saaaaan. do you think after this chapter it is alright to consider arima as sadistic??? ;~; because if you ask me, he has shown so many different sides of him that just one image isnt enough to make me write me off as evil incarnate. what do you think???

I absolutely agree, he’s been shown from too many other angles to be defined by this scene alone. Especially since I think rather than the true Arima, we saw a distorted version of him created by Haise’s fears. This said, my opinion on those panels is that most of what we were shown was a hallucination with a certain twisted truth to it. Like how Haise’s fear of Arima killing him is justified, but would it really happen so cruelly?

Why an illusion, what are the roots of it and a bit more about Arima’s character more like manga caps of Arima smiling under the cut.

Roots

Before looking at the scene that unfolded in ch. 52 I’d like to go back to Kaneki and the TG scenes that I find as bases for what happens with Haise.

The most tightly connected scene from TG seems to be the sewer one, where Kaneki hallucinates his “parental” ghoul figures attacking him and making into reality one of his biggest fears: being eaten by the inhumane inside and becoming a monster.



ch.136, pg.12



Alone the appearance of the two figures is frightening, as their forms are exaggerated, giving them even more the image of something scary.



The second scene that I think has an impact on the current situation, is Kaneki’s training with Banjou. In his efforts to motivate Banjou to fight back and survive, Kaneki resorted to using offensive words and his and Banjou’s fears. Kaneki believed using fear and a fearsome figure are good methods to make someone motivated to unleash their power:

ch.88, pg.4-5



In :re, we see a figure that’s supposed to be Arima using the same strategy of threatening to make Haise fight back for his life.





Haise’s fears and Arima’s image

Just like Kaneki visualizes his fears and projects them into real people, especially his parental figures, it seems Haise does the exact same thing.





:re, ch.52, pg.1



In ch.3 Kaneki confronts Haise about his place in CCG, how he’s being used and one day will be disposed of after they are done with him. “You are my quinque” seems to refer to this fear of being thrown away as a person and used as a weapon after Sasaki is no longer “valuable”.

:re, ch.3, pg.20







As for why Haise hallucinates Arima is the one to threaten him:

:re, ch.1, pg.20



Sasaki considers Kishou for a father figure, but has his doubts Arima views him as someone close.



Since it’s so hard to read Arima and his emotions, it’s normal for Sasaki to have his doubts about Kishou’s intentions and actions. Especially since the two also seem to have had some sort of confrontation in the past, while Haise was part of the S3 squad:

:re, ch.38, pg.16



We see Sasaki calls for Arima, but the reason is unknown. Did he remember something painful concerning V14? Does he want Kishou’s help?







Furthermore, Kaneki is seen to have negative emotions towards Arima, as his text suggests.

And this scene and words were most likely influenced from Kaneki’s memories:

:re, ch.52, pg.3



Both Sasaki and Kaneki fear Arima and associate him with someone who can kill if it comes to it. But while Haise seems to have warmer feelings towards Arima and views him as a parental figure, Kaneki sees him as someone who killed him once and is ready to kill Kishou if he needs to. Because of their difference in emotions, a conflict between Haise and Kaneki arises, which leads to this scene that is very similar to how Kaneki felt in the sewers:

:re, ch.52, pg.4



(On a side note Haise’s warmer emotions are understandable, because he does not know of the past situation in V14. For him, Arima has always been a guidance figure that has helped him. But Sasaki fully well realizes Arima can turn against him if it comes to that)





Arima and ‘sadistic and massive’



Honestly, what first made me believe that this is an illusion is Arima actually saying those things. Even his stance when he threatens Sasaki with IXA seems weird to me, considering how he usually straight out attacks and aims for key strikes.



We are talking about the guy who was too modest to say he destroyed a ghoul with an umbrella:

:re, ch.31.5, pg.12



And who also didn’t acknowledge himself as extremely strong, but rather wondered if other’s really can’t catch up to him.

ch.73, pg.15



Would he actually say something as haughty as “you are my quinque” to another living person? No, this is Sasaki’s fear that Arima might see him as a potential object. If anything, Arima respects life, he thinks of ghouls as living creatures and is interested what makes them act this way:

JACK, ch.2



ch.139, pg.15







If we exclude the half-joke in Ishida’s words, I’d say yes, Arima is sadistic and massive. Concerning his appearance. Arima’s presence has always been overwhelming and threatening. On top of that, he’s earned himself a name, which just adds to his overall physical impression of being ‘sadistic and massive’. Speaking of his characteristics is a whole other story and is much more complex.

Arima never had a normal teenhood and most likely childhood if he comes from the Sunlit Garden, so the way he forms bonds may seem strange and unnatural to an average person.



But then we get a glimpse of how he acts with the people closer to him:

TG: JACK, Ch. 3, pg.36



:re, ch.49, pg.15



:re, ch.31.5, pg.10

:re, ch.31.5, pg.16

:re, ch.45, pg.11

He seems to be genuinely happy to spend time with them.



Don’t get me started on the shit he does with Hirako.



Not only that, but he is a person that cares for others:

JACK, ch.7, pg.20

TG, ch.119, pg.19-20



ch.141, pg.19



:re, ch.45, pg.11



One last thing I’d like to add is that this “make-believe“ family is just as important to him as it is to Sasaki. Without the Investigators who care about him, he’d be completely isolated. That’s why I believe he does care for Sasaki, since he gives a sense of belonging to Arima.



:re, ch.8, pg.13-14



In short:

Arima is isolated because of his overwhelming power and most likely his upbringing.



Arima can be socially awkward, but does his best and wants to bond with people.

Arima cares for people and protects them.



Arima may be different from everybody else because of his immense power, but just like others, he wants to find his way into society and connect with those around him on a personal level.

