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Sometimes in the series, Togame's left eye becomes purple with a cross inside.
Is there a reason for that?

![Togame with her purple eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/HZKzN.jpg)


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2013-07-18T23:40:06.753
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2016-07-31T08:55:05.350
2013-07-19T00:02:29.933
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question
katanagatari
Why does Togame's eye change?


Togame's left eye changes whenever she is scheming or in an ambitious state of
mind. This first began when she witnessed her father being killed, at the same
time that her hair turned white. I do not believe it is explained why this
change takes place beyond that witnessing her father's death changed her view
of the world, but it could be elaborated in the novels.

* * *

It's also worth mentioning that Togame's name (とがめ) in Japanese is probably a
reference to this eye, though it can be read in many ways. The particular
reading here would be 十が眼, which could be interpreted as "eyeball shaped like
十 ( _to_ ; the character for the number 10)". This is fairly unorthodox
Japanese, but it's clear that this was one of the readings that the author
intended.

Of course, Togame is the fake name that she made up for herself after her
father died, so she wasn't called that until she got her cross-shaped eye.
Before that, she was named Yousha (容赦). This is likely a counterpoint to
another interpretation of her name, since 容赦 means forgiveness, while 咎め (とがめ)
means blame or rebuke, which is fitting given how that incident changed her
life towards seeking revenge.


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2013-07-18T23:59:06.000
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2013-07-19T00:38:31.057
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answer


Togame's name (十が目 = とがめ = togame, or 目が十, "eyes are ten/cross shaped") means
"cross-shaped (lit. ten-shaped) eye."

Though not thoroughly explained, the [Katanagatari
wiki](http://katanagatari.wikia.com/wiki/Togame) mentions that it's a result
(along with her hair turning white) of witnessed the death of her father.

It's been mentioned (by various Japanese BBS sources) that the cross-shaped
eyes were the idea of the original illustrator (of the light novels) and not
of the author.

> The eye that witnessed the act takes on a snake-like appearance when she is
> scheming. One of the Maniwani notes that it "shines with ambition".

You could say that the root of ambition that Togame shines with is revenge,
since her eyes return to return to normal when she's scheming her ultimate
revenge plot.


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2013-07-19T00:02:44.190
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2013-07-19T03:18:18.283
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