Why is Tokyo Ghoul one of the worst anime

This article contains spoilers about the anime and manga adaptations of Tokyo Ghoul:re. If you are not up to date with both, we recommend that you do not read it so that it does not affect your experience.’

Tokyo Ghoul is one of the best-selling manga of the past decade, but fans have been worried ever since its adaptation was announced. Studio Pierrot, the studio behind the infamous Tokyo Ghoul √A, had already set a precedent for disappointing Tokyo Ghoul adaptations. And when the series began airing, fans' fears were justified: Tokyo Ghoul:re, as an anime, was a disaster, and somehow fell even short of viewers' already low expectations.

Predictably, both seasons of this adaptation deviated from the source material, developing too quickly and irreparably altering the plot. Both were made with average to poor animation, poorly directed, and virtually unintelligible to fans who only followed the anime. Overall, Tokyo Ghoul:re is a pretty strong candidate for the worst anime of the past decade. But why did it go so badly?

Chronicle of a tragedy

From the beginning, Studio Pierrot was operating irregularly. The last aired season of Tokyo Ghoul at that time had been Tokyo Ghoul √A, in 2015. This last season was detested by manga fans for the way it deviated from the source, condensed the source material, and featured a original ending. However, fans who only followed the anime series had no idea about this. Later, to produce Tokyo Ghoul:re, Studio Pierrot decided to scrap what was done in the last series and "return" to the original plot of the manga as if nothing had happened, which was a bad decision too. However, it left a large section of fans quite confused as to how things would turn out.

Accumulating bad expectations, this series had to cover 179 chapters of the manga in only 24 episodes. This was enough to further lower the low expectation of the series, since it confirmed that there would be omissions. In the first 12 episodes, the series left out several important Kaneki moments, made some unexpected changes, and developed at a fairly fast pace. However, most agreed that the first part was, in fact, not bad enough. The first season ends with the Tsukiyama family extermination arc, and while it was a bit messy, it wasn't disastrous either.

However, with the second half, Tokyo Ghoul:re hit rock bottom. From the beginning, almost an entire story arc was cut to go directly into the Third Cochlea Prison Raid arc and the Operation Kushima arc. Following this troubled start, Tokyo Ghoul:re continued with major omissions, terrible pacing, and disappointing moments unique to the anime. It was so disastrous that anime fans had to consult manga readers for details of the plot that had been omitted or that the series, perhaps, took for granted that it was not necessary to explain. As with Tokyo Ghoul √A, fans were offended that Studio Pierrot treated such a good manga so poorly. However, it was clear that faithfully covering so many chapters in such a short time was an impossible task. In fact, the Tokyo Ghoul:re manga had already come to a rather rushed end, so ruining it further was a pretty bad decision.

The bad production of Tokyo Ghoul:re

Let's remember that anime is a visual product, so animation matters a lot. Tokyo Ghoul √A may have ruined the animated series overall in regards to its plot, but it did deliver up-to-date animation in some important moments of the series. There were some sublime, well-directed scenes, and even some original moments that endeared fans to them. In contrast, Tokyo Ghoul:re did not have any of this. With poor animation, a lack of detail, and rather plain character designs, the anime rivaled the Berserk CG series in terms of even offensive work. Without going overboard, the anime came to feel more like a slideshow at times, and even faithfully adapted moments lost their impact in the face of poor animation. Combined with disastrous directing (reflected in poor composition and transitions, etc.), the adaptation fails in almost every measurable way.

On the other hand, Tokyo Ghoul:re's soundtrack is perhaps its only plus point, as original composer Yutaka Yamada returned to give the series' scenes a bit of epicness. Unfortunately, its excellent soundtrack was not used and exploited as it should have been, as viewers heard the battle theme "Symphonie" and various arrangements of the iconic track "Licht und Schatten" enough to become boring rather than epic. . Still, it's a great soundtrack to listen to independently. The same can be said for the opening themes, with Co shu Nie band's “Asphyxia” and TK from Ling Tosite Sigure's “Katharsis” being two excellent theme songs.

The ravages of greed

It is common for animation studios to be overworked and consequently understaffed. This was what Studio Pierrot suffered when Tokyo Ghoul:re was in production, since it was already busy with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Black Clover and other series. It's unfortunate that Studio Pierrot neglected a series like Tokyo Ghoul (which was their most popular adaptation at the time). Something similar happened when Madhouse was busy enough to produce the second season of One Punch Man, delegating it to another studio. Tokyo Ghoul is a great source of income, for which the ambition of Studio Pierrot prevented the latter from giving up its production rights. In the end, Tokyo Ghoul:re was delegated to the studio Pierrot Plus, a smaller animation studio that was not able to measure up.

Tokyo Ghoul:re production team also left a lot to be desired. Animators, character designers and directors of the first series were quite busy on other projects, which explains the big difference between this anime and the previous ones. Shuhei Morita, the director of some of the best episodes of the franchise (episodes 1 and 12 of the first season, and episode 12 of Tokyo Ghoul √A) could have perhaps saved an episode or two of this series, but he also had others. Projects. In general, the finished product reflected a great lack of effort in all areas. Even the promotional images seemed simply made "on the run".

Sadly, Tokyo Ghoul:re quite possibly represented the end of Tokyo Ghoul adaptations. The series is no longer as popular as it was a few years ago, so the chances of a remake (with a different studio) are pretty slim. Making a fairly faithful adaptation (which would remind me of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) would be a visual treat for fans, but it's still a dream. For now, the general and shared recommendation is to avoid anime and read manga.