[!]THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AND POSSIBLY COMPARES THE MANGA TO THE ANIME ADAPTATION IN TERMS OF OVERALL STORY STRUCTURES[!]
After witnessing the deceptive mess that is Tokyo Ghoul Re’s anime, I’ve been convinced to read the manga once in a while. When I first read Tokyo Ghoul’s manga, I thought I would never get myself into it due to the sheer edginess surrounding it. While I still believe it’s very edgy, after reading the first manga, I was immediately invested in the story’s nice use of its ideals. And with Re, it’s going to be really great! …Until the ending comes in. That doesn’t mean it makes the series automatically mediocre or subpar but c’mon, you could have wrapped up the series far better than you could imagine. We’ll get into that later but for now, let’s jump into the story first.
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Tokyo Ghoul Re begins after 2 years of an intense showdown with the powerhouse freaks that are the Ghouls. Ken Kaneki, better known as Haise Sasaki before his memory is regained, loses his memories and ends up ganging up with the Quinx squad. Even though Haise is a ghoul, his Quinx companions seem to show respect for him. Haise, similar to his true self, suffers through mind break. While the anime tries and fails to portray what the series brings to the table, the manga does actually work. Not only does it truly show how much pain Haise/Kaneki has been going through but it also still explores the elements behind the ghouls well like the first manga.
It’s a series that, although can be awkward to sit through due to how it portrays violence, shows how challenging it is to go back to where you were since the last time as well as face the nearly inevitable problems surrounding you. On paper, the plot twist in the manga is borderline vanilla. Yeah, let’s get that out of the way. Aside from shifting the tone of the story’s structure, it doesn’t really add much to the writing. Not necessarily bad, mind you, they could have been more interesting. It doesn’t make anything unpredictable at all. That is… until the series takes on the impossible.
Because the plot twist was obvious and therefore, surface-level to begin with, the manga saves it for later. In the first portion of the manga, it doesn’t seem too shabby. It does the job of constructing Haise and the Quinx squad but they aren’t anything very special. While they do have their lacks and moments, more consistent context could help. And funnily enough, that one “obvious” tone shift is where it comes into play. Because the first portion is occupied with a large build-up, the second shifts Haise into Kaneki, and personally, that’s what makes the manga truly shine.
You can keep the Quinx squad as much as you want because you don’t NEED ANY of those guys when Kaneki is the real deal of the story. Re’s manga manages to retain the charm and integrity the original has and can do a somewhat even better job at those. The whole interpretation of having to move forward even if you’re completely messed up really means to me. Kaneki isn’t some edge lord who would go high while attacking. He wants to find something that could make him normal again. Hell, the series also brings back the original characters and they’re still just as fleshed out as they were in the previous manga. All of this while not making the same mistake of shoving them in fight scenes as the anime does.
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As for the characters, they aren’t great until the original cast comes back, as I mentioned earlier. Haise, the protagonist, is a mindbroken half-human, half-Ghoul. Saiko is a couch potato. Tooru is a shy introvert. Ginshi is that one lousy leader. And Kuki is… let’s say he’s a sad emo. The latter 4 are Quinx members and races while the former works with them. They have their trust and plan on investigating whatever the hell is going on in the series. For Haise, he isn’t a discardable can of garbage like he was in the anime but he still kind of annoys me. Yeah, he does get his jobs done but that’s about it. I’m not saying that’s a bad case of writing but for a deeply tragic protagonist, the series could pick up more time to actually make me care for him.
And as for the Quinx squad, in theory, they would be really good additions to the series. I mean, they’re punks who would get their jobs and actions right and they would spice up the storytelling. And yeah. But when they come into play, they’re not as significant as I thought they would be. They do have their lacks and moments but for the most part, they don’t relent on how they act like typical battle Shounen sidekicks. A particular example of this problem is Kuki. Kuki’s whole structure is "I want to prove to the team that I'm the best!" and while I don’t particularly find it offensive to the writing, it doesn’t help his character at all.
But again, the character writing truly picks up once the original cast picks up. Ever since I’ve watched Re’s anime, Kaneki is bloody useless when he comes back. He does nothing but excuse the series’ plot. In the manga, he’s just as great as ever. What makes him truly engaging is how he has to face his own consequences. As mentioned, he isn’t an edge lord even when he’s forced to be a killing machine. He wants to go back to being human and live with his life. For the other characters from the first manga coming back, they’re also good. To this day, Juuzou is still my favorite side character in the series because of how his character was built as well as contributing to one of the series’ main themes.
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Now, let’s talk about the ending. At this point, Tokyo Ghoul Re (or the entire series for that matter) has the potential to be one of the greatest Seinen series ever until the ending trudges through. Now, this isn’t to lay a harm on the writing but, at the same time, it’s really rushed. It doesn’t resolve the ghouls. It doesn’t kill any important character. The only thing worth talking about is how Kaneki manages his own goal. For everything else, it feels like it’s afraid to show its true potential. Personally, though, I can forgive it for being mediocre as it doesn’t go overboard on the series’ flaws. So, not bad, just that it could be a lot better.
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While the anime’s art is ugly thus, making character designs look like they come from different shows, the manga’s is slick. The shading is messy but clean at the same time. It really makes the character designs appealing to look at despite the fact that it’s in a very gory manga.
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And that sums it up. Tokyo Ghoul is an edge fest done right. It has a lot of intriguing elements brought to the table and it does a solid job handling them, just not the Quinx squad and the ending. While Re kind of pales in comparison to the first manga, it still does quite a lot of things right. Whether you like the anime adaptation or not, this is a far better experience if you’re curious about the series. Thanks for reading! 
