In Chapter 131, ‘Naagaraji’ ナァガラジ could be a reference to the Hindu mythology Nāgarāja “King of the nāga” (nāga meaning snakes) and also known in Japanese and Chinese mythology as one of the 8 great dragon kings. Among the Nāgarāja there is Vasuki, a snakegod in Indian mythology who was converted into a dragon king in Buddhism, then renamed “Washu-kichi”
[…]
和修吉(washukitsu) is just the assigned kanji for how Vasuki is pronounced in Japanese. Washuu only uses the first two kanji as a family name, and then whoever the successors are adds the last kanji from Vasuki to their given name. (ex: Furuta Nimura -> Washuu Kichimura)
‘Dragon’ 竜 is a Japanese shinjitai simplified from 龍 which figuratively means “sovereignty”, “king”, “chief”, and “hero”. The kanji 龍 is also used in the word 龍王 ”Nāgaraja; snake king; dragon king", a notable example of dragon and snake legends from Buddhist and Hindu mythology.
As Ishida introduced ‘Dragon’ 竜 in Chapter 128, he later on then introduced The ‘Naagaraji’ ナァガラジ in Chapter 131, both correlated with each other and with the word “king”.
Remember, V was first created to fight against the second OEG of the timeline, before Eto:
So I really think “V” is actually meant to be “Vasuki”.
I hate everything: guys please read this post. It’s partially what I quoted above, but it has the full myth about nagas (OEGs), Vasuki and Garuda explained, which is basically the current Dragon situation between V, Furuta and Rize. It even finally explains why Furuta “jokingly” called himself a bird in ch138.
Also…
Now that we know about “Vasuki” being subtitled “victory”, I still am not sure what to make of Donato being the “king’s crown” exactly, except for this part with the almost similar clown masks…
but I’d bet you anything that it has to do with the One Eyed Washuu since he’s also a part of the myth (seriously go read the explanation I linked to) because he was driven underground…
Uta is still the most likely suspect btw (especially since he’s also associated with the cross pattern, like Donato, and a link between them makes sense since Donato is “Crown”, the “king’s crown”).
We’re still missing on who the second OEG of the timeline is/was though (Noro? Itori?).
Spooky-chan is going to roast me again for the public conspiracy theory, but
Maybe that’s why Donato was called that?
Ahhhh, I really hope that Uta’s still non-meaningful tattoos aren’t supposed to represent his pals (without mentioning the one(s) he possibly has on his back) otherwise I… don’t know what I’m going to do. ;_;
and how he’s covering his right eye, as if indicating that his only kakugan is on the left side?
Well, what if he was the second OEG of the timeline instead of the first?
The first OEG (the Nagaraj, the One Eyed Washuu) was this guy…
but as explained twice in the last two chapters, he apparently didn’t escape his Kakuja so he could be very old and trapped in the 24th ward.
Meanwhile, Kaneki in ch121 and Nishiki told us in ch128 about a second OEG who threatened the CCG and led to V’s creation…
…and as you can see, his left eye is emphasized on. So what if the Uta we know is the second OEG who “was a hero of ghouls who led the CCG to destruction”?
As to whom he would be to have a Washuu kakuhou (special kakuhou with cloning abilities?) and look like the One Eyed Washuu…
how about a rare hybrid (i.e natural OEG, like Eto) born in the sunlit garden?
Uta being responsible for V’s creation because he raised havoc around 50 years ago would also explain this:
since Roma was sent to prison basically around 20 years ago (and they apparently knew each other from before) and since she said that she knew the “king of the underground”.
For the record though, at this point, this title might refer to either of these two OEGs, since both were apparently driven underground:
…And in fact, Matsuri wouldn’t be against doing the same to Kaneki:
Finally, Uta being the second OEG would even go with @kingkishou‘s theory that Uta somehow passed on the OEK title to Arima at the time of the Clowns’ annihilation and it also allows me to introduce one of my untold crack theories…
…which is that the reason Uta is the only one who kept his mask on during ch98 was because he didn’t want to be recognized by Kaiko from V (since V defeated him 50~ years ago).
TL;DR Uta is probably a (natural) OEG if just because…
…and several birthday arts that imply he only has one Kakugan.
However, considering that the One Eyed Washuu’s kakugan was on the right side while Uta’s might be on the left (+ he doesn’t have mole), maybe Uta is another OEG from the Washuu family, except that he came into the picture half a century after the first one.
In other words he’s the OEG Nishiki talked about in ch128.
Hey Anon 🙂 Well I’m not in his head, but even though Uta is strong and all, Juuzou still landed what looked like a big blow onto him…
So maybe he retreated quickly, because that was a part of the plan or because he felt like it?
I mean honestly ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Uta does as he wants, but if he really was planning on running away, he wouldn’t have been so chill at Mutsuki stabbing him multiple times. xD
Maybe he would have come back later to attack Juuzou’s side for all we know. He’s a real trickster so I don’t think you should really try to give a sense to all that he does.
Anyway, now it’s going to be Uta vs Mutsuki and maybe we’ll see more of Uta’s fighting strength (honestly seeing him fighting is what I’m here for xD).
Have a nice day Anon!
Hey Anon! Well, no, I don’t think this is odd?
Looks like Donato himself has his mask in hand, even if he doesn’t wear it on his face and they were attacking the Washuu family so… covering their faces would be natural? If just in case some survivors were to escape and describe their faces?
Furuta and V were supposedly Tsuneyoshi’s subordinates so them showing up at this location wouldn’t probably be suspicious which is why they didn’t need any masks, but it’s different in Uta’s case, especially because of his eyes (kakugan-like). Besides Uta always fights with a mask on, you could call it his aesthetic, so again, no I don’t think it’s odd, sorry Anon.
Ah, I think that depends on what exactly happened…
…after this scene.
Remember that Cochlea is no more, even if the CCG probably still has the confined place of Corniculum (but that might not be enough to restrain someone like Amon), so
I don’t really see where else they could put Amon and I doubt Saiko will really able to get ownership rights, if she even wants them still.
Aaaaand since Amon is most definitely still alive, I just am thinking the arc ended before we could see what happened after Saiko crushed him, so maybe there is chance he escaped too.
Personally, I still think that…
this mention of Juuzou’s squad heading in direction of Amon and the Qs has its importance, even though the arc ended before Juuzou appeared again.
I spoke about this several times before but I believe Juuzou was meant to arrive at some point and the fact he wasn’t shown interrupting the fight with his squad makes me think it might have happened off screen, but in order to throw Amon again into the Unknown Status™, Ishida just ended it on the scene with Saiko.
Maybe Juuzou arrived really after Saiko crushed Amon, but he could still have a role to play when it comes to the big question of “what happened to Amon”, as I don’t think he would be able to kill his old teammate (meaning either Amon is alive and within the CCG’s hands or that he managed to escape after Saiko’s attack because Juuzou and/or Saiko let him go)
That’s all speculation though and I don’t have much else to say on the subject right now, except that, even if Donato is Amon’s father figure, I don’t see Amon becoming as Hannibal Lecter-like as Donato can be xD But hey, maybe Donato himself will play a role when it comes to the “what happened to Amon/where is Amon” questions we will probably ask ourselves often in the future, haha.
I hope it helps a little Anon, thanks for passing by and have a nice day!
Important trigger warning: violence, abuse and child abuse.
Obvious spoilers for the last chapter but I just wanted to mention this briefly:
“I love you, that’s why I get so mad at you, why I hit you…”
And like, #no?
Besides the fact that Mutsuki is now the character who has the most similarities to Juuzou (abusive parental figure + conflicted identity over being a girl or a boy illustrated by the Rei vs Juuzou personalities for Suzuya), I just found this panel in particular to be so very heartbreaking and painful, because a person should never have to hear that because they’re loved then anything can be done to them.
Actually, considering the recurring love & belonging themes of TG (Kaneki, Touka, Eto, Kanae, Furuta and now Mutsuki), I feel that besides the whole “is Mutsuki trans or not” conflict, Ishida is aiming to point out that love doesn’t always have to be associated with pure and beautiful actions but that it’s not okay at all when it’s the case.
Torso (or Mutsuki’s dad for that matter) is clearly a guy who has zero idea of what love means, but worse than that, he’s inflicting that way of thinking upon Mutsuki who unfortunately had to deal with all this trauma when younger and who believes now that it’s “their destiny to be always stolen by men”.
And this kind of trauma is one of the worst to deal with, which is why the next thing Mutsuki will need the most after Torso will have suffered and died is to see that :
men aren’t all like that
love isn’t associated with anything Torso and their dad ever did to them
So far, Mutsuki was quite trusting of two guys who shared the same daily routine as them: Sasaki and Urie (I’d say Shirazu but he is dead so he will probably not be of much help later). We know Kaneki is currently busy fighting Arima and will probably not ever join the Qs squad as a CCG member again, but there is still Urie left.
Urie with whom they became gradually closer since the auction arc, Urie who kept their secret, Urie who really cares about his teammates and who promised to save Tooru.
I’m generally neutral when it comes to shipping and this is no exception, I’m not implying anything, but I feel that what Ishida-sensei started in the auction arc, both for Urie’s development at that time and Mutsuki’s now is very significant for what Mutsuki is currently going through.
Personally, I trust Urie. And Ishida. Torso will get what’s coming to him and Mutsuki will get out of this and will learn what it’s really like to care and love thanks to the people coming to rescue them.
Reblogging because…
I still mean every word of this post and think Urie can/will really be the one saving Mutsuki (or helping them heal and realize what they did wrong, which comes down to the same thing).
I also think, now that this arc is over, that we will be launching ourselves into both Urie’s and Saiko’s character arcs and that, while Saiko’s might be in relation to Haise’s departure and what happened with Amon, Urie’s will also probably be very emotional.
Basically we’ll perhaps be in a double angst arc: Mutsuki won’t be able to reflect on everything that happened on Rushima alone, while Urie will keep on fearing about losing more people he cares about and won’t be able to understand right away why Mutsuki changed so much since he is unaware of the whole situation with Torso as well as Mutsuki’s past.
TL;DR put your seat belts on for the arc that’s about to start, we’re far from over when it comes to angsty!Mutsurie but that means more character developments (and #feels) and that’s always good.
in the sense that even if they are important pieces they are still pawns, so I wonder if the 2 kings will truly be the ones manipulating things or will end up manipulated. Also, I agree about the OEK being a bad idea for Kaneki and I also don’t think Eto and Amon died. I hope we won’t have to wait ages to see them again, Amon especially. He came back bringing a lot of questions about his current state and having him on the shadows again seems to make his character arc more difficult to tell.
Hello Anon!
And I’m sorry, but I will avoid theorizing too much about V and Kaiko since we know even less about them than we do about the Clowns. Besides, we in fact don’t know yet whether Kaiko actually agreed to follow Furuta or if Furuta counts on the Clowns to seize the power within the V organization.
Personally, considering this scene…
And this one…
I was rather under the impression that Kaiko wasn’t really aware yet of Furuta’s… decision to be leading the V organization. Besides why would any member of V would want to follow him in order to try and achieve “super peace” (”super peace” probably having to do with stopping V’s influence and breaking the twisted cage otherwise he and Kanou wouldn’t be such good friends)? So far, the V organization is the strongest and at the top of the world so why would they want to change things?
Sorry Anon, so far I find V to be completely mysterious so I don’t really want to assume anything, but from what I read of the newest chapter, I was more under the impression that Furuta would try to gain the top position by using the Clowns, leaving V no choice. … Though I can’t be sure of that, obviously.
Aside from that, I agree about the Clowns, they like to be involved everywhere too much to just stay forever at Furuta’s side and besides they’re genuinely interested in Kaneki, so, as always, let’s not trust what we think we understand about them 🙂
As for Furuta and Kaneki being king pieces, I also agree with you, I think it’s likely they will be used as pawns themselves, something they might notice or not. In Kaneki’s case, I would see Eto as the manipulating character if she survived, though there could be others, and in Furuta’s case I would say the Clowns are likely to use him too (especially since two of them turned him into a king by helping him kill Tsuneyoshi amongst other things, so…).
Besides, considering Eto’s character, Donato’s, Uta’s… They certainly don’t seem like people who would be devoted to anything but the aim of their goals they believe they ought to reach through Kaneki or Furuta so… the current situation of the new chessboard is bound to change, as always in TG. 🙂
Finally about Amon, I’m so sad. ;_; He came to Rushima hoping to save everyone and in the end, no one managed to help him (I wish Juuzou had gotten there on time)… I miss him already since I feel we won’t be seeing him for a while, but I still hope we will get to have some news about him soon and I also want for Takizawa and Akira not to join Kaneki, but to try bringing him back.
…That or Saiko and/or Juuzou will help him one way or another if the CCG took him back with them. Wah, I know he’s okay because he just can’t die now, but I’m still worried for him.
Aaaah, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts Anon and I’m sorry for this long answer. 🙂 I wish you a nice day!
@Anon, I just took a look at the chapter and…
That would be Kaiko on the left, so you were right 😀 looks like a faction (or all?) of V decided to betray Matsuri (??) and follow Furuta!
Aaah, that makes me wonder about Furuta’s goal then, why would people from V be interested in “super peace”…? Maybe they’re like Kanou, but in that case I really wonder what the Washuus and the Garden are so horrifying for that they all would choose to follow Furuta…
Looks like Matsuri lost everything in this battle though, so I really want to see what his reaction will be: his father died, his grandfather as well, V members left to follow Furuta and his wife might be dead, like maybe his siblings. Poor guy
In any case, V and the Clowns for Furuta it is then 🙂
You know, it would be a really fucked up twist if after this whole arc about changing the present state of things by overthrowing the current relationship of power and building a new world, things actually didn’t change for the best.
Let’s assume that the Washuus and Aogiri will fall by the end of next arc: there will be a vancancy of power in the two most important factions of this war. neither ghouls nor humans will have a guidance, and things will go back to how they were before the institution of both organizations: homo homini lupus.
Not to throw any philosophical speculation into all of this, but I don’t think that killing off the leaders will change the beliefs of ALL the followers. History as well as fiction has always shown us that tyrannies get replaced by other tyrannies, as long as the fundamental truth that people want to be led remains unchanged.
So what if, during that vacancy and chaos, a neutral party will take over? (I’d say the Clowns for example, but I don’t reckon they’re interested in being the main actor on stage; they’re hedonists, so they probably just want to watch). I don’t think that things will change as fast as people die. A “good” hero can only exist as long as there’s a Necessary Evil to fight.
Of course there’s also the fact that Kaneki is not a Inherently good character. No one in this manga is, actually.
I don’t think that he will only do positive things in this arc, tbh. He’s still facing a loss that impacted him really really hard. Sure, his mindset changed a bit and for the better, with him finally realizing that he’s worth living. But at the same time we shouldn’t forget that he was basically set up for this role by two of the most abusive parental figures he’s ever had. They manipulated him into becoming the king out of necessity, fighting a greater Evil. Sure, the final choice was up to him, but as I said he was in a fragile state of mind. Of course he would say yes. And I’m worried that as much as he’d want to change the world for the better, he might still be unprepared for this role. That’s why I always thought that Amon and Hide were necessary allies for when he had to take the role of the King. They’re his pillars, his Humanity and his Morality, and they keep him grounded. But as of now, he doesn’t have either one at his side, and this isn’t even his revolution. This is Arima’s and Eto’s.
So what will he do, once the bad guys are defeated? I don’t think that his role in all of this is that of being a morally upstanding Hero. He is gray, his parental figures are gray, and this whole plan of bringing down institutions of power by violence is gray.
So, in the end, what exactly will change? Who will hold power once Kaneki is done? How would that be a better world than the present one?
I keep coming back to the fact that the word “Revolution,” in English, is inherently cyclical.*
And Kaneki is on a throne crafted by two people who not only were violent and abusive, they both actively worked to foment hatred against the other side and make any union between ghouls and humans harder for any revolutionary they crowned, not easier.
In addition to that augmented hatred, Kaneki is fighting not only against nurture, but nature. Ghouls must eat human meat to live, and so Kaneki’s task is literally messianic in scale. (@purgatoryandme, this is something to consider…)
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6)
Even should Kaneki lead an entirely ethical revolution (which, I agree, he seems far from on the path to doing), what is the end goal at all? Are his sights set too high? How does one solve a war forged by nature itself?
How would one even start?
*(I don’t know what word Eto uses for “revolution” if/where she says it. I’d be curious to know what it is in Japanese and what it’s etymology and connotations are.)
I’m digging this post up because it appears that we’re at this exact turning point.
Fire at me, Ishida. What exactly are you gonna do now?
Now that it was revealed that tsuntsun was Furuta’s father, I think I can talk a bit more about this whole surprise.
Firstly, and what @nessidy pointed out to me is that Furuta was quite passionate about his bastadry back in chapter 66.
Now, they could be two explanations for that.
He was genuinely upset and this part of his identity was something that haunted him since birth
He pretended to be upset in order to fool Eto (he also did that with him being an artificial half-ghoul)
But I think the first possibility is more likely, simply because this scene followed after his outburst.
Now, then we have this new established scene. Furuta leaning comfortably on his father’s corpse and smiling pleasantly.
Also the way he killed him… I mean, I apologise for saying this, but he did desecrate his father’s corpse. And considering how he treated his father’s head, like in a magic show, treating it like a sword cabinet, like a magic trick…
… like, I don’t know even what to say about this. I mean, he uses comedy during fights and jokes quite often in deadly situations and now this little magic trick of his… (maybe it is some kind of twisted coping mechanism?)
Anyway, I think I that Furuta is quite angry towards his father and at his past and no matter how calm Furuta is, I don’t think he was indifferent towards Tsuneyoshi. At all. I don’t even think he was indifferent to his bastardry.
I mean, there’s no denying that Furuta has the same hair cut as Yoshitoki. That was also the foundation to the Yoshitoki/Furuta parentage theory. But now I get the slight suspicion that Furuta actually tried to imitate his brother. He had this hair cut/style since childhood, which could be an indicator that he wanted to make himself feel like a “legitimate” son as well. Let’s also not forget that Tsuneyoshi treated both Arima and Tsuneyoshi “kindly” or at least fair and square from what we got, but he had next to no interaction with Furuta. I think it’s quite telling. Nonethless, maybe he saw him as a failure. Arima was a rare success, so it is no surprise why Tsuneyoshi had some little…. affection? for him. Yoshitoki was his legitimate son, his heir, who never dissappointed him and for me it’s not a surprise either that he was a bit fond of him, too. But Furuta.. I mean, he was a mere half-human, a failed experiment. He showed no specific prowress or talent like Arima either and was certainly not a successful son like Yoshitoki. His poem made always sense if we takea look at his behaviour, but now I view it in a different light.
How stupid. What’s so joyous about birthdays, I wonder. Never in my life have I ever felt grateful for being born.
So if you were planning on giving me something. In this year, I want four times more of that love or hate. I don’t need anything else.
Even if I celebrate it, I can’t help it. I’m just a human being who doesn’t think of anything about the day they were born.
I was born during leap year. And since February 29 only happens once every four years, I’m around six years old. Meaning, I can only live a quarter of a person’s life.
The more I read it, the more I feel it is directed to his father. Firstly, he mentioned himself that he identifies as a human being. No matter what he truly is, that is what he views himself (Sunlit Garden supports that notion as well). This is a big contrast to his ghoulish father, but also a reference from being a failure since his brith.
He then mentions the number 4 quite often. He wants 4 times more passion (ie love or hate) from someone, his birthday happens every four years and he lives ¼ from that of a regular human being. From what I got here, I think he wanted Tsuneyoshi to catch up on his neglect, his lack of affection he needed, throughout his life and receive all the affection he failed to get during his life. Obviously, that didn’t work.
But still, I have to admit, that’s pretty darn sad, and I am saying this as someone who constantly trashes Furuta. I am happy that he is back, let’s see to whom and when he is going to lie next.
I mean, hi. 🙂 Let’s do a recap of the situation ‘cause chess game is on:
Chessboard is the world
Kaneki and Furuta are the Kings but Kaneki is representing tragedy when Furuta is more about comedy (btw in case you need a good explanatory post about him, you have this one by @bloodycarnations)
What’s left of Aogiri + maybe :Re are apparently on one side, while Kanou, the Clowns + V are on the other (and I’m wondering if the CCG fit with V on that side of the chessboard…)
Matsuri needs to reorganize the CCG.
I still am thinking Kaneki becoming the OEK is one hellof a bad idea
By the way, Amon is definitely alive but for now I’d say his side
(possibly including Seidou and Akira since I’m not sure for now Seidou’d be so willing to join the OEK and same for Akira) doesn’t completely fit on the chessboard yet, though I imagine he’d join Kaneki later on (when Ken wakes up and realizes he has to stop being the oek because obviously it’s a bad idea)
So now, about the Clowns, it’s hella complicated because all we know about them is…
and as such, I’d say it makes sense that they’d choose to more or less “follow” Furuta for now (since he also wants to be laughing at the end).
However considering that I think there is no real hierarchy amongst the Clowns (despite having “a boss” that is probably Donato) + that they’re also all genuinely interested in Kaneki who is the other king, I think for now that there is nothing like loyalty between Furuta and the Clowns (which might not be V’s case since V is related to the Washuus/CCG and Furuta is a Washuu and an investigator).
So really, they probably all decided to “follow” him because he’s for now the funniest player but I don’t think that means they still won’t observe Kaneki and even maybe change sides later (for example in case Furuta stops being so amusing), if they’re on his side at all.
Furuta has a link to V and the CCG because he’s from the Garden and a Washuu, but that doesn’t guarantee anything when it comes to the Clowns since they’re all free to do what they want in the first place as we saw before in TG (especially in case some of them have… personal goals).
Besides…
… this makes me think the Clowns’ gang isn’t done yet with Kaneki.
Specifically on Uta nowthough, I still think he is maybe the biggest troll of the entire cast and as such his own reason for being a Clown might be more than just to get a good laugh out of it (especially since I still think he has a special link to V/the Garden), so even if we consider the Clowns were to stay loyal to Furuta somehow (something I just said I personally didn’t believe in), I doubt that would include Uta.
Really, as one of the most mysterious characters of the whole cast, I’d say he’s more on his own side and focusing on whatever goals he might have, even if the Clowns’ gang probably defines him more than other organizations could.
So basically, I think we might need to look at things that way:
for now the Clowns “follow” Furuta probably because he wants to laugh and is funny to side with (and because there is no real difference between Kaneki and Furuta as they’re both OEGs who are having more or less the same goal)
however Kaneki is for now the OEK, when we know it’s a bad idea, meaning I don’t think he will stay the OEK until the end (obviously Amon/Touka/someone will wake him up)
as such if there is yet another game that starts with a big change in the chessboard later (= if Kaneki isn’t the OEK anymore), there is no guarantee the Clowns will all stay behind Furuta as we know they’re also all genuinely interested in Kaneki.
Uta is probably on his own side anyway.
TL;DRit’s still impossible to be sure of anything when it comes to the Clowns (but maybe for this round, they will support Furuta).
I might as well add that I wouldn’t take any Clown for granted
not even Roma
and that’s without forgetting that Donato is mostly known for being Amon’s father figure soooooooo… my answer is that we don’t know enough about the Clowns to be sure of anything right now, and that includes their link to Furuta.
Besides, let’s not forget that both Itori and Nico very probably lied to Furuta about the OEK in the past (when Nico surely knew who it was) + there is the mystery of the Clowns’ annihilation most likely ordered by V and led by Arima (11-12 years ago) and how so many Clowns survived…
So I am not so sure V and the Clowns are so ready to be…allies (especially in case Arima is the one who let them survive, like he did for Eto, because they were ready to go against V.
Maybe they agreed to help Furuta because he wants to erase V in order to achieve “super peace” too).
Finally, Donato and Uta just helped Furuta take Tsuneyoshi down, so you could also see all that as the Clowns being the ones organizing the next game and making Furuta into a King so Kaneki will have a suitable opponent.
….. Uta certainly seems to like chess in any case. ;)))
Sorry this was so long, but these are my thoughts so far. Could change next week if we get new info for all I know, or I could simply be totally wrong, so please just remember to be careful whenever we speculate about the Clowns (because all of them together they are a gang, but on their own they do seem to have their differences, which makes it all even harder to guess about). 🙂
By the way, now that the game is on and we finally know where Kimi is, the absence of Hide and Itori makes me super nervous, so like for Uta, I don’t want to assume anything about them either (but I hope, like Uta, that they’re both big players).
Sorry for this huge thing Anon, but thank you for asking about one of my favorite subjects and have a nice weekend! ^_^
midnight-in-town 