November 9th, 2017
Comics I read.
Anime Relations: Batman: Gotham Knight
Also reads comics-
Marvel
Journey into Mystery [Kid Loki]- Completed- 10/10
Young Avengers vol. 2- Completed- 8/10
Agent of Asgard- Completed- 10/10
Deadpool AXIS- Completed- 9/10 -> Deadpool (2012) #35-40
Marvel's House of M- Completed- 7/10
Marvel's Secret Invasion- Completed- 7/10
Marvel's Siege- Completed- 7/10
Marvel's Fear Itself- Completed- 8/10
Marvel's Avengers vs. X-Men- Completed- 7/10
Ms. Marvel vol. 3- Completed- 8/10
Marvel's Civil War- Completed- 7.5/10 --- it was long... really, really long. Like, you're losing my attention long.
Iron Man: The Secret Origin of Tony Stark [iss. 9-17 of vol. 5]- Completed- 8/10
Spider-Verse- Completed- 10/10
Spider-Gwen vol. 1- Completed- 10/10
Silk vol. 1- Completed- 9/10
Groot- Completed- 8/10
Little Marvel A vx. X- Completed- 8/10 --- if only for everyone being cute.
Avengers Standoff- Completed- 7/10
Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man- Completed- 10/10
Spider-Men- Completed- 9/10
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows- Completed- 7/10
Thor vol. 4- Completed- 7.5/10
Truth: Red, White and Black- Completed- 10/10 --- ... Such a bittersweet ending. Everything feels worse when you realize it's based off reality, too.
Heroic Age: Prince of Power- Completed- 7/10
Thor: The World Eaters (Thor #615-621)- Completed- 6/10
Vision (2016)- Completed- 10/10 --- that really screwed me up.
Nova (2013)- Completed- 8/10
Nova (2015)- Completed- 7/10
Marvel's Civil War II- Completed- 3/10 --- this is a new low.
Invincible Iron Man (2015)- Completed- 5.5/10
ANAD Avengers- Completed- 6/10 --- They had a good thing going, and then CW2 derailed it. Completely.
Unworthy Thor- Completed- 8/10
Deadpool Too Soon?- Completed- 7/10
Battleworld Thors- Completed-
Battleworld A-Force- Completed-
Black Widow (2016)- Completed-
DC
N52 Justice League- Completed- 7.5/10 -- it had its impressive moments and moments of not so much.
Catwoman: Backward Masking [Catwoman vol. 3 iss. 50-65]- 7.5/10
Superman: Earth One vol. 1- Completed- 7/10
Superman: Earth One vol. 2- Completed- 7/10
Superman: Earth One vol. 3- Completed- 8/10 -- ...I have no idea how to categorize this. Is this series complete??
DC's Convergence- Completed- 7/10 -- Hey, I read the collected edition, but there's still Crisis and Flashpoint to read??? [oh halp]
DC's Identity Crisis- Completed- 10/10
Grayson- Completed- 7/10 --
Maybe I just don't like spies enough, but this story didn't quite do it for me. It felt like everyone was asking this question of who Dick is and there's hints of a struggle of him finding himself, but the way it's portrayed, he just seems to be like "*giggle snort, you all think I'm confused?? Not at all! Haha!" The story felt simple and straightforward, things happened at convenience, but made up for it with all the shirtless Dick Grayson.
Batman: Arkham Asylum- Completed- 9/10 -- In a really weird way. Like even if this isn't the way being mad looks like, I believe it. Couple that with the horror movie vibe... I needed to look up and breathe a couple times as I read it.
Trinity (2003)- Completed- 7/10 -- lol I've never seen Batman so surprised ... so many times.
Just a list of where characters' first appearances were:
Batman- Detective Comics #27
Robin (Dick Grayson)- Detective Comics #38, should be read in the middle/after Dark Victory
Batwoman- Detective Comics #233
Batgirl- Detective Comics #359, Batgirl Year One is pretty much a retelling of this issue
Robin (Jason Todd)- Batman #357, from what I can tell, his original origins has nothing to do with the current version of Jason Todd
Batman: Year One- Completed- 8/10
Batman: Shaman- Completed- 8/10 -- An interesting look at how Bruce Wayne faces his mistakes.
[Batman: Gothic
Batman: Prey]
Batman: The Man Who Laughs- 7.5/10
Batman: Venom- Completed- 7/10 -- I would rate it higher, but I just enjoyed the other stories I've read so much more.
Batman and the Monster Men- Completed- 7/10
Batman and the Mad Monk- Completed- 7/10 -- Both are fun Batman adventures and how being a vigilante ruins a love life...
[Batman: Haunted Knight
Batman: Year Two]
Batman: Long Halloween- Completed- 8/10 -- I read this a few years ago, but rereading made me appreciate it more.
Batman: Dark Victory- Completed- 10/10 -- ...Watching Batman/Bruce Wayne was just... so sad... [Also Dick Grayson!!]
[Catwoman: When in Rome]
[Batman: Year 3(??)]
Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet- Completed- 7/10 -- ...Yo, seeing/reading such a lighthearted story after all that...
Robin: Year One- Completed- 8/10 -- Just as lighthearted as The Gauntlet, but shows that it's really all just from Dick's eyes. (A-And that cameo by Batgirl in the end...! ;uuu; )
Batgirl: Year One- Completed- 7.5/10 -- I feel like it didn't finish as strong as it started.
[Batman: Batgirl
Batman: Night Cries
Batman: The Cat and the Bat
Batman: Full Circle
Batman: Fortunate Son]
Nightwing: Year One- Completed- 7.5/10
Batman: Second Chances- Completed- 7/10 -- Nothing really special here. I was very amused by #416 though. And Annual #11 was cute.
Batman: The Cult- Completed- 6/10 -- The first Batman story that I didn't enjoy. Only liked Jason Todd being awesome here.
Batman: A Death in the Family- Completed- 7/10
Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying- Completed- 7.5/10
[Robin:A Hero Reborn]
Batman: Birth of the Demon- Completed- 8/10
Daredevil vol. 5- Reading 8/?
Spider-Man/Deadpool- Reading 5/?- 8/10
Gwenpool- Reading 3/?- 8/10
The Mighty Thor vol. 2- Reading 8/?
Ms. Marvel vol. 4- Reading 7/?
Spider-Gwen vol. 2- Reading 9a/?
Silk vol. 2- Reading 10/?
...lols this has not been updated
Descender- On Hold 6/?
W.I.T.C.H.- On Hold 8/139
We Are Robin- On Hold 6/12
Gotham Academy- On Hold 12/?
Harley Quinn- Plan to read
&reading order links bc fml.
Ms. Marvel
Thor & Loki a bit outdated
Currently Reading:
Champions (2016) 13/?
Defenders (2017) 6/?
Gwenpool 22/?
The Mighty Thor 16/?
New Super-Man 17/?
Red Hood & The Outlaws (Rebirth) 16/?
Spider-Man/Deadpool 23/?
Super Sons 9/?
Teen Titans (Rebirth) 13/?
Titans (Rebirth) Vol. 2/?
Avengers & Champions: Worlds Collide; Issues #672-674, #13-15
New Super-Man in Superman: Multiplicity; Issues #14-16
Spider-Man/Deadpool & Deadpool & Mercs for Money: Till Death Do Us Part; Issues #15-16, #28-29, #9-10
Super Sons in Superman: In the Name of the Father; Issues #10-11
Teen Titans & Titans & Deathstroke: The Lazarous Contract; Issues #8-Annual, #10-11, #19-20
Super Sons & Teen Titans & Superman: Super Sons of Tomorrow; Issues #11,
#15, #37
On Hold/Dropped:
America 2/? [dropped]
Daredevil ?/?
Infamous Iron Man 7/?
Invincible Iron Man 6/?
Mosaic 5/?
The Mighty Thor 700/? (Went #24 -> #700)
Ms. Marvel ?/?
Nightwing (Rebirth) 18/?
Silk ?/?
Spider-Gwen ?/?
Completed
(Just the Event Trades)
House of M
Secret Invasion
Seige
Fear Itself
Avengers vs. X-Men
Civil War (Read Full)
Original Sin (Read Full)
Axis (Read Full)
Spider-Verse (Read Full)
Secret Wars/Battleworld
A-Force
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows
Little Marvel A v X
Thors
Civil War II (Read Full)
Avengers Standoff (Avengers Crossover)
All New All Different Avengers
Black Widow (2016)
Truth: Red, White, and Black
Deadpool Too Soon?
Till Death Do Us Part (Deadpool-centric Crossover)
Groot
I Am Groot
Heroic Age: Prince of Power (Well, he's Pre-Hulk here...)
Invincible Iron Man (2015)
Loki (See Reading List)
Ms. Marvel (2012)
Nova (2016)
Sam Alexander (See Reading List)
Silk (2015)
Spider-Gwen (2015)
Unworthy Thor
Thor (2014)
Vision (2016)
Death of X
Posted by checkeredbow | Nov 9, 2017 8:53 AM | 0 comments
December 21st, 2016
Comic Book Reading Orders
Anime Relations: Avengers Confidential: Black Widow to Punisher
Because I get lost myself.
Helpful Link where I got like 90% of this info from. Repeated here for completeness sake, really.
Following the adventures of Loki after he was reborn. You can start with:
Marvel's Seige
Or know that Loki did some really bad things that even he was ashamed of. So after bringing Asgard down onto Midgard and letting supervillains take over the place, he sacrificed his own life to save Midgard.
Then the order goes:
Thor #615-621
The Mighty Thor (2011) #1-6
Journey into Mystery #622-623
Marvel's Fear Itself
Journey into Mystery #624-636
The Mighty Thor #8-12.1
Exiled #1
Journey into Mystery #637-638 & New Mutants #42-43 (alternating issues)
Journey into Mystery #639-641
The Mighty Thor #18-22 & Journey into Mystery #642-645 (alternating issues)
Young Avengers (2013) #1-11
Agent of Asgard #1-5
Marvel's Original Sin
Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm
Agent of Asgard #6
Marvel's Axis -- If you want background to why it all happened. Only the lead up is the important part, really. The rest of it you can just go back to focusing on Loki and it'll (more or less) make sense.
Agent of Asgard #7-12 (...I think, I might be a little wrong on this. It's been a while.)
Thor (2015) #1-8 (will give you some background on this nasty divorce.)
Agent of Asgard #13-17
Marvel's Secret Wars (Only Battleworld: Thors has to directly do with Loki. Lady Loki also appears in Battleworld: A-Force)
The Mighty Thor #1-7
Vote Loki #1-4 (Solo series, really.)
The Mighty Thor #8-Present
Obviously not ALL his appearances are listed here. I don't have that much time on my hands... Perfectly fine to dig through here if you want, though.
Nova (2013) #1-5
Marvel's A vs. X (Obligatory "Cyclops was right.") (Totally skippable event, btw. All Nova does is fly in and out at the beginning and end of the event. And talk with Thor. The recap page in Nova #6 takes care of it.)
Nova #6-7
Marvel's Infinity (Also pretty skippable. Nova is involved, but more or less stays within the pages of his own book.)
Nova #8-16
New Warriors #1-12 (It seems to me that the order actually goes halfway-through-Nova #10, New Warriors #1-4, second-half-of-Nova #10-16, New Warriors #5-8 happens in parallel with that. Or just read as listed here.)
Nova #17
Marvel's Original Sin
Nova #18-20 (Which can really be read in the middle of or after Original Sin.)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #18-20 (If you're curious as to what happened to the last last Nova, Richard Rider.)
Nova #21-22 (mfw it's only been 2 issues before the next event.)
Marvel's Axis
Nova #23-24 (The continuity for Nova in this event seems a bit screwed up. He's in Genosha in Axis #1-3, but didn't know what was going on in Nova #22 despite the issue taking place between Axis #4 & 5 and being called out by Steve Rogers. Yet, in Axis #5, he's in NYC due to Sam Wilsom calling for him. The people present when he flies back to Arizona are also different between Nova #22 and Axis #5. Nitpicky, I know.)
Nova #25-27
Nova Annual #1
The Black Vortex
Nova #28 (Goes in the middle of the Black Vortex. Just listed it out here to match with how I've been doing everything.)
Nova #29-31
Marvel's Secret Wars (Has... nothing to do with Nova, really. I'll read through all the tie-ins someday. Just know that the universe ended and was put back to normal again, with Miles in the main universe! +8 month timeskip where everyone hates Cyclops.) (Skippable.)
All-New, All-Different Avengers #1-6
Avenger's Standoff
ANAD Avengers #8
Nova (2015) #1-7
ANAD Avengers #9-12
Marvel's Civil War II
Nova #8-9 (Goes in the middle of the whole war. I don't think the above link necessarily has the entire event in the right order, but it also just finished so it's probably under revamp? idk man. I just hate this event so much.)
Nova #10-11
Champions (2016) #1
Nova (2016) #1-7
Champions (2016) #1-9
-insert Secret Empire tie in that I haven't read yet, here-
Champions (2016) #12
Avengers (2016) #672-674 & Champions (2016) #13-15 (alternating issues)
Champions #16-Present
Vision (2015) #1-12
Champions (2016) #1-9
-insert Secret Empire tie in that I haven't read yet, here-
Champions (2016) #12
Avengers (2016) #672-674 & Champions (2016) #13-15 (alternating issues)
Champions #16-Present
To make myself feel a little better about the web of issues for Nova and Loki above. Some characters aren't so complicated. Sigh of relief
Howard the Duck (2015) #1-3
Gwenpool Holiday Special 2015
Orrr...
Gwenpool #0-6
Rocket Raccoon & Groot #8-10 (She's a bit OOC, imo, and has nothing to do with her main story. Read it for that one Bendis line.)
Gwenpool #7-8
Gwenpool Holiday Special 2016 (Not sure if this would have any reference later on...)
Champions #5
Gwenpool #9-Present
Helpful Link where I got like 90% of this info from. Repeated here for completeness sake, really.
Following the adventures of Loki after he was reborn. You can start with:
Marvel's Seige
Or know that Loki did some really bad things that even he was ashamed of. So after bringing Asgard down onto Midgard and letting supervillains take over the place, he sacrificed his own life to save Midgard.
Then the order goes:
Thor #615-621
The Mighty Thor (2011) #1-6
Journey into Mystery #622-623
Marvel's Fear Itself
Journey into Mystery #624-636
The Mighty Thor #8-12.1
Exiled #1
Journey into Mystery #637-638 & New Mutants #42-43 (alternating issues)
Journey into Mystery #639-641
The Mighty Thor #18-22 & Journey into Mystery #642-645 (alternating issues)
Young Avengers (2013) #1-11
Agent of Asgard #1-5
Marvel's Original Sin
Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm
Agent of Asgard #6
Marvel's Axis -- If you want background to why it all happened. Only the lead up is the important part, really. The rest of it you can just go back to focusing on Loki and it'll (more or less) make sense.
Agent of Asgard #7-12 (...I think, I might be a little wrong on this. It's been a while.)
Thor (2015) #1-8 (will give you some background on this nasty divorce.)
Agent of Asgard #13-17
Marvel's Secret Wars (Only Battleworld: Thors has to directly do with Loki. Lady Loki also appears in Battleworld: A-Force)
The Mighty Thor #1-7
Vote Loki #1-4 (Solo series, really.)
The Mighty Thor #8-Present
Obviously not ALL his appearances are listed here. I don't have that much time on my hands... Perfectly fine to dig through here if you want, though.
Nova (2013) #1-5
Marvel's A vs. X (Obligatory "Cyclops was right.") (Totally skippable event, btw. All Nova does is fly in and out at the beginning and end of the event. And talk with Thor. The recap page in Nova #6 takes care of it.)
Nova #6-7
Marvel's Infinity (Also pretty skippable. Nova is involved, but more or less stays within the pages of his own book.)
Nova #8-16
New Warriors #1-12 (It seems to me that the order actually goes halfway-through-Nova #10, New Warriors #1-4, second-half-of-Nova #10-16, New Warriors #5-8 happens in parallel with that. Or just read as listed here.)
Nova #17
Marvel's Original Sin
Nova #18-20 (Which can really be read in the middle of or after Original Sin.)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #18-20 (If you're curious as to what happened to the last last Nova, Richard Rider.)
Nova #21-22 (mfw it's only been 2 issues before the next event.)
Marvel's Axis
Nova #23-24 (The continuity for Nova in this event seems a bit screwed up. He's in Genosha in Axis #1-3, but didn't know what was going on in Nova #22 despite the issue taking place between Axis #4 & 5 and being called out by Steve Rogers. Yet, in Axis #5, he's in NYC due to Sam Wilsom calling for him. The people present when he flies back to Arizona are also different between Nova #22 and Axis #5. Nitpicky, I know.)
Nova #25-27
Nova Annual #1
The Black Vortex
Nova #28 (Goes in the middle of the Black Vortex. Just listed it out here to match with how I've been doing everything.)
Nova #29-31
Marvel's Secret Wars (Has... nothing to do with Nova, really. I'll read through all the tie-ins someday. Just know that the universe ended and was put back to normal again, with Miles in the main universe! +8 month timeskip where everyone hates Cyclops.) (Skippable.)
All-New, All-Different Avengers #1-6
Avenger's Standoff
ANAD Avengers #8
Nova (2015) #1-7
ANAD Avengers #9-12
Marvel's Civil War II
Nova #8-9 (Goes in the middle of the whole war. I don't think the above link necessarily has the entire event in the right order, but it also just finished so it's probably under revamp? idk man. I just hate this event so much.)
Nova #10-11
Champions (2016) #1
Nova (2016) #1-7
Champions (2016) #1-9
-insert Secret Empire tie in that I haven't read yet, here-
Champions (2016) #12
Avengers (2016) #672-674 & Champions (2016) #13-15 (alternating issues)
Champions #16-Present
Vision (2015) #1-12
Champions (2016) #1-9
-insert Secret Empire tie in that I haven't read yet, here-
Champions (2016) #12
Avengers (2016) #672-674 & Champions (2016) #13-15 (alternating issues)
Champions #16-Present
To make myself feel a little better about the web of issues for Nova and Loki above. Some characters aren't so complicated. Sigh of relief
Howard the Duck (2015) #1-3
Gwenpool Holiday Special 2015
Orrr...
Gwenpool #0-6
Rocket Raccoon & Groot #8-10 (She's a bit OOC, imo, and has nothing to do with her main story. Read it for that one Bendis line.)
Gwenpool #7-8
Gwenpool Holiday Special 2016 (Not sure if this would have any reference later on...)
Champions #5
Gwenpool #9-Present
Posted by checkeredbow | Dec 21, 2016 3:16 PM | 0 comments
Private Entry
February 21st, 2016
Bow Rereads: Tokyo Ghoul (Chapter 2 - 9)
Anime Relations: Tokyo Ghoul
Basically to the end of vol. 1
WARNING: Possible spoilers up to TG:re 65
Re-read analysis for chapter 1 here.
First time Nishio & his girlfriend are mentioned. I've noticed (particularly with the investigators later on) that Ishida tends to foreshadow by name dropping a lot. Thought I'd keep a record of that.
Large image ahead:
I thought it was interesting that Kaneki couldn't sense that Touka was a ghoul. Granted, he's still getting used to his body so that might've hinder things. Also the fact that he wouldn't really know what a ghoul smells like. Also possibly a hint to his cannibal days later on?
First time Kaneki's mother is mentioned. ...She looks so alive and nice, too. It's not a wonder that the fandom was led to believe that she was a good person. (...with that said, I don't think it was necessarily confirmed that she was abusive? Just heavily suggested.)
First time Yomo is mentioned. ...I love how subtle it was. It's just like, yea, there's this guy, but we don't really care, right?
Here we go! The reason why I started looking at the details more carefully during my re-read! It's the first time Kaneki's lying habit is shown to us! Of course, the reader doesn't know anything, but Hide knows what's up.
Some evidence of the Alice in Wonderland theory. In fact, the Viz translation goes, "It was me who wandered into the Ghouls' world."
First time Touka's kagune is shown (kinda). I was watching some satirical anime videos recently and about TG, when they fight Tsukiyama, Kaneki says it's the first time he sees Touka's kagune. Theoretically, although we don't really see it (since their fight was off scene), he does here. But, he might be just too out of it to remember.
Hide's pretty much known from the beginning.
WARNING: Possible spoilers up to TG:re 65
Re-read analysis for chapter 1 here.
First time Nishio & his girlfriend are mentioned. I've noticed (particularly with the investigators later on) that Ishida tends to foreshadow by name dropping a lot. Thought I'd keep a record of that.
Large image ahead:
I thought it was interesting that Kaneki couldn't sense that Touka was a ghoul. Granted, he's still getting used to his body so that might've hinder things. Also the fact that he wouldn't really know what a ghoul smells like. Also possibly a hint to his cannibal days later on?
First time Kaneki's mother is mentioned. ...She looks so alive and nice, too. It's not a wonder that the fandom was led to believe that she was a good person. (...with that said, I don't think it was necessarily confirmed that she was abusive? Just heavily suggested.)
First time Yomo is mentioned. ...I love how subtle it was. It's just like, yea, there's this guy, but we don't really care, right?
Here we go! The reason why I started looking at the details more carefully during my re-read! It's the first time Kaneki's lying habit is shown to us! Of course, the reader doesn't know anything, but Hide knows what's up.
Some evidence of the Alice in Wonderland theory. In fact, the Viz translation goes, "It was me who wandered into the Ghouls' world."
First time Touka's kagune is shown (kinda). I was watching some satirical anime videos recently and about TG, when they fight Tsukiyama, Kaneki says it's the first time he sees Touka's kagune. Theoretically, although we don't really see it (since their fight was off scene), he does here. But, he might be just too out of it to remember.
Hide's pretty much known from the beginning.
Posted by checkeredbow | Feb 21, 2016 4:40 PM | 0 comments
Bow Rereads: Tokyo Ghoul (Chapter 1)
Anime Relations: Tokyo Ghoul
Because I'm a college student with zero time.
So! I've been buying the Tokyo Ghoul series as it comes out in English and has, therefore, been re-reading it. Re-reading it has been interesting-- I find a lot of things that I've glossed over on the first run as well as certain background details here and there that hinted to future events.
So here's a collection of it!
I'm sure that there are better analysis out there, but I figured it'd be fun and it'd be a good collection of what I've managed to find on my own.
WARNING: Possible spoilers up to TG:re 65
Relating to the Hide-Washu theory:
The theory goes that Hideyoshi might actually be part of the Washu clan and is the reason why he knew so much about ghouls and was able to track down Jason. Of course, it's possible that he's just extremely smart and the theory is bogus. However, there are a lot of signs.
Like here, we can assume up to this point that both boys hold what is general knowledge for the public. Yet, they have very different ideas as to what ghouls could actually look like. Kaneki immediately thinks that ghouls must actually be shape shifting monsters while Hide thinks that they look identical to humans-- and he turns out to be correct.
If the general public thinks like Kaneki would, why would Hide think otherwise? ...Well, he could be a member of the Washu and that would be why.
Also, another thing: Hide ends up being correct. Kaneki "is" a ghoul. Just not yet.
This was something I didn't pay attention to during my first read through. Both Kaneki and Rize have the same blood type, which is why he was able to get the organ transplant from her.
This fact is reconfirmed by Kanou during the operation a few pages later. ...However, interestingly, this page wasn't included in the scanlation I was getting these screenshots from. I guess in hindsight, Ishida wanted to clarify why having the same blood type was important.
Large image ahead:
Recent chapters had Eto hinting (pretty much saying?) that Kaneki is suicidal and for that reason he takes hits that he could've easily avoided. During my first read through, I haven't noticed anything of the such and will definitely be on the look out for that now.
So here is the first evidence(?) for that. Kaneki is scared. Anyone would be, which is why he runs away. But if he really was suicidal, would he have? Would a suicidal person, in this situation, stand still and let a cannibal eat them? (Aside from using plot purposes as the reason...)
He also later defends himself with a pen. So we do see him trying to save his own life. Which leads me to think that at that point in time, he was still happy with his life. So, it was only after he became a ghoul that he started becoming depressed and suicidal? Or maybe even just after Jason ...Makes sense. Makes it even more tragic, actually.
Also another interesting thing I noted was that unlike Rize's first victim (from the very first page of the story, probably the dead guy at the Takada Building), Kaneki doesn't beg for his life or ask her to spare him.
And of course, the scene when Rize looks up and presumably sees a clown at the top of the building. Also very curious, the Viz translation: "Why... me... Gahh..." I'm not well versed enough in Japanese to know if "you" and "me" could ever be used interchangeably, but... that makes a very BIG difference in interpretation.
Of course, no clowns here.
So! I've been buying the Tokyo Ghoul series as it comes out in English and has, therefore, been re-reading it. Re-reading it has been interesting-- I find a lot of things that I've glossed over on the first run as well as certain background details here and there that hinted to future events.
So here's a collection of it!
I'm sure that there are better analysis out there, but I figured it'd be fun and it'd be a good collection of what I've managed to find on my own.
WARNING: Possible spoilers up to TG:re 65
Relating to the Hide-Washu theory:
The theory goes that Hideyoshi might actually be part of the Washu clan and is the reason why he knew so much about ghouls and was able to track down Jason. Of course, it's possible that he's just extremely smart and the theory is bogus. However, there are a lot of signs.
Like here, we can assume up to this point that both boys hold what is general knowledge for the public. Yet, they have very different ideas as to what ghouls could actually look like. Kaneki immediately thinks that ghouls must actually be shape shifting monsters while Hide thinks that they look identical to humans-- and he turns out to be correct.
If the general public thinks like Kaneki would, why would Hide think otherwise? ...Well, he could be a member of the Washu and that would be why.
Also, another thing: Hide ends up being correct. Kaneki "is" a ghoul. Just not yet.
This was something I didn't pay attention to during my first read through. Both Kaneki and Rize have the same blood type, which is why he was able to get the organ transplant from her.
This fact is reconfirmed by Kanou during the operation a few pages later. ...However, interestingly, this page wasn't included in the scanlation I was getting these screenshots from. I guess in hindsight, Ishida wanted to clarify why having the same blood type was important.
Large image ahead:
Recent chapters had Eto hinting (pretty much saying?) that Kaneki is suicidal and for that reason he takes hits that he could've easily avoided. During my first read through, I haven't noticed anything of the such and will definitely be on the look out for that now.
So here is the first evidence(?) for that. Kaneki is scared. Anyone would be, which is why he runs away. But if he really was suicidal, would he have? Would a suicidal person, in this situation, stand still and let a cannibal eat them? (Aside from using plot purposes as the reason...)
He also later defends himself with a pen. So we do see him trying to save his own life. Which leads me to think that at that point in time, he was still happy with his life. So, it was only after he became a ghoul that he started becoming depressed and suicidal? Or maybe even just after Jason ...Makes sense. Makes it even more tragic, actually.
Also another interesting thing I noted was that unlike Rize's first victim (from the very first page of the story, probably the dead guy at the Takada Building), Kaneki doesn't beg for his life or ask her to spare him.
And of course, the scene when Rize looks up and presumably sees a clown at the top of the building. Also very curious, the Viz translation: "Why... me... Gahh..." I'm not well versed enough in Japanese to know if "you" and "me" could ever be used interchangeably, but... that makes a very BIG difference in interpretation.
Of course, no clowns here.
Posted by checkeredbow | Feb 21, 2016 3:56 PM | 0 comments
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