Tokyo Ghoul

Before I start this review please note that this is an ongoing manga with chapter 135 being the most recent one (the translations are not caught up) and i have read all 135 current chapters, opinions may change later on.

Story= 9/10.
It's hard to pin down the specific story if someone where to ask me what tokyo ghoul is about just because of everything is going on. We have our main protagonist being practically forced to live a new and dangerous life (much like Shinji Ikari). But if I were to try to sum up Tokyo Ghoul's plot in one sentence, it would be about the main character coming to terms with his new persona. The Kaneki we see post chapter 60s is not the same Kaneki we see at the beginning, both personality and appearance wise. Granted it's been awhile since we can assume that Kaneki has accepted his inner ghoul and the story has definitely shifted tones since then but not everyone's own personal story is finished. Will come back to that in a bit.

Art= 10/10
much like other longer running manga you can definitely see a definite improvement in the author (in this case Sui does both illustrate and write) work. While it wasn't bad in the first several chapters it is definitely noticeable when you compare it to later chapters. And I must say the Art is superb. From the Ghoul masks, to their Kagunes, and the CCG's weapons as well everything looks fresh and unique. Not forgetting about character designs either because they are nothing less than perfect. Ishida has done a great job when it comes to the smallest details in ghoul, from portraying emotions on the characters faces to huge backdrops.

Character= 10/10
If i can break the 10/10 scale for this I would because in my opinion this is the highlight of ghoul. Just the huge cast that it has and how fleshed out and well done every single one of them. Casts as big and fleshed out as ghoul's put other notable series with huge casts such as Baccano to shame. Kaneki, Touka, Yoshimura, Uta, Yomo, Tsukiyama, Hideyoshi, Amon, the Mado's. Nishio, Hinami, Rize, Juuzou, Ayato, Jason, and so on and so forth. I can't say anything about this besides if you need one reason to read ghoul here it is.

Enjoyment= 10/10
Hands down my favorite manga. I can't explain my enjoyment for this enough.

Overall= 10/10
Literally no complaints at all. I can't find any flaws so far with it and if it keeps going like this then this can go down as one of my favorite pieces of fiction of all time.

This is my first review.So don't be so harsh on me

Story
The story starts off with our main protagonist Ken Kaneki an average collage student who loves reading books.His life changes when he is involved in a tragic accident and is forced to to exchange organs with a ghoul(A species that eats humans and only humans).This changes his life forever. The real main theme of the story is about Kaneki's struggle to cling to his human side and as the story progresses we see changes within him that make him question his humanity and his ghoul side.

Art
The art is decent and as the series progresses the it becomes even better.The art for me really suits the dark setting of the manga and when a character is being drawn as sadistic they will look badass and quite frightening at times.The fight scenes in the manga can be quite confusing at times but I got used to it and most of them were really good. The characters are all well designed from the main characters to supporting characters.Oh lets not forget the ghoul's mask and their kagune which were all drawn perfectly.

Characters
The characters to me are the strongest point of this manga.The main protagonist Ken Kaneki received amazing development throughout the series.Kaneki who struck me as a bit of a pussy became one of favourite manga/anime characters.As for the side characters most of them are well developed and are all really likeable.Most of the ghouls in the series are pretty messed up and you will definitely hate a certain group of ghouls.As for the CCG (Ghoul hunters) I found Suzuya to be my favourite as received amazing development.As for the whole Ghouls vs Humans thing it was always hard to pick sides as both sides have their rights and wrongs.

Enjoyment
Loved it particularly Kaneki. Never seen a main character like him get such amazing development like that.

Overall
This manga imo is amazing.The dark setting, the gore , the tragedy and of course the amazing characters really make this manga a must read.

When I first started reading Tokyo Ghoul, I was expecting just another typical action/battle manga with the typical tropes and cliches we've all seen before. Now that I've finished it, I can safely and gladly say that this manga has completely exceeded all my expectations.

Story - 9/10
Tokyo Ghoul has a very character-driven story, centred around the protagonist Kaneki Ken. However, as more events start unravelling in his life, the story starts to develop in several different directions and more mysteries are introduced. The plot is a bit slow at the start, but quickly builds up into a tense story of twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The general story progression also tends to play against the expected cliches, keeping the reader engaged.

Art - 8/10
The art of this manga is admittedly somewhat average and even inconsistent at the beginning, but as it progresses the art style improves, and we're treated to some very great double-page spreads and some nice fight scenes. And if you're reading the hardcopy, each volume also have some impressive cover art.

Characters - 9/10
For me, this is where Tokyo Ghoul really shines. Because a large part of the story is told from Kaneki's perspective, the reader gets a deep insight into his way of thinking and his personality, and we get to see how his character progresses and changes as the story continues. It's also because of this insight that the reader can sympathise with the protagonist, and over time you slowly become attached to him. The other characters, while they are not given the same amount of exposition, are also handled quite well, and are never handled as stereotypical archetypes. They all have a unique quality to them which keeps the dynamics of character relations interesting, and overall makes the reader care more about how the characters are affected by the events of the story. Another aspect of Tokyo Ghoul that makes it fascinating is the moral ambiguity of all the characters. Not a single character is ever portrayed as simply "good" or "bad"; each person's actions are justified by their motives and reasoning, and this keeps the reader paying attention to all the factions introduced in the story.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Often when I read manga, I'll reach a stage where I won't be motivated to continue because it's not gripping enough to keep me entertained. Sometimes a story might reach a rather dull and slow story arc that makes it hard for the reader to be engaged. Not once did I have a moment like this with Tokyo Ghoul. Every chapter makes you crave for the next, and all the events of the story make you want to know more about it. The author always gives the reader just the right amount of information and exposition needed without overloading the reader or slowing down the story's pace.

Overall - 9/10
Tokyo Ghoul is just a very entertaining ride from start to finish. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a manga with a diverse range of fleshed-out characters and a story with a nice touch of mystery. If I had to sum up this manga in one phrase, it would be "things are never as simple as they seem".

Story: 9/10
Tokyo Ghoul is about a college freshmen, Ken Kaneki becoming a ghoul due to being the recipient of an organ transplant from the notorious ghoul dubbed "Binge Eater." Becoming a ghoul leads to a series of meeting other ghouls and in some circumstances, getting in difficult situation because of them.

Tokyo Ghoul started out slowly with having short arcs as starters, but quickly began to pick up pace. Bits of information is slowly revealed to you, which is nice compared to when a mass of it is given at once.
The tone of the story is serious and has few comedic moments. It is kept at a consistent rate where you won't lose focus of what the story is about, which leads me to say that there are few fillers. When a filler is presented, it is usually to give you needed information before proceeding to the next chapters.
Perspective switches throughout the chapters. You get to see a little insight from each character independently and see the story from their eyes. There are 3 main views: your protagonist, Ken Kaneki, the present antagonist, or the investigators/police force. The view from the story is rotated mostly around these perspectives to get a well rounded look at what is happening in each.

Art: 7/10
Unlike the story, the art can be choppy and inconsistent. It switches from being so well drawn to something i could've drawn with my left hand. The issue of this mainly revolves around side profiles, which are more or less lacking in some panels. It also appears that the faces drawn in certain angles can distort the facial expressions of the characters and completely change how they're supposed to look.
Action scenes tend to get messy. The author/artist likes to draw motion in action scenes, but sometimes overdoes it to the point where you cannot distinguish what is happening. It ends up being smears of black and blurbs. I usually end up quickly skipping the pages where there are no dialogue and only action being shown because of the difficulties in seeing details in them. An upside to the action scenes is that the author/artist does know how to use anatomy to his advantage, making the best out of characters being shown in action. The only complaint in anatomy is when the characters are holding still. Occasionally, the characters will look stiff and unnatural.

Characters: 9/10
The characters are interesting. It is easy to find a favorite among the many ghouls and humans throughout the story. Each has their own background and plays a large role in what determines the character in present time. Every character has a certain theme to them and it's pretty cool to see it being incorporated to the character designs. They're easy to tell apart from each other, with the only exception being the investigators/police force mentioned in the synopsis. The only other issue is that some aspects of the characters' traits are overused.
A great thing about this manga, however is that the characters actually have development. It's pleasant to see the author think about this and give legitimate reason to the changes in each character. They're very well written and i'm very excited to see what developments in characters will be next.

Overall: 9/10
The manga is quite enjoyable from my perspective. I actually binge read this within a week and found myself looking forward to each chapter, wanting to neglect my sleep. I love the uniqueness of this manga. It's a good refresher from the typical and predictable manga i see so often. The story line is phenomenal, the art is still well above average, and the characters are some of my favorites i've read in a manga.
I would definitely recommend this to those looking for a supernatural/horror/dark genre with an overall solemn tone. It can deal with adult ideas such as sadism and cannibalism so be mindful that this is also a gorey manga and contains some disturbing images.

Despite the manga's popularity, it wasn't until the anime aired this year that Tokyo Ghoul exploded in sales and became one of the top five best-selling manga in Japan (beating Kuroko's Basketball, Naruto and Magi).

So what is it about this series that attracted such popularity? It’s by no means a perfect series, that's for sure; but it gets a lot of things right.

The story begins by introducing readers to the timid protagonist; Kaneki Ken. Kaneki is an average college student that is forced to come to terms with living as a ghoul after a freak accident results in a ghoul's organs being transplanted into his body. Whilst not exactly the most subtle premise, the manga wisely focuses on the duality of Kaneki's life, as he attempts to maintain his normal, human life whilst having to deal with the problems that his ghoul identity incorporates into his lifestyle. The author attempts to question the morality of the world he has created, and encourages the reader to do so as well. As ghouls are required to consume human meat to survive, Kaneki is forced to confront the prospect that he may have to kill humans if he wishes to live. Usually I prefer to avoid elaborating on the story so much, but the moral dilemmas that this manga presents are one of the most interesting aspects of the series, and are one of the driving forces that keep readers engaged in the events that unfold. Unfortunately they tend to lose their significance as the story progresses, and around halfway through the series is an event that drastically alters the story and feels far too ham-fisted compared to the rest of the series, but I'll elaborate on that in the character paragraph. Added to that, the story also ends on a highly unsatisfying note. Regardless of what information is revealed in the sequel manga, this is a review of the 144 chapters that the story spans across, so any information provided externally means naught. As I read the final few chapters, my faith in the series having a gratifying conclusion eroded further and further. As the manga ends, readers are left with the story tying itself together within the last few chapters. Having to process what had happened was jarring when the series had handled its pacing so well throughout the rest of the story, and the author definitely should have reconsidered how he chose to conclude it. With the amount of literary influence in the story, it felt as though the mangaka was trying to structure his story as a classic tale of tragedy, and if that were his intention then it was well-done indeed.

The art for the series is pretty decent overall, but there's not much to praise. His character designs are done well, and the inky panels help maintain the dark atmosphere of the series. The art is fairly standard but it definitely has its moments where it shines. That said, the fight scenes can be quite hit or miss; especially in the early parts of the story. The way the mangaka draws the fights occasionally lead me to be confused with what actions were performed in each panel. It’s a very minor issue as it only happened a few times, but it was something that was highly noticeable when the rest of the art flowed relatively smoothly.

The characters in the series are a strong point as well. Kaneki is a particularly strong protagonist in the sense that the ghoul’s violent lifestyle being inflicted on such a mild-mannered person is intriguing to watch. The supporting characters are also written well, and unlike a lot of other stories, they actually continue to serve a purpose after their initial introductions. With a story that raises a variety of moral dilemmas, readers can often question whether the antagonists are truly the 'evil' ones and vice versa for the protagonists. But the characters aren't always handled well. Kaneki in particular undergoes a period of rapid growth about halfway through the story, and it feels far too convenient. Almost as if the event was used as an excuse to fast-track Kaneki's development to allow him to play a more integral role in the story. Whilst this isn't a huge detraction, it’s something that irked me long after I'd finished reading the series.

Tokyo Ghoul has a lot to offer, and its popularity is well-deserved. Those that tend to avoid dark stories would be wise to avoid this too. It’s terrific, but it’s not the series that'll change your mind. Not once was I ever bored while reading, and I often looked forward to doing so to see how the story would develop.

This manga is great, and those interested in a dark, strong story would do well to give the series a try. If some of the characters were developed more subtly, and the ending hadn't raised more questions than it answered, then this manga would definitely be bordering masterpiece territory. As it stands, Tokyo Ghoul is an undoubtedly solid manga that deserves your time.

Tokyo Ghoul/Toukyou Kushu - A grotesque and melancholic journey into the psychology of "Ghouls": humans that eat other humans. Also contains some excellent fight scenes and characterization. The more recent chapters (60~66) are some of the best manga work I've ever seen and the author's creepy (in a good way) art style compliments the content in a magnificent way; It gives it a strange finesse. Very highly recommended.

It makes me cry when I think that something as mediocre and generic as this gets so much attention, whilst TRUE seinen gems are ignored.

Not only is the plot hackneyed and the characters hopelessly dull, but the ART...jesus christ, can it even be called art? It seriously looks like a trashy doujinshi. The characters, expressions, anatomy, backgrounds are SOOOO SHIT.

Admittedly the anime is better. But, avoid this crap.

Okay, so I guess you wanna know whether this is just a "troll" or whether it truly is as bad as all that. Here is a breakdown...the WHY of it.

Story
This is a shounen manga disguised as a seinen manga. Can you just throw in extra violence and bill it as being aimed towards "mature" readers? Well, I guess. To me, a "mature" manga should be original, creative, thought provoking, complex...IE MATURE. Or at the very least, pretty to look at. What you have here is a cheap rip off of practically every other shounen type plot line with added gore. Innocent boy, with great hidden powers-check. Cute girl who is a bit of a bitch, but serves to guide the protagonist -check. Mysterious killer(s) -check.

Art
Ok, so my original review got taken down because it wasn't "thorough" and seemed more like a rant. But, I disagree. I gave it 4/10, so I do see some merit here. Its just not in the art. While I will acknowledge that the mangaka does improve in later volumes, for the first 2-3, its really atrocious. The greatest sin in my book is his lack of creativity. Its just so...boring. He has ZERO style, or distinction. Furthermore, even basic perspective, and anatomy is lacking (he's obviously not a trained artist and learned to draw purely from reading Bleach). A quick list of artists who put this guy to shame. Jiro Matsumoto, Shintarou Kago, Tsutomu Nihei, Minuru Furuya, Asano Inio...just to name a few.

Character
Yes, there are characters...No one interesting or well examined, but there are characters.... The people that populate this manga are your typical manga archetypes. Nothing new. Nothing different. God, yet another pussy, shit eating virgin protagonist, paired with a loud mouthed, violent, tsundere cute girl. There's nothing wrong with these archetypes, but do SOMETHING, anything, different/fresh/new...please.

Enjoyment
Its the same numb, zone-out, brainless enjoyment you'd get from Dragonball or Bleach. Plus gore.

Overall
OK. To be fair, there's nothing wrong with this manga. Its serviceable. It's just over-hyped and thoroughly undeserving of all these gushing reviews.

Oh Boy OH BOY. Tokyo Ghoul...... Where the hell do I begin. I didn't even know anything about Tokyo ghoul before Season 1 was released. After I watched Episode 1 Season 1 I was hooked to know what happened next so I read the manga. I was expecting a full horror and gore which I got but the story didn't kept me reading so I stopped around Chapter 18. That was my biggest mistake I have ever made in my entire life.


After weeks I've heard people talking about tokyo ghoul and they described it as "Epic" "Tragic" and "Really fucking Cool", I was very confused because I could never see a horror genre as "epic" experience so then after I watched the LAST episode of season 12, I was eager to read the manga.


10/10 Story: When reading the first volume, you WILL think that it's a horror genre and you will be expecting blood, flesh, crazy eating ghouls, etc. But it isn't like that after volume 7, it gets more depressing and story gets more compelling and you will glued onto Kaneki Ken (Protagonist) till the end. He's such a unforgettable character and he's the definition of the word "tragedy". Most of the times it's bunch of reading for you people who will be reading Tokyo Ghoul for the first time but most of the dialogues has a meaning to the character and the story and isn't forced just so the character can talk because he/she hasn't talked in a while.


10/10 Art: If story won't please you then I assure you that the art will keep you reading because the art in the manga is unique and far better than any other mangas I've read. That may be because Ishida Sui was making tattoos before writing Tokyo Ghoul. Since the manga has 144 chapters, the art gets better after each volume. The masks, the facial expression, the CCG weapons, there's so much details in the pictures that sometimes Ishida Sui hides secret messages that most of us probably have missed. (I've only found two)

10/10 Character: AHH the character development, it's so beautiful. Like I said before, Kaneki Ken is a very memorable character. After you've read the manga, and someone mentions Tokyo Ghoul to you, Kaneki Ken will be the name that comes first in your head. Every single character has a role to the story and not just a "filler" character or forced into the story. Kaneki Ken motivations to protect the ones he loves becomes stronger and stronger and it will drag you into the story and care for him.

Enjoyment: Can't explain my enjoyments for this manga. Just hands down. Best manga of the year and possibly best manga of the decade.

If you want a serious, depressing, compelling, Worth-reading, life changing (depends on you) and tearful story. Then Tokyo Ghoul is the one for you. The end is just a smack in the face for all fans and NO WORRIES. There's a sequel.


Tokyo Ghoul Manga might aswell be written into a novel. Just sees this as a novel with pictures.

Story: 9/10

"Is it like Shingeki no Kyojin?" At first that was the first impression it gave me since I have this idea that Ghouls eat humans just like how Titans eat humans and I thought it would be just the same setting.

Well I guess they do both have the same theme of "eating humans" and "main protagonist turning into ghoul/titan" but Tokyo Ghoul is abit unique because it always makes me think "Do I side with the ghouls or with the humans?" and that's what I love about it.

You'll get what I mean when you start reading it.

Art: 8/10

I'm actually kind of torn between 7 and 8. One of the main reasons I didn't read this right away was because of the art. The art didn't appeal to me that much and the characters looks forgettable... at least that was what I thought before I read it. Don't be fooled by it!

The art looks "off" sometimes but along the way, you'll really start to appreciate it especially in later chapters (more precisely our main protagonist, Kaneki).

Characters: 9/10

Like I said, at first glance, the characters wouldn't appeal to you much but as you read it, you'll definitely love them. They're unpredictable and I love badass characters.

Usually in a manga, the main protagonist/hero would always have a goal like "I want to be the Pirate King!" or "I want to be the Hokage!" but Kaneki is nothing like that. He's unpredictable and since he was a human who turned into a ghoul, you wouldn't say he's really a "hero" but I still do think you will like him.

In short, I really love his character development (well not only him) but I love all the characters!

Enjoyment/Overall: 10/10 / 9/10

It's been a while since I got excited over a manga again that it only took me half a day to caught up to the latest English translation. I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

It's dark, deep, exciting, thrilling and it's NOT only about gory/bloody stuff. It's really enjoyable and at the same time always makes my heart beat faster because of the suspense.

Sorry fangirls, Tokyo Ghoul is bad. Really bad.

The characters are boring, motivations are often unexplained, after the first few arcs there is no tension at all, it has problems with pacing, the drawings are muddy and unclear, there is a Deus Ex Machna lurking behind every corner, plot twists aren't surprising or satisfying, nothing gets done or finished...

God I can list for hours! Really, if you have to, watch the anime and decide if you want to read after that. But in my opinion the source material is weak.

But it's egdy enough to attrack moody teenagers, so it's popular now, somehow...

*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Having read and kept up with the manga for quite a while now, I've cosplayed the characters, watched the anime and enjoyed my brief time spent in the fandom. I was pretty absorbed in it as a series, more for its concept than anything else, and my own interest in the themes presented throughout it and the dark seinen atmosphere that I love above all other genres was, in part, what had me overlooking quite a few red flags. I'll go into detail, but before I begin, I'll just say that this is the first series I've ever been conflicted enough about to write a review for.

Story: 6/10

The concept itself is unique and interesting-- a species resembling human beings populating Tokyo and relying on humans themselves for nourishment... When I heard what its focus would be, I found myself very interested in the series. The themes presented and the reader's likely gradual siding with ghouls in place of humanity through observation of the character's experiences was what seemed to stand out to me. At times, there was quite a bit of pressure transferred to the reader upon witnessing either species's failure to understand one another, and among other things, that was one way that the reader was successfully pulled into the story. Although thematically powerful and invoking plenty of thought and emotion from the reader, Tokyo Ghoul has a very large weakness, and that would be its writing.

The reason I'm giving the story a 6/10 is because the writing itself is, in all honesty, mediocre at best. There are large amounts of questions left unanswered by the sudden, very disorganized ending, but I'll talk about the ending itself in its own paragraph.

When asked to think about the plot of Tokyo Ghoul, how would it be explained? A boy becomes part ghoul, learns about the world of ghouls, is kidnapped and tortured and becomes a much darker character, gets into a series of fights with ghoul investigators and finally dies protecting the cafe he worked at. Already, there is no driving force to pull this story forward, just one event after another, strewn together to make a messy sequence of disconnected plot points that make up Tokyo Ghoul. There is a lack of natural flow from one event to another, and each conflict seems almost pulled out of nowhere instead of placed thoughtfully together to develop the story and characters. New characters are introduced without any real reason for their being there, (ie: Takatsuki Sen), or very last minute with a great deal of importance placed upon them, as if the reader is meant to find the impromptu arrival of a character they know nothing about playing a crucial role in only the final chapters of the story is meant to be exciting or well-thought out, (ie: Arima Kishou, The CCG's Reaper). One of the easiest ways to worsen a story is by throwing in last minute characters that either have no reason for their presence and yet mislead the reader into believing they might play an important role, or having a character who has hardly played any role until the last few chapters suddenly take over the story with their supposed brilliance. I'll elaborate more on this when I speak of Tokyo Ghoul's ending.

On the topic of character development itself, there is very little, and Kaneki's post-Aogiri arc self is the best the author managed to achieve for character change. Although the portrayal of what a week of constant torture would do to a person felt more accurate to me than other manga with similar scenarios, the change in character was triggered by a single event, and development isn't quite the right word for it, as it is sudden and straightforward. Aside from Kaneki, the other characters do not develop beyond sudden perspective shifts, again, caused by certain events: (Nishiki becoming friendlier to Kaneki after receiving his help, Tsukiyama crying over Kaneki after his decision to leave). Both of these are sudden, event-induced development, and, especially the latter, seem somewhat unnatural. Tsukiyama's sudden concern for Kaneki, enough to bring him to tears, could have been well illustrated through skillful development and writing acted out beforehand, but the most we were shown of Tsukiyama's view of Kaneki was a certain questionable loyalty, and never much more than that.

Now for the ending. Tokyo Ghoul's ending was what made me realize the amount of poor writing I'd been overlooking before, especially after I was subject to the array of questions from multiple friends as confused as I was about chapter 143 and its preceding chapters. In short, the cafe Anteiku is found out by the CCG to be run by ghouls, and they plan to raid it. For one reason or another, a few of the staff decide to stay and protect it, (Noble? Perhaps, but it seems smarter to escape and live rather than fight for the sake of a cafe when they're beyond outnumbered and have nearly no chance of survival). Once Kaneki discovers the CCG is attacking Anteiku, he decides to take action, and Tsukiyama attacks him, eventually sobbing at the idea of Kaneki leaving on a suicide mission. Tsukiyama as a character was one of my favorites, but this scene felt extremely unnatural to read-- that, or it felt as though I'd missed several chapters of character development, but I hadn't at all. It wasn't so much out of character as it was out of place, as we had not seen any signs of him caring for Kaneki beyond a constant interest and, through Kaneki's eyes, doubtful loyalty he held for him. As it continued, Kaneki fought to help those who'd stayed behind to protect the cafe, eventually finding himself in combat with Amon. The next few chapters were incredibly confusing. He was brutally injured, and escaped to the sewers where Hide showed up out of nowhere after having accompanied the CCG to the raid, telling Kaneki he knew he was a ghoul, that it was okay and saying they should go home. It seemed Kaneki blacks out afterwards, waking up with the taste of blood in his mouth. In short, this implies Kaneki may have devoured Hide in his desperate, injured state, and Hide is never heard from after this, deemed missing by the CCG. Out of all things, I believe this was the most anticlimactic scene in the entire manga. Kaneki devours his best friend offscreen, and we aren't even entirely positive he actually did it or something else happens, but the series ends before we ever find out. Immediately the plot moves forward to involve a character we haven't seen much of before almost instantly, not even dwelling on the possible death of Hide by Kaneki's hands for the rest of the story. Now Arima comes into the picture, the CCG's Reaper, (What a nickname for someone to be given from within a police organization), and he steals the spotlight, overcoming Kaneki's attacks and defeating him. We see a scene with Kaneki recalling his childhood, speaking to his childhood self, which I enjoyed more than anything else in the final arc as it, again, made the reader think about the true intentions of a person in doing what they deem 'an act of kindness' and how such a thing can actually be very selfish. Kaneki, with his black hair, hugs his ghoul self and the two seem to dissolve. It is now implied that Kaneki is dead, killed by a character who never played any role or made much of an appearance before this. We find out that Amon is dead, and the One-Eyed Owl shows her human form to her father, Yoshimura, after moving them to another location, looking down at him with an almost sadistic appearance and saying "Daddy" in a sing-song, yandere-esque voice and expression. That is the first and last we see of her. And it continues to show us an aftermath of the battle in the next chapter, following up with a glimpse at the ones responsible for the dropping of the steel beams in the beginning. And it just so happened that these were characters never implied to have any bad intentions beforehand, especially Uta, the mask maker. Out of nowhere, we are having the plot point thrown in our faces that Uta has been bad all along. Why? What were their intentions? Why show us this right as the story ends? It's one of the most terrible endings I've seen in a while. Introducing new characters, new plot points, and only adding to the unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts left throughout the latter half of the story-- each one of these added to how terrible this ending really was. And the final line from Touka was almost ridiculous by the time it came out. I am aware that there is a chapter 144 coming, (possibly as a sort of sequel or aftermath chapter, or an excuse to continue the story), but the amount of mistakes made in the conclusion of this series is honestly beyond repairable.

Art: 9/10

Moving on to better things, the art was something I enjoyed quite a bit. Although it wasn't always the most incredible art in the world of manga, I believe the style added to the feeling given by the concept, setting and characters. The character designs aren't anything incredibly unique, but they're fairly natural and appealing in that way. The anime's choice of color schemes, however, is most definitely not quite so pleasing to the eye. This is a manga review, so I'll give it a 9 for its appeal, fitting style for the genre, and accurate representation of each character's personality through the image portrayed.

Character: 7/10

This category is a bit tricky, as the characters themselves are not bad. They are poorly developed, but to start with, they are interesting and have a bit of a realistic and relatable feeling about them, especially Kaneki, that is lost in some manga. Each one is unique and designed fittingly in accordance to their role and personality, though there are characters wandering around that are introduced without any purpose and some thrown in last minute as mentioned before, but i believe that to be more of a writing problem, so for interesting characters at their basic state, but a lack of significant development, I'll give them a 7.

Enjoyment: 6/10

I mentioned before that most of this series I spent overlooking a very messy story, as I read with the idea in mind that it would continue well beyond the 200s in chapter number. If the story had been longer, it may have been able to redeem itself by answering questions and resolving lasting conflicts, but part of why it ended up finishing off so terribly was because of how sudden it came to a close. I enjoyed this series more in the beginning, as the writing was not quite as poor, or rather, I brushed it off as simply slow and gradual-- something that would eventually come together nicely and take a turn for the better. It didn't, quite obviously, but the concept, themes and depth at times is what is keeping my rating from falling below a 6.

Overall: 6/10

Tokyo Ghoul is a prime example of wasted potential. I feel that with more time and guidance it could have had a better chance to shine with an interesting concept in its possession, but that was thrown away after its sudden and very messy conclusion. The characters were hardly developed, along with their relationships and the plot itself, and the events felt disconnected and poorly strewn together. The writing is its weakest point, and without good writing, it doesn't matter how interesting the original concept might have been. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but I won't lie that I enjoyed the earlier parts up until I realized what a mess it had become.