This second episode is painting a bit more of a bleak picture but I’m still left wondering what the point is.
The team of not ghoul’s are given some explanation in this episode and their personalities are fleshed out a little more, and yet that is possibly to the detriment of my enjoyment considering the former Captain guy is really getting on my nerves. As is this anime’s general tendency to not have characters ask the questions that need to be asked or give the explanations that should be given. You know the doctor not recommending moving Captain guy to the third frame, might have been nice if you said why. I mean, it is pretty obvious that it is going to end poorly and possibly with him losing control, but seriously, what kind of doctor doesn’t at least explain the potential side effects of a procedure.
Then we have Kaneki v.2 and while we still don’t know why he hasn’t got his memories, it is pretty clear that his old self is going to come back at some point. And my overall question on this whole situation is why? Why is Kaneki still alive? Why manipulate his memories? Why haven’t the others contacted him prior to now? And really, why do we as an audience need to see an overly optimistic Kaneki, again, just to watch him fall apart, again? I guess I could drop this but there’s that tiny nagging thought that maybe, just maybe this anime might be ready to address some of its bigger questions though to be honest if it doesn’t, I’m probably not going to be disappointed this time around. My expectations of Tokyo Ghoul are pretty low at this point.
What did you think of this second episode?
Linked Reviews:
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
Consider supporting the blog by:
- Becoming a patron
- Buy the ebook ‘Thoughts on Anime 2017‘
- Use the affiliate link to shop Play-Asia
“…this anime’s general tendency to not have characters ask the questions that need to be asked or give the explanations that should be given.”
100% agree! That was my major qualm with season 2. Kaneki goes from being a solid character to being standoffish and edgy for the sake of suspense.
As for why he doesn’t have his memories, I assumed he lost his mind after Hide (most likely) died at the end of season 2. The flash forward at the end of season 2 with Touka reopening Anteiku made me think that Kaneki must be dead, but perhaps the fact that he was carrying Hide made everyone hesitate? I doubt it, though. At any rate, if we don’t get a flashback to what happened at the end of season 2, I’m going to be pissed.
I’ve seen a lot of buzz about the new Tokyo Ghoul stuff coming out! Honestly, I tried watching the first episode and it seemed sort of intense for me…that’s coming from a person who loves Attack on Titan. Haven’t yet delved into this series, but I’m tempted to the more I learn about it.
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend Tokyo Ghoul at this point in time, at least not the anime. First season is fine, though doesn’t explore the issues it seems like it should. Second season is a mess. This third season doesn’t attach to the second but attaches to the manga which means those of us who haven’t read it are a little lost.
Someone else in their blog pointed out that a better story about a human being taken over by a monster and learning to deal with it was Parasyte and at this point I’d agree.
Huh! Okay, interesting. Thanks for being to the point!
I’m still regretting not reading the manga, but you shouldn’t have to read the manga to understand what is going on which shows some lack of plotting.
I completely agree. If it only makes sense if you read the manga and they do nothing to fill in the blanks, then it has failed as an adaptation.
I am reading the manga at the same to fill the gaps.
As much as I am interested in some of the ideas in this story, I’ve never been interested enough to track down the source and read it. I just kind of wish the anime versions would sort themselves out.
Yep
I agree that they’ve rushed through loads of chapters here but hopefully re: goes about explaining the gaps they’ve missed out!!!
“Why is Kaneki still alive?”
Because Root A wasn’t canon and the Manga ended that story very differently, and this adaptation (which retcons Root A and goes back to following the Manga) has unfortunately done nothing to fill in the blanks that Anime only watchers wouldn’t have seen…
I’m enjoying this adaptation some what, but the handling of it has been horrendous. I’m hoping they’ll clear things up a little later on, but I’m very doubtful.
I’m kind of doubtful of this clearing up any time soon as Tokyo Ghoul was never particularly good at telling its story and has always been messy and the canon/not-canon thing has essentially meant we’re just going to have to take wild guesses and just go with it at this point.
My bigger question would be why I keep watching it after Root A and I think it is because deep down I have fun watching this anime even if it hasn’t made sense for a long time.