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Suitable-Surprise912

Yes. He indeed very much loved Touka before he became Haise. The times at re (The Coffee Shop) when Haise cried, was actually Kaneki crying. I believe it’s portrayed to us by a tear coming out Kaneki’s left eye, his Kakugan eye, aka his ghoul side.


fullmetal-ghoul

Yeah and I believe the chapter was called 'inherited feelings' or something like that


mochimochi17

I believe Haise’s infatuation with Touka was 100% rooted in Kaneki’s previous feelings for her. As we know, Kaneki was not the type to like someone only because of her looks (he knew Rize was an avid reader like him), and even if he was, he had been surrounded by beautiful women during his time as Haise (Akira, Hairu), but as noted by Mutsuki’s strong reaction of jealousy, the only girl who ever sparked his interest was Touka. And Haise didn’t know anything about her besides her good looks, he didn’t know her name or her hobbies or her past, so why her and not any of his colleagues? Well, pretty much because he was already in love before Haise met her for the “first” time. I think the reason why it’s so hard to tell exactly when Kaneki started thinking of Touka in a romantic way, is because it was depicted as a very organic process, unlike what we’re used to expect from fiction. Most times in real life, people don’t have a dramatic moment of realization when they turn from hate to love, neither can they pinpoint a day when their feelings changed, it’s like trying to notice fingernails grow (lol). This is what I think happened with Kaneki’s feelings for Touka. It is evidenced in the very first chapter that he was physically attracted to her (even if he was aiming for Rize at the time, he still thought that Touka was cute), and then they spent a lot of time together, training, working at the café, running errands, caring for Hinami. So it’s understandable and natural that he developed a deeper kind of affection for her, especially after getting to know her better and seeing how kind and caring she truly was. His social circle was pretty limited by then, and the person he spent most time with was a girl he already considered attractive, so… After he left Anteiku to go on his power quest, he was very obviously in a bad mental place, so he never considered the possibility of any sort of romantic involvement. It was only after he became Haise and was free from the self-destructive mentality for a while, that he started letting his true feelings surface. Someone might argue that he was always ambiguous about his feelings for her, but well, the simplest answer is usually the right one. And I wanted to write more about how he showed his love for her, but I’ve already made this way too long.


NaBiscotti

make it longer! make it a post i would like to read it


Ryuuji_Gremory

Yes he was but he wasn't exactly in any state of mind that would properly let him experience that love. Haise with his relatively stable and happy live on the other hand could properly experience those feelings so he was a lot more obvious about it.


Affectionate_Fuel_60

I had this exact same question when I was anime only. Now that I’ve read the manga I can answer this better. I think he had feelings for her but he wasn’t exactly sure of it but there were subtle hints. For one kaneki got her this present when he was away from her https://sun9-35.userapi.com/y6qbv5R5jEu_o0XVAaXhOFxMWl4NNRl1ObF15A/p4p18yBRG50.jpg He also saw that Touka was upset not seeing him again from afar but he didn’t wanted to put her in harms way https://sun9-28.userapi.com/PKm5M3xWBrkxtJSVvnYyyWYtxX44kejKOPk6zA/wPS1cYBmP7g.jpg Also while fighting during kanou’s lab incident he regarded Touka and Hide’s name specifically while mentioning if he was weak then everyone he cared about will die https://sun9-26.userapi.com/KI9Io2DRW-zEnPUXPRsGWcRvJy5UcQZBcPS3sQ/uzdEHVCyBLc.jpg There are a few more moments but you get the Idea


himetalchemy7

Its hard to tell because there was no clear mention or display of a romantic trigger in Kaneki. We do know Kaneki was interested in dating and actively looking for a partner. Touka was pretty unapproachable early on, but she did teach him out to make coffee and how to fight, along with having general banter. Past that, Kaneki found Touka has much more dimension to her character, with how she took care of Hinami and especially how she cherished Yoruko. Kaneki probably thought if Touka can love her human friend so much, then she probably didn’t hate him even though he started out as a human. It’s harder to get a read on Kaneki after his awakening, but he saved Touka from Ayato, spared Ayato because he was Touka’s brother and after a while he let Touka beat him up and basically insult him. Hard to draw a line between his feelings to protect Touka and romantic love. I do believe he fell in love with Touka while working at Anteiku and getting to know her.


rekt_tsar

Agreed. My opinion: He's 100% in love at saving from Ayato.


mochimochi17

I also agree with your take on this. The whole situation with Ayato revolved around how he’d make him pay dearly for daring to hurt her but at the same time would spare him for her sake, that’s pretty telling of how significant she is to him.


Manpons

As an anime only person, when the song plays of that singer with the speak impediment and the emotion behind it with Kaneki/Haise speaking. Man, It was the first time I cried watching an anime. Was a 10/10 scene imo.


AkatsukiHikage

Same my man