Ken KANEKI

Why do beautiful things remind us of death more than life?

Doushite utsukushii mono wa iki yori mo shi wo rensou saserundarou … (どうして美しいものは生よりも死を連想させるんだろう … )

We fight ceaselessly to save ourselves from loss. And yet … The people and places we love will one day surely be lost. We all will surely be forgotten. Life is sad. Empty. But, despite knowing we will one day be bereft, despite knowing we will one day disappear, we still strive in wretched ways. We still wish to be beautiful.

Koutei to hitei wo kurikaeshi, bokutachi wa ushinawanai you ni tatakatte bakari iru … Nanoni … ai suru hito mo basho mo, kanarazu nakunaru. Bokutachi wa kanarazu wasurerareru. Ikiru koto wa kanashii, munashii. Sore demo, itsuka ushinau to wakatte ite, itsuka kieru to wakatte ite, minikuku motometeshimau. Utsukushiku aritai to negatte shimau. (肯定と否定を繰り返し、僕たちは失わないように戦ってばかりいる … なのに … 愛する人も場所も、かならず　無くなる。ぼくたちはかならず忘れられる。生きることはかなしい　むなしい　それでも　いつか失うとわかっていて、いつか消えるとわかっていて、醜く求めてしまう。美しくありたいと願ってしまう)

On that fateful day with Rize, I was sundered from the human world. And everything began to change. […] And even though I have erred so much, and hurt so many, I simply don’t believe that it was all for naught. And that’s why even if I were to know everything that’d happen after, I still would have gone to meet Rize that day. To me, all of it was necessary. This world … This world isn’t wrong. It just is. And even if “eventually” everything will come to naught, I’ll still strive, like I did today, Furuta.

Rize-san to no yakusoku no hi wo sakai ni hito no sekai to kakuzetsu sare, subete ga kawari hajimemashita […] are dake machigaetekita noni, are dake kizu tsuketekita noni, “muda” datta nante omoenaindesu … Dakara … kore kara saki no tenmatsu wo subete shitteita to shitemo, boku wa ano hi Rize-san ni ai ni itta to omoimasu. Boku ni totte wa … zenbu hitsuyou na koto deshita … Kono sekai wa … kono sekai wa machigattenai tada soko ni aru dakeda. Tatoe “itsuka” nanimo kamo muda ni naru to shitemo … boku wa kyou mitai ni agaki tsuzukemasu, Furuta-san (リゼさんとの約束の日を境にヒトの世界と隔絶され、すべてが変わり始めました […] あれだけ間違えてきたのに　あれだけ傷つけてきたのに　「無駄」だったなんて思えないんです … だから … これから先の顛末をすべて知っていたとしても　僕はあの日リゼさんに会いに行ったと思います　僕にとっては … 全部必要なことでした … この世界は … この世界は間違ってない　ただそこにあるだけだ　たとえ”いつか”なにもかも無駄になるとしても … 僕は今日みたいにあがき続けます　旧多さん)

I’m weak … ? On the day I realized I was a ghoul I shed my weakness to protect what’s important to me. Survival of the fittest is the law in this world. Only the strong survive. Who is the strong? I am. Me!

Boku ga “yowai” da to … “Guuru” da to jikaku shita ano hi irai, taisetsu na mono wo mamoritakute yowasa wo kirisuteta. “Kono sekai wa jakunikukyoushoku, kyousha ga kuu.” “Kyousha wa dare da?” Kono boku da. (僕が”弱い”だと … ”喰種”だと自覚したあの日以来、大切なものを守りたくて弱さを切り捨てた。「この世界は弱肉強食、強者が喰う」「強者はだれだ?」それは僕だ　この僕だ)

I think … if the world is wrong, what’s distorting it is … everything that exists in this world.

Boku wa omou, sekai ga machigatteiru to sureba, yugameteiru no wa … Kono sekai ni sonzai suru mono subete da. (僕は思う　世界が間違っているとすれば、歪めているのは―　この世界に存在するものすべてだ)

Covered in injuries, the choices I made, all of them lead to the exact opposite of what I wanted. Repeating the same old mistakes, the me who is tired and feeling indifferent. Making a fool of myself numerous times, being unbearably vulgar, indecisive and weak, utterly exhausted. This is – me.

Boro boro, eranda mono nando mo hikkurikaeshite, onaji koto no kurikaeshi. Kudaranasugiru boku wa kakkowarui, dasai, yuujuufudan, nanjakusha … Sore ga – boku da. (ボロボロ、選んだものなんどもひっくり返して　同じことの繰り返し　くだらなすぎる僕はカッコ悪い、ダサイ、優柔不断、軟弱者 … それがー　僕だ)

All losses in this world are due to their own lack of power.

Kono yo no furieki wa subete tounin no nouryokufusoku. (この世の不利益はすべて当人の能力不足)

I don’t care about taking the side of those I cannot see. I fight for those close to me. That is my Raison d’Être. It just so happens that they’re mostly ghouls.

Boku wa me ni mienai dare ka no tame ja nakute, migachi na hito no tame ni tatakaitai. Sore ga boku no baai “guuru” ni ookatta dake desu … (僕は目に見えない誰かの為じゃなく、身近な人のために戦いたい。それが僕の場合”喰種”に多かっただけです … )