Review of the anime Tokyo Ghoul:re (“Tokyo Ghoul: Rebirth”, “Tokyo Ghoul TV-3”)

There is hardly an anime in the universe more controversial than Tokyo Ghoul . Perhaps the only thing that can compete with it is SAO , and even then with an inveterate lag. Armies of rabid fans and diehard critics converge time after time on the margins of Internet forums, showering each other with a stream of arguments in favor of and against the anime epic about Japanese ghoul pigeons. The dirtiest curses and sophisticated verbal expressions are used, even women and children take part in the battles (sometimes it seems that these are the majority). Only a few leave the battlefield alive and unharmed - few can boast of an inexhaustible psyche and the absence of eye tics. However, it’s not surprising – Tokyo Ghoul really has a lot to love and hate. Love for the atmosphere, philosophy and magnificent musical and visual accompaniment. Hate for its very controversial plot, characters and pathos. And so, after, to put it mildly, the not very successful second season called Tokyo Ghoul √A , Studio Pierrot again condescended to the fans and released a sequel - Tokyo Ghoul:re (“Tokyo Ghoul: Rebirth”, “Tokyo Ghoul TV-3” ) . Let's try to figure out whether the creators managed to revive their creation, as the suffix in the title suggests, or whether the haters now have an additional argument in their disputes against the franchise.

Brief information

Tokyo Ghoul:re is the third season of an anime dedicated to ghouls - vampires who live next door to ordinary people and sometimes eat them for breakfast. Just like the first and second, the third season was released through the efforts of Studio Pierrot . The anime was released in the spring of 2021, consists of twelve episodes, and the script is based on the manga authored by Sui Ishida . I would like to point out that the first, and, in my opinion, the most successful season, was based on the manga (albeit crumpled, but still); the second, terrible and disgusting - based on the fantasies of the scriptwriters, and had practically nothing to do with the manga. When creating the third season, the writers again turned to the manga of the same name, trying to pretend that the second season was a stupid misunderstanding. A reasonable decision, but, however, it did not change the situation much...

The events of Tokyo Ghoul:re begin to unfold a couple of years after the end of the second season. The CCG, an organization dedicated to fighting ghouls, managed to win several significant victories and strengthen its influence in Tokyo, but the war is not over yet. Many organized groups of ghouls still pose a threat that must be eliminated. To deal with emergencies, the CCG organized a group of special employees, nicknamed the Quinx. These are people who have been implanted with ghoul body parts, thanks to which they can use their abilities. Haise Sasaki , a young man with a vague past and such a familiar appearance, became the head of the new division He, along with a team of loyal associates, decided to challenge the ghouls, and, in the meantime, deal with himself. But will he be able to defeat his demons?

Characters

The characters were never the main problem of Tokyo Ghoul . On the contrary, they were one of the main ways in which the title could be elevated to the category of outstanding. After all, essentially, there are enough good characters in Tokyo Ghoul , but there have always been problems with their development - there simply wasn’t enough screen time to give it to all the interesting characters. And it would be logical to assume that in the second and third seasons this flaw will be corrected by revealing the characters already shown... but no. Both in Tokyo Ghoul √A and in Tokyo Ghoul:re , instead of using ready-made resources, the writers decided to throw packs of new heroes at the viewer. In almost every episode, five or even ten new characters appear that you need to remember. And they are needed only to flash on the screen for a few minutes and then disappear into oblivion. And now attention, the question is - why? What's the point of this? What kind of empathy can we talk about if you see the hero for a couple of minutes at best? The only interesting thing about the new heroes may be their appearance, but this is clearly not enough to justify their presence in the title.

On the other hand, some characters in Tokyo Ghoul:re did receive their share of attention. But I would also call the choice of these heroes controversial. So, throughout a significant portion of the series, the viewer has to follow the mental torment of Haise , who, to put it mildly, does not impress with originality - another guy who is kind to everyone with amnesia, which appeared to him without any explanation. I never thought I'd say this, but in past seasons, Kaneki Ken's personality wasn't that bad. Everything is relative. Another central character is Kuki Urie - an arrogant, cold guy who wants to become better than everyone else and show the world who is boss. Alya budget Sasuke. Oh, and how can we not mention the effeminate, modest Tooru Mutsuki with an eyepatch, or the pink-haired lady with a crazy smile - just an example of originality... Of the new characters, the only good ones were the guy with shark teeth Ginshi Shirazu and Lolya Saiko Yonebayashi , which, despite being corny, was at least funny. Among other bright moments, I’ll name the rare appearances of characters from the first and second seasons on the screen - after all, nostalgia played a role, and it was nice to know the fate of familiar characters. So, we were pleased with the appearance of Juuzou Suzuya or the good old aristocrat Shu Tsukiyama , who turned out to be the only truly revealed character during the season. Well, Touka Kirishima – she has always been a cutie. However, such faded reflections of progress did not at all correct the overall depressing picture.

Voiced roles[edit]

Plot

In order to understand the deplorability of the situation, let's plunge into history and try to remember how the atmosphere around the epic about ghouls changed during the first two seasons. So, as you already know, Tokyo Ghoul is based on a manga by Sui Ishida . A good, dynamic and interesting manga that has many fans all over the world. Therefore, when the release of the first season of the anime was announced, they were excited and joyful - finally, their favorite manga was being filmed. However, after the broadcast of the first season, the viewership split into two camps: those who read the manga were dissatisfied with the fact that many important details in the anime were not touched upon or were considered only in passing - this is not surprising, because in one episode of the anime the writers managed to cram in 8-10 manga chapters. Those viewers who were not familiar with the manga were generally satisfied, because the anime turned out to be atmospheric, beautiful and quite interesting. This explains the decent ratings on various major sites - after all, there were several times more viewers who were not familiar with the manga. However, then everything went awry: after seeing good ratings, Studio Pierrot decided to release a second season called Tokyo Ghoul √A . But instead of drawing conclusions and correcting the mistakes of the first season, enhancing its merits, they decided not to stick to the plot of the manga and came up with something of their own - awkward and stupid. Here, even people who had not heard about the existence of the manga began to suspect that something was wrong with the franchise. This is also the reason for the much lower ratings for the second season. However, this did not bother the most devoted fans...

The Tokyo Ghoul franchise has a huge fan base, which is both its strength and weakness. Power, because fans provide anime creators with attention and money, which means the studio has the resources to create sequels. A weakness, because many Tokyo Ghoul fans turn out to be so devoted that they are ready to completely turn a blind eye to any existing shortcomings, of which in the anime there is a carriage and a small cart. I myself have encountered this many times and was surprised. But since the fans are happy, then why develop? Why go down a complex path of risks and potential losses when you can continue to sculpt controversial sequels that will be swallowed anyway? Why develop characters and write an adequate plot when you can add more blood, simple drama, nudity and madness , put a high age limit so that the young audience has a feeling of “forbidden fruit” - and voila, increased attention to the work is guaranteed , the crowd applauds and applauds. In the pursuit of popularity (it must be said, successful - few anime fans have not heard of Tokyo Ghoul), quality suffers greatly , and so creations like the second and third seasons of Tokyo Ghoul are born. Here is an excellent example of the degradation of a work, associated with low demands from fans and a sky-high threshold of trust.

Even if this is subjective, the storyline in Tokyo Ghoul:re really seemed banal and uninteresting to me. Half of the series is dedicated to a guy with the “well, finally acknowledge me, senpai” syndrome, and the other is a hodgepodge in which only the last three episodes . Even the fact that the season was again based on the manga did not help improve the situation. I literally had to force myself to watch each new episode with a significant effort of will. There is no dynamics in the title - even the battles, which were one of its strong points, have now turned into performances unfolding according to one scenario. CCG and Aogiri attack each other in droves, the main characters kill various nameless pawns in batches, who fight worse than NPCs in fighting games on easy difficulty, then a couple of strong heroes meet each other, chat about life, fight and go their separate ways. Well, a couple of minor characters die. Cool, whatever you say. At the same time, neither the abilities of ghouls are shown in all their glory, nor how they manage them and why they are so strong. And the shonen-style chatter completely kills any action. Add to this the overall slow pace of the story, with minimal events happening in each episode, and a huge number of characters that you need to remember - and you get a list of the main problems of Tokyo Ghoul:re . And the advantages... I practically didn’t notice them. The only thing I liked was the ending, which gives hope that the next season will be more successful. Another bonus is that in the last three episodes the battles have become more dynamic. But how long, damn it, I had to wait for them, forcing myself to wade through the abyss of mediocrity and despondency. Don’t think - I love Studio Pierrot , because it was she who gave us Naruto , Bleach , Great Teacher Onizuka and many other famous and cool titles, but in the case of Tokyo Ghoul, everything somehow didn’t work out yet again.

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Tokyo Ghoul: Rebirth episodes

Panache

That's it, Tokyo Ghoul never had any problems with the graphical component. And the third season was no exception: yes, in some places you can notice a deterioration in the originality of camera angles and the elaboration of small details in close-ups like hair and facial features, and especially in the staging of battles, which have now been simplified, but the overall graphical level still remains at its best. Excellent character design , which is especially important with such a large number of them; high-quality background images ; as well as an atmospheric color scheme – the picture is not lacking in darkness. Still, Gul’s problems do not lie in his panache.

Film crew[edit]

Music

Pleasant symphonic and meditative electronic compositions fit perfectly into the atmosphere of Tokyo Ghoul. Beautiful, melodic background music, coupled with competent visuals, made the title the way it should be - tense and intriguing. If the music in Tokyo Ghoul:re had also sagged, then that’s it, the title could safely be thrown into the trash. However, Yutaka Yamada , who, by the way, was the composer in the previous seasons of Ghoul, honestly worked his bread as a composer. Some people could use a lesson from him. The opening of asphyxia performed by Cö shu Nie was made in the tradition of the famous opening of the first season - the muffled voice of the soloist and a melodious but jagged sounding melody. Even though I have never been a fan of this style of performance, I have to admit that it sounds fresh - better than standard modern openings. The ending HALF performed by Ziyoou-vachi turned out to be good, but nothing more.