***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul √A. Reader discretion is advised. ***
Series Synopsis
Having suffered at the hands of an unimaginable tormentor, Ken Kaneki’s (voiced by Natsuki Hanae) mind has shattered. The last vestiges of his humanity are weak and broken. To survive, Kaneki, at last, submits to the ghoul inside him.
Embracing his carnivores urges, Kaneki transforms into a frightening being. With newfound strength, he escapes to a future that looks bleaker than ever.
Humans and ghouls are on the brink of all-out war. Casualties will be high on both sides. Being an onlooker is no longer an option. To protect the people he loves, Kaneki chooses a dark path. His quest to grow stronger will bring him to the edge of sanity.
The peaceful days are numbered. Without warning, a friend can be gone in the blink of an eye. Longstanding perceptions will be tested. Hatred will consume the coming battles. The time for reasoning and diplomacy has passed.
Who will come out ahead is anyone’s guess. The streets of Tokyo seem poised to become a bloody battlefield.
Series Positives
The 200th review special continues. Although I suppose, technically, this is the 201st review. Doesn’t have the same kind of ring, does it?
Let’s go ahead and address the white elephant. Maybe it wasn’t for everybody, but it took me a good while to figure out how to pronounce this season; Tokyo Ghoul √A (Root A). Now seeing it, I guess it’s obvious. Not sure the significance. Kind of seems like a nonsensical use of artistic flair, but who’s to judge.
√A, Season Two, regardless of what you call it, Tokyo Ghoul was still a good show. Not as good as the last one, but we’ll get into that.
To start, it was great having this season begin right where the original left off. The first season didn’t have much of a conclusion to speak of. Sure, it ended on a fantastic note and was a huge selling point for the second season. But there were a lot of other things going on. There were multiple fights in progress. Nothing got resolved. And of course, you had Kaneki who had reached rock bottom.
Knowing season two existed, and that I was going to watch it, perhaps dampened my criticism. Yes, it was a perfect place to leave Kaneki and leaving his story line open could’ve worked. Yet, what about Toka (voiced by Sora Amamiya)? What of the slew of other characters the show had spent a considerable amount of time detailing?
Season two does a decent job of giving a satisfying resolution to the people we’ve grown to know. Not everybody, but a fair amount. And it was only for the people we've known over the two seasons.
√A was and is enjoyable, that much is certain.
Action
Both seasons of Tokyo Ghoul thrive in the dark undertones of their stories. Both also had great action. √A just had more. A lot more.
In season one, the focus was on Kaneki coming to terms with his ghoul self. Season two didn’t have to do that as much. Thus, Kaneki didn’t have to be in all the fights. I don’t know if that should've been the green light to go crazy, but that was what this season did.
With one or two notable exceptions, these were not uneven fights. Combatants were often well matched. That meant everyone had to give it their all. It’s hard to say if anyone held anything back. I suspect not since none of these were sparring matches. Fights were to the death.
And there was variety too. Anybody could go up against anybody and something cool was going to happen. There were plenty of moments when someone who was always in the background, turned out to be a badass. There were no weak links here.
Then there was another element to this show that I didn’t respect until this season. In the Tokyo Ghoul universe, as seen in the anime, there are three key groups. They are Anteiku, Aogiri Tree, and the Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG). No one allied to one another. They all had their agendas.
Of these three, Anteiku were the “good guys” of this series. Being the group that brought Kaneki in, most of the time got spent with them. Their status of “good guys” is debatable, but they were the ones taking the middle ground. They wanted coexistence. So, it was easy to gravitate towards and root for them. When they were fighting, I wanted them to win. Whenever they were winning it was exciting. Whenever they were losing, it was nail biting.
But like I said, everyone was fighting everyone. Sometimes Anteiku wasn't involved.
In fact, most of the time it was Aogiri Tree versus the CCG. Both of these organizations were hardliners. It made it hard to connect with either of them. Now the story humanized the CCG a lot better than Aogiri Tree. Plus, there were a few CCG investigators who I didn’t want to see die. But those were exceptions, not the rule.
When these two went at it, the result was cool as hell. There was no preference in the outcome, so what remained was a kick ass fight.
The Final Act
They begin with episode nine and the final episodes of √A were what I was hoping to get out of this season.
At long last, all the buildup paid off. Those meticulous, and perhaps even long winded characterization scenes showed their weight. Even the establishment that occurred in season two was powerful. Wasn’t as effective, but we'll get to that.
This was where Anteiku shined. We knew these people. Even if some of them were in the background not doing a whole lot, they had an undeniable charm. That’s why when they were in battle, I didn’t want something bad to happen to them. This is because this was the first time we could realize how important Anteiku was.
Once that clicked, the weight of what was happening became a lot heavier. All around, this season doesn’t end on a happy note. Where it does end was yet another fantastic final episode.
I don’t know which season did it better. Both endings drove home their point. Though the road leading up to season two’s ending wasn’t as smooth, it was just as powerful. If I had to classify them, it would be this.
Season one was epic both in visuals and emotion. Season two was much more of a punch to the gut. The first ending hinted at an awesome confrontation. The second ending points to a difficult and uncertain future.
Only time will tell. And if rumors become reality, that time may not be that long.
Series Negatives
√A makes a much better second chapter than it does a final chapter. If true, Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 has the potential of capitalizing on what was set in this season.
While this series is still good, √A was without a doubt a downgrade. Nothing surpassed the original. But with the sole exception being the final episode, nothing matched it either.
The animation wasn’t as crisp. The fights, while numerous, weren’t as meaningful. Many of the returning characters felt sidelined. Many of the new characters got rushed. And there were characters who showed up for a whole two seconds to do absolute jack.
The ending of season one got me hyped, but I suppose it was a little unfounded. There was nothing promised at the end of the first season, so it didn’t have to fulfill anything on that end. All it had to do was continue the story without straying off. There it succeeded and that’s why the season remained enjoyable. If there ever is a third season, I'm stocked.
But until a date is set, this is what we have.
Focus
One of the great things about season one was the time it spent getting to know the people of Anteiku. True, when you compare it to how amazing the action was, dialogue scenes were a bit of a slog. Yet they were necessary. It was those scenes that got us caring about the characters. That's why when there was a fight, not only was cool as hell, it had a purpose.
Season two had more fights than season one. Season two had way more fights than season one. Except only a handful are worth remembering. In contrast, all of the fights in season one are worth remembering.
What happened? Why is there such a huge gap in meaning between the seasons? Both took time exploring a bit of everyone’s past. The difference was, season one only focused on the essentials. I’m talking about Kaneki, Toka, and the other key members of Anteiku. Season two tried doing the same.
BUT WITH EVERYBODY.
Almost every character who had a tiny bit of significant screen time got a backstory. Not only did we go a little deeper with Anteiku, there was a whole new batch of recruits in the CCG. Aogiri Tree also had its people, but they pretty much got pushed to the side so that we could focus on Kaneki.
That’s not a bad idea. Kaneki was going through a lot of crap and he was the center of the show. The problem was, Kaneki may have been a constant presence but he wasn’t around all that much. Why you ask? Because we had to get to know everyone else.
There are two exceptions to this rant. They are Investigator Kotaro Amon (voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi) and Investigator Akira Mado (voiced by Asami Seto). The relationship that was building between them was interesting and I wish I could have seen more of it. Everyone else, unless they were a prominent factor in the first season, I couldn’t give less of a s@#$ about.
Case in point, Juzo Suzuya (voiced by Rie Kugimiya). He got introduced in the first season and played a bigger role in this one. He’s a great idea for a character and the show should have spent more time with him. Instead, the story focused on him just enough for him to be significant. But the story didn’t focus on him enough to be important. He could've been removed altogether and nothing would change.
He was just a big waste of time. Time which could've been spent exploring Kaneki's mental state. Or locking down whatever was going on between Investigators Amon and Mado. Or even better, it could have focused on other, lesser known members of Anteiku. Like, for example, Enji Koma (voiced by Anri Katsu) and Kaya Irimi (voiced by Fuyuka Oura).
Those two seem like rather random picks, don’t they? It’s because they didn't do much during the show. That was until the final act of season two. It turns out that both of them have a fascinating past that we learn about in their first and only fight in the series.
√A tried to redo what the original did so well. But it tried to do it on a much grander scale. Except it worked in season one because season one focused its energy in all the right places. And it didn’t blow its load where ever it could.
Final Thoughts
Should it turn out that a Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 will be a reality, I’m all for it.
In the case of Tokyo Ghoul √A it does pale in comparison to the original. Everything is just not as good. That said, it’s still good. Season one, season two, this is a show worth watching.
This series was fascinating. Even at its lowest points, this wasn’t a hard watch. Never was any of it boring. There is a fandom to this franchise and I can see why. Though not one of my personal favorites, I’m happy to have at last seen Tokyo Ghoul. And if you haven’t, I suggest you should.
Only a few months’ shy of two years, we've now reached the 200th milestone. I cannot believe this has gone on this long and an end is nowhere in sight. Who knows what we’ll be looking at 100 reviews from now. All I can ask is that, if you’re willing, I hope to see you there.
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Others in the Tokyo Ghoul Series
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