That definitely looks like the same back cover of the Black Goat’s Egg we’ve seen here:
Considering the book’s theme of the Son recognising the same dark impulses of the Mother budding inside himself that’s… mildly concerning that he’s finally picked up the book instead of leaving it discarded on the floor. Does this mean he’s embracing his role as the Egg or Child of the Black Goat?
Touka greeting Kaneki and choosing to interact with him when he’s attempting to follow through with his plans to die for someone else by smiling at him and telling him she’ll see him later is so important to me.
She’s not sacrificing herself to save him, she’s not mad at him for what he’s doing, she’s not trying to stop him. She’s telling him that people already love him, that they want to see him again, that he doesn’t need to die for them to care about him, and that they would be sad if he died.
She’s giving him hope that he will survive his seemingly impossible fight against Arima, and come back to see the people who love him again.
And it gets to him, he’s shaken by it and crying because of it. It wasn’t enough to change his path, because he’s already on it, already standing in front of Arima and already fighting. But maybe it’s enough to change the outcome, if he decides to take the hope that Touka offered him.
Thank you for this post.
What got to me in this chapter is her change. Back in Tg, when she saw right through his martyr complex, she beat him up and told him not to come back to Anteiku ever again. Now, though, she’s giving him acceptance, and that’s super important for Kaneki. She knows him. She already saw him walking this same path, but this time she didn’t try to forcefully stop him through violence or guilt. She didn’t lecture him for his bad choices. Now she’s giving him a reason to win, to come back to her and to :re, but she’s also leaving that choice up to him. And he knows. She gave him an accepting smile, a loving one, and he that’s when he almost second guessed himself.
She reached out to him with an oitstretched hand, nor the usual slap he’s used to, and that’s beautiful. I live for this kind of content, really. They made up for months of lack of communication with eye-contact and a tug of lips.
Just like Hide predicted, she once again broke through all of his walls with her straightforwardness.
Hey Anon 🙂 Yes, I believe Touka’s words were able to form a breach into the walls Kaneki built around himself, so hopefully he will realize soon there is a place built for him to return (if he doesn’t join the Floppies before that, we never know). 🙂
Before the beginning of the fights, he convinced himself that he was supposed to be “the sacrificial pawn” and to die for their sake, but I’m pretty sure Touka’s words and the calm attitude she showed made him doubt his decision for a short time hence why he said “that’s cruel”. All in all, he forbade himself to hope that he would get out of there once he caught himself thinking about it, but that’s still the beginning of doubt!
(rambling some more under read more)
The way I see it, Kaneki is at the lowest point he could ever reach by believing he should be the one left behind in order for the others to save themselves, but Touka’s words are definitely the first step towards recovery (because there are people who want him back).
It’s the whole parallel with ch120 playing actually: 4 years ago she yelled “don’t come to Anteiku” and, while it helped him by making him realize he wanted to go back, not only did Touka have no idea he took this decision but then the CCG made it impossible anyway by attacking Yoshimura.
And now, 4 years later, obviously Kaneki would have that scene in his mind (since that’s the last time they really talked to each other), so, like many of us, he probably expected her to be angry like she was in ch120 which is why that scene was so surprising (in a good way) when all she did was basically telling him he had a place to go back to. That’s why he caught himself hoping despite being focused on dying for their sake.
I loved this chapter, very emotional, but I’m never going to stop talking about it apparently. Sorry for rambling Anon and thank you for passing by. 🙂 Let’s hope Kaneki will make it out to :Re at some point, he deserves some rest. ❤
Hey Anon 🙂 Yes I’ve seen that post indeed but I don’t really believe in it.
No offense to OP, it was a nice observation, but I just simply think that it wouldn’t make much sense for Touka to die now in the story. Quoting myself from a different website:
I didn’t see any death flag for anyone besides Yomo for now and I’m even doubting those since Ishida did say that he hesitated to put him on the front cover of TG vol 12 but that there would still be time for a cover later. Unless of course Yomo will sacrifice himself for his nephew and niece once more, making him more than deserving his cover for the current volume.
Would be a bit pointless to have Kaneki, Ayato, Hina or Touka die right now however in my opinion. Ayato still has a role to play when it comes to Aogiri and now that the Touka/Ken/Hina trio met all at the same time for the first time since the Aogiri arc, I just don’t see Ishida killing one of them during this arc.
This is basically the same reasoning as when we wondered whether Hinami would die before Kaneki freed her: Touka has been around since TG vol 1 ch 1, she has her importance towards the plot and towards our MC so killing her before the last arc wouldn’t be the best plot twist Ishida-sensei has written.
You compared her situation to Shirazu, but Shirazu’s death seemed more evident (for me) from the get go considering that:
he was having an inner crisis about everything after the auction arc
Kanou was there being all impressed about the Qs’ surgery like “oh my, how about some samples”.
Honestly the only thing which made me unsure of Shirazu’s death before it happened was the situation with his sister, but Ishida found a way to turn that around by putting Haru under the protection of Urie, Mutsuki and Saiko for Shirazu’s sake afterwards.
So Touka’s death just isn’t for now for me, Anon (not that I think she will have to die later either, though on that subject it’s hard to guess far in advance). 🙂 If anything, Ishida-sensei gave us a peek of her character development and how much she grew since TG, but her appearance in this arc was probably supposed to plant the seeds of doubt into Kaneki’s mind about his decision to die (which she managed to do with one sentence haha, it was such an emotional chapter).
Because he’s focusing on being the “sacrifical pawn” and because he probably didn’t expect that kind of reaction from Touka when she most certainly understood what he wanted to do, like Hina, we might have another parallel with the bridge scene of ch120 (as in, Touka’s words might once again help him realize where he really wants to be although the circumstances and the way she acted are different). The rest is probably up to fighting Arima and reflecting a little (until Amon or Eto or both show up).
Uwah, I rambled a lot, sorry. >_< I hope it answers your question, keep on being positive, Touka is a fighter and she’s not alone 🙂
Wait! Didn’t Kaneki said the same thing to Touka –
Me: Oh fuck ..
well, technically (in japanese) not, kaneki said “mata ne, touka-chan” and touka said “kaneki, atode ne”
like, both are usually just tl’d as see you later, but “mata ne” is more of a “see you again at some point in the future” and “atode ne” is “see you later, after this”… also the scenes are completely different, kaneki’s saying it with the eye shifting sideways, planning on not seeing her any time soon (the only reason they meet after that is because touka traces him down even), while touka’s saying it believing it, trying to tell him she’ll be waiting, trying to convey to please do come back to us.. or that’s how i see it anyway …
but well, the goodbyes with these two are emotional all the time anyway o/ we all know kaneki will survive this and will return tho for sure o/
Touka greeting Kaneki and choosing to interact with him when he’s attempting to follow through with his plans to die for someone else by smiling at him and telling him she’ll see him later is so important to me.
She’s not sacrificing herself to save him, she’s not mad at him for what he’s doing, she’s not trying to stop him. She’s telling him that people already love him, that they want to see him again, that he doesn’t need to die for them to care about him, and that they would be sad if he died.
She’s giving him hope that he will survive his seemingly impossible fight against Arima, and come back to see the people who love him again.
And it gets to him, he’s shaken by it and crying because of it. It wasn’t enough to change his path, because he’s already on it, already standing in front of Arima and already fighting. But maybe it’s enough to change the outcome, if he decides to take the hope that Touka offered him.
midnight-in-town 