I...didn't expect Ueji to die so soon? His death is ironic though and I guess his backstory was just there to show us his fall into insanity.
So as an adult, he buries children in holes dug in his garden and the flashback showed us that he already dug holes in his parents' garden as a child and when his mom questioned him why he did that and how his father would be very disappointed in him, he asked where his father buried his dog which Ueji loved and apparently they gave his dog away cuz Ueji spent all his time playing with the dog...? They robbed him of the only thing that made him happy. Ueji believes that his father killed the dog and buried it in the garden cuz the dog was old so no one would want the dog, thinking that it's unlikely that the father gave the dog away.
It's interesting how his mother's face was never shown, she was only there to keep reminding Ueji how disappointed his father is with him and claiming how there's something wrong with Ueji JUST BECAUSE he couldn't live up to his family's expectations. He wasn't a good student and didn't seem to have friends and they made him believe that that the dog disappeared due to him and Ueji didn't buy that and believes that the dog was murdered by his father due to him.
And when people kept telling him how he looks just like his father, his father who only saw Ueji as a disappointment, he gave himself one of his tattoos he has now by CARVING it in and he didn't even seem to be in pain (He explained as an adult that giving himself the tattoos really hurt but believes that they made him stronger, as if he was painting a new self on himself).
So since Kid Ueji now looks slightly different from his father due to the tattoo, he switched tables and now his father will become "Keiji", the one that will get hurt (As an adult, he called one of his victims Keiji and buries his victims in his garden, just like his father possibly buried Ueji's dog in the garden).
The tattoo which Kid Ueji gave himself is the kanji for "dog", it's a memento to his dog but also a denounce to his father who according to Ueji, murdered the dog, as that particular tattoo was placed on criminals.
Kid Ueji laughs and cry at the same time as he sees his father’s disappointed face, pointing at himself and at his father, implying that they have now switched place.
In the present, he then wanted to disappoint everyone who searches for the gold by showing how his body is full of tattoos, making it impossible for them to find the tattoo which Wilk gave him. Nobody cares though and he becomes confused and then disappointed when he failed to disappointed everyone. He slips and falls and sees himself mirrored in a window but in his reflection he doesn’t see himself but his father which is proof that, in Ueji’s mind, his sense of self has blurred and he confuses himself and his father as one and the same. Seeing his father’s disappointed face in the reflection allowed him to laugh one last time before he hits his head and dies by decapitation.
Ueji was interesting for the time he was there...I guess. Especially due to how similiar his childhood situation with his father was to Ogata, but I don't really pity him considering how many children he has killed. He was messed up (like a messed up child stuck in an adult's body) and died a pathetic death.
THIS however, is how you do flashbacks. The Author was able to explain so much about Ueji's psyche in one (or two?) little flashbacks, it wasn't dragged out for several chapters and didn't try to justify his behavior.
The search for the skins has concluded. Now on to how to solve the code. |