Sui Ishida’s horror-action manga “Tokyo Ghoul” came to it’s harrowing conclusion with volume 14. But the story isn’t over as the series sequel, “Tokyo Ghoul :re” finally makes its debut here in the West.
Written & Illustrated by Sui Ishida
Haise Sasaki has been tasked with teaching Qs Squad how to be outstanding investigators, but his assignment is complicated by the troublesome personalities of his students and his own uncertain grasp of his Ghoul powers. Can he pull them together as a team, or will Qs Squad first assignment be their last?
For over a year, “Tokyo Ghoul” became a bit of an addiction for me. Easily the book I most anticipate every other month, Sui Ishida’s psychological horror tale of Ken Kaneki’s dive into the world of ghouls as well as the dive into the breaking of his own sanity was a harrowing experience, not one without humor and heart to contrast with the utter bleakness the work could reach at times. It left off with the denizens of the Anteiku cafe scattered, Aogiri stronger than ever and the fate of Kaneki left incredibly ambiguous after his fight with the ace investigator of the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul), Kisho Arima.
With that, we are brought to “Tokyo Ghoul :re”.
It begins with a fresh start. It’s been two years since the CCG’s raid on Anteiku and we are following Haise Sasaki, a character introduced at the very tail end of “Tokyo Ghoul” volume 14. Sasaki is a Ghoul Investigator, but not just any Investigator. He is the leader of a special, experimental squad: the Qs Squad. They are a squad of humans that have been implanted with the Kagune, the special organ in a ghoul that gives them a lot of their more super abilities. Untested, they are going to be thrown into a trial by fire in the hunt to identify a ghoul codenamed “Torso.”
There’s an interesting comparison that can be made between this first volume and the first volume of the original manga. In particular, there has been a bit of a genre shift. The first volume of “Tokyo Ghoul” was straight up horror, with the innocent Kaneki falling prey to a hungry ghoul, only to have the ghoul’s organs implanted in him and turning him into a hybrid. This first volume is more action oriented, with the horror elements heighten the action, in the case of the Qs taking on Torso or Orochi, another ghoul wanted by the CCG. However, the psychological horror elements are still very much there, in one particular case…
This is where we are going to talk a spoiler, but it really isn’t a massive leap. I have gone out of my way to avoid spoilers about this series (now having thirteen volumes out in Japan) but it’s not hard to figure out that Haise is an amnesiac Ken Kaneki. Ishida himself doesn’t confirm it here, but does enough to get that point across. The idea here isn’t a big reveal, but the slow drip-drop build, as Sasaki is haunted by an unknown voice in his dreams and when he comes face-to-face with old familiar faces. With that said, Ishida also does a good job of juxtaposing Sasaki with Kaneki. As we see him on and off-duty, Sasaki is a bit more mature than Kaneki, being able to look after the Qs like they were his own kids (more on that when I talk themes), but he’s not afraid to be playful, showing a bit more humor and mischievousness but never enough to be annoying.
Now onto the other major introductions in this volume: the Qs. We have Toru Mutsuki, Kuki Urie, and Ginshi Shirazu. Mutsuki is man still unsure of himself, but admires Sasaki. Urie is a very driven and stubborn young man with an especially vicious hatred of ghouls. Shirazu as of now serves a more comedic foil, but a clear desire to improve. Ishida’s designs for the three stand out nicely, whether it’s Mutsuki’s eyepatch, which is a clear call back to Kaneki, Urie’s more dower face (actually, very reminiscent of Levi Ackerman of “Attack on Titan” fame) and Shirazu’s chipper face combined with his razor sharp teeth. It provides immediately recognizable traits for this new cast.
Continued belowI wanted to dedicate a specific part to Mutsuki, in particular with a reveal in this volume. In an encounter with Torso, it is revealed that Mutsuki is a trans man. Now, I need to preface this with the fact that I am a cisgender male. I myself did not have a problem with how it was revealed here, but I understand that it really isn’t my call and I could’ve missed something unintentionally.
Artistically, Ishida has done nothing but improve throughout the years. Aside from his choice selection of character design, he does a good job of enhancing previous character designs to show the passage of time, but making it clear who they are. Two characters showing this were the brief bits we see of Hinami Fueguchi and Ayato Kirishima in this volume. They are both a bit more refined, but are both a bit more emotionally scuffed from their expressions. But the one who benefits the most from this attention to detail is the last page reveal of Touka Kirishima, the proprietor of the :re cafe. She’s no longer the gangly, angry girl from “Tokyo Ghoul”. She is gorgeous and Ishida let’s his more shojo influences ring out when Sasaki and her meet for the first time.
On the action side, Ishida’s work becomes more and more fluid. He combines a high speed car chase with kagune fighting to create an awesome scene that allows Shirazu to have a good moment. On the more… gross… side, we have Torso practically breaking his arm to reach into a backseat to grab at Mutsuki, the heavy shadows providing a tense scene. But the best scene is when Sasaki reveals his kagune, like black flames forming into a facsimile of Kaneki’s kagune before going to town against Orochi.
If there is a theme to “Tokyo Ghoul :re” volume 1, it’s “family”. It had been a theme in the previous series (with Rize and Jason being the “parents” of Kaneki as he descended into madness) but it has become more pronounced here, with Arima and Akira Mado being spiritual parents to Sasaki, himself with his own spiritual children and we see this new found family come struggle and come together, even as the old found family of Anteiku begin to seep back in. All in all “Tokyo Ghoul :re” volume one is a welcome or welcome back.
Final Verdict: 8.3- Sui Ishida leans a bit more into action than horror to (re)introduce his new series.
