cordelyaa

short comic of “MeroKuro” siblings

theres 2 more ending i made too.

So excited for the new episode tmr

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 :’)

Honestly, I love the way Ishida is treating Ui. In terms fo feeling consequence and character change, I will maintain that Ui Koori is one of the most tightly written characters in Tokyo Ghoul. 

As a quick example, in terms of show don’t tell all of the CCG characters are obviously suffering under the brutality of Furuta’s regime. However, this is Urie’s physical appearance and reaction to it.

Let’s become terrorists, (hairflip) as long as I can remain beautiful.

Here’s Suzuya Juuzou in 100, before Furuta even became chairman, and here is Suzuya Juuzou in 141, when he’s leading a death march against the woman he recognizes, and possibly knows left flowers at Shinohara’s funeral.

Uncannily, he’s even making the exact same expression. Tokyo Ghoul is full of characters right now who are delaying the inevitable and not really quite facing consequences for their actions, the entire arc leading up to this has just been a case of delay, delay, delay. While there are thematic reasons for that, it also has the characters come off as a bit stagnant and unchanging. 

Furuta even monologues about how beautiful and unphased he looks after getting away scot-free from an attempted coup against him. It makes me wonder if this is supposed to be intentional. 

Then there is Ui, it’s completely inarguable that Ui hasn’t changed. I mean, just look at him.

Ui’s changed so much and so recognizably from the man we were presented at the start of the series. We’ve seen him throw away justice, and all the things he formerly stood for and it’s so clear and easy to read that it becomes reflected in everything, his coloration, his posture, his eyes and hair.  

That pacing between consequences and change in his character is so tight. Not only do we see bad things happen to Ui, but he reacts to them rather than sitting on it for about 100 chapters like the rest of Tokyo Ghoul has a tendency to do (It’s been about 40 chapter’s since Nishiki mentioned Kimi even though she’s probably his sole motivation in the manga).

This is how tightly Ui’s character is paced, 121: One Will Hang we see him presented with a choice.

122 we see the result of that choice, and without any need for narration or even a scene of him monologuing his indecision at all we are able to understand perfectly what Ui is thinking, and what choice he made. 

Compare this to characters like Suzuya Juuzou who’ve had much more screentime and even time for personal thoughts in the arc, but most people have a hard time figuring out what his internal motivations are and what side he is on. That’s not a dig on Suzuya’s character, the two are just written differently. Suzuya keeps his cards to his chest, and Ui tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve no matter how hard he represses them. 

So the way that Ui is treated as a character and transformed makes perfect sense to me, because Ui is so emotional it makes sense we see him be affected the most by the CCG’s changes.

Kiyoko even says so, that Ui is actually a sensitive person but he’s able to adopt the attitude and tenacity of an investigator really well. He’s sensitive to the changes around him, but tries to cover up for that by becoming an investigator instead. In that sense he becomes the standin for all of the CCG members who try to put their emotions aside and act only as investigators. His changes reflect the changes in the CCG body as a whole.

High-res Assets for Riddle Rosehearts - Overblot

FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN ARMY SOLDIERS AND INFO ABOUT THEM

As here and there people has seemed to be confused by the Japanese ranking system in the Army here there’s an easy to use visual that shows how high each character is and, below the cut, some info about them.

What would Beerus's relationship have been like with the brothers of the supreme Kaioshin?

The Dragon Ball Daima anime recently premiered, revealing that Supreme Shin has younger siblings.

In this post I will discuss how I imagine Beerus's interaction with Shin's brothers. It is not necessary that they are linked by the rank of gods but in a case of hospitable coexistence.

We know that Beerus will never get to interact with them because this happens before the Dragon Ball Super arc. So this would be considered a headcannon for me.

Beerus and Degesu

Degesu would probably be a sycophant. He would tell Beerus how powerful he is and that he could be the best God of Destruction.

At first Bill would be flattered and get along with Degesu. However, Degesu's thought of killing would be something Beerus would not accept.

Degesu would try to make him see that he is better than his older brother Shin and that he should choose him as a partner but Beerus would point out that his thoughts on life is the reason why he would never accept him.

Beerus and Arinsu

They wouldn't get along, or rather, Beerus would consider her a nuisance.

Arinsu would always look for a reward. Although Beerus would support her at first, he would get lazy over time. Arinsu's threats would be something worrying.

She would probably threaten to kill Shin since she would know about the life bond. Beerus would be scared at first but would not hesitate to kill her.

Bill and Shin

Without a doubt, both make a good couple, in the sense of life ties.

While Beerus is a lazy person, Shin is a caring person but prefers not to intervene unless the situation requires it.

Although they don't get along very well, they do understand each other. Beerus is hated by the other gods, while Shin often feels inferior to the other universes because he became Supreme Kaiosama when he was very young, not to mention that he doesn't consider himself powerful.

happy to share our finished nine page comic featuring ken for @/hamukozine hosted on twitter!🥚❄️

(art by me, script by @sunkitty143)