So I just marathoned the manga in a day and a night. The first series is pretty good, although Tokyo Ghoul:Re suffers from Code Geass R2 syndrome. I didn't expect it to be so gory and psychological. Had me on edge the entire time, first majorly sympathizing with Kaneki and eventually being pretty repulsed. I really loved the brilliance of reviewing the protagonist's past with the present-day protagonist and a figment of his imagination talking about it. The breakdowns with noun salads and literature quotes were majorly entertaining, capitalizing on how the protag was an English major initially.
Then... Re. Meh. A lot of opportunities kinda got lost. Amon and Kaneki had a fascinating dynamic, and it would've been awesome to see them collaborate. Instead, we got Arima and Kaneki. Taki-something-or-other became a recurring villain motivated by mom-loved-you-best syndrome. We got our new team of nakama when we all really want Touka back. The author obviously ships Hinami and Kaneki but I am so uninvested in Hinami. There's so many characters that the story has become weak at what it was great at: showcasing humanity rather than good v evil.
Finally, what the frig is it with this mangaka and cats? Did a cat maul him as a child? Because each time we see a cat, it's because the mangaka goes "surely kitty-murder is the best way to show my character is *really* distorted, but not irredeemably". Never dogs or birds.
