Episode 5: Scars

Kaneki jolts awake from a nightmare tied to his earlier clash with Taro. As investigator patrols thicken across the ward, Anteiku's regulars grow anxious, and Yoshimura sends Kaneki upstairs to look in on Touka, who is home unwell. There he tutors Hinami and discovers that Touka fell ill simply from overeating. Yoriko drops by with stew, mistaking the pair for a couple, and Touka forces the human food down out of loyalty to her friend.

Elsewhere, Tsukiyama pores over his library while inhaling a bloodstained handkerchief, hatching a plan around Kaneki. Returning sore from training with Yomo, Kaneki spots Nishiki being beaten by other ghouls and, despite their history, chooses to rescue him. He then meets Kimi, a human who loves Nishiki fully aware that he is a ghoul, and agrees to help the injured man.

While Kaneki tries to gather food from a locked Anteiku, Tsukiyama seizes Kimi and leaves a taunting note revealing the location. Nishiki drags himself to Anteiku, and the two follow the trail to a church where Kimi is bound on an altar. Tsukiyama's twisted wish is for Kaneki to eat Kimi so that he may then devour Kaneki. Both are overpowered until Touka bursts in, and Tsukiyama, distracted by an old childhood crush on her, is repeatedly struck.

Tsukiyama pierces Kaneki and tastes his blood, overwhelmed by a flavor he has never known, yet restrains himself to prolong the pleasure. A flashback lays out Nishiki's orphaned past, his sister's betrayal and killing by investigators, and how Kimi's offered flesh once gave him a reason to keep living. Realizing Touka needs fuel, Kaneki lets her feed on his flesh so she can summon her kagune, and she deflects Tsukiyama's next assault.

This installment adapts material from manga chapters 31, 35, and 40 through 44. The episode frames the bond between Nishiki and Kimi as a hopeful counterpoint to the wider fear separating ghouls and humans.