tokyoghoulanalysis:

He’s one of the only characters you can call both your favourite investigator and your favourite ghoul. Seidou Takizawa is one of the most well designed and furthest developed characters in Tokyo Ghoul (excluding Kaneki and his transitions of course). Unfortunately, his “second best” reputation lives up to it’s name when it comes to analysis of his behaviour, characteristics and symbolic association, which I rarely see on the internet compared to other characters. So, I took it upon myself to analyse the amazing artificial owl.

CHARACTER OVERVIEW

Seidou was an ambitious student at the CCG Academy before becoming a full-fledged investigator. Later on in life, he was reunited through his job with his rival, Akira Mado; she was the only student that came above him in class ranks despite his efforts.
Although he was second best time after time, his spirit did not die. However, on a rare occasion, Seidou did have what could be described as a mental breakdown due to the overwhelming fear of death when writing a mandatory will.
In the Anteiku raid, Seidou fought strong until his arm was taken by Noro and he began bleeding intensely.
Seidou’s body was never recovered, and he was declared as killed in action. In :re, we find out that Seidou is in fact alive, yet no longer human.
Dr. Kanou had turned Seidou into an artificial One-Eyed Owl, and he is released to fight in the auction raid after he had been starved. He quickly began killing investigators remorselessly and displayed a great turn around in attitude and personality. His speech style and the very content of his sentences confirm this, along with his behaviour and mannerisms. His appearance has also drastically changed.
Takizawa also is seen mocking Ayato in a greenhouse where Aogiri members had gathered to talk about saving Hinami, which led to them having an argument. Takizawa obviously isn’t very stable, as he begins laughing to himself after seeing Ayato get so worked up during their debate.
In recent chapters, Seidou can be seen still as insane as ever. Shikorae and him killed Hachikawa, or as Seidou reffered to him, Hachiko. It is Seidou who suggests eating the investigator, and Shikorae agrees.

INTERPRETATION

It’s safe to say that Seidou, at one point over the three unseen years between Tokyo Ghoul and it’s sequel Tokyo Ghoul:re, has been tortured. The change in appearance and personality is a strong indicator of this, along with him admitting to being “used to” pain. His hair has turned completely white and his nails black (as did Kaneki after his torture), his lips have also turned black. The identity of the torturer is unknown, however Eto is the one most point fingers at.
Amongst his general insane rambling, Seidou talks about some very serious things. For example, he claimed that he ate his mother’s organs and went so far as to say they tasted good. As we haven’t seen Seidou’s mother since the first manga, we have no way to tell whether or not this is a side effect of trauma or the memory of an actual event. Either way, the fact he said this is seriously concerning.
Seidou also speaks about “the difference between 100 and 99” and “becoming your fear”, even killing someone because they didn’t listen to his “lecture”, and this tells us that he hasn’t entirely lost his past identity; he just displays it in a neurotic way.
Takizawa hasn’t changed to the severity that is suggested. Even during his argument with Ayato, he says it’s “funny” to see ghouls caring for each other. This is definitely the views he adopted as a student and investigator that haven’t been broken even after the ghoul-ification process. This is due to Seidou not empathizing with other ghouls in his attempt to achieve his own goals. As he feels no sympathy for them his viewpoint on them hasn’t changed (whereas Kaneki did sympathize with them and gained a new perspective).

SYMBOLS

HANDS
In his first appearance in :re and on the cover he featured on, Seidou can be seen with his fingers in his mouth. Both times – along with other panels of him displaying this behaviour – the fingers are those from his left hand, which suggests this is more of a symbol and less of a coincidence. 

The right hand is represented as assertiveness, mercy, logic and consciousness. The left hand mirrors this, symbolising passiveness, justice, emotion, death and unconsciousness. The fact that Seidou was biting down on his fingers may be indicating his control over themes associated with the left hand at that point in time (eg. controlling his emotions, having control over the life and death of others, controlling justice etc.). The biting of fingers can also be symbolic of regret, fury, rage and anger.
Also, while he was a human his left arm was severed, and when he was a ghoul it was his right hand, possibly symbolising loss of control over assimilated characteristics in those particular situations.

It may also be noted that in a recent chapter, Takizawa was seen making a symbol with his left hand. Although this symbol is widely recognised to be associated with the devil in Christian views, in Buddhism (and Hinduism) this is actually a good symbol believed to ward off demons. This is interesting because Seidou is associated with the Devil tarot card, and a kanji in his name may represent Buddhism.

PINEAPPLES

A long time ago when pineapples had just been discovered by Europe, they were very hard to grow in their conditions and it took them nearly 200 years just to get the hothouse method right for growing pineapple plants. Pineapples were seen as a delicacy back in the 1600’s because of this, King Charles II even had an official painting made of him receiving a pineapple as a gift (which was at the time symbolic of royal privilege).
We can relate this to Takizawa, as Dr. Kanou had made many failed attempts at creating half-ghouls before, and having one turn out so well and strong was a rare success. The fact that the pineapple has ties with royalty may be indicating Takizawa knows the One-Eyed King.
Funnily enough, there is a pest against pineapples known as symphyla. They are also called pseudocentipedes, literally meaning “fake centipedes” due to having the appearance of a centipede despite not being one. This may be relevant to the fight between Sasaki and Seidou in the Auction raid, where although Sasaki looks like Kaneki and has his body, he is not really Kaneki.

TAROT CARDS

The Devil (15 upright)
Bondage: Accepting an unwanted situation, feeling tied down against your will, being obsessed.
Materialism: Being caught up in appearances, overindulging the senses, believing only in the physical and forgetting the spiritual.
Ignorance: Being unaware, fearing the unknown, operating with a narrow range, experiencing limitation.
Hopelessness: Despairing, believing the worst, lacking faith, foreseeing a bleak future, thinking negatively, doubting.

NOTE: CARD DEPICTS MAN TURNING PARTIALLY INTO A DEMON AS A RESULT OF GIVING IN TO TEMPTATION. RELEVANT TO SEIDOU’S TRANSFORMATION.

Opposing cards:
Fool – having faith, believing.
Star – hope, faith, optimism.
Four of Wands – freedom, release.
Six of Cups – good will, innocence, simple joys.
Ten of Cups – joy, peace, blessings.

Supporting cards:
Seven of Cups – overindulgence, dissipation.
Eight of Swords – confusion, restriction.
Nine of Swords – despair, lack of joy.

THE CHARIOT (7 upright)
Victory: Reaching goal, winning, success, dominance, beating the competition.
Will: Determined to succeed, focusing intent, sustaining an effort, fixing a goal.
Self assertion: Ego focused, established identity, confidence, looking out for your interests.
Control: Mastering emotions, showing authority and power, getting your way, maintaining discipline.

Opposing cards:
Strength – soft control
Hanged Man – accepting God’s will, putting others first.
Tower – defeat, humbling experience.
Eight of Swords – confusion, self-doubt.
Ten of Swords – powerless, in the pits, putting others first.

Supporting cards:
Magician – using your will, concentrating.
Two of Wands – being in authority, dominating.
Six of Wands – triumph, self-confidence.
Four of Pentacles – control.
Nine of Pentacles – self-control, discipline.

TOKYO GHOUL TRUMP DECK

Human:

Although Seidou is depicted as a six of clubs, his birthday (September 10) relates his to the ace of diamonds, which is somewhat less fitting of his personality, apart from the ambition. 

However in the official deck, this card is taken by Tsukiyama Shuu.

Ghoul:

It is said that red/coloured jokers are superior to black/uncoloured jokers. In the first released trump deck, Juuzou Suzuya, Arima Kishou and Seidou Takizawa were the three jokers. Arima’s card was entirely black, Juuzou’s card had some colour to it in small amounts and Seidou’s card had by far the most red on it. In recent chapters, Juuzou is said to perhaps be strong enough to overtake Arima one day, which makes sense with the coloured card=superiority thing. However, this would also signify that Seidou is the most superior out of the three. Well, he is a ghoul after all. Also, that would make Seidou number one for the first time ever.

NAME

Takizawa Seidou -滝澤 政道
滝 – May be read as “waterfall” or “rapids”.
澤 – “Swamp” (seems odd to use this kanji after “waterfall”).
政 – Translated as “rule” or “government”.
道 – Read as “road”, “way”, “journey”, “Buddhist teachings” or “Taoism”.

The Japanese word “seidou”, depending on the kanji, can be read as:
– (Confucian) temple, church, sanctuary, shrine.
– Bronze.
– Path of righteousness, path of duty, right track, correct path.
– Vocal tract.
– Politics.
– Refined copper.
– Vitality.

IRONY

The plain irony with Seidou is the most tragic aspect of his character; he wanted to become an investigator to protect his mother from ghouls, and then he allegedly ate her after becoming one himself. He went from having humane morals and maintaining order to a state of psychosis. He stopped fearing and became fearless by transforming into what he hated most.

YOU’VE ALMOST REACHED THE END

With the revelation of many parts of the story – past and present – I wonder if we will get to see just what happened to Seidou during all those years. It’s also questionable if his sanity will return, or if he will live long enough for there to even be a chance for recovery. As the chapters progress, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say I want to see more of Seidou.

If I’ve left something out, not noticed something you have or you just have something you’d like to say, be sure to tell me. Same goes if you have any questions or a request.

As always, thank you for reading.