Kaneki Ken - Tumblr Posts
horny reader who sits on ken’s lap..
ken who only leans back & says “make yourself feel good”
that is all, i fear.
☆,
texts between my friends (nd exes.. 🌚) & i that i think resemble y/n & kennie poo.
ken on the left, y/n on the right!
idk why but i randomly had this idea & thought it’d be silly so yuh! 👅
☆,
something about ken with an innocent lil gf makes me giggle.
virgin gf, experienced ken. no penetration, just ken’s amazingly talented fingers :3
like someone who doesn't think for herself at all when he's around, he could tell her to walk into a tree & she'll do it mindlessly. fully trusting that he'd never do anything to put her in harms way.
how lucky you are to be that gf, hm?
despite ken wanting to make you feel good, & wanting to be able to absolutely ruin you out the gate.. he's extremely patient with you. he'd never wanna make you uncomfortable or overstep your boundaries.
but lately you've barely been able to keep your hands off of him. he'll get up to get a water & there you are trailing behind him, he gets up to grab a bite to eat.. you're right there. he's going to the store for a bit? so are you. ken literally can't get rid of you.
right now you're both sat on the couch & you're telling him about your day at work, he's listening intently, as he usually does.
he's keeping eye contact, like a normal person but for some reason this has your tummy doing flips. & your cunt is wet.
"don't look at me like that, please."
ken's eyebrows furrow, "like what, princess?"
"like that! it makes me feel funny.."
kaneki was genuinely confused, you had never said anything like this before. it was intriguing. "funny how?"
".. i feel hot" "yeah? what's wrong, do you need something?"
"a kiss"
ken laughs lightly, then he grabs your chin & pulls you in for a peck.
you whine, that wasn't nearly enough.. you felt like you wanted to eat this man & all he gives you is a peck?!
" 's not enough ken."
ken hummed & pulled you on to his lap, kissing you again. you felt his tongue go past your lips & moaned. ken wanted you just as much as you wanted him. but this was all new to you. you felt a bulge grow beneath you, this was a new feeling.
you felt so hazy & your mind wasn't fully working, "i want you to touch me, ken"
ken hoists you up & rests his hands on your ass. he made his way to your guys' shared bedroom, kissing you the whole way there.
once he pushes the door open, he throws you on the bed & you giggle, your frame bouncing up & down as it came into contact with the mattress. you propped your head up on some soft pillows & waited for ken's next moves or words.
"are you sure about this, baby?"
"mhm. jus' wanna feel good, please"
"okay.. but if at any point you wanna stop, tell me. okay?"
"okay..”
ken hovers above you & catches your lips in yet another kiss. you felt him slowly unbutton your pants, & his hand slip into your panties. you whimpered against his lips, "you're fucken soaked y/n. has anyone ever touched you here before?"
ken slid a finger into your cunny before you could answer. you shudder, grabbing a fistful of the sheets beneath you.
"oh my god!"
"can you take these off for me, princess?" ken is referring to your shorts & panties. you do as your told, & ken removes his shirt.
your legs are naked in front of him but they're closed. you're shy! you've never done any of this with ken before, what would he think of you? what if he thought you were ugly? what if he didn't like what he saw?
"i'm shy, ken.."
"it's okay to be shy, y/n. i'll just show you just how much i love every part of you" ken spreads your legs slowly & kisses up each slowly.
"i love your legs.." he kisses up your thighs, "i love your thighs.." he kisses the folds of your pussy & you inhale a sharp breath, "& of course, i love your pussy."
your cheeks flush red & ken slips a finger in, pumping it slowly. you were insanely tight but you were trying your best to endure just the one. he's watching your reactions & when he pushes himself a little deeper, you cover your mouth trying not to scream out.
"you like that spot?" ken asks you & you nod, rolling your hips against his hand.
kaneki gives you a mean smile, & then he pulls out, "just want you to taste yourself, say ah" he sticks his finger in your mouth & instructs you to close around them, slowly removing his finger after wiping your juices on your own tongue.
he kisses you & groans against your lips, "you taste good."
your breath hitches when ken slides his index & ring finger into your pussy. he's curling them up to hit your sweet spot. your moans echoing throughout the room.
you couldn’t control how your body reacted, ken's soft nd warm tongue's licking all around the surface of your wet pussy. your hand finds purchase in his long hair, tugging on it.
after a couple seconds, ken leans up to kiss you, his slender hand still between your legs. he was making you feel so good that you could barely focus on the kiss.
your body body jerks again but more aggressively, legs spreading more trying to get that extra push. you felt the knot in your stomach about to come undone & your body begins to jerk underneath him.
"fuck! ken, i'm gonna cum!"
"go ahead & cum baby, i wanna see you." your body is shaking & ken's slowing down his pace, helping you ride out your high.
"how was that?" ken asks you & you can barely respond. "really good ken, i loved it"
he leans down to kiss you again & you manage to sit up, crawling on top of him.
"ken?"
"yes baby?"
"can i play with you now?" your hands are pawing at his dick, & you slowly pull his pants down, "hm?" you knew what his answer would be but you wanted to hear him say it.
your dainty hands take a firm grasp of his girth & he whimpers, "yes please.."
ugh. this took longer than it should’ve. L ven.
anyway. we made it to 200 followers chat. that’s actually so insane. ik it’s not a huge number but it’s still way more than i had just a couple months ago.
thank you so much! ^.^
i love you all & hope you’re doing amazing. ty for enjoying my works. mwah <3
im actually obsessed with ur writing😫could u write about domestic things with kaneki? (idk if that’s the word) like slow mornings, going out to shop, etc!!
of course i can
☆,
i personally feel like slow mornings with ken come after having a night of fun.. ifykwim.
that being said though, he’s always extremely soft with you. & he’s doing any & all work so you don’t have to move all that much.
you guys spend almost two hours just laying in bed, talking, rotting.. well you’re mainly doing all the talking but ken is listening intently. he could tell exactly what you were saying ten minutes ago, without any fail. it’s so cute.
when you finally decide you wanna get up, ken makes his way to the bathroom first so he can put toothpaste on both of your guys toothbrushes.
ken will also fully try to speak to you as he’s brushing his teeth, it never makes any fucken sense but he refuses to stay quiet.
after teeth brushing, he’ll help you wash your face & then he’s on his way to make you wtv you’re feeling for breakfast.
trust, he literally wants you doing NOTHING.
“do you need help, ken? i can make the eggs”
“NO. just go sit down..”
“oh- ok you don’t have to YELL”
“sorry…”
LMAOO like he’s so passionate.
you have to stop him when he’s tryna spoon feed you your entire meal.
“i got it ken, thank you..”
“just say you hate me & want me to die.”
“OMG.”
—
on to shopping, most bfs don’t really like going shopping with their gfs because only god knows how long they’ll actually be shopping for.
but nonono. NOT KANEKI.
this man would be your personal stylist if he could be. you’ll be searching through the racks of clothes, mf waltz on over with at least 5 hangers & a big ass smile.
“here, try these on! i think they’d look good on you”
“ken, i can find my own-”
“SH. dressing room. you. NOW.”
& much to your surprise, his selections always do end up looking good on you. he’s making sure every color is gonna go with your skin tone. making sure nothing will stand out too harshly, & taking into account the things he already knows you don’t like.
not to mention, this man doesn’t let you pay for like, anything?
one time you guys were out thrifting & you kept finding the cutest pieces ever. only to reach into your purse & realize you’d forgotten your entire wallet.
“ken.. i forgot my wallet.”
when i tell you, the pure disgust written on this man’s face is OTHERWORLDLY.
“so..? who said i was gonna let you fucken pay for anything anyway? put everything you want in the cart & keep it pushing.”
“but ken.. that’s so much money”
“my money belongs to you”
your jaw dropped internally. it took all your willpower to not drop to the floor, roll around, & start giggling.
also! ken is a very big fan of matching or coordinated outfits. he loves loves loves being able to show that you guys are together. by any small or big means possible.
i’d also like to kindly remind you that ken absolutely does have a ring with your name on it :3
oh & he most definitely shares his clothes with you! he thinks it's so cute when he finds you in his closet, "what're you looking for, pretty?"
"erm.. i dunno, i really liked that one shirt you wore like 2 days ago."
"this one?" he's holding up a plain black shirt. on the back side there's angle wings, & the shirt itself is a little faded out from when he first got it, so you love the aesthetic of it.
"yes!"
"all you had to do was ask, honey."
—
i think one thing ken really enjoys doing with you is taking walks. like no matter the time nor weather. he loves a good walk & yap session with his favorite girl.
“baby, can we go for a walk”
“what’re you, a dog?”
“no.. i just wanna walk & talk.. well, hear you talk”
“we can talk in here..”
“but i wanna talk outside, get some fresh air.. yk?”
“fine.”
you guys end up walking down to a park nearby, & you're of course telling ken about the most of random things you've been seeing & hearing lately.
the two of you are gossiping about your workspaces, friend groups, social media drama & so on.
ken ends up picking like a million flowers & he puts them in your hair, you don't even stop him because you know it's making him happy, "you're so beautiful, y/n." he says when he's finally all done.
"i know."
"yeah? & how do you know?"
"you tell me everyday"
ken has the biggest, stupidest smile on his face when you say this. he feels like he's doing his job right. he opens insta & takes a picture of you in that moment & captions it, "my flower girl" & hits share.
—
ahem.
ken most definitely reads you books. it is the best bonding time ever. especially if it's a really good book too.
he loves to fucken slam the book down & debrief anything & everything with you.
if something crazy happens, ken will fully throw the damn book across the room as he's reading it.
"ken?!" "HOLYYYY FUCKEN SHIIITT"
"boy go pick the fucken book up! i didn't even hear what happened yet!"
"oh, right."
& then he's scrambling to get the book & sitting you in his lap so you can read the tea too. when you finally do, you gasp & he's all in your ear lie, "MHMM, i told you!!"
one time you bought 50 shades of grey without telling him what it was about & when he finally got to the spicy parts, his jaw dropped to the ground.
"y/n, what the hell am i reading?!"
"a book!!"
"let's recreate?"
you two most definitely recreated.
—
this is so random but i’ve been thinking about kaneki playing dress to impress SMMM.
when he sees it trending all over his tiktok & insta, he’s absolutely itching to play with you.
one day you come home from being out with a couple friends & ken is on ft with hide, practically screaming.
“CHAT WHERE TF ARE THE SCARVES?!?! there’s only a minute left!!”
you peer over his shoulder to sneak a peek at his screen & low & behold. it’s dti.
you lean down to kiss his cheek & he’s like “oh my god, babe! go get your laptop, you have to play this shit with us”
..
it’s been only 2 rounds & ken is whining about how you placed podium TWICE when he’s been trying for the past hour.. or two.
“baby.. this isn’t fair.”
“kaneki this is so rigged.” hide chimes in.
you’re cackling in your spot, “just fucken try harder?!”
“I HAVE BEEN”
you look at ken’s screen & see the worst possible outfit for “ghosts vs ghouls”
he literally made their skin green & thought he was eating the competition UPPP.
not to mention the fully purple outfit he put on, & random black top hat? with bulky black boots, & a makeup look that looked BUTCHERED.
“ken, my love. that outfit is horrible.”
he’s just about ready to put his mac through a wood chipper. there’s a pout on his face.
“okay well- can you play on my computer so i can get at least one win.” he says in the softest voice ever & you feel like it’s taking all your might not to laugh.
ken just wanted his dti win. :p
i’m so sorry this took so fucken long. ☠️
Kaneki’s lucky to have a friend like Hide. Nishio-senpai’s lucky to have a girl like Kimi. Touka’s lucky that her brother is still alive, even if he’s not there. Tsukiyama’s lucky to have been born to a rich family. Eto’s lucky to have a father like the manager. And Haise’s lucky to forget all the things he became, although Kaneki is definitely better u.u And then again, everything's bad caz what they have are missing
Petition to remake the barbie movie but replace every Ken with a different version of Kaneki Ken
some proper TG fanart, finally
Finished Tokyo Ghoul at around 5 this morning. I’m so in love with this series and I want more.
warning:OOC
When he left the room after he claimed his prize which had previously belonged to investigator Hanzo, he had mixed feelings about everything he has known thus far. There was no way they could have eaten him, right? After all they had plenty of chances, but never did. They protected him till their death although that doesn’t say anything as far as how many people they killed previously. It did shed a new light on ghouls that his lessons have trained him to think otherwise. That ghouls have emotions. I mean why else would the Quinque choose the one person the ghoul loved and trusted most if ghouls aren’t supposed to have feelings besides hunger. Perhaps ghouls and humans really are not that different after all. In order to get his thoughts sorted out he walked to the roof top to be alone with his thoughts. He activated the Quinque and just touched it. Feeling and grabbing for whatever was left of his s/o, just wanting to be close. After a while of doing this he decided to talk to the one other person he trusted, Shinohara. “Hey Mr. Shinohara! Can I ask you something?” He happily obliged, “You’re back! Of course, Juuzou ask away.” “Do ghouls have feelings?” Shinohara gave a surprised look and then said,” Juuzou you know this. They don’t have emotions and only desire to feast on flesh you experienced it first-hand. They are a danger to mankind.” He sounded so sure of himself. As Juuzou was listening, Shinohara had faded away and was replaced with a ringing that only got louder and louder. He didn’t know whose words to trust anymore, so a click of a button sealed his fate forever. Shinohara died from multiple stab wounds that day and Juuzou was to be treated as a ghoul if the CCG ever saw him again so he decided to join Aogiri tree and eventually join up with Kaneki Ken.
ok nishio deserves more love so like can you do headcanons or a scenario whatever u want where nishio is dating kanekis younger sister(say that she is around 18-20) and she is also human and how would everyone react about this,, thanks if u do this!
((No problem anon!))
At first, NISHIKI had no idea that his S/O was Kaneki’s sister.(only that she was human) It wasn’t until she decided to visit anteiku and talk to her brother is when he found out. “Hey babe came to see me? Oh what the hell? You two are siblings?!” He had to get used to it for a few, but Kaneki was on board seeing how Nishio was a good person, but that doesnt mean he was any less protective.
Chibi Quinx Squad
Foreshadowing within the character’s given names in Tokyo Ghoul :re Sasaki Haise – Ihei Hairu – Washuu Kichimura
Hello everyone,
this is my first analysis about some things I noticed while I thought about Tokyo Ghoul :re.
Note that I’m not a native speaker of the Japanese language, I only took two years of classes so far and I still have so, so much to learn. English isn’t my native language either. I hope I express myself in an understandable way.
Nethertheless I noticed some small details about the names of some characters (namely Haise, Hairu and Kichimura) and I wanted to share them in case somebody finds them interesting or useful in any way.
I hope this hasn’t be done yet. If there are any mistakes, please feel free to correct me.
Sasaki Haise
Sasaki’s first name Haise (琲世) is composed of the Kanji for “string of many pearls” (琲) and “world” or “genereation” (世). Interestingly, the last Kanji is the same one that is used to construct Rize’s name showing the connection between both of them. I don’t want to ramble about the whole dimensions of meaning behind his name. Rather I would like to focus myself on the first Kanji of the name Haise. As the wiki states, the choice of the Kanji 琲 is based on the fact that it is also used to construct the word coffee. This could be interpreted as a sign that his still holds the Anteiku very dear. Also “hai” is homophone to the Japanese word for ash, giving Haise’s name the implied meaning of “ash world”.
But there may be yet another dimension of that Kanji. Looking closely, it can be seen that the Kanji is constructed of two different characters: 王 and 非. Kanji are constructed of radicals (components) put together to gain a new character with a new meaning. Even though the “official” radical for 琲 is 玉 (tama – jewel), in this case, it more resemble the Kanji 王 (ou). Interestingly 王 means King. This may foreshadow Kaneki’s later role of the One Eyed King. The second character 非 may mean “wrong”, “incorrect” or “mistake”. This could be a hint how Kaneki performed the role of the One-Eyed-King, which eventually lead to disaster and death of thousands of people.
All in all Kaneki’s position as the OEK and the miserable outcome was yet foreshadowed by the first Kanji of the given name of his Persona of Sasaki Haise.
Ihei Hairu
There’s more foreshadowing when it comes to the Kanji of a character’s name. One example is Hairu’s first name. The name “Hairu” is constructed by a single character, which looks the following: 入. It takes diverse meaning, for example “to enter”, “to go into”, “to admit” but also “to invade”. Especially the latter is quite fitting since she was an outstanding investigator and also one of the CCG’s driving forces during the Tsukiyama Operation.
The Kanji for “Hairu”( 入) looks very similar to the Kanji for “human”(人). Actually, when seen written on paper, the two Kanji seem to be mirrored versions of each other and are not easy to be told apart at the first glance. This may be a hint towards the fact that at first glance, Hairu seemed to be a human, but was in fact a half-human. Like the Kanji of her first name, Hairu was extremely similar to a human, but there’s still a slight difference.
Interestingly, an alternative reading of the Kanji serving as Hairu’s given name is “shio”. This lets her relative Ihei Shio come to mind. Even though Shio’s Name is written with different characters, the connection may be still there (or it may be just a coincidence).
Washuu Kichimura
I always wondered why the name “Kichimura” was so different from the usual namesake of high-ranked Washuu, who are using “Yoshi” as part of their names (Yoshitoki, Tsuneyoshi etc.). But then I noticed that the name may be not so different: Kichimura is written as 吉福, while Yoshitoki is written as 吉時 and Tsuneyoshi is written as 常吉. The character for yoshi 吉 (meaning “good luck) is present in all the names, even in Furuta’s. The reason it is read different is, that there are serval readings for the same Kanji-character. The readings are divided into “onyomi” (sino-japanese reading) and “kunyomi”(japanese reading) (there are some more classifications of reading, but that’s not important here). In short, there is more than one way to read a Kanji and the way a Kanji is read depends on the context and the Kanji it is combined with. The Kanji looks the same, regardless how it is read. Especially in names may the way of reading not always be distinct. But this is important when it comes to the name of Kichimura.
Let’s take a look at Kanji 吉. One possible reading is “yoshi” as in Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki. Another possible reading for the same Kanji is “kichi” – as in Kichimura. Furuta’s name still uses the same Kanji as his father and half-brother did – but with a different way of reading. This tells us a lot about Furuta.
It seems to be a tradition among the Washuu-family that the name is changed the moment a member enters a major position. For example, Yoshitoki was formerly named Chika (時) before he became Bureau Director. Presumably after that, he added the Washuu-Clan’s signature Kanji 吉 in front of his given name, creating the name Yoshitoki (吉時). The new name seems to be created the following: The Kanji 吉 read “yoshi” is added in front the given name, while the Kanji of given name is modified to have a different reading than before. “Chika” and “toki”, as in Yoshitoki, are alternative readings of the same Kanji. The Kanji stayed the same – the reading altered.
At the surface, Furuta added in line of the Washuu’s traditions. Furuta as well put the Kanji 吉 in front of his given name Nimura( 二福, meaning “two happiness/good fortune”, which is a very ironic and bitter name to have considering his fade. Maybe it can be interpretet as “to be twice as happy/lucky” or simply “very happy/lucky”. Maybe the “two” could also represent him and Rize? In the end none of them found happiness. Either way, the name has a tragic irony in it. But I digress.), which led to the Kanji combination 吉福. So far, so traditional.
But Furuta wouldn’t be Furuta if there wasn’t a twist.
Instead of altering the reading of his given name-Kanji, Furuta changed the reading of the Clansman-Kanji. He changes the traditional “Yoshi” into the alternative reading “kichi” while he keeps “mura” of his given name “Nimura”. This may be a subtle sign of his rebellion against the Washuu-Clan. It may be a traditional Washuu-name by the look of it, but it is read differently. This shows Furuta is not giving in to the clan. It is expected to change the “mura” of his name to another reading “in favor” of the clan’s Kanji. This may be a symbol of the clan undermining the identity of its members. But Furuta doesn’t change the Kanji’s reading of his given name. Instead he modifies the “yoshi” into “kichi”. Doing this stays true to himself. At the same time he breaks with the tradition of the Washuu-Clan, showing everyone in the CCG that he is the key of a new era. It may also be his way of exercise power over the Washuu-Clan once again. While the Washuu-clan had the power to altering the names of its members, Furuta has now the power to alter the character that symbols the Washuu-Clan. Also it may be a sign of alienation towards the Washuu-Clan he hated so much. That he simply didn’t want to carry a similar name as Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki did.
Intriguingly, if you read the name Kichimura differently (using the reading “yoshi” instead of “kichi”, as usual for the Washuu-Clan), it can be read as “Yoshimura”. Even though Eto’s surname is spelled differently (芳村 Yoshimura, meaning something similar to “fragrant village”), it is still very ironic because of their hatred for each other and the way they contrast each other. But despite their differences both of them are connected on serval levels (for example: both of them being one-eyed ghouls, were rejected by their parents, both share relationships to V, both of them plot to destroy the current world order etc.). So it fits them to have a similar name, even if the similarity shows in such a subtle way.
I will just leave this here. Thank you very much for reading!. :D
Disqualified as a human being - Furuta Nimura and Dazai Osamu’s Novel “No Longer Human”
The novel “No Longer Human” by Osamu Dazai is frequently referenced within the Tokyo Ghoul manga. Its story revolves around Ouba Yozo, a young man who is unable to show his true face to other people. Instead he hides himself behind a facade of hollow jocularity. During the course of the narrative he slips more and more into drug abuse and alienation towards his surroundings. The story is presented in two layers. The first layer, the prolog and the epilog, are written in the point of view of a narrator dealing with the memoirs of Ouba Yozo. These memoiris are the second layer, written from the ego-perspective of Yozo.
Within TG the author Dazai is mostly associated with Kaneki Ken. For example, during her autograph session Eto notes towards Kaneki, that “Kanagi” is the birthplace of Dazai. The imaginary scene between Kaneki and Hide during the final fight versus Arima contains a reference to Dazai as well.
But Kaneki is not the only character who can be related to Dazai and the novel “No Longer Human”.
Kaneki’s antagonist and foil Furuta Nimura bears resemblance to the novel’s main character and themes.
How Furuta relates and parallels towards the protagonist of to the novel “No Longer Human” shall be explored in the following.
Note that the following analysis contains sensitive themes as sexual abuse, child abuse and suicide/suicidal thoughts.
The first resemblance between Furuta and Yozo is the most striking: Playing the act of a clown in order to hide one’s true nature.
Over the course of the book, Yozo frequently describes how the puts on a clownish act. He deliberately embraces this role. Making people laugh is his way to cope with human interaction. He, who has no idea what it means to be human or how to act human and is so crippling afraid of human interaction, finds refugee in playing a joke. By this he is able to elicit a positive reaction from humans (laughter and joy – some form of appreciation) while being able to wear a mask and to keep his true nature by himself. His relationships rely on this buffoonery because of this his ties to other humans are very shallow in nature. He is walking on tightrope of fake, hollow closeness and unbridgeable distance all his life. But this distance is all what Yozo wants since close human contact scares him. The mere thought of upsetting other people leaves him in great fear and the wish to dissolve his own identity.
“As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives. The one thing I must avoid is becoming offensive in their eyes: I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky.”
- Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human
Furuta relies on similar tactics. He too, embraces the role of a clown in order to hide his true nature. He even is part of a group calling themselves “Clowns” and is wearing a literal clown’s mask at some occasions. But even outside is role in the organization he frequently plays as a clown. For example he puts on a very goofy attire to explain his “real” goal to Eto. Or remember his first official entrance as a chairman, wearing his legendary party glasses. These acts are merely distractions. Some of the acts seem almost grotesque like wearing the party glasses for one moment and announcing extinction of the ghouls in the next moment. He hides his true feelings and motives behind his erratic mask. At the first glance this seems to be a merely tactical move. People tent to underestimate him because of his clownish act. When Eto attacked him, he put on a whiny façade, talking about friend’s requests, running away in a silly way and he even dubs his sprint “Nimudash”. His ludicrous attire lures Eto into not taking him seriously as an opponent. Therefore she is left surprised, as Furuta suddenly reveals his true colors and his half-ghoul-identity. When it came to his first confrontation with Kaneki, shortly after the foundation of Goat and Furuta’s taking over of the CCG, Furuta continued the act of a clown. He stylized himself as obsessed by Rize and presenting his plan in a -overdramatic, screenplay-like fashion. This kind of exaggeration lets Furuta seem as a madman. Chaotic, yes. Disturbed, yes. Thinking clearly enough to able to forge a realistic plan and lead a powerful, complex organization? Um, no. And this is what Kaneki shall think. And Kaneki falls for it and thinks it’s a good decision to let Furuta run the CCG because he doesn’t take him seriously. This allows Furuta to act freely without having to fear Goat’s interference. Both, Furuta and Yozo, act so “wacky” that no one takes them seriously even if they actually say the truth. When Yozo confesses everything bad he had done to his future wife Yoshiko, she doesn’t believe him and takes his words as a joke. His cry for help is laughed away like that. He showed her his true face and she doesn’t believe it. But instead of falling into despair because of that, Yozo is delighted by Yoshiko’s disbelief. He is happy about her faith in him, how strongly she believes him to be a good person, even if he knows this is not the case. Being near her, he has the opportunity to pretend to be a good person and can ensure his mask. No matter what he did, Yoshiko “accepted” it under the assumption of a joke. Even though it is no real acceptation, since at the same time, his true face is not accepted, treated as a joke. But because it shows Yoshiko’s strong faith in him, Yozo is more than fine with that and continues pretending. In conclusion both, Yozo and Furuta, taking advantage of the fact that they are not believed even when they are showing their true face. Furuta in not to be worked against, Yozo in being accepted by Yoshiko. Both character’s darkest sides are ignored out of convenience. The people surrounding them don’t want to be confronted with this darkness and ignore it blissfully - with dangerous consequenzes. Furuta’s distructive plan works out with no obstacle. Yozo falls deeper into despair and addiction without getting any help.
Towards his colleges Furuta wears the mask of a meek, weak-willed individual. Furuta is not seen fit for leading the organization and is thought to be incompetent. Ui supports Furuta and tells him to have more confidence – in this moment Ui seems to be the more self-assured of both of them, having the upper hand. The narrative suggests that he is trying to use Furuta for his own goals. But as soon Furuta shows his true face, the tables turn immediately. It’s interesting how the situation reversed itself by Furuta dropping his mask. Furuta is the one who has the upper hand, exploits Ui and breaks him at his most vulnerable points. Instead of building him up like Ui told Furuta to have more confidence, Furuta totally destroys Ui’s morality. In the end Furuta uses Ui for his own goals. This meek act of Furuta is also important because no one would suspect such a shy person to commit the crime of killing Tsuneyoshi or to scheme a plan to take over the CCG. But Furuta’s clownish act to not just serve as a mere tactic to accomplish is plans. It is also to hide his true feelings from others and keeps others away from his true self. His hatred against the Washuu (Eto mentioning his father is one of the times his mask breaks and Furuta loses it completely, screaming at her, telling her to die.) and the world itself. His emptiness – he wanted literally everything and gained nothing in the end - and the crushing desire to be loved, to have a normal family and to live a normal life. These are aspects of the personality the mask hides. Furuta himself is unable to bind to people in a healthy way. When he does connect to others, he does it through a clownish façade or through abuse (like he held Rize captive) and emotional manipulation (like he did with Ui when he dropped his meek façade in front of him and promised him reviving Hairu). For him, people are merely tools to accomplish is plan (while Yozo as well sees himself as a leech or a parasite). Beside this plan there is nothing to Furuta anymore. In the end he just wanted to be loved, but as given up on it long before. He found no positive way to connect with humans. In the end he is just as empty as Yozo is.
But this clownish façade is not the only similarity they bear. They both were raised in a similar upbringing. Yozo is the son of an influential politician. As the chairman of the CCG Tsuneyoshi holds a great political influence and is a very powerful member of society if not the establisher of the society in the aspect of Ghoul-treatment. Yozo lived together with his parents, the domestic staff and ten siblings in the residence of his family – they are a big family. Furuta too was raised together with many, many siblings in the Sunlit Garden.
Furuta is described to like to play with the girls and flowers and Yozo as well states that he played more with the girls than with his brothers. That may hint their delicate, sensitive personality.
Yozo describes himself to be utterly terrified of his father. The father was the family patriarch and it is strongly hinted how oppressive and threatening he was for Yozo. One scene describes how the father asking his children what presents they want him to bring before he leaves to a trip. Yozo is uneasy, feeling that nothing could make him happy but at the same time he doesn’t dare to disappoint his father in wanting nothing.
“Whenever I was asked what I wanted my first impulse was to answer "Nothing." The thought went through my mind that it didn't make any difference, that nothing was going to make me happy.”
- Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human
(These words contrast Furuta’s longing for “everything” in his final fight with Kaneki)
After Yozo just stalls the answer, his brother suggests the father to buy a book for Yozo. The father begins to tell Yozo about lion masks, which can be bought in the city and closes with “but you don’t want any, don’t you?”. In the end the father writes down to buy a book for Yozo in his notebook. But Yozo is so terrified to disappoint his father in not wanting a lion mask the father intended to give him that he grabs the notebook and changes the “book” to “lion mask” in the dead of night. This shows what impact Yozo’s father had on him. At the end of the book one of the characters even states, that everything wrong with him would be the fault of his father. The same conclusion can be drawn when it comes to Furuta, who was neglected and oppressed by Tsuneyoshi. After the news of the death of his father (who Yozo calls “shadow of all my fears”) arrived to Yozo, he feels apathic over the loss. Even though he is surprised that he doesn’t suffer of it, since most of his suffering stemmed from his father. Why not in this moment? Furuta is similar unconcerned over the death of his father. He even arranged it and presumably killed him himself. Even Uta questions him, whether he can unite the act of killing his father with his morality. Furuta stays indifferent about his death, showing how less he cared for him after Tsuneyoshis neglection.
There is also another parallel in the upbringing of both characters: Sexual violence.
Yozo describes to have been sexual abused by the domestic staff as a child. He never reported it thinking it would be useless and the fear of nobody believing him, being argued in silence or somebody making excuses.
While Furuta has not experienced sexual abuse himself, he grew up in the Sunlit Garden. A horrible environment where sexual abuse and rape were omnipresent. Even at young age Furuta was precisely aware of what was happening there: As a young boy, he helped Rize to escape because he didn’t want her to be raped. Shockingly even at this young age Furuta was aware what rape is, showing how omnipresent the abuse was within the Garden…
Beside of saving Rize there was presumably nothing Furuta could do about the situation in the Sunlit Garden. Even if he had had the opportunity to report it, he presumably would have been silenced by V or his father.
Both of them, Yozo and Furuta, were trapped in an environment of sexual abuse, unable to escape.
In one point of their life Yozou and Furuta get abandoned and disowned by their respective fathers.
Yozo mets the woman Tsuneko and was able to connect with her through their shared sadness and loneliness (in contrast to that he is unable to remember her name, showing how careless he may be about her in the end, even though he states he liked her.) They commit double suicide by jumping off a cliff. Tsuneko dies while Yozo survives. His father abandons him after the suicide attempt out of shame. The only care and support Yozo receives from his family is the money sent by his brothers without the knowledge of the father.
It is strongly hinted, that his role in the escape of Rize was the course of Furutas neglection by his father. The flashbacks of chapter 175-176 show Furuta and Tsuneyoshi in a close relationship. Tsuneyoshi even had high hopes in Furuta and it was said he adored him. But in the present Furuta was showed aside. While the other known children of the Sunlit Garden played major, glorified roles within the CCG (Arima as the CCG’s Shinigami, Hairu as an extremely talented and successful investigator, and Hsiao as part of the second Quinx-Generation), Furuta merely served as Kijima’s assistance in the background. In response to Eto’s words, what it would be like not to be able to call his father “father”, Furuta snaps. The relationship to his father seems to be one of his most vulnerable points. The major breach in Furuta’s life at the Sunlit Garden is the escape of Rize. Finding out about Furuta’s role in it, he presumably abandoned Furuta out of shame. The same happened to Yozo after his suicide attempt.
There is another interesting parallel in there. Both of them lose a woman they are close to after they express their hatred against society and seeking for any form of escape.
Tsuneko and Yozo attempted suicide because they are sick of society and how they are treated by it.
Furuta helps Rize escape because he despises the disgusting system of the Sunlit Garden.
Tsuneko dies. Yozo lives.
Rize disappears out of his reach. Furuta stays in the Garden.
After that, Yozo and Furuta both get abandoned by their fathers.
There are more parallels within their lives, which are more subtle.
For example Yozo meets his fried Horiki in his university years. Horiki introduces him to the world of alcohol, drugs, night clubs and prostitutes. He begins to live a parallel life, which is opposed to his strict, oppressing domestic lifestyle.
Same could be said about Furuta. As Souta he lives the life of a ghoul. He even joins a ghoul organization (Yozo also joins an organization in form of an illegal communist movement – in spite of his conservative father. And Tsuneyoshi wouldn’t be too happy if he found out Furuta joined a ghoul organization and becoming a half-ghoul). Furuta’s life of a ghoul is far away from the strict, formal, oppressed life at the CCG. The clowns just want to have a good laugh. Furuta’s and Yozo’s parallel lives filled with hedonism and pleasure addiction can be seen as a rebellion towards their restricted lives.
In the course of the story Yozo meets Shizuko, who works as an editor for a newspaper, and her five years old daughter Shigeko. Yozo and Shizuko start a relationship similar to a marriage. The daughter Shigeko eventually starts to call Yozo “Daddy”. This is the family life Furuta always wanted to have. But Yozo abandons this supposed perfect life. He feels out of place inside the family. He thinks, the mother and the daughter are happy together and his presence would merely destroy everything. He couldn’t stand the fear to corrupt the family and comes to the conclusion they would be better off without him. This shows that Yozo already gave up on the hope of living a normal “human” life. Furuta as well has given up on this hope long before – being convinced nobody would love him anyway he made himself into a villain.
Yozo experienced something Furuta feared the most, a fear that drove a lot of his actions when he was younger. After Yozo cut ties with Shizuko he meets Yoshiko. He is amazed by her unbiasedness, pureness and the amount of trust she puts in him. They end up married. But sometime after that Yozo witnesses how Yoshiko is sexually assaulted by a casual acquaintance. Instead of helping her, Yozo flees from the scene out of fear and mental overload. After that, Yoshiko is utterly broken by the trauma. The incidence leaves her shattered. Yozo as well is devastated over the guilt of not helping her, slipping more and more into the abuse of drugs and alcohol because of it. All the factors lead to thoughts like this and having him to give up on life completly:
“I want to die. I want to die more than ever before. There’s no chance now of a recovery. No matter what sort of thing I do, no matter what I do, it’s sure to be a failure, just a final coating applied to my shame. (…) All that can happen now is that one foul, humiliating sin will be piled on another, and my sufferings will become only the more acute. I want to die. I must die. Living itself is the source of sin.”
- Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human
(“Living itself is the source of sin” – Yoshimura used similar words during the final fight in the original TG)
After she grew up Rize would have experienced rape as well. Furuta was the one, who helped her. This is contrary to Yozo who didn’t do anything. Even though the situations are different (Yoshiko was in the situation the very moment, Yozo had to act now, while Furuta was aware what would happen to Rize in the future, if he didn’t do anything. But there was no acute danger in that very moment), the parallels are still there.
Furuta may have saved her when they were children, but then again it is Furuta himself who is responsible for Rize’s suffering in the present timeline. He commits terrible acts of violence against Rize: Smashing steel beams on her, capturing her and experimenting on her.
All women Yozo had a relationship with end up miserable and meet a tragic fate. Tsuneko dies by suicide, Shizuko is being abandoned by him, Yoshiko is raped and traumatized by a stranger while Yozo couldn’t help her. While some of the things may not entirely his fault (Maybe Tsuneko would have committed suicide alone. The perpetrator is responsible for the rape of Yoshiko.), he has taken an active part in all this horrible events (Tsuneko and Yozo talked themselves into suicide, Tsuneko may have not made the decision to kill herself if there wasn’t somebody to join her. Yozo didn’t do anything to help Yoshiko and just let it happen – and fled actively from the crime scene).
When it comes to woman, there are three characters that are important when it comes to Furuta. Rize, Ami and Eto. All of them ended miserable as well.
Ami, his fiancée, was betrayed by Furuta in the ghoul restaurant. Furuta had no qualms to let his fiancée (he must have spent a long time with Ami. The relationship was presumably another act) be slaughtered right before his eyes. He was the one who set off her death in the first place.
I talked about Rize before, he held her captured, harvested her kakuhou and set her off as the dragon, leaving her dead in the end. Eto is defeated and gravely wounded by him, being used as a puppet of the clowns afterwards.
In contrary to Yozo, who is defined by his remorse, Furuta is not shown to feel any sign of regret. The regret he shows after the release of the dragon is merely another act set by him. In Furuta’s plan, within his short lifespan and his worldview, there is neither time nor room for regret.
Yozo resumes his situation and life the following in one of the final phrases of the book:
“Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness.
Everything passes.
That is the one and only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.
Everything passes.”
- Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human
This applies also to Furuta in the form of being neither happy nor unhappy – just being empty.
But in contrast to Yozo, Furuta doesn’t let everything pass apathetically in the end – if he did, he would have just waited until he died. The charges all opportunities he can find. He takes a hellish way of destruction. The destruction of oneself and the destruction of others. He literally turns the world into the “burning hell”, killing thousands of people in the process.
Both characters take a self-destructive path, be it in the way of abuse of alcohol and drugs or, in Furuta’s case, through a plan that contains the own death (and the death of thousand others).
Furuta and Yozo both gave up on their humanity.
Yozo never felt a connection to human being or being human his entire life and in the end of the novel he describes himself as “being disqualified as a human being” (dropping the japanese title of the book). Furuta on the other hand was a half-human and must have not felt totally human from the beginning as well. He let himself turn into a half-ghoul, hinting, that he gave up on his humanity and everything including voluntary. The transformation into a half-ghoul can be not only seen as a matter of physics but instead the epitome of abandonment of human nature and morals as well.
Thinking, they are unable to connect to other people, unable to love or be loved, both, Yozo and Furuta view themselves as disqualified from a human being.
Yozo’s memoirs end with these final sentences:
“This year I am twenty-seven. My hair has become much greyer. Most people would take me for over forty.”
- Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human
It may be nitpicking, but it reminded me of the accelerated aging process of the half-humans.
Arima had white hair in his thirties and Furuta’s hair might have become grey as well when he had reached the age of 27 years.
“Mine has been a life of much shame. I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.”
- Dazai Osamu, No Longer Human
These are the words that start Yozo’s memoirs.
Shame is a major theme in the novel “No Longer Human”. Since he was a child Yozo is defined by shame and being ashamed. The shame in his inability to understand and to connect to human beings. The shame that lies in hiding his true face. The shame that his true face is in fact utter emptiness. The shame and the fear to upset and anger other humans. Letting his true face show, being offensive. Even or especially the fact that he is existing. For Yozo all this and even more factors lead to unbearable, unforgiveable shame. And shame leads to fear. The more scared he is the more he’s feels shame for being the way he is. Yozo’s reasons to feel shame grew during his life.
He is ashamed of not being able to please his father. He is ashamed of letting Yoshiko die while he survives. His father discredits him after the suicide attempt because it brought shame over the family. He is ashamed of living what he calls a life of a parasite, seeing himself exploiting people constantly. He is ashamed of being happy, thinking he doesn’t deserve it – so he abandons Shizuko and Shigeko. He is ashamed of not being able to help Yoshiko. He is ashamed of his addictions, which take control over his life.
Let’s take a look at Furuta. Has somebody who wears party glasses at his introduction ceremony even a sense of shame? Yes, there may be many occasions on his life Furuta felt ashamed in. After all Furuta – like Yozo – put close to no worth into his own life.
Back in the Sunlit Garden Furuta was shockingly aware of what rape means. Maybe he was aware that he too was a product of such a gruesome, barbaric act. This may have filled him with shame over his whole existence. It may be a reason why he didn’t see any worth in his life in the first place.
When it comes to the moment when he discovered the lineage of the Washuu-Clan, it may be an occasion to feel shame or humiliation as well. Seeing how all his relatives died in their early 30ties and knowing that his father has in fact a breeding facility for descendants, Furuta may have seen his own life as a throwaway product. He will not live long, he won’t have a future and there will be many children after him to replace him. He must have felt worthless.
Furuta might even consider that fact being part of the Washuu-Clan, who committed all those cruel acts, as a source of shame.
When it comes to Rize Furuta may feel ashamed to have let himself been used by Rize. Rize gained her freedom through him but never thanked him or looked at him ever again. He might have felt Rize brought shame over what he had done for her. On the other hand he might be ashamed at his own ingenuousness to let himself to be exploited at the first place. Maybe he was ashamed that it hurt him at all.
When talking about Furuta and shame the factor of him becoming an outcast of the Washuu family is inevitable. This brought major humiliation over Furuta. What pain it brought to him to be abandoned by his beforehand alleged loving father is shown in his extreme reaction towards Eto which was discussed before. If that wasn’t enough he had to watch his siblings, especially Arima and Hairu in the position of glorified investigators. Furuta himself had the position of a rising hope – now he is forced to watch from the sidelines as a low-ranked investigator who is overshadowed by his partner Kijima (another role he played). He went from Tsuneyoshi’s favorite to an unacknowledged son. With is actions Furuta brought shame over the Washuu-Family and he may internalized that shame. It can be said he even embraced the role of the family’s disgrace, acting accordingly to it. Behind the mask of the meek investigator, Furuta wasn’t even trying to please anyone anymore. He was rude forwards Kaiko, a person commanding respect, and made fun of his own introduction ceremony. While Yozo tries to please everyone and the sole thought of upsetting someone drives him into deep despair, Furuta offends deliberately.
Yozo’s sense of shame keeps him paralyzed. The shame Furuta experienced (brought over him by others and the shame he feels himself) becomes a driving force and motivation for him (capturing Rize, extinguishing the Washuu-Clan). Remarkably Furuta is never shown to feel shame or regret over his own gruesome actions, showing how twisted his moral was at this point. He already saw himself as a shame and a monster beyond return (similar to Yozo who regards himself as disqualified from being a human) and he walked the path that he chose to the end. Giving up on the idea he was to be loved, he made himself a villain, the final boss that has to be beaten on the way towards a more peaceful world.
While Yozo gives in to apathy, Furuta acts (in a destructive way).
While Yozo thinks everything he does will result in failure, Furuta’s plan succeeds.
While Yozo states he desires nothing, Furuta literally carves for “everything” (being loved, happiness having a family).
It is not confirmed whether Yozo died but strongly hinted by his miserable condition and a statement in the epilog, that he may be dead by now. Both Yozo and Furuta die lonely, without any comfort or company. Furuta finds solace in the illusion of his happy, carefree moments with Rize. But these times are over. Neither Yozo nor Furuta had ever had a close, real connection to a human being nor even identified themselves as one. They lived hiding their true faces and troubled selves behind carefree masks. But both have at least some kind of relief in the end. At least Furuta had the opportunity to let his mask fall in his very last moment, admitting to Kaneki that he just wanted a normal life. Yozo has written about his true face in his confessions, which lay before us, the readers, in form of the novel “No Longer Human”.
This got way longer that I intended and I still have the feeling I haven’t said enough. But I will stop right here. I hope this text made any kind of sense. I wished I could finish this analysis earlier. It somewhat feels really strange to publish this, after the manga ended so recently....Anyway, thank you very much for reading.