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Koori Ui: A Child In Deaths Playground

Koori Ui: A child in Death’s playground

Koori Ui, the bright hope of Squad Arima, a prodigy in the realm of CCG and a trustworthy investigator. Our beloved Special Class Bowl-cut has sure went through a lot of character development, especially in :re, mixed in with a lot of suffering and losses and just a sprinkle of total and irreversible change in morals. But despite all the seemingly random events that shaped Ui into the character he is at this point, I feel that there was, and still is, a pattern in his path - a path embedded in death.

The following summary of his personal life-story is just to point out the cases of symbolism, heavily connected with Death, and to prove why I think it is not pure coincidence that he has suffered so much.

Let’s start with the list: (I adore lists xD)

1) Ui is very often seen smoking, which itself is the Death symbol. What is more, he has been associated with Taishi Fura, another prominent smoker and a prominent sufferer as well. The smoke of their cigarettes accompanied the arrival of the news about Arima Kishou’s death in chapter 98 (which itself was a chapter drenched with blood). Not to mention that the same Taishi Fura once gave Shirazu a “Lucky Strike” cigarette, and several chapters afterwards he received a not so lucky strike from Noro’s kakuja, resulting in his death. That could still be a coincidence or just far-fetched but Ishida-sensei might be as well creating a really good and subtle anti-smoking marketing campaign ^^

2) When Koori Ui is first seen in action, during the Owl Suppression Operation, he is introduced to us as Arima’s underling. The apprentice of the CCG’s Shinigami, basically a student of Death itself. Here comes the idea for the title of this meta, in my opinion, Ui has led his entire life as an investigator, being taught the ways of the Grim Reaper. However, he still does not have control over his future, which is why I called it “a playground”. Arima has helped him become the proficient killer he is, becoming a user of the Reaper’s scythe but still not fully aware of its powers. [SIDE NOTE: At this point I realised that his quinque Taruhi vaguely resembles a scythe, but maybe it was not intentional, because Juuzou’s quinque already possesses this motif]

3) In :re Ui is shown with his partner and good friend, Hairu Ihei. As we know, she suffered a pretty brutal death (despite her current confusing condition). But what is more interesting, is the fact that Ui was in the same operation, but arrived too late to save her. He walked his path of Death as a ghoul-killer and could not even mourn her end, because he had to carry on with his mission. Despite that, he reminisced about their time together and without even making one comment, the readers could clearly see that Ui just found out that death is not made specifically for his enemies, and that he will not be able to return to his previous state of being after experiencing such a loss.

4) Ui did not only have to endure the tragedy of losing his friend and potential love interest, but he also got drowned in Furuta’s schemes - his belief that Hairu was resting at peace was shattered and he was shown a new page of Death’s book. He is now led by Furuta and his promises to revive Hairu, despite Ui’s apparent knowledge that the full restoration of the past is absolutely impossible. Because of his love for her, he accepts the faith in life after death, further extending his Death motif, now being fully immersed in fake promises for a happy future: a deal with the Satan, if that sounds good enough.

5) Recently in the series, after the revelations about Hairu’s remains, Ui arranged a meeting with Okahira, another person seemingly deceased during the Rose operation. Koori Ui is ultimately broken beyond reparation after he figures out that a person can in fact come back to life, even if this state isn’t exactly “being alive”. Okahira himself reveals that he does not feel like his past self and that Ui should give up on his hopeless dreams. This can be seen as an analogy of Death talking back to Ui after their several meetings. Death reveals that he would never have the power to control it, and that Hairu will never be back, at least not as she used to be. However, Ui’s desperation leads him to believe that Death, and by extension Furuta, is his one and only God, not being able to follow any other route but the one shown to him by CCG’s chief. There is no need for me to say that this boy’s life will continue to be full of losses as long as he is Furuta’s minion.

6) And a thing that is not connected with the states of life and death, but rather with the morals of Ui, is the revelation that he, along with many of the CCG investigators, has been ruthlessly killing humans behind clowns’ masks. The morale of all the investigators was lowered significantly, but Ui remained relatively calm. This is because, after losing so many people (Arima, Hairu, and Haise and Hirako that decided to defect) he is too desperate to care what kind of lives he is taking away. He has become a silent reaper, who complies to the orders and does not even worry to analyse the situation - after all, if he did in fact think about all the times he has murdered, he’d fall into the abyss and would not be able to return to his previous calm state.

I hope you enjoyed this read and that you have got my point - that, according to me, Ui is cursed as a character to follow the path of Death and that he will eventually be engulfed in his position as a Grim Reaper. After Arima’s death, the Shinigami’s position is open, and as much as Juuzou is associated with Death himself, he walks a path, different from Ui’s. For me, after Hairu’s revival, Koori Ui will either lose his sanity and be turned into Furuta’s ultimate weapon of destruction, or will become absolutely heartless and lose all faith in the future, which will maybe make him defect the CCG and become a solo player. But whatever way the manga leads us, I hope he will eventually find happiness, because honestly, this boy deserves one big big hug :’)

Tell me your opinions and suggest new ideas for theories if you have enjoyed this one and till next time, folks!

Koori Ui: A Child In Deaths Playground

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