tokyoghoulanalysis:

Hi! Do you mind if I share this thing I wrote about Ayato, Touka and their symbolism with Rabbits and Birds? I read your analysis of them, so I thought you may be interested. It’s pretty long, though and I can’t put images in it because I suck with computers (and I don’t know if I can submit them). I am probably not saying anything unknown or original, but still…

Rabbits

I have read many good metas about the symbolism of rabbits and I am taking inspiration from them.

These are some:

-Tokyo Ghoul Wisdom’s about Touka and Ayato’s masks which concentrates on the meaning of loneliness, family and links the black rabbit theme to the theme of death since some superstitions say that if you see a black rabbit death is close.

–drowningintheories’s one about Touka the Rabbit and Kachikachi mountain legend which is amazing and shows how Touka’s rabbit theme is linked to revenge.

I think all these metas are amazing and I will not repeat all what’s written in them (I would probably do a poor job as well if I did it), so if someone is interested they can read them directly.

Rabbits are generally connected to the idea of family and this is certainly an important theme for both Touka and Ayato since their story starts when they lose theirs. They are also family to each others despite all that’s happened.

Both Ayato and Touka like rabbits as we can see in their profiles. We don’t know why, but at least for Ayato that was a sign he still cared for his sister. As we know Touka loved rabbits even as a small child since she is seen wearing a rabbit-shaped pin, so Ayato liking them could be because he associates them with his sister.

What’s more, it’s not by chance Ayato starts wearing his rabbit mask after the battle with Kaneki where he is forced to acknowledge his tie with his sister. Wearing the mask not only let him protect his sister, but it also means he has accepted his feelings towards her which he was trying to suppress before.

Now let us consider their profiles.

Touka likes rabbits and school life and hates idiots, ghoul investigators and classical literature.

Ayato likes rabbits, tropical fish and brawls and he hates ghoul investigators and weaklings.

They both like rabbits and hates investigators. These are common points highlight the fact that the two siblings are still connected to each other. Their hate for ghoul investigators represents their shared past and their love for rabbits their link as brother and sister.

Rabbits representing a link or a strong bond is not strange if you think at the saying “rabbits can die of loneliness”. From what I understood it’s not that a rabbit will die if it’s alone, but rabbits can form strong bonds with each others and if a rabbit dies or disappears its partner feels it and can become stressed or depressed.

So choosing rabbits to represent the siblings’ bond makes sense since theirs is a very strong one which isn’t broken so easily.

At the same time rabbits’ behaviour when their partner disappears perfectly describes Touka’s reaction when Ayato and Kaneki left and Ayato’s when Hinami was captured.

However, rabbits being connected to family and to bonds is not understandable from outside and investigators associate their alias to two negative meanings which are vengeance and death.

Touka’s white rabbit is associated with the rabbit of the legend of Kachikachi mountain which takes revenge for a friend of his. In-universe the white rabbit ghoul is seen as an avenger as well.

Ayato’s black rabbit on the other hand is seen as a ghoul who hunts and kills a large number of investigators. He is clearly more dangerous than the white rabbit and I think he can perfectly being associated with death.

Hide makes this distinction clear while comparing Touka and Ayato. He says that White Rabbit’s actions were driven by revenge and focused on certain targets while the Black Rabbit attacked and killed indiscriminately.

What investigators miss is that both Touka and Ayato’s actions have a hidden meaning.

It’s true that Touka wanted revenge for Hinami and even more for herself, but she was also trying to kill all the people who had seen Hinami’s face to avoid her being sent to the 24th ward which is often described as hell.

As for Ayato it’s true he is trying to become stronger and to prove his strength like Demon Yamada, but he is also protecting his sister.

In short Touka and Ayato both decided to take the Rabbit alias in order to protect someone, but by doing so they ended up being associated with violent themes and werecaught in the cycle of violence. Their rabbits selves are masks they put on and not who they truly are. Thus when they are unmasked they are associated by others with different animals which are birds.

Birds

Ayato and Touka have been associated with birds because of their kagune. Ayato talks about Touka’s wounded wing and Kaneki compares Ayato to a bird locked in a cage during their fight.

What’s more, they are associated with the little bird they found and took care of as children. I could think of two meanings for Chunta (but there are probably more).

1) Their relationship with Chunta may mirror their relationship with other characters.

Touka took care of him and fed him only to be left and hurt by him in the end. She also took care of Ayato, Hinami and to a certain extent Kaneki and was left by all of them. We know that even if they didn’t hurt her physically when they left she was deeply affected by being left behind. What’s more, all these three characters like Chunta were trying to find freedom and their own way and place in the world.

Ayato is the one Chunta got attached to and the one who insisted for going back and freeing him. We know that when he gets attached to someone Ayato will always go to help them even if this isn’t rational or goes against his objectives. This was shown during the auction when he left Big Madam to go help Naki or when he wanted to go back to help Hinami. Now there is the fact he wants to free Hinami (whose name means little bird) from Cochlea.

Another little thought about Ayato’s relationship with birds. It seems birds are really fond of him for some reason. We were shown Chuunta loved him and the calendar shows us a picture of Ayato with a chicken enjoying itself on his shoulder. Considering the birdcage theme in TG I wonder if the fondness birds show him mirrors the role of middle management he has taken up in Aogiri. I think the majority of Aogiri mooks are pretty desperate and ignorant ghouls who joined the organization out of necessity or following the promise of a better world, so in a sense you could say they are birds in the birdcage as well.

2) Chunta may be a associated with a part of themselves the two siblings lost when their father disappeared.

Touka may have lost her willingness to fly (metaphorically speaking of course). After that day (in which we must remember she killed for the first time) and because of Chunta she developed ornitophobia which is ironic if you think that she is associated with birds as well, but it becomes sad if you think at the fact she has shown traces of self-loathing many times. Her fear for birds may symbolize her fear and hate for her ghoul side as well considering her kagune is winged. In short what she lost is the ability to accept and love herself fully and until she doesn’t do it she may not be able to show her full potential and to freely take flight.

Ayato lost his trust towards others after he was betrayed by Satou. After that experience he wasn’t able to interact with others (be it his sister, humans or ghouls) the way he used to. He started acting like Chunta who hurt Touka because of fear despite the fact the little girl had helped him up until that moment.

In short the two siblings are two little birds in the birdcage which is the world and they have taken two completely different viewpoints about their situations.

Ayato’s viewpoint in TG is the one many other characters have taken. When he met Touka again he made it clear he wanted to change the world. In other words he wanted to destroy the birdcage.

Touka’s viewpoint is pretty original and we get a glimpse of it while she talks with Kaneki about Loser. She notices how the bird is pitiful all crumpled in the cage, but she also reflects on the fact that the world outside the cage is difficult to live in. These words describe perfectly the difficult relationship man has with society. Sure society can be oppressive and destroy the single man, but what would we do without it? I think Touka’s thoughts show the limit of Eto’s vision which simply wants to destroy the current status quo without thinking (or caring) about what to do after.

A LITTLE EXTRA: TOUKA AND AYATO’S PROFILE

The two siblings profiles are symmetric and at the same completely opposites.

Some considerations:

1) Touka has two things she likes and three she hates while Ayato has two he hates and three he likes. Their symmetry keeps going.

2) As said above they share one thing they like and one they hate and these two things are linked to their past and family.

3)Touka likes school life and hates idiots while Ayato likes brawls and hates weaklings. It seems to me as if in this way Touka has been associated with knowledge while Ayato with strength. This describes perfectly their respective choices. Thus, Touka decided to learn about the world and pursued knowledge while Ayato decided he wanted to change the world and to protect his sister and pursued strength.

And that’s all! I hope you enjoyed it and I am sorry if some parts are redundant or confusing.