I chatted with someone who attended the Ishida Sui exhibition, and I learned a lot of interesting stuff, especially regarding the 124 Q&As! She doesn’t remember everything, but I noted the new information down.
Q: Other characters in the story blush when they smile, but why is it that for Juuzou that portrayal doesn’t exist?
A: Juuzou doesn’t know how to smile in a way that makes his cheeks blush.
Q: How did you decide the names of the ghoul characters?
A: I decided based on whether the name sounds like it would fit the character, and for the 1st part of their name, by shiritori. (Ayato→Touka→Kaneki)
Q: How did you choose your pen name Ishida Sui?
A: I like watermelon, and 1 part I took from my real name.
Q: When drawing characters, where do you start from? [I think I already posted this before, but I’ll include it just in case.]
A: I start from the upper left part of the head.
From the Q&A, it was also revealed that Towada Shin (the writer of the TG LNs and co-writer for Jack Jeanne) is siblings with Ishida???? Towada is the older sister and Ishida is the younger brother. I had to double check to make sure, and I found someone who went to the exhibition who confirmed it (X).
Ishida also mentioned that he thinks he resembles Kaneki.
Regarding the original TG manuscript, it was about Kaneki and the ghoul investigator Shinohara (so I was right about that one scene giving me Shinohara vibes!).
And to end on a bright note:
Q: I feel I will never encounter a work as wonderful as Tokyo Ghoul again. Do you have any goals going on forward as a mangaka?
A: To create a work that will overturn your feelings of never encountering a wonderful work like Tokyo Ghoul again.