Tokyo Ghoul : How Kaneki Became a Half-Ghoul Half-Human

When Kaneki met Rize in Tokyo Ghoul, he thought he'd found a girlfriend. Instead, he was stepping into the dark and violent world of ghouls.

At the start of Tokyo Ghoul, ordinary college student Ken Kaneki found himself dragged into the vicious and unforgiving world of ghouls, but it wasn't by choice. Dr. Kano had designs for him.

Of course, Ken knew what ghouls were, since they were all over the media and CCG investigators were a common sight on the streets. Ken was sure that ghouls had nothing to do with him, but when he met the lovely Rize Kamishiro, he was locked into a conspiracy far beyond anything he could imagine.

When Ken Kaneki spotted a charming young woman around his age in the cafe Anteiku, his friend Hideyoshi encouraged him to make a move and try to land a date with her. Ken was a little shy, but he pulled it off, and the cheery Rize couldn't wait to see him again. Soon enough, they bonded over their common interest in books and literary analysis during their date, and as night fell, Rize started acting nervous. She knew that ghouls liked to come out at night to prey on pedestrians, and she wanted Ken to stay close to her. Ken agreed, and they were soon walking alone near a construction site. Ken, still feeling hopeful, commented on how well the date went and that he felt a real connection with Rize. Rize had similar feelings, then decided to act on them.

Her eyes turned red and she bared her teeth, sinking them right into Ken's shoulder. Ken could only react with numb shock as Rize manifested her kagune, a quartet of tentacles, and attacked him with it. Ken couldn't believe it; instead of being afraid of ghouls, Rize was one, and she didn't want Ken to get away. She dealt him a serious injury in the abdomen, and she towered over him, ready to devour him. That was when a set of steel beams in the construction site came loose and fell on her, and not even a ghoul could survive such trauma. Ken's life was saved by some miracle, or so it seemed. He passed out, unaware that an ambulance was on its way and was especially unaware of Dr. Akihiro Kano orchestrating all of this.

Ken Kaneki awoke in the hospital with one ghoul eye and a strange lack of appetite. He couldn't see his own eye, of course, but he realized that he couldn't stand human food anymore. He was no longer human at all. Dr. Kano had personally transplanted some of Rize's organs into him, transforming him into a rare, and artificial, one-eyed ghoul. Such ghouls are more powerful than conventional ones, and Dr. Kano hoped that ghouls like Ken would realize their true potential and help him break free of the "cage" that was the world. In fact, Rize wasn't even dead, although Ken was told that she had died. Rize was elsewhere in an underground laboratory, and she had done her part well. Ken had Rize's kakuho in him now, meaning he could manifest her kagune and fight with her level of strength, if not more. There was no going back now.

This wasn't even the first time Dr. Kano had done such a thing, either. He had been fired from the CCG's medical branch for experimenting with human and ghoul bodies, so he went rogue and set up his own lab (and associated with Aogiri Tree and its resources). The sisters Kurona and Nashiro were artificial one-eyed ghouls like Ken, and unlike Ken, they were loyal to Dr. Kano and his mission. Now Ken was a part of the plan, too, and Dr. Kano was eager to see how far Ken would develop starting. Dr. Kano would get his answer months later when Ken stormed Dr. Kano's remote lab with Shu Tsukiyama, Banjo and others.