Uta

Uta (ウタ, Uta) is an old friend of Renji Yomo and Itori. He owns the HySy ArtMask Studio, where he sells bespoke masks.

Appearance
His body is covered by tattoos and his kakugan always remains visible. Kaneki describes his appearance as being a little scary.

The tattoo on his neck is a Latin quote written in Greek letters:

Νεχ ποσσυμ τεχυμ ωιωερε, νεχ σινε τε. Nec possum tecum vivere, nec sine te. | style="border:none;width:50%; padding:0 1.2em;" valign="top"| I can live neither with you, nor without you. |-
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&#8212;Martial, Epigrams XII, 47
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Personality
He has a nice way of speaking and seems to be friendly. Although his expression almost never changes, he has an amusing way of teasing people. In his youth, Uta's personality was much more sadistic and savage.

Doves' Emergence
Ken Kaneki and Touka Kirishima went to his shop, the HySy ArtMask Studio, to get a mask for Kaneki. While taking Kaneki's measurements, he talked with Kaneki about Touka and how dangerous the different wards are.

By chance, Uta brought Kaneki's newly-made mask to Anteiku just when Touka and Kaneki had stopped training. He made Kaneki wear his new mask. He remarked that he placed the eyepatch on the right side because he wanted to see Kaneki's left eye.

Gourmet Arc
He is only seen here when Kaneki is taken to Helter Skelter, the bar the Itori owns. The two of them shock Kaneki when Itori wears one of Uta's masks to scare him. They are then shown having a pleasant conversation together at the bar, discussing his and Kenji's past and how the 4th ward is now dangerous because of them.

Aogiri Arc
Uta is a part of the team that goes to save Kaneki when he is kidnapped by the Aogiri; along with Shuu, Renji, and Touka. Shuu remarks how Uta, while having his kakugane active, he isn't using his full power. Uta answers by telling him he doesn't think he needs to be serious right now, and that he is only here for Kaneki and so he doesn't get lazy.

Despite not being at full power he is able to keep up with Renji and Shuu. As they finally find Kaneki, Uta is the only one who tries to comfort him after what he has been through.

Powers and Abilities
Uta is an excellent mask designer creating many of the ghoul masks seen in the 20th ward. Like other ghouls he has enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes than that of a human. His body is also able to regenerate, and isn't affected by normal human weapons. In his teenage years, he was quite capable of defeating mutliple ghouls at one time. His strength lead him to become the so called "peacemaker" within the 4th ward.

Trivia

 * Uta was ranked fourth in the character popularity poll.
 * He likes making masks, music, humans, and art.
 * The tattoo on his neck perfectly describes the relationships between humans and ghouls.