Reviews

Aug 18, 2015
Tokyo Ghoul is a very hard title for me to rate. At some moments I was just dying to see what would come next, while a certain story arc in particular just felt silly and uneeded. I would say it's strong suit is it's phenomonal animation and choreography which was paced well with fitting sound effects and music. However, the story's plot could be very convoluted at times, and although it has some admirable characters, the main character himself, Ken Kaneki, fell short of my expectations.

As for the story, the overall concept seems to be innovative, however it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. At first, it seemed to be centered all arounf Kaneki, and him learning how to deal with his recent predicament of becoming a ghoul. They showed Kaneki's psychological melt down wonderfully, and it seemed to be about Kaneki struggling to figure out how to become a ghoul. The psychological story about Kaneki's internal battles and his decisions to either somehow overcome his insatiable hunger for human flesh, or succumb to his carnal desires.

However, this character has little to no character development whatsoever. He is taken in and babied by the workers at Anteiku, and everything he knows is taught to him, not having to figure out things out by himself. Even when he is told what he has to do in order to save the ones he cares about, he still comes off as a p*ssy. Although I did not like Kaneki, I did however love Touka's character. She was rational, yet hot headed, and wasn't afraid to be blunt. Also, I admired how they went over Nishio's back story, and why he is the way he is, although I wished they elaborated just a bit more on it.

Everyone who has seen Tokyo Ghoul knows it mainly for its phenomanal opening. I actually didn't like the opening song that much, and found it to be quite average. However, I came to love it, along with it's abstract imagery. The opening song, Unravel, also plays during the finally which brings back a feeling of nostaligia and really ties it all together. Not only was the opening great, the background music and voice actors (Japanese) fit the scene and the characters.

Speaking of music and sound effects, they blend perfectly with the different atmospheres and fight scenes. The uncensored fight choreography was great, although it tended to go overboard and turn into a pointless gorefest. However, I found it to be tasteful at most times, and since it has such dark themes, explicit violence is to be expected. I absolutely adored the character designs of this anime. Each was unique, and tended to reflect on their personality. Although some may think they go over the top with these designs, I find them to fit in with the world they are placed in.

My overall enjoyment of the series is a fairly high rank. Although it had it's flaws and downfalls, I still find it to be a good commentary on topics like discrimination and humanity, especially in the last couple of episodes. It constantly questions you who the true villians are, ghouls or humans?
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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