Tokyo Ghoul is a wildly popular and well received anime from 2014. Tokyo Ghoul is based upon the manga series of the same name. The first season is only 12 episodes long with a second 12 episode season currently airing. As the name implies, the story takes place and revolves around Tokyo, which is inhabited by ghouls, blending in with the humans. Ghouls are different in the fact that they cannot eat anything apart from human flesh. Therefore, in order to sustain themselves, they kill and devour people. Furthermore, they are stronger than any normal human, have blood red eyes and has something called a "kagune", which is a sort of weapon that grows out of the ghoul's body.
The protagonist is a university student called Kaneki, who was living a normal life before he was pulled in the ghoul's world. Even though ghouls kill and devour humans, it seems they are not numerous enough to cause a massive panic amongst the population. The general population know that they exist and fear them but it is more like you have the same probability of encountering them as you would contract a terminal illness. A task force is already established by the authorities and throughout the season, we see them at work, targeting and killing ghouls, trying to gain information for some mysterious object.
The biggest weakness of Tokyo Ghoul is that the plot isn't too clear sometimes. Sure, Kaneki is pulled into their world, we see some antagonistic ghouls who cause pain and grief, while we also see antagonist humans who seem obsessively cruel but it doesn't give you the big picture from the get go. Therefore, you can watch up to the seventh episode and still be thinking, what is the thing that drives everyone? While ghouls were depicted as the evil monsters in the beginning, slowly this view may change. Toka is one of the ghouls introduced who are peaceful and doesn't provoke humans unless necessary (although we do see her monstrous side frequently towards the end).
On the other hand, human characters are introduced who unnecessarily killing ghouls after questioning. Sure, ghouls may be monsters but some do not deserve to die, they live in secret and out of view, but the human inspectors still terminate them. A big chunk of the anime has Kaneki being weak while he is learning and strengthening his power. This can get frustrating, especially when you know that he has huge potential and probably could be one of the most powerful ghouls around. As different factions are introduced, some of the characters can be very... weird. They have unusual personalities and tend to be melodramatic.
One thing that Tokyo Ghoul could do better is to elaborate one the backstory a bit more. It feels as though you're thrust right in the middle of the whole affair with very little of the ghoul's anatomy and the history being explained. Why are they in hiding? How did they first appear? Are they just the same as humans in that they have families too, the only difference being that they devour human flesh? These questions are left unanswered for the most part and feels lacking. The pacing increases in the final three episodes with the content being more twisted and gruesome than what came before.
A huge portion of the final episodes is spent on Kaneki reflecting on his ghoul self and you can feel that the anime is building up to something. While the climax satisfies to some degree, the ending felt abrupt and unresolved when clearly there is more left. Even though there is a second season, it doesn't feel as if that huge intense event was finished off properly. Overall, Tokyo Ghoul is an intriguing anime but it doesn't feel as if it has fulfilled its full potential. It felt like this first season was just the introduction, setting up the character to be stronger later on. It can be a bit over the top with the blood by otherwise, it is entertaining to watch.
-------------------------------------
For other animation reviews, have a look at this page.
