Tokyo Ghoul - Sui Ishida

I started watching the anime series of this title on Netflix and was drawn in enough to seek out season 2. I have fond memories of watching it whilst eating cheese and drinking wine. It is very silly, over the top teenage angst but there were a few themes and visuals I enjoyed. Over the past two years I steadily collected the sporadically published English translations of the manga and finally got around to being able to read it all in one go. The story is set in an alternate reality in Tokyo where ghouls, essentially superhuman predators, prey on humans whilst trying to evade eradication by a ghoul extermination organisation called the CCG.

Ken Kaneki, the hero of the series, is an average college student until he has the organs of a ghoul transplanted into him following a violent encounter. This turns him into a half human, half ghoul hybrid, and he must quickly learn how to survive in both worlds. He is taken in by a pacifist ghoul group who run a coffee shop called Anteiku. What follows is lots and lots of slow brewing and coffee drinking. Ghouls really love coffee; for some unexplained reason it's one of the only human condiments they can consume besides human flesh. Kaneki starts out trying to retain his humanity by suppressing his murderous instincts, but eventually he is forced to give into his ghoulish nature.

The series is crammed full of eccentric and colourful characters, hitting all of the typical manga archetypes along the way. There's the earnest and brooding investigator, the white-haired badass, the decadent sensualist, the mardy high school girl, etc. It can be easy to lose track of who all the characters are, since they come and go quite often. The art style can also be a bit confusing, in some scenes I had absolutely no idea what was supposed to be happening. Ultimately, the whole story is an excuse to depict extreme, graphic violence. However, unlike other mangas, there is very little sexually explicit content, despite the teenage target audience. I can't recommend the manga because it's too expensive, so watch the anime for online.

Rating: 3/5