But, this is a review on the anime. And as much as us manga lovers like to complain about the hideous transition from page to screen, season two is quick to dismiss the blame by taking on the title, "root a", claiming that this is a different route than the manga. With that in mind, I will try to contain my bias opinion and comment on both the pleasing sides and horrendous sides of the anime (with little comments of the manga here and there, which isn't really preventable. sorry in advance).
Story: 6/10
Truthfully speaking, when Tokyo Ghoul comes to plot, it has SO much potential. What the manga gives the writers to work with is an endless amount of detailed story and well-structured dialogue. But Root A continues down the path of it's precursor, becoming the same sad tale of season one. While it is undeniably entertaining, it leaves out an extreme amount of potential. It becomes a flat surface of one-dimensional arcs and stories that are being forcefully told.
Also, it's important to question WHY Ishida and the creators of season two decided to go out of their way to change the "route" of this season, yet still kept the main story and plot lines? Events and conversations all occur exactly the same as told in the manga, while small details are changed. Kaneki's position changes and he becomes a member Aogiri, but they do NOTHING with this plot. It doesn't contribute to the main outcome of the anime. The route is still essentially following the manga, so why claim otherwise? Unless the last episode ends differently than the manga, this can become a debatable topic. Nevertheless, all other scenes from Root A were still the same, so I personally think it was unnecessary to claim this was an alternative route (though, like I said, if the last episode is different than the manga, then my argument can be changed. STILL, a much better word for it would be alternate-ending, not 'route').
Art: 5/10
I've heard a lot of people say the art is incredibly visually appealing, and while I can agree at certain parts of the anime, it's mostly disappointing and cringe-worthy. Every fight scene seems half-assed, characters faces are distorted, and everything seems much too rushed. There are few moments that are actually pleasant to look at. I won't comment on the censorship problem because that's not the fault of the show's creators, but even without the censorship, there's nothing special about the art/gore.
I maybe would have rated this at a six if Arima's face wasn't the way it looked in episode 11 (and possibly 12). How is a REAPER, a god of death (as described by Kaneki), supposed to be terrifying yet cool when he has a triangular shaped chin and a flat, boring appearance/aura? There is nothing special about him, which is sadly disappointing. And when you compare the manga, where the art gives signs to an INCREDIBLE amount of symbolism (including The Hanged Man (XII), Death (XIII), little details of foreshadowing and more), it's hard not to be unimpressed with what the anime has to offer.
Sound: 8/10
The soundtrack is, as always, pretty amazing. The op/ed are pretty good, though not extraordinary. The voice acting is usually on-point. Kaneki, Juuzou, and a few more have pretty amazing vocals and they do a good job at screaming with the same type of insanity you feel from the manga. I would also have rated this section higher if they had not BUTCHERED Tsukiyama's voice, making him a babbling idiot who shouts non-sense in broken French. It's really cringe-worthy, so I knocked it down a bit.
Character: 5/10
Again, wasted potential and the same problem that occurs in season one. Tokyo Ghoul is known for its incredible story telling and plot/character development. It is a beautiful climb of making mistakes, learning, and growing into characters with new insights and points of view. But every single character falls flat in the anime. There is not a single character that we have followed long enough to actually FEEL the growth of his character. For 11 episodes, we have been at a single standpoint. Barely anything has changed. By taking out an important arc (the lab/doctor arc), we steal Tsukiyama's incredible development, which originally had proven how good Ishida is at telling the story of a character. The anime is all over the place, trying to tell so many points of view in such a short span of time, and everything only manages to fall flat.
Kaneki fails to impress the anime-watchers, and that's very understandable. Without much dialogue, he becomes a protagonist that is hard to connect with. While stoic and mysterious, we lose the idea that he is our main character, making the audience confused in their ability to grow empathetic to who we're watching. Something really important to note is that, in the anime he is seen as a stoic, quiet, unfriendly figure, most likely due to the post-traumatic stress of his torture. But in the manga, he still has the ability to act friendly. He is still kind-hearted and able to SPEAK, though still holding a visible inner pain. He de-humanizes himself by becoming a cannibal, but that doesn't suddenly change his personality, which again is an admirable ability of Ishida's continuity within his characters. But the anime fails to make this connection, making him into a character who he is not.
I have to say, while we've seen little of the clowns, I'm hoping they make an appearance in episode 12, as they play as incredibly important role to the plot (which, if told correctly, can be a pleasurable thing for the 'character' section).
Enjoyment: 6/10
In the genres of the anime listed on MAL, we have "horror, psychological, and mystery". But the anime is none of those things. Yes, anime-watchers have questions. "Who is the owl?", "How powerful is Arima?", "Does Hide know about Kaneki?", etc. But these things do not make a mystery. Yes, there are monsters. But they don't linger under the beds of children nor do they lurk in closets. There's no creepy factor, no intensity, and no suspension. So it's not a horror. And honestly, the anime LOST its right to call itself psychological when it ruined the plots and characters. So, for one, the enjoyment becomes one solely based on action, seinen, and drama. While these things don't make a good anime if they only have each other, they DO prove to be enjoyable. Even if you dislike the anime, most still decide to watch it to the end. Manga readers watch it to figure out what 'route' it will take. We all want to know what happens next. And I think that is important in the idea that Tokyo Ghoul Root A is a surface anime. It takes things as it sees it, all for entertainment. There are no deeper meanings, no symbolism, no beautiful whisks or originality in the writing and portrayal of its origin. It is something that we watch, we partially enjoy, and then we move on. It slips our minds and instead, we think of the manga or a new show. So while it's not memorable in the least, we do still have those moments of short enjoyment. There's nothing remarkable about it, but it's something to watch to pass the time. If I was flicking the channels (and I had never watched anime) and TG was an option, I would watch out of boredom, and maybe I'd even thoroughly enjoy an episode.
Also, a little side note: It's really, really entertaining when we get to see Kaneki's mental weaknesses and the true insanity that plagues his mind due to the consumption of other ghouls and his horrid torture. But there was a lack of these beautiful scenes in the anime, which again leaves us less entertained than we could have been.
Overall: 5/10
And that's what it is. Not remarkable, not horrible. Mediocre, but not yet poor or dreadful. And while writing this review, trust me. I had a lot of fan girl in me that had originally rated a lot of these sections higher than what they are now. But as I wrote, realization dawned on me, and I came to acknowledge the failed second season of Tokyo Ghoul. It had an abundance of opportunities for potential, but it never grasped at those opportunities, making the show something that can never compare to its original story-telling form. As a writer, it's disappointing to see something so beautiful reduced to something like this, and while the art and sound were not at the fault of the writers, the room left for story and character could have easily made up for it. But alas, the anime fell too short, not reaching the high expectations of fans all around. Whether these faults lay on Ishida (who helped with the anime), or the other creators of the show, it doesn't matter. It just does not live up to anything special.
Prior to this review, the anime was rated at a 6. But the ending was just awful. Wasted space, shock-value for no reason, too much walking/music, nothing happening. Again, things that just weren't necessary and could have been used for other plot devices and entertainment, such as the fight between Arima and Kaneki.
Hopefully, we never get a season three nor an adaption of Re... leave this untouched, at least.
