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| Viz Media |
Sui Ishida
2012
The Summary
"Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way--except their craving for human flesh.
"Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize, but it turns out that she's only interested in his body--in eating it, that is. When a morally dubious rescue transforms him into the first half-human, half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers."
The Good
I was fascinated by the plot and premise of Tokyo Ghoul. It's terribly grim and horribly macabre, but I found myself intrigued despite the gore. It hearkens back to the vampire mythos, to the monstrous creatures hiding in plain sight, which I ultimately liked. Likewise, I was intrigued by Ken Kaneki's altered state as a half-human, half-Ghoul hybrid. There's a complexity to his condition that I think Sui Ishida manages to convey very well.
You see, Ken is a gentle kid, a soft-hearted boy who believes he's stumbled across the perfect girl, but, after a terrible incident leaves him with a ghoulish surprise, he's caught in a world that's both violent and terrifying. He's stuck between worlds, fighting to retain his humanity and struggling to rein in his darker Ghoul urges.
I was curious to see how Ken would handle his new condition. He's the fulcrum part between two very different worlds and he's trying to adapt and understand the Ghouls--trying to survive with his grisly new craving for human flesh--while holding on to his human counterpart. It's a very delicate balancing act he's carrying out, which gives Tokyo Ghoul a pulse-pounding quality I didn't expect.
The Bad
I've decided that Tokyo Ghoul just really isn't my cup of tea. It's intriguing, which was able to get me in the door, but I don't think I could stay with the series. It's very serious, very intense, very dramatic with in-your-face violence and graphic depictions of what is essentially cannibalism--and I just didn't get any of the humor (what little there is) in the story.
It's not a bad series, but it just isn't for me.
The Ugly
Tokyo Ghoul is extremely gory.
Usually, I can handle gore. I've read Rat Queens, Lady Killer, and Batwoman, so I can deal with graphic violence, blood, explicit language, and general nastiness. But Tokyo Ghoul was something special: it actually made me feel very queasy. I'm thinking it was the idea of cannibalism that made it so disturbing, or maybe it was just the excessive gore and blood-dripping flesh that did it. Either way, I spent most of my time feeling very, very uncomfortable.
I definitely wouldn't recommend it for readers who have a weak stomach.
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