MARIAH's THOUGHTS on Tokyo Ghoul: Void by Shin Todawa

Genre:

Young Adult/New Adult

Action/Drama/Psychological/Horror

Supernatural/Seinen

Series:

Tokyo Ghoul: Void, #2

(set in the Tokyo Ghoul Universe)

Release Date (JP):

June 19, 2014

Release Date (US):

January 17, 2017

Published by:

Jump j Books (JP)
VIZ Media LLC (US)

Written by:

Shin Todawa

Illustrated by:

Sui Ishida

Synopsis:

Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way—except their craving for human flesh.

Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.

After the unprecedented raid on the Ghoul detention center by The Aogiri Tree organization, the Commission of Counter Ghoul is working to tighten security across the twenty-three wards. However, some Ghouls begin to cause unrest in the 8th Ward, continuing the cycle of retaliation between human and Ghoul. And what of Kaneki after he left the 20th Ward? This second novel depicts the aftermath six months after the 11th Ward occupation.

      

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Series Titles:

Tokyo Ghoul: Days         Tokyo Ghoul: Void        Tokyo Ghoul: Past

  

(covers link to Goodreads)

      

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*My Thoughts*

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

I tried so hard not to buy this while school was in session for the quarter but alas, there was too much anticipation on my part.

Tokyo Ghoul: Days was good but Tokyo Ghoul: Void is even better. We get to know what happens to Kaneki and other characters after the raid on Aogiri Tree but Kaneki is not the focus. It is the second light novel written by Shin Todawa and illustrated by Sui Ishida. The character development and scenarios presented in this light novel drew me into the lives of the Tokyo Ghoul characters faster than the first light novel. The syntax of each chapter was perfectly written and there wasn’t a part I found particularly dull. Each chapter had ideology, action, a mix of new characters, or some type of suspense, unless you consider conversations dull. Any Tokyo Ghoul fans should enjoy learning more about the star characters of each chapter.

“But what’s a story without a few flaws.” They are only minor, but if I had to nitpick at something, it would have to be the translations. I remember finding spelling mistakes or sentences that I felt had to be read twice until I figured out what was wrong. This bothered me, prominently, in the first chapter and a half but disappeared completely afterwards. Other than that, I can’t say anything particularly bad about Tokyo Ghoul: Void.

Maybe I enjoyed Tokyo Ghoul: Void a little too much; Todawa’s writing for Sui Ishida’s series only seems to get better as the original story progresses. Like Tokyo Ghoul: Days, it maintains a good balance of everyday life, action, and the relationship between ghouls and humans. Thus, I give Tokyo Ghoul: Void a better rating than its predecessor. Only slightly though, I don’t think Todawa can push the characters too far without steering off course from the original story line.

My Rating:

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U.S. Book Cover:

  

MARIAH's THOUGHTS on Tokyo Ghoul: Days by Shin Todawa

Genre:

Young Adult/New Adult

Action/Drama/Psychological/Horror

Supernatural/Seinen

Series:

Tokyo Ghoul: Days, #1

(set in the Tokyo Ghoul Universe)

Release Date (JP):

July 19, 2013

Release Date (US):

October 18, 2016

Published by:

Jump j Books (JP)
VIZ Media LLC (US)

Written by:

Shin Todawa

Illustrated by:

Sui Ishida

Synopsis:

In the café Anteiku, where Ghouls gather, danger and the possibility of discovery loom. Yoshimura, the café's owner, is watching a certain someone. What sort of darkness will that person bring to those who hunt and those who are hunted? This book chronicles six all-new stories from the Tokyo Ghoul universe.

source

      

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Series Titles:

Tokyo Ghoul: Void                                    Tokyo Ghoul: Past

 

(covers link to Goodreads)

      

~~~~~

*My Thoughts*

Note: This review contains spoilers

It is written by Shin Todawa and illustrated by Sui Ishida. Tokyo Ghoul Days is for those familiar with the Tokyo Ghoul manga by Sui Ishida. Analytically, it’s written in third person omniscient which allows the reader to understand the main charater’s feelings, the vocabulary can be read at a fifth or sixth grade level, but the English translation doesn’t seem to do Tokyo Ghoul Days justice. It’s either too literal or felt inaccurate as I read through it. Like, “Takatsugi?” I’m sure it’s “Takatsuki.” I quite enjoyed the book but it was difficult at first to dive right in, as the first story, Hide’s story, confused me a bit. If the reader isn’t familiar with anime and manga, the story is slightly perplexing because the first story jumps from flashback to present and from character to character without warning. But I got through the whole thing.

Breaking up the light novel into its six stories:

The Bible: Hideyoshi Nagachika, nicknamed Hide, is the first character from Tokyo Ghoul to have his light novel debut. I maintain my previous complaints about this story, as stated in the beginning of this review. The story follows Hide during his time without Kaneki and features a few of their memories together but it jumps around without warning. I’m glad as a Tokyo Ghoul fan to learn what Hide was doing during the time Kaneki was adjusting to his new life as a half-ghoul and it displays Hide’s intuitive side.

Lunch Boxes: This one is probably my favorite out of the six stories, most likely because Touka Kirishima is my favorite female character in Tokyo Ghoul. Lunch Boxes follows the friendship between Touka and her human friend, Yoriko. It displays Touka’s struggle to live her life as a ghoul and a human in high school. I thought it was sweet but a little cliché with that basic “Mean Girls,” bullying plot to it.

Photos: I didn’t find Photos as memorable as others. This story follows the beginning of Shu Tsukiyama and Chie Hori’s friendship, during Tsukiyama’s high school days. This is more of an introduction to Chie Hori’s character, as Tsukiyama acts the same way he does in the actual Tokyo Ghoul manga. Photos is a good balance between a ghoul and a human perspective. It shows that ghouls are carnivorous for human flesh but humans are also monsters in their own way through things like abuse, perversion, manipulation, gluttony, etc.

The Big City: This story makes its way to my second favorite of the six stories because of how touching it is. It shows how gentle a fully developed, young ghoul can be; Ikuma is a sweet, gentle, and polite ghoul after being raise by a human mother. Ikuma Momochi’s story shows that humans and ghouls can live together without conflict but the fear of being eaten or hunted down is always lingering.

The Bookmark: Hinami Fueguchi is the focus of the fifth story and follows her emotional state after her parent’s deaths. I think it made for a potential future relationship between a ghoul and a human but they undoubtedly will never meet again. After Tsukiyama’s story displayed a human with a sinister streak, Hinami’s story shows people are not born heartless or merciless after a human boy helps her from being kidnapped by a group of high schoolers. He learns last minute of their identity as ghouls but, in the final section of this story, questions his father’s judgment in calling ghouls “inhuman beasts.”

Yoshida: Kazuo Yoshida’s story is probably the shortest of the six but also compelling. Towada gave this unfortunate ghoul a simple backstory, naivety, and got him some pity from me. While ghouls do not have any legal rights, they have morals and empathy like a human.

Overall, I enjoyed Towada’s expansion of the Tokyo Ghoul universe and am eager to get the next light novel, Tokyo Ghoul: Void, also written by Shin Todawa. It has many aspects that can be intriguing. It maintains a good balance of everyday life and action. However, I still maintain my opinion that these light novels are for fans who follow Tokyo Ghoul to have a better idea of who the characters are, what these stories can offer, maybe some terminology.

My Rating:

MARIAH'S THOUGHTS on Tokyo Ghoul, Volume 2 by Sui Ishida

Genre:

Manga/Seinen

Dark Fantasy

Series:

Tokyo Ghoul, #2

Publish Date:

August 18, 2015

Publisher:

VIZ Media LLC

Synopsis:

Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way--except their craving for human flesh. Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.

Unable to discard his humanity but equally unable to suppress his Ghoul hunger, Ken finds salvation in the kindness of friendly Ghouls who teach him how to pass as human and eat flesh humanely. But recent upheavals in Ghoul society attract the police like wolves to prey, and they don't discriminate between conscientious and monstrous Ghouls.

      

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Tokyo Ghoul Series:

   

  

      

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**About the Author**

Sui Ishida (石田 スイ, Ishida Sui), born  December 28, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese manga artist. In 2010, he won the Young Jump 113th Grand Prix Award with Tokyo Ghoul (東京喰種, Tōkyō Kushu ). In March 2011, the same oneshot was published in the 2nd Issue of Miracle Jump. And later in September 2011, Tokyo Ghoul started as a series in Weekly Young Jump 2011-14 Issue. In December 2011, he made another oneshot about Rize that was published in December 2011 in Miracle Jump 6th Issue, which was later collected in the 6th volume of Tokyo Ghoul.

In 2013, he also started Tokyo Ghoul: Jack in the digital magazine Jump LIVE.

Stay connected with Sui Ishida

  

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*My Thoughts*

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

I'm not going to lie; the main reason I like buying certain manga volumes is because they contain my favorite characters or scenes. And besides, if you want that series to keep coming, you should support that manga through buying the manga; volume 2 includes Uta and Yomo. Basically, the reader learns a bit more about how ghouls live and Tokyo Ghoul makes the reader question what it means to be human. Between ghoul families and ghoul investigators (who are the police of Tokyo Ghoul), your morality of justice should be thrown out, objective accounts of survival must remain, and yet all sympathy should be taken into account. A little tidbit I didn't add in the previous review is that there are funny omakes or shorts in the back of each volume that reveal a more light-hearted side to characters. Sui Ishida's  Tokyo Ghoul puts major importance on knowledge, "What you don't know, will hurt you," added secret messages about characters through tarot cards and small details that are often overlooked but it's a signature marker for Sui Ishida that makes this interesting. So far, Tokyo Ghoul has become one of my favorite anime/manga in a while.

My rating: