Tokyo Ghoul Season One
Studio Pierrot was always a gigantic name in the anime community ever since they started. Taking on massive projects such as Bleach, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Black Clover, and of course, Tokyo Ghoul. Soon turning into Pierrot’s crown jewel, Tokyo Ghoul is one of the most beloved anime series ever to exist. The story of a young, bookish boy who gets caught between the worlds of Tokyo’s living and supernatural, he hangs onto “the ropes” to remain normal while also constantly learning to control his other side, being a Ghoul.
In the world of Tokyo Ghoul, the world doesn’t just comprise human beings but also Ghouls. The main factor that differentiates between humans and Ghouls is that Humans are the only thing that can satisfy a Ghoul’s hunger. Ghouls can be compared to Zombies; however, they aren’t “undead” and have proper control over their actions. Ghouls possess a specific organ inside their bodies, which only shifts their hunger from other foods to human flesh, blood, and organs.
The story here isn’t something too exceptional, but its representation is insanely well done. The series follows Ken Kaneki’s identity crisis as he walks the thin line between Human and Ghoul. The series has a considerable aura of mystery to it. At first, it seems like Ghouls are the purest form of evil in the anime and a genuine threat to humanity because they consume human flesh, after all.
Yet this isn’t the case as you progress through the story; it has a significant emphasis on understanding the differences between the two species and, honestly, does pretty well in that regard. The story does have some insane moments though, a lot of them result in pools of blood and guts as it is a series about Humans getting eaten.
Throughout the series, Ken Kaneki goes through a ton of different situations, both mentally and physically. He is a well-developed protagonist and one of the main things that this series gets right! This allows us, as the audience, to empathize with his character much more. However, having only twelve episodes lead to some characters getting pushed to the side, such as Rize, Touka, Nishiki, Yoshimura, Shuu, and even Hinami. I cannot say much about the characters as the first season doesn’t clearly show many character arcs being developed.
Most of what it does is introduce a character and give them the spotlight for a bit before taking it away and giving it to a different character. There isn’t any development given to these side characters at all, and there are a ton of interesting stories here that NEEDED to be told, if I’m honest.
I will say the other characters aren’t bland. They go through their struggles of being Ghouls and hiding them, with some even walking the same path as Kaneki, which kept me highly entertained. There might be a few characters that I hated initially, but I eventually grew to feel pity for them and even ended up liking some of them more.
The art, animation, and music is an aspect of Tokyo Ghoul where I cannot criticize whatsoever. The animation is buttery smooth, and the drawing is SHARP and exciting to look at. With Studio Pierrot behind the helm, the (very few) combat and battle sequences were made as exhilarating as possible.
The weapons within the show, Qunique, and Kagune were a unique concept that they expanded well upon, showing many different variations to bring variety to what popped up on the screen. The show leaned heavily towards the use of both dark and bright but extremely vivid colorations. Studio Pierrot was not afraid to bring out the old color palette game to the maximum, which I appreciate as a creative decision.
The character designs are super distinct in terms of art, with each looking completely different from the last while still feeling like they belong in the same world. The added detail of the associated characters matching their specific personalities was also a nice touch.
Tokyo Ghoul’s sound direction was pretty decent. It had many great soundtracks blaring during battle sequences and intense moments, whereas the somber stuff played during more sensual or emotional moments. The overall sound design in the fight scenes was pretty decent; for the most part, there were no unsynchronized voices, sound effects, or background noises.
The opening song and the ending song are both perfect. The visuals that accompany them made it impossible for me to skip them, where I usually would ignore the openings in a heartbeat. The opening, in particular, does a terrific job of conveying what it is like towards the audience, and the ending was always a great closer after some of the darkest moments in the series by far.
I’ll have to admit, Tokyo Ghoul’s first season might not be the best piece of anime ever created like everyone screamed. I was looking for an innate sense of depth, and I did get it from Kaneki, but it lacked from all of the other characters.
The show had a ton of potential to deep dive into the discrepancies between being a Ghoul and a human, not just from Kaneki’s perspective. Alas, due to the source material’s mismanagement, we are left with a pretty compelling starting point that leaves a lot to be desired. The visual style here was insanely good, though, and hopefully, Season 2 brings out the big guns in story-telling and character development. Until then, this was a solid season of anime!
