Shuu Tsukiyama

Shuu Tsukiyama (月山 習, Tsukiyama Shū) is the infamous Gourmet (美食家) ghoul. He is a fourth-year student studying Social Welfare at the Department of Human Sciences at Seinan Gakuin University.

He was a member of the Ghoul Restaurant, known as "MM" until he betrayed them.

He is also an acquaintance of Rize Kamishiro.

Afterwards, he joins Kaneki's group with the intention of eating him, obsessed with his flesh and blood. Eventually, he comes to genuinely care for Kaneki and falls into a deep depression after Kaneki's apparent demise.

Two years later, his depression has left him bed ridden and under the care of a family servant. His long-time friend, Chie Hori, has began to act in order to help him recover.

Appearance
Tsukiyama normally dresses in European attire, though his sense of style is questionable. In his first appearance, Kaneki thinks to himself that he looks like a model with his height and well-kept hair. The other characters seem to find him as flamboyant and loud as he looks. His mask, shaped like a crescent moon, is a reference to his name.

Personality
An eccentric man with opulent taste, his act as a gentleman and an intellectual, serves as a facade to hide a disturbed, spoiled, loud, overly-emotional, bratty, temperamental and narcissistic nature. As a ghoul, he displays his arrogance as a strong predator that seeks to devour the finest meals he makes of his 'prey,' so as to proclaim himself the top carnivore of the food chain. His interest in European literature and language is shown in his gestures and mannerisms, often peppering his dialog with borrowed English, French, and Italian. He shows great anger towards others who disrespect his taste in food; shattering a teacup in front of Kaneki during their date at the coffee shop when he remembered his encounter with Rize. Rize, while working at his Gourmet Club, believed that his picky eating habits made him seem more like a human than a ghoul, the worst sort of insult he could have received, and therefore Shuu bears grudges over Rize, calling her a 'pig' for ridiculing his taste for food. He compares himself to a noble 'knight', especially later when in the service of Kaneki.

Doves' Emergence
He is mentioned several times by members of the CCG as one the main concerns for the Doves in the 20th Ward, with the bulletin board outside the CCG 20th Ward's Branch Office asking for information and is blamed by Investigators for the loss of one of their men.

Gourmet Arc
After noticing the 'lovely gradation' in Misono Karube's eyes, Tsukiyama stalks her in her home and steals them by gouging them out, then he has them prepared at the Ghoul Restaurant.

Tsukiyama later makes an appearance at Anteiku, where he encounters Kaneki for the first time. After hearing about how Kaneki was able to confront the investigators, then noticing his enticing, unique scent, Tsukiyama takes an interest in him. Aware of his unsavory reputation, Touka demands that he leave. Though he complies, he promises Kaneki that they will meet again.



Tsukiyama enrolls at Kamii University to meet Kaneki and discusses books with him and tells him a little about himself, with an intent to befriend him. He asks Kaneki to accompany him to a coffee shop soon, and Kaneki hesitantly accepts his offer. Before they go to the coffee shop, Tsukiyama plays a game of squash with him, where he notices that Kaneki is not very athletic. He then assures him that the coffee will taste better if they work up a sweat first. At the coffee shop, Tsukiyama tells him about his ideals as a gourmet. As the topic shifts, Tsukiyama gives Kaneki a French Gourmet book as one of his recommendations. After Kaneki gets a paper cut, from one of the pages, Tsukiyama gives him his handkerchief to soak the blood from the wound. However, in the anime, the book is replaced with the teacup that Tsukiyama crushed in his hand in a fit of rage when thinking about Rize; Kaneki cut himself on one of its ceramic shards and Tsukiyama handed him his handkerchief. After acquiring the bloodied handkerchief, he excuses himself to the restroom where he indulges in the scent of Kaneki's blood.When they leave the coffee shop, Kaneki asks Tsukiyama what he does about food. Tsukiyama, seeing this as an opportunity to invite Kaneki to the Ghoul Restaurant, does so. At the Ghoul Restaurant, Kaneki, yet unaware of Tsukiyama's real intentions, is separated from him so that the staff can 'prepare' him; Kaneki is told to take a shower, dress in a tuxedo and stay in the waiting room.

During the presentation of the night's dishes, Tsukiyama presents Kaneki as the main dish and explains the lengths and efforts he went through to make Kaneki taste his finest. However, after Kaneki reveals himself to be a one-eyed ghoul while defending himself against the scrapper, Taro-chan, Tsukiyama puts a halt to the night's proceedings, killing the scrapper, by himself. He offers Taro as the meal instead, determined to have Kaneki entirely to himself now that he is aware of his extreme rarity. Tsukiyama then asks for Kaneki to forget about the experience.

Later on, Tsukiyama captures Kimi Nishino, Nishiki Nishio's girlfriend, as another trump card to get his way with Kaneki. When Kaneki and Nishiki arrive at his 'altar' to rescue Kimi, whom he had tied up, Tsukiyama reveals that Kimi is the night's "Gourmet Spice;" he planned to eat Kaneki while Kaneki ate Kimi. When Nishiki tries to attack him, Tsukiyama effortlessly beats him down. Kaneki then tries to stand up for himself, but to no avail. When Touka steps in unexpectedly, Tsukiyama is unaffected by the slash she gives him across his eyes. However, as Tsukiyama and Touka battle, the latter loses, therefore coming to a conclusion to eat Kaneki's flesh to energize herself. Shuu becomes enraged by the fact that Touka bit Kaneki, even more so when he saw the scar on Kimi's shoulder. Touka eventually claims her victory, with Tsukiyama left to suffer from his injuries.

Aogiri Arc
It is revealed that Tsukiyama escaped his untimely demise, having to resort to auto-cannibalism in order to recover the wounds he sustained in his fight against Touka, to which he proclaimed that he tasted delicious. Yoshimura invites him to join Anteiku's expedition to save Kaneki, which he agrees but with the hidden intention of devouring him yet again. Although when Kaneki is saved and he offers his service to him as his "sword", Kaneki agrees but whispers that if he shows even the slightest bit of disloyalty, he would not hesitate to kill him. Tsukiyama is quite happy and thrilled that he didn't choose to eat Kaneki and loyally pledged to serve him.

Annihilation of Ghoul's Restaurant & Raid of Kanou's Lab
Kaneki, Tsukiyama, and Banjou formed alliance to search for Professor Kanou. Tsukiyama gave information on Madam A, who provided "experimentally modified humans" as scrappers for the ghoul restaurant and may have connections with Kanou. Kaneki and Banjou's group sneeked into the ghoul restaurant and annihilated all members with Tsukiyama's aid. However, their capture of Madam A failed when Nashiro and Kurona intervened. The group next visited Kanou General Hospital, and Tsukiyama pretended that he was having a stomach ache while other others tried to find out clues from Taguchi, the nurse who formerly took care of Kaneki after his transplant. The same night, while the trio were trying to capture Taguchi for interrogation, their plans were foiled by Shachi and Naki, who easily overpowered Kaneki's group. Thereafter, Kaneki endure further martial arts training with Tsukiyama as his sparring partner. Tsukiyama helped the group to track down Madam A, killing her scrappers, and threatened her to give information on Kanou's mansion and finally discovered his hidden lab. When Aogiri Tree appeared in Kanou's lab, Tsukiyama fought Naki and later teamed up with him when the CCG joined in. After the fight, Banjo's men tried to convince Tsukiyama to find Banjo with him, only to have him show no interest in that objective and was going to slaughter them for being a nuisance until Banjo showed up behind him.

Anteiku Raid
When Tsukiyama learns of Kaneki's intention of going back to Anteiku to help out Yoshimura, he states those actions to be suicidal, as even Kaneki cannot achieve anything there with the whole main force of CCG being there. Enraged and conflicted by his decision, Tsukiyama tries to take Kaneki down and presumably eat him before he meets his inevitable end in the raid, but is easily subdued. He begins to cry on the floor, defeated, and begs Kaneki not to go as it would make his time dedicated to Kaneki completely meaningless otherwise. Kaneki thanks him for the concern, but sets off to his destination nevertheless. In the morning following the raid, Tsukiyama is still seen lying in the same spot crying and refusing to eat anything with Nishiki warning him that he'll die like that.

Torso Investigation
While he has yet to appear in person, Kanae worries over what has become of him and is seen bringing a massive suitcase to an apartment. Chie likewise mentions that her "model", presumably Tsukiyama, has become boring as a result of his depression. To this end, she contacts Kuki Urie and Ginshi Shirazu, arranging to give them information about Torso in exchange for some belonging that carries Haise Sasaki's "scent". She states she intends it as a present, in hopes of cheering him up. She ends up receiving a pair of Haise's boxers with an elaborate "ENERGY" logo.

Nutcracker Investigation
Kanae delivers the gift to his master, who lies in bed in a pathetic state. Tsukiyama confesses that his sense of smell no longer seems to work, but even so he senses something nostalgic about the underwear and compliments the design. Later, Kanae meets with Chie and returns the boxers to her, claiming that they had no effect. He lies about Tsukiyama's reaction to them, and threatens to kill the human girl before storming away. However, Chie sees through his deception and thinks fondly of the many years she's spent as Tsukiyama's friend. It is revealed she was the one to retrieve him from the rooftop after Kaneki disappeared, and she seems hopeful that her present will make Tsukiyama become "interesting" again.

Kanae is later shown gathering "gourmet ingredients" for his master, while thinking about how Kaneki is the cause of Tsukiyama's prolonged depression and starvation. He decides that if Sasaki really is Kaneki, he will kill him to prevent Tsukiyama from learning about his survival.

Powers and Abilities
The 'Gourmet' is a name feared in the 20th ward, not only for his selective taste in prey, but because he is very difficult to catch. An avid reader like Kaneki, he is also deeply invested in martial arts and fights gracefully with deadly efficiency.


 * Koukaku Kagune: Using a Koukaku kagune is known to be difficult, as the weight of the kagune is unwieldy and its hardened cells make it hard to manipulate. Tsukiyama displays mastery of his koukaku, able to shape it into various forms at will. He can form a linear metal ribbon that can wrap into a flexible spiral that doubles as armor to shield his upper body, as well as a spinning drill that can cause devastating damage. To extend his reach, he can form it into a large, sword-like blade that is suited to thrusting and stabbing. However, despite his kagune's diverse nature, its weight and size restricts his range and movement to close quarters. While he almost never dodges, his kagune is sturdy enough to block most attacks.

Ken Kaneki
Kaneki is the object of Tsukiyama's obsessions. 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. Because of his obsession, Tsukiyama is extremely protective of Kaneki, 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 Anteiku raid, 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. The following morning, Tsukiyama is still seen crying on the rooftop, refusing to eat or drink.

In the novel (kuhaku ), it was mentioned that Tsukiyama provided generous financial support for Kaneki's group. Ishida Sui mentioned that it was probably Tsukiyama who designed Kaneki's battle suit for him.

In Tokyo Ghoul:Re, he is shown to still be grieving for Kaneki two years later. His physical condition is hinted to have declined significantly as a result of his depression, and Chie hopes evidence of Kaneki's survival will cheer him up.

Chie Hori
Described in "Tokyo Ghoul-Days" novel, Tsukiyama has been friends with her since they met in Seinan Gakuin University’s attached high school. She was Tsukiyama's first and only human friend who discovered his ghoul identity and captured such evidence on camera. Their mutual obsession with perfecting their chosen interests and unusual morality made them unlikely friends, with Chie showing little concern over his predatory nature. She also seemed totally resistant to Tsukiyama's manipulative tactics, and even threatened to leak his ghoulish photos on internet should he try to kill her. While she was too small and slender for her to be meal to Tsukiyama, he still finds her interesting because of her sly, fearless and sneaky nature; he refers to her as his "pet" or "little mouse". Despite this, Tsukiyama trusts Chie to such an extent that he is willing to share with her his personal life including his obsession with Kaneki, but often ends up getting mocked.

It was mentioned in the Tokyo Ghoul manga and novel (Kuhaku) that over the years, they have stayed in contact and Kaneki must call on her through Tsukiyama to act as an informant for the group. This way, Chie was able to use her skills to help Tsukiyama win Kaneki's trust, and at the same time grant herself enough influence to make even the arrogant and egoistic Tsukiyama listen to any of her requests.

In Tokyo Ghoul:Re, Chie has been working to help him recover from his long depression.

Hinami Fueguchi
While a part of Kaneki's group, Tsukiyama sees Hinami as a potential key to gaining Kaneki's trust. He seems to believe that endearing himself to her will fool Kaneki into believing that his intentions to eat him are in the past. Although he uses her, Tsukiyama doesn't seem to dislike her, as he seems to treat her with real respect and care. In exchange, Hinami is quite fond of him and even defends him against Touka and Nishiki.

Touka Kirishima
He originally met Touka in the 20th ward when he had to fight with her and Ayato over territorial rights. He even states that he liked her cold side when she was fourteen and said he was "head over heels" for her back then. Tsukiyama acts friendly towards Touka, despite her low opinion of him. Touka is quite wary of him when he decides to participate in rescuing Kaneki from Aogiri Tree's Hideout.

Nishiki Nishio
Initially, Nishiki feels great disdain for Tsukiyama for kidnapping Kimi and using her in his plot to eat Kaneki. After the Gourmet Arc, he does not appear to be happy to see that Tsukiyama survived. However, while Tsukiyama lays motionless and emotionally drained on the rooftop, he seems to show concern, offering him coffee so that he wouldn't starve.

Kanae von Rosewald
Kanae is the Tsukiyama family's faithful servant (and possible distant relative), and refers to him as "Shuu-sama". He bears a striking resemblance to him, with very similar personalities, prone to melodramatic behavior and uttering words in foreign languages (German). Kanae expresses great distress over what has become of Tsukiyama, and is mocked for his behavior by Chie. He appears loyal and devoted to his master, and hopes to find ways to cheer him up again. However, he is revealed to be intensely jealous over others that are close to his master and intentionally deceives Chie about Tsukiyama's condition, returning Sasaki's underwear rather than admit it caught his master's attention. He is later revealed to be hiding things from Tsukiyama, intentionally trying to prevent him from learning that Kaneki is still alive. In his fragile state, Tsukiyama is unaware of how his caretaker is manipulating him.

Later it is revealed that the Tsukiyama family took him in after Matsuri Washuu erased his family. In the past, Tsukiyama appears to be kind to Kanae, and tries to cheer him up by showing him the family's rose garden and giving him encouraging words. Kanae seems to have taken this to heart, as he still carries a rose with him for comfort.

Kazuichi Banjou
Their relationship as members of Kaneki's group was a tense one, with Tsukiyama often mocking him or messing up his name. In turn, Banjou repeatedly stated his misgivings about Tsukiyama and found him untrustworthy.

Naki
During the Raid on Kanou's Lab, Naki and Tsukiyama formed a temporary alliance after dueling a bit due to the CCG investigation team's interference. Naki believes Tsukiyama to be a good guy (while Tsukiyama sees him as a trusting fool) but doesn't appreciate him talking in French (mistaking it as English).

Matsumae
A long-time servant of his family, Matsumae has been caring for him since his childhood. As a child, she was the servant he would call when in distress and this relationship continued into his teenaged years.

Mirumo Tsukiyama
The relationship between Shuu and his father remains unexplored, though it is clear that his father is concerned for his well-being.

Trivia

 * Tsukiyama was ranked third in the character popularity poll.
 * Tsukiyama （月山） means "moon mountain" and Shuu（習) means "practice, study, collection".
 * Tsukiyama likes self-discipline, humans that are tempting (irrespective of age and gender) and new stimuli.
 * Tsukiyama's hobbies are sports, martial arts, playing musical instruments and evaluating prey.
 * Tsukiyama wears a size 7 shoe.
 * When asked about Kaneki's battle suit, Ishida Sui suggested that Tsukiyama made it for him.
 * In the artbook Zakki, Ishida Sui revealed that Tsukiyama was originally intended to be the main character of an entirely different series. However, he ended up using the character in Tokyo Ghoul instead.
 * It is a strange coincidence that Tsukiyama's alias at the ghoul restaurant, MM, also happens to be his seiyuu's, Mamoru Miyano's initials.
 * In the official omakes, Hinami calls Tsukiyama "flower man" or "fireworks man".
 * According to design notes, the library and room he appears in while thinking about Kaneki in episode 5 is his parent's manor.
 * According to the Audio Drama, he has a 73m² bedroom and an excessively large bed.
 * In the same drama, he claims his favorite method to calm himself down as a child was to play Chopin while screaming at the top of his lungs.
 * According to the second Audio Drama, Tsukiyama becomes easily intoxicated when drinking and is (unsurprisingly) a very loud, emotional drunk.
 * Ishida revealed that Tsukiyama could play the piano so well he could make a decent living out of playing in jazz bars.

Quotes

 * To Hinami: "Let's work together to return Kaneki to the "dolce" young man he used to be!!"
 * To himself (about his interest in Ken Kaneki): “Kaneki of ‘Anteiku,’ huh? I have a strong interest in that scent.”
 * "After I saw Kaneki-kun, everything looks like plain food".
 * To Kaneki: “Isn’t it arrogant to put a price on whether life is ‘higher’ or ‘lower,’ Kaneki? We are just bags of meat. The weak bow down and the strong devour them. Rather, if you compared them to all living things, it’s humans who have shaved away the most lives. We are different than them.”
 * To Kaneki (when he fails to stop him from going to save Yoshimura): "For dear life, Kaneki-kun... would you please not go?"
 * To Anteiku group (about his recovery by means of self-cannibalism): "I taste pretty delicious".
 * To Kaneki: "You don't need to blame yourself just because you've hurt someone, just like when you're walking you can't really blame yourself to crush some ants...that's what being stronger ones means."
 * To Kaneki: "I'm not going to protect you by being your shield or armor, but I'll be the dagger hidden below your pillow".
 * To Hori Chie (In novel "Tokyo Ghoul - days"):  “I was wondering why I could not find you appetizing in the least, but it makes sense if it’s just like a human keeping a pet!  Little mouse, from today on I will make you my pet!”
 * To Hori Chie (In novel "Tokyo Ghoul - kuhaku "): "Oh Chie! Your words are sweet, smooth and delicate as rare cheesecake, but also perturbing that they pierce my heart...well, I've never tasted cheesecake before".
 * To Hori Chie (when she comes to pick him up from the rooftop): "Hori, could you tell me... just what gourmet food is...?"