Now as I said before it's not a stretch to say Tokyo Ghoul is overhyped. Why? I don't know. Nevertheless there is a lot of potential for the series to perhaps get better when the second season comes around in January. These 12 episodes though suffer from feeling a bit rushed and cramped together, like the studio felt they needed to squeeze as much as they can into these 12 episodes and that certainly hurt the show. Why? Lack of character development, and scenarios and conflicts which are solved fairly quickly before the show rushes on to the next thing. This does eliminate boring filler-like episodes, but I wish I saw characters like Touka, developed more because she was a badass for the time she was given. Another thing the show lacks is a proper goal or "thing" the characters are working towards. For example trying to take down a villain or obtain an objective or like I said a goal. There are a number of antagonists but none of them really feel like a main villain, they feel more like just an enemy for Kaneki and Anteiku to deal with for a few episodes. That said, one of the antagonists in particular actually played a good bad guy; Jason. Towards the finale, you really start to see how he gets into Kaneki's head and make him crack. The amount of emotion that the show hits you with in the last episode was actually incredible. It really makes you feel like you're going through what Kaneki is and that's a quality I wish I saw more. Aside from all that, Tokyo Ghoul lacks a good cast of supporting characters as well. I can't help but to think that this is partially because they crammed 60 chapters into 12 episodes. Hide, Kaneki's best friend is seen a good amount in the beginning but then feels pushed aside and not really relevant towards the end. Some of the other Ghouls who act as supporting characters weren't as well fleshed out as they could've been which is disappointing as well. Nishiki was in my opinion a very interesting character and he was explored in the beginning but after that we don't see too much of him either. At times, the show try's to make you feel bad about a situation a character is going through and to be honest it just didn't work. The series tries to develop Amon as a connectable character but I didn't see a reason to feel bad for him all to much.
That all being said, there is a number of things Tokyo Ghoul does very well. The intro song-unravel by Tk is a beautiful song that fits the tone of the show perfectly. In all honesty It's definitely contender for best anime intro of the season so far. The soundtrack itself doesn't stand out as being anything special though, however it still blends well with the specific sequences and seems to add good rhythm to whatever was going on in the episode. Speaking of episodes, episodes 11, and 12 are by far the stand out of the series. The whole raid scene in episode 11 was fantastic and got my hyped. Due to shortness of time though, there's only so much of it we could see and I admit I wish I saw more. The emotional roller coaster of episode 12 was done very well too, especially the ending fight which was short lived but mildly epic. The animation goes without saying as being gorgeous. Character designs aren't anything ambitious but they did what they needed too. The environments though were the standout of the animation. The city of Tokyo was so detailed and lush looking the CGI was implemented perfectly. Action scenes had good flow and designs of the ghoul weapons- Kagune, looked pretty interesting though they're not completely different from something I haven't already seen. Another thing the show has going for it is the main character, Kaneki. He grew as a character and was developed the best. The show does a good job at putting everything in his perspective and not straying away from that, you see him grow and change especially at the end. The characters aren't interesting enough to drive the story completely but the story itself is for the most part interesting. I can say there was never a time the show bored me. Tokyo Ghoul also does a good job at putting you in this grey area of right and wrong. It's obviously wrong to kill people but is it so wrong for the ghouls to just be alive? Those are some themes sprinkled throughout the series.
Overall I enjoyed the series.. sticking to my guns though, the show has many flaws the next season hopefully fixes. I hope they're fixed anyway because I enjoyed the show and want it to get better next time around. Tokyo Ghoul is nothing great but it's certainly worth the watch. If you like Dark Fantasy or action i'd say that you'll enjoy it. If you're looking for something strictly horror though, you're not gonna find much here. Anyway, apologies for the lengthly review but please give it a thumbs up if you agreed !
