Copyright: TOKYO GHOUL © 2011 by Sui Ishida/SHUEISHA Inc.
Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way—except their craving for human flesh. Preorder Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 1 Today
Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize. But it turns out that she’s only interested in his body—eating it, that is. When a morally questionable rescue transforms him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken is drawn into the dark and violent world of Ghouls, which exists alongside our own.
Unlike most fans of the series, I watched the Anime before I read the manga. Season 1 of the anime follows the manga closely. However, it should come as no surprise that the manga is still much better. The emotion that comes with the first few chapters as Kaneki tries to understand what he has become is far more evident then what the anime was able to relay on screen. Sui Ishida’s art is more than just beautiful illustrations, its the perfect placement of expression within scenes that help bring out emotional, fear and horror without adding paragraphs of words.
The series is a dark horror series that looks at the complexities of human nature and the world of flesh eating Ghouls. The graphic and unyielding writing and art of the series also puts us right in the middle of Kaneki’s struggle to decide if it is worth living like this, half-human and half flesh eating ghoul.
The beauty of this series is its ability to also find the somewhat light hearted story within the deep horror. Whether its Kaneki’s best friend Hide or when Touka meets Kaneki, shocked that he survived Rize and in her abrupt and ‘disinterested’ tone tries to help Kaneki face the reality he is now in. She hates him at first, but its clear that in some way she sees a bit of herself and her hatred of what she is in him.
Copyright: TOKYO GHOUL © 2011 by Sui Ishida/SHUEISHA Inc.
Don’t miss the first volume of the Tokyo Ghoul series, being released in North America for the first time in english by Viz Media June 16th. You can preorder your copy below.
