Talk:Shuu Tsukiyama/@comment-26476324-20150615050157/@comment-173.57.0.97-20150615114626

I think it's pretty misleading to say that this is all about Kaneki. When we met Tsukiyama, he was probably the most selfish character in the series. He took someone's eyes because he thought that they looked nice. So when he joins Kaneki's crew, he's obviously got a hidden agenda. However, the more time he spends with everyone, the more he realizes that he's alone. People don't like him, not the real him. He was popular in high school because those people knew nothing about him besides him being good looking and rich.

But, he can't befriend other ghouls. He tries to befriend Rize and she rejects him. It also becomes clear that he dosn't know how to form complex relationships with others. As someone has said, he shoves people into categories. Hori Chie, who is basically his only friend, is labeled "pet." Kaneki is "food." When Kaneki starts to mean something to him beyond "food," we see him huffing Kaneki's blood to remind himself that Kaneki is "food." This because once their relationship becomes complicated, he doesn't understand what they mean to each other.

Losing Kaneki was just the tipping point. By this time, Tsukiyama has had to face some hard realizations about himself and his world view has been shaken. This is why he spiraled into depression. He is unsure about his identity. He doesn't know what's important in life anymore. All along he'd obsessed with food and taste, but this loud personality he presented had in part been an attempt to hide his loneliness. And of course, he does really miss Kaneki too.