and other Aesir warriors whose fighting techniques and associated spiritual practices center around achieving a state of unification with certain ferocious totem animals (Amon in his berserk Owl Kakuja)
~ He’s the ruler of the Aesir tribe of deities, yet he often wanders far from their dominion, Asgard, on long, solitary journeys through the galaxy on personal quests (Amon wandering through Tokyo alone as Floppy earlier in the series)
WithKaneki taking a rest and the ghouls more than likely needing a new ruler, it’s possible that Amon will take up the mantle of king in the meantime to establish order. After all, like Kaneki defeating Arima and becoming the OEK, Amon killed Donato, the Crown Clown and should inherit some role of leadership soon.
And to continue the Norse mythology surrounding Amon and his connection to Odin, his father Donato also happens to be based on the God of Knowledge, Mimir. While imprisoned in Cochlea, doves like Haise often came to him as a source of knowledge to aid them on their investigations.
Mímir or Mim is a figure in Norse mythology renowned for his knowledge and wisdom who is beheaded during the Æsir-Vanir War. Afterward, the god Odin carries around Mímir’s head and it recites secret knowledge and counsel to him.
During the Dragon arc which is a lot like the Aesir Vanir War wherein two groups of deities raged war against each other that led to the creation of a unified pantheon similar to the Alliance, Donato like Mimir is beheaded and gives us knowledge of his motives.
If Ishida continues to follow the lore, like Odin we’ll probably see Amon carrying around Donato’s head as a source of council, or rather a symbol of sorts. From the context of Nico’s words, it feels like Donato may have wanted this to happen, alongside the fact that he intentionally let Amon take his life.
Alongside the kingly symbolism, there’s also quite a bit of “Dragon symbolism” surrounding his character throughout the story. Why is the Dragon symbolism so important? Because it could be foretelling to an inevitable confrontation between himself and Kaneki, who represents the Phoenix in the duo.
In Chinese mythology the Phoenix who represents Yin energy, and Dragon who represents Yang energy, are considered mortal enemies. Yet when the two are in unison they represent a perfect balance of Yin/Yang harmony.
This corresponds with the fact that Kaneki massacred all 101 Oggai and no one ever spoke a word of them again, which is odd considering the abuse and manipulation of children is painted in a very negative light by narrative terms, but their whereabouts and whether they survived or not was brushed to the side by the CCG and just about everyone.
One Oggai in specific, Hajime Hazuki sparked a flame of motivation in Amon. So needless to say, there may be a confrontation between the two about that event which may lead to a clash. In the aftermath, the two will likely come to terms and unify to tear down the throne of OEK since it’s built upon death instead of revolution, and create a proper memorial for the Oggai so they can be remembered.
Another minor detail worth mentioning is the fact that Eto wanted Amon dead for some reason. It’s possible that she could have wanted to get rid of him so there weren’t any loose ends that could backfire on Aogiri, but for some reason Ayato sounded somewhat sympathetic of “Floppy”. It’s possible that Amon and Ayato were in close connection considering..
Ayato had to get a card key to raid Cochlea from somebody with high authority right? With Eto alive and her being connected to the trio of Akira, Amon, and Takizawa, it’s possible that we’ll get clarification on why she wanted to kill him alongside some reconciliation since her father’s Kakuhou turned them into ghouls, and Akira’s mother was killed by her in the past.
um, maybe I’m just reading way too much into this, but it’s interesting that there is such a strong focus on Kaneki’s right eye in ch178 as he’s falling further and further away from the light, when in the sewers just before V14…
there was the suspicion of something having happened to his right eye (by @kingkishou and @dadneki).
As @sentrakk pointed out here, we’ve come and gone full circle compared to V14 at the end of the first TG (another primary example being Irimi and Koma dying “again” or Kaneki taking action because he doesn’t want to be unable to do anything anymore), which is why I’m wondering…
if this is really a random focus from Sensei’s part or not.
Maybe it’s really supposed to be a meaningless detail or maybe not and in that case, we could get another chapter about Kaneki’s inner self, like TG ch140, which was
actually
the last we saw of him in TG?
Sorry not to have anything very conclusive but we’re roaming through a sea of doubt till next week. ://
The thrilling saga of my “why TG is not ending yet” theories continues as I try to prove why this is not a matter of Ishida rushing his story to a premature end and he has actually planned to end :re at chapter 179 for a long time as well as to have the resolution arc as a separate entity. There seems to be a common theme in these latest chapters that supports this.
These current events parallel the end of part 1 in several ways, we for example have Ui, Juuzou, Hirako and rest of the gang battling the Owl
Kaneki going off on his own underground, because he’s tired of not being able to do anything
On the way a friend of his sacrifices themselves so that Kaneki can keep going forward and they go missing in the process
And he in a big underground area meets Arima and Furuta who he has to get past by using force. If Arima technically was the main villain of part 1, Furuta was that for :re, they are the obstacle Kaneki is meant to get past.
The main difference here is that while in part 1 Kaneki decided to die and succumbed to his flaws, here he is doing his best to live and move forward. Kaneki actually managed to learn this lesson and won thanks to it, his change in attitude highlighted by his discussion with Furuta. Kaneki never got past V14, but here he finally took one step closer to his goal and this is where the parallels end and he gets a happy ending, right?
There is a twist however, because Kaneki despite his pretty speeches about living has not yet reached the complete end of his journey and is instead still in the middle of Judgement, not the World. The biblical symbolism present is referencing the Book of Revelation, which happens to have an event called the Final Judgement. Also, in two poems Ishida has written in the past, the theme of judgement is present and those poems seem to match the current events rather than anything that has happened before. Judgement seems to be a recurring theme, which is important, because it is not the ending point of the journey, those V14 parallels I talked about just now will be relevant too.
Before anything else though, I’ll just roughly go through some of the Book of Revelation symbolism in the One Eyed King and Dragon arcs to get this started
In the beginning a scroll with 7 seals is presented to the Throne of God and it is declared that only the Lion of Judah, the Lamb, is worthy to open it. The Lamb was given praise and angels along with creatures from Heaven and Earth fell down before him.
I believe the Lamb in question is Kaneki who was given the role of the One Eyed King by Arima and Eto who represent God.
Both Arima and Eto are like gods in the series, Arima even has the nickname God of Death and is seen as one by the CCG and ghouls
Eto especially has a lot of biblical symbolism associated with her, for example the instance of her talking about Genesis with Karren and wanting to become her god. If Arima is the one who ultimately made Kaneki become the One Eyed King during Cochlea arc, Eto did most of her part of the job back in Tsukiyama Extermination arc by awakening his memories using Karren. The biblical symbolism with Karren and Eto becoming her god is what she tried to do to Kaneki as well
Both Arima and Eto were basically in the position of a God for Kaneki, Kaneki even was like a son to Arima (plus Eto wanted Kaneki to become her child) and has some Jesus symbolism associated with him. For instance him being stuck in the Dragon and being in coma lasted pretty much exactly three days before he woke up and was reunited with his loved ones.
Kaneki is also associated with goats a lot, with the book Black Goat’s Egg and the fact that he even named his organization Goat after becoming the One Eyed King, therefore it’s fitting that he is also the Lamb.
His role as the One Eyed King can be considered the scroll since once all of the 7 seals are opened, the Apocalypse begins, just like how Kaneki’s time as the One Eyed King only led to ruin, destruction and loss of lives. Even if Kaneki technically failed as a King, the outcome still happens to fit with Eto and Arima’s ideas of what the world will look like in the future. For Arima:
And Eto’s world that is yet to come
It is just around the corner though since once the Apocalypse is over, the old Earth and Heaven are replaced and there’s a new order of things in the world. What the story is heading towards is in fact quite literally a factory reset, but I’ll get to that more in detail later. What matters is that when Kaneki was given the scroll, it led to what it was supposed to lead to, the Apocalypse.
The six seals of the scrolls are undone and there was a great earthquake, the sun became black, every mountain, island were moved out of their places etc. Mankind hides from the one who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb. The seventh seal is then broken, followed by half an hour of silence and destruction that devastates the Earth.
Typical apocalyptic events occur and this is represented in the story. The way the borders of the pages became black during Kaneki’s time as the Dragon might represent the sun becoming black, mountains and islands being moved out of their places is the same as all the buildings being devastated and there was an earthquake as Kaneki became the Dragon. Most notable one is chapter 145, which has no dialogue as it most likely represents the silence. Once the seventh seal is broken, numerous different kinds of devastating events occur that kill a huge chunk of humanity, but one particular thing Ishida seems to reference a lot is the bottomless pit.
As the star opens the bottomless pit, smoke rises from the Abyss like smoke from a gigantic furnace darkening the sun and the air. From the smoke locusts come out who are commanded not to harm anyone or anything except for people who were not given the “seal of God” on their foreheads. Locusts were commanded by the Abaddon, the angel of the Abyss who many interpret to be Satan himself.
This is a reference to the oviduct that houses Rize in the 19th ward since the place where she’s situated at is told to be a huge cave that seems pretty bottomless as Kaneki peers down it.
Furuta also has the key to the place where she resides before being interrupted by Kaneki. The bottomless pit is actually the place closest to Hell and Underworld where the Dragon is eventually banished to for 1000 years.This works since the Dragon present in the Book of Revelation is actually Rize rather Kaneki since he was just a tool Furuta used to turn Rize into her current form
Rize also represents Satan who commands the locusts as she is the one creating them and has St. Peter’s cross on her forehead. The Dragon in general is meant to represent Satan/Devil in the Book of Revelation.
The smoke rising from the pit is the poison that infects people with ROS and blackens the sky and the locusts are the kagune monsters that attack everyone and spread the disease in the process.
Since Rize is the true Dragon, Kaneki and his Dragon form represents the Beast emerging from the sea.
The sea being the sea of corpses from Kaneki’s mind where all the people he killed during his rampage went, the place by the Torii gates in his mind where he talked with Rize
It’s also noted that the Beast has a fatal wound, which they had miraculously healed, Kaneki too managed to heal his grave wounds and stop his aging by becoming the Beast.
There is also a second beast that emerges from the Earth known as the False Prophet. He exercises authority on the previous beast’s behalf and caused miraculous signs that cause people to follow the Beast. He is also connected to the Dragon.
The False Prophet is Furuta since while in the Book Revelation they would be the two Beasts, in TG they are the two kings that are very similar to each other. Kaneki’s Dragon form was also technically Furuta’s ally and it was what he called it himself too. People worshiping the Beasts was seen soon after Itori, who was working with Furuta, tried to manipulate the people from Goat.
While it wasn’t during the actual Apocalypse, we also saw the huge cult like following Kaneki had as well as the fact that Furuta himself was quite popular himself and even had a fan club.
The Beasts were good at making people follow them and worship them. There are probably some other references too, but these are just some of the bigger ones I noticed. What this all seems to be leading up to is the highlight and climax of the Book of Revelation, the Final Judgement.
Jesus finally returns to Earth, which the Beast and False Prophet try to fight with armies of their own before they are defeated. The Beast and the False Prophet are cast into the lake of fire while the Dragon is imprisoned in the bottomless pit for 1000 years. The Dragon is freed after 1000 years, tries to deceive all nations in four corners of the Earth and gathers people to fight the God, but is eventually defeated and cast into the lake of fire as well. The wicked dead and all of those who died during the thousand-year reign of Jesus are resurrected and judged. A new Heaven and new Earth replace the old ones and there is no more death or suffering as the old order of things has passed away.
Kaneki’s Dragon form, the Beast, has been defeated and while he was stuck there, he technically was working with Furuta, the False Prophet. And like I explained before, Kaneki has Jesus symbolism associated with him so he also takes the role of the one who fights and defeats the False Prophet, leading to both of the Beasts being taken down in the end. Rize the Dragon meanwhile is imprisoned in the bottomless pit, which was where all the smoke and locusts previously came from. Kaneki now has been imprisoned in the bottomless pit with Rize and is going to be stuck there for some time, which is going to represent the 1000 years of peace before he comes out with Rize and a new conflict arises. Kaneki caused the Dragon to be stopped so he as the Jesus is the one who allowed this period of peace to exist, which of course is followed by the Final Judgement after those 1000 years of imprisonment.
Kaneki also seems to take the role of archangel Gabriel, who resurrects the dead in the Judgement tarot card and is one of the angels that causes the Apocalypse to happen.
His appearance is like that of an angel with wings and crosses with a white color scheme. Chapter 164, where he gets his angelic appearance, is even called “The White One”. Archangel Gabriel blowing his horn on the Judgement tarot card is the thing that makes the dead rise from their graves and in the Book of Revelation a trumpet blast is said to proceed the resurrection of the dead. On the card is depicted a sea where caskets float and this sea of corpses is a recurring motif with Kaneki. There has been plenty of foreshadowing and teasing in the story about bringing back the dead, but we have yet to see any kind of payoff for it. Furuta mentions this being possible, but the Beast, Kaneki’s Dragon form, of course is not capable of doing it.
As the dead are resurrected, the old Heaven and Earth are replaced and like I mentioned before, it is essentially a factory reset. The factory reset that Eto wanted to see and who coincidentally happens to have returned just a few chapters ago even if that would be kind of pointless if there’s nothing left for her character to do in these final chapters. Arima is back too in a way, in spirit at least, during CCG’s fight with the Owl (Oh, and Hairu, the prime candidate to be resurrected is there too)
The Judgement symbolism carries over to Kaneki’s personal character development as well since with Fool’s Journey he is not at the World yet despite all his revelations, he is still at the Judgement.
The Judgement card calls for a period of reflection and self-evaluation. Through meditation or quiet reflection, you may come to a point of deep understanding about the common themes throughout your life and what you can do or change to avoid these situations in the future.
The Judgement card suggests that you have reviewed and evaluated your past experiences and have learned from them. All the pieces of the puzzle of your life are finally coming together to form one, integrated picture of your life story. This integration has healed any deep wounds and you are now in a position to put the past behind you. Your memories no longer haunt you, and you are able to understand and value what has happened to you and what it has taught you about life.
This is exactly what Kaneki talks to Furuta about, he has had his moment of self reflection and found peace with has past and where he is right now. He has had time to think about things and learn from his old mistakes, the past is no longer something that hurt him, but it is something that turned him into the person he is and gave him everything he has. He is completely content with it.
Judgement is about finding absolution. Through a period of self-evaluation, you will feel cleansed of your ‘sins’, wrongdoings and mistakes, and you will finally be released of your guilt and sorrow about the past.
Kaneki also acknowledges the fact that everybody in this world hurts each other and finds absolution. Kaneki committed a grave sin by becoming the Dragon and killing half of Tokyo, but he doesn’t get stuck on it and moves forward, he is at peace with everything that happened
You may even feel a calling – a personal conviction of what you are meant to do. If you are in a low period, in need of hope and absolution, Judgement can show you that renewal is at hand.
That doesn’t mean Kaneki is going to ignore all his wrongdoings and instead of just feeling guilty, he decides to take responsibility for his actions. This is Kaneki’s resolve to do something for the sake of people around him, him being tired of not being able to do anything and that resolve is not shaken even by Furuta as he moves forward towards his goal.
The angel on the Judgement card also represents the Fool’s higher self calling them to rise up and fulfill their promise so Kaneki doesn’t just physically represent the angel in question.
You may be at a crossroads, aware that any decision that you make will bring about significant change. The choice can be an obvious one, or perhaps the only viable one. You know that this choice must be made and you are facing it with maturity and level-headedness.
He is making his choice despite being hesitant to kill Rize, because he believes this is what must be done to save everyone, even if it has its downsides
Kaneki is at Judgement, but he has not reached the finish line yet. The World card is about reentering the world with a complete understanding and Kaneki at the moment is basically stuck in the Underworld and has to get out. The moment Kaneki emerges from the pit is the moment he has reached the World and is the moment he has to become more involved with the world around him. Kaneki is going through his trial of Judgement, but the end is not that near yet.
This finally gets us to the poems that Ishida has written that are pretty much about this event and these latest chapters. You can read it fully here.
Interesting thing to note is that poem is divided into three sections. I’ve already talked enough about how the announcement about TG:re ending was handled in an extremely unusual way so I won’t get into that now, but one of those strange things was the three chapter countdown we got so suddenly. My theory is that the three chapter countdown for the climax of the story is meant to represent the Final Judgement and each of these sections describes one of the chapters. The first section should represent chapter 177 and is from Kaneki’s point of view.
(1)
The end of the trial
All lies are being revealed.
All sins are being judged.
A reference to the Final Judgement and Judgement phase of the Fool’s Journey. Facing Rize is the end of the trial for Kaneki and Furuta was what started it.
The first thing that disappoints you is anger,
and if you’re sick of being mad, then it will try to kill you.
This bit is rather vague, but it seems to fit with Kaneki’s feelings toward the world and Rize. He is no longer mad at the world, but currently it and Rize too is trying to hurt him
A god that is willing to murder for atonement,
is no different than you people.
Kaneki is being put into the position of Jesus or an angel and is doing all this to take responsibility for his actions. Ultimately he is put into a situation where has to kill Rize to atone for his actions and in this chapter he even talks about how he is not special compared to everyone else.
Next is a single leaf from a fig tree
that conceals a body without leaving a trace.
It carries through while it is still vivid.
In Garden, Adam and Eve covered their private parts with fig leaves after eating the forbidden apple and becoming ashamed of the fact that they were naked. Before that they were free of sin, but this event changed everything and when they were banished from the Garden. This is probably a reference to Rize who escaped from the Garden and started living irresponsibly and “in sin” until she was captured and ended up in the fate she currently is in.
As blood spills in that moment, you softly laugh.
Blood spills as Kaneki attacks Rize
(2)
The ark is being swayed like a casket.
V called the Dragon their Ark
It is swaying like a casket since both Kaneki and Ayato got trapped inside as it collapses and the V agents too are finally defeated and this is the end of their journey, the Ark only led to V’s doom
“It’s okay if a cute person catches your eye!”
And then I went blind.
God is resentful because of his lost eyesight.
This is a reference to Kaneki’s first meeting with Rize. He at first regretted catching Rize’s eye, but in chapter 176 came to terms with it and thought it was a good thing since it helped him meet all the important people in his life.
It is in quotes though. Not only did Rize catch Kaneki’s eye, but Kaneki also caught Rize’s eye
And she went blind thanks to it as it was what led to her capture by Furuta and her current cruel fate. The one who feels resentment about the event is Rize
Because of your self-righteousness,
how many have had their blood spilled,
how many have suffocated in the depths of the sea?
Reference to Kaneki’s flaws what eventually caused him to fail and kill half of Tokyo and also perhaps a reference to events even before that where Kaneki caused the death of lots of people due to his flaws. This also happens to be a something Rize and Furuta to an extent share with him
It is what Rize called Kaneki out on at the Torii gates, but as Kaneki tried to move forward, Rize stayed behind
The buildings are gravestones floating in the sea.
And as they creak, the crooked foundation
one day breaks with a quick snap.
If Tokyo is the sea where all the people Kaneki killed died, the buildings that were wrecked by his Dragon form in the process are the gravestones along with all the other oviducts, including the one Kaneki and Rize are in right now. It too breaks with a quick snap in this latest chapter
That is when you experience the dull figures with your eyes.
That is when you stack up the limbs of someone you love.
That is when you get tired and fall asleep.
It happens, so abruptly.
Submerging beneath the sea again.
Kaneki falls asleep inside the Dragon and submerges beneath the sea once again, this time unable to escape.
Stacking up the limbs of someone you love could refer to Ayato since Kaneki was trying to look for him before he got stuck inside the Dragon or it could be referring something yet to come since it is talked about later in the poem.
People are bound to lose.
Our gradual burial at sea.
Everyone I know has died,
and I cry to the point of dying.
Before long, everyone became a pillar of salt
and it too, dissolved into the sea.
(3)
If the world ends for someone I know, then that’s okay.
The cradle swayed and disintegrated.
The sea filled up with salt and dried out.
A throat is punched with holes, and all the blood began to sing.
You will no longer be able to stop laughing.
When the world ends, the last person alive will truly think he is a villain.
It has been pointed out several times during these last chapters that everyone will eventually die
Kaneki however was not bothered by it as he said he was going to always strive forward.
This time it seems like he was the one to “die” while everybody else lives, a repeat of V14 despite the poem suggesting there being an inversion of Kaneki surviving while everyone else dies.
I already mentioned how Kaneki is connected to the resurrection of the dead when I talked about him being Gabriel of the Judgement tarot card and this is how it might happen. Furuta already talked about how the old Nagaraj shared some of his life force even if he probably killed more people than he gave life to.
After, which he turned into stone.
Perhaps the stone in question represents the salt pillars in the poem, the act of taking and giving life goes with the all of Judgement symbolism too. Kaneki eventually is going to be the key to resurrections according to all the symbolism I already talked about so perhaps now that Kaneki is separated from everyone else, he feels like he’s the only one left on Earth, feels like everybody he loves is dead. The V14 parallels I talked about still apply since this is the exact same thing that gave Kaneki amnesia. After his confrontation with Arima, he was stuck in a jail cell and wanted to reunite with everyone before being made to believe that they were all dead.
Now too after his confrontation with Furuta, he ended up being imprisoned again separated from all his loved ones, just like now he is meant to stay away from them for “1000 years” before the Final Judgement can occur. After all a total destruction is needed until the Earth and Heavens can be reborn and it was said that those with Washuu kagune have the power to change the world, this being Rize and Kaneki’s kagune too
Maybe Furuta was right that it was all will be in vain, or maybe it’s just a brief obstacle to be overcome. The world being reborn would be a valid reason for Ishida to separate the final resolution into its own part rather than include it with :re, it would also give it the same feel as Part 1 had when it ended. I’ve also before talked about why it would be a valid reason to divide TG into three acts, the third one happening right after the climax.
There’s also another poem that Ishida released, the Phosphenes poem found here: (x) The art that came with it is interesting in particular, because the number in the corner is almost the same as 179, the supposed final chapter that I believe will be about Kaneki and Rize
If behaving like a god is a sin, even the act of creating life would be blasphemous. Wouldn’t doing this be mocking the gods?
The act of creating life is brought up again and as I previously pointed out, whatever Kaneki now does underground might lead to resurrections, creation of life that even Furuta talked about. The poem seems to be implying though that something even worse than creating life is being done.
Wanting to be judged, I entered the prison of my own free will. I play around with sludge in a silent room. “So you’ve come back again,” I was being cursed at with a timberless voice.
That place was dazzlingly beautiful.
Again, Kaneki entering the bottomless pit to meet Rize can be considered his final rite of Judgement and that quote probably belongs to Rize as she meets Kaneki again after he left him at the Torii gates. Kaneki drowned in the sea like she hoped he would and they’re now reunited.
The area formed from kagune is sludgy, but yet so beautiful as Rize herself looks like a godly being. It’s important to note that this meeting with Rize is the climax of his Judgement, the end of the trial as the previous poem said. Kaneki moved to Judgement after his meeting with Rize at the Torii gates and now he’s reunited with her at the sea of corpses and being tested to see if he can truly move on and reach the World, end of his journey.
I was starving to death, and then from when I was gnawing on someone’s body, that’s right, from that moment, it all became strange. There definitely have must have been poison in there. Only beautiful merely to the eye, and shit.
This reminds me of the myth of Persephone who was abducted to the Underworld (coincidentally this bottomless pit where Rize and Kaneki are right now is also near the Underworld/Hell) and ate some pomegranate seeds that forced her to stay there during winter months since she had eaten the food of the Underworld. Chapter 162 happened to be called “Holding a Pomegranate” and it was the chapter where Kaneki woke up after returning from the Torii gates where Rize is. The reverse happening now is fitting, especially now that the latest chapter talked about the poison Rize emitted.
There’s a spider lily too, an ominous flower that typically bloom in graveyards and is associated with death. They grow in Hell and guide the dead to their next reincarnation. They specifically symbolize lost memory, abandonment and never meeting someone again.
I don’t want to put anything in my mouth, I don’t want to hear anything. I don’t want to see anything, anything at all.
The three wise monkeys are related to the sins we’ve committed and therefore fits with the theme of Judgement.
Place myself on a scale, along with the things being sold off, along with the ripped-apart bodies given away in pieces, along with playing by peeling off scabs, don’t, don’t.
Throw away everything you don’t need out the window. It’s okay if you fall and die. Until the very end, lend your ears to just the sounds fading away.
Once again this seems to be related to the previous poem and Kaneki losing people that matter to him and being left alone, the scale line in particular reminds me of chapter 140 of part 1.
This was the last moment of self reflction for Kaneki before his end and with all the V14 parallels we will probably get this too since the inner monologue in chapter 177 was instead more meant to be a reference to Yoshimura’s words (x) I suspect the next and last chapter will be exclusively in Kaneki’s head, because of this and also because of the parallels to events 100 chapters ago. Latest chapters have all had a reference to something exactly 100 chapters ago, between 76 and 176 there was this moment with similar paneling and theme about living
In chapter 77 we had Urie venturing and finding Torso, in chapter 177 we have Kaneki venturing underground while and finding Rize, both struggling on the way
In chapter 78 we have Torso explaining his backstory and Mutsuki becoming sympathetic towards him despite all the awful things he’s done to them. Chapter ends with Mutsuki potentially about to meet their end in the hands of Torso after having been captured by them for a while
In chapter 177 we have Kaneki feeling bad about killing Rize since he was always sympathetic towards her despite her originally trying to kill him and starting his tragedy, now Rize traps Kaneki and potentially is about to get him killed. The reason I mention this is, because chapter 79 is exclusively about Mutsuki, them being stuck inside their own head and realizing new things about themselves. A moment of self reflection and discovery just like what Kaneki went through in V14. Chapter ends on Mutsuki discovering something awful they’ve done while they were spaced out and start laughing like a maniac.
Sounds similar to the end of the last poem, doesn’t it?
A throat is punched with holes, and all the blood began to sing.
You will no longer be able to stop laughing.
When the world ends, the last person alive will truly think he is a villain.
This Phosphenes poem though finishes with this:
Hey, how many things did you get that you wanted?
Kaneki in the end found all the things he wanted, but…
…the field is filled with our old friends, red spider lilies.
We are once again going through a period of transition, Kaneki has “died” and his loved ones are left waiting. The manga will end, but soon a new part will be made that continues after a time skip. A new manga for a new world, which is fitting since this references the Book of Revelation. There will be “1000 years” of peace before the bottomless pit is opened and out comes the Dragon with Kaneki and a new conflict arises. It won’t last long though since it is easily stopped and soon after all the dead are resurrected and their sins are judged. This is what part 3 will be about and once Kaneki comes back, he’ll have completed his trial of Judgement and reach the end of his character arc. In the end the Judgement always leads to the World, which in both the Book of Revelation and the Fool’s Journey is a happy ending.
Sorry not sorry to those who don’t like her character, but if it turns out that we’re getting a part 3 because both Kaneki and Ayato are missing by the end of the :Re’s final chapter…
then I genuinely hope it is called Tokyo Ghoul: Queen or an equivalent in whatever language Sensei chooses, because it will be the perfect time for Touka in particular to take matters into her own hands and fuck everyone getting in the way of her saving her family.
(meanwhile Hide will help while making sure that coexistence between ghouls and humans can work out)
honestly the longest manga series I followed with different parts was 86 volumes long overall, so bring it on Sensei, if that’s what he wants too.
Besides…
remember when everyone thought Tsukiyama would be Kaneki’s temporary replacement as leader during the dragon arc and yet Touka had already become everybody’s boss?
I’m up for more of this, along with Hide and the Qs (and all her ghoul friends) backing her just like in that very same arc.
Hint for a part 3, then? Since both the One Eyed Washuu and then the second OEG of the timeline ended pushed below ground too?
Also as I was saying to a few readers who asked: if we’re supposed to expect Kaneki showing up again in ch179 next week because TG is truly ending, then the only explanation I can think of is that Sensei did it all to show that humans and ghouls can reach an understanding and a way to make coexistence work without Kaneki having to be there.
And this is important because Kaneki never really wanted to be the One Eyed King or to lead the world in the first place, so making it work without him means that when he comes back, he’ll be able to have his own free future with Touka.
Otherwise, another option for this chapter is to consider Kaneki dying and never making it out to the surface again, but… it wouldn’t make a lot of sense with :Re’s themes, without mentioning that Ayato probably couldn’t make it out either.
Finally please remember that even more so with the newest chapter, the current arc completely parallels what happened 100 years ago with the Nagaraj, which is one part (amongst many) that Sensei never entirely expanded on. So… part 3? Maybe?
Personally I hope so.
Hey, for the fans who say that “it’s the dragon arc all over again, what’s the point” please note the difference between the arc that started in ch145
and that threatened the city of Tokyo vs the idea that Kaneki was possibly pushed below ground this time in ch178.
Why does it matter? Because as hinted by Matsuri above in ch151, if Kaneki can’t manage to come back by himself, then it most likely is going to link him back to the two previous ghoul leaders that failed their own rebellion:
#1
#2
and to all the theories related to these two parts of the story (a recurring topic on my blog for those who are new xD), the only difference being that Kaneki’s rebellion at least led to humans and ghouls seemingly cooperating together for the first time in history.
Kaneki being pushed into the 24th ward could also tie to the following, since the very first rebellion was led by a OEG from the Washuu family:
and since we still don’t know much about the sunlit garden, V, all the secrets of the Washuu family, the sunlit society Kanou and Kurona’s father were a part of, or even about ghoul biology in general and why Kaneki seems to be an exception to a lot things:
So please do not say that it doesn’t make sense. No matter if the series Tokyo Ghoul ends for real next week or not, Sensei did not write twice the same arc.
No time skip: Kaneki manages to swim his way up (with Ayato) or someone else immediately rescues him (them) => everything gets solved and it’s a happy ending.
Time skip: Kaneki (and Ayato) is (are) MIA and, while some people are looking for him (them), the rest of Tokyo is trying to make coexistence between ghouls and humans work and to cure all the people (like Saiko):
then Kaneki (and Ayato) is (are) rescued by the end of the chapter => happy ending
then Kaneki (and Ayato) is (are) found dead => tragic ending, especially for Touka => nonsensical in my opinion??
then Kaneki (and Ayato) can’t be found/freed and the story moves on to a part 3 because it’s a big parallel to what happened 100 years ago with the Nagaraj and Sensei wants to expand on that as well as all the still hanging plot threads.
Btw if part 3 it is instead of definite ending next week tho’, then I’m definitely hoping that Touka, Hide and Tsukiyama as well as the Qs will be its main characters until Kaneki is back.
Back before :RE was announced, I remember one of my favorite theories and biggest hopes was essentially “Arima locked Kaneki up in Cochlea, Touka takes the role of main character, learns he’s alive and assembles a team to break in and rescue him”. Frankly, I’d like going for that last option because that sounds the closest to that option, and it’s a pretty good way of him to continue the story without dragging out Kaneki’s arc since he wouldn’t exactly have much to do.
You make an excellent point @toramarushou! Last week for example, my gut feeling was rather that we were heading towards an ending specifically because Kaneki’s character arc was apparently reaching its peak with that very powerful monologue that was ch177.
So yeah, Kaneki’s arc possibly ended, which is not the case of the other characters. At the same time, Kaneki dying would go against :Re’s themes, so a third part focusing more on the 3 other ace cards + the Qs while they try to solve this mess would make a lot of sense. Besides…
I know this popularity poll was made at the beginning of :Re but I think that Hide and Touka are still big fandom faves, so making them (and Tsukiyama, Saiko, Urie and Mutsuki) the “main characters” possibly wouldn’t bother most of the fans.
I guess we might be surer next week, but knowing Sensei and how he’s constantly unpredictable, we might not even know for certain if next week will be vouching for a definite ending or a sequel, especially if he manages to pull something similar to how the first part of TG ended with ch143…
midnight-in-town 