Shuu Tsukiyama

**Shuu Tsukiyama** (月山 習, *Tsukiyama Shū*) was the infamous **Gourmet** (美食家, *Bishokuka*) ghoul of the 20th ward. He was a fourth-year student studying Social Welfare at the Department of Human Sciences at Seinan Gakuin University. He comes from the extremely wealthy and influential Tsukiyama family which his father, Mirumo Tsukiyama was the head of. Tsukiyama himself became the head of his family after the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation. He was also a member of the Ghoul Restaurant, known as **MM** until he betrayed them.

In *Tokyo Ghoul:re,* he joined Kaneki's group with the hidden intention of eating Ken Kaneki, obsessed with his scent and taste but eventually came to genuinely care for Kaneki. Two years later, his severe depression and anorexia after Kaneki's apparent demise left him emaciated and required constant care from his family servants. After finding out Kaneki was alive and meeting him, he recovers, being able to walk and eat on his own as well as take measures to help Kaneki regain his memories.

Sometime after the death of his cousin, Karren von Rosewald, he joined Goat as a direct subordinate of the One-Eyed King and joined the White Suits for a brief period of time and fought together with the other members of the organization during the Dragon War.

Six years after the war, he became one of the leaders of the organisation United Front together with Kazuichi Banjou and Ken Kaneki. He is later then recruited as a Peacekeeper by TSC, associated from TLF.

## Appearance

Tsukiyama is a tall, attractive, young man with a gentle look likened to his mother's. He considers himself fashionable and usually dresses in European attire, though his sense of style is questionable. He typically wears formal suits or semi-formal dress-shirts and long pants decorated with bold contrasting colors (usually red and purplish blue) and eccentric patterns such as stripes, flowers, or geometric shapes. His brightly blue hair was usually neatly combed, with a characteristic long fringe neatly swept towards the left. Upon his first appearance, Kaneki thought to himself that he looked like a model.

He possesses a mask shaped like a crescent moon as a reference to his name.

## Personality

In the beginning of *Tokyo Ghoul*, Tsukiyama appeared to be a confident, friendly, and intelligent ghoul. However, these were merely acts to lure his "prey" into the Ghoul Restaurant and to conceal his eccentric, cruel, and selfish personality. He considered himself a strong predator who would seek to devour the finest meals he made of his "prey" and would not hesitate to resort to any merciless tactics in order to achieve his goals. As a result, he was disliked by most ghouls in the 20th ward. His interest in European literature and language was shown in his gestures and mannerisms, his dialogue often peppered with random phrases of English, French, and Italian. Family associates have likened his intellectual gestures to those of his young father. (In the anime, he showed great anger towards others who disrespect his taste in food.) Tsukiyama felt insulted when Rize Kamishiro declined his invitation to join the Ghoul Restaurant, who mocked the "classy" eating habits of the restaurant that resembled the humans'. Therefore, Tsukiyama bore grudges over Rize and called her a "pig" for ridiculing his taste in food. He had poor control over his emotions, with intense outbursts or "meltdowns" especially when it came to losing something important or failing to capture his "gourmet target." During times when he was calm and rationale, he seemed to be quite intelligent and often came up with strategies to help his comrades. He compared himself to a noble "knight," especially later when in the service of Kaneki. Besides food, he also enjoys reading, fashion, and playing the piano.

In the earlier series of *Tokyo Ghoul*, Tsukiyama seemed to have little understanding of others' feelings and how relationships worked. He called his only human friend Chie Hori a "pet," in order to rationalize his lack of interest in eating her. He also did not understand Nishiki Nishio's feelings for Kimi Nishino and assumed that she might also just be a precious pet to him. Although he did not have many friends and generally not being well-liked by others, it was reflected during his first conversation with Kaneki that he actually wanted a good friend whom he could talk to share his interests with. However, he failed to acknowledge this and was revealed later in *Tokyo Ghoul* that he continued to consider his feelings of friendship and care towards Kaneki as a mere pursuit of "gourmet food." Despite his poor social skills, he occasionally showed genuine care towards people he valued. For example, he tried to cheer up Kaneki after his breakdown at Kanou's lab, brought flowers to please Hinami Fueguchi when she was feeling down, and gave encouraging words to Kanae when he first joined Tsukiyama's family.

As the story progresses, his personality underwent significant changes as a result of his encounter with Kaneki's group and lengthy depression later on. The deterioration of his health damaged his mental state and caused him to suffer terrifying bouts of violence. To address these, his servants resorted to drugging him to keep him calm. When he was calmed, he was somber and deeply withdrawn from the world. He is well-liked by his servants, especially Kanae and Matsumae, with whom he had developed a strong bond since he was young.

After his recovery from his depression, he shows significant maturation in his character. He has become more humble and recognizes the importance of his family and friends. He is deeply saddened when he learns his servants went overboard with hunting for the sake of finding food for him, and feels he should be responsible for Yuuma's capture by the CCG. He apologizes to his servants for the problems his condition had caused and expresses his gratitude. He is also determined to act on his own in order to save Yuuma and protect his other servants from further dangers. When he discovers that Kaneki is still alive as "Sasaki," he admits he has no longer considered him as "food" for a long time and is determined to help him get back his memories. He genuinely cares about Hori and friends from Anteiku and even admits he is egocentric.

After Tokyo Ghoul:re ends, Shuu hears that Kaneki has adopted Shouta as his eldest son, and begins to treat him like an uncle. However, Shuu begins to show hesitation upon learning of the death of Kaneki, as he wanted to join Shouta. to avenge their deaths. Shuu is somewhat overprotective of Shouta, as he sees him as Kaneki, he hopes not to lose him, just as he almost lost Kaneki in the beginning of :re.

## Relationships

### Ken Kaneki

Tsukiyama first meets Kaneki in Anteiku and becomes fascinated with his scent. After Kaneki reveals his half-ghoul nature in the Ghoul Restaurant, Tsukiyama becomes completely obsessed with eating him, seeing him as an exotic, one-of-a-kind dish that only he deserves to consume. As a result, he is always trying to find a way to devour Kaneki, which is why he joins the efforts to rescue Kaneki from Aogiri's hideout. After the Aogiri arc, he joins Kaneki's Anti-Aogiri band as his 'sword' and mentor and provided generous financial support for Kaneki's group.

Tsukiyama is extremely protective of Kaneki, which he himself proclaims as hunger though it is implied that a part of him may have truly seen Kaneki as a potential friend. He cries and begs Kaneki not to join in the fray just before the Owl Suppression Operation, even going as far as attacking him to stop his actions. He questions what's the point of him waiting so long by Kaneki's side patiently (to devour him) if Kaneki is just going to sacrifice his life in vain as Tsukiyama sees the actions as plain suicidal and unable to change anything. He is defeated and the following morning Tsukiyama is still lying on the rooftop, refusing to eat or drink.

In *Tokyo Ghoul:re*, he is still grieving for Kaneki two years later. This has resulted in a complete withdrawal from the world, falling into a deep depression and losing all interest in food. His lengthy starvation leaves him in terrible condition, with his caretakers fearing he will die if nothing is done. Chie states the cause of his terrible condition was the "death" of Kaneki, and that evidence of his survival will bring Tsukiyama back to his senses. As such, it is clear that Kaneki is someone that he came to value more than his own well-being and that he was unable to move on after the loss.

When Sasaki informs him that he wants to learn about Kaneki, albeit reluctantly, Tsukiyama hesitates and notes the similarity of Sasaki and the Kaneki he first met - powerless and uncertain. He becomes hesitant at whether if he wants Sasaki to embrace his tragic past and has come to terms with himself that he views Kaneki not as a mere ingredient anymore, but as a person dear to him who he has genuinely enjoyed time with. Despite the role Kaneki played in the death of his family, Tsukiyama has forgiven him.

### Shouta Magatsuchi

Despite Shouta's appearance that is clearly similar to Kaneki, Shuu promises Shouta that he will protect him. He eventually stated that he sees him as Kaneki. After seeing Shouta's superhuman ghoul abilities for the first time, Shuu immediately starts thinking of Kaneki.