Spoilers Ahead!!
Recently, I watched Tokyo Ghoul. I was satisfied with Season 1, but the other seasons disappointed me very much. I had high expectations for Season 1, as it followed the manga closely, but Season 2 did not meet my expectations. I read the manga a long time ago, and this was my first time watching the animation.
I felt they could have done something better, either by sticking to the manga or by creating something truly great. There seemed to be too much of a leap in the story, and I could not keep up with the new developments. I really liked Season 1. I saw the main protagonist, Ken Kaneki, as very weak in the beginning, but he started to develop into a great character. It’s not that I didn’t like him at first; he was really good, but too naive to deal with anything.
His life changed after one date with Rize Kamishiro. She was a ghoul and was about to devour Kaneki, but just as she was about to do that, they were standing under a construction site, and it fell on both of them. Rize died, but her essence was transferred into Kaneki's body, causing him to turn into a ghoul and become half human and half ghoul. At first, I felt sad for him because he never wanted to become a ghoul. But his fate was already written, and it was bound to happen. Although ghouls are seen as murderers because they kill people to feed on human flesh, there are some good ghouls who would never hurt humans; rather, they would like to coexist with them. Ken Kaneki was associated with the good ones Yoshimura took him in and he received proper guidance to control his abilities. Touka Kirishima helped Kaneki manage his powers, and they had a bit of chemistry, but not much, as the story mostly focused on dialogue and fighting scenes.
Hideyoshi Nagachika is Kaneki's best friend, and I saw a great bond between them. After becoming a ghoul, he decided not to tell his best friend about it because he didn't want to lose their friendship. Kaneki always protected him secretly, without him even knowing. Their bond made me want to watch this anime more, as the story was progressing really well.
If you want to know which episode I liked the most, I would say it was the one where I saw the transformation of Kaneki. It was cool to see him in a completely new form, but he had to go through a lot to get there, which made him stronger.
On the other hand, there were many interesting secondary characters, such as Nishio Nishiki, Shuu Tsukiyama, and Hinami Fueguchi. I really enjoyed every part of Season 1. However, when I started Season 2, I could not feel the same vibe as in Season 1. It was not as effective anymore; Season 1 had a unique impact.
My favorite opening song from Tokyo Ghoul is Unravel. It was very emotional for me, and every time I heard this song, I never felt like skipping it. I think everyone would love this song if they heard it just once.
If you ask me to rate Season 1, I would give it a 10 out of 10, but for Season 2, it’s a 5 out of 10. I would also suggest everyone watch Season 1 at least once because you would love it! I really love Season 1, so I would appreciate it.
