Tokyo Ghoul Review

If an accident made you no longer human, would you accept it? Being no longer human has now become a popular concept in stories around the world, yet we don’t fully grasp what the consequences would be. Imagine yourself as a college student, on a date with the person of your dreams, only to be half turned into a species whose diet consists of human flesh, where to survive you need to think about who will survive, and who will die by your hands. How would you cope with such a thing? Most people would be scared out of their minds, and die from insanity and starvation. But others will accept who they are, and live life to its fullest. In the world of Tokyo Ghoul, human-eating carnivores called ghouls live intertwined in society, being almost unrecognisable against the human population. One student’s world, is turned inside out, and become the tragedy that is, Tokyo Ghoul.

Story

The story of Tokyo Ghoul revolves around our main protagonist, Ken Kaneki. Kaneki is your typical college student, when he goes on a date with the book-lover, Rize Kamishiro, only to discover that Rize is in fact, a ghoul. However, plans backfire, and Rize is seen die under a fallen construction beam after a building collapsed. With major injuries dealt from Rize and the falling debris, Kaneki goes through several organ transplants, several of which were originally from Rize’s body. After the organ transplants, Kaneki discovers that he is no longer human, and that the transplants gave him a ghoul’s abilities, and characteristics, one of which being a ghoul’s need to consume human flesh. He soon discovers a community of ghouls at his local coffee shop, Anteiku, where they help him get accustomed and accept his new life. With the Commission of Counter Ghoul, or CCG hunting them down, it’s only a matter of time before the Ghouls start to strike back. Anteiku is home to a multitude of ghouls, one of which being Touka Kirishima. She is helpful towards Kaneki with his troubles, and forming his identity as a ghoul. Ghouls have mainly human-like features, in addition to their kakugan, or their eyes turning black and red, and kagune, a ghoul’s predatory organ, serving as weapons or claws.

Characters

Kaneki is a college freshman, and is a gentle and optimistic individual most of the time. He struggles to cope with his ghoul characteristics at first, but learns to accept them, and live life as a ghoul. With Kaneki being a half-ghoul, he only has one kakugan, which he covers with a medical eyepatch to avoid being classified as a ghoul and hunted by the CCG. He also has Rize’s kagune, due to the organ transplant, sometimes getting him compared to Rize. For protection, Kaneki wears a black gimp mask, with a lipless grin, to avoid being identified in ghoul form. Kaneki is a literature enthusiast, is not very athletic, and scrawny for his age, however he still has a strong will, and is able to fight well when he needs to, due to Yomo teaching him how to fight. Due to his one kakugan, he is often referred to as a one-eyed ghoul, which are more powerful than normal ghouls. Next we have Touka Kirishima, one of the ghouls at Anteiku. Touka has a slightly rash attitude, coming from being hardworking with a ghoul and human identity. She met Kaneki when he was struggling to eat for the first time, and helped him through his troubles as a ghoul. Touka is caring, calm and helpful most of the time, though sometimes being cold towards others such as Nishiki and Tsukiyama due to past experiences with them. She has an Ukaku type kagune, and is seen with a white rabbit mask, a pink wig, and a long black cloak during battle, earning her the nickname, “Rabbit”, with the CCG. Touka tries hard to blend into society, for example, eating human food when her friends offer some, but sometimes getting sick later as a result, and is the type of person you would not guess is a ghoul, due to her being a cute worker at Anteiku, as described by Kaneki’s friend Hideyoshi Nagachika. Of course, in the CCG, there is the ghoul-hunting duo, Kureo Mado, and Koutarou Amon. They are both determined to catch the ghouls and capture their kagune, however, Amon shows some curiosity towards the ghouls through the series, after investigating them for some time. Mado on the other hand, has a great amount of experience, and wants to defeat and eradicate the ghouls at all costs. There are many more side characters, including other members of Anteiku, other CCG members, and humans through the story.

Sound

The soundtrack for the series was done by Yutaka Yamada, known for composing the soundtrack for the drama Marumo no Okite with Hiroyuki Sawano. The pre-released tracks, and the music through the series is well done, and fits the tone well. Although only two of the tracks in the OST, the opening and ending have been released, they all fit the series well, and reflect characters through the music. With the promise of a second season in January 2015, the OST may be released after the 2nd season is over, but no release date has been confirmed as of now. Special mentions to the opening Unravel, by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure, as the lyrics and music fit the main character, Kaneki perfectly. The instrumentals were dramatic and great to listen to with the violin, and are good background music for studying or reading manga.

Animation

The animation for the series was done by Studio Perriot, known for works such as Tegami Bachi, Naruto and Bleach. Although the animation was not the best out there, it worked well for the series as a whole, and was not jarring in the least. No surprise CG monsters this time around. The character designs were well done, however if there was more detailing done with the characters, (ex. gradients), that would have helped. The backgrounds were well done, and the animation for the opening reflected the show well. Several art pieces looked similar to the manga, which ended up adding to the beauty of the series in the endings, and layouts placed at the end of most episodes were nice to see. The short animation sequences at the end of some episodes were fun to watch, and they provided a possible scenario for the characters, as a nice way to tell viewers to wait for the next episode the following week.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Tokyo Ghoul is a great anime to watch, mainly for the story and characters. Although the story felt slightly rushed near the end of the short 12 episode series, it is enjoyable, and with a second season announced for January 2015, there are high hopes for the sequel. Nothing hindered the series too badly, and it is a solid series through out. So, considering the categories of sound, animation, story, characters, and my personal enjoyment, the summer 2014 anime Tokyo Ghoul receives an overall score of 9.08 out of 10 and a recommendation to buy rather than stream. The series is available for legal streaming on Funimation’s website, with DVD and Blu-Ray releases to come soon.

And that’s a wrap up, thank you for reading. Reviews will be posted daily through the month of November, so stay tuned!

-Takami