I think too much about this, so I decided to assemble my thoughts into a post. Lets go through the candidates.
Important Note: This is a sort of open post – if you read this and can think of another argument for or against any of the candidates, or think of another candidate you think should be on the list, let me know and I’ll add it with your username (if you want.) Lets see if we can’t collectively solve this mystery.
Or maybe Ishida will tell us next week and this will be a wasted effort. I am so entirely fine with that being the case.
Apparently spoilers for chapter 65, have Eto referring to Furuta as Kanou’s clown. That would definitely further push the idea that Furuta was Souta. Furuta and Eto are seemingly chatting merrily enough.
It would also explain what Souta shoved the metal bars on Rize, and in doing so basically gift wrapped her for Kanou’s experimental use. It could also explain Rize’s shock if they were both working for V at one point, and knew each other perhaps as children.
It could also explain why Furuta told Aogiri where to find Shirazu’sbody, since Kanou wanted a Quinx to experiment on.
I wonder if he was also Kanou’s mysterious bodyguard?
It also explains why Souta is often pictured with the birdcages Kanou was one of the first people to mention.
I don’t think there’s ever been enough of a theory there for a whole post about it.
See, back before Furuta burst onto the seen, especially the part where he cut Matsumae up while apologizing to MM-san, the question of “who the hell is Souta under that mask” had no clear answer at all.
So mostly everyone was just grasping at straws? Like if you go to the wiki and go back on the comments on the Souta page past where people are getting all excited about Furuta you can see what I’m talking about.
The suggestions are things like: What about Hirako? He’s… notable and mildly suspicious maybe? Oh! We haven’t seen Dr. Chigyou’s eyes – could it be him?
Out of all of these baseless speculations that emerged pre- Furuta’s (re)introduction, the least baseless was that Souta might be Yoshitoki Washuu.
It’s less baseless mainly because their hair kind of matches. Like that was the number one reason that Yoshitoki kept showing up on top of the list of suspects. But Yoshitoki’s hair is pretty much just Furuta’s hair, parted on the other side, minus the use of a straightener.
But without Furuta, Yoshitoki is the strongest candidate, and you can start finding clues to support it.
Like that checker patterned shirt – obviously, we know that the checker pattern isn’t exclusive to the Washuu clan – It’s in Yamori’s torture room and on the floor of HySy as well. But it also appears in association with Director and Chairman Washuu, so if you are looking for reasons it could be him, there’s that.
Souta’s build also matches Yoshitoki’s pretty well. Souta stands up very straight, shoulders back. This is kind of the standard way that Yoshitoki stands. It isn’t how Furuta stands most of the time, but when he does stand that way, Souta’s broad shoulders start to match up much better –
We get a lot about how Yoshitoki isn’t like his father or his son, and there is a panel of him laughing and drinking canned coffee (though really, it’s Marude drinking the coffee), so again, without any better alternatives, a lot of people had him down at the top of the list.
By far the best thing that comes out of any discussion of the is-Souta-Washuu-Yoshitoki theory is that someone will inevitably bring up the fact that Ami is depicted as vain and would not have dated someone as old as Yoshitoki, at which point the conversation inevitably degrades into a discussion of just how much of a DILF Washuu Yoshitoki is.
The answer is very much. The utter fuckability of Director Washuu Yoshitoki is not what makes this theory less likely than the Furuta one.
One good argument against this theory is that there is no way in hell that Director Yoshitoki just wasn’t around or available during the simultaneous planned raid on the 11th ward Aogiri base and the surprise attack on Cochlea. Like if the Director was missing because he was out there with a mask on joking around with Nico Nee-san, that would have been suspicious as all hell.
We actually get a discussion between Marude and Yoshitoki about the aftermath of that night, and while neither of them mention where Yoshitoki was specifically, considering how demanding Marude can be and how close he is with Yoshitoki, if no one could find Yoshitoki, I think that might have come up?
There is also the fact that Souta calls Nico “Nee-san” or “Big Sis” to begin with. All the old person jokes people make about Nico aside, Yoshitoki is almost certainly their senior. And while I suppose Souta could be hiding his age from everyone, that’s kind of hard to do – age is betrayed by most every inch of skin, as well as voice and movement.
Plus, while Souta’s mannerisms don’t line up exactly with Furuta’s, they are will within the range of his many acts. It isn’t at all a stretch to think that Furuta would lore dislikable people into an arena to get ripped apart while wealthy upperclass ghouls make fools of themselves slobbering over the display. In fact, it is very much in character, considering how he treats his “teammates” and what he says to Matsumae.
But if it’s Yoshitoki, then Souta is a completely different side from anything we’ve seen. In fact, Yoshitoki is specifically characterized as mild and easy to get along with compared to his father and son.
There is definitely something up with Washuu Yoshitoki – there is something up with the whole Washuu family, plus whatever infighting they have going on – but I don’t think it’s that he’s also secretly leading the Clowns.
That said, I am still totally up for a CCG civil war when the Washuu family conflict finally boils over in the middle of some shit going down with Eto revealing their ties to V. I have sides all mapped out and everything.
#TeamYoshitoki
(never pass up the opportunity to make fun of one of Marvel’s overblown marketing campaigns, I always say.)
So after months or even years of theorizing, Ishida has finally revealed how RC scanners work! (Or at least a part of it).
Apparently, ghoul’s ‘RC’ cells somehow have different ‘patterns’ or ‘frequencies’ which can be detected and monitored. The RC scanners are made to ‘ignore’ a few of these signals, which is practical since you don’t want the scanner to sound the alarm due to Investigators carrying Quinques. (I head canon that for every ghoul who has been killed/has their kakuhou made into a quinque, the RC cell scanner will ‘ignore’ their ‘pattern.’ Which begs the question if a ghoul escaped Cochlea and investigators were still using their kakuhou as Quinques, would the RC scanners still ‘detect’ the ghouls? Anyways, I digress.)
However, the main reveal is that ghouls from the organization ‘V’ will also have their ‘frequencies’ ignored, which explains how Eto is able to walk into the CCG headquarters without sounding the alarm. It also is pretty practical if you think about it–and only highlights the fact that ‘V’ are a bunch of arrogant hypocrites.
Then, how is Kaneki able to pass through the scanners? Well, he got his kakuhou from Rize…who turns out to also be running from V.
In fact, she was a part of V before she defected, so I guess that’s one step closer to unearthing who she really is.
Additionally, this reveal also supports (or at least accommodates) the Souta = Furuta theory. Since we now know Furuta works for V (probably as a mole), he could technically be a ghoul, since we know the RC scanners won’t work for him. So it does make sense that Touka would mistake Furuta for Kaneki since they smell similar (or at least ‘Ghoul-like.’)
Furuta and a ghoul, huh? I initally thought that would be impossible but this chapter taught us so much. Now that you mention it, if he really is a ghoul then this statement is actually… a bit sad…
(He actually said “maneater” and not cannibal) It could mean that he thinks lowly of himself. I still don’t know if he just said that to spite Matsumae but, again, if he is really a ghoul than this statment of his would also apply to him. So does it mean he is so confident with his nature that he has no qualms saying that or could be that he feels “out-of-place” being a ghoul, I do wonder… He is also from Sunlit Garden and the most talented children are trained there. I really ask myself if there are also ghoul children trained there, which to be honest I think so. I mean Rize was so small when she ran away from V and considering that she was still such a young child I strongly asume she was from Sunlit Garden as well. So if both ghouls and humans are trained in SG it makes me scratch my head even more why he would say something like that (referring to the panel I just put there).We also do not see his face while he is saying that so I really do question what he truly thought when he said that to her.
What I also point out is this.
If Furuta knew Rize or at least got aquainted to her why has he so much joy into subduing her? Rize, in a way, got actually quite lucky. She had a great father, had a peaceful childhood (after the escape of course) and received proper care and parental love. Furuta, now that we know that he is from SG and grew up there, quite frankly didn’t receive such things (at least after his arrival in SG. Or it could also be that he lived there since his birth… although I doubt that). He had to train with other children, didn’t receive any proper affection there (I am looking at you Kaiko) and he probably had to face terrible obstacles at a very young age. I also find it strange that Arima, Hairu and Furuta all come from SG and they didn’t care jackshit for each other. Yes, Hairu was madly in love with Arima but he didn’t bother to notice her and Furuta (I am sure he knew that she was from SG I mean he knows everything) never truly commented about Hairu’s death or seemed to care at all. So I also think that the SG children never truly befriended each other, considering that they had to compete each other constantly (just look at Hairu: she always wanted to compete and show her strength off. And Arima, to me, seems to have fun in competing with other people. He also doesn’t understand why Hirako doesn’t care about fighting and competing at all) So my question is, or rather my assumption is, that he laughed while throwing the steal beams on her because he… was envious? I know, it sounds childish and it is still too soon to assume anything, but I can’t shake off that thought… What do you think about that?
Oh, but it would at least explain why he was at the ghoul restaurant….
Relatable FE Quote or Something 