An exciting horror manga series, Sui Ishida’s “Tokyo Ghoul” is highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © 2011 Sui Ishida. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Tokyo Ghoul vol. 1
STORY AND ART BY: Sui Ishida
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Viz Signature
RATED: For Older Teen
RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2015
Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way—except their craving for human flesh. Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.
Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize. But it turns out that she’s only interested in his body—eating it, that is. When a morally questionable rescue transforms him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken is drawn into the dark and violent world of Ghouls, which exists alongside our own.
From Sui Ishida comes his 2011 hit manga series “Tokyo Ghoul”!
With a 2014 anime series and 14 tankobon volumes published in Japan, the first volume will be released in the U.S. courtesy of Viz Signature.
Set in Tokyo, Japan, the story of “Tokyo Ghoul” is set during a time when many mysterious and grizzly murders are happening throughout Japan due to monsters known as ghouls.
Monsters that like to eat human flesh and monsters who can change themselves to look human.
We are introduced to college students, Ken Kaneki and his friend Hide.
Ken is a big fan of horror novels and he often goes to a cafe to see another girl named Rize Kamishiro who likes horror novels. And because of their similar taste in authors, the two go out on their first date.
And while the date is going very well, things suddenly take a turn when Rize reveals herself to be a ghoul.
Taking a bite out of Ken and impaling him and preparing for the final kill, out of nowhere, a metal beam falls from above and crushes Rize.
As the two are taken to the doctor, the doctor avoids waiting for family donors and takes Rize’s organs and transplants it into Ken.
As Ken heals and is lucky to be alive, he begins to notice that every food he eats and tastes is terrible. He can’t understand why until he learns that ghouls have that similar problem and he knows that the only way to satisfy his hunger is to kill and eat human flesh, which he will never do, as he intends to maintain his humanity.
As other ghouls taunt him for his weakness and his inability to eat humans, one starts to threaten Hide, Ken’s best friend.
What will Ken do about it?
For those who are looking for a horror manga with minor violence and gore, you may want to give “Tokyo Ghoul” a try!
While the storyline of monsters wanting to maintain their humanity is nothing new (especially for vampire stories), “Tokyo Ghoul” is a fascinating look at one boy who suffers because he will not let himself become a ghoul. But as he is in tremendous pain, he needs to find ways to curb his appetite.
Meanwhile, when a ghoul starts to threaten his best friend, Ken must do all he can to protect him.
The artwork for “Tokyo Ghoul” is stylish and cool with wonderful character designs and facial expressions, may it be normal humans to macabre ghouls. It’s a stylish presentation from Sui Ishida, and I like what he has done so far. And I definitely look forward to volume 2!
An exciting horror manga series, Sui Ishida’s “Tokyo Ghoul” is highly recommended!