Showing posts with label Sui Ishida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sui Ishida. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

#IReadsYou Review: TOKYO GHOUL: re Volume16

TOKYO GHOUL: RE, VOL. 16
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0742-3; paperback (April 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
338pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul is a dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida.  It was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine, Weekly Young Jump (Shueisha, Inc.), between September 2011 and September 2014.  It was later collected in fourteen tankōbon (graphic novels).  It had a sequel series, Tokyo Ghoul:re, which also was serialized in Weekly Young Jump – between October 2014 and July 2018.  It was collected into sixteen tankōbon volumes.

VIZ Media published Tokyo Ghoul as a 14-volume graphic novel series from June 2015 to August 2017, under its VIZ Signature imprint.  It published Tokyo Ghoul: re as a 16-volume graphic novel series, bimonthly, beginning in October 2017, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.  VIZ published the sixteenth and final volume this past month, April 2020,

Tokyo Ghouls is about “Ghouls.”  They look like humans and live among humans, but Ghouls crave human flesh.  The Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) is the only organization in the world fighting and exterminating Ghouls and investigating Ghoul-related crimes.  Haise Sasaki was in charge of an unruly CCG squad, “Quinx Squad” (or “Qs Squad”), but among the secrets of his forgotten past was the truth that he was Ken Kaneki, a half-human and half-Ghoul.

As Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 16 (Chapters 165 to 179) opens, the Ghoul-CCG alliance has rescued Kaneki from his “Dragon” form, the monster within which he was entombed.  However, the creature continues to spew forth mutant Ghouls, and some of these things to which the Dragon has given birth are infecting humans with a horrific form of “Ghoulism.”

The only way to stop this is to go deep inside the creature, and who will go into the belly of the beast to find a cure?  It is Kaneki, of course.  There, he will face the ultimate conspirator, Nimura Furuta, and also, someone who was very important in his life.  Will Kaneki's ultimate act of bravery be the final strike that will end the Ghoul-human war or will it be his and everyone, Ghoul and human's, last stand?

[This volume includes an illustrated “Afterward” by Sui Ishida.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Tokyo Ghoul: re manga has come to an end.  When Tokyo Ghoul began, it was a dark fantasy series that took readers into a mysterious new world that seemed horrifying on the surface.  The truth was that this new world was more complicated beneath that surface.

Tokyo Ghoul: re Graphic Novel Volume 16 is a wrap-up of what the narrative became in the second series – a tale of racial conflict and of the conspiracy that created that conflict.  Without spoiling this final volume, I can say that creator Sui Ishida has not only ended the narrative, but he has also revealed that life goes on.

To the end, Joe Yamazaki's translation captures the intensity and mania and the ebb and flow of the action.  Vanessa Satone's lettering conveys the chaotic nature of that action, while she finds a way to cherish the end of the series while suggesting the continuation of the story.  Whatever happens beyond the pages that we can only imagine is not as important as the fact that between Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul: re we have thirty volumes of imaginative, inventive, and unique manga.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Tokyo Ghoul will want to dine on the “VIZ Signature” title, Tokyo Ghoul: re.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.


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Thursday, October 19, 2017

Review: TOKYO GHOUL: re Volume 1

TOKYO GHOUL: RE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9496-5; paperback (October 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul: re is the sequel to the manga, Tokyo Ghoul; both are the creation of writer-artist, Sui Ishida, and both were originally published in the Japanese manga magazine, Weekly Young Jump.  Both series take place in a world where there are Ghouls.  They look like humans and live among us, but Ghouls crave human flesh.  The Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) is the only organization in the world fighting and exterminating Ghouls and investigating Ghoul-related crimes.

Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 9) introduces the CCG's “Quinx Squad.”  This is 22-year-old Haise Sasaki's squad; he is a Rank 1 investigator.  Kuki Urie, 19, is the squad leader, and, jealous of Sasaki, he wants to do better than him.  Toru Mutsuki, a 19 young woman, is close to Sasaki.  Ginshi Shirazu, 19, is the oddball.  When they join the hunt for the wily Ghoul, known as “the Torso,” Quinx Squad does not realize that the case will reveal something shocking about one of its members.

I described reading the Tokyo Ghoul manga as like entering an actual world of mystery.  Tokyo Ghoul: re shifts into a more familiar world; you might say that it is something like a police procedural.

Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 1 focuses on the CCG.  The Ghoul investigators do not interest me as much as the Ghouls themselves do.  I find the early chapters of this opening graphic novel to be dry, even a bit dull.  By the second half of this volume, the narrative gets a big bump when Sui Ishida puts his characters on the Ghoul hunt.  Honestly, Tokyo Ghoul: re will be at its best the more Ghouls are on the pages being Ghoul-ish.  I do not think the investigators will be as interesting... unless there are some shocking developments...

A-
7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Friday, October 13, 2017

Review: TOKYO GHOUL Volume 14

TOKYO GHOUL, VOL. 14
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9043-1; paperback (August 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul is a dark fantasy, seinen manga (comics for older teen males and adult males) by creator Sui Ishida.  The series was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from September 2011 and September 2014.  VIZ Media gained the license to produce an English language translation of the series, which the company published as a 14-volume graphic novel series under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.  VIZ published its final graphic novel in the series this past August.

Tokyo Ghoul focuses on Ken Kaneki.  He was a shy, ordinary college student.  He studied Japanese literature at Kamii University.  This book-loving freshman was excited to go on a date with the beautiful Rize Kamishiro, but he did not know that she was a Ghoul.  They look like humans and live among us, but Ghouls crave human flesh.  Soon, Kaneki found himself a hybrid, trapped between the worlds of Ghouls and humans.

Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 14 (Chapters 133 to 142) opens as the forces of the Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) makes its biggest move against Ghouls.  Kaneki and Arima, the fiercest fighter of the CCG, finally face off, and Arima has the power to destroy Kaneki.

As I have written before, visiting the Tokyo Ghoul manga is like entering an actual world of mystery.  Of late, reading the series is like entering the world of an action movie.  It is time for those proverbial final battles.

Tokyo Ghoul Volume 14 is the final volume of the current series.  Tokyo Ghoul: re is about to drop into readers' laps.  Make sure it does not bite you.  In the meantime, the end comes with many bangs.  I prefer the mystery and suspense, so I would not call this one of the better volumes.  Still, it wraps up things to prepare for the next stage of the world of Tokyo Ghoul.  This was a series about a character, Ken Kaneki, trying to navigate two worlds, neither of which he seemed to fit completely.  That is indeed something upon which to build.

B+
7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Review: TOKYO GHOUL Volume 1

TOKYO GHOUL, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8036-4; paperback (June 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

The horror manga, Tokyo Ghoul, is the creation of Sui Ishida.  After winning the Young Jump 113th Grand Prix award in 2010, Tokyo Ghoul debuted as a series in Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 2011.  A bestselling and popular manga, it was adapted into an anime series in 2014.  Tokyo Ghoul focuses on a young man who, through no fault of his own, becomes a creature that must eat dead human flesh to survive.  Tokyo Ghoul is the latest addition to VIZ Media's VIZ Signature line.

Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 9) introduces shy college freshman, 18-year-old Ken Kaneki.  He attends Kamii University where he studies in the Department of Literature, specializing in Japanese literature.  His best pal, Hide Nagachika, wants Kaneki to read less and date more, so Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize.

However, there are Ghouls that live among us.  They look the same as normal people in every way, but that only hides the truth, especially their craving for human flesh.  Rize is a ghoul, and her actions will change Kaneki.

I was interested in the Tokyo Ghoul manga when I first got a press release from VIZ Media that they were going to publish this series as a digital manga release.  VIZ is now publishing the series in print and sent me a copy for review.  I'm glad that they did; I would have had to buy this otherwise.

Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1 slowly, but gradually brings the reader into a world that is both similar (through the eyes of a young college student) and also into a dark world that is just around the corner from the world in light (the world of the Ghouls).  Creator Sui Ishida presents the life of a shy kid as if Tokyo Ghoul were a BL or shojo drama.  Then, he presents a fantastic world that offers both mystery and intrigue and also violence and death.

So the narrative reflects the dual nature that comes to define Ken Kaneki.  This first volume is a joy to read, but I wonder if the narrative will become trapped in its internal mythology around the Ghouls.  Will character drama remain strong, or will it become subservient to genre trappings?  If the drama remains strong, Tokyo Ghoul will be one of the best new series of the year.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux; support on Patreon.


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.