Tokyo Ghoul (Live Action): Does not even scratch the surface.

thr4sam

Jan 8, 20184 min read

Tokyo Ghoul: ***1/2 stars

Japan | Live Action | Drama | Fantasy

Cast: Masataka Kubota; Fumika Shimizu; Kai Ogasawara;

Duration: 120 Minutes

Release: July 2017

Plot: Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where ghouls, individuals who can only survive by eating human flesh, live among the normal humans in secret, hiding their true nature to evade pursuit from the authorities.

Ken Kaneki, a normal college student who, after being taken to a hospital, discovers that he underwent a surgery that transformed him into a half-ghoul after being attacked by his date, Rize Kamishiro who reveals herself to be a ghoul. This was accomplished by transferring Rize's organs into his body, and now, like normal ghouls, he must consume human flesh to survive. Struggling with his new life as a half-ghoul, he must now adapt into the ghoul society, as well as keeping his identity hidden from his human companions.

Review:

FANGIRL ALERT!!

You know how excited you are when you watch the first Live Action trailer of your favorite Anime and go crazy. Don't! because the movie just might seem like a nip in the bud.

Based on Manga Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida, Tokyo Ghoul live action Movie is bare minimum of what is promised in terms of the story. I know it wouldn't be possible to show the entire story in 120 minutes. but what I got truly wasn't enough. The movie starts where the anime and manga starts with a voice over explaining the backdrop of the plot and Kaneki in Anteiku with Hide.

The way they have manged to replicate the killer scenes from the anime of Rize attacking Kanaeki , Kaneki finding out he is half ghoul, the fight with Nishiki Nishio to save Hide, Touka chan fighting Mado, they all gave me the feels. If you are a Tokyo Ghoul Fan you have to watch the live action adaptation even if it leaves you disappointed and wanting for more.

When it comes to the character imitation by actors, they have done a commendable job! Hinami, Amon, Mado, Yoshimura,

They all look exactly like they could have if they were real people. It would have been a cherry on top if, Tōuka Chan could have purple hair. It makes sense to keep her hair black for obvious reasons. They were trying to make them look life like.

The characters I am not happy with are Masataka Kubota as Ken, Kai Ogasawara as Hide and Yū Aoi as Rize and Shuntarō Yanagi as Renji Yomo. Kaneki was a sweet but socially awkward college student, Kubota seemed like a guy who was socially awkward on a paranoid level. He looked like an exaggerated spoof version of the original Ken. Yomo was supposed to be this huge guy who has stealth cat women style and is super tall, huge physically. What we got was Yanagi, who looks like a tall college student that has nothing mysterious about him. He turns out to be just the quite guy in the back ground. Next, we have seen Rize for long int he movie but she is not an exact image of the Rize we know from the anime. once you get past that, and she turns into the ghoul, gosh! mirror image.

Hats of to the makers of this live action movie. It is not easy to make a movie that has so much hype and expectation. The visuals are a treat! especially the eyes and Touka Chan's and Kaneki Kun's Kagune, and CCG's quinque.

Other than the fact that I wasn't impressed with Kaneki Kun's portrayal , I was disappointed with the movie was because I thought I was promised Tokyo Ghoul not first few episodes of Tokyo Ghoul. Of course everything was exactly the way it was supposed to be.

The story takes the original route and follows Kaneki from a awkward teenager to a strong man who would stand for his own kind. After Ryouko Fueguchi's (HInami's mother) death Tōuka Chan trains him to fight triggering emotional and physical transformation. He reaches the conclusion that the World is what is wrong and not him, when his fight with Amon takes place. Rabbit (Tōuka ) fights Mado and Hinami kills him.

The makers took all the fun out of it when it ended at Mado's death. That's just the beginning of the story, its like reading only first two chapters of a book.

The things I was badly waiting to see were all after his death ! Where is all of that ? I was waiting for Shuu Tsukiyama, we only saw Yakumo Oomori briefly, the most await scenes were between Oomori and Kaneki. If the movie could not complete untill Tokyo Ghoul Root A we could have atleast got until the first season!