Pregnancy
Several weeks after they consummate their relationship in chapter 125, Touka finds out that she is pregnant. One of the things I’ve heard is that Touka’s pregnancy is bad writing, and that it’s similar to Twilight, where a vampire and a human can conceive baby. However, I don’t think that this is the case. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, when you think about it.
Unlike Twilight, hybrids in Tokyo Ghoul didn’t come out of nowhere. The series has already told us about hybrids—there are even two kinds of them. We first heard about it from Itori in chapter 34, when she’s talking to Kaneki about the one-eyed ghoul. She tells Kaneki that if a human has a baby with a ghoul, the baby is very likely to die.
“If the mother is a human, the ghoul child cannot get all the essential nutrients it needs, and it will starve to death while still in the womb. If the mother is a ghoul, her body will mistake the baby as nutrients, and absorb it.”
At the point of the story, one-eyed ghoul is considered an urban legend; but then we get the confirmation that the one-eyed ghoul is real—and she is Yoshimura’s daughter.
When the human mother, Ukina, learned that the baby will probably die of malnutrition, she decided to create a miracle by consuming human meat—to ensure that the fetus would survive. And her sacrifice was not for nothing; the half-ghoul baby was born healthy.
Aside from a natural-born half-ghoul, there’s another type of hybrid in TG—demi humans. According to Arima, they are considered a failure in comparison to a one-eyed ghoul like Eto. A demi-human is more of a human than a ghoul. They can eat human food and they do not develop kagune, but they have enhanced physical abilities. The downside is, they age in faster speed compared to humans.
In conclusion, while the chance of pregnancy is extremely slim, it is not impossible for Kaneki and Touka to conceive a baby—especially when they don’t use any kind of protection. While some people claim that this development is a bad thing, I believe that the baby has a purpose. It could be a new symbol of hope for the coexistence between ghouls and humans.
From the markings in the calendar in Touka’s cell, we see that the prediction for the baby’s birthdate is December 28th. Coincidentally, it is Ishida-sensei’s birthday! Thus, I think it is unlikely for the baby or the parents to die… because he just won’t kill himself or his parents, right?
In the next page, we’ll talk about how this pregnancy affects both Touka and Kaneki.