Tokyo Ghoul:re

!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!! I'll start off by saying that Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul :Re are two of my favourite manga that I've read and they both hold a significant place in my life. The anime adaptions before :Re had been iffy to say the best, Season 1 of TG whilst not terrible left out a lot of content due to how few episodes they had and Root A was flat out awful. So moving onto the anime adaption of :Re I was very apprehensive about how it was going to play out. Would they try and mish mash anime original and manga canon materialagain like they did with Root A or would they ignore Root A and stick to the manga? At the time of these thoughts it wasn't clear on the direction the show would take, thankfully they decided to forget Root A completely and pushed forward with adapting the :Re manga. The fact that the :Re anime ignores the Root A anime is going to leave a lot of anime only people confused, my advice along with the advice of the creator of TG, go read the original manga chapter 1-143 and then you can watch :Re but perhaps you should read it instead. How well have they done? The short answer is not great, worse than season 1 better than Root A. The long answer, well buckle in. :Re's biggest problem is its budget. The animation and general art in the show are poor, it is clear that this is the work of people who aren't the best in the business and that are working under time constraints. There is very much a real lack of soul in this anime and I think a lot of that is due to the budget. The next major problem for the :Re anime is the pacing. Just like season 1 they've got very few episodes / minutes to tell the story of the first 57 or so chapters of the :Re manga and as manga readers will know :Re starts slow and has a lot of content in those first 50+ chapters. Several episodes adapted 5-6 chapters worth of content the rest around 3-4 chapters per episode. Due to the budget and pacing, a lot of details were left out most notable Haise touching his chin and Fluffy hair Touka. These small details are what made the manga so good. Now :Re's anime didn't do everything wrong, once again the score has been generally A+ The opening Asphyxia is almost as good as Unravel and the closing isn't too shabby either. As well as the opening / closing tracks there are several other songs the names of which I do not know that are really quite good, especially the song when Haise and Touka meet. Another 1+ for the anime is in regards to the VA, there are 1 or 2 that sound odd (Suzuya and Kanae both sound pretty bad imo.) However, the rest of the cast put in a very strong performance and I was very pleased to see some familiar names return to voice characters that had previously voiced in past seasons. Ultimately the anime falls short it was handed a fantastic story on a silver plate and they did it a disservice with how cheaply they made this show. A lot of the focus was put on the fighting which is just a small part of what the manga is and when the animation is as bad as it is in :Re there is nothing to be but to be disappointed. If you're a fan of the Manga my advice is watch it if you've really got nothing better to do, if you're an anime only well I'm sure you're pretty confused in general about :Re and it's probably best you go and read TG and then TG:Re if you really want to experience the story as it was intended. Overall rating: 5.4/10

Note: This is a review coming from an anime only viewer. Tokyo Ghoul:re is one heck of a series. From the start, you are taken on the world of Sasaki Haise, and the Quinx squad. The story, at the beginning, was quite confusing, having no context about the actual series at all. However, the pieces start to fall in much later, and the story gets more in depth than before. The story in here is really good, with a complex and unique story which surprisingly shocks me at some points, and makes me laugh at other points. I definitely didn't expect to cry in this, but Iwould be lying if I didn't cry at all. The art was alright. I mean, the animation and the styling done in :re doesn't match up to images of the manga that I've seen, which looks a lot better than this, but then again, the first two seasons were just as bad. The soundtrack and the choice of really different sounds was something that really felt right. It's not the typical soundtrack that most people are accustomed to; it's different, dark, unpredictable and very suited to the story of :re. The characterisation here is another good point. The contrast of Kaneki and Sasaki is quite striking, and really well done. The Quinx squad all have their unique quirks, and I especially love how they managed to put a different spin on the characters than what I've typically seen. The characters that were also present in the original series have clearly changed, bringing the story and characters to a different level than what I expected. Enjoyment was something I thought was alright. The series was definitely made for manga readers, and for a person like me who hasn't read past the two chapter of the original, I definitely couldn't enjoy it due to my lack of context. I think that if I knew the context better, and knew what really happened instead of what we got in Root A, then I would have definitely enjoyed it more. Overall, this series is a wonderful work, and was something I didn't expect that I would like as much as I thought. Although I'm an anime only water, this has definitely incentivised me into reading the manga, and after watching the final episode, it makes me really look forward to season 2 of :re.

Tokyo Ghoul:re is a highly misunderstood anime. Manga readers condemn it for its rushing of the plot; anime-onlys enjoy it for its fresh storyline and decent action. To enjoy TG:re to the max, you have to find a balance between these two common opinions by acknowledging that the anime and manga are two different entities that should be viewed - and enjoyed - separately. Ishida is a phenomenal storyteller. There are a plethora of brilliant scenes that you can tell have been crafted perfectly and could not be any better. For instance, while the overall drive of the plot felt rushed and unnecessarily accelerated insome aspects, the focus on Haise regaining his memories was designed and paralleled perfectly with the original Tokyo Ghoul series; it made me feel nostalgic over Ken Kaneki's tragic tale. ("If you were to write a story with me in the lead role, it would certainly be a tragedy.") The only criticism of the story, for me, would be the rushing of the plot (and in the process) ignoring certain scenes from chapters that add to the atmosphere of the series. However, as previously mentioned, it is my belief that an anime and manga should be enjoyed - or hated - separately, in order to get the most out of it. Some people hold the opinion that the animation is lacking in particular departments. This could be referring to the action scenes, the character stills, and/or the overall art. It is true that during some action scenes, the animation could have done with a new animator. In fact, the reason as to why some animated scenes flumped is because the anime was outsourced, which means that different studios work on different episodes, so quality can, and often will, vary from episode to episode. In spite of this, it is important to remember that TG:re and TG are not action-driven works (shounen) - they are, without a doubt, character-focused stories. Even more so, I personally prefer the new colour tint and animation style when it comes to the still scenes. Especially when Haise was the main focus on the screen - he looked fucking great. One thing that distinguishes TG from other anime is its superb soundtrack. During the original TG, we were blessed with the work of art commonly known as 'Unravel'. Its closing soundtrack, written by the J-Rock band 'people In The Box' didn't fall behind the legacy of unravel much further, either. Ignoring the atrocity of the second season and its horrendous soundtrack, the opening song to TG:re, Asphyxia (written by Co Shu Nie) is almost as angelic as unravel. Some fans even prefer thus opening to its first, perhaps because of the chaotic buzz and fervent energy it installs in you as you watch and headbang to it. Another thing that distinguishes TG from other anime is its ability (or rather, Sui Ishida's) to construct groundbreaking characters that you can't help but adore to watch. Whether her is Haise or Kaneki, I love this character as if he were my child. Not to mention the warm and fulfilling relationship between the QS members, which is something worthy of a prize itself. But in relation to Haise/Kaneki, this character glowed brighter than any other character so far, as he does in every season he is in - because that is the final product of Ishida's hard work and spectacular storytelling. Overall, TG:re is a fantastic addition to the series. Now that the manga is coming to a close, the anime successfully provides its fans with the chance to fill their empty hearts as they wait - and beg - for another manga series in the future. As a whole, it is a work of art when you look at it from an outsider's perspective and refrain frm comparing it to the manga as an abundance of fans like to. Either way, if you read the manga or not, it is highly likely that you will find yourself enjoying the anime adaptation of TG:re, and hopefully, like me, end up adoring it.

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