Refreshing Ghoulish Delights: Tokyo Ghoul

Genre: Psychological, Horror, Action

Ken Kaneki (8track.com)

In modern entertainment, the preponderance of macabre, fictitious, and supernatural entities is apparent. To say the least, zombies, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts have entered into mainstream entertainment seamlessly. The tales of terror of yesteryear are born again for our viewing pleasure.

And yet, there are still many myths left mostly untouched, such as the Arabic-born ghūl or 'ghoul'. At least, that was true until this fresh mid-summer batch of anime released the first episode of "Tokyo Ghoul" by studio Pierrot and was licensed by Funimation.

The story of "Tokyo Ghoul" follows Ken Kaneki, your typical Japanese-anime high school boy. He is quiet, bookish, an orphan, and is foiled by his best friend Hideyoshi Nagachika, a loud and excitable teenager with a hidden keenness. In their city of Tokyo, ghouls are known to exist and there has been a sudden outbreak of ghoul attacks on humans. It is suggested that the number of the prey has risen beyond reason, as though some ghouls appetite for human bodies has become insatiable.

Ken, being an impressionable young boy, is manipulated by a beautiful woman who turns out to be one of Tokyo's most violent and dangerous ghouls. With some luck and possibly some help, Ken is saved from a savage attack, but he is left on the edge of death.

Ken Kaneki (8track.com)

The medical staff who handle Ken's surgery save him only by transplanting the organs of the dead girl who is also brought into the hospital with him. She, of course, is a ghoul. Following his surgery and recovery, Ken finds that something is amiss with his body. He finds his favorite foods disgusting and there are hunger pangs in him which he simply cannot satiate.

"Tokyo Ghoul" is a danse macabre which employs the voice acting of people such Natsuki Hanae ("Diamond No Ace," "Hamatora," "Aldnoah.Zero," and "Sword Art Online II") and Sora Amamiya ("Log Horizon," and "Akame No Kill"). They might be better recognized as Haruichi/Inaho and Lilliana/Akame, respectively. The show incorporates the harsh realities of existing as a sort of outsider in school, the dark and terrifying supernatural, and smooth, eye-pleasing action animation.

"Tokyo Ghoul" represents a genre which is often underwhelming in anime and it turns that genre into a terror thrill-ride. Warning, this show is quite gory.

Rating: 4 out of  5
+ good animation
+ good voice acting
+ GHOULISHNESS
+ horror/psychological genre

Today in Supōtsu: Haikyū!! Episode 1

  ***SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT***

Shōyō Hinata (Wordpress)

Tobio Kageyama (Wordpress)

At some point in my anime watching career, I realized that otaku life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Eventually, you simply run out of the archetypal shonen and seinen action-adventure trope anime and you have to start biting into the proverbial chocolates for better or worse.

Fortunately, like most sophomore anime fans, I started to like what I was tasting. "Kuroko no Basuke" was the first sports-filled morsel I had (excluding eastern martial arts as a sport in this context).

Segue to "Haikyū!!", and introduce the unlikely tandem setter-spiker volleyball protagonists: Shōyō Hinata and Tobio Kageyama. Shō is voiced by Ayumu Murase from shows like "Gatchaman Crowds" and "Sakamichi no Apollon". Tobi is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa from "Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet" and "Kuroke no Basuke".

In episode one, we witness Shōyō's first encounter with the sport of volleyball. He watches a t.v. through a shop window and witnesses the amazing feats of a nearby high school volleyball star known as 'Little Giant'. In that moment, Shōyō decides to dedicate himself to the sport. He develops himself, but he is only able to obtain short, ragtag members at around his middle school team.

When Shōyō and his team do finally make it to an actual volleyball tournament, they face-off against volleyball sensation Tobio Kageyama. Shōyō and his team lose though not without Shōyō displaying feats of athleticism.

Shōyō, far from being dejected, is inspired by the loss and vows to see the Tobio again and to defeat him. 

This sports genre volleyball anime has good animation, a likeable polar-opposite, yin-yang duo (think Naruto-Sasuke or Jin-Mugen). While there may have been some somewhat cliché tropes, from what episode one has shown me, I believe that we are in for quite the  show this season.

Rating: 3.7 out of  5
+ room to grow
+ sports shows make you a little less nerdy
+ good animation
+ good voice acting
- archetypal
- men's volleyball