When Kaneki died in front of Arima, what he sought was to die with style — to lose his life and be remembered as a good person by his friends. This, besides being harmful to him, is also selfish, because Kaneki shuts himself off from receiving help from others and never considers how he is perceived by them. Kaneki, in essence, is a person suffering from depression, trapped in the exact time and place to experience a tragedy. However, in the midst of that darkness, his philosophy of the absurd begins to emerge — a philosophy that runs throughout the entire story. Kaneki accepts that the world is cruel, illogical, and devoid of absolute meaning, yet despite that, he chooses to act, to fight, and to protect those he loves.
This philosophy can be reflected in the phrase “to keep moving forward like a centipede”: advancing step by step, no matter how many obstacles or wounds he encounters along the way, finding strength in daily perseverance in the face of absurdity and pain. His absurdism is not resignation but rebellion against meaninglessness — an act of affirmation of life, even as everything around him collapses.
In contrast, Furuta adopts absolute nihilism. For him, the world is a stage on which to play with the tragedies of others and his own. Life has no purpose or morality; his only goal is to impose his whimsical vision and prove that existence is fundamentally absurd. Furuta sees tragedy as a game and death — including Kaneki’s — as a tool to reaffirm his own sense of supremacy and control. While Kaneki seeks to give meaning to an absurd world through action and empathy, Furuta chooses to exploit its lack of meaning in order to destroy, manipulate, and dominate — becoming the protagonist’s antithesis.
The contrast between them becomes the philosophical core of Tokyo Ghoul. Kaneki, even while embracing the darkness and madness surrounding him, chooses to live with moral responsibility toward others, reconciling his humanity with his ghoul nature. Furuta, on the other hand, rejects all moral responsibility and sinks into a nihilism that seeks total chaos. In this clash of ideals, Kaneki’s absurdism becomes an act of creation: even in a cruel world, his life has value. Furuta, through his nihilism, seeks to prove that nothing has value at all.
Moreover, Kaneki’s obsession with death and his desire to “die with style” reflect an implicit selfishness: by focusing solely on his own suffering and on how he would be remembered, he blocks the possibility of receiving support from others, keeping himself trapped in emotional isolation. This perspective reinforces the complexity of his character — Kaneki is not only a victim of external circumstances but also of his own mind, torn between depression, self-criticism, and a deep sense of responsibility toward those he loves.
That is why, when Kaneki is reborn through Hide’s intervention and assumes his destiny in the physical world, he integrates all of his personalities and accepts his mistakes and tragedies. He no longer seeks to die with style; he now understands that to live — even without glamour or recognition — is a more meaningful act than any spectacular death. His path reflects the meaning of “moving forward like a centipede”: advancing step by step, rising after every fall, showing resilience in the face of adversity, and building meaning from the absurdity that surrounds him. Kaneki has transformed the absurd into meaning, while Furuta — his dark mirror — remains trapped in nihilism, incapable of empathy and forever detached from the sense of purpose that Kaneki has chosen to give his existence.
In conclusion, Kaneki is not merely a survivor; he is a philosopher of the absurd — a being who transforms tragedy into conscious action. This contrasts with Furuta, whose nihilistic vision turns tragedy into spectacle and chaos. This duality between absurdism and nihilism lies at the heart of Tokyo Ghoul’s message: life is cruel and lacks intrinsic meaning, but the way we choose to live and act in the face of that truth is what defines us.
Story: 9.4
Art: 10
Characters: 9.6
Enjoyment: 10
9.7/10 ⭐