If you have been looking forward to Tokyo Ghoul’s live-action debut, then it is time you did a bit of research. Sui Ishida’s horror series had its movie debut in Japan this weekend, and reviews for the film are now starting to trickle in.
And, no – the film isn’t as bad as Dragonball Evolution. Nothing will hopefully ever take that title from the Super Saiyan flop.
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Tokyo Ghoul‘s live-action film had a string of early premieres ahead of its public debut on July 29th, and sites are beginning to cover the film. While the reviews are not extraordinarily glowing, critics familiar with Tokyo Ghoul do agree the film faithfully adapt the first bit of Ishida’s popular manga.
You can check out the reviews for yourselves as several can be found in the slides below. If you leave the critiques feeling confidence about Tokyo Ghoul, then you will be able to catch the film stateside later this year. Funimation confirmed it would screen the live-action film in U.S. theaters later this year, and current reports suggest Tokyo Ghoul will have its limited run on August 10.
Variety
“A nerdy college boy is transformed into a half-human, half-monster hybrid in “Tokyo Ghoul,” an uneven live-action adaptation of Sui Ishida’s hit manga about flesh-eating creatures running amok in an alternate contemporary Japan. Stylishly decorated and generating all-important sympathy for a character living precariously in two worlds, director Kentaro Hagiwara’s feature debut gets the drama right but is let down by visual effects that are sometimes unconvincing. Given the massive global popularity of the manga and its spinoff anime series, “Tokyo Ghoul” should get off to a flying start when it opens domestically on July 29, followed by an international rollout in August (which could help build interest for a U.S. release tentatively planned later this fall by Funimation).” – Variety
Anime News Network
“Tokyo Ghoul has been one of the biggest manga hits of the past few years. As these big hits often do, the franchise recently received a live action film adaptation. These types of movies have been a mixed bag in the past, so I didn’t harbor many expectations going into this film. I’m a fan of Tokyo Ghoul as both a manga and an anime, so could they possibly capture the series’ gruesome beauty using flesh-and-blood human beings?
Well, coming out of it, I can say that the film is a very faithful of the manga’s first three volumes – material that covers Kaneki’s transformation into a ghoul up until his confrontation with CCG operatives Mado and Amon. It’s close to a scene-by-scene retelling of the source, albeit with some parts compressed or reshuffled for the sake of this new format. For example, they start interspersing the CCG stuff way earlier than in other versions to prepare for this film’s climax. The biggest deviation from the source involves this climax, and it’s really just a matter of scale. While it hits all the same points emotionally, Kaneki’s encounter with Amon is (for lack of a better word) “badass-ified.” While in the original, Kaneki was still pretty solidly a wimp at this point, he gives Amon a run for his money in this version. Again, it doesn’t really make a difference – I assume that they didn’t want to conclude the film without some the main hero kicking some ass – but I found it amusing. It’s definitely the best action in the film, which otherwise leans more towards drama and horror. Tokyo Ghoul is at its core a character piece, and this film knows that, barring this last-minute injection of bombast.” – ANN
Nerdist
“Think about the worst first date you ever had. Did she take you to see her crummy boyfriend’s band? Did he pull out one of your hairs and start flossing with it? Did she take a bite out of your shoulder, lick blood off your face, and leave you forever changed into a horrible half-beast that can’t stand the taste of your favorite food?
If not, your track record is slightly better than the poor sap at the center of Tokyo Ghoul, the first live-action adaptation of the popular manga from Ishida Sui. That sap is Kaneki Ken (Kubota Masataka), who just barely lives after an attack by a first date who turns out to be a ghoul, then gets the ghoul’s organs transplanted into him. It saves his life, but changes him into a hybrid of the vampire-like monster and a human. The bad news is that he’ll never want to eat spaghetti bolognese again. The good news is that he’s gained super strength and fleshy tentacles (“kagune”) that emerge from his back to give him a Doc Ock vibe when he fights.” – Nerdist
Film School Rejects
“Tokyo Ghoul is a live-action adaptation of a very popular manga and anime series, and it serves as a mostly competent introduction to a familiar yet specific world of monsters. It’s every bit the story of someone forced to find refuge in new surroundings and “friends” after having no choice but to leave the old behind. The ghouls look human until they don’t — eyes turn red, teeth grow far more deadly, and sometimes fleshy appendages sprout from their backsides to slice, pierce, and otherwise murder those unlucky enough to be slapped with said fleshy appendage….
There are interesting touches in Tokyo Ghoul — their ability to consume nothing but human flesh and coffee for example — but there are also beats that feel like missed opportunities to grab viewer attention including the introduction of the ghouls’ face masks. It feels like a film designed for newcomers, but it ultimately fails to leave viewers hungry for more.” – Film School Rejects
More Tokyo Ghoul News
If you are unfamiliar with Tokyo Ghoul, Viz Media describes the story below:
“Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way – except their craving for human flesh. Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize. But it turns out that she’s only interested in his body – eating it, that is. When a morally questionable rescue transforms him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken is drawn into the dark and violent world of Ghouls, which exists alongside our own.”
UP NEXT: Tokyo Ghoul Live-Action TV Spots Released
The series debuted in September 2011 thanks to mangaka Sui Ishida. Weekly Young Jump first published the manga before it was adapted into an anime series by Pierrot. The anime premiered in July 2014 before a second season ran in January 2015. A third season has yet to be announced by any party.
Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where creatures known as ghouls exist. The horrifying monsters survive by consuming human flesh and live amongst humans in secret. The story follows a boy named Ken Kaneki after a date-gone-wrong leaves him a half-ghoul. Struggling to adapt to his new life, Ken tries his best to fit into ghoul society, keep his monstrous status hidden from humans, and reign in the insatiable hunger he has for flesh.
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