Tokyo Ghoul

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There are more than 100 reviews recommending Tokyo Ghoul. This review is no different. I absolutely loved it and it became one of my favorite mangas.
I just love the character development, I love the fighting mode and how easy it is to understand too. The work is super metaphorical and the characters’ internal dialogues are incredible. I'm in love with the mystery that the author brings to the "villains" (aogiri). I love the way he treats humans. I no longer knew who to root for, I cried horribly at the end.
This work left a deep impression on me, I feel that the author did a ... great job and I think it's a privilege to be able to read something like this, having read Tokyo Ghoul is an emotional experience.

Misleading characterisation leads to an underwhelming read.
A solid beginning leads to a jumbled up end.

Overall rating: 6/10 (not bad but also not good)
Re-readable rating: 2/5 (just the first half of the story)

1- Shonen masquerading as Seinen
The biggest step this manga stumbles upon is setting expectations. When you're calling yourself Seinen, the reader expects some seinen. But what you get instead is a shonen turned to a more severe degree. It would have been more enjoyable if it was just called shonen and the reader was not left expecting for something more to happen.

2- Too many ideas, too little cohesion
The story starts off really ... strong with a great set-up, unique characters and clear points of conflict. But as the initial conflict begins to resolve, the story begins to feel like a braindump as it progresses into the latter chapters, It's a good example of more isn't always better.

[*minor spoiler warning*
I also don't understand the need to introduce new characters so late into the story, and that too all minor characters. Maybe they have some role in the sequel, maybe not. But it sure didn't make sense here.]

Conclusion: Not bad for an edgy shonen
I write this review a few weeks after reading the manga and now that time has passed, I can say that this manga is meant for young shonen fans branching out into the seinen genre. The plot is cool, the style is edgy, the execution is questionable but if you're reading something like this for the first time, it definitely has a novelty factor.

There's not such thing as something that is for everyone and this is just not for me.
The plot does not follow not a clear path and it frequently makes a lot of jumps in focus, introducing new characters until the very last chapter. Because of reading this in an almost weekly manner, many times I lost track of who's who or why some character is behaving in a certain way.
The art is fine, but inconsistent. It sometimes borders on the abstract and I had to look at some pages more than once to understand what was going on.
I got hooked in some story arcs but ... then the story would change focus to a different character which I didn't care about. Then it ends somewhat abruptly, which I guess is the reason for its sequel, but I won't bother with that. Honestly felt mostly like an edgy manga full of teen angst and little substance.