Now, onto the details:
Story - 7/10
It's tough for me to objectively rate the story of Tokyo Ghoul, the anime, without comparing it to the manga, but I'll try my best. The story seems somewhat cliche at first, but it's executed in a manner that makes it very different from anime with similar concepts -- it's a very character-driven story, and because the characters are mostly three-dimensional, well-developed, and fascinating, the story feels fresh. It's engaging and well-paced; it goes fast enough to really suck you in, but it slows down just enough to build suspense, as well. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, or for people who don't like sad stories. But if you're like me and you like dark, tragic stories, Tokyo Ghoul is a good choice.
Art - 6/10
At first, the art seems okay, if not a little mundane style-wise. As the show progresses, however, it becomes apparent that Tokyo Ghoul needs a more atmospheric and interesting style to suit its themes. Tokyo Ghoul is set apart from other anime in that it has its own brand of twistedness -- after all, it's a story about a protagonist whose body and mind take a turn for the horrific. What Pierrot came up with was, unfortunately, bland and mediocre; aesthetically, the animation just does not suit the story or characters.
Even worse, the quality of the animation falters quite frequently. For example, when Nishiki kicks Hide, the movements of both the kick and of Hide being sent flying are so fast, choppy and otherwise poorly-executed that it's actually funny. It seems that Studio Pierrot had issues with kicking while animating this, because when Ayato kicks down a door later on, he looks flat-out ridiculous. Tsukiyama's face looks beautiful half of the time, and it looks like one big blunder the other half. Worst of all, if you pause at the right (or rather, wrong...) moment, especially during action scenes, you're bound to come across a hilariously bad frame, or series of frames. At times it seems like the animators were just hoping that viewers wouldn't be paying attention at times when the characters spend a few seconds looking like they were drawn by a middle school kid. However, there are some scenes that are actually very well-done, especially in the later episodes, e.g. Kaneki's hallucinations/internal conversation in the later episodes were both gorgeous and memorable.
Sound: 10/10
The soundtrack is wonderful, both in the show and for listening on its own. Tokyo Ghoul's soundtrack captures the mood and tone of the story in ways that the animation could not even begin to accomplish. It's the perfect juxtaposition of delicate/melancholy and harsh/heavy. If you enjoy this anime, then listening to the soundtrack later on will probably make you emotional, it's that good. Standout tracks include "Unravel" (the first opening), "Glassy Sky", and "Licht und Schatten". The second opening, "Munou", was met with mixed feelings from the fanbase -- mostly because it's straight-up bizarre, and it's not the kind of song you would expect from an anime opening at all -- but personally I thought it was beautiful and very fitting, considering Kaneki's psychological deterioration as the series progresses.
The voice acting is brilliant. (I'm talking about the Japanese here; I don't believe there's a dub out yet as I'm writing this, and it's not like I'd watch a dub of Tokyo Ghoul anyway, considering the perfection of the Japanese acting in this case.) Natsuki Hanae's performance as Kaneki is nothing short of devastating, and I mean that in the best way possible. In scenes where Kaneki was in pain, the voice acting felt so real that it was actually distressing. The other actors did a wonderful job too, of course, but Natsuki Hanae truly blew me away.
Character 7/10
The characters are all very interesting and lovable. I've never heard of a fan who doesn't like Kaneki, and his development is what really makes Tokyo Ghoul so great. Watching him change is truly heartbreaking, and that's the point. The character designs aren't spectacular, but they're all really cool, especially Suzuya's. Suzuya himself is a fascinating character that I got attached to very quickly, and his fight scenes were usually the most entertaining. However, a lot of characters were deprived of the development that they should have gotten. This is another situation in which it's hard to be objective about the anime, because in the manga, characters that the anime neglects development-wise (such as Banjou and Tsukiyama...ESPECIALLY Tsukiyama) go through outstanding development. But disregarding that, they're still great characters.
Enjoyment - 7/10
You'll enjoy this if you're not looking for a story with some depth but not too much of it. If you want something that will really keep you thinking about it, skip the anime, go for the manga. Or do both.
Overall - 7/10
There are characters and plot points that were full of potential that they weren't allowed to reach, and the animation was mostly lackluster, but it's still a decent anime. Definitely not a masterpiece, but it's good enough.
