Tokyo Ghoul V. 2

 

Update 9/28/18: I am now an affiliate with Z Publishing House. I do receive a small commission for items purchased through this link (http://www.zpublishinghouse.com?rfsn=1831564.e6264) if anyone is interested in anthologies of emerging writers.

Tokyo Ghoul volume 2 was written and illustrated by  Sui Ishida in 2011 and published by Shueisha. This story is a dark fantasy rated OT for older teens for gore and serious psychological elements. Trigger warnings ranging from abuse to depression to torture—be careful going into this series.

Spoilers ahead.

Volume 2 picks up with Kaneki starting his new job as a barista at the Anteiku, a coffee shop that doubles as a safe place for ghouls. Touka and the shop owner, Mr. Yoshimura, are teaching him tricks to blend in with human society, such as pretending to eat without having to actually taste the food. We are also introduced to Hinami—a young ghoul—and her mother who are unable to hunt humans on their own. This leads into the introduction of the doves, specifically Senior Investigator Kureo Mado and Rank 1 Investigator Koutaro Amon. These two investigators hunt ghouls to either arrest—but most often—kill them with Himani and her mother as their current targets.

Further introductions include Uta (my favorite!) and Yomo,

Kaneki gets to explore and experience the world as the ghouls do, looking for food by locating suicide victims instead of hunting people. Children are hidden away in order to protect them. Some ghouls are able to fight and others are not, depending on their age, skills, or their powers. They are trying to blend in while sadistic and aggressive humans hunt them down. Kaneki also witnesses the murder of Hinami’s mother after she sacrificed herself to give Hinami a chance to run away. This brings up an interesting point on the part of Amon. He is moved at the sight of a human child the state is caring for after a ghoul murdered the child’s parents, yet he sees no problem with hunting a widowed mother and her child, murdering the mother, and continuing to pursue the child.

After witnessing all of this, Kaneki agrees to do help Touka get revenge for Hinami. In order to do this, he starts training to fight. This is the first step from whinny character to more fully developed character. He does still cry quite a bit, but now it’s not always out of self-pity. Hinami creates a reason for him and Touka to work together, they both take on an older sibling role, and we start to see Kaneki’s potential while still holding onto his humanity. When he asks Touka to teach him to use his powers—called Kagune—he says “I won’t kill the investigators . . . But I’m tired of being helpless.”

This volume finishes with Kaneki getting the mask Uta designed for him. Masks are important to protect a ghoul’s identity—ironic since the only times they can reveal who and what they really are is when they’re wearing a mask, yet they hide in plain sight with their natural faces every day of their lives. Kaneki’s mask is even more revealing. His is based on a device used in mental asylums that restricts the patient’s ability to speak. (Think the mask used on Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs.)  Some other reviewers have pointed out this mask may symbolize Kaneki’s desire to restrain his ghoul side.

By focusing on the ghouls, Kaneki and readers learn about their world and the dangers they face. Touka reveals she’s not always an aggressive and cruel character, though she does react on emotion. Kaneki has a brotherly side and people are at ease around him. There’s also a mix of young and old, showing what could happen as Touka, Kaneki, and Hinami age up in the current world. The doves are also given time to develop, though it does focus on them as the villians (currently) yet they are justified in the sense of protecting humans from being hunted and slaughtered like animals.

Visually, this volume does start to darken. Jagged lines indicate cruel or monstrous intentions, violence is not hidden, given crisp and clear images without a lot of clutter to emphasis the shock and cruelty of the situations. This allows everything to be easily seen and read.

The writing has also improved. By letting go of the connection to Kafka, Sui lets himself go and tells the story the way he wants to. This also lets the symbolism and themes develop naturally. Dialogue and images are, obviously the main source of information, while internal thoughts from Kaneki and Amon reveal how they are processing and reacting to their perspectives of the world.

As I mentioned, masks are introduced in this volume. In traditional literature, masks are used to hide the wearer’s identity or intentions, to create an image for the society to accept or fear, or to suggest someone is supernatural or two-faced. From the human perspective, ghouls are supernatural beings who hide among humanity so they can hunt and kill and their masks are used to hide their identity so they can’t be found. To the ghouls, the masks offer protection and freedom to reveal themselves, but their real masks are their own faces as they pretend to be human.  It’s a good theme to introduce since the first volume started to question identity and humanity.

There are also less jokes in this volume. Those that are present are mostly done by Hide in keeping with this goof-ball character. The rest of the dialogue steadily grows darker and more serious as the reality of being a ghoul sets in.

I like this volume because of how it handles the ghoul perspective. It starts to develop the characters more fully, the conflict is introduced, and we are sympathetic towards Hinami’s situation. I especially love Uta’s character. His design is amazing and his attitude towards Kaneki and the other ghouls is different than everyone else’s so far.

I do wish Hide was around more in this volume. He’s kind of pushed to the side-lines with everything that’s going on when we could add another layer of conflict and danger to the story. 

Tokyo Ghoul volume 2 is a step up from volume 1 in story, conflict, characters, and world building. If you weren’t sure about the beginning of the story, this should get you invested in the characters and story. Again, this is a dark fantasy with more mature themes and violence so read with caution. Regardless, this is one of my favorite series.