Talk:Touka Kirishima/@comment-31645981-20170502072712/@comment-27247962-20170504230457

^A cliché can be a pearl among all the rubble or the black swan among the white ones.

It's definining trait is to stick out like a sore thumb. On itself that doesn't weigh anything, like you said, not good not bad. But since a cliché is part of a story, it can flow along with the story or weigh it down.

In a story that's excessively melancholic, a moment like the Touka & Kaneki scene that sticks out in a way that doesn't align with it's core tone, attracts all the attention to itself -> black swan (or to fit TG's context better it would be a white swan among all the black ones.)

It breaks the flow that's going on, which could open a path to something beautiful. A path that could lead to a promising change where the story will progress on a brighter note from this point on. But should this attention-grabbing scene flow back into it's former melancholic tone, breaking that flow was a complete waste. Why I consider it a waste? A fan can decide for himself wether his favorite ship will live happily ever after together with a few hints, when he's not given anything concrete. But from the moment you give the fans a concrete piece of evidence that one character actively wants to be in a relationship, the writer has to stick to that decision & implement that growth accordingly from that point on.

And since their relationship doesn't add anything substantial to the plotline, Ishida only challenged himself even more now that he needs to cram an occassional sweet moment into his chapters whenever Touka & Kaneki are together. And it's not like he has panels to spare on it either.

I see that I couldn't help myself once again, but I really believe this isn't so bad an argument as people make it seem.