This is Ishida Sui's debut work. Set in modern-day Tokyo, it deals with the theme of "ghouls," creatures who have the appearance of humans but survive by eating human flesh. The concept is dark fantasy, but it also has elements of science fantasy.
Ken Kaneki Profile
Affiliation: First-year student, Japanese Literature Department, Faculty of Letters, Kamii University
Height: 169cm
Weight: 55kg
Shoe Size: 25.5cm
Birthday: December 20th (same birthday as Arima)
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Blood Type: AB
Likes: Reading, beautiful words, intelligent women, hamburgers
Rc Type: Rinkaku
Ken Kaneki Overview
The protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul.
A young man living alone in Tokyo's 20th Ward, Kaneki leads a student life.
A bookworm who loves reading, he's a huge fan of mystery writer Izumi Takatsuki.
He has a high IQ, an excellent memory, and the highest learning ability in the series. He's a genius, lacking initiative, introverted, socially inept, and indecisive. He's kind-hearted and willing to sacrifice himself, and an idealist who believes we should talk to each other and understand each other more.
He firmly rejects those who toy with life, and has a strong conviction that he will never take a human life himself, no matter what the situation. He is also a hard worker who regrets his own powerlessness and strives to become stronger. Because of this kindness and his willingness to put in effort for the sake of others, he tends to carry everything on his own.
His father died in an accident when he was young, and his mother, who raised him alone, found life difficult due to his aunt's (his mother's older sister) repeated requests for money. However, due to her kind nature and her belief in self-sacrifice, just as she had taught her son Ken to be, she continued to support him without a word of complaint, and eventually worked herself to death from overwork.
He was then taken in by his aunt, but because her upbringing seemed to neglect him and only shower love on her own children, Kaneki relied on his best friend, Nagachika Hideyoshi, for emotional support.
From this childhood to the present, he has a habit of touching his chin when hiding something.
He had a secret crush on Kamishiro Rize (Rize), a student at Anteiku, but without realizing that she was a ghoul, he was nearly eaten and driven to the brink of death, but when Rize was killed in a falling steel beam, Dr. Kano unilaterally decided to transplant her organs into him, allowing him to survive and become a half-ghoul.
At the invitation of manager Yoshimura, he began working at Anteiku, a cafe for ghouls living in Ward 20, where he interacts with other ghouls such as Kirishima Touka, Shikata Renji, as well as Hinami, Nishiki, and Tsukiyama. As someone who exists in both the ghoul and human worlds, he sometimes struggles as he searches for his own way in life.
After becoming a half-ghoul, he uses a wide range of vocabulary and metaphors to describe in detail how unpleasant human food tastes to ghouls, but some of his comments make it seem as though he may have even eaten such food when he was human.
How Kaneki Ken Became a Ghoul
One day, he is kidnapped and brutally treated by Ayato and Yamori, executives of a ghoul group calling themselves the Aogiri Tree in District 11. He attempts to escape by joining a rebel group within Aogiri, but is thwarted by the Bin Brothers, Yamori, and Nico.
In exchange for the lives of his comrades, he is accepted, but he returns to Aogiri and is subjected to Yamori's favorite torture. The excessive stress causes his melanin to disappear, turning his hair gray.
The torture consisted of cutting off each finger on his limbs with pliers, feeding him human flesh to allow them to heal, and then amputating each limb again, day and night. It was also a gruesome practice, as he was forced to insert the largest centipede known as a Tobizumukade into his ear canals, which were then sealed shut with duct tape.
Even through all of this, Kaneki still hadn't broken down mentally. However, he was forced to choose between killing and sparing a mother and son ghouls, his comrades in the rebel group, in exchange for his life and escape. Kaneki couldn't choose, so he said, "If you're going to do it, kill me," and in a fit of rage, Yamori killed both mother and son, leading to the worst possible outcome.
This caused his mental health, which had been barely holding on until then, to collapse. After interacting with an illusion of Rize that he himself created, Kaneki realizes that he is not human but a ghoul, and his appearance and personality change.
Kaneki: Tokyo Ghoul √A
However, after the incident at Professor Kano's laboratory and his conversation with Touka and Manager Yoshimura, he seems to have let go of many things. He now wears a refreshing smile that irritates Irimi, and his personality is beginning to return to normal.
However, while on his way to Anteiku to rescue the store manager during the Owl subjugation mission, he confronts Amon Koutaro and unconsciously uses his half-kaku powers during the battle, unwillingly cutting off Amon's arm. Kaneki is also injured by the tailed kaku's Quinque, sustaining injuries too severe to heal, and escapes through the sewers, but is captured by visions of Yamori and Rize.
He reunites with Hide there, but loses consciousness. When he wakes up, his wounds have fully healed, and he loses sight of Hide. He then encounters Arima Kishou, a CCG Grim Reaper, at Point V-14, where he had agreed to meet up with Irimi.
He is injured again in the battle with Arima, and his kagune goes out of control, rendering him drowsy, and he attempts a single blow, but is defeated. He inflicts a wound on Arima's cheek and cracks his Quinque, but both of his eyes are gouged out, and he is defeated by Arima Kishou at V-14.
Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul:re
After his defeat by Kishou Arima, Kaneki lost his memory and was taken into CCG care as a ghoulification victim, receiving a kakuhou implanted by Kanou. He also began working as ghoul investigator Sasaki Haise.
When Sasaki desired power, Kaneki appeared in his mind, handcuffed him, wearing a one-eyed mask, and demanded his body be returned.
During the Human Auction Arc, as Sasaki was being unilaterally tortured by Owl, Kaneki appeared as a white-haired child and begged him not to be erased. From then on, they begin to coexist in Sasaki's mind.
Although he is quiet in everyday life, he is cold-hearted towards Sasaki.As Kaneki's memories gradually return in fragments, he pushes him to the brink both physically and mentally.
In the Rose Arc, the battle to wipe out Tsukiyama begins, and Sasaki confronts Tsukiyama, interfering by pleading with him not to kill him, in order to prevent him from defeating him.
With Kaneki and Eto appearing, Sasaki is left near death, and in a conversation with Kaneki, he reveals that he was abused by his beloved mother in the past, and that he wanted to die for someone.
Kaneki awakens for the first time in three years, determined to finally fulfill his wish.
After unilaterally torturing Kaneki, who even Sasaki had a hard time fighting, he stabs Tsukiyama with his kagune upon reuniting with him, then confronts Eto, and unilaterally defeats her without a single injury, cutting her upper and lower body in half and sending her plummeting from the roof of a skyscraper.
After saving Tsukiyama by pushing him off a building, he eats the kagune that she intentionally gave him, recovering the arm he lost when he was Sasaki. From then on, he remains at the CCG as Sasaki Haise and begins acting for a certain purpose.
Six months later, he becomes feared by ghouls as the Black Grim Reaper, and becomes famous.
Unlike three years ago, his hair is now solid black. The shape of his kagune has changed to resemble a human hand. And after obtaining Eto's kagune, it has properties similar to hers.
Tokyo Ghoul:re: Kaneki After the Battle at Aogiri
When the majority of the CCG's forces were dispatched to capture Ru Island, Aogiri's base, Kaneki joined Arima's squad and took on the task of defending Cochlea, carrying out the planned breach. He rescued Hinami from the detention center, but unexpectedly, Ayato, Banjo, Touka, and Yomo were also breaching Cochlea at the same time, and Kaneki was nearly wiped out by Arima. Instead, he protected them and entrusted them with the task of escaping Hinami, engaging in combat with Arima.
After a fierce battle in which his limbs were severed in half, becoming kagune limbs, and his melanin pigment disappearing once again, turning his hair white, he succeeded in destroying Arima's Quinque and neutralizing him.
Immediately after the conversation, Arima committed suicide with the damaged Quinque, asking with his last breath,
"Please pretend you killed me, Kaneki-ken,"
and died grateful that Kaneki accepted. Later, when they attempted to escape Cochlea with Squad Zero and Joe Hirako, who had been asked by Arima to aid Kaneki's escape, they encountered Eto, crawling around in rags. During the conversation, it was revealed that Arima Kishou was the One-Eyed King. However, he was told that Arima Kishou was merely a stepping stone to the creation of a true One-Eyed King who would be the hope of all ghouls, and that the ghoul who could kill him would become the true One-Eyed King and the hope of all ghouls.
Kaneki chose to remain seated and became the One-Eyed King.
Six months later, he moves into a hideout with the Zero Squad. He reunites with the Anteiku members and, through Tsukiyama, announces the formation of the Black Goat with the survivors of Aogiri Tree, the Tsukiyama family, the Zero Squad, the escaped prisoners from Cochlea, Kuro, and human allies. Shortly after, a clown attack breaks out, and they split into two groups, a suit group and an acquisition group, to obtain the RC inhibitor to save Akira. They defeat the clowns and inform the investigators of the existence of the One-Eyed King. After leaving the leadership of the suit group to Tsukiyama, he infiltrates the lab with Ayato, Kurona, and Takizawa, and reunites with Amon, who has been detained.
After the battle, he obtains the RC inhibitor and returns to base with Amon, parting ways with Akira, Amon, and Takizawa, who has shortly thereafter fully recovered.
Tokyo Ghoul:re: Kaneki After the Battle to Eliminate the Black Goat Underground
Sensing an ominous omen, Kaneki returns alone to the Black Goat's hideout. There, he witnesses the devastation of his former hideout, destroyed by a CCG attack.
After learning of Naki's death, he challenges the current CCG's strongest S3 Suzuya Squad alone to protect Touka and Hinami.
The result is a crushing defeat. Despite displaying a fierce, godlike fighting spirit, Kaneki's desperate attack worsened the situation. In the end, he was reduced to a daruma doll, losing both his arms and legs. In this desperate situation, they held a mental conference with their own selves, each of whom had transformed countless times, and unanimously agreed on the desire to see Touka. He devoured all the Oggai present, including Hajime, and transformed into an overwhelmingly gigantic form...
Transformed into a gigantic centipede-like form, nicknamed "Dragon" by Furuta, Kaneki marched to the surface, destroying the streets of Tokyo and massacring civilians.
The sudden appearance of this monster threw people into confusion and drove them to flee. The Self-Defense Forces were eventually deployed to fight back, but to no avail, and destruction and chaos continued to spread.
Ken Kaneki Summary
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This time, we've introduced the history of our protagonist, Ken Kaneki.
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