Tokyo Ghoul: Season 1/ Episode 7 "Captivity" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

With Ryoko’s death begins Toka’s call for war in which she enacts the first attack.

Review (with Spoilers)

With Ryoko’s murder by the hands of Mr. Mado comes the question of not only why there is a ghoul genocide against those like Ryoko, but also what happens to ghouls who retaliate? Though those questions aren’t the sole ones which bubble up. Focusing on Mr. Mado, there lies the question of how did he become a boss despite seeming rather unethical? Also, with him and Amon not being ghouls, what is powering their Quinques? For more on what goes on in this episode, look below.

Topic 1: Goodbye Mommy – Hinami & Kaneki

With Kaneki finding Hinami, she decides to not do as her mom says and go back to Anteiku but instead she drags Kaneki to where her mom is. Leading to her hearing her mom die as Kaneki watches in horror. Now, how do they both not get caught by either Amon or Mr. Mado is unknown to me, but either way they are very lucky to have gotten back to Anteiku safe, all things considered.

Topic 2: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Toka, Amon, and Mr. Mado

But with the knowledge that one of their own was killed, Toka calls for retaliation. Something Yoshimara isn’t for since he wants to keep the peace and not retaliate out of fear that it could lead to an increased dove presence. Thus leading to Toka readying to stage a one-woman war. Something she sort of accomplishes by taking out one of the doves, Kusaba, and she tries to go for a second dove named Nakajima, but Amon distracts her and then Mr. Mado shows up.

This leads to probably one of the most interesting battles yet on the show and we learn there are more categorizations of ghouls, such as Toka’s who is within the Ukaku kagune category. Which, as Mr. Mado explains, and you can learn about more in the link, is defined by fighters with kagune who seek quick finishes for they don’t have that high of stamina for long drawn out fights. Something which we see in Toka’s battle with Mr. Mado who has this weird quinque which looks like a sword whip. And being that Toka isn’t able to finish Mr. Mado off quickly, nor has Kaneki’s flesh still empowering her, she ends up getting injured. Something which Yoshimara treats with an air of indifference since he told her not to retaliate (2).

Meanwhile, back at Dove headquarters, the investigations into the ghouls and their activities continue as we learn that Jason is part of some ghoul organized crime group, likely within the 11^th ward. Meaning that as Amon and Mr. Mado finish up their investigation in the 20^th, it could mean them shifting focus soon. Though this isn’t likely until Hinami is caught and killed. But while there is talk about the future for Amon, there is also mention of the past of Mr. Mado.

Now, Mr. Mado has long been established as an off-putting freaky type of dude who seems like the type of ghoul the doves would hunt down, but what isn’t fully established is how he got into the position of becoming a superior? Well, an unnamed character, after the moment of silence for Kusaba, mentions if it wasn’t for one thing then Mr. Mado would be an assistant special investigator. Assumingly a lower rank than what he is now. Either way, as we learn more and more about Amon, and get a comfortable idea where his head is, it makes the mystery behind Mr. Mado, and his quinque, increasingly curious.

Topic 3: Taking Sides – Toka and Kaneki

Being that Kaneki is mixed between ghoul and human, the idea of killing doves isn’t favorable to him, yet at the same time he doesn’t just want to be on the sidelines as Toka wages a one-woman war and he just waits to see if she lives or dies (1). So, he decides he is going to join her in some capacity. Thus leading to them seeing Uta to finally get his mask. One which is so bad ass that it almost makes Kaneki look fearsome, despite him still barely being able to fight much less use his kagune.

Things to Note

1. Toka is so surprised he cares about her that it is kind of cute.
2. It should be noted, based off something Yoshimara says when he tells Toka he doesn’t want her, nor Yomo, involved in retaliating, that he talks about not getting hung up in revenge and stop living. Something Toka takes personally. Possibly alluding to why maybe she often seems so introverted. Maybe the reason we don’t see her parents is because they both died and the person who took care of her, before Yoshimara, was a human who made her feel so ugly and disgusting that it led to when Kimi gave her a compliment, that is why it stunned her so much. She never heard a single human compliment her, and now this cute human did.