Tokyo Ghoul Essay

I believe Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida is a must read for people who love mangas. Ken Kaneki, the main character, is first introduced as an average, shy university student. The manga is told from his perspective and documents his struggles and emotions as he is forced to adapt to a ghoul’s lifestyle after a ghoul’s organs were transplanted into him, making him a half ghoul. The fact the story was told from the ‘bad’ people’s side was something that made the plot very enjoyable for me, because it is a change from constantly viewing the events from the ‘good’ side’s perspective. The point of view had a massive impact on my overall thoughts of the manga, because it showed how Kaneki, the ‘main bad guy’, was in fact a gentle-hearted person, unlike

most other stories where the bad guys were simply just described as ‘evil’ and ‘sly’.

While reading the manga, I constantly asked myself ‘why is this all happening to Kaneki?’. The whole story happened because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the consequences were more severe than I had imagined it to be. Both before and after Kaneki was changed into a ghoul, he was shown as someone who was a loyal friend and deeply cared about those close to him. He was a good person. Saying phrases like ‘I’m begging you, don’t make me kill a person’ while he is fighting for his life emphasized the idea that he was a kind person. Due to the constant evidence of his unselfishness, I couldn’t help but side with Kaneki instead of supporting the ghoul investigators, who were supposed to be the good guys of the story (and technically they are). The fact the manga ended with the ghoul investigators presumably killing Kaneki and all his ghoul friends was shocking, because to me and undoubtedly many other readers, Kaneki was the hero of the story. But that was one thing that made the manga so enjoyable. We were so immersed in the idea that Kaneki was the protagonist and the ghoul investigators were the antagonists, it came to be a complete surprise when Kaneki was defeated, as in stories the bad guys never defeat the good guys. It was a complete twist, but it was one I enjoyed. However, it saddened me greatly to think such a devastating thing happened to Kaneki. He was attacked by a ghoul, turned into half a ghoul, had to adjust to a ghoul’s life, but ultimately he was killed by what he once was: a human. It shows that in real life, you don’t always win even if you are on the ‘good side’, and that horrible things can happen to anyone, even if they are what people would call a ‘good person’, that is just how life is.

Something I found interesting was the fact that all of the ghoul investigators generalised all of the ghouls as emotionless killing machines.

They failed to realise the fact some ghouls like Kaneki and his friends, still remember what it was like to be human, so they just want to be as normal as possible. As a reader I was able to learn about how hurtful it was for them to be called garbage by other people who thought they were superior, and it was devastating for me to watch the good ghouls being forced to defend themselves against the humans. It reminded me of how so many people think all muslims are terrorists and blame them for terrorist attacks, but in reality not all muslims are threatening and not all of them want to bomb places. Like the ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul, the muslims who are dangerous are the ones who fell into the wrong path. We often judge a race by stereotypes, but the manga helped me to understand that it is something we should not do, because a few people’s actions don’t define everyone. I felt angry when Kaneki and his friends was being hunted down, because unlike some vicious ghouls who go around killing innocent humans, they only eat the flesh of those who committed suicide or died from accidents, yet they were still being treated like heartless monsters. It made me realise how wrong it is in the real world for someone to be treated differently because of something other people of their race

did.

Tokyo Ghoul is no doubt one of the best mangas I have read. It was easy for me to sympathise with the characters and the manga made me realise that we should not generalise others because of their race. That message is highly relevant today because of all the terrorist attacks that has happened lately and the hate various races has been receiving due to that. Personally, I think this manga has conveyed that idea more clearly than any angry rants on social media sites.