Haise Sasaki (Ken Kaneki) Tokyo Ghoul - Nendoroid

Out of the many series that were published in the 2010s, one of the most popular would be the manga series, Tokyo Ghoul, as well as its sequel series, Tokyo Ghoul:re. These series were both written and illustrated by Sui Ishida and ran from 2011 to 2018. During this time, the series rose to become one of the top ten best-selling manga series for several years and was nominated for several awards, such as the Kodansha Manga Award and the Harvey Award for Best Manga.

Due to the popularity of the manga, several seasons of an anime adaptation were produced by Studio Pierrot. Following this, fans of both the Tokyo Ghoul anime series and the original manga created a significant market for merchandise based on the franchise and its many characters. One such character includes the protagonist of the overall series, Ken Kaneki, and its alternate identity, Haise Sasaki. Due to the popularity of the overall series and Ken Kaneki's character, in particular, manufacturers like Good Smile Company would go on to release figures of him with products like the "Nendoroid Tokyo Ghoul:re Haise Sasaki".

Nendoroid Tokyo Ghoul:re Haise Sasaki

This figure of Haise Sasaki features him wearing his traditional Ghoul Investigator uniform, complete with a white collared jacket, black undershirt, and black slacks. Other aspects of Haise's design like his unique black and white hair, gray eyes, and so on are also accurately recreated in this figure as well. Like with most other Nendoroid figures, this set also includes several extra accessories as well, like a book, a pair of reading glasses, a cup of delicious coffee, and his sword-like quinque. Several different facial expressions are also included as well, which allows its owner to change Haise's expression from a neutral smile to a happy grin, to a serious combat expression.

Manufacturer: Good Smile Company
Sculptor: Shichibee
Specifications: Painted, articulated, non-scale ABS & PVC figure with optional parts and stand
Height (Approx.): 100mm | 3.9"

About Ken Kaneki (Haise Sasaki)

Ken Kaneki is the main protagonist of the overall Tokyo Ghoul series and one of the first artificially created one-eyed ghouls in the series.

About Ken Kaneki (Haise Sasaki): Background

Ken Kaneki was originally a kindhearted, yet quiet and reserved college university student who others often took advantage of due to his inability to refuse a request. One day, however, he meets a woman named Rize, who invites him on a date. Unfortunately for Ken, however, Rize reveals herself to be a ghoul and attempts to attack him. Before he is killed, however, Rize is crushed by steel beams from a nearby construction site. The two are then taken to the hospital and the surgeon in charge decides to transplant organs from Rize into Ken in an attempt to save his life. While Ken survives the incident, the surgery resulted in him turning into a ghoul, meaning that he can only eat human flesh as sustenance. Now thrown into the world of ghouls, Ken Kaneki is forced to struggle with both keeping his original humanity and having to cruelly devour humans to survive.

At the beginning of Tokyo Ghoul:re, Ken Kaneki, now Haise Sasaki, suffers from amnesia and works as the leader of the Quinx Squad. This group of Ghoul Investigators is completely made up of humans who are artificially turned into ghouls. As Haise continues fighting for the Ghoul Investigators, he is continuously forced to confront his past until he inevitably regains his lost memories as Ken Kaneki.

About Ken Kaneki (Haise Sasaki): Abilities

Due to the unique surgery performed on him, Ken Kaneki becomes a "one-eyed ghoul", a particularly unusual and rare type of hybrid ghoul that only has one eye that turns black and red. While the in-universe information surrounding one-eyed ghouls is mostly rumors, several characters say that one-eyed ghouls have the potential to become much more powerful and develop their abilities much faster than regular ghouls. In Ken's case, his newfound ghoul abilities make him outright stronger than most regular humans. As he continues living as a ghoul, however, he learns how to control his kagune, an offensive organ wielded by ghouls to attack prey and fend off other ghouls. Ken's particular type of kagune is a 'rinkaku" kagune, which are generally known for their brute strength and regenerative properties. Aside from his kagune, Ken later gains physical strength, speed, and regenerative abilities that far exceed most other ghouls.

Other Important Tokyo Ghoul Characters

Throughout the Tokyo Ghoul series, two of the most important recurring characters to Ken Kaneki would be Hideyoshi Nagachika and Touka Kirishima.

Hideyoshi Nagachika

Hideyoshi Nagachika is a childhood friend of Ken Kaneki's and is known for his carefree and outgoing attitude. When they were still young, Hideyoshi, who Ken usually simply calls "Hide", would often come to Ken's rescue when he was being bullied. The two would follow each other for most of their youth until the present, where they still attend the same college together. Even after Ken was turned into a ghoul, Hideyoshi could not bring himself to abandon him and would still go out of his way to help Ken if he were in danger.

Touka Kirishima

Touka Kirishima is a female ghoul who used to work at Anteiku, a cafe run by ghouls until it was raided during an operation led by Ghoul Investigators. Although she is a ghoul, she desires to live life as a human as best as she can and would force herself to eat food made by her human best friend, even though eating it made her ill. Touka is also known by many characters for having a fiery and ruthless personality, though she does seem to show her kinder side more often after she meets Ken. Touka also possesses a type of kagune called an ukaku, which specializes in speed and projectile-based attacks at the expense of lower endurance and stamina.

Links

Nendoroid Tokyo Ghoul:re Haise Sasaki
Tokyo Ghoul - Figures
Ken Kaneki Tokyo Ghoul - Figures
Tokyo Ghoul - Merchandise
Nendoroid Label
Tokyo Ghoul Label
Good Smile Company Label