Tokyo Ghoul/Tokyo Ghoul
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 "The world isn't wrong... it just is..." - Ken Kaneki
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Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump between September 2011 and September 2014 and was collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes.
Plot
Tokyo Ghoul
The story follows Ken Kaneki, a student who barely survives a deadly encounter with Rize Kamishiro, his date, who reveals herself as a ghoul and tries to eat him. He is taken to the hospital in critical condition. After recovering, Kaneki discovers that he underwent surgery that transformed him into a half-ghoul. This was accomplished because some of Rize's organs were transferred into his body, and now, like normal ghouls, he must consume human flesh to survive. Ghouls who run a coffee shop called "Anteiku" (あんていく) take him in and teach him to deal with his new life as a half-ghoul. Some of his daily struggles include fitting into the ghoul society and keeping his identity hidden from his human companions, especially from his best friend, Hideyoshi Nagachika.
Tokyo Ghoul:re
Two years have passed since the CCG's raid on Anteiku. Although the atmosphere in Tokyo has changed drastically due to the increased influence of the CCG, ghouls continue to pose a problem as they have begun taking caution, especially the terrorist organization Aogiri Tree, who acknowledge the CCG's growing threat to their existence.
Creating a special team, known as the Quinx Squad, may give the CCG the push they need to exterminate Tokyo's unwanted residents. Humans who have undergone surgery to use the special abilities of ghouls participate in operations to eradicate dangerous creatures. The leader of this group, Haise Sasaki, is a half-ghoul, half-human who has been trained by famed special class investigator Kishou Arima. However, there's more to this young man than meets the eye, as unknown memories claw at his mind, slowly reminding him of the person he used to be.
Why They Rock
- It tells an awesome story about a young man who barely survived his first date with a cannibalistic girl who now has to use her powers for him to survive and learn that the world is cruel and twisted.
- Interesting, well-written, and sympathetic characters:
- Ken Kaneki used to be a normal college student who made his life worse after his first disastrous date with Rize, had to cope with using her ghoul powers, got kidnapped, tortured, had to suffer mentally, went down a downward spiral as he goes mad, and slowly loses everything.
- Touka Kirishima used to be a happy child, but losing her mother and father, and being hunted down by ghoul investigators, caused her to change and gave her a good reason to be angry.
- In addition to Kaneki, his hair color and multiple personalities are brilliant, subtle writing, and it define how much he's suffered and changed over the series.
- Detailed and nicely drawn art style that matches its horror, scary, and dark tone; as the manga went on, the art style became pretty sketchy but detailed simultaneously.
- The Tokyo Ghul:re 16 cover image is awesome, as you can only see Kaneki's one eye.
- The manga explains on how each kagune type functions, its strengths, and weaknesses:
- Rinkaku (Demon Tails) is easily the most strongest in attack, has powerful regenerative abilities and some could even survive the most critical of damage.
- While really powerful, they are really soft and easy to penetrate through.
- Ukaku (feather-red) is the lightest of the four, can spread out like feathers and is released from the shoulder area, it specializes in high speed attacks, most of the users seeming to have highly enhanced speed.
- It is also considered to be the weakest as well since it depletes most of the user's stamina.
- Koukaku (Shell-red) is mostly used for defense, extremely robust, giving it the greatest sturdiness.
- It is also the most difficult type to wield, due to how heavy it is.
- Bikaku (Fish-tail) is the most balanced.
- Rinkaku (Demon Tails) is easily the most strongest in attack, has powerful regenerative abilities and some could even survive the most critical of damage.
- The villains were just as well written as the heroes:
- Kishou Arima is CCG's strongest ghoul exterminator, haven't thought about what his true purpose is until his final fight with Kaneki, and admitted that he hated taking things that are very important to his victims during his death.
- Eto Yoshimura wanting to crush the CCG due to how ghouls are being hunted by them.
- Nimura Furuta/Kichimura Washuu basically wants to make the most out of his life to be the one to eliminate the ghouls since Washuus have a much shorter lifespan than an average human and ghoul. And more, he and his family have been responsible for almost everything in the franchise:
- The corruption of the CCG.
- Kaneki's near demise into becoming a ghoul and turning him into the way he is now.
- Death of Eto's mother Ukina Yoshimura that lead to the creation of Aogiri.
- It has countless memorable scenes and story arcs, including:
- Kaneki with his first fight with Arima, before having his eyes gouged out and lost his memory.
- Touka going up against Shū Tsukiyama.
- Kaneki finally snapping and taking down Jason for torturing him.
- Haise/Kaneki vs. Seidou Takizawa.
- Kaneki regaining his memory while fighting Eto, becoming his most violent personality calling "The Black Reaper".
- The Dragon Arc (Depending on your view) introduced Kaneki's cross-shaped dragon kagune blades and Furuta at full power.
- Each side represents the perspective and goals, since there is no good or evil; as one just eat the living in order to survive, one wanted peace, and one side just wanted discrimination.
Bad Qualities
- The anime adaptation is infamous for being too rushed, storylines have been changed unnecessarily, and many plot points were left unanswered, mostly with its final season.
- Yes, the manga can sometimes leave unanswered questions: that being Mr. Yoshimura stuck in a testing chamber for 7-8 years, and hasn't been seen since.
- Some characters can have sudden motivations last minute, such as Uta, and Itori being one of the main villains in the final arc just felt shoehorned, and Mutsuki's redemption.
- The battle between Kaneki and Juuzo has been considered to be one of the worst fights in the entirety of Tokyo Ghoul, which already ended with Kaneki with all his limbs torn off before the fight even began.
Trivia
- While both adaptations of the manga and the anime are very popular, not much of Sui Ishida's background is very known.
- "Sui Ishida" is more of a pen name. His real name has yet to be confirmed.
- There are many planned moments that were removed in the final story:
- Kaneki and Juuzo were originally planned to be half-brothers.
- Touka being killed by Ayato.
- Kaneki being a full ghoul that wants to be human.