Tokyo Ghoul √A - S2E3 - Hangman

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Previously on Tokyo Ghoul √A , “Dancing Flowers”

It’s been a long time since Hide got any screen time, and he was finally called off the bench. He plays anchor for an episode that spends most of its time getting the pieces in place for what comes next. Previously, these types of episodes have struggled, but they manage to pull it off on the back of Hide. Hide plays both sides, while everyone can’t get Kaneki off their minds. 

Pop Quiz

Kaneki and Ayato’s raid is underway, and it’s a rescue mission. They halt and break up a police convoy as the grunts do clean-up. Before they can free their target, Kaneki and Ayato find Kuro and Shiro watching them from on top of a lamppost. They both pull out their kagunes, which are like Kaneki’s, but only three to his four. Kaneki manages to fend off all of their attacks before they fall back. They were only testing Kaneki to see if their “Papa” was right.

They unmask so that Kaneki can see they are also one-eyed ghouls, but disappear after Kaneki is distracted by a car exploding. When the transport catches fire, the ghoul inside launches out, attacking Ayato. After catching a power kick to the chest, Naki throws a fit. He’s a fiercely loyal member of Yamori’s gang who also happens to be annoyingly emotional.

Smarter Than You Think

Over at Toka’s place, she has given up on Kaneki, but Hinami is still holding out hope. She has been reading one of his favorite author’s books, and, as it so happens, the author, Takatsuki Sen, will be having a signing at the bookstore. At first, she wants Toka to go, but after a news report about the “eye patch” led raid turns Toka sour, she decides to go alone. Toka relents, but Koma shadows Hinami anyway. Feeling bad for Toka, Nishiki invites her on campus. After a half-assed tour of Kamii, he ditches her for his girlfriend and leaves her to wonder around. Toka finds herself staring at a missing poster for Kaneki when a boy takes it down to put an event poster up. They’re both shocked when Toka and Hide see each other.

The two of them grab a coffee and Toka asks how Kaneki used to be. We once again hear about how he used to read, but was more lonely after his mom passed. The real gem is that Kaneki was not only the lead of a play once, but was surprisingly good. This leads Hide to making a few veiled comments about Kaneki. He knows his friend, and between his intuition, and the peppered scenes of his investigating, he has it all put together. In his own way, Hide tries to let Toka know this is an act. Kaneki takes all the responsibility for what’s happening and puts it on his own shoulders. He can only hold in his feelings so long before he has to go somewhere and let it out. Something hits too close to home and Toka snaps to trying to defend Kaneki, but Hide is a crafty one. He not only realizes his friend has not only another friend, but she has feelings for him. At that point, Hide can’t hide how he feels.

On the way out, Hide leaves Toka with one tip. When Kaneki is hiding something, he always covers his chin. Toka is left with a smile, but as Hide gets further away, his disappears. His mind doesn’t stop. Meanwhile, at the bookstore, Hinami gets her copy of The Hanging Man signed by Takatsuki Sen. When Hinami mentions she wants it to be signed to Kaneki Ken, Sen takes an unusual interest in Hinami.

Digging For Gold

Back at work, Hide has a package for Seido, but uses it as an opportunity to dig for information. Hide can’t help it when he sees the file for Eye Patch open. Seido leads to Eye Patch through The Rabbit, but somehow that crosses over to Naki. Naki turns out to be an S-Rated ghoul, and as such, was being sent to the internment center in Cochlea’s 23rd Ward. Akira Mado shuts down the conversation as soon as she enters the room. Hide isn’t an investigator and isn’t to be trusted. He manages to skate out of the room, but he’s on Mado 2.0’s radar.

Suzuya makes his first appearance at the CCG lab with Shinohara. Here, they handle all quinque and Q bullet development, as well as ghoul research. Even though he admits how weak Yamori was at the time, Suzuya still gets credit for killing Yamori. As is customary, a kagune is made for Suzuya, from Yamori’s kagune.

Suzuya levels up and decides to try out his new weapon. He grabs his scythe and slices a huge block of quinque steel like butter. As Dr. Chigyo freaks out over the damage, Suzuya decides to name it “Juzo’s Jason.”

All Eyes On Me

Back with the Aogiri Tree, Naki just got the news Yamori is dead, and we’re treated to another scene of him throwing a fit. Ayato is rightfully disgusted, but Kaneki takes pity on Naki. They share an awkwardly tender moment that the One-Eyed Owl relishes in. She’s infatuated with Kaneki. Elsewhere, three grunts are gossiping while keeping watch. It’s widely known Eye Patch is widely strong, but word is just getting around about him feeding on Yamori. The third ghoul calls Kaneki by name before stabbing through the second ghoul, and guess who is back…

Kaneki has tasted the forbidden fruit and added even more spice with his cannibalism. The Gourmet can’t resist, but he’s not alone. Even though they think he’s sick, Banjo and his three ghouls are helping Tsukiyama. They hold the last ghoul in place while The Gourmet begins his interrogation.

At the 20th Ward CCG, Hoji and Seido debrief the crew on their investigation. They now know about Kaneki’s surgery, and the surgeon, but both are missing. When Kamii University is mentioned, Akira locks in, she’s on to Hide. Meanwhile, Hide and Toka are both at home thinking about Kaneki, who is on another mission. With Ayato and their crew, they set their sights on the 23rd Ward’s ghoul internment center, Cochlea.