Reviews of "Tokyo Ghoul" will appeal to all fans of Japanese anime. This is a popular series based on the fantastic manga of Sui Isis. She came out from 2011 to 2018. It was first adapted as an anime series in 2014. Four seasons have been shot to date. In the article, we will talk about the plot and characters of this work, give reviews and opinions of viewers.
Synopsis
Recently, there have been a lot of positive reviews about the Tokyo Ghoul. Those who have not yet met with the series are in a hurry to do this, because at that time new series are just coming out.
The plot of the work is based on the story of a student at Kaneki University, who is attacked by a ghoul, and then ends up in a hospital.
The ghoul is a mythical creature, a werewolf, which is present in the mythology of many peoples of the world. As a rule, he is depicted with donkey hooves, disgusting appearance, which do not change in any way as a result of all kinds of transformations occurring with a werewolf.
In the hospital, Kaneki illegally transplanted the organs of the same ghoul, who turns out to be one of the strongest, in order to save his life.
To survive, the ghouls feed on human flesh. To do this, they have to search for the bodies of suicides or kill people on their own.
After organ transplantation, the main character becomes a ghoul, but only half. At the same time, he has to procure human flesh for sustenance, like everyone else. However, partially remaining a man, he tries to maintain the best qualities in himself, immerses himself in society in order to maintain contact with the world of people.
Producer
The director of Tokyo Ghoul was Japanese Suhei Morita. He was born in Yamatotakada in 1978. Known as a producer and screenwriter of various anime films.
In 2014, the project was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It was a picture of "Property", which told about a girl: following a white rabbit, she falls into a variety of magical worlds. True, the cherished statuette did not go to the project. The award was presented to the Frenchman Laurent Witz with the fantasy "Mr. Porthole."
The project of the animated series Tokyo Ghoul is currently the most successful in the career of the director.
Production
It is now known how many episodes of Tokyo Ghoul viewers will be able to see. In all four seasons, there were 12 episodes, that is, a total of 48.
The production of anime adaptation was taken over by the animation Japanese company Studio Pierrot, which has existed since 1979. Yuji Nunokawa has been leading her all this time. Initially, the studio was created to produce high-quality anime series. This brought her success.
The script for the series was written by Tuji Mikasano, the character design was developed by Karzuhiro Miva. In discussing which genre of Tokyo Ghoul will dominate, it was decided not to go far from the concept described in the manga. Therefore, it has become a fantastic drama with elements of horror.
First season
The release date for the anime "Tokyo Ghoul" is July 4, 2014. Until September 19, the Japanese showed all 12 episodes of the first season.
According to the plot of "Tokyo Ghoul", the story begins with Kaneka meeting with the mysterious and pretty girl Ridze. As a result, it turns out to be a ghoul. Young people go on a date, and after the girl asks the young man to take her home, lures him into a deserted place, intending to eat. However, at the last moment, metal beams collapse on them. Ridze dies on the spot, and Kaneki is saved by doctors. In the struggle for life, doctors transplant him the internal organs of the girl, not finding out to the end who she really is.
After the operation, the young man feels that something is happening to him, he is changing. Ordinary food becomes disgusting to him, while he constantly experiences hunger. Finally, at the end of episode 1 of season 1 of the Tokyo Ghoul, the protagonist realizes that he himself has partially turned into a monster.
Kaneki has to adapt to life in a new guise. In this he is helped by the owner of the cafe "Anteyku" Yoshimura. The institution gathers ghouls from the surrounding places. And he supplies them with food if they are unable to hunt on their own.
Together with Kaneki, Nishiki Nishio is studying at the university, who is also a ghoul, which Ken had not even suspected before. In addition, it turns out that Nishiki opened the hunt for his best friend Hide. He has to confront the werewolf in order to save the life of a comrade.
In the episode "White Dove" Kaneki joins "Anteyk". Yoshimura teaches him various tricks that will come in handy in a new life, and teaches him to adapt to the human world. Toka details how the ghoul society works. When another ghoul of Xu Tsukiyama appears in the cafe, he begins to show suspicious interest in the young man.
In the next episode, Kaneki decides to get closer to Tsukiyama, although Toki warns the protagonist against this. At the same time, he is constantly tormented by the feeling that something is threatening him, someone is preparing a trap for him. It turns out that all these fears were not in vain.
In the episode Scar, Kaneki miraculously gets out alive from a gourmet ghoul dinner. But Tsukiyama is still obsessed with mania to eat it. Therefore, he is preparing for the protagonist another trap: kidnaps girlfriend Nishio, who is an ordinary person. Nishiki himself was injured and is now unable to fight. Kaneki and Toka understand that they have to confront Tsukiyama together.
In the battle against Kanyuki and Toki, Tsukiyama is defeated. In addition, at the last moment, Nishiki came to their aid. The events of recent days have attracted additional police attention to the 20th district of Tokyo, which is inhabited by ghouls. The best investigators from the cities of Cotaro Amon and Kureo Mado arrive here. They need to find out what is really happening here. Serious danger hangs over the walks.
In the Captive episode, Mado kills Reko during a fight. Toka wants to take revenge on him, for this he is tracking Kotaro, attacking the investigator and his employees. She manages to kill one person, but then Mado appears, who inflicts a light wound on the ghoul girl. Toka is forced to hide. Kaneki tells her that she also wants to fight against investigators. To do this, he takes out a mask from Uta.
In the episode "Cycle," investigator Mado tracks down Reko Hinami's daughter. She has to escape from Anteyku. Toka and Kaneki set off in search of her. The main character will fight with Kotaro. In this fight, he tries to defend himself more without resorting to attacks. since I’m sure that then I can demonstrate and prove to people: by their nature, ghouls are the same as they are. So Kaneki seeks to convince people that they do not have to be destroyed. However, during the battle he falls into a rage that he is not able to restrain. Amon hides, and Mado dies.
In the episode "Birdcage", Hinami, after a fight with Mado, begins to live with Toka. All this time, Kotaro was very worried about the loss of a close friend, who was also a faithful companion for him. However, he does not leave work. Now he is being sent to the 11th district of Tokyo, where there are also many ghouls who finally got out of the control of the police.
Trinity from Aogiri abducts the protagonist of the Tokyo Ghoul cartoon. This is an underground society of werewolves who are interested in Ridze. In parallel, Kotaro has a new ghoul hunting partner. This is the careless and eccentric Judo Suzui.
In the series "Fighting Spirit" in the cafe "Anteyku" friends Kaneki gather to save him. The main character is beaten by Jason, who himself turns out to be one of the members of Aogiri. He is one of the werewolves who abducted him. Just at that moment, the police begin to storm their lair. Taking the opportunity, Kaneki's friends are trying to free him.
The final episode of the first season was called "Ghoul." In it, Jason tortures Kaneki. Visions begin for him: Ridze appears to him, offering to accept the essence of ghoul, abandoning the remnants of humanity that are still preserved in him. Kaneki's hair turns gray, after which he gains new strength and engages in a fight with Jason. The main character wins this confrontation. In the season finale, Kaneki eats Jason's corpse.
Second season
It is well known that initially the creators did not know how many seasons of Tokyo Ghoul will be released. The first series turned out to be so popular that the second season aired on January 9, 2015. It was finished broadcast on March 27.
It also consisted of 12 episodes, which were called:
- Crash.
- "Dancing flowers."
- The Hangman.
- "Deep inside".
- "Split".
- Thousand Ways.
- "Penetration".
- "The Old Nine."
- "Calm in the city."
- "Last rain."
- "Sea of flowers."
- "Ken."
Continuation
Most recently, it became finally known how many seasons of Tokyo Ghoul will be released. The creators promised to remove the third and fourth seasons.
The third season, Japanese fans of this series were able to see from April 3 to June 19, 2018. It was based on 12 episodes:
- "Those who hunt."
- The Shards.
- "Eve".
- "Auction".
- "The coming night."
- "In the end".
- "Days of remembrance."
- "The only one who suffers."
- "The former spirit."
- "Shake."
- "Missing".
- "Dawn".
Final season
The fourth season of this anime series was aired from October 9 to December 25, 2018. The last 12 episodes are known to fans under the following names:
- "And again."
- "White darkness."
- "Cross play."
- "Broken".
- "Meeting with the tramp."
- "Splendor".
- "Ties."
- The Awakened Child.
- "Reminder".
- "The end of the tragedy."
- Clash.
- The final series.
Main character
To better understand and learn this series, we will tell you more about the main characters of Tokyo Ghoul.
The central character of the series is 18 years old. Ken Kaneki is a first-year student. As a result of a fateful combination of circumstances, he becomes half a ghoul, half a man.
Kaneki in every possible way conceals from others his transformation, which frightens him. Not recognizing that he is becoming a ghoul, he is trying to continue to live a normal human life. However, fate itself presents him with a surprise when he settles in as a waiter in the cafe "Anteyku". This is a place supplying human flesh to ghouls who are not able to hunt on their own.
He adopts several characteristics of Ridze - this is the power of regeneration, the left eye of the ghoul and the inability to digest human food. Until he meets the other ghouls in the cafe, considers them cruel and inhuman creatures. Realizing that he became a ghoul only halfway, but at the same time ceased to be a man, he suspects that he will no longer find a place in this world.
The protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul is a very educated young man. He likes to read, in most cases he is quiet, modest and restrained. He is ready to trust strangers, initially treats people well, which often puts him in a difficult and even dangerous position. Over time, signs of ghoul begin to appear on the left eye, so Kaneki has to wear a blindfold.
After the battle with Aogiri, he leaves the cafe, establishing his own team of ghouls. In the second season, he decides to join Aogiri, starting to work with Ayato.
After a long confrontation, Arima defeats him. Kaneki has to start a new life, left without any memories of his past. His new identity is a first-class investigator who works as a mentor in the Quinx squad. Kise Arima and Akira Mado oversee him. In combination, he also becomes a member of a special unit, which Mado leads.
Kaneki meets Haise. He seems to him to be a good-natured and reliable person, besides a self-sufficient partner, whom you can rely on at any time, he shows a sincere interest in his work, and, in fact, everything he does. Haise demonstrates loyalty and devotion, takes care of the Quinxes, respects them, promising to protect if necessary.
Like Kaneki, Haise Sasaki loves to read books in his spare time, strives to achieve maximum heights in everything, works very hard, and manages to remain polite and friendly. He prefers to work in a group, rather than one by one.
When Mado and Haise come to the restaurant, he shows him his habit of "puns". In addition, Haise has the peculiarity of scratching his head, then it immediately becomes clear to everyone around that he is embarrassed, cannot find the right solution or is in some kind of discomfort. Haise is very soft to others. Therefore, he regularly has problems with subordinates who refuse to obey him.
Despite the fact that Kaneki previously assumed the form of a ghoul, Haise is unable to cope with this. He is disgusted with the second side of his essence, although he makes attempts to accept himself for who he is.
At the same time, during the battle, Haise is able to think very quickly, moreover, he has excellent methods of deduction. Sasaki wants to know himself from the inside in order to bring back previously lost memories. However, he fears that as a result he will lose his current friends and memories of them already.
During the final battle, which takes place at the headquarters of Tsukiyama, the main character manages to regain his memory and lost personality. He finally recalls everything that happened to him. After the battle with Suzuya, it turns into a huge caterpillar, which is then separated, and almost all the other heroes fight with it almost until the end of the season.
Toka Kirishima
Toka is the main female character in this series. She is a ghoul girl who is 16 years old. She is necessarily mentioned in the list of characters in Tokyo Ghoul, as she plays a peculiar role in the initialization of the protagonist, helping him to realize who he really is.
Part-time at her age, she works at Anteyku Café, and then goes to school. Despite the fact that he is a werewolf, organically merges into the human community. For herself, she decided that until the last opportunity she would keep secret the fact that she was a ghoul.
At the same time, Toka is a very vindictive girl, whose actions often may seem just reckless to others. She tends to commit violence regularly. At first, Toka hated Kaneki, believing that he would never be able to understand and actually realize what it was like to be a real ghoul. But then it becomes his faithful companion and partner, helping to develop combat qualities.
After his rescue from the 11th district, he begins to show sincere romantic feelings for Kaneki. She takes on the role of the guardian of Hinami, when her parents are killed by investigators who seek to exterminate the ghoul, considering them bloodthirsty and merciless creatures. It is noteworthy that Toki has ornithophobia, that is, fear of birds.
Kureo Mado
Another important character in this series is the representative of the people of Kureo Mado. He is a first-class investigator who, along with his partner Kotaro, hunts a ghoul, trying to destroy them. This is a ruthless warrior who has been to many battles and battles. Even strong ghouls are not always able to cope with him, he is so powerful.
He always seeks to trust his intuition, which almost never fails him. As a result, it turns into a person obsessed with ghouls, their destruction and collecting weapons. These passions as a result destroy him.
Mado hunts down Hinamio, whose mother killed herself. But Toka is stopping him from dealing with her daughter. In a fight, she kills a first-class investigator.
It becomes known that his cherished goal was the desire to take revenge on one of the ghouls, nicknamed the One-Eyed Owl. Many years ago, he killed his wife. Mado himself considers the ghoul garbage that only imitate people. Often it seems ridiculous to him.
Spectator Impressions
In their reviews of the Tokyo Ghoul, viewers note that the series, although not a masterpiece of Japanese animation, is worthy of being watched.
Of the undoubted advantages, most fans of Japanese cinema note the well-designed gloomy character design, as well as the atmosphere, which from time to time becomes very dramatic. This is an advantage that is inherent in few animated series.
At the same time, anime connoisseurs in the reviews of "Tokyo Ghoul" admit that the plot, although it is solid and firmly knocked down, uses old and well-tested formulas. There is nothing special or surprising in it, all the steps and actions of the characters are well predictable, they are easily calculated in advance.
The audience will have a typical observation of the villains and discussions about friendship and love. True, it was all beaten in a more bloody and dramatic scenery than in the average Japanese series. Here, all the same, we must pay tribute to the subgenre of horrors, the creators maintain the set bar.
Summing up, we can conclude that this is a completely high-quality series, which will surely appeal to all lovers and fans of the genre.