Super-powered “ghouls” stalk through the night hunting humans for food; the police are largely powerless to protect the people; and a young man finds himself standing between the worlds of predator and prey. It’s a great setup. Too bad the follow-through was lackluster.
Last year’s Tokyo Ghoul was an anime that did an excellent job of building a modern-day fantasy—a world where man-eating ghouls exist alongside normal humans. Though there was a lot of action, that wasn’t the focus. Rather the world—and the half-ghoul Kaneki’s place in it—were the driving forces of the anime. We learned about how the police react to this world full of murderous superbeings as well as explored the various lifestyle philosophies of ghoul society.
Tokyo Ghoul’s one major shortcoming, however, was that it ended in the middle of the final battle—leaving the show largely without a climax or resolution. It didn’t even end on a cliffhanger. Instead, it ended before one could happen.
Thankfully, the first thing sequel series Tokyo Ghoul √A does is finish up the final battle and tie up the hanging loose ends. The battle even ends on an intriguing cliffhanger as the brutally tortured Kaneki decides to join the villains rather than return with his friends who came to rescue him.
While Tokyo Ghoul was clearly Kaneki’s story, Tokyo Ghoul √A is not. It is the story of two groups: the people he has left behind and the police who are hunting the ghouls. Unfortunately in the case of his friends, this means little more than episode after episode of angst—especially in the form of Toka, Kaneki’s love interest.