[Anime Only]
~ Do you want to know what the best thing about Pain is? ~
This is the long awaited sequel to the original season of Tokyo Ghoul, named "Root A". It goes without saying that this season has disappointed countless avid Tokyo Ghoul viewers, myself included. The franchise has always been cursed with a widely love/hate relationship, and a hostile division between its Anime and Manga followers. This vague, and poorly executed sequel was the last thing it needed...
There are many reasons as to why this anime fell flat on its face. Perhaps the most notable, is that at a glance, it's essentially just a string of linked plot revelations and/or discoveries. Not to say that these twists... these... punchy and plentiful moments of truth didn't catch me off-guard, because they did - and this worked well... until you realize that the rest of the content is filler.
An anime needs to do more than just relay what's happening at a given moment, it needs depth, and development of the characters to make them relatable and likable. Doing so makes the show seem less manufactured, and offers a more personal viewing experience.
Whereas in the first season, Kaneki was very relatable, emotive and acted in a way that resembled what normal people would do - he was easy to appreciate and get attached to. In Root A, the best development in my opinion was of Akira, as generally the season starts out quite slowly, and a good amount of consideration was taken in developing her through her father - alongside some other new faces of course. Sadly though, Studio Pierrot... She is definitely not our main character. As instead, viewers of Root A have to deal with Kaneki "version 2": for the most part he is an emotionally devoid, isolated, brooding bore. This was a massive hit for that signature reliability, and outgoing personality of Kaneki in season 1. Despite his circumstances, there was no need to render him so brooding and quiet to the point where the show looses ALL sense of personality - and potentially causes the audience to root for the opposition.
I would definitely say that there is a very significant distance between the viewer and all of the characters, as in in addition to having no main character, the story of Root A is very much set on a larger scale. In fact, the whole anime can be described as a war, and therefore characters individually play smaller, less developed roles. This explains the loss of character attachment, but i genuinely do believe that the "bigger, whole city" premise was a refreshing angle for the show, kind of like how season 1 began...
You can't have a war without ACTION!
And Root A DELIVERS! (for once)
Arguably, the show's only strong suit is its immediate scope presentation. The art is phenomenal, and the in-ep soundtrack is very fitting too.
Despite the invasion of the theme into "filler territory", the action fighting scenes are truly a sight to behold - dominating those of season 1.
TL;DR
You can probably gather that as a whole, i felt that this follow up season was lacking in the story and character departments. I found it hard to get acquainted to the characters again, as they were all, always so distanced during the somewhat repetitive, but dramatic and pleasing fighting scenes.
It's a show that i'd say, will only work well for action-addicted judges...
And if you've read the manga (i haven't) - just forget it!
~ It tells you that you're Not Dead! (yet) ~
