Regardless of how media has twisted its perception and how the anime made it seem “edgy and twisted”, the show’s core concept is really interesting: What would happen if “ghouls” existed in modern society. Not only does this pose countless philosophical questions, but its a fun take on how humans would react if such a thing were to happen, and the show goes to extremes to flesh the worldbuilding which I appreciate. However where my issue with this area lies is that some aspects weren’t reinforced and I ended up having to remind myself that they existed, eg: I actually forgot at one point that the core theme of: “ghouls needing to eat humans to survive”, was a thing because it just didn’t happen past the early chapters.
No shocker that the story is great, absolutely no complaints here, however I will outline one aspect that I noticed; the pacing was amazing. Chapters flowed into one another as if I didn’t turn the page and I never questioned whether the plot could’ve spent more time on certain areas of the story.
I honestly hate what the anime did to my boy Kaneki, he’s such an amazing catalyst for the reader to experience the world alongside him, assuring that he knows just as much as the us throughout the early chapters, as well as just being a great character period. His progression through the story is by-far one of it’s best qualities, especially during the second half where he’s all over the place; the story goes out of it’s way to make sure we understand his mental state.
This might be a personal issue, but I had massive issues trying to comprehend some of the art and panelling during the first half of the manga. I actually think the artist had a stroke midway through some of the fight-scenes because I swear they’re incomprehensible to mere mortals. Fortunately the fights became much wider-shot and more detailed during the second half - to the point I could actually understand what was happening.
Another - smaller - nit-pick I have is that all of the CCG character blend together. Obviously the main cast stand out due to the fact they actually get development, but sometimes “big-strong-guy #4” will take up the entire panel and I’m just left wondering who the fuck that is. My main issue is that none of them are distinctive enough from one another to the point its hard to tell some of them apart.
Finally. Would I consider this worth reading if you’ve already seen the anime.
No.
Don’t get me wrong; the manga is infinitely better, especially compared to season two. But if you’re not thirsting for more Tokyo Ghoul content - the anime served its purpose fine, and whilst its inferior, it scratched that itch we all have sufficiently. For me at least.
<3
