Dying in Style - Kaneki Ken
Once more Kaneki walks the path of a tragic hero. Once more he pushes away all who care for him, so he can sacrifice himself to save everyone. Looking at the twit pic Ishida-sensei just posted, it doesn’t seem like that will go well.
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1) Notice the buildings and the electric lines above him. Kneeling on red spider lilies, he is on his own grave, having jumped down from the high tower.
2) Both of Kaneki’s arms are hidden from view. It may represent how he’s lost both hands of god:
—-loss of the red right hand: The red right hand represents the righteous vengeance of god, while the right hand represents salvation through truth/action (thanks purgatoryandme). For Kaneki, salvation is realizing he deserves to be loved. The red right hand comes from Eto, the black goat or the twisted god of tragedy. In the coming year, Kaneki will probably pursue the truth of the world by investigating Aogiri. However, a twisted god will give a twisted truth. Kaneki is doing what Eto wants. He’s isolated himself from people who care for him. His self-destructive actions will weaken him. Weakened and isolated, salvation will be out of his reach.
—-loss of left hand: The left hand represents ignorance/inaction begetting punishment. Kaneki is no longer ignorant of his childhood abuse. However, he is still ignorant of the truth that he deserves to be loved, so he takes self-destructive actions, which punish him by leaving him weaken and isolated.
Edit:
3) The Avalokiteshvara is sometimes shown with 11 heads, which he uses to see and hear all who suffer. It looks like Kaneki has 11 tentacle stumps along his back in the new twit pic:
Here Kaneki has 11 tentacles (7 out and 4 drawn) :
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Buddha has 11 bunches of rods here:
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Here are 3 possibilities:
a) osterreich pic happens before new pic and the tentacles were cut:
The tree bark has fallen off Kaneki, leaving the empty gray background. I talked about the 11 heads representing his 4 personalities and 7 parental figures here. The 3 stumps sticking up on Kaneki’s neck may represent the lingering effect of Eto, Rize, and Mrs. Kaneki, while the other 8 have been completely cut down.
b) new pic happens before the osterreich pic and tentacles are growing:
The tentacle growth represent how Kaneki’s multiple personalities will plague him again. Tree bark will grow around his legs, transforming him into what looks an Aogiri tree.
c) the two pics happen at the same time (favorite):
Yes, the two pics may be seen from different perspectives. Notice the similarities between the two pics: Kaneki’s posture, red lilies,and naked upper body. Maybe the osterreich pic represents what Eto sees, while the new pic represents what Kaneki’s nakama would see.
—the osterreich pic -Eto’s perspective: Kaneki is growing into an Aogiri tree. The dark tentacles grow out of him, strong and beautiful. Both arms are visible, for he’s embraced her twisted truths. He is smiling at her as if she is his mother. What looks like a tower is drawn lightly in the background, for Kaneki’s mind is filled with her.
— the new pic- nakama perspective: The tree bark encasing his feet is not visible. In place of the tree trunk is empty gray background and Kaneki’s twisted and deformed feet. Three tentacles, which represent Mrs. Kaneki, Rize, and Eto, stick out of his neck. The three parasitic heads control him like a puppet. The bloody handprint on his right shoulder represent the punishment he has carried out on himself with his left hand. Only his back is seen because Kaneki has turned away from all who care for him. What his nakama see is a self-destructive person who has burned the bridges to salvation.
Don’t lose hope though: When Shiro was at his lowest, defeated by Arima, Kuro appeared. Similarly, when Reaper is at his lowest, Haise may appear. This could parallel chapter 140 of Tokyo Ghoul, but this time Kaneki will wake up whole. No longer will what he sees and hears be distorted, and he will truly be able to help those who are suffering.
Edit 2:
The twit pic was a response to this and contained this message:
今日は素晴らしい日だ
僕のせいで死んじゃえばいいよ
君はやっと笑い始めた
I think the first line says ”today is a great day”
The next two lines are from Ling Tosite Sigure CRAZY感情 STYLE or Crazy Emotional Style, which Ishida-sensei wrote in the pic he responded with. I found a translation here , which says:
“It’s okay if you die because of me.“
“At last, you started to smile.”
So maybe this was what Ishida was going for:
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Revision
I posted about this already, but thought I should put it here to prevent confusion. Nevermind about the 3 possiblties.The two twit pics probably describe the present Kaneki.
The image of Kaneki as an aogiri tree reflects Kaneki’s and Eto’s romanticized view of abuse and death. This is how he’s dreaming now. Just because Kaneki knows the truth (remembers his mother physically abused him) doesn’t mean he view of it isn’t twisted. The image of Kaneki injured shows reality. Abuse is not good. It is not gentle.
***Note: The chapter in which Kaneki says he is tired of dreaming is ch 53 of tg:re Dream. Yes, the pun is Redream.