Tokyo Ghoul √A | Episode 12
Buckeye: So this show ends with an episode that’s all about reflection after the war and all of the losses suffered on both sides. That made for some emotional moments there, but in the end the pacing was just slow and not much advancement was made in the story to end things seeing that Kaneki just faded into the sunset just like that.
Overall, this season suffers from a badly structured story considering that it doesn’t follow the manga. I just didn’t like the way the MC is portrayed being someone who joins the enemy to get stronger to protect his friends, while the story didn’t leave as big of a lasting impact as in the first season. That said, the story itself has some well-written parts that get me to feel for both humans and ghouls, which is what this show does best. It does a great job in developing the supporting cast, but totally ignores the MC for the most part which is why I had issues with the structure. And then there’s the action that’s also great to watch. In all, I enjoyed this show for the same reasons why Shiki is so great, but it was just tough to watch the MC make all those decisions.
GingaDaiuchuu: Wait, does that mean they’re adapting Tokyo Ghoul:re? Is it so disconnected from the original series that they can feasibly do so with this season having gone completely differently from the manga?
Anyway… this season. Definitely not the Tokyo Ghoul I wanted, so I’ll have to read the manga when it’s out here. Poetically atmospheric episodes like this are very nice even if it means almost nothing happens in the episode (this one bringing the focus to Hide in the end was strange, but closing the series the way it opened was appropriate), but when there are so many of them in a season that has so much that needs to happen, it doesn’t quite work. Some characters got some good focus, but this was definitely not a fully told story, and most importantly, Kaneki’s own motivations for going in entirely the opposite direction of what he should’ve were touched upon less than almost anything, rendering him effectively a non-character in the series in which he holds the role of main protagonist.
I’d like to say people can just watch the first episode and accept it as something without a conclusive ending, but… that first season finale doesn’t even qualify as an inconclusive ending; there’s nothing about that works as even an end to a season, meaning people have to watch further, and the only thing to watch further is… this season, not bad by any means, but sorely disappointing, especially with all the potential it had. Read the manga! I assume that’s a safe bet, anyway.
It does tie back to closing the series the way it opened, but I like to believe that they acknowledged how much better the first season’s opening was and that’s why they used this beautifully stripped-down version as an insert song to finish it all off.
Yamada2: Well that certainly sucked. They went for another open ending just like the first season but the prior events, honestly, couldn’t make me care enough to watch the third season which it will get because of its over the top popularity.
They start things up and then end the season without finishing what they started. They started stuff up with the Owl in the last season and they still couldn’t finish it after getting another season too. They ended things with Kaneki in a stupid way. Did Kaneki die or did he make a peace treaty with them? Either way I don’t care. Then they jump 9000 years in the future where Toka is grown up and has opened a coffee shop herself. Were the events in between so unimportant that they had to jump to the future? If things were intense or captivating before this ending, then it could’ve been good.
This season was so garbage that it beats the crappie quality of the first season. At least the first season had well animated fight scenes consistently and a good OP. This season even failed at everything. But this makes one thing clear, Unravel is awesome both with and without music. It certainly is better than that insult to opening songs all over this season had.
Whether this gets another season in summer or after some decades, I won’t be watching it. I’ve had enough ghouls. Too much ghouls might be hazardous for me now.