Is Tokyo Ghoul Worth Your Time? – A Complete Review

Tokyo Ghoul (Tōkyō Gūru) is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida.

The series follows Ken Kaneki, a college student who becomes part-ghoul after barely surviving a deadly encounter with one.

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by Pierrot aired on Tokyo MX between July 4 and September 19, 2014.

1.Quick Review

The story follows Ken Kaneki, a college student who is on a date with Rize Kamishiro before he is attacked by her.

Kaneki’s date turns out to be a ghoul and his deadly encounter with her and sends him to the hospital in critical condition. After recovering, Kaneki learns that he underwent a surgery that transformed him into a half-ghoul.

This was only possible because some of Rize’s organs were transplanted into his body, and now, like normal ghouls, he must consume human flesh to survive.

The ghouls who manage the coffee shop “Anteiku” take him in and teach him to deal with his new life as a half-ghoul.

As a half-ghoul, he must try his best to fit into the ghoul society and keep his identity hidden from his human companions, including his best friend Hideyoshi Nagachika.

The series is full of flashy violence, frightening villains, elaborate fighting scenes, and absurd special effects.

However, underneath all of these layers is the incredibly inspirational story of Kaneki fighting his own monsters, literally, and trying to retain his humanity by not giving in to his ghoul form.

2. Info Card

3. Is It Worth Watching?

Tokyo Ghoul was definitely made for those who immerse themselves in the world of dark fantasy. If you love all things scary and don’t mind blood and gore, then you have found your show.

Tokyo Ghoul Official English Trailer

The series is also home to some lovely artwork and eye-catching action scenes.

I. Plot

College student Ken Kaneki meets a girl named Rize at a cafe he often visits. They have similar interests which result in them getting close to one another.

Little does Kaneki know that Rize is a ghoul – a kind of monster that survives by hunting and devouring human flesh.

After surviving her spontaneous attack where Rize is killed by a steel beam, Kaneki is left in critical condition. To keep him alive, Rize’s organs are transplanted into Kaneki which turns him into a ghoul.

Now our protagonist is trapped in a distorted world where humans are not at the top of the food chain.

The story is engaging enough to make you want to see more. The action scenes and little cliffhangers at the end of each episode are really well done, leaving you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what’s to come.

II. Characters

The world is inhabited by two types of people: regular people and ghouls who eat human flesh as a source of food.

The main character Ken Kaneki is a nineteen-year-old black haired University freshman. He studied Japanese literature at Kamii University, living a relatively normal life.

However, this quickly changed after Rize Kamishiro’s organs were transplanted into him and this in turn, transformed him into a one-eyed ghoul.

Rize Kamishiro was a threat to most ghouls in Tokyo thanks to her eating habits. That wass, before her death in the steel beam incident, where her organs were transplanted to the main character through surgery to transform Ken Kaneki into a one-eyed ghoul.

Kaneki finds it difficult to adjust to his new life and being a half-ghoul. He is taken in by Yoshimura, a ghoul who runs the Cafe “Anteiku”, who teaches him to blend in human society while hiding his true nature.

Yoshimura is a kind and generous old man. Through his actions and advice, the manager shows that he is both wise and reasonable even among the ghouls.

During Kaneki’s time with Yoshimura, he gets bullied by another ghoul named Touka. Her personality is initially defined by her duality between rage and kindness.

She is inherently kind, but this was repressed due to her losing her father and thus having to survive in the ghoul world from an early age, which required her to be ruthless.

III. Setting

As the name suggests, the series takes place in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where ghouls, creatures that look like humans but can only survive by eating human flesh.

These ghouls live amongst the human population in secrecy, hiding their true nature in order to escape from being chased by the authorities.

IV. Music

The opening theme song is “Unravel” by TK from Ling tosite Sigure. The lyrics of the song are beautiful and seem very relatable to Kaneki as a character. The song becomes an earworm the more you listen to it.

“The Saints” (Seijatachi) by People in the Box is the ending theme for the anime. It sounds like an early 2000’s pop song with beautiful artwork that matches the mood of the music.

V. Action Sequence

Tokyo Ghoul consists of good fighting scenes and intense violence adds to the gory elements of the series.

The fights and the actual wounds that the characters inflict on each other most of the time is so horrifying that it required a censored version to be released.

The censored version has a simple, blurry black shadow that is cast over specific parts of the shot.  Wounds are sometimes mysteriously covered in light. Other times, the scene’s color schemes are altered to dull the graphic nature of of the scene by distracting the viewer.

4. Grade

5. Final Thoughts

Tokyo Ghoul’s animation and art are noteworthy. The music and the voice acting in this anime really adds to the depth of the story. The series is a great concept that any horror fan will like especially when it consists of a decent, and quite dark, story such as this one.