Hanime on Anime’s Character of the Month of July: Ken Kaneki

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s August.  Know what that means?  That’s right! It’s time to reveal July’s Character of the Month!  This month’s decision was pretty tough; I had at least two other nominees in the running.  But this one grew on me a bit.  So enough with the story and onto July’s Character of the Month: Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul.

Kaneki is the main protagonist of the fairly new anime Tokyo Ghoul.  A quiet, book loving college student, Kaneki lived a pretty mundane life.  However, that all changed one fateful night when he went out on date with a girl named Rize, who is a ghoul.  After being attacked by Rize, Kaneki tries to escape to a construction site, but both of them are crushed by iron bars that fall on them.  Rize dies, and Kaneki survives- with a bit of a memento.  During an emergency surgery that would save Kaneki’s life, Rize’s organs are transferred to Kaneki-so technically, Rize is still alive (sort of).  This procedure turns Kaneki into a half-human, half-ghoul being called a One-Eyed Ghoul.  The plot of Tokyo Ghoul from that point onward follows Kaneki’s struggle to adjust to life as a ghoul while still clinging to his human half.  However, if any of you reading this have been keeping up with the series, you’ll know that One-Eyed Ghouls are extremely rare and, to some, are considered a delicacy-especially Shuu Tsukiyama, whom I’ve confirmed to be an absolutely mental case.  Currently though, there is certainly more in store.  After all, this series came out in early July, so there is certainly more to come- unless you read the manga, then you know what’s coming.

So with details and spoilers aside, why do I like Kaneki?  I have to say hands down that Kaneki is a very complex character.  Look at all the crap he has to deal with!  After going through the date from hell-and a completely new meaning to the term “date rape”-, he now has to deal with a whole new life that forces him to be- in his mind- a cannibal.  It’s a lot to take in, and it’s a huge struggle for Kaneki.  One of the best examples of this happens in the first episode.  Kaneki stops dead center in a crosswalk as a huge crowd of people pass by.  All that is going through Kaneki’s mind is, “Food!”  And after a frantic rush back to his apartment and the realization as to what he has become, he curls up into a ball and thinks, “What the hell do I do now?”  It certainly draws some sympathy.  Not only that, what also makes it worse is the fact that Rize gets involved.  Remember, Rize may be dead, but her organs are in Kaneki.  So from time to time, Rize tends to pay Kaneki a visit in the form of the urge to eat human flesh.  One of the biggest and most suspenseful moments in Tokyo Ghoul involves Rize trying to convince Kaneki to eat his best friend Hide.  Yes, with all the examples and rambling I’ve done, it proves that Kaneki is pretty complex.  However, I’m expecting more from Kaneki as the series progresses.

So to top this off, Kaneki is certainly deserving of Character of the Month.  He’s a quiet yet complicated character that has kept this eager Tokyo Ghoul watcher watching his every move.  Though I don’t recommend you get a celebratory bite to eat- though I recommend you see a therapist-, go celebrate anyway, Ken Kaneki, because you’re Hanime on Anime’s Character of the Month!  And with that much said, that’s all I have.  Stay posted for more!

-Hanime on Anime

And for kicks and giggles, here is one of the many pictures that I took at MechaCon last weekend.  As many of you will remember, there was no post this past Sunday because of this.  I cosplayed as Ed from Cowboy Bebop and Schrödinger from Hellsing Ultimate.  This one below is my Schrödinger cosplay.