WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Choujin X, Chapter #4 by Sui Ishida, Jan Cash and Snir Aharon, available in English now from Viz Media and Manga Plus.
Comparisons between Choujin X and Ishida's previous work Tokyo Ghoul really can't be helped. The first few chapters of the former are loaded with hints towards creator Sui Ishida's previous series, from Tokio being an unassuming protagonist who acquires supernatural powers through tragic means to the usage of masks to now, in Chapter #4, a fateful date with a monster.
In Tokyo Ghoul, protagonist Kaneki's life changed forever after his date with the Ghoul Rize. In Choujin X, Tokio thought he too had met a nice girl who wanted to help him, only to end up getting way more than he bargained for.
The chapter starts with Tokio sitting on a rooftop, pondering his life so far, depressed after getting yelled at by Azuma. Tokio knows that he has never really made a choice without Azuma doing the choosing for him. It's no wonder he became a vulture choujin -- he was always chasing after Azuma's scraps. Despite this, Tokio truly wants to change but is genuinely lost on how to do it without relying on anyone else.
However, on the rooftop, Tokio does discover something interesting about his new form:hHe's able to communicate with birds. The pigeons he's feeding offer him some advice: Tokio should ask himself what Azuma would do. By doing so, Tokio can finally take some agency over his decisions without directly relying on Azuma. This boosts his confidence and he sets out to discover some more of his hidden powers.
If he's trying to learn more about being a vulture choujin, the best way to educate himself would be directly from the source. And so, Tokio heads over to the zoo to visit the vulture he and Azuma met as kids. However, the zoo is closed -- for good. Out of the corner of his eye, Tokio notices a girl standing outside of the zoo, wearing a scale-textured hoodie.
The girl points to a staff-only entrance where barbed wires have been cut through and the two of them enter the zoo together. Tokio spends most of the encounter overthinking it, extremely nervous about being with such a beautiful girl. At the Reptile Corner, Tokio watches, a little puzzled, as the girl whispers to a snake. When asked, she tells him that she had been asking the snake for directions.
When they arrive at the Bird Forest, Tokio is relieved to see the vulture still alive but, for some reason, he isn't able to communicate with it as easily as he did with the pigeons. The girl, amused by Tokio's antics, suddenly gets close and leans in. For a split second, he thinks that he's going to lose his first kiss to this stranger... except the girl transforms into a snake and swallows his head whole. So much for a romantic date.
If the girl is supposed to be Tokio's ally, it's definitely an unusual way of introducing herself, to say the least. Right now, she doesn't seem to have any ill intentions and may even tip Tokio off on what some of his powers might be. However, with his head halfway down her throat, it doesn't seem too likely that she's on his side. But weirder things have happened in Choujin X.
