Review: ‘Tokyo Ghoul’ Is a Gory Yet Gutless Live-Action Debut

Tokyo Ghoul is the latest live-action adaptation of a manga to hit theaters, and the film introduces audiences to a gory yet static take on Sui Ishida’s acclaimed series. The film, which is the first Kentaro Hagiwara has directed, channels Tokyo Ghoul‘s dark aesthetic into something both new and old fans can enjoy. However, it stops short of adding to the franchise itself and leaves fans with a rote introduction to all things ghoul.

The film begins simply enough with a university student hoping to find love. Ken Kaneki finally summons the courage to ask out Rize on a date, and his aw-shucks attitude is enough to make any girls swoon. However, Rize’s reserved persona is torn apart when she reveals herself to be a flesh-starved ghoul who sees Ken less as a man and more as a meal.

Ken is only saved from death when a freak accident allows him to escape, but his trauma has only begun. In order to save the boy, doctors transplant organs from Rize to Ken, prompting the student to become a rare half-ghoul who must now live in two very different worlds.

For fans familiar with Tokyo Ghoul, the live-action film goes on to closely adapt the manga’s first few volumes. Audiences are introduced to Ken’s mentors, an elderly coffee shop owner named Mr. Yoshimura and a spitfire high school student known as Touka. The pair help Ken make his way through the secretive ghoul society, but things become more dangerous when federal agents start closing in on Ken.

Tokyo Ghoul will come off as fairly standard to fans who’ve read its source material, but the novelty of this film’s live-action take is worth sitting down for. While Ken may snivel one too many times, Masataka Kubota gives a gentle performance that makes general audiences feel for the half-ghoul despite the threat he poses to humanity. Fumika Shimizu does the same for Touka, as the actress does carefully shed the character’s tough exterior to explore how difficult it is for ghouls to straddle the line between being human and being a monster.

Still, the movie does leave out some of the manga’s ever-important internal dialogue. Ken’s integration into the ghoul society doesn’t come across as easily as fans cannot get a clear picture of the boy’s struggles to fit in, and there is not enough time to draw out those revelations in conversation. By the end of Tokyo Ghoul, fans are left with shallow uncertainty about the boy’s mindset.

While the film does spend much of its time on characterization, Tokyo Ghoul leans into the story’s classic gore. The movie lacks the all-out carnage of Sui Ishida’s manga, but Ken and his comrades come face-to-face with body horror, dismembered limbs, and gallons of blood. The film’s action sequences are also more palatable than fans may expect given its lower budget, but there is still something about its CGI that feels off in climatic moments.

Despite its flaws, Tokyo Ghoul is a better-than-average take on one of the world’s most popular manga franchises. The film does nod to its commercial roots, but it makes sure to thoroughly lay out Ken’s dilemma of being stuck between two worlds. With plans in store for a trilogy, Tokyo Ghoul is a promising start to the live-action series as it moves forward.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars